bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Attachment, Social Support, and Loneliness in Young Adulthood: A Test of Two Models
Authors: Larose Simon , Guay Frédéric , Boivin Michel
Published: March 2007

This study tested the validity of two models predicting states of loneliness: the social network mediation model and the cognitive bias model. The social network mediation model posits that personal dispositions influence states of loneliness through various dimensions of the social network. According to the cognitive bias model, states of loneliness are not explained by social network characteristics but rather by a negative cognitive filter related to personality. Unique aspects of the study included testing these two models while selecting attachment security as a personal disposition variable and using reports from participants and friends to assess social support. A new model combining processes outlined in both previous models (which we called the cognitive-network model) was found to be the best representation of our data. Discussion centers on the implications of this model for social support research and interventions.
What Do We Assess when We Assess a Big 5 Trait? A Content Analysis of the Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Processes Represented in Big 5 Personality Inventories
Authors: Zillig Lisa M. Pytlik , Hemenover Scott H. , Dienstbier Richard A.
Published: March 2007

What are personality traits? Are all “broad” traits equally broad in the constructs they encompass and in the pervasiveness of their effects? Or are some traits more or less affective, behavioral, or cognitive in nature? The present study examined these issues as they applied to the Big 5 traits of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Expert and novice raters judged the extent to which items from four popular Big 5 inventories contain behavioral, cognitive, or affective components. Traits and inventories were then compared in terms of their relative assessment of these components. Results indicate convergence among inventories but remarkable differences between traits. These findings have implications for the conceptualization and assessment of traits and suggest directions for future research.
Objective Self Awareness and the Perception of Others
Authors: Vallacher Robin R.
Published: March 2007

The effect of objective self awareness on interpersonal discrimination was examined. Subjects viewed several videotapes, each presenting a different female being interviewed for a job. Objective self awareness was induced in half the subjects by training cameras on them as they viewed the tapes. Because of a divided focus of attention associated with objective self awareness, self aware subjects were expected to demonstrate less discrimination among stimulus persons than were non self aware subjects. This hypothesis was supported.
Psychological Parameters of Physical Symptoms
Authors: Pennebaker James W. , Skelton J. A.
Published: March 2007

Physical symptoms such as headaches and back pains affect everyone from time to time. The present report addresses the nature of symptoms themselves and the psychological processes affecting their occurrence. The first section of the paper will present background information on the symptom-reporting process-- e.g., general frequency of symptom-reporting in a healthy population, relationships among various symptoms, correlations between symptom- reports and actual somatic change. Psychological factors that affect symptom-reporting are then analyzed, including the roles of attention to body and sets for interpreting body states. Increases in reported intensity of a variety of symptoms occur when attention is focused on the body and when individuals interpret body states in a negative fashion. The relationship between physical symptoms and moods is discussed, and several proposals for future work are presented.
Causal Attributions and Anticipated Future Performance
Authors: Pancer S. Mark
Published: March 2007

Causal attributions for performance in an introductory psychology course were examined with respect to students' es- timates of the number of psychology courses to be taken in future. Attributions to ability were more negatively correlated with the likelihood of future performance for unsuccessful stu- dents (receiving a final grade of C or less) than for successful (A or B) students. In addition, unsuccessful students tended to say that they had worked less, the more they anticipated future performance, while successful students said they had worked more, the more they anticipated future performance. Results were interpreted in terms of the "controllability" of the two causal factors, effort and ability.
Effects of Withheld Evidence on Juridic Decisions II
Authors: Shaffer David R. , Sadowski Cyril
Published: March 2007

This experiment tested the hypothesis that criminal defendants who withhold evidence on the advice of their counsel will be judged less harshly than defendants whose decision to withhold evidence is a personal one. Although the data were consistent with the hypothesis, attribution of evidence withholding to defense counsel did not completely overcome the biasing effects of an evidence withholding strategy.
Anxiety and Encoding Processes in Memory
Authors: Mueller John H.
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the effect of anxiety on encoding processes in memory. It is argued that the levels of processing model of memory provides a useful approach to the study of anxiety effects on encoding. In particular, relative to low-anxiety subjects, high-anxiety subjects can be characterized as encoding fewer semantic features, encoding less elaboratively, and being less flexible in utilizing alternative memory strategies. The levels framework can also be combined with the encoding specificity view of retrieval to supplement the drive theory analysis of anxiety effects on retrieval.
Graduate Research Training Internships in Social Psychology
Authors: Severy Lawrence J.
Published: March 2007

Several models facilitating the training of quality researchers for other than academic career environments are discussed. Advantages, concerns and procedures of an off-site graduate research internship program are considered.
When Superstition Fails
Authors: Russell Dan , Jones Warren H.
Published: March 2007

