bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Multiple Source Effect in Persuasion
Authors: Harkins Stephen G. , Petty Richard E.
Published: March 2007

Holding constant information about the number of sources and number of arguments to which they might be exposed, subjects viewed one source presenting three different arguments, three sources presenting different versions of a single argument, or three sources presenting three different arguments (one each) in favor of a counterattitudinal position. For hayf of the subjects, this message was accompanied by a distraction task. In the single task conditions, replicating Harkins and Petty (1981), three-source/three-arguments subjects were more persuaded than subjects in the other two conditions, but when the message was accompanied by a distractor, this persuasive advantage disappeared. Since distraction also led to disruption of favorable thought production, but left recall unaffected, these data are consistent with the view that the enhanced persuasion found in the multiple-source/multiple-argument condition is the result of additional message elaboration elicited by the combination of different sources and different arguments.
The Measurement of Perceived Crowding
Authors: Kalb Laura S. , Keating John P.
Published: March 2007

Two measures of perceived crowding are used interchangeably by crowding researchers: one assesses how crowded people feel and one assesses how crowded people rate a setting. Two such measures were embedded in questionnaires which were identical except for the crowding measures and were distributed in a dense field setting. Factor analyses indicated that the two crowding measures are conceptually distinct, since the feel crowded item loaded with perceived density, constraint, distraction, and stress, whereas the environmental rating item loaded only with perceived density and general negative affect. The former was also found to be more sensitive to changes in physical density than the latter.
Coronary-Prone Behavior and Reactance
Authors: Rhodewalt Frederick , Comer Ronald
Published: March 2007

A choice elimination reactance paradigm (Brehm, Stires, Sensenig, & Shaban, 1966) was used to examine the relationship between control expectancies and the coronary-prone behavior pattern. It was hypothesized that because of concerns for control, coronary-prone individuals (Type As) in a reactance situation would be more motivated to resassert control than noncoronary-prone Type Bs. These variables were manipulated factorially in a 2 (Type A-Type B) x 2 (no choice elimination-choice elimination) experiment. Reactance was measured by the subjects' reevaluations of the eliminated choice alternative. The results indicated that when a behavioral freedom is blocked, only Type As experience reactance.
Survey Research and the Fundamental Attribution Error
Authors: Schuman Howard
Published: March 2007

The fundamental attribution error appears in survey research attitudes when response marginals are interpreted as clear indications of the attitudes and beliefs of the general population.
Smile and Punishment
Authors: Forgas Joseph P. , O'Connor Kathleen V. , Morris Susan L.
Published: March 2007

Are people who display a positive nonverbal expression treated more leniently after committing a transgression? The present study evaluated the effects of facial expression (positive vs. neutral), seriousness of transgression (serious vs. non-serious), sex of offender, and the decision-making unit (individuals vs. groups) on decisions about guilt, punishment, and the overall impressions formed of the target person. Subjects (N = 217) read descriptions of a severe or nonsevere transgression and were shown a photograph of the offender (male or female) displaying positive (smiling) or neutral nonverbal expression. They rated the target on 13 scales, and later they were asked to discuss the case as a group and to arrive at consensus judgments. Results showed that (a) smiling targets were treated more leniently, particularly when the transgression was a minor one, and (b) following a group discussion to consensus, judgments became more extreme than the initial individual judgments. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for nonverbal communication in real-life situations, and their relevance to current work on responsibility attribution and group-induced opinion shifts is considered.
Information Seeking after Decisions
Authors: Frey Dieter , Rosch Marita
Published: March 2007

The present experiment attempted to determine whether preference for information that is supportive or nonsupportive of a decision differs when (a) the decision is reversible instead of irreversible and (b) when the information to be chosen is old instead of new. It was found that subjects' preference for decision-supportive information was generally stronger after irreversible decisions than after reversible ones. The results also showed an interaction between reversibility and information novelty, that is, the preference for supportive over nonsupportive information was higher for irreversible than for reversible decisions under new information conditions; however, there was no difference under the old information conditions. The results are interpreted in terms of dissonance theory.
Cognitive Dissonance and Impression Management Explanations for Effort Justification
Authors: Rosenfeld Paul , Giacalone Robert A. , Tedeschi James T.
Published: March 2007

When individuals expend effort for a task that turns out to be boring or trivial they often justify their effort by enhancing the ratings of the task. The present experiment attempted to differentiate between two explanations for this process of effort justification: dissonance and impression management. Subjects completed either a simple (low effort) or difficult (high effort) number-circling task for an experimenter who was either friendly and pleasant (high attractiveness) or rude and unpleasant (low attractiveness). Contrary to impression management theory, and as predicted by cognitive dissonance theory, effort justification occurred only in the presence of the unattractive experimenter.
Sensitivity of Intrinsic Motivation to Reward Procedure Instructions
Authors: Bradley William , Mannell Roger C.
Published: March 2007

