bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effects of intergroup similarity and cooperative vs. competitive orientation on intergroup discrimination
Authors: Brown R. J.
Published: June 2011

The prediction from several theories of interpersonal relations that intergroup similarity would lead to less differentiation and more attraction was contrasted to a hypothesis from Social Identity Theory which predicts the opposite outcome. In Expt 1, groups of schoolchildren expected to interact cooperatively with one another. The perceived characteristics of the out‐group were varied in a 3 times 2 design. The independent variables were out‐group Status (higher vs. same vs. lower relative to the in‐group), and its prevailing Attitudes (similar to vs. different from those in the in‐group). Evaluations of anticipated performance and liking clearly supported the similarity–attraction hypothesis. But on a Prisoner's Dilemma measure, more competition was observed against the similar group, as predicted by Social Identity Theory. In Expt 2, using a similar design, a third independent variable was incorporated: the nature of the Task (cooperative vs. competitive). Unexpectedly, this factor had few effects in isolation and its predicted interaction with similarity was not observed. But further analysis revealed that subjective goal orientation may be an important variable: similarity led to intergroup attraction only for non‐competitive subjects; for competitive subjects the reverse was true. It was concluded that similarity may perform different functions in different contexts.
Cognitive mediators of reactions to a minor life‐event: The British driving test
Authors: Williams J. Mark G. , Brewin Chris R.
Published: June 2011

Predictions derived from social learning theory and from the attributional reformulation of learned helplessness theory were tested in a ‘real‐life’ situation involving success or failure, the British driving test. Among the predictions made were that pre‐test expectations would affect the probability of passing, the attributions made for success or failure, and persistence following failure. The attributional dimensions of internality, stability and globality were expected to correlate with mood, expectancy of future success and persistence, and sex differences were predicted in both expectations and attributions. The results showed that pre‐test expectations were related to attributions of success and to persistence, but not to the probability of passing or to attributions for failure. Attributions themselves correlated only in the predicted fashion with expectancy of future success among male subjects. But there were consistent sex differences in expectations, attributions for success and persistence. The implications of these findings for cognitive/attributional theory are discussed.
Problem and non‐problem children's causal explanations of success and failure in primary school settings
Authors: Fry P. S. , Grover Sonja C.
Published: June 2011

The study examined problem and non‐problem children's causal explanations of success and failure in four different kinds of school achievement situations. Subjects were 144 pupils drawn from a larger group of first, third and fifth graders. They were classified and matched on two dimensions of problem and non‐problem category and high and low ability. Subjects were interviewed to determine whether problem and non‐problem children differ on dimensions of internality, stability and intentionality in explaining probable causes of success and failure. Multivariate analyses of variance results showed that non‐problem children, compared to problem children, attributed outcomes more to internal, stable and intentional factors, that high ability children gave more stable factors to explain outcomes, and that fifth‐grade students compared to other age groups, were the most internalized in their explanations. Educational implications of these findings are discussed.
Audience effects when viewing aggressive movies
Authors: Dunand Muriel , Berkowitz Leonard , Leyens Jacques‐Philippe
Published: June 2011

In order to examine audience effects when viewing filmed violence, male subjects watched an aggressive or a neutral movie either alone, accompanied by a passive confederate (i.e. mere presence of a co‐spectator), or an active one (i.e. reacting to the movie). The subsequent behavioural measures of subjects' aggression were collected via a modified aggression apparatus. The usual instigation effect of filmed violence was found. Furthermore, the type of audience also influenced aggression: subjects accompanied by an active confederate during the violent movie displayed their aggressive behaviour most. These findings stress the importance of the social context when filmed violence is viewed. The results are discussed in terms of social facilitation and disinhibition effects. It is suggested that an active audience may promote a reduction of restraints against aggressing by showing the subject that aggression is permissible.
Some analyses of data from eye‐contact studies
Authors: Hargreaves C. P. , Fuller M. F.
Published: June 2011

The hypothesis that eye‐contact is a chance product of independent individual looking is assessed using regression models. An index of eye‐contact is proposed that takes into account the mathematical constraints on the possible duration of eye‐contact given the levels of looking. These constraints are shown to have a substantial effect on the association between actual and expected eye‐contact. Doubts are raised about the theoretical chance model; conclusions about the model depend on whether the effects of the constraints are taken into account.
Relative deprivation in black and white youth: An empirical investigation
Authors: Gaskell George , Smith Patten
Published: June 2011