Previous research has suggested cognitive distortion of counter attitudinal information bi' believers but not by skeptics of paranormal phenomena. The present stud}' sought to extend these results, using a different mode of information presentation and measuring emotional arousal as well. Both believers and skeptics showed increased emotional arousal when presented with counter attitudinal information, but only believers showed selective learning of the information. These findings are discussed in light of dissonance theory and selective learning.
Friendship and Fairness
Authors: Austin William
Published: March 2007

Individuals involved in a continuous relationship (college roommates) and strangers allocated rewards for a task under conditions of either high or low performance. It was predicted and found that roomates would overlook differences in merit and choose an equality distribution rule, whereas strangers would choose equality when they performed poorly and merit when they excelled. Results are interpreted in terms of the important situation-defining effect of type of relationship.
Testing Hypotheses about Other People
Authors: Snyder Mark , Campbell Bruce
Published: March 2007

This investigation examined the influence of the manner in which hypotheses about other people. are framed on the strategies that individuals formulate to test these hypotheses. Male and female participants formulated question-asking strategies to test hypotheses about other people. For some participants, hypotheses were framed exclusively in terms of attributes that would confirm the hypothesis. For other participants, hypotheses were framed both in terms of attributes that would confirm and in terms of attributes that would disconfirm the hypothesis. In each case participants planned to test their hypotheses by preferentially soliciting, by means of the questions they chose to ask, behavioral evidence that would confirm their hypotheses.
Communication within Ongoing Intimate Relationships
Authors: Newman Helen
Published: March 2007

An attempt is made to explore current notions regarding attribution processes within the framework of ongoing intimate relationships and to question whether such an attribution classification as the dispositional-situational dichotomy captures the complexities of cognitive functioning unique to intimate relating. The "interpersonal attribution" category is proposed as a means of refining and expanding current conceptualizations regarding attribution processes of actors and observers within dyadic units. The implications of the interpersonal attribution for relationship stability, conflict, and dissatisfaction are explored. Heuristic applications and questions for future attribution research are suggested.
The Perceiver and the Perceived Revisited
Authors: Baxter James C. , Hill Peter C. , Brock Barbara , Rozelle Richard M.
Published: March 2007

The present study reexamined the influences of the perceiver and perceived on the person perception process. A conceptual replication of Touhey's laboratory study of the influences of directed attention on the perception process was conducted with several methodological refinements. Subjects viewed a videotape of two men performing anagram tasks under either person-centered or task-centered viewing instructions. They subsequently described the men on a bipolar description procedure and responded to a questionnaire aimed at validating the instructional manipulation. Results indicated that subjects' attention was meaningfully manipulated by the instructions. Moreover, the person-centered group applied more distinctions to the targets, agreed with each other more in the selection of distinction dimensions, but less in the application of polar terms of the dimensions, and discriminated between targets to a greater degree than the task-centered group. The overall pattern of results appears to grossly replicate Touhey's findings.
The Effect of Erotica Featuring Sadomasochism and Bestiality on Motivated Intermale Aggression
Authors: Zillmann Dolf , Bryant Jennings , Carveth Rodney A.
Published: March 2007

Male subjects were provoked by a same-sex peer, exposed to (1) comparatively nonarousing, pleasant erotica (girlie fare); (2) arousing, displeasing, and non-aggressive erotica (bestiality); (3) arousing, displeasing, and aggressive erotica (sadomasochism); or (4) not exposed to erotica, and then provided with an opportunity to retaliate against their annoyer. Exposure to arousing, displeasing erotica, regardless of the degree of apparent aggressiveness involved, was found to increase retaliatory aggression relative to no exposure. Presence or absence of aggressive cues in these equally arousing and equally displeasing erotica was of no consequence. Exposure to nonarousing, pleasant erotica, compared to no exposure, had a negligible effect. 7he aggression-facilitating effect of exposure to displeasing, disturbing erotica was explained as the result of annoyance summation.
Observation and Performance of Aggression
Authors: Parker David R. , Rogers Ronald W.
Published: March 2007

