bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The theory of reasoned action of Fishbein and Ajzen: A test of Towriss's amended procedure for measuring beliefs
Authors: Rutter D. R. , Bunce D. J.
Published: June 2011

According to the theory of reasoned action of Fishbein & Ajzen (1975), beliefs, attitudes, intentions and behaviour form a causal chain, so that beliefs lead to attitudes, and attitudes in turn lead to intentions and so behaviour. Despite the undoubted influence of the model, a paper by Towriss (1984) has pointed to a discrepancy between what the model says and the way in which it is usually tested: while the model is about individuals' beliefs, subjects are normally asked about modal belief statements supplied by the experimenter. To examine whether the difference is critical, the present experiment was designed to test both approaches, by asking students about drinking milk. Forty subjects were supplied with belief statements (Fishbein & Ajzen condition) and 39 were asked to give their own (Towriss condition). The relationships between beliefs, attitudes, intentions and behaviour were then examined by correlation and multiple regression, and the Towriss condition was found to produce the stronger predictions for intentions and present behaviour, though not for follow‐up behaviour eight weeks later. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and empirical implications of the findings.
Self‐categorization theory and belief polarization among Christian believers and atheists
Authors: Ng Sik Hung , Wilson Shelley
Published: June 2011

Intergroup comparison may strengthen the beliefs of group members. The resultant belief polarization, according to self‐categorization theory (Turner, 1987), is mediated by the perceptual extremitization of the in‐group norm. To test the theory, 51 Christian believers and 52 atheists completed a belief questionnaire twice. Firstly, they estimated the typical beliefs of the in‐group (in‐group comparison condition) or out‐group (out‐group comparison condition), or indicated their own beliefs (self condition). The effects of comparison were tested by later asking all subjects to express their own beliefs on the same questionnaire. Only the in‐group condition produced polarization. As predicted, the polarization was mediated by the extremitization of the in‐group norm among atheists. Among believers, contrary to the prediction, the polarization was associated with the moderation of the in‐group norm, suggesting that the believers were responding as individuals concerned with their personal identities rather than as group members concerned with their social identities.
Why a non‐reductionist social psychology is almost too difficult to be tackled but too fascinating to be left alone
Authors: Jahoda Marie
Published: June 2011

Mainstream social psychology in its various conceptions tends to concentrate on individual responses, leaving the social side of the continuous interaction between people and collective arrangements unanalysed. However justified this is for some research questions, it is not justified when the interaction itself is in the focus of interest. Large‐scale social events, processes and institutions require analysis for their psychologically relevant attributes. Three major difficulties in conducting such studies are discussed here: (1) there are no codified methods for the analysis of the social side of the interaction; (2) the varying speeds of historical change demand a distinction, which is difficult to make, between relatively more and relatively less enduring features of a social situation; (3) the role of theory in such research differs from that in mainstream social psychology.
Do criminal stereotypes mediate juridic judgements?
Authors: Macrae C. Neil , Shepherd John W.
Published: June 2011

Previous findings suggest that facial stereotypes of criminals mediate juridic judgements. However, the present study notes that these are open to an alternative explanation in terms of the physical attractiveness of the defendant. To clarify the issue, in this study the degree to which the defendant matched the criminal stereotype for a particular incident was manipulated while physical attractiveness was held constant. Findings support the contention that judgements of guilt and innocence are mediated by the extent to which the defendant resembles the criminal stereotype for a particular incident.
Adolescent smoking: Attitudes, norms and parental influence
Authors: Eiser J. Richard , Morgan Michelle , Gammage Philip , Gray Elspeth
Published: June 2011

The self‐reported smoking habits and intentions of over 10 000 adolescents, aged 11 to 16 years, were related to a variety of attitudinal and normative variables. Current or previous smoking experience was a more important predictor of future intention to smoke than attitude or subjective norm (others' perceived tolerance of subjects' smoking). Parental opposition to smoking was a more important direct predictor of subjects' smoking intention than parental smoking behaviour.
Political identity and perceived intragroup homogeneity
Authors: Kelly Caroline
Published: June 2011

