bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Making the Dissonant Act Unreflective of Self
Authors: Steele Claude M. , Liu Thomas J.
Published: March 2007

It was predicted that when a counterattitudinal act is accompanied by the expectation of a future response which can affirm the contradicted attitude or value, dissonance and subsequent dissonance-reducing attitude change would be inhibited, even if the affirming response could not reconcile the specific inconsistency or eliminate the unwanted consequences of the discrepant act. The expectation of a value-affirming response is assumed to provide a context of cognitions in which the single discrepant act can be viewed as less indicative of a self-disposition, and consequently as less important—a perception that should result in less dissonance arousal. This reasoning was supported by the finding that among subjects who wrote counterattitudinal essays opposing more funding for handicap facilities under high choice instructions, those who expected a later, unrelated opportunity to help blind students showed no dissonance-reducing attitude change. Results are discussed as to their implications about the circumstances under which cognitive change will be a response to counterattitudinal behavior.
Sex-Role Orientation and Type A Behavior
Authors: Blascovich Jim , Major Brenda , Katkin Edward S.
Published: March 2007

In Western society, rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) are generally lower for women than for men. CHD has been found to be related to the Type A behavior pattern in both men and women. The similarity of stereotypic masculine traits to traits exhibited by those who are Type A was noted, and it was hypothesized that masculinity would be positively associated with Type A behavior whereas femininity would not. Type A scores were compared for males and females who were either high or low in masculinity and high or low in femininity. Masculinity was the only factor significantly related to Type A scores.
Attitude Similarity and Attraction
Authors: Jellison Jerald M. , Oliver Deborah F.
Published: March 2007

By assuming the existence of a rule, or norm, sanctioning the expression of greater liking for similar others than for dissimilar others, it is possible to use an impression management approach to interpret the experimental research on attitude similarity and attraction. This study examined the ways people utilize such a rule when they are given the incentive to create either a positive or negative impression through their attraction responses. Under positive incentive conditions greater liking was expressed for a similar other but, as predicted under negative incentive conditions, greater liking was expressed for a dissimilar other. The study supported the impression management interpretation and also revealed that subjects attempting to create a positive impression and faced with a dissimilar other used the strategy of "damning with faint praise."
Baby Talk Speech to the Elderly
Authors: Culbertson Glen H. , Caporael Linnda R.
Published: March 2007

Previous research has documented the use of speech to institutionalized elderly adults that has the prosodic features (high and variable pitch) of baby talk speech and that communicates positive affect. This study investigated the complexity and verbal content of baby talk speech to the aged. Average sentence length was measured for speech to care receivers in baby talk (B T) and not in baby talk (NBT), and in speech between caregivers (CG). Additionally, judges sorted BT and NBT sentences into message categories. CG was found to be significantly longer than BT and NBT, with equivocal evidence for BT being shorter than NET, which were not reliably different. BT directed at the elderly appears to have co-occurring verbal and nonverbal communicative components, and the verbal content suggests that it may have some functional similarity to speech to children. NBT was hypothesized to be an "institutional"speech type related to the ecology of the nursing home.
Schema-Consistent and Schema-Inconsistent Information
Authors: Hashtroudi Shahin , Mutter Sharon A. , Cole Elizabeth A. , Green Susan K.
Published: March 2007

Processing effort for schema-consistent, inconsistent, and neutral information was assessed by a secondary task technique. Schema-consistent and inconsistent information received similar processing effort, and both of these received greater effort than schema-irrelevant (neutral) information. These results suggest that the amount of cognitive effort in processing a sentence is dependent on the relevance of the sentence to a particular schema, and not on whether or not it fits the schema.
Notes Toward a Contextualist Understanding of Social Psychology
Authors: Georgoudi Marianthi , Rosnow Ralph L.
Published: March 2007

This article attempts to consolidate various contextualist ideas that have emerged out of the "crisis "that social psychology experienced over the past two decades. It proceeds on the philosophical premise that all sociopsychological knowledge is perennially conceptual and conjectural and no method can conclusively demonstrate the truth. Other assumptions and assertions of this experiential, interpretive orientation that recognizes the plurality, spontaneity, and ecological dependency of social behavior are exploited, with particular emphasis on their implications for a profoundly relativistic and pluralistic shift in sociopsychological thinking.
Imagining Can Heighten or Lower the Perceived Likelihood of Contracting a Disease
Authors: Sherman Steven J. , Cialdini Robert B. , Schwartzman Donna F. , Reynolds Kim D.
Published: March 2007

