bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Convergent Evidence for the Self as a Prototype
Authors: Kuiper Nicholas A.
Published: March 2007

The present research investigated how the self when viewed as a cognitive prototype, is implicated in the processing of personal information about oneself and others. Fourteen subjects made dichotomous (Yes/No) self-referent (Describes You?) and unknown other-referent (Describes Experimenter?) ratings of personal adjectives (e.g., energetic, prudent) in a situation permitting collection of rating times. For the self-referent task, adjectives which were independently assessed on a 9-point self-rating scale as being extremely like or unlike the self had significantly faster rating times than adjectives which were only moderately prototypical or self-descriptive. This prototypical "inverted-U R T effect" emerged when rating times for judgments about an unknown other were idiographically sorted according to their degree of self-reference for each subject. These findings provided convergent evidence for the self as prototype model. In addition, they also suggest that the self-prototype may serve an embellishing function when the amount of information known about another is minimal.
Preference for Similarity in Higher and Lower Status Others
Authors: Karuza Jurgis , Brickman Philip
Published: March 2007

In interactions between lower and higher status individuals, higher status subjects preferred lower status others who had dissimilar patterns of performance, while lower status subjects preferred higher status others who had similar patterns of performance.
Risk-Taking, Justifiability, Recklessness, and Responsibility
Authors: Melburg Valerie , Tedeschi James T.
Published: March 2007

The role of risk and justification in perceptions of recklessness and attributions of responsibility and blame were examined in a 2 x 2factorial design. Subjects read a scenario in which an ambulance driver struck a child while speeding or driving slowly to the hospital with a patient who had suffered either a broken leg or a heart attack. The driver who was speeding for insufficient justification was considered more reckless, blameworthy, and deserving of punishment than was the driver in the other three conditions. Recklessness, responsibility, blame, and support of punishment were positively correlated with one another, and all of these variables were correlated negatively with perceived justification.
Repression-Sensitization and Socioeconomic Level
Authors: Rofé Yacov , Lewin Isaac
Published: March 2007

This study, examined the relationship among socioeconomic level, ethnic origin, and repression-sensitization (R-S). Subjects were women who filled out the R-S scale one day after childbirth. Socioeconomic level was determined by three indices: level of education, the woman's occupation, and her husband's occupation. Results showed that subjects of higher socioeconomic level and subjects of European origin scored lower on the R-S scale (tended more toward the repressive pole) than subjects of lower socioeconomic level and subjects of Afro-Asian origin, respectively. These differences between the two ethnic groups ceased to be significant when the effects of socioeconomic level were partialed out. In line with previous findings, it is suggested that the specific stress conditions induced by middle-class parents facilitate the development of repressive personality type.
External Pressure to Comply
Authors: DeJong William , Musilli Lisa
Published: March 2007

Subjects were approached with a small, initial request made door-to-door by a female experimenter who appeared to be either nonhandicapped or disabled. Half of the subjects in each case were asked to answer questions for an organization called Friends of the Handicapped, while the others were told the experimenter represented Friends of the Environment. Two days later, subjects were called on the telephone by a second experimenter and asked to participate in a larger survey for a different organization. A foot-in-the-door effect was obtained for three of the four experimental conditions. Only for the handicapped experimenter/Friends of the Environment condition did the rate of compliance with the second request not differ from that of a no-initial-contact control group. These results are discussed in terms of the self-perception explanation of the foot-in-the-door effect.
When Information Fails
Authors: Klein Kitty , Harris Bruce , Michie Charlotte
Published: March 2007

We exposed 72 subjects to 23 95d BA unpredictable noise bursts, and assigned them to one of four experimental conditions: full information-perceived control, standard information-perceived control, full information-no control, and standard information-no control. All subjects completed arithmetic problems during the noise exposure and attempted Feather's (1961) line puzzles after hearing the noise. Contrary to predictions, the data revealed that subjects given full information about the experimental procedures experienced more frustration than subjects given standard information. The control manipulation decreased frustration only for subjects given full information. Possible explanations to account for the present findings are discussed.
Eyewitness Identifications
Authors: Maass Anne , Brigham John C.
Published: March 2007

The effect of encoding specificity, attention-sharing, and identification paradigm (live-photo or photo-photo) on accuracy official recognition was investigated in a factorial design. High encoding specificity and high attention to the face led to more accurate recognition; there was also a borderline tendency for recognition to be higher in the photo-photo paradigm. Implications of these findings for the external validity of eyewitness identification studies are discussed.
Sex Differences in Self-Confidence
Authors: Lenney Ellen , Gold Joel
Published: March 2007