A model of relative deprivation is proposed drawing on the writings of Gurr (1970) and Runciman (1966) and is discussed in relation to existing studies. Those aspects of the model concerning the intensity of affective reaction to relative deprivation are subjected to empirical test using samples of employed and unemployed black and white youth. The prediction that the degree of relative deprivation is negatively associated with attitudes to the perceived cause of deprivation receives only limited support. Various indices of relative deprivation are compared and it is concluded that present relative deprivation is the most appropriate operational measure. It is concluded that in understanding the attitudes of black and white youth to societal institutions other social characteristics are more important then relative deprivation.
Explanations and information search: Inductive and hypothesis‐testing approaches to arriving at an explanation
Authors: Lalljee Mansur , Lamb Roger , Furnham Adrian , Jaspars Jos
Published: June 2011

This paper reports three studies that are concerned with the processes involved in arriving at an explanation. In contrast with the essentially inductivist view that people arrive at attributions through an analysis of covariation information about consensus, consistency and distinctiveness, an alternative hypothesis‐testing approach to the process is suggested. This view implies that people usually have hypotheses about why an event occurred and that, rather than seek covariation information, they seek specific information which enables them to disambiguate their hypotheses. In the first two studies subjects were presented with vignettes and instructed to write down what information they would like to have in order to explain the event described. In the third study, similar vignettes were presented and ratings of the importance of different types of information was elicited. The results of all three studies support the hypothesis‐testing model.
Impression‐management and consistency effects in the processing of feedback
Authors: Aitkenhead Marilyn
Published: June 2011

This paper focuses on the extent and persistence of biased reactions to feedback which can be attributed to one or both of two motivational considerations, namely the desire to manage one's impressions so as to avoid anticipated social disapproval and the desire to act consistently with one's expectations. It is argued that subjects' prime desire is to avoid appearing foolish or immodest to others, but that private expectations act as an anchor by which to judge whether or not one is being foolish or immodest. Thus people with different expectations (such as those with high self‐esteem, HSEs, and low self‐esteem, LSEs) should behave differently even when impression‐management conditions are identical. Detailed predictions are derived concerning how the two motivational factors will bias reactions to feedback for two responses: firstly, the expectations HSEs and LSEs hold about their future performance and, secondly, the certainty with which these expectations are held. Subjects' biased reactions to feedback are compared both to the actual feedback given and to the information processing of HSE and LSE observers. It was found that subjects showed biased reactions both during and after 10 trials of repeated success and failure feedback, and there was strong support for all the predictions. It is concluded that consistency needs should not be forgotten in the current enthusiasm for impression‐management as an all‐embracing theory of social behaviour.
Attitudes: Disposition, behaviour or evaluation?
Authors: Lalljee Mansur , Brown Laurence B. , Ginsburg G. P.
Published: June 2011

Attitudes are conveniently conceptualized either as enduring internal affective or evaluative predispositions which have a causal influence on behaviour, or—less commonly—as behaviours in their own right. Conceptual and methodological problems with both of these formulations are discussed, and a reconceptualization is proposed in which attitudes are conceived of as communicative acts which imply evaluations of a class of objects, persons or events. The clearest case of attitude would be a self‐referent speech act of the form, ‘I approve/disapprove entities of type X’. The study of attitude as an expressive communicative act makes use of speech act theory and theories of impression management and self‐presentation, and requires an analysis of the context in which the attitude act occurs and the variety of personal and interpersonal functions which the act serves. The proposed reconceptualization eliminates the ‘attitude–behaviour’ problem and raises a number of potentially fruitful research issues, including the culturally grounded means for achieving of consistency.
Gender roles as developmental pathways
Authors: Archer John
Published: June 2011

Male and female gender roles are discussed as developmental pathways in terms of four related descriptive dimensions: the first three, rigidity, complexity and consistency, are all concerned with processes operating at particular stages of development; the fourth, continuity, is concerned with the overall developmental pathway. The limited evidence available indicates the following: there is a more rigid male role in childhood, but the evidence for adults is less clear; there is some evidence of greater complexity and inconsistency in the male role during childhood; developmentally, the female role becomes less flexible at adolescence whereas the male role becomes more flexible and varied; the female role shows more change across the adult life‐span, particularly at the birth of the first child. The wider societal and historical implications of these conclusions, and their relation to role‐related difficulties, are discussed.
Body‐image consciousness and self‐reference effects in face recognition
Authors: Mueller John H. , Heesacker Martin , Ross Michael J.
Published: June 2011