Prior research has demonstrated that imagining hypothetical future events may render those events subjectively more likely. The suggestion has been made that this effect is due to the increased availability in memory of the events imagined. To test directly this explanation in a health context, the present study examined the effects of both ease and difficulty of imagining contracting a disease on subjects' beliefs that the event would occur. Subjects were asked to imagine contracting a disease described either as having certain easy-to-imagine symptoms or difficult-to-imagine symptoms. Following this, subjects rated their ease of imagination and estimated the likelihood of contracting the disease. The results revealed that judgments of ease or difficulty of imagination paralleled judgments of the likelihood of contracting the disease. Those subjects who rated the disease as easy-to-imagine judged the disease as more likely to occur, whereas those who experienced difficulty in imagining the disease rated it as less likely to occur. The results are interpreted in terms of the availability heuristic and give direct support for and extend this principle by showing that trying to imagine difficult-to-construct or cognitively inaccessible events reduces likelihood estimates. Implications for preventive health programs are discussed.
The Effects of Perceived Intimacy and Valence on Self-Disclosure Reciprocity
Authors: Taylor Dalmas A. , Belgrave Faye Zollicoffer
Published: March 2007

This study tested the intimacy equilibrium and valence explanations of disclosure reciprocity and liking; 60 female college students were randomly assigned to one of two experimental treatments involving intimacy and valence. Half the subjects in the intimacy condition were assigned for high intimacy treatment; the other half received a low intimacy treatment. These treatments were crosscut by a positive and negative valence manipulation. Subjects were presented with written scenarios that ostensibly described a past event in the life of their partners. The scenarios were manipulated by experimental instruction to affect the following disclosure styles across the four experimental cells: (1) high intimate-positive valence, (2) high intimate-negative valence, (3) low intimate-positive valence, and (4) low intimate-negative valence. An analysis of covariance of disclosure revealed a significant main effect for intimacy, a main effect for valence, and an interaction of these effects. Higher levels of disclosure intimacy occurred in the high intimacy condition than in the low intimacy condition. Positive valence elicited higher levels of disclosure intimacy than negative valence. Finally, these main effect findings were further explained by an interaction in which valence of disclosure altered disclosure reciprocation. There were no significant effects of measures of liking.
Jury Verdicts
Authors: Kerr Norbert L. , Huang Juin Yih
Published: March 2007

This study examined the following question: How well will a predictor of an individual juror's decision preference predict the verdict of the jury to which that individual belongs? A simulation study or "thought experiment " was performed. Using basic probability theory and the social decision scheme model of the jury decision-making process, it was possible to determine how strongly a juror characteristic would be related to his or her jury's verdict from a knowledge of how strongly that characteristic was related to his or her own personal verdict preference. For 12-person juries, the predictor accounted for less than 5% as much variance in juries' behavior as it did in jurors' behavior, regardless of the overall rate of conviction for jurors or the strength with which individual decisions were predicted. Although decreasing the jury size tended to increase this percentage, it remained quite small, even for dyads. Quite similar results were found when alternative decision schemes were employed. It was also shown that when the members of the jury are uniformly high or low on some characteristic, the predictor variable is generally related to group verdicts more strongly than it is to individual verdicts.
Categorization and Stereotypes about Men and Women
Authors: Miller Carol T.
Published: March 2007

This experiment examined the relationship between categorization by gender and stereotyping of men and women. After listening to a recorded discussion, college students tried to match up the male and female discussants with their statements. They then evaluated on stereotype measures either these speakers or men and women they had not seen before. Results showed that categorization, that is, the difference between intra -and intersex recognition errors, was correlated with sex-stereotyping of discussion participants on one of two stereotype measures. Categorization was unrelated to stereotyping of individuals whose behavior was not observed. These results suggest that categorization may produce different impressions of individuals from different categories by biasing the specific information associated with them, but that these impressions may not generalize to stereotypes about category members in general.
The Strength of Conjunctive Explanations
Authors: Abelson Robert P. , Leddo John , Gross Paget H.
Published: March 2007

