bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Minority influence: The effect of majority reactionaries and defectors, and minority and majority compromisers, upon majority opinion and attraction
Authors: Kiesler Charles A. , Pallak Michael S.
Published: May 2007

The effects of shifting opinions within a group upon majority opinion, communication between members and perceived attractiveness of other members were studied. Each subject perceived himself to be a member of the majority in a group whose opinion was divided 6–2 on an important issue. But later one to three group members changed their vote. Six conditions of change were established: Control, majority reactionary, majority compromise, majority defection (5‐3), minority compromise, minority compromise plus majority reactionary. Only majority compromise or defection affected majority opinion (private and public). Majority members were disliked when they deviated from majority opinion, but particularly so when they shifted toward minority opinion. Minority members were liked most when they induced a majority member to compromise (but not defect). Majority communication to minority occurred most when the minority was compromising, but most disagreement with minority opinion was expressed when a majority member had either compromised or defected.
Generalization of relative competence mediating conformity across differing tasks
Authors: Endler Norman S. , Wiesenthal David L. , Coward Teresa , Edwards Jean , Geller Sheldon H.
Published: May 2007

Subject correctness and group agreement were initially varied for college subjects performing a multiple‐choice informational task (Canadian Knowledge Inventory). On a subsequent perceptual task (Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices), the dependent variable of conformity was assessed to examine generalization of relative competence formed on the informational task. It was seen that: (1) Those who perceived themselves to be less competent than the group on the first task exhibited the greatest level of conformity on the second task, thus replicating previous research on perceived relative competence as a determinant of conformity; (2) suspicion reduced conformity.
The reciprocation of unfavorable evaluations of performance in a two‐person inspection task
Authors: Foot H. C. , Russon J. M.
Published: May 2007

The extent to which subjects reciprocate unfavorable evaluations of performance was investigated in a dyadic inspection situation. The members of twelve male subject pairings alternated in their roles as ‘inspector’ and ‘operator’ on a discrimination task. As operators, the subjects were led to believe that their inspectors had evaluated their performance favorably or unfavorably on the basis of either a subjective judgment or an objective matching evaluation criterion. Results showed that those operators who reciprocated most were those whose discriminations were rejected by means of the judgment criterion. This result is in line with the attribution hypothesis that a person is held more responsible for an act having an unfavorable outcome for others when that act is perceived as voluntary and intended than when it is perceived as compulsory or externally determined.
Reciprocation of generosity and knowledge of game termination in the decomposed Prisoner's Dilemma Game
Authors: Tognoli Jerome
Published: May 2007

Sahlins proposed a model of reciprocity for social interaction citing three forms drawn from observations of kinship systems. The model describes an altruistic form of reciprocity, a balanced or economic form and a negative form in which individuals try to outdo each other. This model was applied to a two‐person variation of the Prisoner's Dilemma Game where Ss were presented with a confederate who responded over trials entirely generously, contingently generously or non‐generously. Half of the Ss were informed that there would be ten trials while the other half were uninformed. Basically, Ss tended to match the generosity level of the confederate and were less generous when trial number was known.

Evidence for Sahlins' model is provided by Ss reports of reasons for their choices in the game. Those in the generous condition gave reasons for reciprocating based on a general feeling of obligation, trust and desire to cooperate. Those in the contingently generous condition gave reasons for reciprocating based on economic exchange and a desire to maintain a balance of resources. Ss in the non‐generous condition gave reasons based on a desire to take what profits one could before the other got them.

In addition, Ss indicated a significant tendency to exploit the other on the final trial under the informed condition for the contingently generous but not for the generous condition.
Prediction of environmental change: Wish‐fulfillment revisited
Authors: Eiser J. Richard , Eiser Christine
Published: May 2007

Two experiments are reported which examine the relationship between a person's estimate of the likelihood of a future change in his environment and his assessment of its desirability. The first experiment showed a general tendency for probability and desirability ratings to be positively correlated. This correlation was higher when the desirability of a predicted change was seen, on average, as matching its probability of occurrence, e.g., if the change was seen as both desirable and probable rather than probable but undesirable. In the second experiment subjects wrote an essay arguing either that a predicted change was probable, improbable, desirable or undesirable. Arguing for desirability of the predicted change had as much effect on subjects' probability estimates as arguing for its probability; similarly, arguing for its probability had as much effect on desirability ratings as arguing for its desirability. These results are taken to imply that individuals may seek to achieve greater cognitive simplicity by treating probability and desirability as a single dimension.
Personality similarity and friendship choices by adolescents
Authors: Duck Steven W.
Published: May 2007