Although the frustration-aggression hypothesis has focused typically on aggressive behavior, the primary purpose of the present experiment was to investigate the effect of frustration on observation of either aggressive or nonaggressive models when an individual can choose which model to observe. A total of 103 second- and third-grade males participated in a factorial experiment manipulating frustration and modeling cues. The results disclosed that an aggressive model elicited more imitative aggression than simultaneously presented aggressive and cooperative models (multiple models). Both of these conditions, in turn, produced more aggression than a cooperative-model condition or a no-model condition. Within the multiple-models condition, which is characteristic of many naturalistic settings, frustration produced greater observation of the aggressive model, greater recall of aggressive acts, and stronger attacks against another person. These data were interpreted in terms of an expanded frustration-aggression hypothesis: In social situations in which observers have a choice of heterogeneous models to observe, prior frustration increases the probability that an individual will observe, remember, and hence perform more acts of violence.
Trait Relationships
Authors: Lewicki Pawel
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the relation between social experience and trait relationships. Subjects were exposed to information that was contrary to their assumptions about trait relationships. They then rated stimulus persons on a number of trait dimensions. There were significant changes in how subjects rated these stimulus persons, although these changes were not consciously recognized by the subjects. The results indicate that certain social experiences may influence the relationships among trait ratings of both fictitious and real persons. In addition, these results suggest that there may be differences between conscious beliefs about trait relationships and trait relationships derived from actual ratings.
Common First Names as Cues for Inferences about Personality
Authors: Leirer Von O. , Hamilton David L. , Carpenter Sandra
Published: March 2007

Two studies examined the hypothesis that different forms of common first names-formal (such as Robert), familiar (such as Bob), and adolescent (such as Bobby)-elicit differential inferences about the personalities of the name bearer. Experiment I showed that differentiation among these three name categories was a significant basis for subjects' free sorting of common names according to similar personality types. In Experiment 2 subjects displayed different patterns of trait inferences about persons identified by formal as opposed to familiar and adolescent names. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Stress and Illness
Authors: Stern Gary S. , McCants Terrie R. , Pettine Paisley Woodrich
Published: March 2007

Events on the Holmes and Rahe (1967) Schedule of Recent Life Events were separated into controllable and uncontrollable categories based on subjects' ratings. It was found that the relationship between life events and illness depended upon whether events were viewed as controllable. Specifically, the more life events individuals identified as uncontrollable, the greater the illness reported. Moreover, events perceived as uncontrollable were rated as significantly more stressful than events perceived as controllable. It was also demonstrated that the effect the controllability-uncontrollability dimension had in moderating the relationship between total life events and illness was stronger than the effect of severity (i.e., life change units) of life events.
Criminal Intent and Consequence Severity
Authors: Horan Hope D. , Kaplan Martin F.
Published: March 2007

Developmental theory identifies progressions in two spheres of moral behavior: the reasoning used in making moral choices in dilemmas and the relative use of intentions and consequences in judging another's actions. Adult subjects selected as high or low in moral reasoning level for moral choices sentenced hypothetical defendants for criminal acts varying in severity of intended outcome and actual consequence. Consequences affected sentencing more, and their effect was equally pronounced for both moral reasoning groups. Subjects with a high level of moral reasoning were influenced more by intention severity than were low-level subjects. Suggested guidelines on the relative importance of intentions and consequences were ignored by subjects. Individual differences in moral reasoning in choices were reflected in usage of intentions in retributive justice, giving partial support to the notion of structural parallelism. Failure of reasoning level to extend to con-sequences was attributed to the intrinsic importance of extent of harm, both legally and psychologically, to criminal punishment. It is suggested that sentencer's moral reasoning level is a potential source of disparities in discretionary punitive decisions.
Retaliation by Male Victims
Authors: Ohbuchi Kennichi , Izutsu Toshinobu
Published: March 2007

A group of 48 male Japanese students were asked to exchange electric shocks in a competitive aggression situation with either a physically attractive or unattractive female Japanese opponent, who either severely or mildly attacked them. The main results were: (1) the subjects liked the physically attractive female more than the unattractive female, independently of the intensity of her attack, (2) they behaviorally retaliated more aggressively against the severe attacker than against the mild attacker, but (3) when her attack was severe, they retaliated less against the physically attractive female than against the unattractive female. It was concluded that a physically attractive female is likely to evoke favorable reactions from males even in an aggressive interaction. However, the assumption that this effect is mediated by the "beauty-is-good"stereotype was not supported.
Psychological Reactance and the Relinquishment of Control
Authors: Strube Michael J , Werner Carol
Published: March 2007

This study examines the hypothesis that the motivational state of psychological reactance can undermine effective control relinquishment. Subjects were asked to make control relinquishment decisions regarding an upcoming task after either performing adequately or inadequately on a prior task. Subjects also received feedback indicating that a partner had performed at a similar or superior level. Results indicate that subjects who had previously performed at an adequate level, but not those who performed at an inadequate level, relinquished more task control to superior partners. These findings indicate that under conditions conducive to eliciting reactance, ineffective decision making may result.
Determinants of Children's Sex Stereotyping
Authors: Repetti Rena L.
Published: March 2007