Previous investigators have suggested that situation variables play little role in moderating sex differences in self-confidence. The validity of this suggestion is assessed in an experiment testing the effects of social comparison and task completion upon sex differences. Either before or after taking a test, undergraduates estimated their own scores (noncomparative self-evaluation) and/or compared their scores to that of a competent peer group (comparative self-evaluation). As predicted, task completion affected subjects' noncomparative more than their comparative self-evaluations. Further, social comparison affected women more adversely than men, indicating that this situation variable does moderate sex differences: First, the sex difference in comparative self-evaluation was greater than that in noncomparative self-evaluation. Also, women's actual performances were lower than men's only when comparative self-evaluations preceded the test.
Deposition Testimony and the Surrogate Witness
Authors: Kassin Saul M.
Published: March 2007

The present study tested the hypothesis that jurors' impressions of an absentee witness and his or her testimony are biased by the -individual who reads the deposition. A total of 88 undergraduates watched a videotape of testimony in which the respondent, presented as either the actual witness or a surrogate reader, displayed either a positive or negative demeanor. Results showed that the demeanor of the reader (an irrelevant cue), as well as the witness (a relevant cue), affected subjects' verdicts and perceptions of testimonial credibility. These findings illustrate a bias in social perception and persuasion that can be termed a "messenger effect." The implications for the increased use of videotaped depositions in the courtroom are discussed.
Validating Objective Versus Subjective Judgments
Authors: Olson James M. , Ellis Robert J. , Zanna Mark P.
Published: March 2007

Perceivers' interest in social comparison and consistency information for assessing the accuracy of a personal judgment was investigated. Prior to their judging a photograph of a woman, male subjects' perceptions of the causal locus of beauty were manipulated. Subjects were told they would rate the woman again and were asked how interested they were before making their second judgment in seeing (a) additional photographs of the woman (consistency information) and (b) other male subjects' ratings of the woman's attractiveness (consensus or social comparison information). Subjects expressed greater interest in consistency than consensus information. Subjects were more interested in consensus information when they saw beauty as objective than when they saw beauty as subjective. Implications of these results for social comparison theory are discussed.
Self-Esteem
Authors: Niebuhr Robert E. , Davis Kermit R.
Published: March 2007

A field study of 127 engineering personnel found significant relationships between subordinate self-esteem and both instrumental and supportive leader behavior perceptions. Moderated regression analysis revealed that the duration of the superior-subordinate dyad association strongly influenced the relationship between the two variables under study, suggesting that relationship duration should be considered in leadership perception/attribution studies.
Romantic Mood Induction and Attraction to a Dissimilar Other
Authors: Gold Joel A. , Ryckman Richard M. , Mosley Norman R.
Published: March 2007

The present experiments examined the effects of a romantic mood induction on male subjects' attraction to an attitudinally dissimilar female. It was hypothesized and found that male subjects exposed to a romantic mood induction with such a female showed greater attraction to her on measures of liking, love, and limerence than control subjects who were not exposed to the romantic mood manipulation. Romantic mood induction subjects also perceived the dissimilar female as more similar to themselves than did control subjects.
Perceptions of Firmness and Strength in Negotiation
Authors: McGillicuddy Neil B. , Pruitt Dean G. , Syna Helena
Published: March 2007

Subjects first observed a pair of negotiations between two confederates of the same sex, and then negotiated with one of these confederates. Those who had observed their opponent follow a matching strategy conceded more than those who had observed their opponent follow either a tough or soft strategy. Confederates using a matching strategy were rated as stronger than those using a soft strategy and fairer than those using a tough strategy. These results support an attributional explanation for a previous finding that use of a matching strategy tends to encourage concessions from an adversary. Other results suggest that observers of negotiation view the parties they are observing as contrasting in strength and fairness.
The Sex-Role Attitudes of Three Generations of Women
Authors: Dambrot Faye H. , Papp Mary E. , Whitmore Cheryl
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the attitudes toward women held by three generations of 43 females college students, their mothers, and their maternal grandmothers. Attitude was assessed by the 55-item Attitude Toward Women Scale (A WS) (Spence & Helmreich, 1972). Students were the most liberal in their attitudes and grandmothers were the most conservative, with the attitudes of the mothers in the middle reflecting slightly more conservative attitudes than the students. Significant familial relationships were found between student-mother and mother-grandmother A WS scores, whereas the A WS scores of students and grandmothers were not related. Age and education predicted A WS scores, accounting for 30%0 of the variance for the total sample. Age was negatively related, and educational level positively related to liberal attitudes.
Asking Questions in Bars
Authors: Sprecher Susan , DeLamater John , Neuman Nancy , Neuman Michael , Kahn Pam , Orbuch David , McKinney Kathleen
Published: March 2007