Subjects differing in body consciousness were compared on face memory. Compared to subjects low in body awareness, subjects with a highly developed body image showed enhanced retention of faces judged for similarity to self‐appearance. Although the imaginal component of the self‐concept may not be effective in general, subjects who are schematic on that dimension can effectively encode experiences in this way.
Theoretical contributions: A five‐stage model of intergroup relations
Authors: Taylor Donald M. , McKirnan David J.
Published: June 2011

This paper outlines a five‐stage model of intergroup relations that attempts to specify the responses of disadvantaged and advantaged groups to inequality. It is proposed that at Stage 1 stratification is based solely on group membership resulting in a rigid dominant–subordinate relationship between groups. At Stage 2 stratification is believed to be based on individual achievement. At Stage 3 certain members of the disadvantaged group attempt to pass into the advantaged group. Stage 4 emerges as those who are unsuccessful in their attempt to pass engage in consciousness raising. Specifically, they attempt to persuade all members of the disadvantaged group that their status is collectively defined and illegitimate. At Stage 5 the disadvantaged group competes directly with the advantaged group. It is hypothesized that the basic processes of causal attribution and social comparison both underlie each stage and control the transition between the stages.
Empirical contributions: Predictions of belief homogeneity and similarity following social categorization
Authors: Wilder David A.
Published: June 2011

In two experiments subjects were categorized into groups and made predictions about the beliefs of other in‐group or out‐group members. It was hypothesized that subjects would predict (a) greater homogeneity among out‐group members than among in‐group members, (b) greater similarity between themselves and in‐group members than out‐group members, and (c) greater similarity among in‐group members in the presence of an out‐group. In addition, assumptions of homogeneity and similarity were expected (d) to be strongest on items relevant to the categorization criterion and (e) to be accentuated over time. Results from the first study supported all but the final hypothesis. In a second study subjects were given base‐rate information about the beliefs of either in‐group or out‐group members and were asked to predict the responses of another in‐group or out‐group member. Subjects systematically biased their predictions so as to reduce differences between their own opinions and in‐group members' positions and to increase differences between their opinions and out‐group members' positions. In addition, in‐group members were expected to be more similar to the subjects when an out‐group was present than when no explicit out‐group existed. Finally, as in the first experiment, these biases of prediction were strongest for items relevant to the categorization criterion.
Social influence in the crowd: Attitudinal and behavioural effects of de‐individuation in conditions of high and low group salience*
Authors: Reicher S. D.
Published: June 2011

The study described here uses the social identity framework suggested by Tajfel and Turner to argue that de‐individuation works by altering the salience of personal vs. social identity. Seventy students from science and 38 students from social science faculties were shown a film presenting arguments for and against vivisection, at the end of which they were told that science students had a pro‐ and social science students an anti‐vivisection norm. Subjects were then told that they were being examined either as members of their faculty group or as individual students. They were either de‐individuated or individuated. They were required to fill in an attitude questionnaire and to complete three quasi‐behavioural measures. It was predicted that the group condition should increase salience of social identity and adherence to the group norm. It was also predicted that de‐individuation in the group condition would further increase salience and hence normative behaviour, while in the individual condition de‐individuation would decrease salience and hence normative behaviour. The first prediction was upheld on all the measures, and the second was partially confirmed.
Person prototypes and cultural salience: The role of cognitive and cultural factors in impression formation
Authors: Forgas Joseph P.
Published: June 2011

The role of person prototypes in impression formation was examined in two studies. In the first study, free‐response descriptions of naturally occurring person prototypes were subjected to an Individual Differences Multidimensional Scaling (INDSCAL) analysis in order to create a quantified prototype taxonomy. Results showed that three dimensions (academic performance, sociability and radicalism) defined the prototype space. These results were related to research on implicit theories of personality, and the structural properties of naturally used person categories are discussed. In study 2, subjects were asked to remember, predict and form impressions about composite characters who were either consistent or inconsistent with a prototype, and had either high or low cultural salience within the subjects' subculture. Results showed a significant interaction between prototype consistency and cultural salience cues, suggesting that ‘schema’ models of information processing best account for how we form impressions about culturally salient characters, but ‘depth‐of‐processing’ models better approximate judgements of low culturally salient characters. These results are contrasted with findings from earlier studies and it is suggested that (a) the collection and quantification of natural, middle‐level person prototypes is essential in studies of impression formation, and (b) cultural variables, such as values and normative salience, interact with cognitive variables, such as prototypicality, in determining which of several alternative information‐processing strategies are used in forming impressions about a particular target person.
Effects of first impressions and reliability of promises on trust and cooperation
Authors: Quigley‐Fernandez Barbara , Malkis Farrell S. , Tedeschi James T.
Published: June 2011