This article explores how sex stereotyping among young children is linked to their parents' sex-role traits and to their television viewing patterns. Forty children were interviewed to obtain two measures of sex stereotyping and two measures of their television viewing habits. Parents completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory to assess their sex-role traits. The data indicate that parental sex roles and the tendency to watch educational television programs are significantly related to children's sex typing of toys and occupations. Total amount of television viewing did not correlate with stereotyping. Both parents seem to play an important role in their children's acquisition of sex-role stereotypes. However, there was evidence of a stronger maternal influence over toy stereotypes and a stronger paternal influence over occupation stereotypes. Results also indicated that daughters may be more influenced by parents'sex roles than are sons.
The Effect of Certainty on Consensus Judgments
Authors: Marks Gary , Miller Norman
Published: March 2007

To investigate the effect of opinion certainty on attributions of opinion similarity, we examined projections of own verdict on a court case. The first study was correlational in nature; it assessed the relation between self-ratings of certainty of verdict correctness and attributions of own verdict to others. In two additional studies, we used conceptually distinct operations to manipulate certainty experimentally and again measured attributions of verdict similarity. Taken together, the three studies provide converging evidence that people are more apt to attribute their opinion to others when they are highly certain as opposed to uncertain about its correctness. Further, those who rendered a verdict of guilty (as opposed to not guilty) attributed their vote to a larger portion of people. Independent of own verdict and manipulated certainty, subjects ascribed their opinion to liked targets more than to disliked targets. The findings are discussed in relation to two competing theoretical positions regarding the effect of opinion certainty on opinion projection: Cognitive availability and social comparison.
Counterfactual Thinking and Victim Compensation
Authors: Miller Dale T. , McFarland Cathy
Published: March 2007

Norm theory (Kahneman & Miller, 1986) identifies factors that determine the ease with which alternatives to reality can be imagined or constructed. One assumption of norm theory is that the greater the availability of imagined alternatives to an event, the stronger will be the affective reaction elicited by the event. The present two experiments explore this assumption in the context of observers' reactions to victims. It was predicted that negative outcomes that strongly evoked positive alternatives would elicit more sympathy from observers than negative outcomes that weakly evoked positive alternatives. The ease of counterfactual thought was manipulated in the first experiment by the spatial distance between the negative outcome and a positive alternative, and in the second experiment by the habitualness of the actions that precipitated the victimization. Consistent with norm theory, subjects recommended more compensation for victims of fates for which a positive alternative was highly available. Implications of the results for various types of reactions to victims are discussed.
Difficulty and Effectiveness of Avoidance Behavior as Determinants of Evaluations of a Potential Aversive Outcome
Authors: Wright Rex A. , Kelley Cathy L. , Bramwell Allen
Published: March 2007

Subjects expected to perform an easy or moderately difficult memory task with the opportunity to earn a high or low chance of avoiding an aversive reading exercise if they succeeded. As predicted on the basis of a recent theory of motivation, ratings of how aversive the reading exercise would be were higher for subjects assigned the difficult memory task than for subjects assigned the easy memory task when the chance of avoidance was high, but were relatively low in both task conditions when the chance of avoidance was low.
Attributional Focus of Praise and Children's Intrinsic Motivation
Authors: Koestner Richard , Zuckerman Miron , Koestner Julia
Published: March 2007

The present experiment was designed to examine whether children's gender would moderate the effects of ability-focused versus effort-focused praise on their performance, perceived competence, and intrinsic motivation. A secondary goal was to examine whether type of involvement might also serve to moderate the effects of effort-focused praise. Fifth and sixth grade boys and girls were introduced to hidden-figures puzzles in eithera task-involving (ie., gamelike) or an ego-involving (i.e., test like) manner and then received either ability-focused or effort-focused praise for their performance. The results showed that boys reported feeling relatively more competent, performed relatively better, and displayed relatively more free choice intrinsic motivation after receiving ability praise than effort praise, whereas girls reported feeling relatively more competent, performed relatively better, and evidenced relatively greater intrinsic motivation after receiving effort than ability praise. The differential impact of ability-focused versus effort-focused praise was especially pronounced for boys. These findings are discussed in terms of boys' and girls' previous history with verbal rewards and gender differences in performance attributions. No effects were found for type of involvement.
Perceptions of Social Behavior
Authors: Hoyle Rick H. , Pinkley Robin L. , Insko Chester A.
Published: March 2007