In a study designed to examine the nature of the relationship between personality similarity and established friendships amongst adolescents, three groups of frequently interacting subjects of different ages were given Reptests (Kelly, 1955) as a means of eliciting the content of their personal construct systems. In all three groups (early‐, mid‐ and late‐adolescence), pairs of friends were found to have more similar constructs than nominal pairs of group members. However, there were age‐related differences in the kinds of construct on which the similarity was most significant (for example, similarity on constructs relating to factual description predicted friendship choices in early adolescence but failed to do so in later adolescence, where similarity of constructs concerning physical attributes was a relevant factor). Sex‐differences in the functional basis of friendship were also found, with mid‐ and late‐adolescent girls' friendship choices correlating with similarity of psychological description. Temporal and sex differences in the basis of friendship suggest that the concept of ‘friendship’ must be seen as more differentiated and less unitary a concept. Adolescent friendship illuminates several dimensions along which this differentiation assumes both theoretical importance and functional relevance.
Social interaction and the development of cognitive operations
Authors: Doise Willem , Mugny Gabriel , Perret‐Clermont Anne‐Nelly
Published: May 2007

This paper presents two experiments to support the general hypothesis that the coordination of actions between individuals promotes the acquisition of cognitive coordinations. The first experiment shows that two children, working together, can successfully perform a task involving spatial coordinations; children of the same age, working alone, are not capable of performing the task. The second experiment shows that subjects who did not possess certain cognitive operations involved in Piaget's conservation of liquids task acquire these operations after having actualized them in a social coordination task.
Developmental study of fair division and property
Authors: Moessinger Pierre
Published: May 2007

This paper attempts to describe how sharing behavior develops. Subjects were pairs of children aged 4 to 15. The experimental situation follows the pattern of a rich sharing with a poor, that is, subjects do not possess the same amount at the beginning of the experiment. Three stages emerge:

— Up to 6–7 years the subjects do not compare the different sets (initial belongings, set to be shared) and proceed often by alternating actions (give and take).

— From 6–7 to 11–12 years they even out their final belongings (what they possess after sharing). Initial belongings and objects to be shared are considered in the same way.

— From 11–12 years on, there is a distinction between initial belongings and the set that is to be shared, based on the assumption that they are dealing with two different types of property.
Attribution of behavioral intentions to obese and normal‐weight stimulus persons
Authors: Galper Ruth Ellen , Weiss Ethel
Published: May 2007

This study examines the relationship between the attribution of traits and the attribution of short‐term, situation‐specific intentions and probable behaviors, with particular reference to the perception of obese persons. College students performed one of four tasks: (1) Rating photographs of obese and normal‐weight female faces for likeability and attractiveness; (2) attributing short‐term intentions and probable behaviors to these stimulus persons within the context of briefly described social interactions; (3) judging the situationally determined demand characteristics of the intentions and probable behaviors; or (4) judging the ‘meaning’ of the intentions or behaviors in terms of trait scales.

The results demonstrate that although the obese faces were consistently rated significantly less likeable and less attractive than the normal‐weight faces, these judgments were paralleled by only a few differences in the situation‐specific intentions or behaviors attributed to the two groups of stimulus faces. It is suggested that impression‐formation measured in terms of global, dispositional characteristics such as traits cannot be assumed to directly predict many differences in behavioral expectations in specific interpersonal settings. On the basis of the few attributions of intention which did discriminate, an ‘obese personality’ stereotype emerged, consisting either of socially undesirable traits or traits of ambiguous social desirability.

The implications of the relationships among traits, intentions and situational demand characteristics for an interactive model of situational vs. personality determinants of expected behavior are discussed.
Cognitive dissonance and the placebo response: The effect of differential justification for undergoing dummy injections
Authors: Totman Richard
Published: May 2007

Studied the effects of cognitive dissonance on pain perception and attitudes towards injections in 48 student subjects of both sexes (average age = 20.5). In a ‘forced compliance’ design, subjects received sets of painful radiant heat stimuli, projected to their inside forearms, which they rated for painfulness and to which their GSR amplitude was recorded. During these stimuli, they ‘chose’ to receive an experimental (placebo) injection. The degree of justification for agreeing to be injected was varied. Subjects in the high‐justification (HJ) condition were paid for their compliance, while subjects in the low‐justification (LJ) condition were not paid.

Two predictions were made from dissonance theory. The first prediction, that only LJ subjects would manifest significant post‐injection analgesia when compared to subjects in a no‐choice control condition, was confirmed, considering both pain ratings (p < 0.01) and GSR (p < 0.025). The second prediction, that only LJ subjects would rate injections more favourably than control subjects on a post‐experimental measure, was not confirmed.