In an experiment utilizing a message‐modified Prisoner's Dilemma game the first impressions of a source of non‐contingent promises were manipulated to be either good‐impotent or bad‐potent. The source was either 100 or 0 per cent reliable in fulfilling his promises and the instructions were either individualistic or competitive. The results showed that initial trust by subjects was affected by both first impressions and the source's reliability. However, subjects displayed the most overall trust when they perceived the promiser as good and impotent. On non‐message trials subjects were more cooperative when a good‐impotent impression conflicted with competitive instructions.
Television and sex‐role acquisition 1: Content
Authors: Durkin Kevin
Published: June 2011

Television has earned considerable public and academic criticism in recent years for the alleged bias in its sex‐role content. A fundamental concern of many critics is with the representation of male and female roles that confronts children. This paper reviews the evidence accumulating from numerous content analyses of both adult and children's television. Overall, the evidence confirms that there are marked differences in the ways the medium presents the sexes. These differences are both quantitative and qualitative but the general pattern at either level is to present males as dominant and females as nurturant and complementary. Some qualifications, exceptions and gaps in the literature are discussed. The paper is the first of a three‐part review series of television and sex‐role acquisition: the subsequent papers will review respectively the effects of sex‐stereotyped TV content upon children and the prospects for counter‐stereotyped programmes aiming to modify young viewers' beliefs and attitudes.
The rules of social relationships
Authors: Argyle M. , Henderson M. , Furnham A.
Published: June 2011

Three groups of 60 subjects, divided by age and sex, completed scales for rating the applicability of rules to 22 different relationships; 33 rules were used for all relationships together with a number of relation‐specific rules. It was predicted that there would be universal rules applying to all relationships. Three of the 33 potentially universal rules were universal, or nearly so, while five more applied to half or more of the 22 relationships. These were less about the exchange of rewards than about regulating privacy, sex, public conduct and keeping confidences. The prediction that relationships would fall into intimate and non‐intimate clusters was confirmed. The reverse of the same rules, or quite different rules, applied to the two clusters.

Intimate relationships had more rules, including more of the rules common to many relationships, and rules about social and emotional exchange. Non‐intimate relations had rules that keep people at a distance. Particular relationships had rules that enable people to avoid sources of conflict unique to those relationships, e.g. the proscription of sex between kin, rules about the conduct of business in work relationships.

It was concluded that rules function to maintain interaction so that goals can be achieved—by coordinating behaviour, regulating the level of intimacy and avoiding relationship‐specific sources of conflict. There were a number of age and sex differences: females endorsed rules about intimacy and self‐disclosure more than males did, and formal rules were endorsed more by older subjects.
Television and sex‐role acquisition: 3: Counter‐stereotyping
Authors: Durkin Kevin
Published: June 2011

This is the third and final paper in a three‐part review series of television and sex‐role acquisition. The previous papers have examined, in turn, the stereotyped nature of much of television content with respect to sex roles, and the limited evidence on the possible effects of this content upon young viewers. This paper turns to the prospects for using television as a contributor to positive social change in this area of human relations and opportunities. The available studies are divided into those which have failed to produce intended changes in young viewers, and those which have succeeded. The evidence is interpreted as suggesting that counter‐stereotype material is more effective when it attempts to build upon the diversity of the child's social knowledge rather than directly to contradict or undermine it. The relevance of affective reactions to counter‐Stereotype materials is stressed, and the attractiveness of personal power is indicated as an important component of effective counter‐stereotype work. Avenues and prospects for future research are outlined.
Situational perspectives on social identity in Northern Ireland
Authors: Waddell Neil , Cairns Ed
Published: June 2011

Tajfel (1981) has argued that his concept of the group‐derived social identity is best thought of as an ‘intervening causal mechanism’ operating in diverse social situations. The rationale for this ‘dynamic’ approach is that invariant conditions are unlikely in intergroup social relations while the way in which these relationships are perceived is even less likely to be static. The implication is that individuals may vary in terms of their social identity from one setting to another. This study examined the effects of situations on the salience of ethnopolitical social identities in Northern Ireland. Following pilot work, the results of a questionnaire listing 36 common situations revealed four situation types—Irish, British, Anglo‐Irish and ‘The Troubles’—which were found to enhance, attenuate or reverse feelings of ethnicity. Analysis of variance revealed main effects for both religion and situation type with the interaction between these two variables also being significant. Despite many deviations away from an overall ethnopolitical identity the groups did not display cross‐cutting. These findings suggested that whilst many social settings may give rise to minor variations in social identity the importance of this identity in Northern Ireland will mitigate any overall tendency to cross the ethnic divide.
Attitude formation under the theory of reasoned action and a purposeful behaviour reformulation
Authors: Bagozzi Richard P.
Published: June 2011

