bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Ultimate Attribution Error: Extending Allport's Cognitive Analysis of Prejudice
Authors: Pettigrew Thomas F.
Published: March 2007

Allport's The Nature of Prejudice is a social psychological classic. Its delineation of the components and principles of prejudice remains modern, especially its handling of cognitive factors. The volume's cognitive contentions are outlined, and then extended with an application from attribution theory. An "ultimate attribution error" is proposed: (1) when prejudiced peonle perceive what they regard as a negative act by an outgroup member, they will more than others attribute it dispositionally, often as genetically determined, in comparison to the same act by an ingroup member: (2) wlhen prejudiced people perceive what they regard as a positive act by an outaroup member, they will more than others attribute it in comparison to the same act by an ingroup member to one or more of the following: (a) "the exceptional case," (b) luck or special advantage, (c) hig,h motivation and effort, and (d) manipulable situational context. Predictions are advanced as to which of these responses will be adopted and under which conditions the phenomenon will be magnified.
Experimental Social Innovation as an Alternative to a Pseudo-Relevant Social Psychology
Authors: Shippee Glenn
Published: March 2007

Over the last decade pressures for a "relevant social psychology" have intensified. This paper assesses the responses of social psychologists to these pressures in terms of research activities and graduate training models. Several problems characterize "itraditional" responses to the relevancy issue and these difficulties are discussed. An alternative paradigm for research and graduate training is proposed in the ratter portions of the paper. This alternative approach emphasizes an inductive, social problem oriented social psychology. At any event, the innovators of the past have not, so far as evidence shows, been judged in childhood and youth as exceptionally bright; more often they have been considered by their contemporaries as being a bit dull, if only because they have failed to grasp the fact that the world is flat, that an iron plow will poison the soil, or that the king can do no wrong. (LaPiere, 1965, p. 132)
Self-Monitoring Scale
Authors: Gabrenya William K. , Arkin Robert M.
Published: March 2007

Factor analyses of Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale were conducted with two samples of introduction, psychology, students obtained during consecutive rears. Four factors replicated across years for both males and females: theatric al acting ability, sociability/social anxiety, other-directedness, and speaking ability. The correlations of these factors with several personality instruments were examined to aid in interpreting the factors. The findings indicated that this scale is not unidimensional, raising the possibility that some of its factors, notably sociability/social anxiety,, mat, interact differentially with characteristics of experimental situations.
Disclosure of Sexual Orientation and Impressions of Male and Female Homosexuals
Authors: Gross Alan E. , Green Susan K. , Storck Jerome T. , Vanyur John M.
Published: March 2007

Sociometric and stereotypic ratings were administered after subjects viewed a videotape of either a male or a female homosexual stimulus person. Some subjects were informed that the stimulus person was gay before viewing the tape, some were informed after viewing, and the remainder were never informed. Trait ratings were more stereotypical and sociometric ratings were less favorable for all targets in disclosure conditions (either immediate or delayed). Homosexual targets were judged more stereotypically by subjects of their own sex. Timing did not influence trait ratings, but males rated targets more harshly in delayed than in immediate disclosure conditions. Limitations for the generality of these findings are discussed.
"Good Looks do not Help"
Authors: Nadler Arie
Published: March 2007

Female subjects who took a knowledge test could ask another female whose photograph they thought was available to them for help on items they could not answer. The photograph actually depicted one of two persons—a physically attractive or unattractive female. Half the subjects expected a face-to-face meeting with the partner in the future, while the other half did not expect a future interaction. The results indicated that subjects were more reluctant to seek help from a physically attractive other than from a physically unattractive other, and that they were more reluctant to seek help from another female with whom a face-to-face meeting was expected than from one with whom such a meeting was not expected. Between-cell comparisons indicated that, in line with the hypothesis, least help was sought from a physically attractive other when a future meeting had been expected. The implications of these data for help-seeking behavior are discussed in terms of self-presentation processes.
Nonverbal Communication on Television News
Authors: Friedman Howard S. , DiMatteo M. Robin , Mertz Timothy I.
Published: March 2007

This research examined the facial expressions of the network television news anchorpersons during their coverage of the 1976 presidential election campaign. 7he possibility for systematic yet subtle nonverbal communication in the news was explored through a "nonverbal content analysis" in which we studied the facial expressions which accompanied the uttering of the candidates' names. Significant differences were found in the perceived positivity of the facial expressions of broadcasters as a function of the candidates. 7he results were seen to have important implications for the role of nonverbal communication in the transmission of affective information to TV viewers.
Contrasting Approaches to Social Knowing
Authors: Baron Rueben M.
Published: March 2007