The relevance of these findings to explanation of the placebo effect is discussed.
On the so‐called ‘superior conformity of the self’ behavior: Twenty experimental investigations
Authors: Codol Jean‐Paul
Published: May 2007

In comparison processes between the self and others within a given social set, a marked tendency has been frequently observed for each person to present himself as more in conformity with the social norms prevailing in the set under consideration than others participating in this set generally are. This type of behavior has been designated here as ‘superior conformity of the self behavior’ (also called ‘PIP effect’). This article sets out to synthesize twenty experimental investigations in which it was attempted to delimit and explain this behavior.

A first set of experiments deals with the observed scope of the superior conformity of the self behavior. For this purpose, variations are systematically introduced in the characteristics of comparative situations: Types of sets of individuals (for instance, real groups or abstract sets — social categories); types of norms under consideration (for instance, norms dealing with the concrete execution of a task, norms relating to forms of behavior — personality characteristics, etc.); manners of comparing oneself with others (for instance, a specifically defined other or generalized others; comparisons on past, present or future behavior, etc.).

Having tested the scope of the superior conformity of the self behavior in various ways, we proceed to explain it theoretically and experimentally. Our explanation here is based on the existence of a fundamental conflict between two simultaneous processes that are both complementary and contradictory: The individual's need, on the one hand, for social conformity, which tends toward standardization and de‐individualization; on the other hand, his simultaneous search for social differentiation and individualization. This explanation is tested in a second set of experiments.

Our final purpose is to show the practical and theoretical importance of the study of the superior conformity of the self behavior in social psychology. In this connection we have shown, in a third set of experiments, how such a behavior can play a role in many phenomena studied by social psychology.
Three weighting criteria in impression formation
Authors: Warr Peter , Jackson Paul
Published: May 2007

When several items of information are combined to give an overall judgement, it is usually found that some kinds of item are given greater weight than others. This study examines the relations between three criteria which judges may use in deciding how to apportion these weights. The criteria of evaluative direction and extremity have of ten been studied within impression formation, while demonstrations of the influence of ambiguity have produced unclear findings.

Simple models of the combination of these three criteria are shown to be inadequate and a more complex account is suggested. A study is reported in which divergence between the criteria of extremity and ambiguity results in a generally greater bias to negative. This effect is related to other studies of the influence of inconsistency, and range adjustment model of the judgement process is extended to take it into account.
Group participation and intergroup relations: An experimental study of negotiation groups
Authors: Stephenson Geoffrey M. , Skinner Martin , Brotherton C. J.
Published: May 2007

Negotiations were conducted to investigate the effects on settlement‐points andon the attitudes and perceptions of participants of (i) group participation and (ii)belief in own group's point of view, in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Ninety‐six school children prepared cases in groups of four before representing their group's position against an individual of a similarly prepared opposed group. Group participation was manipulated by groups either participating in preparatory discussions or observing video films of another group's discussions. Belief was manipulated by systematically varying the composition of groups according to scores on a pre‐test of attitudes towards the raising of the school‐leaving age.

In general the belief manipulation operated as expected, ‘believers’ exhibiting less variability, more tit‐for‐tat agreements and less opinion change than the ‘disbelievers’. Group participation did not influence the measures as predicted, and measures of interpersonal perception did not conform to the pattern of findings in recent experiments on intergroup discrimination. The results are discussed in terms of (i) their relevance to the issue of the appropriate relationship of the representative to his group in a negotiation and (ii) their implications for intergroup relations theory.
Linguistic factors and meaningfulness of personal constructs
Authors: Lemon Nigel
Published: May 2007

Studied the effect of linguistic development and social appropriateness of a language upon the meaningfulness of personal constructs articulated in this language. Subjects were 60 bilingual pupils from a boys secondary school in Tanzania. Linguistic development was manipulated by choosing pupils who had either 1½ years or 3½ years experience of instruction in English. For each subject constructs were elicited and grids administered in both English and Swahili. Two types of elements were used, for one of which Swahili was the socially more appropriate language and for the other, English. Results from the study indicate that rating polarization is a function of both linguistic development and appropriateness of language for construing the domain in question. These results are therefore interpreted as indicating that meaningfulness of personal constructs, as indicated by rating polarization, can have linguistic determinants.
Distracting stimuli: Do they elicit or inhibit counterargumentation and attitude shift
Authors: Haslett Deirdre Maccann
Published: May 2007