Evaluations in the expectancy‐value model have been construed as either moral (good/bad) or affective (pleasant/unpleasant) reactions to the consequences of an act. After pointing out that neither evaluation is suitable for representing the motivational component of attitude in some cases of interest, this paper proposes a more general reconceptualization based on subjective conditional approach/avoidance reactions. All three possibilities are then tested on two independent samples of 110 persons each through hierarchial regression procedures. Although measures of each type of evaluation achieved high levels of reliability, only the subjective conditional approach/avoidance measures were found to combine validly with beliefs to predict attitudes towards the act of giving blood. The proposed model also raises a number of research issues with respect to the antecedents of evaluations and in so doing deepens the explanatory base of theories of attitude formation and the prediction of behaviour.
Lay theories of behavioural intention: A source of response bias in the theory of reasoned action?
Authors: Budd Richard J. , Spencer Christopher P.
Published: June 2011

It was hypothesized that subjects would expect others to complete questionnaires which measured the components of the theory of reasoned action in ways that are consistent with Fishbein's (1980) model. In order to test this hypothesis 96 subjects were asked to rate how honestly they felt that a set of questionnaires which measured the components of the theory of reasoned action had been completed by a group of male university students. It is shown that those questionnaires which were inconsistent with the predictions of Fishbein's theory were seen as being the most unbelievable. In addition, it is demonstrated that the subjects were aware of the rules they used when attributing dishonesty to particular questionnaires and that these rules were consistent with the main predictions of Fishbein's theory. It is argued that Fishbein's theory forms part of the lay‐person's intuitive psychology of intention, and that this intuitive psychology may act as a source of response bias which motivates people to create consistency between the components of the theory of reasoned action when completing questionnaires which measure the model's constructs.
Properties of gender identity and their implications for gender consciousness
Authors: Gurin Patricia , Townsend Aloen
Published: June 2011

Three properties of gender identity—perceived similarity to other women, sense of common fate and centrality of gender to the sense of self—were measured in national surveys of women in the United States. Analyses of their relationships to gender consciousness support the general proposition that these properties of identity are implicated in different ways in collective discontent, criticism of the legitimacy of gender disparities and acceptance of change‐oriented collective action. As predicted, the sense of common fate proved the most important, even after adjustments were made for the structural resources in women's lives that help them develop both a sense of common fate and gender consciousness.
Sex‐role stereotyping in British television advertisements at different times of the day: An extension and refinement of Manstead & McCulloch (1981)
Authors: Harris Peter R. , Stobart Jonathan
Published: June 2011

Following the lead established by Manstead & McCulloch (1981), a further examination of sex‐role stereotypes in British television advertising was undertaken. In this case, daytime advertisements were analysed as well as evening ones, the data from the visual component of the advertisment were analysed separately from those for the voice‐over component, and a number of additions and modifications were made to the existing coding procedures. In the visual modality, several differences were found between the images of men and women presented in the daytime and those presented in the evening. However, it was not possible to perform the equivalent analysis on the voice‐over data owing to the overwhelming domination of this modality by male central figures. The implications of these findings are discussed, together with their relationship with the findings of similar previous studies.
The self in society: Effects of social contexts on the sense of self
Authors: McGuire William J. , McGuire Claire V. , Cheever Jason
Published: June 2011

It is assumed here that even as intimate and individualistic an experience as one's sense of self is affected by the social context in which the self‐thoughts arise. As regards two major social worlds of childhood, family and school, it is postulated that the family's nurturent atmosphere fosters a more passive self‐concept in contrast to a more dynamic sense of self promoted by the school's press toward achievement. Six predictions were derived that self‐thoughts in the two contexts will differ in basic psycholinguistic characteristics, the types of verbs used to describe the self. To test these predictions children's three‐minute descriptions of their family and of their school were content analysed into successive subject/verb/complement thought segments, from among which we selected out self‐thoughts (segments with self as subject). An analysis of the types of verbs used in self‐thoughts evoked by family versus school probes supported the six predicted differences in verb types derived from our postulate of a more passive self‐concept in the family context. Specifically, in family more than in school contexts the self is perceived passively in terms of state rather than action verbs (of what one is rather than what one does); in terms of static states of being rather than dynamic states of becoming; in terms of overt actions rather than covert reactions; in terms of physical actions rather than social interactions; in terms of cold cognitions rather than hot affects; and in terms of simple affirmations rather than reflexive negations. These six manifestations of a more passive self in family than school social contexts are robust across age, gender and response modality.
Consistency of attributional responses by individuals and groups differing in gender, perceived ability and expectations for success
Authors: Tenenbaum Gershon , Furst David M.
Published: June 2011