In the course of evaluating the present contributions the basic properties of an ecological approach to social knowing are described. The exposition focuses on three major issues: (1) the importance for understanding the achievement of social meaning in considering the nature of the stimulus information as opposed to emphasizing the role of internal information processing entities, stages and/or operations; (2) the relevance for social knowing of the reciprocal relationship between perception and action; f3) the arguments advanced from an ecological perspective regarding the essentially' veridical and open, character of perceptual know ledge as against the dominant view of perception as error prone and bounded by capacity, limitations.
Satisfaction with Outcome Distributions
Authors: Furby Lita
Published: March 2007

Brickman's (1975) laboratory finding that an equal distribution is preferred over a positively skewed distribution is found to also hold for Morawetz's (1977) real-world study of two Israeli moshavim. However, the hedonic calculus derived from adaptation level theory which seemed to explain Brickman's laboratory results is shown to be invalid for the real-world data. In particular, the generally assumed positive relation between individual satisfaction and income level did not hold for the Israeli community studied by Morawetz. The discrepancy between the two studies is interpreted as suggesting that the moral desirability of the general distribution may be a term in the utility functions of individuals in at least some social groups.
Agency and Communion Trends in Consumer Goods Advertising
Authors: Jorgenson Dale O.
Published: March 2007

Popular accounts of American values have argued that there has been a recent increase in selfishness or egocentrism. Bakan's (1966) concepts of agency and communion provide a basis for an empirical examination of this claim. It was the purpose of this investigation to examine the content of consumer goods advertising for trends in the relative incidence of agency and communion themes over the last seven decades. A content analysis of5486 ads from the January, May, and September issues of a popular women's magazine for each of the years from 1910 to 1979 gave evidence of distinct changes in the ratio of agency themes to communion themes over this time period. Specifically, this ratio was significantly larger in the decade from 1970 to 1979 than in prior decades. There were also increases and decreases in this ratio in prior decades as well, changes which were found to be consistent with other evidence of changes in related values.
Coping with Loneliness
Authors: Revenson Tracey A.
Published: March 2007

This study identifies a set of strategies that people use to cope with loneliness and examines causal attributions for loneliness as predictors of coping behavior. Subjects were 128 adults who completed a questionnaire including the NYU Loneliness Scale, two attributional measures, and a modification of the Ways of Coping Scale. A distinction was made between problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. Internal attributions for loneliness were found to be related to the intensity of coping efforts, but not to the type of strategy used (that is, problem-focused vs. emotion-focused).
Social Determinants of Residential Crowding Stress
Authors: Aiello John R. , Baum Andrew , Gormley Frances P.
Published: March 2007

The present investigation was concerned with the effects of group formation on crowding and related problems. It was predicted that the symptoms of interpersonal stress commonly associated with crowding are mediated by group formation. Residents completed a survey concerned with their experiences in their dormitories, as well as their adjustments to college life. The results of this study provided evidence of greater social tension, negative affect, control problems, and crowding in triple rooms than in double rooms. They also support the notion that these symptoms of interpersonal stress are mediated by group formation within tripled rooms. Isolates, left out by a coalition of the other two roommates, were more vulnerable to crowding and experienced more control related problems. In addition, women reported the greatest degree of crowding in all residential conditions. It is suggested that since women spend more time in their residential environment and share more involvement with their roommates, they are more susceptible to interpersonal stresses related to crowding.
Egocentrism as a Source of Unrealistic Optimism
Authors: Weinstein Neil D. , Lachendro Elizabeth
Published: March 2007

People tend to expect misfortunes to happen to others, not to themselves. College students (n = 76) who compared their own chances of experiencing 6 negative events with the chances of their classmates were optimistically biased (p < .001). Treatments were designed to manipulate 2 cognitive. factors-lack of information about others' risk-reducing factors and failure to think carefully about others-that might cause these biases. The Information treatment. forced subjects to think about others by providing detailed information about 5 other students. The Perspective treatment used a role-playing procedure to, force subjects to think about another student, but did not provide actual information. When repeating their comparative risk judgments for the same events, both Information and Perspective groups were significantly less optimistic than a control condition, but they did not differ from one another. The results support the hypothesis that egocentrism contributes to unrealistic optimism. They, suggest that optimistic biases do not result so much from a lack of information about other people as from a failure to think carefully about others' circumstances.
Causal Attributions for Student Performance
Authors: Muneno Ronald , Dembo Myron H.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study, was to determine whether differences in conceptual complexity are related to the tendency of preservice teachers to make ego-defensive attributions for student performance under success or failure conditions. It was hypothesized that concrete individuals would make more ego-defensive attributions than abstract individuals and abstract individuals would make more nondefensive attributions than concrete individuals. The data support the hypotheses only for attributions regarding student ability and motivation.
Cognitive Bases of Stereotyping
Authors: Taylor Shelley E. , Falcone Hsiao-Ti
Published: March 2007

