Attention, attraction, and individual differences in reaction to criticism.

82 female undergraduates were classified as repressors or sensitizers (by scores on the Repression-Sensitization Scale) and led to expect either some future interaction or no future interaction with negative and positive evaluators. It was predicted that repressors would avoid attending to negative evaluators when no future interaction was anticipated more than sensitizers would, but that the groups would not differ when interaction was anticipated. This first prediction was not confirmed: The negative evaluator received more attention than the positive evaluator across all conditions. It was also predicted that repressors would react more positively to the negative evaluator than sensitizers when there was a prospect of future interaction, but that repressors would react less positively to the negative evaluator than sensitizers when there was no prospect of future interaction. This prediction was confirmed. Utility and individual differences in perception processes are discussed. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)