Two experiments examined the difference between college students' perceptions of interpersonal and intergroup social interaction. In the first experiment, subjects rated the extent to which each of 50 personality-trait adjectives described one of these two types of interaction. Factor-analytic techniques yielded two seven-item adjective scales, "agreeableness" and "abrasiveness, " which served as the dependent variables in the two experiments. Subjects in the first experiment described interpersonal behavior as more agreeable and less abrasive than intergroup behavior. In a second experiment to clarify and extend the findings of the first, subjects anticipated interacting either alone or as part of a group (own interaction unit) with either a single other person or a group of others (other interaction unit). This 2 x 2 between-subjects design revealed no difference in the expected agreeableness of the interaction; however, subjects expecting interactions with a group predicted more abrasive interactions than subjects expecting interactions with an individual. Subjects' perceptions parallel typical game-playing behavior between individuals and groups.
The Framing of Competence
Authors: Jones Edward E.
Published: March 2007

The challenge of how to appear competent (to oneself and others) is closely tied to the attributional relationship between ability (can) and effort (try). Data are presented to support the layperson's understanding of the discounting principle that describes this relationship: Holding performance constant, the lower the apparent effort and the more difficult the task, the greater the attributed ability. It is proposed that people in our culture attach great value to the appearance of basic, or "natural," ability. Depending on available opportunities, people will withdraw effort, emphasize task difficulty, and even handicap themselves to protect their competence image. Experimental results also make clear that self-promoters must avoid claims that are refutable, excessive, or seen as out of context.
Gender Stereotypes and Attitudes Toward Women and Men
Authors: Eagly Alice H. , Mladinic Antonio
Published: March 2007

Attitude theory is used to provide a conceptual analysis of how attitudes toward men and women relate to gender stereotypes. Consistent with this analysis, attitudes toward the sexes related positively to the evaluative meaning of the corresponding gender stereo-types. In addition, attitudes and stereotypes about women were extremely favorable - in fact, more favorable than those about men. The findings also demonstrated that the Attitudes Toward Women Scale assesses attitudes toward equal rights for women not attitudes toward women, and therefore did not relate to the evaluative meaning of subjects' stereotypes about women.
Social Psychological Contributions to the Understanding and Prevention of Adolescent Cigarette Smoking
Authors: Chassin Laurie , Presson Clark C. , Sherman Steven J.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this article is to illustrate the contributions of basic theory and research in social psychology to our understanding of an important public health problem - adolescent cigarette smoking -and to smoking prevention. The authors describe how social psychological theory and research have enabled us to better understand the processes underlying adolescent smoking adoption and to devise more effective intervention programs to deter adolescent smoking.
A Comparative Citation Analysis of Attribution Theory and the Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Authors: Bagby R. Michael , Parker James D. A. , Bury Alison S.
Published: March 2007

Though never empirically verified, it is the general consensus among social psychologists that cognitive dissonance is no longer an actively researched area. In contrast, attribution theory is currently regarded as continuing to have a major influence in social psychological research. In order to examine this widely held belief, Leon Festinger's Theory of Cognitive Dissonance and Fritz Heider's Psychology of Interpersonal Relations (1958) were used as source indicators for dissonance and attribution theory, respectively, and citations to these two targets were tabulated for the years 1958-1987 using the Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index. As expected, the rate of citation to dissonance theory has decreased substantially during the past 15 years, while citations to attribution theory have remained relatively steady. The pattern of differential citation rates is even more evident within subsets of general psychology journals and social psychology journals. The results are discussed in terms of intellectual, methodological, and theoretical differences between the two theories.
The Substrates and Functions of Emotion Feelings
Authors: Izard Carroll E.
Published: March 2007

Most psychologists identify James's theory of emotion with the idea that we experience emotion because we act, for example, feel angry because we strike. Yet, the idea about emotions that was most central to James's psychology was his concept of emotion as feeling. He argued that when consciousness and cognition are without feeling, they are "void of human significance. " James's emphasis on expressive behavior as the source of sensory data for emotion experience inspired the contemporary facial feedback hypothesis of emotion activation. Many emotion theorists can find roots in James's writings, but his emphasis on the significance of feeling in giving meaning and direction to cognition and action has probably had its greatest impact on those who emphasize the motivational features of emotions. Behavioral scientists have overlooked James's conviction that feelings are central to personality and individuality and the best means of explaining the behaviors of everyday life.
Meta-Analytic Contributions to the Literature on Prosocial Behavior
Authors: Eisenberg Nancy
Published: March 2007

In recent years, investigators have increasingly applied meta-analytic techniques to the study of prosocial behavior. Meta-analytic procedures have been used to summarize across numerous studies, to examine the differences among subsets of studies that differ in critical ways, and to test theoretically derived hypotheses. Particular areas of focus have included the relation of prosocial behavior to perspective taking moral reasoning, and mood; testing theoretical assertions regarding the role of mood state in prosocial behavior; helping behavior in urban versus rural settings; and the effectiveness and bases of the foot-in-the-door effect. The contributions of meta-analysis to the study of these topics are discussed, as are some problems with the literature.
The Impact of Comparison Processes on Coactors' Frustration and Willingness to Expend Effort
Authors: Seta John J. , Seta Catherine E. , Donaldson Sandra
Published: March 2007