This study examined the consistency of Weiner's three‐dimensional attributional model using subjects who differed in situational variables (outcome, group vs. individual), psychological characteristics (perceived ability, expectations for success) and gender. A total of 138 subjects participating in competitive sport were asked to rate their own perceived ability and expectations for success prior to competition. Following competition, the subjects listed a maximum of three reasons for the outcome. A separate two‐way factorial analysis on each dimension and category revealed that in each grouping variable (gender, situational or psychological) perceived locus, stability and control were inconsistent. Results generally confirmed previous research which used the first attribution. However, the second and third attributions consistently changed, and in some cases were reversed. Further attributional research using more than the first attribution is recommended.
Partners in recall: Collaborative order in the recall of a police interrogation
Authors: Stephenson Geoffrey M. , Abrams Dominic , Wagner Wolfgang , Wade Gillian
Published: June 2011

Subjects watched a video‐recording of a police interrogation of a woman who alleged she had been raped. They were randomly divided into pairs. In the individual‐dyadic (ID) condition subjects first individually, and subsequently as a dyad, free‐recalled the interrogation, answered specific questions about it, and gave ratings of confidence. In the DI condition the order in which subjects undertook the tasks was reversed. Dyadic recall was no more complete when following than when preceding individual recall. Testimonial validity was, however, superior in the ID condition. Individual confidence, and not truth, was a better predictor of dyadic decision.
Bereavement and reactions to job loss: A comparative review
Authors: Archer John , Rhodes Valerie
Published: June 2011

An assessment is made of the applicability of the grief framework for understanding reactions to job loss. Jahoda's ‘deprivation view’ of unemployment is introduced as a statement of what is lost, with the grief model describing the process of adjustment to loss. The main features of grief are described: it is an active process, changing over time, consisting of a number of episodic components combined with a background of chronic emotional disturbance. Parkes' concept of psychosocial transitions is then outlined; this provides a theoretical link between grieving and reactions to other forms of loss, including job loss. An assessment is made of how the grief process has been applied to job loss in existing research. Evidence for most of the components of the grief process is apparent in accounts of reactions to unemployment, but there is little evidence on their frequency, changes over time or their relationship to one another. Variables which are likely to affect the occurrence, extent and precise course of any grief‐like process are examined by comparing reactions to bereavement and job loss. The family and social contexts of reactions to loss are then considered in relation to both grief and unemployment. Finally, the advantages and limitations of the grief model are briefly discussed.
Effects of language proficiency and physical attractiveness on person perception
Authors: Hui C. Harry , Yam Yat‐ming
Published: June 2011

Forty‐eight Chinese subjects were exposed to four Chinese female ‘job applicants’ who were either high or low on English‐language proficiency and on physical attractiveness. Half of the subjects considered the applicants for a secretary's post and the other half considered them for a social worker's post. Results showed that applicants' language proficiency had strong influences on person perception. Those high on language proficiency were rated higher on achievement‐related traits. The effects of physical attractiveness were comparatively weak. The findings establish the robustness of the language proficiency effects on person perception.
Role innovation in the world of work
Authors: West Michael A.
Published: June 2011

Role innovation, the introduction of significant new behaviours into a role, has been a topic of interest in three diverse social science literatures, but few studies have been conducted in field settings. A longitudinal study of job change among 1700 male and female British managers is reported in which theoretical predictions about role innovation deriving from Nicholson's (1984) theory of work‐role transitions are tested. Self‐concepts and role requirements are examined as predictors of change in reported role innovation following work‐role transitions. The relationships between role innovation and reported post‐transition satisfaction and personal change are also examined. Job discretion and growth needs emerge consistently as predictors along with previous role innovation. The association between role innovation, satisfaction and personal change suggests that opportunities to role innovate contribute to psychological well‐being at work and are exploited by those individuals who are also able to adapt themselves to their environments. The findings imply the need for modification of existing theory by incorporating social and motivational factors and suggest the value of typologies of role innovation.
Creative level and creative style
Authors: Goldsmith Ronald E.
Published: June 2011