Studied the effects of distracting stimuli, presented simultaneously with a persuasive but counterattitudinal communication, on subvocal counterargumentation and attitude shift. All subjects were first‐year undergraduate male students at Birmingham University, England. The 80 experimental Ss who formed ten different treatment groups, responded to distracting sequences of numbers by performing visual, auditory, vocal and manual tasks, and combinations thereof, while listening to the message. The base‐line group of 28 Ss merely listened to the same communication, which advocated compulsory male sterilisation. After task completion, all Ss were given a six‐item Likert‐type attitude measurement questionnaire, a counterargumentation measurement similar to that devised by T. C. Brock (1967) and a three‐item comprehension test of the arguments used in the communication. The results suggest that distracting stimuli which are greater in intensity or which require a more ‘active’ response from the recipient (up to a certain level of activity) are more likely to inhibit counterargumentation and thus elicit shift toward agreement with the message (while leaving comprehension levels unaffected) than those which are lower in intensity, or which require either a ‘passive’ or a ‘high‐active’ response.
Studies in social influence III: Majority versus minority influence in a group
Authors: Moscovici Serge , Lage Elisabeth
Published: May 2007

This experimental study was aimed at investigating the mechanisms of influence involved in the two functionally opposed phenomena of innovation and conformity. We have been concerned for several years with the former of these two phenomena because of its intrinsic importance and the limited amount of research devoted to it.

In the present article we have attempted not only to analyse the position more thoroughly, but also to compare the effects of innovation with those of conformity. In particular, we have endeavoured to show that behavioural style acts as a general source of influence in the two phenomena under consideration, where manifest judgments are concerned. On the other hand, the latent effects of influence may be different in the two cases of innovation and conformity.

To investigate these questions, we developed an experimental design consisting of three parts. The first part was intended to study manifest influence on a quasi‐physical judgment based on a cultural truism. The second part was aimed at the study of latent modifications in the perceptual‐cognitive code as a result of influence. The third, in the form of a postexperimental questionnaire, was intended to provide information about various aspects, including the perception of the agent of influence by subjects. The main function of the experimental manipulations was to vary the minority or majority relationship of the agent of influence within a group, and its behavioural style, consistent or inconsistent.

Our main findings indicate that behavioural consistency is the main factor behind the influence exerted by both majority and minority. But whereas, in conformity, influence is limited to modifying manifest judgments, in innovation, it changes the perceptual‐cognitive code underlying such judgments.
The perception of filmed violence by aggressive individuals with high or low self‐concept of aggression
Authors: Searle Ann
Published: May 2007

An experiment was devised which tested the classical theory of projection. Subjects completed a Rosenzweig Picture Frustration Study form (RPFS) also rated themselves for aggressiveness on rating scales. Highly aggressive subjects were classified according to whether they rated themselves as high aggressive or tow aggressive. Subjects watched one of two full‐length commercial films, and the ratings which high‐aggressive, high‐self‐rating subjects and high‐aggressive, low‐self‐rating subjects gave to film characters were compared. It was found that aggressive film characters were rated as being more aggressive by the low‐self‐rating subjects than by the high‐self‐rating subjects. The possible explanation that this finding could be related to more general differences between subjects was not supported. It was therefore concluded that the results of this experiment were best explained by the predictions of classical projection theory, with the proviso that aggression was only projected onto those film characters whose behaviour provided appropriate cues.
In search for schemata underlying the inference of traits from interpersonal sentiment relations
Authors: Peeters Guido
Published: May 2007

Three schemata relevant to the inference of traits attributed to a and b from respectively reciprocal liking and disliking relations between a and b are derived from the research literature: (a) Homogeneity according to which likable traits would be attributed to a and b if they like each other, while dislikable traits if they dislike each other; (b) balance according to which more similarity would be attributed to a and b if they like each other than if they dislike each other, the relative similarity effect being localized on a likableness dimension; (c) positivity bias according to which favorable traits would be attributed irrespective of the stimulus information given.