In a study of intrinsic motivation, the instructions to subjects varied the order of presentation of the reward and the choice to participate in a laboratory game. As predicted, the instructions offering subjects the reward prior to the choice to participate led to less intrinsic motivation than when the instructions offered the choice first and the reward second. The results suggest that offering a reward first increases the saliency of the controlling aspect of the reward, encouraging external attributions for participation. The contradictory findings of previous studies are reinterpreted in light of these results.
Prejudice and Ingroup Favoritism in a Minimal Intergroup Situation
Authors: Crocker Jennifer , Schwartz Ian
Published: March 2007

Previous studies indicate that people who are low in self-esteem are more prejudiced (i.e., more negative about outgroups) than people who are high in self esteem. It is not clear from this research, however, whether low self-esteem individuals derogate outgroups relative to the ingroup (i.e., whether they show ingroup favoritism or ethnocentrism). In an experiment using the minimal intergroup situation paradigm, it was found that both high and low self-esteem subjects show ingroup favoritism, although low self-esteem subjects rated both the ingroup and the outgroup more negatively than did high self-esteem subjects. There was no evidence for greater ingroup favoritism among low self-esteem subjects. The results are discussed in terms of the distinction between prejudice and ethnocentrism and the self-enhancing functions of ingroup favoritism.
Does Social Approval Increase Helping?
Authors: Deutsch Francine M. , Lamberti Donna M.
Published: March 2007

In order to determine the interactive effects of social response and individual differences in need for approval on subsequent helping behavior, 46 female subjects were either socially rewarded or punished for helping the experimenter. As predicted, subjects who were high in need for approval were subsequently more likely to help a confederate who had dropped books if they had been socially rewarded than if they had been punished. Subjects low in need for approval were unaffected by the previous social reinforcement. Several explanations for these results are offered. The importance of examining interactions between personality and situational variables in research on prosocial behavior is discussed.
Beliefs about Women
Authors: Belk Sharyn S. , Snell William E.
Published: March 2007

In the past decade researchers have become increasingly interested in examining the many facets of gender stereotypes. One particular area on which attention has been focused concerns "stereotypic" beliefs about women. The present article describes the development and validation of a self-report questionnaire measuring 15 stereotypes about women, the Beliefs about Women Scale (BA WS). The results provided evidence supporting the reliability and validity of the BA WS. The discussion deals with the use of the BA WS in the investigation of women's and men's personal functioning, cognitive activity, and interpersonal relationships.
The Trait Ascription Main Effect as an Artifact of Method
Authors: White Peter A.
Published: March 2007

Trait ascription studies have employed a number of response formats, varying the number of possible trait responses given on situation response. The proportion of trait responding that would occur with random responding matches closely the trait-responding frequency of actual subjects. It is hypothesized that subjects are conforming to demands implicit in the response format. This hypothesis was tested in a study that varied the number of both trait and situation options. Results showed significant effects of both manipulations, and trait responding was in all cases close to chance expectancy. It is concluded that the absolute frequencies of trait ascription in these studies are attributable to the methods used, and that no inferences can be drawn from them about natural tendencies in trait ascription frequency. The present results do not, however, call into question the validity of self/other differences in trait ascription.
Perceived Honesty and Face Memory
Authors: Mueller John H. , Thompson W. Burt , Vogel John M.
Published: March 2007

This research examined how perceived honesty affects face memory. Photographs of college men and women were rated for honesty, and then selected exemplars of honest and dishonest faces were shown singly for study as targets. In the test phase, four types of four-face arrays were shown: (a) honest targets with honest distracters, (b) dishonest targets with honest distracters, (c) honest targets with dishonest distracters, and (c) dishonest targets with dishonest distracters. In addition, half of the four-face arrays involved four new faces (target absent). The primary effect of honesty in the target-present arrays was on confidence judgments, with subjects being more confident of their decisions about dishonest targets. In the target-absent arrays, there were more false alarms when honest-looking alternatives were present, contrary to what would be expected if a criminal stereotype was operating. A second experiment using only target-present arrays found better recognition and greater confidence associated with dishonest faces. An examination of additional ratings on this set of faces for typicality, attractiveness, and likability, revealed that overlapping features may be more responsible for these effects than the operation of a criminal stereotype.
Evaluation and Performance
Authors: Bartis Scott , Szymanski Kate , Harkins Stephen G.
Published: March 2007