Leddo, Abelson, and Gross (1984) reported two studies in which people rated conjunctions of two reasons as more likely explanations of event scenario outcomes than one or both of their component explanations even though objectively, the probability of a conjunction of two explanations can never exceed the probability of either of its component explanations. They interpreted this finding, "the conjunction effect," to mean that in general, conjunctive explanations are more persuasive than single explanations. The present article examines the results of those two studies plus four other studies in which conjunction effects occurred to find a mathematical model that can predict the conjoint explanation probability ratings from the probability ratings of their components. Several different models were evaluated according to two criteria: the number of parameters fitted and the multiple R of the model. The finding is that across all explanation triples (the conjoint explanation and its two component explanations), the relationship between the conjoint explanation probability ratings and their corresponding component ratings can best be expressed by the following formula: C = 1.15 G, where C is the conjoint explanation probability rating and G is the geometric mean of the component explanation probability ratings. This formula has a multiple R of .89, suggesting that this relationship is quite lawful. It is noted that finding the value ('conjunction coefficient') by which to multiply the geometric mean of the component ratings to predict the conjoint rating can serve as a measure of how well the component explanations combine or how compatible they are with each other in the given context. Similarly, comparing conjunction coefficients across several pairs of explanations can serve as a measure of the relative compatibility of different pairs of explanations. Implications of the conjunction coefficient model for the representativeness heuristic, the discounting principle, and the process of conjoint explanation are discussed.
An Examination of Testing Effects in a Panel Study of Older Persons
Authors: Himmelfarb Samuel , Norris Fran H.
Published: March 2007

Testing effects have been obtained on attitudinal and cognitive variables in studies typically conducted on college students in which the pretest-posttest interval usually was several days or weeks. In an effort to expand our knowledge of testing effects, an assessment of testing was incorporated into a panel study of the mental health, social and psychological resources, and stressful life events of older persons. Conceivably, prior assessment of life events might produce greater subsequent recollection of events in the pretest-posttest interval. Also, the rapport established in the initial interview together with previous discussion of possible physical and mental health symptoms might yield greater disclosures of illness in a subsequent interview. In a multistage sample survey, seven out of eight dwellings in the selected segments were randomly assigned to be in the panel group; the eighth dwelling was assigned to the control group. A total of 2,042 persons 55 years and older living in the panel dwellings were interviewed on Wave 1 and reinterviewed with the same instruments six months later on Wave 2; 248 persons in the control group were interviewed only on Wave 2. Comparisons between the two groups on six measures of mental health, several measures of physical health, self-esteem and social support scales, and five measures of life events found no evidence for testing effects.
Perceiving Minorities
Authors: Bassili John N. , Provencal Allison
Published: March 2007

This article explores observers' reactions to members of a group that contained a consistent minority and an otherwise unanimous majority. A questionnaire consisting of 5O scales selected to cover comprehensively the domain of attributes people use in judging others served to assess the perception of the minority and majority in the group. Five factors having to do with assertiveness, agreeableness, honesty, competence, and consistency were relevant to these judgments. Comparison of ratings of minorities and majorities on these factors revealed that minorities were perceived as more assertive, less agreeable, more honest, more competent, and more consistent than members of the majority. The breadth of these effects as well as their implication for the perception of minorities by members of a group and by outsiders is discussed.
Nonverbal Skill, Personal Charisma, and Initial Attraction
Authors: Friedman Howard S. , Riggio Ronald E. , Casella Daniel F.
Published: March 2007

The study of initial attraction has given insufficient attention to the influence of nonverbal expressiveness. This study examined the relative effects of expressive nonverbal skills and physical attractiveness on impressions made in initial encounters. Physical attractiveness is of known importance in the initial stages of a relationship; yet dynamic nonverbal cues of emotion may also have a significant impact. Fifty-four undergraduates were administered standard measures of nonverbal expressiveness, self-monitoring, and extroversion, and they were surreptitiously videotaped while entering a laboratory and meeting new people. Subjects were rated by separate groups of observers on scales of likability and physical attractiveness. The results indicated that emotionally expressive, extroverted, and physically attractive subjects were evaluated more favorably in these initial encounters than were subjects scoring low on these dimensions. The relationships between expressivity/extroversion and initial likability were independent of the effects of physical attractiveness. These results suggest that conceptions of overall attractiveness need to move beyond the physical qualities to include dynamic, emotional aspects.
Cross-Racial Identification
Authors: Bothwell Robert K. , Brigham John C. , Malpass Roy S.
Published: March 2007

This article reviews the research on differential recognition for own-versus other-race faces. A meta-analysis of 14 samples revealed that the magnitude of the own-race bias is similar for both Black and White subjects, accounting for about 10o of the variance in recognition accuracy. There is a considerable consistency across studies, indicating that memory for own-race faces is superior to memory for other-race faces. Both Black and White subjects exhibited own-race bias in 79%0 of the samples reviewed.
Determinants of Self-Handicapping
Authors: Shepperd James A. , Arkin Robert M.
Published: March 2007

In an effort to uncover some of the determinants of self-handicapping, male and female introductory psychology students chose to listen to either facilitating or interfering music prior to taking a test described either as a valid or an invalid predictor of academic success. In addition, half of the subjects were led to believe that a preexisting distracter, or handicap, was already present in the environment whereas the remainder were not. Results revealed that self-handicapping occurred in anticipation of an important task, but only when there was no preexisting handicap. Attributions for success and failure revealed a clear self-serving bias, replicating earlier work. The results are discussed in terms of the attributional and practical utility of convenient excuses versus self-generated self-handicaps.
The Effect of an Informational Option on the Fundamental Attribution Error
Authors: Miller Arthur G. , Lawson Tim
Published: March 2007