An experiment is reported which provides support for the three schemata with the exception that no unequivocal evidence is obtained for the restriction of the balance effect to a likableness dimension. Further, individual Ss are found not to have stable preferences for particular schemata but to switch readily from one schema to the other.
Attitudinal variables as estimates of behavior: A theoretical examination of the attitude‐action controversy
Authors: Perry Ronald W. , Gillespie David F. , Lotz Roy E.
Published: May 2007

Discusses the current status of the controversy about the relationship between individual's attitudes and subsequent behavior. It is suggested that one step toward the resolution of the existing controversy is the construction of a formal theory, specifying and integrating variables other than attitude into the framework. To this end, a model (in propositional form) is advanced focusing on attitude, centrality and salience as determinants of action. The model was partially tested through reanalysis of survey data dealing with attitudes and behaviors of 221 individuals with regard to halting air pollution. The data confirmed that subjects for whom the attitude object was central exhibited a higher level of attitude‐behavior consistency than subjects for whom the attitude object was of low centrality. It is argued that the use of the proposed model clarifies relationships which otherwise might incorrectly be interpreted and provides a practical logic for determining when a comparison may be reliable and when one should beware of probable measurement difficulties.
Ineffective deception in conformity research: Some causes and consequences
Authors: Stang David J.
Published: May 2007

Suspiciousness of deception threatens the internal validity of the conformity experiment, and analyses suggest it is becoming more widespread. After being led to believe their own ability in a visual judgment task was higher, lower, or the same as the ability of the other group members, 65 undergraduate women made visual and informational judgments in the Crutchfield apparatus. Major findings include treatment effects on suspiciousness, less conformity by suspicious Ss, and ‘significant’ treatment effects on conformity only when suspicious Ss were removed from the analyses. Measures of self‐confidence and confidence in others were significantly related to and likely determinants of suspiciousness. Implications for improving deception in conformity research are discussed.
The use of psychological theories by ‘naive’ judges: A study in implicit personality theory
Authors: Bierhoff Hans Werner , Bierhoff‐Alfermann Dorothee
Published: May 2007

Sixty‐three subjects judged the behaviour of one of two fictitious stimulus persons by means of five different types of explanation which corresponded with specific psychological theories. These types of explanation based behaviour on adaptation to external conditions, reward/punishment, fulfilment of role expectations, effects of unconscious motives and the imitation of models.

The explanations were evaluated on graphic rating scales as to their truth and convincingness. Two‐way analyses of variance with repeated measures on one factor showed significant main effects for type of explanation and interaction effects of stimulus person × type of explanation for both dependent variables. The results are discussed in the light of studies done so far in implicit personality theory.
Increasing the size of the minority: Some gains and some losses
Authors: Nemeth Charlan , Wachter Joel , Endicott Jeffrey
Published: May 2007

Both folklore and much of the social psychological literature suggest that influence and numbers go hand in hand. The more the people espousing a particular position, the more they are presumed to be correct, and the more influence they will exert. Such a contention has received support in the conformity literature (Asch, 1955). However, recent work in minority influence demonstrates that a few people, provided they show particular consistency and confidence, are able to exert influence on a majority. We have hypothesized that such perceptions of consistency and confidence bear an inverse relationship to size of the minority. Combining these two findings, we predicted that, as size of the minority increases, their presumed competence increases but their presumed confidence in their position decreases. We further predicted that a combination of the two perceptions is the best predictor of influence exerted by that minority. These predictions received support in the present study.
The role of visual communication in synchronising conversation
Authors: Rutter D. R. , Stephenson G. M.
Published: May 2007

Previous research on visual interaction has indicated that Looking1 may serve a number of important functions in social interaction. In particular, the apparent relationship between the timing of Looks and the patterning of speech has led to the suggestion that visual communication serves to regulate the flow of conversation and to synchronise transitions from speaker to speaker. This was tested in the present experiment by comparing face‐to‐face dyadic encounters with similar discussions which took place over an audio intercom link which precluded visual communication. Simultaneous speech, which resulted generally from interruptions, occurred more frequently and for longer in total face‐to‐face than in the audio condition, while the length of utterances and the incidence of speech disturbance were both greater in the audio condition. This pattern of findings was quite different from that predicted, and suggests that the role of visual communication is to allow participants to converse spontaneously and interrupt freely by enabling them to send and receive nonverbal signals which maintain the interaction and prevent the breakdown which interruption might otherwise threaten. Suggestions for testing this interpretation further are outlined.
Social institutions and the control of deviance: A cross‐national opinion survey
Authors: Newman Graeme R.
Published: May 2007

Representative samples were drawn from particular areas of five countries: New York, U.S.A.; Orani, Italy; Teheran, Iran; Djakarta, Indonesia; and Belgrade, Jugoslavia. Descriptions of behavior ranging from criminal through deviant to nondeviant acts were presented to the respondents who were asked to indicate to which agencies of social control they would refer the act. The social institutions of religion, party politics or education were rarely chosen. All country samples invoked the police and family, but the more industrialized countries also reported to government bureaucracy and the medical system. Less developed countries favored the family and village level of social control. Results were interpreted to suggest that the current view of labelling theory, that all social institutions are agencies of social control, needs to be reassessed. A distinction between socializing institutions and controlling institutions is suggested.
Subject variables and reactance to persuasive communications about drugs
Authors: Kohn Paul M. , Barnes Gordon E.
Published: May 2007