A study is described combining the ‘out‐group homogeneity hypothesis’, which predicts greater perceived homogeneity in out‐groups than in‐groups, with the ‘depersonalization hypothesis’ derived from self‐categorization theory, which predicts greater perceived homogeneity in both in‐ and out‐groups as social identity becomes salient — particularly along those dimensions most relevant to the categorization criterion. An experiment was conducted in the context of political affiliation, where it is suggested that in‐group homogeneity along certain dimensions may be valued as a sign of unity and strength. Subjects were 64 supporters of the Labour Party. Strength of political affiliation and situational group salience were manipulated and perceptions of homogeneity within the Labour and Conservative Parties were measured along a number of dimensions of varying relevance to the categorization criterion. Results confirmed the hypothesized positive relationship between strength of political identity and perceived intragroup homogeneity in both the in‐ and out‐group, as well as illustrating the importance of the type of dimension involved. A significant main effect confirmed that the more relevant the dimension to the categorization criterion, the greater the perceived homogeneity in in‐ and out‐groups, whilst a significant interaction effect confirmed that there was greater perceived out‐group homogeneity along irrelevant personality dimensions but greater perceived in‐group homogeneity along highly relevant issue dimensions. The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.
The relative effects of the number of arguments, number of argument sources and number of opinion positions in group‐mediated opinion change
Authors: Stasson Mark F. , Davis James H.
Published: June 2011

Components of majority faction influence (the number of member opinion positions, persuasive arguments, and argument sources) on individual member opinions (personal and group response recommendations) were investigated within a computerized communication environment. One hundred and thirty‐three male and 120 female university students participated in four‐person same‐sex groups and received pre‐structured opinions and arguments ostensibly from the other group members on each of two opinion issues. The number of member opinion positions provided (either none, one or three) was crossed with the number of persuasive arguments provided (either three or six) and the number of argument sources either all arguments from one source or one‐third of the arguments from each of three sources). The number of arguments and sources significantly and independently affected personal opinion change (the number of positions was marginally significant); but recommended group decisions were significantly influenced by the number of opinion positions and an interaction between the number of arguments and sources, the number of sources was significant only when three arguments were presented. Discussion emphasized the need to recognize and elaborate on different notions of ‘majority’ influence.
Visual primacy in social attitude judgement: A qualification
Authors: Howe Christine J.
Published: June 2011

Previous research has suggested that visual information has primacy over verbal and vocal information in the judgement of social attitude. However, this could be because the contextual inappropriateness of the verbal information switched attention away from the auditory channel and on to the visual. The experiment reported in this paper assesses this possibility by considering the contribution made by visual information when the verbal is appropriate. Focusing on the expression of superior and inferior attitude, it finds that visual information does not simply fail to achieve primacy. It is markedly less important than either vocal or verbal information, which both play more or less equal roles.
An intergroup perspective on stereotype organization and processing
Authors: Lalonde Richard N. , Gardner Robert C.
Published: June 2011

Two studies examined the organization and processing of consensually defined ethnic/national stereotypes as a function of group membership. A first study examined the responses and reaction times of 91 subjects to attributes associated with an in‐group label (English Canadian) and two out‐group labels (French Canadian and American). A second study examined the responses of 40 Canadian and 40 Chinese subjects to five group labels: Canadian, Chinese, American, Filipino and Mexican. In terms of stereotype organization it was found that stereotyping was evidenced only for groups that are meaningful in the social milieu. Furthermore, in‐group stereotyping was found to be more evaluative in nature than out‐group stereotyping, and in‐group stereotyping was associated with a more favourable in‐group attitude. These findings indicate that in‐group stereotyping represents a mechanism for asserting positive in‐group distinctiveness. In terms of processing ethnic labels, it was found that stereotypes serve a categorization function in that stereotypic attributes were processed more rapidly than non‐stereotypic attributes. In addition, it was found that processing attributes associated with in‐group labels generally took longer than processing attributes associated with out‐group labels. This latter effect was moderated in certain cases by the stereotypicality of the attributes but not by their evaluativeness.
Belief in a just world: Review and critique of the individual difference literature
Authors: Furnham Adrian , Procter Edward
Published: June 2011

This article attempts a critical review of the literature on self‐reported just world beliefs a decade after the last major review. The main focus of the review is on the relationship between questionnaire‐derived beliefs in a just world and other psychological and demographic variables. Numerous correlates of the Rubin & Peplau (1973, 1975) scale to measure just world beliefts are documented and evaluated. Particular criticism is aimed at the multidimensional nature of the concept of a just world. Furthermore, it is suggested that three worlds exist — just, unjust and random — that are orthogonal. Suggestions are made about the development of an improved self‐report measure and the direction of research into the aetiology of a belief in a just world in an individual as well as in different cultures.
Predictors and effectiveness of coping with political violence among Palestinian children
Authors: Punamäki Raija‐Leena , Suleiman Ramzi
Published: June 2011