Pennebaker, Dyer, Caulkins, Litowitz, Ackreman, & Anderson (1979) found support for the hypothesis, based on Gilley's (1975) country and western hit, that "all the girls get prettier at closing time, they all get to look like movie stars. " A retest of this country and western hypothesis, and tests of additional hypotheses were conducted using bars in Madison, Wisconsin as a natural laboratory. The results indicated little support for the hypothesis that the opposite sex becomes more attractive as closing time approaches. Rather, the overall results suggest that physical attractiveness ratings decline as bar closing time approaches, especially in the ratings women give to men. An alternative explanation, offered by Pennebaker et alt, that alcohol consumption (rather than the passage of time) affects physical attractiveness ratings was also not supported in this study. The hypothesis that interest in meeting the opposite sex affects how physically attractive the opposite sex are perceived to be was supported for women. Finally, it was also found that men reported more interest than women in meeting members of the opposite sex.
The Type A Behavior Pattern and Attributions for Success and Failure
Authors: Musante Linda , MacDougall James M. , Dembroski Theodore M.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the relationship between the Type A behavior pattern, as defined by both the Structured Interview and the Jenkins Activity Survey, to attributions for success and failure on a challenging performance task. Results revealed that JAS-defined Type A's and Type B's did not differ in their attributions for success, but Type A's made more internal attributions for failure than did Type Bs. This attributional difference was due to the Type A's tendency to attribute failure to a lack of ability. SI-defined Type A had no effect on attributions. These results are discussed in terms of the importance of failure for the JA S-defined Type A. Differences between various operational definitions of Type A and their relevance for coronary heart disease are also discussed.
Maintaining Consistency between Self-Serving Beliefs and Available Data
Authors: Pyszczynski Tom , Greenberg Jeff , Holt Kathleen
Published: March 2007

It was hypothesized that individuals evaluate data relevant to outcome attributions in a manner that enables them to maintain logical consistency between the available evidence and their self-serving attributions for the outcome. Subjects were led to succeed or fail on a bogus social sensitivity test and then were given information concerning two studies, one of which concluded that the test was valid and the other that the test was not valid. As predicted, success subjects evaluated the high-validity conclusion study more favorably and the low-validity conclusion study less favorably than did failure subjects. Furthermore, exposure to the mixed evidence after the performance feedback led to increased selt-ratings of social sensitivity among success subjects, but had no effect on failure subjects. The implications of these results for understanding how individuals generate and maintain self-serving beliefs were discussed.
Associative Responses to Double Entendre Drug Words
Authors: Green Pamela D. , Galbraith Gary G.
Published: March 2007

Discrete word associations to double entendre drug words and double entendre aggression words were studied in a drug addict group and a college student group. In addition, drug usage, drug attitudes, social knowledge of drugs, and factual knowledge of drugs were measured by use of a drug-behavior inventory. Findings indicated that addicts and students differed in associative responses to drug stimuli but not in associations to aggression stimuli. Drug usage, drug attitudes, and social knowledge of drugs correlated with free associative drug responses in most groups (i.e., addicts, students, males, females, Blacks, and Caucasians). In addition, a score reflecting variety of drug usage correlated positively with free associative aggression responses within the drug addict group, but correlated negatively with aggression responses within the college student group.
Women, but not Men, Are What They Eat
Authors: Chaiken Shelly , Pliner Patricia
Published: March 2007

Male and female subjects read a food diary attributed to a male or female target who was portrayed as eating either a small breakfast and lunch or a large breakfast and lunch. Consistent with the hypothesis that amount eaten would more strongly affect subjects' inferences about the female target, ratings of the male target were not differentially influenced by the meal size manipulation. In contrast, subjects considered the female target who ate smaller meals to be significantly more feminine, less masculine, more concerned about her appearance, better looking, and more likely to possess stereotypically feminine personality traits. Implications for understanding female eating behavior and the etiology of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia are discussed.
Perceived Behavioral Consistency Underlying Trait Attributions to Oneself and Another
Authors: Baxter Terri L. , Goldberg Lewis R.
Published: March 2007

This psychometric study was designed to investigate the hypothesis that people perceive themselves as more variable than others, even when they judge themselves and the other person identically on a trait-rating scale. Using one of two different types of rating formats, subjects described themselves and a person of the same sex and approximate age whom they knew well and liked. Both persons were rated on each of6O trait-descriptive adjectives, with a scale ranging from -3 to +3, plus four middle response options (average, depends on the situation, don't know, term unclear). After each of their trait ratings, subjects assessed the consistency of the person's behaviors associated with that trait. Analyses revealed a highly uniform pattern of self/other differences in the predicted direction: For 72% of the 60 traits, the majority of the subjects described themselves as more variable than the other person.
Date with an Earthquake
Authors: Lehman Darrin R. , Taylor Shelley E.
Published: March 2007