Subjects observed a slide and tape presentation of a political discussion group involving three men and three women. They then rated all speakers on measures of competence and completed a recall task matching up which speaker had said what. Subjects evidenced substantial prejudice toward female speakers relative to males. They also made substantial within-sex recall errors but relatively few cross-sex errors, indicating the u were organizing incoming information according to sex of the speaker; this strategy was more evident in sex-typed than androgynous individuals. However, recall errors and prejudice effects were uncorrelated, suggesting that the cognitive and affective components of stereotyping are relatively autonomous. A simple categorization model of stereotyping is challenged by these results.
Physical Distinctiveness and Self-Attribution
Authors: McArthur Leslie Zebrowitz
Published: March 2007

The relationship between physical distinctiveness and causal attribution was assessed by' asking those high and low in self-reported distinctiveness to make causal attributions for hypothetical events. Compared with subjects low in physical distinctiveness, those who were highly distinctive made significantly stronger self-attributions for neutral events and for negative events involving a social interaction, and significantly weaker self-attributions for positive events of a nonsocial nature. Physical distinctiveness had no impact on attributions for nonsocial negative events. These findings, together with other relevant evidence, suggest that physical distinctiveness strengthens self-attributions for social interactions, but not for nonsocial events.
Sex-Relevance of Content and Influenceability
Authors: Karabenick Stuart A.
Published: March 2007

Previous studies of conformity as a function of the sex-relevance of task content were criticized for not including appropriate control conditions. Experiment I used the original Sistrunk and McDavid questionnaire and obtained results suggesting that knowledge differences might have produced the effects they ascribed to conformity. In Experiment 2 a contemporary questionnaire was devised to assess the degree of conformity with a design that controlled for knowledge differences. Persons (266 males and 285 females) responded to statements that were either accompanied by a fictitious majority response or not. There was no overall sex difference in degree of conformity to the majority response. Rather, influence varied with item content: Males were influenced more with feminine, females more with masculine content. However, moderating content effects were relatively small compared with the majority influence across all content. Knowledge control conditions were suggested for studies of content effects in social influence settings.
An Acultural Perspective on Experimental Social Psychology
Authors: Sell Jane , Martin Michael W.
Published: March 2007

It has been argued that experimental social psychology is the study of industrialized societies. If this is the case, it appears that cross-cultural theories cannot be advanced experimentally. Contrary to this, we argue that experimental social psychology is not the study of industrialized societies or any actual society. It is because experiments do not investigate any single given society that they can help advance cross-cultural theories.
Expectancies about Control Over Health
Authors: Wallston Kenneth A. , Smith Roberta A. , King Joan E. , Forsberg Patricia R. , Wallston Barbara Strudler , Nagy Vivian Tong
Published: March 2007

Data from four studies of adults are used to address the relationship between expectancies for control of one's health (an outcome) and preference for control of health care (a process). The former is operationalized by the use of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Scales; the latter by the B and I subscales of the Krantz Health Opinion Survey (KHOS). Descriptive data from the four studies are presented. Significant correlations exist between the B subscale and the PHLC and IHLC scales. Factor analysis of datafrom three of the studies reveals that, along with selected items from other scales, all of the items from both the PHLC scale and the B subscale load on the first factor. Both theoretical and methodological reasons for these findings are discussed.
The Foot-in-the-Door Paradigm
Authors: Schwarzwald Joseph , Bizman Aharon , Raz Moshe
Published: March 2007

This study examines the impact of second requests on the percentage of donors and on donation size. In the initial stage of the study, half of the subjects were asked to sign a petition for the establishment of a social club for the handicapped. The second stage was conducted on the National Collection Day for the Rehabilitation of the Mentally Handicapped. Petition signers were asked to donate either an amount of money of their own discretion or a predetermined amount (£40,50, or 60) requested by the canvasser. While the foot-in-the-door paradigm alone enhanced the percentage of donors, the present study indicates that donation size can also be elevated by requesting specified amounts.
Imbalanced Sex Ratios
Authors: Secord Paul F.
Published: March 2007

Imbalanced population sex ratios dramatically influence gender roles, shape relationships between them, and produce changes in family structures. This report briefly sketches these findings and, by means of social exchange theory, spells out the linkage between this demographic condition and its social consequences.
Reactions to Unexpected Events
Authors: Clary E. Gil , Tesser Abraham
Published: March 2007