Relationships between exposure to political hardships, social‐economic status and mother's psychological responses, and children's coping modes, were analysed among 66 Palestinian boys and girls aged 8–14 who lived in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The effectiveness of children's coping modes in protecting their mental health from the negative impact of political hardships was also analysed. The coping modes were assessed on the intentional (passive‐active), cognitive (defensive‐purposive), and emotional (helpless‐courageous) levels. The results showed that the more children were exposed to political hardships, the more they employed active and courageous coping modes. Furthermore, the more mothers showed psychological symptoms the more their children used active coping modes. The more political activity the mothers used as a coping mode, the more their children used purposive coping. Exposure to political hardships increased children's psychological symptoms, and none of the children's psychological coping modes were effective in mitigating this relationship.
The influence of permeability of group boundaries and stability of group status on strategies of individual mobility and social change
Authors: Ellemers Naomi , van Knippenberg Ad , Wilke Henk
Published: June 2011

According to social identity theory, striving of group members for enhancement of their social identity may be resolved through individual mobility (i.e. by dissociation from one's own group in order to gain membership of a higher status group), or by social change (i.e. by upgrading the status position of the in‐group as a whole). Individual mobility may only be achieved when group boundaries are permeable; social change is only feasible when group status is unstable. This study investigates how these structural characteristics of the intergroup situation affect group members' preference for the individual mobility or social change strategy. In a laboratory setting subjects were given bogus feedback to induce differential levels of individual ability and group status. Additionally, the permeability of group boundaries and the stability of group status were manipulated. The main results are that, generally, members of high status groups show more satisfaction and in‐group identification than members of low status groups. Permeable group boundaries apparently induce a tendency to strive for individual mobility, regardless of the in‐group's status position. In relation to members of impermeable groups, members of groups with permeable boundaries show decreased in‐group identification; there is evidence of (anticipatory) identification with the higher status group instead. A collective attempt at social change seems to be evoked when group status is unstable. In all groups with unstable status, members indicate their readiness to try to improve their group's status position. Moreover, members of low status groups with unstable status positions show relatively strong in‐group identification, despite the lack of positive distinctiveness available to the in‐group at the time.
Reactions to equal reward allocations: Effects of situation, gender and values
Authors: Feather N. T.
Published: June 2011

Subjects' reactions to equal allocations were investigated across four hypothetical scenarios spanning healthy/sick, older/younger, male/female and married/single performers. Performance input was varied across scenarios (equal or unequal), as was the competitive or cooperative nature of the male/female scenario. In the study 392 male and female subjects rated their agreement with the equal allocations and indicated how they would allocate rewards themselves. They also completed the Schwartz Value Survey, enabling classification of values into domains reflecting different value content and individualistic or collectivist interests. Results showed that subjects were more likely to favour equal allocations when performance input was equal rather than unequal and when the male/female scenario involved cooperation rather than competition. Subjects were biased in favour of like‐sex higher performers when allocating payments to male and female stimulus persons who were in competition. Subjects' agreement with the equal allocation in the healthy/sick scenario and the amount of their own allocation to the sick performer were both positively related to the strength of their prosocial and spirituality values but negatively related to the strength of their power, stimulation and hedonistic values. These findings are interpreted as indicating the effects of situational factors, allocation norms, social identity and value priorities on reactions to equal allocations.
Face perception: Attributions, asymmetries and stereotypes
Authors: Rhodes Gillian , Lynskey Michael
Published: June 2011

We investigated the role of ethnic stereotypes and facial asymmetries in attributions to unfamiliar faces. Stereotypicality ratings of adjectives were collected and compared with attributions of those adjectives to left and right hemiface (from the model's perspective) composites of Chinese and Caucasian faces made by Caucasian subjects in a previous study (Rhodes & Lynskey, 1989). Stereotypicality correlated significantly with attribution frequency for other group (Chinese) faces only. Face asymmetries also influenced attributions: happy, cheerful and excitable were selectively attributed to left hemiface composites (for both Chinese and Caucasian faces); cold and cruel were selectively attributed to right hemiface composites (for Caucasian faces only).
The development of gender differentiation in young children
Authors: Yee Mia , Brown Rupert
Published: June 2011