This study explored reactions to an impending disaster whose occurrence is highly likely but whose timing is unknown. Fifty-one students who lived in suites rated "good" seismically, and 50 students who lived in dormitories rated "very poor" seismically were canvassed concerning their perceptions and coping strategies with respect to the impending California earthquake. Results indicated that respondents in the very poor structures were significantly more likely to deny the seriousness of the situation and to doubt the experts' predictions than were respondents in the good suites. Both groups showed ignorance of basic earthquake safety information and had taken no measures to prepare for an earthquake.
Perceptions of Attitude Similarity
Authors: Marks Gary , Miller Norman
Published: March 2007

Undergraduates read anecdotes that described four target persons. The descriptions manipulated targets' level of favorability on each of four evaluative dimensions. When information about a target's standing was provided on dimensions on which subjects' own positions were on the average middling, but not securely anchored in the external environment (common sense, likability), their subsequent perceptions of attitude similarity to the target increased monotonically as a function of the favorability of the initial information about the target. When initial information about the target was provided, instead, on dimensions on which subjects' own positions were securely anchored near the midpoint (educational attainment, annual income), they perceived greatest attitude similarity to that target closest to their own objective position and perceived least similarity to targets who occupied either a more or a less favorable position than self. These findings, and those of a separate questionnaire study, suggest that people do not uniformly attribute culturally desirable positions to themselves or see themselves as most similar to desirable others. Instead, they do so only on dimensions on which their own positions are not securely anchored in external reality.
Role of Self-Esteem in Perceptions of Ability and Effort
Authors: Baumgardner Ann H. , Levy Paul E.
Published: March 2007

According to Heider (1958), ability and effort are viewed as inversely related. However, indirect evidence suggests that some persons (i.e., those who are confident in their abilities) view effort as an indication of high ability. The present experiment was designed to test this issue more fully and to address whether this is due to a failure to employ rules of inference, or due to an assumption that those "who try hard are smart. "Participants were presented with a scenario in which a target expended effort, withdrew effort intentionally, or withdrew effort unintentionally (i.e., an unforeseen occurrence prevented effort expenditure) in preparation for an examination. Subjects were then told that the target had performed well or poorly on the examination. Findings indicated that when a target performed poorly, high-esteem persons viewed a target who expended effort as higher in ability than one who intentionally withdrew effort. However, they also viewed a target who withdrew effort unintentionally as more able than one who withdrew effort intentionally. Low-esteem subjects did not make this discrimination. This suggests that high-esteem persons believe that those who expend effort possess high ability. The implications of these results for strategic effort withdrawal and self-handicapping among low-esteem persons, and for self-presentation generally, are discussed.
The Effects of Evaluation on Organizational Processing
Authors: Seta Catherine E. , Seta John J. , Donaldson Sandra , Wang Maureen A.
Published: March 2007

This research investigated the idea that evaluation would influence individuals' ability to recognize the similarities among sequentially presented concepts. Subjects were given a list of words to categorize in front of an audience or alone within a specified amount of time. Although audience presence had no significant effect on free recall, clustering scores indicated that subjects' ability to organize information decreased in the presence of an audience. This finding supports the hypothesis that audience presence can reduce available processing resources and thereby reduce the likelihood of shared-feature (i.e., organizational) processing. The implications of this finding for stereotypical categorizations in person perception were discussed.
In-Group Salience, Intergroup Comparison, and Individual Performance and Self-Esteem
Authors: James Keith , Greenberg Jeff
Published: March 2007

Because of connections between individual self-esteem and in-group status, it was expected that in-group focus of attention would motivate individual performance in circumstances where high performance would help establish the superiority of the group. Lacking circumstances indicating the importance of individual performance to group status, in-group salience was expected to lead to a general decrease in motivation to perform by providing an unthreatened boost to self-esteem. One study having an in-group salience manipulation, with implied group comparison as a constant, and one study in which both in-group salience and perceived intergroup comparison were manipulated yielded evidence supporting these propositions.
Priming and the Differential Use of Dimensions in Evaluation
Authors: Sherman Steven J. , Mackie Diane M. , Driscoll Denise M.
Published: March 2007

Two experiments demonstrated the impact of passively activated categories on the use of prime-relevant versus prime-irrelevant dimensions in later evaluations and preference judgments. In both experiments, concepts relevant to one of two dimensions of judgment were initially activated by requiring subjects to rehearse words in the course of a memory test. In supposedly unrelated subsequent tasks, subjects were asked to evaluate (in the first experiment) and choose between (in the second experiment) targets described as having positive attributes on one dimension and negative attributes on the other dimension. As predicted, subjects' evaluations and preferences reflected the greater impact of the information relevant to the primed dimension. Recall for the information presented in Experiment 2 provided some evidence for differential attention to the prime-relevant information as the mediating mechanism for the effect.
The Amount and Effectiveness of Help: The Relationship of Motives and Abilities to Helping Behavior
Authors: Clary E. Gil , Orenstein Leslie
Published: March 2007