The present investigation sought to examine the differential effects of expected versus unexpected information on interpretive activity. It was predicted that expected information would involve an automatic mode of processing, while unexpected information would prompt a more controlled mode. More specifically, we examined the proposition that unexpected or inconsistent information would lead to attempts at generating explanations for the discrepancy, and that the resulting explanations would tend toward maintaining the original expectation. Subjects were exposed to a general description of an actor, and then received additional information consistent or inconsistent with that description; the strength of or confidence in the original expectation was also varied. The primary experimental task involved subjects retelling these stories. The data revealed that, relative to processing consistent information, subjects tended to provide explanations spontaneously for the unexpected events. These findings were discussed in terms of unexpected events producing greater observer involvement, which in turn increases the likelihood of interpretive activity.
Emotional Response Patterns to Body Weight-Related Cues
Authors: DelRosario Marlene W. , Brines Joey L. , Coleman Warren R.
Published: March 2007

75 female University students were given either a body weight related questionnaire (QJ) or a control questionnaire (Q2) prior to taking the California Test of Personality (CTP), a measure of emotional adjustment. Overweight body image women given QJ had significantly lower emotional adjustment scores p < .01) regardless of actual body weight than all others. Women with normal images had higher CTP scores (p < .01). Women given Q2 had equivalent scores regardless of body weight or image. The study experimentally demonstrated that females emotionally respond to stimuli that focus attention on body weight, and the direction of their responses depends on body weight image.
Ego-Involvement and Attributions for Success and Failure in a Field Setting
Authors: Riess Marc , Taylor Jim
Published: March 2007

To test directly cognitive and motivational explanations of self-serving biases in the field, 141 male and 116 female alpine ski racers provided attributions for their performance in competitions varying in rank on a 5-level hierarchy developed by the United States Ski Association. This hierarchy, which reflects the importance of races, functioned as a naturally-occurring manipulation of ego-involvement. Results supported the cognitive rather than the motivational explanation of divergent attributions for success versus failure. Racers made more internal attributions (to ability and effort) when they did well rather than poorly, but their ego-involvement in the race had no effects on their attributions. Consistent with previous field research, external attributions (to task difficulty and luck) were not affected by performance outcome.
Self-Focus, Helping Request Salience, Felt Responsibility, and Helping Behavior
Authors: Mayer F. Stephan , Duval Shelley , Holtz Rolf , Bowman Craig
Published: March 2007

The present study represents a further investigation of the apparently complex relationship between self-focus and helping behavior. We propose that the relationship between self-focus and helping is mediated by felt responsibility. Increasing self-focus will increase helping behavior provided that it also leads to increased felt responsibility for the distressed other. We also suggest that salience of the helping request, in part, determines whether or not increased self-focus leads to increased felt responsibility and, thus, helping. Specifically, we predicted that under conditions of high helping request salience, increasing self-focus should lead to increased felt responsibility for the welfare of the distressed other and, thus, willingness to help. Under conditions of low helping request salience, increasing self-focus should not lead to increased felt responsibility or helping. The data supported our predictions. Implications of these findings for recent research (Rogers, Miller, Mayer, & Duval, 1982; Gibbons & Wicklund, 1982; Duval, Duval, & Neely, 1979; Wegner & Schaefer, 1978) relating self-focus to helping is also discussed.
The Essential Elements of Communication in the GRIT Strategy
Authors: Lindskold Svenn , Han Gyuseog , Betz Brian
Published: March 2007

Two experiments were carried out to evaluate the components of the GRIT strategy for promoting cooperation in mixed-motive conflict. A modified Prisoner's Dilemma game was used. In the first experiment, the presence or absence of an opening general announcement of intention was crossed, in a 2 by 2 design, with the presence or absence of specific announcements of individual acts. The results indicated that the general announcement was both necessary and sufficient, whereas the specific messages were ineffective. In the second experiment, the results indicated that subjects responded more cooperatively to the conciliatory initiatives of the simulated other when the general announcement included an invitation to work together toward a common objective. The effect was not considered strong, however. The GRIT recommendations to include specific announcements of individual acts and an invitation to join in conciliation may have greater usefulness in more complex social interactions.
Interpersonal Information Acquisition and Confidence in First Encounters
Authors: Leary Mark R. , Kowalski Robin M. , Bergen David J.
Published: March 2007

This experiment tested the hypothesis that people's social difficulties in an initial interaction are lowered by instructions to `find out as much as you can about the other person. " Sixty-four pairs of strangers interacted after one of them had been told to learn as much as possible about the other person or had not received information-seeking instructions. As predicted, directing subjects to seek inter-personal information reduced apprehension, insecurity, and awkwardness, not only for the subjects who received the instructions but also for their partners. The instructions also affected subjects' perceptions of their conversation partners. However, few obvious behavioral effects of the manipulation were obtained. The data suggest that the provision of an information-seeking script is sufficient to reduce social concerns, independent of its effects on social behavior or information exchange.
A Note on Assessing Stereotypes
Authors: Eagly Alice H. , Steffen Valerie J.
Published: March 2007