A sample of 128 boys and girls in four age groups (three, five, seven, nine years) undertook tasks designed to assess their ability to categorize by gender, gender constancy, evaluations of gender groups, and gender discrimination in the allocation of prizes in a task performance setting. Results indicated that all children could categorize accurately by gender although nine‐year‐olds tended to adopt more complex criteria. Gender constancy increased with age, although not monotonically—seven‐year‐olds displayed less constancy than five‐year‐olds. Gender differentiation in attitudes was very marked from five years upwards, and even earlier in girls (both groups viewed their own gender more favourably). This greater own gender favouritism among girls was even clearer in the discrimination task: girls awarded girls' groups more desirable toys even when they had ostensibly performed less well than the boys' group. The boys attended more to performance information. Girls also made more negative comments about boys than vice versa.
Human values and voting intention in South Africa
Authors: Heaven Patrick , Stones Christopher , Nel Elizabeth , Huysamen Gert , Louw Johan
Published: June 2011

Using the value indices ‘International harmony and equality’ and ‘National strength and order’ (Braithwaite, 1982), previous research in Australia found support for Rokeach's (1973) two‐value model of political ideology (Heaven, 1991). The present study was designed to test the model's cross‐cultural robustness among South African university students (N = 593). A discriminant function analysis revealed that supporters of various political parties could more easily be discriminated in terms of their support for ‘Internal harmony and equality’ than in their support for ‘National strength and order’. The findings are discussed in the context of social identities in South Africa. It is also argued that in societies experiencing conflict or change, the dimension ‘National strength and order’ needs to be revised so as to more accurately reflect current sociopolitical debate.
Sex differences in aggression: Social representation and social roles
Authors: Campbell Anne , Muncer Steven
Published: June 2011

Previous research suggests that men hold an instrumental social representation of aggression in which aggression is viewed as a functional interpersonal act aimed at imposing control over other people while women view aggression in expressive terms as a breakdown of self‐control over anger. The present study examines the relative contribution of gendered personality differences (communality—agency) and occupational role in accounting for these differences. Men and women in the armed forces and nursing profession completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ: Spence & Helmreich, 1976) together with a psychometric measure of their tendency to view aggression as expressive rather than instrumental (Expagg: Campbell, Muncer & Coyle, 1992). The results indicate that occupational role and sex are both important correlates of individuals' representations of aggression. Though agency showed a significant negative zero‐order correlation with expressive aggression, the impact of gendered personality traits was diminished when occupation and sex were taken into account. The data strongly support social role theory's emphasis upon contemporaneous occupational factors in explaining sex differences in the understanding of aggression but are less supportive of the role of masculine and feminine personality traits.
Biases in memory for and use of inconsistent beliefs in stereotyping
Authors: White Raymond M. , Zsambok Caroline
Published: June 2011

Some research has suggested that level of inconsistency of information that invalidates expectancy‐based stereotypes or trait labels is one of several moderating variables that determine the memorability and use of inconsistent information (e.g. Rojahn & Pettigrew, 1992). Two experiments were designed to identify variables that moderate memory for and use of counter‐stereotypic social—political beliefs that were attributed to a stereotypically identified group. In Expt 1, recall was found to be inversely related to level of inconsistency. In Expt 2, location of counter‐stereotypic beliefs within a list and the order of counter‐stereotypic beliefs (most‐to‐least vs. least‐to‐most inconsistent) determined the form of the relationship between recall and level of inconsistency. When counter‐stereotypic beliefs were presented relatively early in a list and were ordered from least‐to‐most inconsistent, a positive relationship obtained; otherwise, the relationship was negative. Stereotyping was less extreme when counter‐stereotypic beliefs were presented early in the least‐to‐most inconsistent ordering. Cognitive processes that may have produced these sets of findings were discussed.
The influence of personal and collective self‐esteem on strategies of social differentiation
Authors: Long Karen M. , Spears Russell , Manstead Antony S. R.
Published: June 2011

The present study distinguished between personal self‐esteem (PSE) and collective self‐esteem (CSE) as determinants of in‐group bias in an intergroup context. Subjects performed a group task, the product of which they subsequently evaluated (‘own’ group). along with solutions allegedly produced by another ‘in‐group’ (similar nationality), and an ‘out‐group’ (different nationality). This provided the opportunity for intragroup discrimination (own vs. in‐group), and both direct (own vs. out‐group) and indirect (in‐group vs. out‐group) strategies of intergroup discrimination. It was predicted that subjects high in CSE would differentiate more than subjects low in CSE, both directly and indirectly, but that intergroup discrimination would also result from high PSE. The relationship between the in‐group and out‐group was also manipulated by varying the salient out‐group. It was predicted that subjects motivated to enhance social identity (high CSE) would differentiate more, directly and indirectly, when the out‐group was seen as having a more competitive relationship with the in‐group. Although this manipulation was unsuccessful, a follow‐up suggested that the out‐group predefined as less competitive was actually a more relevant comparison group in the context of the task, which is consistent with effects of this manipulation. Overall PSE and CSE were both found to influence differentiation at the intragroup and intergroup level, both independently and interactively. However, whereas high PSE led to greater positive differentiation, low CSE had this effect, and a combination of high PSE and low CSE produced the most consistent pattern of positive in‐group differentiation across both out‐group conditions. Possible mechanisms which account for this pattern are discussed and the relationship between dimensions of self‐esteem and group differentiation is reappraised in the light of these findings.
The role of memory biases in stereotype maintenance
Authors: Fyock Jack , Stangor Charles
Published: June 2011