A prospective study examined the influence of helpers' motives and abilities on the amount and effectiveness of a long-term altruistic activity. Crisis-counseling volunteers completed measures of altruistic motivation and perspective taking (a task-relevant ability), and their participation was followed: Volunteers either fulfilled their 9-month service commitment, terminated their participation (of their own volition) early, or were screened out because of inability to perform the work. Two predictions were tested and supported: (a) altruistic motives were related to the amount of help, early-terminating volunteers exhibiting less altruistic motivation than screened or completed service volunteers; and (b) volunteers' skills and abilities were related to the effectiveness of help, screened volunteers reporting less perspective-taking ability than early-terminating and completed-service volunteers. These findings suggest the need to consider the effectiveness of help, and helpers' task-relevant skills, in analyses of helping behavior.
On the Role of Meta-Analysis in Personality and Social Psychology
Authors: Cooper Harris M. , Lemke Kevin M.
Published: March 2007

An examination of the frequency with which meta-analyses appear in the sub disciplines of psychology reveals that educational psychology and psychotherapy have produced the most meta-analyses, with social psychology not far behind. Several concerns that theoretical psychologists might have about applying meta-analysis to their research domain are reviewed. These include the notions that (a) meta-analysis is good for the study of methodological artifacts, not substantive theories, and (b) meta-analysis focuses on main effects whereas theory testing focuses on interactions. Both concerns are shown to be unwarranted. Examples of the use of meta-analysis to advance social psychological theory are presented, along with a discussion of the benefits to social psychology that might accrue if meta-analysis were widely adopted.
The Premature Demise of the Solo Experiment
Authors: Wegner Daniel M.
Published: March 2007

Papers reporting multiple studies have become common publication practice in our field. This practice has several serious costs that have not been foreseen, and it ma be responsible for unfortunate developments such as a reduction in creativity, a paralysis of scientific interaction, a decline in the integration of the field, and an emphasis on microcertainty at the expense of examination of broad possibilities. The paper that reports a solo experiment is suggested as a potential solution to these problems.
Beliefs in a Just World, Discontent, and Assertive Actions by Working Women
Authors: Hafer Carolyn L. , Olson James M.
Published: March 2007

Seventy working women completed a questionnaire that assessed their dissatisfaction with their own job situation (personal discontent), their dissatisfaction with the job situations of women as a group (group discontent), and the strength of their beliefs in a just world (BJW). One month later, they completed a questionnaire that measured behaviors potentially related to discontent, some involving self-improvement (self-directed behaviors) and others relating to collective action (group-directed behaviors). Strong believers in a just world reported less group discontent than weak believers. BJW predicted both self-directed and group-directed behaviors; strong believers reported fewer behaviors of both kinds than weak believers. Taken together, BJW, group discontent, and personal discontent accounted for 23% of the variance in self-directed behaviors (R = .48) and 26% of the variance in group-directed behaviors (R = .50). These data constitute the first evidence linking BJW to assertive actions.
On Knowing What You Like and Liking What You Smell: Attitudes Depend on the Form in Which the Object is Represented
Authors: Breckler Steven J. , Fried Howard S.
Published: March 2007

Attitudes are learned predispositions to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object. Three studies examined whether responses elicited by an attitude object depend on the form in which the object is mentally represented. Subjects indicated their preferences for odors in response to descriptive labels (a symbolic representation) and in response to unlabeled scratch-and-sniff patches (a perceptual representation). The correspondence between ratings of symbolic and perceptual object representations was substantially lower than the reliability of ratings within either representational domain. Accessibility of attitudes (indexed by judgment times) was increased by prior expression of attitudes within the same representational domain but not by prior expression of attitudes in the other domain. Discussion considers the importance of these results for models of attitude structure and function.
Role Schemata and Member Motivation in Task Groups
Authors: Kerr Norbert L , Stanfel Janet A.
Published: March 2007

It was conjectured that occupying the minimal leader role (i.e., having the title of group leader without having any of the attendant legitimacy, power, authority, or formal responsibility) might trigger a leader role schema that prescribes greater responsibility for group performance. In an experimental study, the effects of occupying such a minimal leader role and its complementary, minimal nonleader role on three distinct group motivation losses were explored. Occupying the minimal leader role did not, as conjectured, attenuate these motivation losses. However occupying the minimal nonleader role did affect task motivation. The clearest such effect was an accentuation of the typical social loafing effect by subjects when someone else in the group had been selected as a group leader
Individual Differences in Behavioral Prediction: The Acquisition of Personal-Action Schemata
Authors: Mayer John D. , Rapp Henry C. , Williams Uzette
Published: March 2007