Stereotypes of women and men who varied in their occupations were assessed by obtaining (a) judgments of prototypical individuals on trait-rating scales or (b) estimates of the percentage of group members who possess each trait. The absence of significant interactions between the method of assessing stereotypes and the sex or occupation of the target stimuli suggests that these two methods of stereotype measurement can be used interchangeably.
Self-Referencing
Authors: Burnkrant Robert E. , Unnava H. Rao
Published: March 2007

The tendency of subjects to employ a self-referencing strategy when processing messages was manipulated by varying message writing style. Recall of message content was higher in the high self-referencing than the low self-referencing condition. Self-referencing was also found to produce attitude and cognitive response effects similar to effects obtained in other research that employed involvement inductions. When self-referencing and argument strength were manipulated in a factorial design, it was found that arguments had a greater impact on attitude and cognitive responses under high self-referencing than under low self-referencing.
Artifacts Can Replicate
Authors: Bissonnette Victor , Bernstein Ira H.
Published: March 2007

Consistent with Burnkrant and Page (1984), Piliavin and Charng (1988) support the view that Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss's (1975) Self-Consciousness Scale actually measures four different traits, rather than the three traits proposed by the original authors. The current aulhors note that they ignore important statistical problems in reaching this conclusion and suggest that their factor-analytic results reflect the same problems that Bernstein, Teng, and Garbin (1986) point out in Burnkrant and Page's (1984) analysis. A simple BASIC computer program is presented that illustrates these points. The authors acknowledge a possible basis for separating "internal state awareness" and "self-reflectiveness" using other evidence, but they further note that this evidence is relatively weak. They conclude by noting a philiosophical problem in proliferating narrowly defined "miniscales. "
Cross-Racial Appraisal as Related to Attitude Ambivalence and Cognitive Complexity
Authors: Hass R. Glen , Katz Irwin , Rizzo Nina , Bailey Joan , Eisenstadt Donna
Published: March 2007

Previous research has suggested that Whites' evaluations of Blacks who are presented positively or negatively tend to be more extreme than evaluations of similar White targets. In Study 1, White subjects rated a Black or White confederate who was responsible for success or failure at a joint task. There was a clear cross-race polarization of evaluations. Study 2 tested two possible explanations of the polarization phenomenon-the authors' ambivalence formulation and Linville and Jones's cognitive complexity hypothesis. As hypothesized, ambivalence was directly related to favorability of impression ratings in the success condition. In the failure condition, the correlation was in the predicted inverse direction but was not significant. The difference between the two correlations, as expected, was significant. No support was obtained for the cognitive complexity hypothesis. Rather, in the failure condition complexity was directly related to the unfavorability of ratings, contrary to the hypothesis.
The Quality and Credibility of Research Reviews: What the Editors Say
Authors: Becker BetsyJane
Published: March 2007

This research examines the comments on research reviews of a group of editors of journals that focus on summaries and integrations of theoretical and empirical research in education and psychology. The issues that review editors find important in review manuscripts coincide with their beliefs about what makes reviews credible. Editors value clarity in all aspects of the research review and believe that the use of scholarly and replicable methods for summarizing primary research promotes the credibility of reviews. These same issues have also been identified as important in the evaluation of reports of primary research and are mentioned in the literature on methods for research reviews.
Need for Cognition, Causal Processing, and Memory for Behavior
Authors: Lassiter G. Daniel , Briggs Michael A. , Slaw R. David
Published: March 2007

Previous research by Srull, Lichtenstein, and Rothbart has shown that individuals high in the need for cognition exhibit better recall for a target person's behaviors than individuals low in the need for cognition, particularly when those behaviors are inconsistent with an initial impression of the person. The present authors argue that this pattern of results is due in part to the fact that high- (relative to low-) need-for-cognition individuals are likely to engage in more extensive causal processing. Study I directly tested and supported the proposition that a higher need for cognition is indeed associated with a tendency toward greater explanatory thinking. Study 2 replicated this finding as well as the pattern of recall results reported by Srull and colleagues. Most important, a path analysis indicated, as hypothesized, that recall performance was mediated in part by amount of explanatory thinking. Implications of these data for research on need for cognition, attribution, and person memory are discussed.
The Nature of Conceptual Similarity Schemata: Examination of Some Basic Assumptions
Authors: Kozlowski Steve W. J. , Mongillo MaryBeth
Published: March 2007