It has frequently been proposed that stereotypes are self‐maintaining at least in part because people tend to better remember expectancy‐confirming (versus expectancy‐disconfirming) information about social groups. This memory bias is assumed to occur because stereotype‐consistent behaviours and traits are more easily associated with the social group label in memory, and thus are more readily activated from memory when thinking about the group or about group members. The results of 26 experiments that studied memory for information describing members of existing social groups were meta‐analytically investigated to assess the validity of this hypothesis. As predicted, this analysis revealed an overall consistency effect for both free recall memory and for recognition memory measures that were not controlled for guessing. Analysis of relevant moderating variables suggested that these effects were due to more strongly developed mental associations between expectancy‐consistent (versus‐inconsistent) information and the group label. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for stereotype maintenance, and for the process of stereotyping.
The role of subtypes in attitudes towards superordinate social categories
Authors: Ramsey Shawna L. , Lord Charles G. , Wallace David S. , Pugh Marilyn A.
Published: June 2011

When general attitudes do not predict behaviour towards specific members of a social category, the reason may be that the specific members belong to a subtype that is not spontaneously associated with the superordinate social category. In Study 1, university students reported their general attitudes towards former mental patients and described the ‘typical’ former mental patient. The descriptions were rated on how well they matched each of eight subtypes (e.g. depressed, paranoid). One month later, the same students expressed their willingness to engage in various activities with a ‘former mental patient’ visitor who was depicted as a member of a subtype that either matched or mismatched the student's description. General attitudes predicted behavioural intentions better when the visitor was from a matching subtype than from a mismatching subtype. In Study 2, students who had negative attitudes towards substance abusers agreed to engage in fewer and less intimate activities with, and sat farther from, a visitor from a matching than from a mismatching subtype. Implications for theories of attitude‐behaviour consistency and stereotyping are discussed.
Factors affecting social categorization processes in memory
Authors: van Knippenberg Ad , van Twuyver Mariette , Pepels José
Published: June 2011

In this article the literature on social categorization effects on memory is reviewed and, on the basis of Oakes (1987), a theoretical framework explaining these effects is presented. Furthermore, an experiment is reported in which the effects of relevance and fit on categorization in memory were studied. Subjects viewed a simulated discussion between stimulus persons who were classified into two crossed social categorizations, viz. male/female and student/teacher. Independent variables were relevance of categorization for discussion topic, and fit between categorization and expressed attitude position of stimulus persons. The dependent variable was the frequency of intra‐versus inter‐category confusions between stimulus persons in memory. As hypothesized: (1) intracategory confusions occurred more often than inter‐category confusions; (2) in general male/female categorizations were stronger than student/teacher categorizations; (3) discussion topic facilitated the use of the pertinent categorization; (4) fit between category and attitude position of the source enhanced the use of the categorization involved; and (5) source confusions appeared to be related to stereotypical stimulus group attitudes.
Valenced social information and the temporal location of thought
Authors: Lopez David F. , Ditto Peter H. , Waghorn Kevin L.
Published: June 2011

This study examined the hypothesis that negative social information attracts more processing resources than positive social information. Ninety‐three women were asked to choose which of two male students was the better writer. Half the subjects were told that they would return in the future to write an essay on abortion with the student chosen as the better writer. Orthogonally, one of the male students was portrayed as either likable (positive social information), dislikable (negative social information), or subjects received no social information about the student. It was predicted that, because of the tendency to divert processing resources to planning for the future interaction, subjects in the positive and no social information conditions would perform more poorly on a proof‐reading task when there was a prospect for future interaction than when there was not. Negative social information, on the other hand, was expected to bind processing resources to the current task, and consequently, subjects faced with the prospect of working with the dislikable student were not predicted to show a performance decrement on the proof‐reading task. Results supported these predictions. Limitations of the current study and implications of the results for current models of motivated reasoning are discussed.
Delay in seeking a cancer diagnosis: Delay stages and psychophysiological comparison processes
Authors: Andersen Barbara L. , Cacioppo John T. , Roberts Dawn C.
Published: June 2011