It is proposed that memory schemata connect information about a single individual's mannerisms, traits, and other characteristics to the likelihood of that individual's acting in a particular fashion. Such schemata could account for certain categorization errors in which inappropriate generalizations are made in the course of predicting the likelihood of a person's action. The study examines learning of such personal-action schemata, and evidence supportive of such schemata are obtained. Theoretical implications for clinical transferee are considered.
Group Prototypically and Depersonalized Attraction in Small Interactive Groups
Authors: Hogg Michael A. , CooperShaw Louise , Holzworth David W.
Published: March 2007

Two studies of mixed-sex interactive groups (N = 173) investigated the self-categorization theory hypothesis that positive attitude (liking) among group members is depersonalized in terms of the group prototype. Subjects ranked fellow members in terms of liking under conditions accentuating or diminishing group membership salience and rated the group's cohesiveness, described the group prototype, ranked fellow members and themselves on prototypically, and rated the subjective clarity of the prototype. In Study 2 they also ranked members in terms of interpersonal similarity to self. The results generally supported the hypotheses. Group liking was independent from interpersonal liking and was positively associated with perceptions of self and others that were depersonalized in terms of the group prototype and with perceptions of elevated group cohesiveness and a clear group prototype. Interpersonal attraction was unrelated or negatively related to these variables but was more strongly associate with perceptions of interpersonal similarity.
In-Group Versus Out-Group Comparisons and Self-Esteem
Authors: Major Brenda , Sciacchitano Anne Marie , Crocker Jennifer
Published: March 2007

This study tested the hypothesis that group status of comparison other (ingroup vs. outgroup) and direcion of compassion (upward vs. downward) interact to affect comparers' self-evaluations and affective reactions. As predicted, individuals who compared unfavorably with in-group members reported lower selfsteem and more depressed affect and made lower ability attributions than individuals who compared unfavorably with out-group members. Furthmore, those who compared unfavorably with out-group members reported levels of self-steem and depressed affect comparable to those who compared favorably with others. Group membership of comparison other did not moderate reactions to downward comparisons. Results are discussed in terms of the self-protective nature of social comparisons.
Evidence that Subjects' Expectancies Confound Intergroup Bias in Tajfel's Minimal Group Paradigm
Authors: Berkowitz Norman H.
Published: March 2007

Reports that persons discriminate against out-group members even at cost to the in-group refer primarily to subjects' distribution of money in minimal group situations. Expectancies that might confound that measure of discrimination are examined here. First divided into minimal groups, subjects divided money between in-group and out-group members so as to (a) confirm whatever they believed to be the study hypothesis (positive demand), (b) disconfirm that hypothesis (negative demand), and (c) express their own unrestricted preferences (intergroup bias). The demand measures preceded, followed, or were placed between blocks of unrestricted trials. There were no effects of demand placement, but significant negative correlations and differences in means were found between amounts awarded under positive and negative demand instructions. Correlations between positive demand and bias scores, questionnaire reports of expectancies favoring discrimination, and relationships between reported expectations and bias scores are consistent with "demand" explanations of early minimal intergroup studies.
Life Task Problem Solving: Situational Affordances and Personal Needs
Authors: Cantor Nancy
Published: March 2007

An analysis of life task problem solving provides an illustration of a common language for personality and social psychologies. The personal needs of individuals and the situational affordances of social life interactively define strategic solutions to life task problems. Research on situations that encourage a gentic or communal goals in late adolescents' pursuit of the intimacy life task and on three achievement strategies in which social support takes different forms to serve different individuals' needs exemplifies the coordination of what people need to do and what situations afford to be done in daily-life problem solving.
Age, Sex, and Cultural Differences in the Meaning and Dimensions of Achievement
Authors: Salili Farideh
Published: March 2007

The present study explored variations in the meaning and psychological dimensions of achievement among people of different ages, sexes, and cultures. Subjects were 504 British and Chinese males and females, aged 13 to 55. The repertory grid technique was used to elicit success situations and related constructs. A group grid was then constructed and administered to the subjects. Results revealed two major types of achievement situations (affiliative and individualistic/competitive) and three major dimensions of achievement (outcome/emotional state, instrumental activity, and causal attributions). Although these dimensions were the same for all, significant differences were found between groups on importance attached to success situations. The results are discussed in terms of sociocultural, situational, and developmental factors.
Subjective and Experiential Correlates of Guilt in Daily Life
Authors: Baumeister Roy F. , Reis Harry T. , Delespaul Philippe A.E.G.
Published: March 2007