The present paper blends theories and insights from the study of organizational decision making and problem solving into the more general topic of creativity. Psychologists have long used self‐report personality scales to measure creativity. Such scales, however, tend to yield contradictory and inconsistent findings. Kirton has proposed that a distinction needs to be made between level of creative ability and style of creative action. Failure to distinguish these two aspects of creativity may underlie the contradictions and inconsistencies associated with many creativity measures which confound level with style. Data from 96 college students were used to evaluate correlations between the Kirton Adaption—Innovation Inventory, a measure of creative style, and four other scales: What Kind of Person Are You, Something About Myself, and the Jackson Personality Inventory Innovation and Risk Taking subscales. As expected, most of the intercorrelations were positive and moderate in size indicating that the three creativity scales mix level with style to different degrees where they should provide measures of a clear, precise concept.
Religiosity and personality: Are mystics introverted, neurotic, or psychotic?
Authors: Caird Dale
Published: June 2011

One hundred and fifteen subjects completed Hood's M scale, a measure of reported mystical experience, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, which measures introversion/extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, and a lie score. No significant correlations were found between mysticism and the scales of the EPQ, nor could mysticism be predicted by multiple regression, either by the EPO scales with sex and age, or by the EPO scales controlling for sex and age.
The social form of feeling
Authors: Radley Alan
Published: June 2011

Within social psychology emotion has been studied either as a collection of discrete states or as the product of the cognitive interpretation of arousal. These traditions have accepted that feeling resides inside individuals and is controlled by social structures. This paper argues an alternative position; that emotion is expressive of the relationship of individuals to society. Insofar as individual feeling is subject to articulation it has form; to the extent that social systems are value‐laden they embody feeling. Using these arguments a conceptual framework is outlined within which emotion is treated as a universal feature of the coordination of individual and social life, within which its degree and form of expression can be understood. From this perspective, questions of the mode of articulation of feeling, the legitimacy of emotional expression and the place of mental and physical imagery in affective settings become central to an understanding, not only of particular emotions, but of social relations in general.
Impression‐management and self‐deception components of appraised emotional experience
Authors: Flett Gordon L. , Blankstein Kirk R. , Pliner Patricia , Bator Carl
Published: June 2011

Two studies tested the hypothesis that self‐reports of emotional experiences contain components of impression‐management and self‐deception. In study 1, subjects provided retrospective self‐reports of the frequency, intensity and duration of 14 positive and 14 negative emotions. Subjects also completed measures of impression‐management and self‐deception. Correlational analyses confirmed that the impression‐management and self‐deception measures were correlated significantly with the reported frequency, intensity and duration of the negative emotions. Self‐deception, but not impression‐management, was correlated with ratings of the positive emotions. The self‐report biases associated with negative emotions were further investigated in study 2. Correlations were computed among measures of impression‐management, self‐deception and dimensions of anger. Consistent with study 1, the results showed that impression‐management and self‐deception scores are correlated significantly with self‐reported dimensions of anger. The need for a self‐presentational approach to the study of emotional experience is discussed.
Emotion cognition interaction in personality development: A discrete emotions, functionalist analysis
Authors: Malatesta Carol Z. , Wilson Arnold
Published: June 2011

In this paper we take a discrete emotions approach to personality development. We suggest that individual differences in affective organization, acquired during the course of development, result in affect‐specific biases in expressive patterns and idiosyncratic perceptual organizations. These affective biases, which have a pervasive influence on a wide domain of individual and interpersonal behaviours, contribute to psychological continuities that we identify as emotional traits. An array of data in support of this proposition is detailed. We propose a developmental model of how such affective organizations may be established initially, and the mechanisms by which they become consolidated over time. A final section discusses broader implications for developmental theory.
Limited mental capacities and perceived control in attribution of responsibility
Authors: Fincham Frank D. , Emery Robert E.
Published: June 2011

Two studies were conducted to examine the impact of a child's psychological disturbance on adults' judgements of causation, blame and punishment for action outcomes portrayed across Heider's levels. The effect of these levels on perceived control and the utility of perceived control in predicting judgements were also investigated. It was found that: (a) the psychological status of the child affected responses for a subset of Heider's levels but did not alter the pattern of responses across levels; and (b) responses were not affected by the existence of a psychological disorder per se but instead appeared to reflect inferences regarding the capacities influenced by the disorder. In addition, perceived control (c) increased across Heider's levels and (d) was more useful than previously investigated subjective probabilities in accounting for variance in perceived cause, blame and punishment. The probability of the act in the situation portrayed also accounted for a unique portion of the variance in the judgements made. The robustness of Heider's levels and a quantitative approach to his criteria are discussed. Finally, suggestions regarding the assessment of capacities necessary for being held accountable for one's actions are outlined.
Moral judgement and human values
Authors: Feather N. T.
Published: June 2011