Two analyses of patient delay in seeking a medical diagnosis are considered. In the first, a model of delay is presented. Specifically, delay is comprised of four stages (appraisal, illness, behavioural and scheduling delay intervals), each governed by a conceptually distinct set of decisional and appraisal processes beginning with the initial day that an unexplained symptom is detected to the day the individual appears before a physician. The second analysis is a social psychological one of the attributions individuals draw when relating their symptoms to their expectations and knowledge about physiological bodily processes. The eight principles of Psychophysiological Comparison Theory (PCT) provide the basis for clarifying the psychological processes of symptom interpretation and appraisal. Two studies were conducted with women seeking diagnostic evaluations for prevalent cancers: breast or gynaecological tumours. Regarding the delay model, results indicated that the delay intervals were independent (i.e. uncorrelated). Also, appraisal delay constituted the majority (at least 60 per cent) of the total delay. In the test of PCT, support was found across measures of symptoms, the context in which the symptoms arose, and the inferences people made about the symptoms.
Social comparison as a mediator between health problems and subjective health evaluations
Authors: VanderZee Karen I. , Buunk Bram P. , Sanderman Robbert
Published: June 2011

The role of social comparison in mediating the relation between ‘objective’ health status and subjective health evaluations was examined. In a random population sample (N = 361) it was shown that health problems were related to psychological distress, which in turn induced a downward comparison process. This downward comparison resulted in a perception of being better off than others in a similar situation (relative evaluation). While both health problems and psychological distress had strong direct effects on general health evaluations, relative evaluations explained further significant variance. In addition, it was found that although women reported more psychological and physical problems than men, they engaged more often in downward comparison and consistently felt more than men did that their health was better than that of most others. No gender differences in general health evaluations were found. Interestingly, social comparison had a stronger impact on the general subjective well‐being of women than of men.
Physical illness stigma and social rejection
Authors: Crandall Christian S. , Moriarty Dallie
Published: June 2011

We use the stigma of illness as a model for uncovering which dimensions of stigmas are critical for causing social rejection. Subjects responded to ‘medical case histories’ representing 66 illnesses, rating the illness on a variety of dimensions (e.g. contagious/not contagious, common/rare), and a measure of social rejection. Regression analysis revealed that two dimensions predicted rejection: the severity of the illness, and whether the illness was behaviourally caused (multiple R = .68). In a second experiment, subjects responded to a case history of a fictitious disease that was either mild or severe, and was either behaviourally caused or not. Behavioural causality and severity emerged as reliable, independent sources of rejection. Diseases perceived to be severe or under personal control are most likely to lead to social rejection.
Work and family roles in relation to women's well‐being: A longitudinal study
Authors: Noor Noraini M.
Published: June 2011

Previous research on women has focused on the influence of the overall work‐ or family‐role experiences rather than on the specific characteristics of each role. Using multi‐dimensional measures of work‐ and family‐role experiences, this study first examined (Time 1) the additive cumulative contributions of role experiences in the prediction of women's well‐being (happiness and symptoms of psychological distress). While work overload significantly predicted distress at Time 2, none of the family‐role variables were related to well‐being. Second, as the sample was made up of two groups of women who differed in occupational status (secretaries and professional women), it was possible that the effects of overload on distress might be conditioned by occupational status. The group X overload interaction term was found to be highly significant (p < .007); high occupational status moderated the negative effects of work overload. By contrast, secretaries were adversely affected by work overload. These results are discussed in relation to the existing literature, with reference to women's work and family roles in relation to well‐being, and the effects of occupational status on health outcomes.
Family support and coping with cancer: Some determinants and adaptive correlates
Authors: Aymanns Peter , Filipp Sigrun‐Heide , Klauer Thomas
Published: June 2011