The systematic distortion hypothesis and related formulations, such as implicit personality, illusory correlation, and stereotyping, posit bias in patterns of rating covariation that parallel raters' implicit conceptual similarity (CS) schemata. Support for these distortion processes has been construed as substantiating strong assumptions about the nature of CS schemata. It has been asserted (a) that CS is a normative schema and (b) that the CS schema is not reflective of true covariation. Recent research examining distortion processes in the domain of behavior-based performance ratings has identified boundary conditions that challenge the strong assumptions. CS schemata are conceptualized as (a) varying over individuals and (b) sensitive to true behavioral covariation. The present research examined these sets of assumptions using naturally occurring observation and actual behavioral covariation. Study I concluded that the moderate consensus evidenced in the structure of CS schemata indicated that CS was an individual-level not normative, attribute. Study 2 concluded that the relationship shown between conceptual domain knowledge and CS-true score covariation indicated that CS schemata are sensitive to observed behavioral covariation. Implications for rater judgment are discussed.
Effects of Perceived Extrinsic Versus Intrinsic Teacher Motivation on Student Reactions to Skill Acquisition
Authors: Wild T. Cameron , Enzle Michael E. , Hawkins Wendy L.
Published: March 2007

Musically naive students were taught a piano lesson. In a paid teaching condition, the teacher was portrayed as being extrinsically motivated by a $25 payment. In a second condition, the teacher was portrayed as an intrinsically motivated volunteer The confederate teacher was blind to conditions and gave the same standardized lesson to all students. Students in the volunteer condition perceived the teacher as exhibiting greater enjoy-mast, enthusiasm, and innovation relative to those in the paid condition hey also enjoyed the lesson more, reported a more positive mood, and were more interested in further learning. During a free-play interval, students in the volunteer condition exhibited greater exploratory activity than those in the paid condition
Consensus in Initial Impressions as a Function of Verbal Information
Authors: Park Bernadette , Kraus Sue
Published: March 2007

Past research has found higher levels of agreement in personality ratings of others on traits related to extroversion than on other traits such as intelligence, honesty, or conscientiousness, particularly at low levels of acquaintance. One explanation for this effect is that verbal information relevant to these latter traits is less likely to be elicited in initial get-acquainted interactions. Providing such information should increase agreement. The present data suggest this is not the case. Agreement was equally low on these difficult-to-judge dimensions whether more or less relevant information was provided. The authors argue that because these traits are highly socially desirable, nonverbal information about the negative pole of the trait dimension is needed to make a confident judgment. Because such information is not available during initial encounters, simply increasing the quantity of relevant verbal information does not improve consensus.
Reconstructing Social Identity
Authors: Deaux Kay
Published: March 2007

As a concept with a tradition in both social and personality psychology, identity lends itself to a variety of interpretations. In the present analysis, identity refers to social categories in which an individual claims membership as well as the personal meaning associated with those categories. Four key issues for research are discussed: (a) the structure and interrelationships among multiple identities, (b) the several functions that identities serve, (c) the importance of context to the development and enactment of identities, and (d) the need for longitudinal studies of identity change.
An Analysis and Restructuring of the Diamond Model of Social Response
Authors: Nail Paul R. , Van Leeuwen Marilyn D.
Published: March 2007

Five descriptive models of social response are review, with emphasis on Willis's bidimensional diamond model. Even though the diamond model has never been widely accepted or used, it has advantages over alternative models, both in its conceptual sophistication and in its practical utility. Conceptually, the diamond model is actually a family of models, and this family includes the two most popular unidimensional models. Practically, the diamond model provides a clear-cut means of distinguishing between independence and anticonformity. One problem with Willis's original presentation of the model is considered, and its resolution provides the foundation for a restructured version of the model. The authors conclude that the diamond model has several of the characteristics general considered desirable for scientific theories and that it should be reevaluated by social influence researchers.
When Instructions to Forget Become Instructions to Remember
Authors: Golding Jonathan M. , Hauselt Jerry
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the effect of situational context (i.e., pragmatics) on instructions to forget. Confederates presented behaviors of an experimenter (who was not present) to subjects. All subjects received a set of evaluatively positive behaviors, and some subjects received an evaluatively negative set. Some subjects receiving negative behaviors were instructed to forget them because they should not have been mentioned or were incorrect. Despite the forget instruction, subjects' impression judgments of the experimenter were affected by the to-be-forgotten behaviors. Moreover, the form of the forget instruction affected judgments: Negative behaviors that should not have been mentioned were used more than negative behaviors that were incorrect. The form of the forget instruction, however, did not affect recall of the negative behaviors. The implications of these results for instructions to forget in different communicative situations are discussed.
When We Observe Stigmatized and "Normal" Individuals Interacting: Stigma by Association
Authors: Neuberg Steven L. , Smith Dylan M. , Hoffman Jonna C. , Russell Frank J.
Published: March 2007