The present study investigated the fundamental attribution error (FAE) using a new paradigm and a repeated-measures design. Subjects were asked to attribute the actual impressions held by targets who had been shown photographs and had been asked to record impressions under conditions varying in constraint. The FAE was substantial when the target's impression responses were shown but was sharply reduced-to nonsignifcance in a condition of maximal constraint-when the photographs were also provided. Subjects thus displayed a capacity to recognize "worthless" information and to discount the behavior of a highly constrained target but only when given an informational option relevant for the required attributional judgment. These findings, indicating that the perceived diagnosticity of information about a constrained target may be highly dependent upon the judgmental context, were interpreted as identifying a significant cognitive boundary condition for the FAE.
Jamesian Aspects of Misattribution Research
Authors: Winton Ward M.
Published: March 2007

James's (1884) emotion theory was a precursor of Schachter's (1964) theoretical stance, the viewpoint that formed the basis of subsequent misattribution research. Schachter accepted the Jamesian notion that emotional experience depends on the perception of one's own bodily changes, but he differed from James in assuming that physiological reactions do not inform the individual of hedonic quality. However, several misattribution researchers have implied that hedonic tone can derive immediately from bodily reactions, thereby mixing Jamesian assumptions with Schachter's standpoint. Several pertinent studies are discussed and accommodated within a modified version of Schachter's theory, one which assumes that internal arousal can provide information concerning both the intensity and evaluative quality of affective experience, and that such internal arousal can precede misattribution. Thus, the proposed modification integrates the views of James and Schachter.
Sources of Optimism among Prospective Group Members
Authors: Brinthaupt Thomas M. , Moreland Richard L. , Levine John M.
Published: March 2007

Prospective members are often overly optimistic about their future experiences in a group. Three possible sources for this optimism were investigated: recruitment efforts by the group, feelings of cognitive dissonance about the group, and a general need for self-enhancement. College freshmen who were interested in joining a particular campus group were asked to evaluate the rewards and costs of membership in that group both for themselves and for the average student. They also described the group's efforts to recruit them and any reasons they had for feeling dissonant about the group. As in previous research, the students were very optimistic about membership in their chosen groups. Neither the recruitment efforts of these groups nor any potential feelings of dissonance about them were strongly related to that optimism. Instead, the students' optimism seemed to arise from a general need for self-enhancement. Students were much more optimistic about their own future experiences in a group than about the experiences of the average person in that same group.
The Social Self: On Being the Same and Different at the Same Time
Authors: Brewer Marilynn B.
Published: March 2007

Mfost of social psychology's theories of the self fail to take into account the significance of social identification in the definition of self. Social identities are self-definitions that are more inclusive than the individuated self-concept of most American psychology. A model of optimal distinctiveness is proposed in which social identity is viewed as a reconciliation of opposing needs for assimilation and differentiation from others. According to this model, individuals avoid self-construals that are either too personalized or too inclusive and instead define themselves in terms of distinctive category memberships. Social identity and group loyalty are hypothesized to be strongest for those self-categorizations that simultaneously provide for a sense of belonging and a sense of distinctiveness. Results from an initial laboratory experiment support the prediction that depersonalization and group size interact as determinants of the strength of social identification.
On the Stability of Variability: Retest Reliability of Metatraits
Authors: Baumeister Roy F.
Published: March 2007

The variance in a subject's responses to the different -items on a trait scale has been interpreted as an indication of behavioral consistency, truthfulness, and/or traitedness. The present study examined the retest stability of intritem variances on three trait scales. Interitem variance scores showed fairly high retest reliability (in the. 7 range). Shorter, more homogeneous subscales had lower retest reliability scores. Interitem variances did not moderate the stability of trait scores. These results suggest that (a) people are consistent in their degree of variability on a given dimension, (b) highly variable responding to different items on a scale may be a consistent, meaningful pattern rather than an indication of incompetent or random responding, and (c) the simple deletion of high-variance (or "untraited") subjects from a sample will not automatically improve results. Additional findings suggested a positive but weak tendency for people who responded consistently (vs. variably) to the items on one scale to respond the same way to the items on other scales.
Self-Regulation and Consistency between Attitudes, Traits, and Behaviors
Authors: Koestner Richard , Bernieri Frank , Zuckerman Miron
Published: March 2007