This paper studies the interrelationships between the coping behaviours of cancer patients and perceived amount and adequacy of family support, as well as the issue of how these predict psychosocial adjustment to cancer. Based on questionnaire data from a sample of 169 patients with cancers of various sites, three questions were considered in detail: (1) How might cognitive and behavioural modes of coping with cancer affect perceptions of support provided by one's family in terms of the amount as well as adequacy of various supportive acts? (2) Are coping modes to be considered when explaining inter‐individual differences in perceived support adequacy, or can these differences be reduced to differences in amount of support? (3) Can distinct patterns of family support and coping preferences be identified and, if so, how do these patterns differ in indicators of psychosocial adjustment to cancer? Results suggest that cognitive strategies of coping may be more effective in ‘mobilizing’ family support than behavioural strategies. Moreover, the perceived adequacy of various support modes proves to be influenced by cognitive coping preferences independent of perceived amount of support. Finally, results from cluster analyses point to a particular coping‐support pattern identified as ‘highly risky’. This pattern is characterized by generalized support deficits, strong tendencies towards rumination, and weak tendencies towards minimizing disease‐related threat. The findings are discussed from an interactional perspective on support processes and with regard to implications for psychological intervention in cancer patients.
Using the theory of reasoned action to understand organizational behaviour: The role of belief salience
Authors: Elliott Richard , Jobber David , Sharp John
Published: June 2011

The theory of reasoned action was tested in a field study for its ability to predict behaviour at the organizational level of analysis. The study also investigated the role of personal belief salience in improving the explanatory abilities of the theory of reasoned action, and in providing additional guidance as to key differences in belief salience between groups. Key informants in 70 medium and large companies, 35 users of market research and 35 non‐users, were interviewed about their attitudes towards the commissioning of market research in the next 12 months, and their perceptions of the beliefs of their socially normative referents. A measure of personal belief salience was also used. Data on actual behaviour was collected 12 months later. The results demonstrate that the model is at least as successful at explaining behaviour at an organizational level as at an individual level. With the use of a measure of personal belief salience not only can overall attitudes be predicted much more accurately, but these salient attitudes differentiate between users and non‐users of marketing research and can thus be used for differential targeting of persuasive communications.
The cognitive organization of sex and occupation stereotypes
Authors: Trafimow David , Radhakrishnan Phanikiran
Published: June 2011

Two experiments were conducted to explore whether activating occupation stereotypes primes sex stereotypes or whether the reverse is more likely. A reaction time paradigm was used to distinguish between four alternative hypotheses about this issue. More specifically, subjects were exposed to sex‐occupation or occupation‐sex word pairs and asked to press one of two buttons depending upon their perceptions of the compatibility of the two words. Although consistent word pairs were responded to more quickly than inconsistent ones, varying the order in which the words were presented (sex first or occupation first) did not interact with this factor. This pattern of findings contradicts the widely held notion that there is an asymmetrical relationship between the two kinds of stereotypes.
Vulnerability to depressive mood reactions: Retesting the hopelessness model of depression
Authors: Houston Diane M.
Published: June 2011

A replication of Metalsky, Halberstadt & Abramson's (1987) test of the revised hopelessness model of depression was conducted. Depressive mood response to examination outcome was assessed in undergraduate students across two periods of examination. In phase 1, consistent with Metalsky et al. (1987), examination outcome was the sole predictor of depressive mood response on receipt of exam results. There was no evidence for a delayed mood response five days later. In phase 2, the interaction between attributional style and exam outcome was predictive of depressive mood response on receipt of exam results. Taken together, the results provide support for the diathesis‐stress and specific vulnerability components of the model with respect to immediate mood response. No support was found for the causal mediation component. Differences between recently published studies are reported and implications for the model discussed.
Emotional expression in upside‐down faces: Evidence for configurational and componential processing
Authors: McKelvie Stuart J.
Published: June 2011

In two experiments, a total of 126 subjects judged the seven emotional expressions of Ekman & Friesen's (1976) pictures of facial affect presented upright or inverted. Inversion reduced accuracy for sad, fear, anger and disgust, and sad was identified as neutral. However, happy was identified almost perfectly on upright and inverted faces, and both anger and disgust were identified significantly often on inverted faces. In addition, the classic confusions between surprise and fear and between disgust and anger occurred on both upright and inverted faces. It is argued that expressions are difficult to identify on inverted faces when they are based on configural information. However, accurate performance on inverted faces and similar confusions on upright and inverted faces are due to componential processing.
Mindless processing of requests? Don't ask twice
Authors: Slugoski Ben R.
Published: June 2011