The role of three subject variables in the mediation of reactance to pro‐ and anti‐LSD messages was investigated: sex, authoritarianism, and suspiciousness that the purpose of the experiment was to study persuasion. No reactance effect occurred reliably either overall or in any subgroup of subjects for the anti‐LSD message which supported the initial views of most subjects (evening‐division undergraduates). In the pro‐LSD case, reactance effects occurred among highly suspicious male subjects only. It was suggested that reactance could be a responce to perceived threat from the experimenter rather than, or as well as the communicator, and that male and female subjects responded to such threat in accordance with their culturally prescribed roles.
Effect of communication discrepancy and ambiguity on placement and opinion shift
Authors: Granberg Donald , Campbell Keith E.
Published: May 2007

Analyzed social judgment theory of attitude change and studied placement of a communication and opinion shift in an experiment on visual perception. In a 3 × 3 design plus a control group, 110 undergraduate college students (50 men and 60 women) received a communication after estimating the number of dots on 14 slides. The communication varied at three levels of ambiguity and three levels of discrepancy. Ss gave estimates of the communication from memory (measuring assimilation) and gave a second set of their own estimates (measuring opinion shift). Assimilation varies directly with ambiguity (p < .00l) but is unrelated to discrepancy. Opinion shift varies significantly as a function of discrepancy (p < .00l) but is unrelated to ambiguity. Authors hypothesize assimilation and opinion change may be negatively correlated at small discrepancies but directly correlated at large discrepancies.
The question‐answer exchange between mothers and young children
Authors: Robinson W. P. , Arnold Jenifer
Published: May 2007

Investigated associations between the questioning and answering behaviour of mothers and children in a design that allowed analyses within as well as between social classes. Thirty‐two six‐year‐old children volunteered their knowledge and asked questions of their mothers about a variety of objects in a natural context.

Social class differences in the children were found in the quality of questioning and the amount of knowledge displayed, but for the latter there were differences between tasks, and the incidence of questioning confounded the predictions made. Class differences in mothers' behaviour likewise differed by task.

An index of the mothers' provision of cognitive meaning and of feedback was shown to correlate highly with children's rates of questioning and knowledge revealed both within and across classes.
Immediate attributional effects of success and failure in the field: Testing some laboratory hypotheses
Authors: Iso‐Ahola Seppo
Published: May 2007

Investigated how team success and failure are attributed to dispositional and situational factors as a function of immediate outcome of the group performance, past success of the team, and individual performance of team members within the group. 150 Little League baseball players' attributions for the team's outcome were taken separately with regard to team‐ and self‐factors immediately after the conclusion of a game. The results reveal that success, independent of the margin of victory, is primarily assigned to effort and ability, while clear‐loss is attributed to both effort and task difficulty. Conversely, bare‐loss is seen to be mainly due to task difficulty and secondarily to low effort. The results are interpreted as supporting the notion of ego‐centered causal judgments, but not necessarily the motive to enhance one's self, on the basis of the new proposition that effort has a different attributional meaning in the cases of success and failure; when losing effort is treated as an external factor, and when winning, effort tends to be interpreted as an internal factor. No differences with respect to attributions exist between individual players who perform poorly and those who excell within the team performance.
Polarization as a function of meaning and consequences
Authors: Rule Brendan Gail , Gareau André
Published: May 2007

Studied the effect of meaning and consequences on shifts toward extreme judgments (polarization) as a result of group discussion. Since it was hypothesized that high levels of both meaning and consequences would activate pressures to conform to the appropriate cultural norm, greater polarization was predicted under those conditions. Consequences were varied by asking subjects how willing they were to participate in another actual (high consequences) or hypothetical (low consequences) experiment. Meaning was varied by information that the proposed experiment would have high or low social and scientific significance. Sixty male college students discussed their preferences in three‐person groups. Prediscussion, consensus, and postdiscussion scores were obtained; the critical polarization scores were computed on the basis of individual's movement away from the prediscussion mean of their group. Partial support for the hypotheses is provided by a cross‐over interaction (p < .05) in changes from the prediscussion to consensus scores, which indicate greater polarization in the high‐meaning, low‐consequence condition, and in the low‐meaning, high‐consequence condition. The results are discussed with respect to their implications for research in which subjects do not expect real consequences to follow from their statements of opinion.
Structural and nonstructural aspects of power distance reduction tendencies
Authors: Ng Sik‐Hung
Published: May 2007