This research examined the impact of self-regulatory styles on the degree of consistency between behaviors and self-reported attitudes and traits. It was predicted that individuals who regulate their behavior in an autonomous manner would be more like{y to display behavior consistent with their self-reported attitudes and traits than individuals who regulate their behavior in accordance with external or introjected controls. In two intrinsic motivation laboratory experiments, subjects who were classified as autonomy oriented on the basis of their responses to the General Causality Orientations Scale were shown to display significantly higher attitude-behavior correlations than subjects classified as control oriented. In another experiment, autonomy-oriented subjects showed greater consistency between self-descriptions of conscientiousness and a behavioral criterion than control-oriented subjects. Together, these findings support Deci and Ryan's hypothesis that individual differences in self-regulation will influence indexes of personality integration.
A Cognition (Attribution)-Emotion Model of Violence in Conflict Situations
Authors: Betancourt Hector , Blair Irene
Published: March 2007

The present research was designed to examine the relationships between attribution processes and interpersonal emotions (anger and empathic emotions) as determinants of violent reactions in conflict situations. A model including the mediating role of attribution processes and emotions as well as all theoretically meaningful relationships among the variables was proposed and tested using Bentler's structural equations program (EQS). Results show that the model fits the data well and the mediating role of anger and empathic emotions is supported In addition, the role of attributional thinking (e.g., perceived intentionality of an instigation and controllability of its cause) as a determinant of anger and empathic emotions is confirmed. Results are discussed in terms of potential extensions and applications of attribution theory and the role of interpersonal emotions in antisocial behavior and interpersonal relations in general
Seff-Discrepancies and Biographical Memory: Personality and Cognition at the Level of Psychological Situation
Authors: Higgins Tory , Tykocinski Orit
Published: March 2007

This study examined whether persons who possess different types of self-discrepancies are sensitive to different types of psychological situations as evident in their memory for another person's experiences. All subjects read the same essay in which a target person experienced events reflecting different types of psychological situations (e.g., the presence of a positive outcome; the absence of a negative outcome). The target person's experiences were circumstantial and not personality related (e.g., finding money on the street; escaping an unpleasant school day because of an election). Half the subjects were predominant actual: ideal discrepancy persons, who, according to self-discrepancy theory, are oriented toward hopes and wishes and are sensitive to the presence and absence of positive outcomes. The remaining subjects were predominant actual: ought discrepancy persons, who are oriented toward sanction-dictated duties and obligations and are sensitive to the absence and presence of negative outcomes. Events that reflected the presence and absence of positive outcomes should be remembered better by predominant actual: ideal than by predominant actual: ought discrepancy persons, whereas the reverse should be true for events that reflect the absence and presence of negative outcomes. This prediction was confirmed, and the predicted interaction remained significant even when subjects' pre-essay mood, postessay mood, and change in mood were statistically controlled. These results suggest that a chronic pattern of self-beliefs representing a distinct psychological situation produces sensitivity to events reflecting that psychological situation, despite there being no overlap in content or topic between the pattern and the events.
Attachment Styles and the "Big Five" Personality Traits: Their Connections with Each Other and with Romantic Relationship Outcomes
Authors: Shaver Phillip R. , Brennan Kelly A.
Published: March 2007

Hazan and Shaver have identified three adult attachment styles corresponding to the infant-mother attachment patterns observed by Ainsworth and associates in the first year of life: secure, avoidant, and anxious-ambivalent. These three styles are related to a wide variety of close relationship processes and outcomes. To date, however; little research has focused on relations between attachment styles and major personality constructs. Such re-search can clarify, the nature of attachment styles and ensure that they are not simply redundant with existing constructs. The present research examined associations between attachment measures, relationship quality and outcome measures, and the 'Big Five"personality traits assessed by the NEO Personality Inventory. Attachment styles were related in theoretically predictable ways to the Big Five dimensions and especially to some of their 'facet' subscales but were not simply redundant with them. The NEO scales were generally not as powerful as the attachment style measures in predicting romantic relationship outcomes, probably because of the greater specificity of the attachment measures.
In-Group or Out-Group Extemity: Importance of the Threatened Social Identity
Authors: Branscombe Nyla R. , Wann Daniel L , Noel Jeffrey G. , Coleman Jason
Published: March 2007

Some researchers have found that out-group members are responded to more extremely than in-group members; others have found the reveres. The pre authors hypothesized that when importance of group membership was low, out-group extremity would be observed. That is, when the target's actions have few or no implications for the perceive's identity, out-group extremity will occur. In-group extremity was expected when perceivers are high in identification with the in-group. The presence of a threat to one's identity was predicted to intensity the in-group extremity effect for highly identified persons only Evaluations of a loyal or disloyal in-group or out-group member were made by highly identified or weakly identified in-group participants under threatening or nonthreatening conditions. The results confirmed the predicted pattern of effects. Implications for sports spectators and other self-selected group members are discussed.
Self-Regulation of Cognitive Inference and Decision Processes
Authors: Baumeister Roy F. , Newman Leonard S.
Published: March 2007