Subjects worked on an identical simple motor task that was described as being either rhigh or low in value. They worked alone or with a coactor whose performance rate was slightly superior or very superior to their own. When they performed with a very superior coactor on a high-value task, subjects were more frustrated and produced an inferior level of performance relative to those working with the same coactor on a low-value task. When subjects performed alone, however, they were not more frustrated while working on a high-than low-value task. Nevertheless, their performance scores reflected differences in motivation-subjects working on a high-value task tended to perform better than those working on a low-value task. These data are discussed within a social comparison framework and a resource investment analysis of goal value. The implications of this analysis for self-evaluation maintenance and modeling are discussed.
Impression Management Aspects of Self-Handicapping: Positive and Negative Effects
Authors: Luginbuhl James , Palmer Randall
Published: March 2007

Two experiments were conducted to explore observers' reactions to an individual who self-handicaps. Subjects viewed a videotape in which the target either self-handicapped (went to a movie instead of studying) or did not self-handicap. Subjects were also informed that the target did well, average, or poorly on a subsequent exam. Consistency of prior self-handicapping was manipulated in Experiment 1 but had no effect. Results showed that (a) an ordinary behavior seems quite capable of serving as a self-handicap and (b) self-handicapping reduced negative attributions to ability but led to more negative attributions about personal characteristics, thus having a mixed impact as an impression management strategy. In addition, it is suggested that an observer of a self-handicapping behavior need not be aware of a self-handicapping motivation but that the context must allow for the plausibility of such motivation.
Complaining Behavior in Social Interaction
Authors: Alicke Mark D. , Braun James C. , Glor Jeffrey E. , Klotz M. L. , Magee Jon , Sederhoim Heather , Siegel Robin
Published: March 2007

Complaining is a pervasive and important form of social communication but one whose social communicative functions have yet to be subject to empirical investigation. The present study was the first to examine the role of complaining in everyday social interactions. College students kept diaries of the complaints they made to other people for 3 consecutive days, twice during the semester. Students recorded the complaint, the reason for expressing it, and the response it elicited. Over 75% of all complaints registered were non instrumental in nature, in that they were not directed at changing an existing state of affairs but, rather, were expressed for reasons such as to vent frustration or to solicit sympathy. The most frequent complaints involved specific behaviors of another person. The most frequent response to a complaint was to agree with the complainer's statement. The importance of complaining as a form of social communication is discussed, and a number of hypotheses are generated for future research.
Psychology from the Other Side of the Line: Editorial Processes and Publication Trends at JPSP
Authors: Funder David C.
Published: March 2007

The experience of editorial responsibility can produce many surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant, and some of these are outlined. The author also responds to Reis and Stiller (this issue), who carefully document how the length and complexity of articles published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology have increased over the past three decades and attribute this growth to the increasing sophistication and depth of psychological research Although this characterization is surely correct about much modern research in psychology, some articles may begetting longer for the wrong reasons, including obsessiveness and pseudosophistication. He reviewers and editor of our journals need to distinguish between articles that are truly sophisticated or are breaking new ground and those that are obsessively detailed reports of trivial, albeit complicated, variations on the same old theme. To make this distinction wisely, we may need to read and evaluate research within a broader frame of reference than is customary.
Belief Perseverance, Biased Assimilation, and Covariation Detection: The Effects of Hypothetical Social Theories and New Data
Authors: Anderson Craig A. , Kellam Kathryn L.
Published: March 2007

Initial beliefs about the relation between a person's risk preference and ability as a firefighter were manipulated using a hypothetical explanation task. Subjects then evaluated new data that displayed either a clearly positive or a clearly negative relation between the variables, presented in scatterplots. Final beliefs were assessed in several ways. The main findings were that general beliefs were influenced by new data but not by explanation, that specific predictions about a group of 7isk-preferring and a group of conservative firefighters were influenced by explanation but not by new data, that specific predictions about 1 00firefighter trainees were influenced by new data and by explanation, and that new data were evaluated in an unbiased fashion. Discussion focuses on the power of hypothetical explanation to produce belief perseverance, boundary conditions of biased assimilation, and the different judgment processes people use to generate answers to different types of belief questions.
Suspicion and Dispositional Inference
Authors: Hilton James L. , Fein Steven , Miller Dale T.
Published: March 2007