The stigmatization process might differ as a function of whether "marked" individuals are viewed within a context of other marked individuals or in the context of positively viewed "normals. "Several alternative impression outcomes seem plausible the destigmatization by association of marked individuals, the stigmatization by association of normal individuals, a contrast effect, or no influence of context. Two experiments produced evidence only for stigma-by-association effects-heterosexual male targets were denigrated when viewed with their homosexual friends. Moreover, this effect survived attempts both to make the heterosexual target similar to the subjects and to present him as an individual of high achieved status. More generally, these data highlight the risk of researching social cognitive phenomena within circumscribed social contexts: Crucial naturally occurring processes are too easily overlooked.
Long-Distance Romantic Relationships: Sex Differences in Adjustment and Breakup
Authors: Helgeson Vicki S.
Published: March 2007

Research has shown that marriage is more beneficial for men than women and that men suffer more distress than women on marital dissolution. To explore the extent to which these findings generalize to nonmarital relationships, college students in long-distance dating relationships were followed over one semester to determine sex differences in adjustment to physical separation and breakup. Breakups increased men's distress but decreased women's. Women adjusted better than men to both physical separation and breakup. Frequency of contact prior to separation did not show a consistent pattern of effects on adjustment. Men, but not women, adjusted better to breakup if they had initiated it. The most distressed subjects were men whose partners initiated the breakup, most likely because they were less prepared for it. Many of the sex differences found here for dating relationships parallel those found in marriage.
Effects of Constraint Identification, Processing Mode, Expectancies, and Intragroup Variability on Attributions toward Group Members
Authors: McHoskey John W. , Miller Arthur G.
Published: March 2007

Several hypotheses were investigated in relation to the group correspondence bias (GCB), an observer tendency to make correspondent attributions based on a contextually constrained group decision. It was predicted that processing mode (i.e., heuristic vs. systematic) would moderate observers' identification of constraint information and that the identification of constraint would, in turn, mediate the GCB. In addition, participants were provided with an expectancy about the target group, and it was expected that this information would place boundary conditions on the GCB. These predictions received strong support. The results also indicate that intragroup variability moderates the impact of expectancies on the GCB. More-over, observers generalized their attributions based on a constrained group decision, indicating that the GCB may have a widespread impact on the perceived character of individual group members.
Collective Self-Esteem and Psychological Well-Being among White, Black, and Asian College Students
Authors: Crocker Jennifer , Luhtanen Riia , Blaine Bruce , Broadnax Stephanie
Published: March 2007

A total of 91 Black, 96 White, and 35 Asian college students completed the Collective Self-Esteem Scale (CSES), as well as measures of psychological well-being (personal self-esteem, life satisfaction, depression, and hopelessness). Correlations between the Public and Private subscales of the CSES were near zero for Blacks, moderate for Whites, and strong for Asians. The membership and private subscales of the general CSES were related to psychological well-being, even when the effects of personal self-esteem on well-being were partialed out. However, when the three groups were examined separately, the relation of CSE to well-being with personal self-esteem partialed out was nonsignificant for Whites, small for Blacks, and moderate to strong for Asians. General and race-specific CSE were correlated for all three groups, although the correlations were strongest for Asians. Implications for symbolic interactionist views of the self-concept, for formulations of mental health, and for methodological issues concerning the CSES are discussed.
Evidence of a Terror Management Function of Cultural Icons: The Effects of Mortality Salience on the Inappropriate Use of Cherished Cultural Symbols
Authors: Greenberg Jeff , Porteus Jonathan , Simon Linda , Pyszczynski Tom , Solomon Sheldon
Published: March 2007

Based on the terror management notion that cultural icons are part of a system that provides protection from fears about one's mortality, it was hypothesized that reminding subjects of their mortality would make it more difficult for them to use cultural icons in an inappropriate way. Subjects responded to questions about either their own mortality or television, and then participated in two problem-solving tasks involving the culturally inappropriate use of cultural icons (a flag and crucifix) or the use of neutral objects. Although mortality salience did not affect actual use of the objects, it did increase the amount of time required to solve the problems, the number of alternative solutions generated, and the extent to which subjects expressed reluctance to use the icons. Mortality salience also increased subjects' reports of task difficulty and tension when the optimal solutions of the problems required inappropriate use of the cultural icons.
Why Smiles Generate Leniency
Authors: LaFrance Marianne , Hecht Marvin A.
Published: March 2007