Mechanisms for controlling inference processes are analyzed according to the models of intuitive scientist (who desires optimal, accurate conclusions) and intuitive lawyer (who desires predetermined, particular conclusions), using a step model of the inference process. The first step, gathering evidence, can be regulated by moving the termination point and by looking in particular places for evidence. The second step, drawing immediate implications from bits of evidence, is presumably automatic and hence relatively immune to regulation. The third step, assessing implications, can override or discredit implications of specific pieces of evidence, and it can be used to regulate inference through combating bias or through attacking and discrediting unwanted implications. The final step, involving integration of assorted evidence and implications, can be regulated by manipulating decision rules and criteria.
Evidence for the Accessibility of Paired Distinctiveness in Distinctiveness-Based Illusory Correlation in Stereotyping
Authors: Johnson Craig , Mullen Brian
Published: March 2007

A study was designed to examine the mechanism underlying the illusory correlation phenomenon. Previous evidence indicates that the salience of the paired distinctive information leads to greater accessibility of that information when later judgments are required. To test this idea, response latencies were measured as subjects performed the group assignment decision task used to measure illusory correlation. The results supported the paired-distinctiveness account for illusory correlations: Subjects over-attributed the rarer undesirable behaviors to the smaller group; they were quicker in making assignment decisions for small group/rare behavior events; and the assignment decision latencies for the small group/rare behavior events correlated the most strongly with the extent of illusory correlation.
Inducing Hypocrisy as a Means of Encouraging Young Adults to Use Condoms
Authors: Stone Jeff , Aronson Elliot , Crain A. Lauren , Winslow Matthew P. , Fried Carrie B.
Published: March 2007

This experiment applied a new twist on cognitive dissonance theory to the problem of AIDS prevention among sexually active young adults. Dissonance was created after a proattitudinal advocacy by inducing hypocrisy-having subjects publicly advocate the importance of safe sex and then systematically making the subjects mindful of their own past failures to use condoms. It was predicted that the induction of hypocrisy would motivate subjects to reduce dissonance by purchasing condoms at the completion of the experiment. The results showed that more subjects in the hypocrisy condition bought condoms and also bought more condoms, on average, than subjects in the control conditions. The implications of the hypocrisy procedure for AIDS prevention programs and for current views of dissonance theory are discussed.
Measuring Person Perception Accuracy: Another Look at Self-Other Agreement
Authors: Bernieri Frank J. , Zuckerman Miron , Koestner Richard , Rosenthal Robert
Published: March 2007

The analysis of self-other data for the study of person perception accuracy is illustrated and discussed. Length of acquaintance, length of cohabitation, and trait empathy were investigated for their moderating effects on person perception accuracy, defined as the level of self-other agreement. Self-other agreement was computed four ways. A trait-by-trait analysis was performed twice, first using the moderator variable to form subgroups from which self-other correlations within each trait were computed and then using the moderator as a continuous variable in a series of moderated multiple regressions. Next, a profile analysis was performed that isolated two accuracy components, implicit profile accuracy and ideographic accuracy, which were conceptually similar to Cronbach's stereotype accuracy and differential accuracy components. The analyses, taken together, provided a componential and informative (if not comprehensive) analysis regarding accuracy as it is manifest in self-peer agreement data. Sex and cohabitation length moderated accuracy whereas acquaintance length and trait empathy did not.
Use of Free Responses and Cluster Analysis to Determine Stereotypes of Eight Groups
Authors: Niemann Yolanda F. , Jennings Leilani , Rozelle Richard M. , Baxter James C. , Sullivan Elroy
Published: March 2007

A two-part study contrasted the utility of free-response and checklist methodologies for ascertaining ethnic and gender stereotypes. Descriptions of data collection, organization, and cluster and entropy analyses are provided. Results indicate that important differences emerge between data resulting from free-response methodology and those obtained with traditionally employed adjective checklists. These differences include the generation of a large percentage of physical descriptors and within-ethnic-group gender differences in stereotype content. A major finding is the generation of a large number of distinct responses coupled with low-frequency use of any particular response. Study 2 specifically examined whether free-response data are more schematic than checklist data. Results indicate that free-response data have a greater dependency and may thus be indicative of schematic response. This schematic response may, in turn, indicate more automatic processing than is evident with data from checklist methodologies.
Self-Protection and the Culture of Honor: Explaining Southern Violence
Authors: Cohen Dov , Nisbett Richard E.
Published: March 2007