This study examines the mindlessness hypothesis and its associated compliance‐gaining paradigm from the perspective of politeness theory. The main prediction of politeness theory, which is not taken into account in the mindlessness literature, is that the perceived magnitude of an imposition is a function not only of the size of favour asked but also of the framing of the request itself. A confederate asked students studying in the library for either one or 10 sheets of paper using appropriate variations of Langer et al.'s three request types: no reason, placebic reason and real reason. Students then completed a questionnaire to determine: (a) how large the imposition on them had been; (b) their verbatim memories for the requests; and (c) self‐reported compliance with the requests. In order to examine the effect of reflective thought on subjects' judgements and recall, this questionnaire was completed either immediately following compliance/non‐compliance or three minutes later. The analyses established that the perceived imposition is influenced jointly by the actual imposition, the type of request and the time of judgement. Further, contrary to some previous research, the recall memory data provide support for a strong version of the mindlessness hypothesis, as well as new evidence for the reconstructive character of conversation memory. It is concluded that politeness theory describes a powerful heuristic that people use when processing requests.
Social evaluations of fair and unfair allocators in interpersonal and intergroup situations
Authors: Platow Michael J. , O'Connell Aaron , Shave Roger , Hanning Peter
Published: June 2011

Based on social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) and distributive justice norms (Walster, Berscheid & Walster, 1976), hypotheses were set forth outlining expected changes in social evaluations of resource allocators with changes from interpersonal to intergroup situations. In interpersonal situations, fair allocators were expected to be more favourably evaluated than unfair allocators. This difference was expected to decrease, however, in weak intergroup situations (intergroup attenuation hypothesis) and reverse in strong intergroup situations (intergroup reversal hypothesis). In Expt 1 (N = 126), support for the former hypothesis was predicted and found in the minimal group paradigm. In Expt 2 (N = 82), support for the latter hypothesis was predicted and found following actual intergroup confrontation. In Expt 3 (N = 128), neither hypothesis was supported when the target and the recipients were out‐group members. The discussion extends these hypotheses to other group processes such as leadership endorsement and social influence.
The mediational effects of attributions and information processing in minority social influence
Authors: Moskowitz Gordon B.
Published: June 2011

Minority influence research has focused on behavioural factors that lead to successful social influence, such as acting in a consistent manner, but has tended to ignore the psychological processes that may mediate successful influence. Moscovici (1976) posited that such psychological mediators include attributions concerning the causes for the minority's behaviour and a validation process in which subjects carefully consider the issues raised by the minority position. The current article examines the links between social cognition theories of stereotyping and attitude/impression formation and minority influence by delineating the role of both attributions and systematic message appraisal in minority influence. Successful minority influence was predicted to be dependent on the types of attributions formed towards the minority because such attributions influence the manner in which we attend to and think about a minority position. The data reveal that subjects with positive attributions were more influenced by the minority message than subjects with negative attributions. More importantly, this difference in persuasiveness was shown to be mediated by different cognitive processing strategies—subjects with positive attributions were more likely to systematically process the minority message. In addition to exploring the cognitive underpinnings of successful minority influence, the impact of social pressure and power struggles between social groups is considered in evaluating the applied value of such process‐oriented research. Finally, it is suggested that while consistent behaviour is one way in which the minority can draw attention to its position and increase the likelihood of influence, recent models and stereotyping and impression formation suggest another approach. Instead of the minority accepting the burden for instigating a validation process in members of the majority, such attention and validation can be instilled in those perceiving the minority through adopting goals that promote individuated and systematic information processing; through rejecting stereotypic and schematic processing strategies that promote biased impressions.
Minority and majority influence in freely interacting groups: Qualitative versus quantitative differences
Authors: Smith Christine M. , Tindale R. Scott , Dugoni Bernard L.
Published: June 2011

Minority and majority influence were studied simultaneously within the context of freely interacting groups. It was hypothesized that minorities would act as a rein, reducing the degree of polarization in majority members' attitudes. The direction and magnitude of attitude change on a social issue in unanimous groups were compared to those of groups with either one or two minority members. In addition, the secondary effects of minority influence on cognitive processes, predicted by Nemeth (1986), were assessed using two thought listing tasks—one involving an issue discussed by the group and a second involving an issue that was not previously discussed. Results supported the ‘minority as a rein’ analogy as well as the predictions made by Nemeth. However, it appears that minority influence manifests itself differently depending on whether or not individual members have to defend their position during group interaction.
Minority influence under value conflict: The case of human rights and xenophobia
Authors: Sanchez‐Mazas Margarita
Published: June 2011

A field experiment involving 91 Swiss apprentices tested the hypothesis that a minority group evoking widely shared values (e.g. human rights) is influential under conditions of high rather than low value conflict. Results supported this prediction. It is argued that value conflict induces complex thinking (i.e. differentiation and integration) that accounts for indirect attitude change. Implications for ‘consensual’ minority influence attempts and the ‘Zeitgeist phenomenon’ are discussed.