Social loafing research has shown that participants working together put out less effort than participants working individually (Latane, Williams, & Harkins, 1979), apparently a result of the fact that evaluation is not possible when outputs are pooled (Harkins & Jackson, 1985). On the other hand, research on creativity (e.g., Amabile, 1979), suggests that minimizing the expectation of evaluation facilitates performance. In the present study, treatment conditions typically used in social loafing and creativity research were incorporated in a single design. Participants were asked either to generate as many uses as possible for a common object or to generate uses that were as creative as possible. Participants were also led to believe either that their outputs could be evaluated or that their outputs would be pooled with those of others. The performance of participants given number instructions was facilitated by the prospect of evaluation. However, when asked to be creative, participants whose outputs were pooled performed better than participants whose outputs could be evaluated. These data suggest that on tasks that require creativity, conditions that are thought to lead to "loafing" can have the opposite effect.
Is Conflict Stimulating?
Authors: Pilkington Constance J. , Richardson Deborah R. , Utley Mary E.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the effects of sensation seeking on responses to interpersonal conflict. A total of 153 male and female subjects completed the Sensation-Seeking Scale and three versions of the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory. Sensation seeking was related to conflict responses for females only; high sensation-seeking females reported dominating more and obliging less than did low sensation-seeking females. Subsequent analyses revealed that this effect was mainly due to two sensation-seeking factors: thrill and adventure seeking and disinhibition. A sex-role expectations explanation is proposed, and considerations for future research are examined.
Depression and Attributional Complexity
Authors: Marsh Kerry L. , Weary Gifford
Published: March 2007

Recent research suggests that mildly and moderately depressed individuals are more sensitive to social information than the non depressed individuals are. The relationship between severity of depression and a measure relevant to this social sensitivity, attributional complexity, was examined. As predicted, a significant quadratic contrast indicated an inverted-U-shaped relationship between depression and attributional complexity. Mildly depressed individuals had the highest attributional complexity scores; nondepressed and severely depressed individuals had the lowest scores. Sex differences for both depression and attributional complexity were replicated. More women than men were depressed, and women also had higher attributional complexity scores. Finally, the relationship between attributional complexity and depression was interpreted as reflecting depressives' responses to heightened contingency uncertainty and expectations of uncontrollability.
Cognitive Therapy for Depression
Authors: Hollon Steven D. , Garber Judy
Published: March 2007

The development of cognitive therapy, one of the most promising interventions for the treatment of depression and other nonpsychotic disorders, has been strongly influenced by basic research in social and cognitive psychology. The approach is predicated on a two-factor cognitive theory of emotion and accords a central role to the operation of schematic knowledge structures and information-processing heuristics. Procedures designed to produce change in existing depresotypic beliefs are grounded in principles emerging from that basic literature, and strategies derived from attribution theory appear to contribute to the apparent capacity of cognitive therapy to prevent the emergence of future depressive episodes. Clearly, the development and articulation of cognitive therapy have benefited greatly from basic research in experimental social and cognitive psychology.
Gender Differences in Concern with Body Weight and Physical Appearance Over the Life Span
Authors: Pliner Patricia , Chaiken Shelly , Flett Gordon L.
Published: March 2007

Age, gender, and gender role differences on a set of variables including concern with eating, body weight, and physical appearance, global self-esteem, and appearance self-esteem were examined in a sample of subjects consisting of 639 visitors to a participatory science museum. Their ages ranged from 10 to 79 years. Results showed that females are more concerned than males about eating, body weight, and physical appearance and have lower appearance self-esteem. More important, these gender differences are generally apparent at all ages. The importance of gender differences across the life span in appearance concern and appearance self-esteem is discussed.
William James and Symbolic Interactionism
Authors: Schellenberg James A.
Published: March 2007

Central themes of the symbolic interactionist perspective are identified, and the relationships among such pioneers of this tradition as James, Cooley, Mead, and Dewey are briefly described. It is suggested that James's framework for self theory fits quite well with recent work by both proponents and critics of symbolic interactionism, although his view of the linkage of self to society provides only a small beginning for later work in this area.
Being Better but Not Smarter than Others: The Muhammad Ali Effect at Work in Iterpersonal Situations
Authors: Van Lange Paul A. M.
Published: March 2007

Allison, Messick, and Goethals have recently shown that people see themselves as more likely to perform desirable behaviors and less likely to perform undesirable behaviors than others and that this effect is stronger for fair/unfair (moral/immoral) than intelligent/unintelligent behaviors. The present study examined the generality of this so-called Muhammad Ali effect by using a substantially different methodology focusing on Judgments of interpersonal behaviors. Subjects were asked to write a story about their own typical behavior that had influenced another person and a story about another person's typical behavior that had influenced the subjects themselves. After completion of each story, subjects were asked to judge those behaviors in terms of morality (goodness) and intelligence. Consistent with the Muhammad Ali effect described by Allison and associates, it was found that subjects judged their own behavior as more desirable than the other's behavior, and significantly more so in terms of morality than in terms of intelligence. The discussion describes and evaluates some explanations for the Muhammad Ali effect.
Winning is Not Enough: The Effects of Competition and Achievement Orientation on Intrinsic Interest
Authors: Epstein Jennifer A. , Harackiewicz Judith M.
Published: March 2007