The southern United States has long been known to be more violent than the northern United States. The authors argue that this may be due in part to an ideology justifying violence for self-protection and for maintaining "honor " or a reputation for toughness. Analysis of data from three surveys shows that southern White males do not endorse violence unconditionally but do endorse violence when it is used for self-protection, to defend one's honor, or to socialize children. These data fit well with behavioral data concerning gun ownership and the types of homicide committed in the South. Although the conditions that gave rise to southern violence are largely gone, it may be sustained through collective representations emphasizing the importance of honor and through violent self-fulfilling prophecies centering on hypersensitivity to affronts.
A Collective Fear of the Collective: Implications for Selves and Theories of Selves
Authors: Markus Hazel Rose , Kitayama Shinobu
Published: March 2007

Drawing on recent analyses of the self in many cultures, the authors suggest that the cultural ideal of independence of the self from the collective has dominated European-American social psychological theorizing. As a consequence, the existence of considerable interdependence between the self and the collective has been relatively neglected in current conceptual analysis. The authors (a) argue that a group's cultural ideal of the relation between the self and the collective is pervasive because it is rooted in institutions, practices, and scripts, not just in ideas and values; (b) show how a given cultural ideal whether it is independence or interdependence, can shape the individual's experience and expression of the self; and (c) discuss how a comparative approach may enrich and expand current theory and research on the interdependence between the self and the collective.
Narrative Thought?
Authors: Gerrig Richard J.
Published: March 2007

This discussion uses the evidence adduced in the current issue's symposium on autobiographical narrative to examine the feasibility of the standard division of narrative from paradigmatic thought. It is suggested, first, that there is no evidence to support the assertion that representations of narrative information do not give rise spontaneously to generalizations and, second, that narratives often serve a formal, logical role in the management of life goals.
Competitive Aggression without Interaction: Effects of Competitive Versus Cooperative Instructions on Aggressive Behavior in Video Games
Authors: Anderson Craig A. , Morrow Melissa
Published: March 2007

Two experiments extended and tested Deutsch's (1993) theory of competition effects. A knowledge structure approach predicted that people view competitive situations as inherently more aggressive than cooperative ones. Furthermore, it was predicted that leading people to think of an ambiguously aggressive situation in competitive terms would increase aggressive behavior. In Experiment 1, knowledge structures of competitive situations had more aggressive content than cooperative ones. In Experiment 2, competition-primed subjects unnecessarily killed more video game characters (Mario Brothers) than cooperation-primed subjects. The increase in kill ratio occurred in the absence of changes in hostility, friendliness, or liking for one's game partner. Implications for understanding cooperation and competition, and for further research on such "affectless agression," were discussed.
The Impact of Social Value Orientations on Negotiator Cognition and Behavior
Authors: de Dreu Carsten K. W. , van Lange Paul A. M.
Published: March 2007

Prior research using experimental games has demonstrated that social value orientations affect the ways in which individuals approach and react to interdependent others; prosocials exhibit greater cooperation than individualists and competitors. This article extends these lines of research by examining the influence of social value orientations on negotiation cognition and behavior. Consistent with predictions, prosocials, relative to individualists and competitors, exhibited lower levels of demand, exhibited greater levels of concessions, and ascribed greater levels of fairness and considerateness to the other person. Moreover, prosocials as well as individualists and competitors exhibited tendencies toward logrolling, making greater concessions on low-priority rather than high-priority issues. The discussion describes several theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
Social Support and Well-Being among Lesbian and Heterosexual Women: A Structural Modeling Approach
Authors: Wayment Heidi A. , Peplau Letitia Anne
Published: March 2007

The authors examined the types of social support that lesbian and heterosexual women receive from their social networks and the link between support and psychological well-being. Participants were White, middle-class, single and coupled women. Using Robert Weiss's typology of social provisions, the authors found that lesbian and heterosexual women reported receiving equivalent overall amounts of support from their social networks. Relationship status was related to well-being; coupled women reported greater well-being than did single women. Using structural equation modeling, the authors found a strong association between social support and psychological well-being for all women. Beyond this general association, lesbian women's well-being was also associated with reassurance-of-worth support, whereas heterosexual women's well-being was linked with guidance support. These results support the usefulness of latent variable models for examining social support and demonstrate that lesbians, like their heterosexual counterparts, benefit from supportive networks.
Appraisal of and Coping with a Real-Life Stressful Situation: The Contribution of Attachment Styles
Authors: Mikulincer Mario , Florian Victor
Published: March 2007