The authors investigated the social significance of human smiles, specifically the penchant for transgressors who smile to be judged more leniently than those who do not. Of particular interest was whether different types of smiles generate different degrees of leniency and what mediated the effect. Subjects judged a case of possible academic misconduct. Materials included a photograph of a female target displaying a neutral expression, felt smile, false smile, or miserable smile. Smiling targets received more leniency than nonsmiling targets, although they were not seen as less guilty. The type of smile did not significantly moderate the amount of leniency shown. Of the variables evaluated for mediating the smile-leniency effect, such as perceiving the target as more likable, submissive, or diplomatic, the one that best accounted for the effect was perceiving the target as a trustworthy person. The implication seems to be—if in trouble, smile.
Affective States and the Influence of Activated General Knowledge
Authors: Bless Herbert , Fiedler Klaus
Published: March 2007

Two studies examined the impact of information activation on individuals in different mood states. In Experiment 1, happy, neutral, or sad subjects judged whether certain attributes (behaviors or traits) apply to a particular target. Prior trait judgments decreased the time for judging behaviors exemplifying the trait, particularly for happy but not for sad subjects. In Experiment 2, happy or sad subjects indicated whether the same or a semantically related stimulus had already been presented. Sad subjects responded relatively faster than happy subjects after corresponding information had previously been activated. Additional analyses reveal that both patterns are not due to different response tendencies. The results suggest that happy mood supports judgmental inferences based on general knowledge structures, whereas sad mood facilitates the conservation of information.
Testing the Rusbult Model of Relationship Commitment and Stability in a 15-Year Study of Heterosexual Couples
Authors: Bui Khanh-Van T. , Peplau Letitia Anne , Hill Charles T.
Published: March 2007

This study tested Rusbult's investment model of relationship commitment and stability using data from both partners of 167 heterosexual couples studied from 1972 to 1987. Multiple regression analyses generally confirmed predictions that rewards and costs account for a significant proportion of the variance in satisfaction and that satisfaction, investments, and quality of alternatives together account for a significant proportion of the variance in commitment. Evidence about the hypothesized mediational role of subjective commitment in predicting the duration of relationships was mixed. Path analyses showed that Rusbult's model provided an adequate fit to the data and that the associations among variables were similar for men and women. The model successfully predicted relationship duration over a 15-year period. Limitations of the model and directions for future research are considered.
Reflection and Distraction Defensive Pessimism, Strategic Optimism, and Performance
Authors: Spencer Stacie M. , Norem Julie K.
Published: March 2007

This research concerns the interaction between performance strategies and imagery conditions. Defensive pessimists (DPs, who set low expectations, feel anxious, and rehearse possible outcomes) and strategic optimists (OPTs, who set high expectations, feel calm, and avoid reflecting) were randomly assigned to three conditions: a coping imagery condition (imagining correcting mistakes), a mastery imagery condition (imagining a flawless performance), or a relaxation condition (relaxation imagery). DPs performed better in the coping imagery condition, which was similar to their typical strategy, than in the relaxation condition, which was hypothesized to interfere with their performance. The opposite was true for OPTs. Both groups performed worst in the mastery imagery condition. Discussion highlights the importance of both reflective process and thought content and the costs and benefits of each strategy.
Appraisal, Coping, Task Performance, and Cardiovascular Responses During the Evaluated Speaking Task
Authors: Baggett H. Lane , Saab Patrice G. , Carver Charles S.
Published: March 2007

Appraisal, coping task performance, and cardiovascular responses were examined among men high and low in speech anxiety who prepared and performed a speech under evaluative conditions. Task appraisals were made before and after the evaluated speaking task; subjects also reported on coping reactions during preparation and performance. Speech-anxious men saw the task as more threatening: They were more stressed, anxious, distracted, and aware of their emotions, and focused on the passage of time; they also reported fewer positive self-statements. In presenting, they made less eye contact and performed more poorly. Performance was related to several appraisal and coping variables-notably, positive self-statements. Cardiovascular arousal was elevated in both groups during preparation and presentation, but the groups did not differ in blood pressure and heart rate responses. Discussion centers on implications of the findings for literatures on reactivity, anxiety, and coping.
The Language of Love: The Difference a Preposition Makes
Authors: Meyers Sarah A. , Berscheid Ellen
Published: March 2007

The terms love and in love are often used in common discourse. A social categorical approach, whereby the actual members of an individual's social categories are examined, was used to investigate the differential meaning of these terms. It was hypothesized that (a) the membership of the love category would be larger than that of the in love category; (b) the membership of the in love category would be encapsulated within the love category membership, indicating that love is the higher order generic term; (c) that the membership of the in love category, but not the love category, would be encapsulated within a sexual attraction/desire category membership; (d) although these effects would be observed for both men and women, certain gender differences would be observed. All hypotheses were confirmed. The implications of these findings for a taxonomy of love as well as for understanding and predicting love phenomena are discussed.