Subjects were assigned to competition or no-competition groups. Competition subjects received information about their rival (establishing an expectancy for success or failure) or did not. Competition enhanced intrinsic interest for achievement-oriented individuals but undermined it for low achiever. The effects of competition also depended on the availability and valence of opponent information. An expectancy increased interest for high achievers but lowered it for low achier. Path models clarified the motivational processes mediating these effects. Both the personality characteristics of competing individuals and information about their opponents seem critical in determining intrinsic interest in this interpersonal competitive context.
Measuring Causal Attributions: The Revised Causal Dimension Scale (CDSII)
Authors: McAuley Edward , Duncan Terry E. , Russell Daniel W.
Published: March 2007

Although attribution theory continues to be a fertile area of social psychological research, much of the extant literature has suffered from questionable measurement of the constructs of interest. This is especially true in the case of assigning causal attributions placement in theorized dimensional space. Russell's (1982) Causal Dimension Scale represented an important development toward more precise measurement of causal dimensions; however, it has been criticized on a number of fronts. The present report presents the rationale for and initial psychometric properties of a revised version of the scale, the CDSII. Employing data from four studies, a confirmatory factor analysis is reported examining the goodness of fit of the hypothesized four factor oblique structure to the data. The results are discussed in terms of possible applications of the CDSII and the need for further validity testing.
The Illusion of Group Effectivity
Authors: Stroebe Wolfgang , Diehl Michael , Abakoumkin Georgios
Published: March 2007

The illusion of group effectivity refers to the belief, persistent despite contradictory empirical evidence, that groups can stimulate creativity. This article uses unpublished data from the authors' research on brainstorming to illustrate the illusion of group effectivity and then presents a theoretical interpretation of this illusion based on two assumptions: (a) People are motivated to view their own performance in a positive light. (b) People who generate ideas in groups have difficulty in differentiating between own and others' ideas. They are therefore more prone to this self-serving bias than persons who work individually. In an experiment conducted to test these hypotheses, subjects who had brainstormed either in groups or individually were presented with the set of ideas produced by their nominal or real groups and asked to identify the ideas they had suggested and those that had occurred to them. Results were generally consistent with the hypotheses.
Authoritarianism and Attitudes toward Contemporary Social Issues
Authors: Peterson Bill E. , Doty Richard M. , Winter David G.
Published: March 2007

Three studies were conducted to examine the relevance of authoritarianism to contemporary social attitudes, with special emphasis on AIDS, drug use, and the environment. In Studies 1 and 2, students scoring higher on authoritarianism (measured by Byrne's balanced F scale and Altemeyer's Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, respectively) were more likely to endorse harsh, punitive sentiments and solutions to the problems of AIDS and drugs and less likely to endorse more egalitarian ones. These two issues are presumed to represent a threat to the "American way of life" and provide clear out-groups for authoritarian aggression. Regarding the environment, authoritarians express hostility toward the environmental movement, rather than toward polluters. In Study 3, authoritarianism was further related to attitudes on abortion, child abuse, homelessness, the space program, the trade deficit, political changes in the Soviet Union, and the purposes of colleges and universities. These results show that the concept of authoritarianism is applicable to attitudes on many important issues of the 1 990s.
Making Mountains out of Molehills: An Informational Goals Analysis of Self- and Social Perception
Authors: Vorauer Jacquie D. , Ross Michael
Published: March 2007

Social perceivers exhibit a diagnosticity bias, whereby they overestimate the extent to which behaviors and events convey the information that they most want to obtain. The authors propose that this bias reflects individuals' eageress to satisfy their prevailing informational goals. They suggest a typology of informational goals and offer an analysis of the antecedents and consequences of these goals. The informational goals framework is then used to analyze attribution biases that social psychologists have previously considered to be distinct phenomena. Finally, implications of the informational goals perspective for inter group relations are discussed.
Mood, Memory, and Vigilance: The Influence of Distraction on Recall and Impression Formation
Authors: Seta Catherine E. , Hayes Nancy S. , Seta John J.
Published: March 2007

This research investigated the influence of distraction on subjects' impressions and memory while in positive and negative moods. Subjects' incidental memory for affective traits used as a basis for forming an impression of a target person was assessed. Results indicated that subjects in negative moods were not as vulnerable to the influence of distraction on stimulus encoding as subjects in positive moods. In addition, mood effects on memory were observed but not on subjects' impressions. Results are interpreted using Schwarz and Clore's feelings as information model.
Seeing is Conunitting: A Longitudinal Study of Bolstering Commitment in Amniocentesis Patients
Authors: Lydon John , Dunkel-Schetter Christine
Published: March 2007