Study 1 examined everyday guilt with an experience sampling method. Mild guilt feelings were common in this adult sample, although strong or severe guilt feelings were rare. Guilt feelings were positively correlated with aversive arousal states and were negatively correlated with pleasant, relaxed states. Guilt feelings were fairly evenly distributed across a broad range of activities and thought patterns, with the exception that thinking about self in relation to others was associated with especially high frequencies of guilt. Guilt was linked to social distress, such as interpersonal conflict, rejection, and loneliness, as well as to feelings of uncertainty. In Study 2, guilt was found to be more linked to interpersonal circumstances and close relationships than a variety of other negative affective states. The results generally support theoretical views of guilt as relevant to action control and interpersonal relations.
Overcoming Stigma: Credit for Self-Improvement or Discredit for Needing to Improve?
Authors: Rodin Miriam , Price Judy
Published: March 2007

In Experiment 1, subjects rated the likelihood that an individual would follow up socially with each of two persons, one of whom had overcome a stigma by his or her own efforts. Persons with a history of stigma who were currently as desirable as the comparison person were subject to the same social deficit as if they were less desirable; only if persons with a history of stigma were currently more desirable than the comparison person were they equally preferred as dates. A second experiment indicated that the "once flawed" effect applies to objects as well as to persons. A third experiment that broke down positive evaluation into the two dimensions of respect/admiration and "wanting to be with" found that people admire those who have overcome a stigma by their own efforts but would rather be with those who never had a stigma.
Commission, Omission, and Dissonance Reduction: Coping with Regret in the "Monty Hall" Problem
Authors: Gilovich Thomas , Medvec Victoria Husted , Chen Serena
Published: March 2007

Do people reduce dissonance more for their errors of commission than their errors of omission? More specifically, do people come to value a disappointing outcome obtained through a direct action more than an identical outcome obtained through a failure to act? To answer this question, the authors created a laboratory analogue of the "three doors" or "Monty Hall" problem. Subjects initially selected one box from a group of three, only one of which contained a "grand" prize. After the experimenter opened one of the two unchosen boxes and revealed a modest prize, subjects were asked to decide whether to stay with their initial selection or trade it in for the other unopened box. Regardless of the subject's choice, a modest prize was received. Results indicated that subjects who switched boxes assigned a higher monetary value to the modest prize they received than those who stayed with their initial choice. Implications for the psychology of regret are discussed.
Academics, Self-Esteem, and Race: A Look at the Underlying Assumptions of the Disidentification Hypothesis
Authors: Osborne Jason W.
Published: March 2007

Theorists have argued that global self-esteem should be related to performance in academics. However, studies have reported lower academic achievement among African American students than among White students but have failed to find lower global self-esteem among African American students. Steele has attempted to explain this paradox by proposing that African American children detach their self-esteem from academic outcomes, thus protecting them from failure. The present study tested empirical hypotheses derived from Steele's theoretical framework. Data were taken from a nationally representative longitudinal study of American students. Analyses revealed a pattern of weakening correlations between self-esteem and academic outcomes from 8th to 10th grade for African American students particularly African American male students, whereas the correlations for White students remained stable or increased. These results show general support for Steele's model in the context of a nationally representative sample.
Event Accessibility and Context Effects in Causal Inference: Judgment of a Different Order
Authors: Stapel Diederik A. , Spears Russell
Published: March 2007

Two studies examine how the influence of an accessible context event affects causal judgments of an ambiguous target as a function of the order in which the two events are explained. It is proposed that whether judgment of a target event is contrasted from or assimilated toward the implications of a context event depends on the distinctness of the context information at the time of judgment. Results supported the prediction that when participants were required to judge a context event before a target event, the context event would be perceived as more distinct, leading to comparison and contrast, whereas the reverse judgmental order would render the same context event relatively indistinct and lead to assimilation. Findings are discussed in the light of literature on causal judgments and recent models of assimilation and contrast effects.
Negative Mood Regulation Expectancies, Emotional Distress, and Examination Performance
Authors: Catanzaro Salvatore J.
Published: March 2007

Undergraduates' (N = 218) generalized expectancies for negative mood regulation (NMR), depressive symptoms, and state anxiety were examined as predictors of performance on an examination. NMR expectancies were assessed on the first day of a semester; depressive symptoms and state anxiety were assessed immediately before an examination 115 days later Controlling for previous course performance, individuals reporting more depressive symptoms performed more poorly on the exam. However, NMR expectancies interacted with state anxiety in the prediction of examination performance. More anxious individuals who had reported relatively weak NMAM expectancies earlier in the semester performed more poorly on the exam. In contrast, those with stronger NMR expectancies appeared to be unaffected or even aided by experiencing anxiety. Anxiety may disrupt performance only among individuals with weak mood regulation expectancies.
What Makes for a Good Day? Competence and Autonomy in the Day and in the Person
Authors: Sheldon Kennon M. , Ryan Richard , Reis Harry T.
Published: March 2007