Re‐examines Mulder's Power Distance Reduction Theory (P.D.R.) and the related experiments using a model which distinguishes between structural and nonstructural parameters of a power system. The former defines the Vertical and Horizontal nature of the power relations between people in the system, while the latter specifies the power differential between two immediate ranks, and together they provide a more adequate and precise conception of the links between the power parameters and the tendencies of subordinate group members to seize super‐ordinate power. Several theoretical statements were generated on the bases of the P.D.R. literature and theories of social comparison and bureaucracy to hypothesize the individual effects of the three parameters on power distance reduction (p.d.r.) tendencies. Two experiments using 48 and 40 male college students respectively were conducted to test the hypotheses by systematically varying one parameter and holding constant the other two. The results indicate an inverse relationship between the p.d.r. tendencies and the size of the parameters, as predicted. The strength of the relationship increases from the nonstructural to the Vertical to the Horizontal parameter. An argument was developed which combined the three power parameters to form two ideal power conditions for further research.
Power difference between players and level of matrix as determinants of competition in a MDG
Authors: Rijsman J. , Poppe M.
Published: May 2007

At first, it was demonstrated that social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) predicting a need for moderate (instead of maximal) superiority, could reconcile a number of disparate results of earlier Maximizing Difference Game (MDG) experiments. Using the same theory, it was then further predicted that high power players in an asymmetrical MDG would compete less than their inferior opponents or than equal power players in a symmetrical MDG and that the inferior and equal power players would not differ in competition. The data of an experiment, involving an asymmetrical (8/6) MDG matrix and two symmetrical MDG matrices (8/8 and 6/6), generally confirmed these predictions, but it was observed serendipitously that the high 8/8 symmetrical matrix yielded more competition than the lower 6/6 symmetrical matrix. An extended replication of this variable with five linearly related MDG matrices (4/4, 5/5, 6/6, 8/8 and 12/12) showed a similar result, namely most competition in the highest matrices and least in the lowest ones. The finding was interpreted in terms of the competitive motivation of the players and the low cost of competition in the highest matrices.
The effects of proportion, strength and value orientation of arguments on decision‐making
Authors: Silzer Robert F. , Clark Russell D.
Published: May 2007

Presented 120 males and 300 females with a summary of arguments concerning a court case. The information varied in the proportion and strength of arguments for either the defense or the prosecution. Based on the relevant arguments version of the cultural value hypothesis, it was predicted that: (a) proportion of arguments is directly related to subjects' ratings of probability of guilt; (b) fewer arguments are needed to move subjects toward innocence than toward guilt; (c) strong minority defense arguments ate more effective than weak ones in allowing subjects to adhere to their initial value; and (d) strong prosecution arguments result in higher probability of guilt ratings than do weak prosecution arguments. Data supported each of these hypotheses.
Dissonance theory, self‐perception and the bogus pipeline
Authors: Guild Paul D. , Strickland Lloyd H. , Barefoot John C.
Published: May 2007

Studied attitude change following counter‐attitudinal advocacy where there was little incentive for subject compliance in an attempt to compare dissonance and self‐perception theory predictions. The extent of attitude change was determined either by self‐report or by having subjects predict their own true attitudes purportedly monitored by the experimenter using a ‘bogus pipeline’. Forty‐eight male and female subjects, students from an introductory Psychology course, were invited to take part in a study of Current Campus Issues. They wrote a short statement that argued against an issue for which they had previously held a positive attitude. Results indicate that there was a significant attitude change in both conditions (p < .003). Attitude change under these circumstances is more successfully explained by the self‐perception theory than dissonance theory.
Partisan language, immediacy, and attitude change
Authors: Eiser J. Richard , Ross Michael
Published: May 2007

In an experiment to study the effects of attitudes and immediacy of verbal expression of requiring subjects to emply evaluatively biased language, 28 male und felmale college students wrote essays on the topic of capital punishment. They were not forced to write either for or against the issue, but were required to incorporate a list of either 15 pro‐bias words, which implied a negative evaluation of abolition, or 15 anti‐bias words which implied a negative evaluation of capital punishment. It was predicted that subjects' final attitudes would be more pro capital punishment after using pro‐bias words, and this was confirmed for subjects' final self‐ratings (p<.05). However, alternative measures of subjects' final attitudes implied that the bias manipulation had a consistent effect in the predicted direction only for subjects whose initial attitudes were congruent with the words they used (i.e., pro subjects in the pro‐bias condition and anti subjects in the anti‐bias condition) incorporated more of the words provided (p<.01) and employed more immediate forms of expression (p<.025) than subjects required to use words incongruent with their intial attitudes. These results were not replicated when 19 further subjects were required to incorporate comparable lists of statements rather than words, suggesting that the effects of the word‐lists were not due to their providing subjects with ready‐made persuasive arguments.
Heider, Harré and Herzlich on health and illness: Some observations on the structure of ‘représentations collectives’
Authors: Farr Robert M.
Published: May 2007