In the face of a challenge to one's commitment, situational factors may focus attention on aspects of the commitment that bolster the commitment. Forty-six women were interviewed at four times: immediately before (1) and after (2) ultrasound and amniocentesis procedures and a few days before (3) and after (4) receiving amniocentesis test results. Number of fetal parts seen by the woman during the ultrasound examination predicted degree of commitment at Time 3, controlling for Time I assessments of commitment and perceived choice about becoming pregnant. Choice was associated with commitment at Time 1 but not at Time 3. Three dimensions of commitment were explored-affective, behavioral, and cognitive. Number of fetal parts seen predicted changes in affective and behavioral commitment from Time 1 to Time 3. Cognitive commitment decreased while women awaited test results, particularly in planned pregnancies-but less so for women who saw more fetal parts. The choice-commitment relation and the multidimensionality of commitment are discussed.
The Attractiveness of Gender-Typed Traits at Different Relationship Levels: Androgynous Characteristics May Be Desirable after all
Authors: Green Beth L. , Kenrick Douglas T.
Published: March 2007

Previous research and theorizing have suggested a 'fundamental paradox" in that individuals appear to be predisposed, both culturally and genetically, to be attracted to traditionally gender typed members of the other sex even though pairings between gender-typed persons are less than optimal for long-term relation-ship satisfaction. Two studies were undertaken to clarify the relationship between gender-typed traits and heterosexual attraction. Male and female subjects indicated how desirable opposite-sex targets would be for a date, a one-night sexual encounter, and/or marriage. The gender-typing of the target was manipulated such that each target was perceived as androgynous, masculine, feminine, or undifferentiated. Results indicated that both sexes perceived opposite-sex androgynous targets to be more desirable for each type of relationship. Further, for both sexes, possession of feminine/expressive characteristics was more important than possession of masculine/instrumental characteristics.
Asymmetries in Attachments to Groups and to their Members: Distinguishing between Common-Identity and Common-Bond Groups
Authors: Prentice Deborah A. , Miller Dale T. , Lightdale Jenifer R.
Published: March 2007

Two studies sought to validate the distinction between common-identity groups, which are based on direct attachments to the group identity, and common-bond groups, which are based on attachments among group members. Study 1 focused on members of selective and nonselective university eating clubs. Study 2 focused on members of a diverse sample of campus groups. Both studies revealed asymmetries in group and member attachments: Individuals in common-identity groups were more attached to their group than to its members, whereas individuals in common-bond groups were as attached to the members as to the group (or more so). Study 2 also demonstrated that attachment to the group was more strongly related to various evaluations of individual group members in common-bond than in common-identity groups. The authors discuss the implications of these results for the development of groups over time and speculate on how the dynamics of the two types of groups might differ.
Victims as "Narrative Critics": Factors Influencing Rejoinders and Evaluative Responses to Offenders' Accounts
Authors: Gonzales Marti Hope , Haugen Julie A. , Manning Debra J.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the effects of offender blameworthiness and offender accounts on victims' rejoinders. Participants imagined themselves victims of another's offense, provided written rejoinders to offenders' accounts, and rated the interpersonal consequences of the predicament. Offenders' blameworthiness and the accounts they proffered independently influenced both what victims chose to say and how they chose to say it; in response to escalating blameworthiness and increasingly contentious accounts, victims' rejoinders grew more negative in substance and communicative style. Victims' subjective assessments of the inter-personal consequences of predicaments were jointly influenced by offenders' blameworthiness and their accounts; account mitigated negative assessments following accidental and negligent offenses but not following intentional offenses. Results provide a tentative framework for understanding interpersonal conflict resulting from the face threat inherent both in offenders' trans-gressions and in their explanations for them.
Confirmation Bias as a Social Skill
Authors: Dardenne Benoit , Leyens Jacques-Philippe
Published: March 2007

The authors propose that when testing a hypothesis about a personality trait of another person, a preference for questions that match the hypothesis is a manifestation of a social skill. If so, socially skilled people should request matching questions when the context stresses their relevance. On the contrary, less skilled people should be relatively insensitive to this environmental cue. To test this pragmatic stance, participants varying in self-monitoring sought information to validate an introvert or an extrovert hypothesis concerning a high-or equal-status interviewee. As predicted, only high self-monitors in the high-status-interviewee context showed a preference for matching questions. Moreover, the preference was stronger for not rejecting than for accepting these matching questions. Results are discussed in light of a pragmatic perspective that points out the adaptive and socially useful value of what look like errors and biases from a strictly rationalist perspective.
Orientations toward Authority in an Authoritarian State: Moscow in 1990
Authors: Hamilton V. Lee , Sanders Joseph , McKearney Scott J.
Published: March 2007