This diary study examined the proposal that satisfaction of two psychological needs, competence and autonomy, leads to daily well-being. Between-subjects analyses indicated that participants higher in trait competence and trait autonomy tended to have "better" days on average. Independently, within-subject analyses showed that good days were those in which participants felt more competent and autonomous in their daily activities, relative to their own baselines. Other predictors of daily well-being included gender, whether the day fell on a weekend, and the amount of negative affect and physical symptomatology felt the day before. Although past diary studies have tended to focus on threats to daily well-being, the authors suggest that psychological need concepts offer promise for understanding its positive sources.
Ability and Outcome Evaluations as a Function of Personal and Collective (Dis)Advantage: A Group Escape from Individual Bias
Authors: Smith Heather J. , Spears Russell
Published: March 2007

Just as reactions to resentment are related to whether people feel disadvantaged as single actors or as group representatives, viewing oneself as an individual actor or a group representative can influence evaluations of personal ability and outcomes in inequitable situations. An experimental study investigated the influence of individual versus group identity salience on evaluations of task ability and the attractiveness of rewards based on performance. It was predicted that when individual identity was made salient, participants' evaluations would reflect their likely personal outcomes in such a way as to rationalize their personal (dis) advantage. In contrast, it was predicted that the salience of group identity would release participants from this tendency to justify these disparities in personal terms. The results support this hypothesis and suggest the importance of group identity in protecting against the biased individual rationalization of personal outcomes, especially under conditions of collective disadvantage.
Group Norms and the Attitude-Behavior Relationship: A Role for Group Identification
Authors: Terry Deborah J. , Hogg Michael A.
Published: March 2007

Two studies provided support for the proposal that the role of norms in attitude-behavior relations can be usefully reconceptualized from the perspective of social identity/self-categorization theory. The first study revealed that the perceived norms of a behaviorally relevant reference group influenced intentions to engage in regular exercise, but only for subjects who identified strongly with the group, whereas the effect of perceived behavioral control (a personal factor) was strongest for low identifiers. Similarly, Study 2 revealed that the effect of group norms on females' intentions to engage in sun-protective behavior was evident only for high identifiers and that the effects of one of the personal variables (attitude) was stronger for low than for high identifiers. Additional results revealed that the perceived group norm predicted subjects' attitude, as did the perceived consequences of performing the behavior. The latter result was evident only for low identifiers.
Do Smiles Elicit More Inferences than Do Frowns? The Effect of Emotional Valence on the Production of Spontaneous Inferences
Authors: Krull Douglas S. , Dil Jody C.
Published: March 2007

Previous work by Liu, Karasawa, and Weiner suggests that perceivers may draw more causal attributions for positive emotions than for negative emotions. If so, then perceivers may draw more inferences spontaneously for positive emotions than for negative emotions. Participants observed a short video of a target who displayed either happiness or sadness. In the first experiment, half of the participants who viewed each of these behaviors were instructed to diagnose the target's disposition and half were instructed to diagnose the target's situation. Results revealed that although participants who viewed sadness drew only the inference consistent with their instructions, participants who viewed happiness drew both dispositional and situational inferences regardless of their instructions. In a second experiment, participants were instructed to diagnose the behavior of a target who displayed either happiness or sadness. Results revealed that perceivers of happy behavior drew inferences spontaneously. Implications are discussed.
Do Chinese Self-Enhance or Self-Efface? It's a Matter of Domain
Authors: Yik Michelle S.M. , Bond Michael H. , Paulhus Delroy L.
Published: March 2007

The assumption that Chinese tend to self-efface has mixed support in the scanty empirical literature. The conflicting findings may be attributable to measuring different domains in different studies. Therefore, we assessed self-enhancement across eight domains of person perception in a Hong Kong Chinese sample. Twenty-one groups of college students, after working together for 13 weeks on class projects, were asked to rate fellow group members on all eight domains. The degree of self-enhancement or self-effacement was determined by comparing self-ratings with mean peer ratings. Results showed an overall self-effacement effect, which was significant for five of eight personality dimensions. The exceptions were agentic traits such as Assertiveness, Openness to Experience, and Intellect. The overall rate of self-enhancers (43%) was substantially lower than the rate for a comparable North American sample (56%). Although those who self-enhanced most reported high self-esteem, they were not rated as better adjusted by their peers.