The role of suspicion in the dispositional inference process is examined. Perceivers who are led to become suspicious of the motives underlying a target's behavior appear to engage in more active and thoughtful attributional analyses than nonsuspicious perceivers. Suspicious perceivers resist drawing inferences from a target's behavior that reflect the correspondence bias (or fundamental attribution error), and they consciously deliberate about questions of plausible causes and categorizations of the target's behavior They are, however, quite willing to make strong correspondent inferences about the target if they learn additional contextual information that renders alternative explanations for the target's behavior less plausible. Implications of these findings for current multiple-stage models of the dispositional inference process are discussed, and the need for these and other models to give more consideration to the social nature of social perception is asserted.
Stereotypes and the Generation of Compensatory and Noncompensatory Expectancies of Group Members
Authors: Seta John J. , Seta Catherine E.
Published: March 2007

Three studies investigated the role of schemata and stereotypes in generating expectations about the future behavior of group members. Subjects were exposed to behaviors that violated their schema-based expectancies and were asked to make estimates about the probable actions of the individual responsible for the actions (target) or another member of the stereo"ped group. Results showed that subjects often expected (or predicted) these targets to engage in future compensatory behavior Results also suggested that, under conditions of excessive inconsistent, subjects ceased expecting compensatory behavior and based their estimates on their recent observations of the target's behavior. However, subjects continued to expect compensatory behavior from another member of the target's social group. A mechanism for stereotype maintenance that accounts for these findings is proposed. In addition, implications of this analysis for self concept maintenance and social judgments were discussed.
Sexual Cognition Processes in Men High in the Likelihood to Sexually Harass
Authors: Pryor John B. , Stoller Lynnette M.
Published: March 2007

This research explored the cognitive processes that underlie sexual harassment proclivities in men. It was postulated that men who are high in the likelihood to sexually harass women (LS perceive a connection between sexuality and social dominance. Such a sexuality/dominance cognitive link was hypothesized to bias the processing of social information so as to create an illusory correlation between dominance and sexuality terms in a frequency estimation task. Male subjects viewed a series of word pairs in which sexuality and dominance terms were paired equally often with each other and with neutral control words. High-LSH subjects were more confident in their recognition of the sexuality-dominance pairs and estimated having seen them more frequently than low-LSH subjects. Cognitive and behavioral implications of a sexuality/dominance knowledge structure are discussed.
Interactional Synchrony and Rapport: Measuring Synchrony in Displays Devoid of Sound and Facial Affect
Authors: Bernieri Frank J. , Davis Janet M. , Rosenthal Robert , Knee C. Raymond
Published: March 2007

The validity of a rating paradigm used to measure relative degrees of movement coordination occurring within social interaction (i.e., interactional synchrony) was examined. Untrained judges viewed video clips from 60 dyads, each recorded in two interaction contexts. Two types of video displays were generated. In one condition, judges rated interactional synchrony from standard video. In the mosaic display condition, all features and fine detail that normally would provide a rich array of socially informative data (e.g., facial expressions and twitches) were removed by digitalizing the video image into a mosaic of monocolored blocks. The patterns of synchrony results generated from the two display conditions were virtually identical. Whereas the ratings of synchrony from standard displays could have been influenced by expressed affect and interest, such confounds were unlikely to influence ratings made using the silent mosaic displays.
The Juncture of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Knowledge: Self-Certainty and Interpersonal Congruence
Authors: Pelham Brett W. , Swann William B.
Published: March 2007

It is proposed that when targets are especially certain of their self-views, their interaction partners will be especially likely to develop impressions of them that are consistent with these self-views. Two studies supported this prediction by demonstrating that, for self-views about which targets were highly certain, targets received self-consistent interpersonal appraisals. In contrast, in areas in which the same targets were relatively uncertain of their self-views, the appraisals they received were only weakly related to their self-views. This difference held for judgments of both valenced and nonvalenced traits and for judgments made by both poorly and well-acquainted raters. Potential mediators of interpersonal congruence are discussed, along with the implications of these findings for the accuracy of social perception and for the role of belief investment in self-concept maintenance.
The Discreteness of Emotion Concepts: Categorical Structure in the Affective Circumplex
Authors: Haslam Nick
Published: March 2007

Emotion concepts might be mentally represented as continuous dimensions or as discrete, bounded categories. One account that subscribes to the first possibility proposes that emotion concepts are distributed more or less continuously around the perimeter of a circumplex defined on bipolar dimensions of pleasure and arousal. Using an analogue of categorical perception methodology, this study demonstrated a number of category boundaries that mark out discrete segments of the circumplex. The discriminability of emotion concepts was relatively weak within segments and relatively strong across adjacent segments. Furthermore, empirically derived dimensions additional to pleasure and arousal discriminated the same segments.
Memory and Faces: Pictures Help You Remember Who Said What
Authors: Glenberg Arthur M. , Grimes Thomas
Published: March 2007