Little is known about citizens' orientations to authority in authoritarian regimes. A 1990 Moscow survey offered an unusual opportunity to examine socialist citizens' views of military crimes of obedience, their attitudes toward political dissent, and predictors of each. In fact, there was no relationship between respondents' attitudes about disobedience (whether they would refuse orders to carry out military war crimes) and their responses about political dissent. However, greater education was associated both with claiming that one would disobey and with engaging in dissent. Exploratory analyses of additional attitude questions revealed two orthogonal factors-socialist conservatism and political powerlessness-which account for some of the effect of education and help explain the role of Communist Party membership. Party members felt more politically efficacious, but nonmembers were more likely to protest.
Emotion-Specific Priming: Congruence Effects on Affect and Recognition Across Negative Emotions
Authors: Hansen Christine H. , Shantz Cynthia A.
Published: March 2007

The emotion-specific priming effects of negatively valenced emotions (anger, sadness, and fear) were demonstrated in a divided attention task. After an emotional prime, subjects were simultaneously exposed to target displays portraying two different negative emotions. Target emotions congruent with the primed emotion were judged as more intense. Emotive priming did not increase recognition for affectively congruent target displays that were actually presented, but priming effects appeared on recognition for displays not actually seen. Emotively congruent displays that had not been presented were falsely recognized, where as emotively incongruent displays that had not been seen were correctly reported as not recognized. The results indicated that emotional congruence effects seemed to emerge from the increased probability that congruent behaviors were schematically processed whereas controlled attentional processing resources were reserved for emotively incongruent behaviors.
The Impact of Perceived Control on the Imagination of Better and Worse Possible Worlds
Authors: Markman Keith D. , Gavanski Igor , Sherman Steven J. , McMullen Matthew N.
Published: March 2007

Effects of perceived control and close alternative outcomes on counterfactual generation were examined. Subjects played a computer-simulated "wheel of fortune"game along with another player (a confederate) in which two wheels spun simultaneously. Subjects had either control over spinning the wheel or control over which wheel would determine their outcome and which would determine the other player's outcome. Subjects experienced either a "near big win, " with a loss by the other player, or a "near loss, " with a big win by the other player. Results showed that (a) subjects generated counterfactuals about the aspect of the game they controlled, (b) the direction of these counterfactuals corresponded to the close outcome associated with the aspect they controlled, and (c) these counterfactuals predicted affective responses to the outcome of the spin. Cognitive and motivational implications of the influence of perceived control on counterfactual generation are discussed.
Betrayal in Mateships, Friendships, and Coalitions
Authors: Shackelford Todd K. , Buss David M.
Published: March 2007

Over evolutionary history, different benefits have been gained and lost from long-term mateships, friendships, and coalitions. Humans have evolved psychological mechanisms that are sensitive to cues to possible diversion of benefits to people outside the relationship. Mateships, friendships, and coalitions are predicted to share some of the same benefits but also to differ in some of the resources conferred. Accordingly, the psychological mechanisms sensitive to betrayal are predicted to operate in the same manner in those domains in which benefits are common across relationships and to operate differently in those domains in which benefits are unique to relationship type. Three interpersonal domains are investigated with regard to perceived betrayal: extra relationship intimate involvement, intrarelationship reciprocity, and relationship commitment. Eight hypotheses are tested across the three relationship domains via perceived betrayal judgments. Results support a model of betrayal entailing some degree of domain specificity but also some generality across domains.
Social Stigma and the Potential Costs of Assunptive Help
Authors: Schneider Monica E. , Major Brenda , Luhtanen Riia , Crocker Jennifer
Published: March 2007

This study examined stigmatized individuals' reactions to receiving assumptive help from a nonstigmatized other. Assumptive help was defined as unsolicited help provided without any evidence indicating personal need on the part of the recipient. It was hypothesized that Black students who received assumptive help from a White peer would have lower self esteem and more depressed affect than Black students who did not receive assumptive help. Furthermore, it was predicted that receiving assumptive help from a White peer would have more negative effects (i. e., result in lower self esteem and more depressed affect) among Black recipients than White recipients. No differences in self-esteem and affect were expected between Blacks and Whites who did not receive help. Results based on a measure of competence-based self-esteem were consistent with the hypotheses.
Sex Differences in Attitudes Toward Homosexual Persons, Behaviors, and Civil Rights A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Kite Mary E. , Whitley Bernard E.
Published: March 2007