Heider's notions of attribution are presented as a theoretical underpinning for the empirical findings of Herzlich concerning health and illness. Her methodology is treated as a good example of the ‘new’ methods advocated by Harré and Secord: ‐ the collection of naive unnegotiated accounts. It is suggested that the potential for attributional artifacts is present when an investigator invites laymen to discuss issues which have favourable as well as issues which have unfavourable outcomes and then accepts their ‘accounts’ at face value. Favourable outcomes tend to be attributed to the self and unfavourable to the environment. The self is seen as the source of health and the environment as the source of illness. Evidence, from other areas of research, supporting this interpretation is presented. In conclusion it is argued that Herzlich's data more neatly exemplify the structure of Lewin's Psychological life‐space than they do that of Durkheim's ‘représentations collectives’.
Threatened leadership and intergroup competition
Authors: Rabbie Jacob M. , Bekkers Frits
Published: May 2007

In this paper three experimental studies are reported in which leaders were given a choice between intergroup competition or ‐cooperation under the threat of being deposed or not by their followers.

Consistent with our predictions, threatened leaders were more likely to opt for intergroup competition, especially when their group was internally divided and when they had a strong bargaining position. However, they only chose intergroup competition, regardless of their chances of bringing the intergroup conflict to a successful conclusion, when their tenure of power was very precarious.
Majority reaction to shifting and stable attitudinal deviates
Authors: Levine John M. , Ranelli Candice J.
Published: May 2007

Female undergraduates, in groups of four, voted several times on appropriate treatment for a delinquent, using an electrical signalling device. Two simulatedgroup members consistently agreed with subjects' initial position. A third simulated member (target) exhibited one of nine response patterns. In six movement conditions (which formed a 2 × 3 design), the target (a) gradually moved a short distance toward or away from modal group opinion and (b) manifested high, medium, or low net agreement with the majority position. In three stable conditions, the target consistently (a) agreed with modal opinion, (b) disagreed, or (c) took a neutralposition. In movement conditions, the target was evaluated significantly more favourably in the toward than in the away condition and in the high agreement than in the medium and low agreement conditions. In stable conditions, the agreeing target was liked significantly better than the neutral and disagreeing targets. The target's response pattern also affected subjects' attributions about the target's motives, communication to the target (in notes interspersed between votes), and opinion change. Results were discussed in terms of previous research dealing with majority reaction to moving and stable attitudinal deviates.
Social class and sex as determinants of future orientation (time perspective) in adults
Authors: Schmidt Rolf W. , Lamm Helmut , Trommsdorff Gisela
Published: May 2007

This studv was designed to test hypotheses concerning the influence of sex roles and social status on future orientation (FO). The latter was measured in various categories (spheres of life),on the dimensions of density (number of hopes andfears cited by the subject), extension, and optimism‐pessimism. Also included was a measure of ‘internal vs. external control’ (the subject's assessment as to whether the realization of his hopes and fears is dependent more on himself or more on external factors). Subjects were 100 employed men and women of the lower and middle class. It was found that, in comparison with women, men voiced more hopes/fears in the public sphere (economy, politics, environment) and fewer in the private sphere uamily, occupation, personal development). Men had a more extended FO in the occupational and economic spheres; women, in contrast, in the private sphere. (These results contradicted the assumption of earlier studies that FO is a general orientation, not varying across different domains of life.) Middle‐class (in comparison to lowerclass) persons manifested a, wore extended FO, envisioned the distant future more optimistically, and believed more markedly that the realization of their hopes and fears depended on themselves.
Experiments in micro‐history: Attributions about the recent vs. the remote subjective past
Authors: Albert Stuart
Published: May 2007

Demonstrated in two studies ( N = 64, N = 79) that information about a hypothetical stimulus person that appears to be 3 hold is judged more positively than information that appears to be 45 min old (p < .03, p < .007 respectively). In both instances, the information was received 1½ hago, but by unobtrusively manipulating the speeds of a clock by a factor of two, subjects were led to believe that they received the information either 45 min or 3 hago. The implications of thefindings for theories of attribution and social judgment are pointed out.