Does having the pictures of political candidates help you remember the candidates' various positions on issues? The answer from three experiments was yes. Encoding specificity was ruled out because the pictures need not be present at the memory test for the benefit to accrue. Visual distinctiveness was ruled out because the benefit appears only for faces, not other distinctive visual stimuli. The data suggest that people use pictures to generate rough personality schemas (e.g., kindly), which are then used to help organize memory for the position statements. This account was supported by demonstrating that when asked, subjects generated a greater number of characteristics for candidates whose positions were accompanied by pictures than for candidates whose positions were unaccompanied by pictures. There was also a correlation between the number of characteristics generated and memory for the candidates' positions but only when the positions were accompanied by pictures (i.e., only when the putative schemas were generated). Implications are discussed for social psychology, memory, and mass communication.
In the Mind of the Actor: The Structure of Adolescents' Achievement Task Values and Expectancy-Related Beliefs
Authors: Eccles Jacquelynne S. , Wigfield Allan
Published: March 2007

The authors assessed the dimensionality of and relations between adolescents' achievement-related beliefs and self perceptions, focusing on subjective valuing of achievement. Beliefs derived from expectancy-value theory (adolescents' valuing of achievement activities, expectancies for success and ability perceptions, and perceptions of task difficulty) were assessed. Adolescents completed questionnaires once a year for 2 years. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that achievement-related beliefs separate into three task values factors (interest, perceived importance, and perceived utility), one expectancy/ability factor (comprising beliefs about one's competence, expectancies for success, and performance perceptions), and two task difficulty factors (perceptions of difficulty and perceptions of effort required to do well). Task values and ability perceptions factors were positively related to each other and negatively correlated to perceptions of task difficulty.
Outcome Controllability and Counterfactual Thinking
Authors: Roese Neal J. , Olson James M.
Published: March 2007

The impact of outcome controllability on the direction of counterfactual thoughts (reconstructions of past outcomes based on "might have been"alternatives) was examined in two laboratory experiments. Counterfactual direction reflects the distinction between upward counterfactuals (focusing on how things could have been better) and downward counterfactuals (focusing on how things could have been worse). Previous research has shown that upward counterfactuals are more frequent after failure, even though consideration of downward counterfactuals is affectively self-enhancing. Two studies showed that outcome controllability affects counterfactual direction: Upward counterfactuals were more frequent following controllable outcomes, whereas downward counterfactuals were more frequent following uncontrollable outcomes. Paralleling past research, upward counterfactuals were more frequent after failure, whereas downward counterfactuals were more frequent after success. These findings are consistent with an emerging functional theory of counterfactual thinking.
Further Progress in Understanding the Effects of Derogatory Ethnic Labels: The Role of Preexisting Attitudes Toward the Targeted Group
Authors: Simon Linda , Greenberg Jeff
Published: March 2007

To assess the impact of derogatory ethnic labels (DELs) on evaluations of both the target of the DEL and the person making the comment, White subjects who had pro-Black, anti-Black, or ambivalent attitudes were randomly assigned to read a DEL, an ethnic criticism, or no remark at all. Subsequent evaluations of the maker and the target of the comment were assessed, as well as subjects' affective reactions to reading the comment. In response to reading a DEL, all subjects derogated the person who made the comment. Anti-Black subjects rated the Black target more negatively on positive traits, pro-Black subjects did not alter their ratings of the target, and ambivalent subjects compensated by rating the target more favorably following the DEL. Affectively, ambivalent subjects generally reported more guilt and hostility than other subjects, and reading the DEL or the ethnic criticism led to more hostility than reading no comment at all.
Expected Evaluation, Goals, and Performance Mood as Input
Authors: Sanna Lawrence J. , Turley Kandi Jo , Mark Melvin M.
Published: March 2007

Research indicates that effortful performances are reduced when participants cannot be evaluated, relative to when they can be evaluated. It was hypothesized that mood would interact with goals to attenuate such reductions in performance. As predicted, when participants' goal was to do as much as they could, those in negative moods put forth more effort and persisted longer than those in positive moods and performed equally well whether or not they could be evaluated. In contrast, as predicted, when participants' goal was to continue until they no longer enjoyed the task, those in positive moods put forth more effort and persisted longer than those in negative moods; no-evaluation and evaluation conditions did not differ. For those in positive moods asked to do as much as they could and those in negative moods asked to continue until they no longer enjoyed the task, no-evaluation participants performed worse than evaluation participants.