Meta-analytic techniques were used to compare men's and women's attitudes toward homosexual persons, homosexual behaviors, and gay people's civil rights. As expected, size of sex differences varied across these categories. Men were more negative than women toward homosexual persons and homosexual behavior, but the sexes viewed gay civil rights similarly. Men's attitudes toward homosexual persons were particularly negative when the person being rated was a gay man or of unspecified sex. Women and men evaluated lesbians similarly. Ratings of homosexual persons and homosexual behavior were least likely to differ by subject sex for samples of nonprofessional adults. In addition, sex role attitude mediated sex differences in attitudes toward homosexuality. Biases in the research literature and areas that deserve further attention, such as the confounding of sample with measurement strategy and the tendency to study gay men or targets of unspecified sex, are discussed.
Intergroup Discrimination in Positive and Negative Outcome Allocations: Impact of Stimulus Valence, Relative Group Status, and Relative Group Size
Authors: Otten Sabine , Mummendey Amelie , Blanz Mathias
Published: March 2007

Three studies investigated the determination of social discrimination by the valence of stimuli that are allocated between groups. The studies were based on either the minimal group paradigm or a more reality-based laboratory intergroup setting, with stimulus valence, group status, and group size as factors and with pull scores on Taifel matrices as dependent variables. In general, the results showed that group members did not discriminate against the out-group when allocating negative stimuli, where as for positive stimuli the typical in-group bias was found. However, those participants whose positive social identity was threatened by assigning them to inferior or minority groups showed an increased willingness to favor the in-group over the out-group in the allocation of both positive and negative stimuli.
The Social Awareness Inventory: Development and Applications
Authors: Sheldon Kennon M.
Published: March 2007

The Social Awareness Inventory (SAI), which assesses individual differences in eight social-perceptual styles, is introduced and applied in three studies. The model is derived by crossing the three binary dimensions of target (self or other), perspective (own or other's), and content (overt appearance or covert experience). Studies 1 and 2 describe the development of the SAI and show that its subscales are meaningfully associated with related constructs such as public and private self-consciousness, empathy, social anxiety, and narcissism. Studies 2 and 3 explore the factor structure of the SAI, showing that people high on a self-divided factor regulate themselves according to environmental controls, list more self presentational strivings, and are higher on neuroticism and depression. In contrast, people high on a self-grounded factor tend to be autonomy oriented. The SAI appears to provide an integrative conceptual and empirical framework for considering many personality and motivational constructs.
Cognitive Processes in Perceptions of Social Support
Authors: Mankowski Eric S. , Wyer Robert S.
Published: March 2007

University students with different perceptions of the social support available to them read about social interactions in which they imagined themselves as either the potential recipient of support, the provider of support, or an uninvolved third party. When they took the perspective of either the provider or a third party, their judgments of the provider's supportiveness increased with the support they perceived to be available to them personally. This difference was absent, however, when they imagined themselves as the recipient. Participants with a recipient's perspective had relatively better recall of behaviors that were inconsistent with their perception of the support available to them outside the laboratory, whereas those who took other perspectives did not. The cognitive processes that mediate these and other effects are discussed, and their implications for the stability of perceived support availability are evaluated.
Reactance and Thought Suppression
Authors: Kelly Anita E. , Nauta Margaret M.
Published: March 2007

Two studies explored whether dispositional reactance moderates the effects of thought suppression. In Study 1 (N= 87) and Study 2 (N = 114), higher and lower reactant undergraduates were instructed either to suppress or to express their own intrusive thoughts during a stream-of-consciousness writing task. Results revealed that among higher reactant participants, those in the suppression group subsequently reported feeling more out of control of and disturbed by their intrusive thoughts and by their thoughts in general than did those in the expression group. Among the lower reactant participants, this pattern was reversed: Those in the expression group reported feeling more out of control of their thoughts than did those in the suppression group. The findings suggest that being motivated to restore one's freedom may paradoxically leave one feeling more out of control of one's thoughts after suppressing them.
Authoritarianism and American Students' Attitudes about the Gulf War, 1990-1996
Authors: Doty Richard M. , Winter David G. , Peterson Bill E. , Kemmelmeier Markus
Published: March 2007

Studies with several different groups of students over the period from October 1990 to spring 1996 show a consistent set of relationships between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and aggressive support for U.S. policy during the Persian Gulf crisis and Gulf War Before the war, high-RWA scorers endorsed more aggressive responses (including the use of nuclear weapons) to hypothetical Iraqi actions. After the war, they expressed relatively more gloating and less regret and, in retrospect, endorsed more aggressive hypothetical U.S. policies. Overall, their opinions tended to be low in complexity, high in certainty, and brief.
Can the Jury Disregard that Information? The Use of Suspicion to Reduce the Prejudicial Effects of Pretrial Publicity and Inadmissible Testimony
Authors: Fein Steven , McCloskey Allison L. , Tomlinson Thomas M.
Published: March 2007