This study investigated relations between principled moral judgement as assessed by Rest's Defining Issues Test, the importance for self of the terminal and instrumental values from the Rokeach Value Survey, and general conservatism as measured by the Conservatism Scale. The study involved 133 male and female students in year 11 courses in four Adelaide high schools. The results showed that principled moral judgement (Stages 5 and 6) was positively linked to the importance assigned by subjects to inner harmony, being broadminded and being logical, and negatively related to the importance they assigned to being clean and obedient. Stage 4 moral judgement and general conservatism assessed by the Wilson and Patterson Conservatism Scale were positively related and both were related to a similar (but not identical) subset of values. Results were discussed in relation to theory and research in the areas of moral judgement and human values.
The attitude heuristic and selective fact identification
Authors: Pratkanis Anthony R.
Published: June 2011

An empirical study demonstrates how the use of an attitude heuristic (a simple, evaluative strategy for problem solving) can selectively influence fact identification. Given favourable (or unfavourable) facts about liked (or disliked) personalities, subjects identified as true those events that were consistent with their attitudes towards the personality. Subjects were most confident about their identification when their attitude towards the actor was extreme. These results provide evidence that attitudes serve an object appraisal or knowledge function and can be used to reconstruct social history.
Social identity and minimal groups: The effects of interpersonal and intergroup attitudinal similarity on intergroup discrimination
Authors: Diehl Michael
Published: June 2011

Two experiments are reported which test Rokeach's belief congruence theory (BCT) against predictions from Tajfel's social identity theory (SIT). It is the basic assumption of BCT that discrimination of out‐group members is caused by perceived attitudinal dissimilarity between in‐group and out‐group members. Since, according to SIT, discrimination serves the function of establishing a positive differentiation between in‐group and out‐group, there should be more discrimination against similar rather than dissimilar out‐groups. In the first of two experiments using the minimal group paradigm, attitudinal similarity was manipulated among individuals. This led to more liking for other similar rather than dissimilar individuals, regardless of group membership. On the other hand, both attitudinal similarity and group membership affected reward distribution among members of in‐group and out‐group: a similar out‐group member was discriminated against compared with a similar in‐group member, but favoured above a dissimilar one. Manipulating intergroup attitudinal similarity instead of interpersonal attitudinal similarity in the second experiment led, with regard to the allocation of rewards between an in‐group and an out‐group member, to even more discrimination against members of the similar rather than of the dissimilar out‐group. Implications of these findings for BCT and SIT are discussed.
Intergroup differentiation in a political context
Authors: Kelly Caroline
Published: June 2011

A study is reported in which the relationships between in‐group identification and intergroup differentiation and between intergroup differentiation and self‐esteem were tested in the context of political affiliation. The prediction derived from social identity theory — that there should be a positive relationship between the strength of an individual's identification with a political party and the extent to which he or she differentiates between the in‐group and various political out‐groups — was compared with predictions derived from realistic conflict theory and the contact hypothesis. Intergroup differentiation was measured along dimensions of evaluation, affect and perceived intragroup homogeneity. The relationships between these ratings of intergroup differentiation and the individual's self‐esteem were then tested. The study was based on a survey of 199 respondents supporting five political parties in Britian. Findings showed that in‐group identification and perceived material conflict were consistent predictors of intergroup differentiation along evaluative and affective dimensions but not along the dimension of perceived intragroup homogeneity. The relationship between intergroup differentiation and self‐esteem proved inconsistent suggesting that some modification may be required of the central role attributed to self‐esteem in social identity theory.
Learned helplessness and egotism: Effects of internal/external attribution on performance following unsolvable problems
Authors: Mikulincer Mario
Published: June 2011

The study reported here tests the egotism hypothesis for poor performance following insoluble problems. In Expt 1 subjects were exposed to no feedback or to failure in insoluble problems which were attributed to internal or external causes. They were then given Raven problems that were alleged to be either highly or moderately difficult. In Expt 2, subjects exposed to no feedback or to failure attributed to internal or external causes were further divided according to the importance of the Raven problems. It was found that the egotism theory accounted for performance deficits among subjects who made an internal attribution for failure. Among such subjects, performance deficits were greatest in moderately difficult and in highly important tasks. However, this theory failed to account for performance among subjects who made an external attribution for failure. Among these subjects, performance deficits were greatest in highly difficult and in low importance tasks. Results are discussed in terms of the achievement motivation theory.