The current study assesses the impact of attachment style on the ways young adults react to the stress of 4-month combat training. Ninety-two Israeli recruits completed an attachment scale at the beginning of the training. Their appraisal of the training their ways of coping with it, and peer evaluations of their leadership ability were assessed 4 months later. Compared with secure persons, ambivalent persons reported more emotion-focused coping, appraised the training in more threatening terms, appraised themselves as less capable of coping with the training, and were evaluated by their peers as less fitting for military leadership. Avoidant persons reported more distancing coping and less support seeking and appraised the training in more threatening terms. They did not differ from secure persons in the appraisal of their ability to cope with the training or in the nominations they received for leadership positions. Results are discussed in the framework of attachment theory.
Response Latency and the Accessibility of Voting Intentions: What Contributes to Accessibility and How it Affects Vote Choice
Authors: Bassili John N.
Published: March 2007

Response latencies to all questions in a computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) survey of the 1990 Ontario election were recorded. Prior to the election, a random sample of respondents were asked about their voting intention, their leader preference, their party preference, and their customary party identification. After the election, respondents were called back to determine if they had voted and, if so, for what party. Models of vote choice demonstrated that the voting behavior of respondents who expressed their voting intention quickly in the preelection interview was much more predictable than the voting behavior of respondents who expressed their voting intention slowly. The accessibility of voting intentions was, in turn, related to conflict among determinants of vote choice. Moreover the accessibility of voting intentions was related to the accessibility of party identification, but only for respondents who did not experience a conflict in the election.
Hypocrisy, Misattribution, and Dissonance Reduction
Authors: Fried Carrie B. , Aronson Elliot
Published: March 2007

Recent experiments involving hypocrisy have been theorized to be a form of cognitive dissonance induction. As such, hypocrisy would constitute a new experimental paradigm for dissonance induction. However, these hypocrisy studies are open to alternative explanations. The present study attempts to rule out these alternative explanations by providing independent evidence that hypocrisy is a form of cognitive dissonance arousal. In the present study, a 2× 2 design manipulates whether hypocrisy is induced and whether subjects are given an opportunity to misattribute their arousal to external factors. If hypocrisy is a form of dissonance, the misattribution manipulation should reduce behavior changes brought on by the induction of hypocrisy. The results support the predictions.
Intergroup Anxiety: A Person × Situation Approach
Authors: Britt Thomas W. , Bonieci Kurt A. , Vescio Theresa K. , Biernat Monica , Brown Lisa M.
Published: March 2007

A person × situation approach to the study of intergroup anxiety is offered in which anxiety in intergroup encounters is viewed as a transaction between the individual and the environment. An individual difference measure of intergroup anxiety toward African Americans is developed, and studies assessing the scale's reliability and validity are presented. The utility of a person × situation approach is shown in an experiment in which participants high or low in intergroup anxiety were told they would interact with either a European American or an African American. Participants high in intergroup anxiety who were supposed to interact with an African American evidenced the highest state anxiety, perceived the interaction as most difficult, and viewed their partners as most dissimilar from themselves. Issues surrounding sources of intergroup anxiety and the relationship between intergroup anxiety and prejudice are discussed.
Message Framing and Persuasion: A Message Processing Analysis
Authors: Smith Stephen M. , Petty Richard E.
Published: March 2007

Previous research has indicated that the way in which a message is framed affects the amount of persuasion it elicits. Various processes have been suggested to account for the differential persuasiveness of negatively (or loss-) framed messages versus positively (or gain-) framed messages. The authors hypothesized that differential processing of negatively and positively framed messages is a factor that contributes to the differential persuasiveness that has been observed. Experiment 1 demonstrated that message frames are consequential in determining the extent to which a message is scrutinized. Experiment 2 provided evidence for a mechanism by which this occurs. Specifically, by manipulating the expected framing and the actual framing of messages, the authors found that either negatively or positively framed messages could lead to more extensive processing, depending on which was less expected.
He's Skilled, She's Lucky: A Meta-Analysis of Observers' Attributions for Women's and Men's Successes and Failures
Authors: Swim Janet K. , Sanna Lawrence J.
Published: March 2007

This meta-analysis builds on past qualitative reviews examining different attributions that observers give for other women's and men's successes and failures. Results suggest the greatest support for the argument that differences in expectations for women's and men's performances on masculine tasks influence the selection of stable or unstable causes. However, the results also indicate that the strength of the findings for all but one of the attributions is a function of the lack of independence in measuring the different attributions. The only attribution that is unaffected by this artifact is effort for successes and failures. Suggestions for pursuing new perspectives on the impact of gender on attribution processes are discussed.