Mock jurors learned incriminating information about a defendant in the context of pretrial publicity (Study 1) or testimony introduced in the trial but ruled inadmissible (Study 2). Despite the judge's instructions that they disregard the information, jurors' verdicts were affected significantly by the information, unless the jurors were made suspicious about the motives underlying the introduction of this information. That is, jurors given reason to be suspicious about why the incriminating information was introduced into the media or the trial offered verdicts that did not differ from those made by jurors who were not exposed to the incriminating information. The potential role of suspicion in weakening the biasing effects of a variety of nonevidentiary factors on jurors' verdicts is discussed, as is the role of suspicion in social-cognitive processes more generally.
Harmony and Security Value Orientations in Political Evaluation
Authors: Braithwaite Valerie
Published: March 2007

Responses from 197 students to the Goal Mode and Social Values Inventory were used to support the hypothesis that personal, interpersonal, and social values cohere around two broad value orientations-security and harmony- and that these value orientations are central in predicting political evaluations. The security scales-the National Strength and Order, the Propriety in Dress and Manners, and the Social Standing scales-inter-correlated highly and mirrored each other in predicting conservative attitudes, unwillingness to protest, and voting for the right. The harmony value scales-the International Harmony and Equality scale and the Personal Growth and Inner Harmony scale-were inter correlated and independent of the security scales. They both predicted liberal attitudes, but only the International Harmony and Equality scale predicted willingness to protest and voting for the left.
A Leap of Faith? Positive Illusions in Romantic Relationships
Authors: Murray Sandra L. , Holmes John G.
Published: March 2007

It is proposed that satisfying, stable relationships reflect intimates' ability to see imperfect relationships in somewhat idealized ways-to make a leap of faith. Both members of dating and married couples completed a measure of relationship illusions, tapping idealized perceptions of the partners' attributes, exaggerated perceptions of control, and unrealistic optimism. Results of concurrent analyses revealed that relationship illusions predicted greater satisfaction, love, and trust, and less conflict and ambivalence in both dating and marital relationships. A longitudinal follow-up of the dating sample revealed that relationships were more likely to persist the stronger individuals' initial illusions. Relationship illusions also predicted increases in later satisfaction but not vice versa. These results suggest that positive illusions capture a prospective sense of conviction or security that is not simply isomorphic with satisfaction.
The Social Consequences of Affirmative Action: Deleterious Effects on Perceptions of Groups
Authors: Maio Gregory R. , Esses Victoria M.
Published: March 2007

It has been suggested that the existence of affirmative action programs may create or exacerbate negative perceptions of groups that benefit from these programs. To test this hypothesis, the authors presented 51 participants with a (fictitious) editorial describing a relatively unfamiliar immigrant group in a positive manner and manipulated whether the group was described as being able to benefit from affirmative action programs. Participants then rated their perceptions of and attitudes toward the group. Participants also indicated their attitudes and thoughts about the group's immigration and their attitudes toward immigration in general. Results indicated that when affirmative action was mentioned, participants expressed less favorable perceptions of and attitudes toward the group and were less favorable toward immigration by the group. Interestingly, when affirmative action was mentioned, participants were also less favorable toward immigration in general. Overall, these findings indicate that the existence of affirmative action programs can have far-reaching effects on attitudes toward groups.
Assimilation and Contrast as a Function of Context-Target Similarity, Distinctness, and Dimensional Relevance
Authors: Stapel Diederik A. , Winkielman Piotr
Published: March 2007

Two studies examine conditions under which context information that is cognitively accessible and relevant to interpretation of an ambiguous target stimulus is primarily used as an interpretation frame (and leads to assimilation) or as a comparison standard (and leads to contrast). The currently dominating perspectives explain context effects in terms of the perceived extremity and appropriateness of context information. In the present studies, it is demonstrated that, beyond extremity and appropriateness, whether context information instigates assimilative interpretation or contrastive comparison processes may depend on three additional factors: (a) categorical context-target similarity, (b) perceived distinctness of the context information, and (c) relevance of the context information to the dimension on which the target will be judged.
Assessing and Testing Interrater Agreement on a Single Target Using Multi-Item Rating Scales
Authors: Lindell Michael K.
Published: March 2007

An index for assessing interrater agreement with respect to a single target using a multi-item rating scale is developed. The variance of rater mean scale scores is used as the numerator of the agreement index. Four variants of a disattenuated agreement index that vary in the random response term used as the denominator are examined. A variant of rwg(J)using perfectly collinear, uniformly distributed responses as the baseline is recommended as a useful index of disattenuated agreement. A test of the equality of variances is recommended for deleting items with a level of interrater agreement significantly different from zero but lower than that of the remaining items.