Attributions of personality based on physical appearance, speech, and handwriting.

Examined the effect of facial appearance, speech style, and handwriting on personality attributions made by 40 undergraduates to test 2 hypotheses: the source consistency hypothesis, which predicts that an actor will receive consistent attributions across all 3 types of information; and the differential information hypothesis, which predicts that different personality dimensions are used to differentiate the actors within each type of information. In a 3?×?6 multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) design, each S rated a single actor/information combination on scales of social evaluation, intellectual evaluation, activity, potency, emotionality, and sociability. Photographs of actors were differentiated primarily in terms of positive social and intellectual evaluation; the speech of actors was differentiated primarily along an activity dimension; and the writing of the actors was differentiated primarily along a potency dimension. Results support the differential information hypothesis and suggest that these 3 types of information about an actor may lead judges to use different personality dimensions. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of missing application-blank information on personnel selection decisions: Do privacy protection strategies bias the outcome?

Using a 3?×?2?×?2 experimental design and data from 188 managers and professionals, this study examined the main and interactive effects of information management strategy (missing information vs. no reported conviction vs. reported conviction), race of the applicant (White vs. Black), and job type (cashier vs. road laborer) on ratings of an applicant's qualifications and likelihood of job success. For the qualification criterion, there were significant main effects for information management strategy and job type. In the case of the success criterion, there were significant main effects for information management strategy and job type and two significant two-way interactions. Constraints on the generalizability of the findings to personnel decision making in actual organizational contexts are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimension and exercise variance in assessment center scores: A large-scale evaluation of multitrait-multimethod studies.

This study addresses 3 questions regarding assessment center construct validity: (1) Are assessment center ratings best thought of as reflecting dimension constructs (dimension model), exercises (exercise model), or a combination? (2) To what extent do dimensions or exercises account for variance? (3) Which design characteristics increase dimension variance? To this end, a large set of multitrait-multimethod studies ( N=34) were analyzed, showing that assessment center ratings were best represented (i.e., in terms of fit and admissible solutions) by a model with correlated dimensions and exercises specified as correlated uniquenesses. In this model, dimension variance equals exercise variance. Significantly more dimension variance was found when fewer dimensions were used and when assessors were psychologists. Use of behavioral checklists, a lower dimension-exercise ratio, and similar exercises also increased dimension variance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interacting Dimensions of Diversity: Cross-Categorization and the Functioning of Diverse Work Groups.

The authors conducted an experiment to show how the interplay between informational diversity and other dimensions of diversity can account for some of the inconsistent effects of informational diversity in previous research. A total of 70 four-person groups involved in a decision-making task received homogeneous or heterogeneous information. By manipulating gender composition and bogus personality feedback, the authors created groups that were heterogeneous (i.e., had a strong basis for subgroup categorization) or were homogeneous on these dimensions. In diverse groups characterized by a diversity faultline, heterogeneity of information either converged with or cross-cut the faultline. Results showed that informational diversity enhanced group functioning when it was crossed rather than converged with the existing faultline, which became manifest in increased information elaboration, higher satisfaction, reduced relationship and task conflict, and a better team climate. Extending previous work, these findings show that informational diversity may have positive effects on team functioning even when teams are not homogeneous on other diversity dimensions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Manifest and latent influence of majorities and minorities.

Compared group cohesiveness and behavioral style as mediators of majority and minority influence and tested the hypothesis that whereas majorities produce more manifest influence, minorities produce more latent influence. 96 female undergraduates, divided into majority and minority groups based on their initial judgments of the experimental issue, were asked to role play members of a jury and were led to anticipate deliberating on 2 civil cases. Ss, who were led to believe they were interacting in groups were exposed to an influence attempt by an individual who advocated either a majority or a minority position in the group. A 2?×?2?×?2 design was used, varying source status (majority or minority), group cohesiveness (high or low), and behavioral style of the influence source (high or low consistency). Results confirm the greater influence of majorities on a manifest level but not of minorities on a latent level. Both majority and minority influence were affected by group cohesiveness; neither was affected by behavioral style. Findings provide no evidence of different processes underlying majority and minority influence, consistent with a unitary model of social influence phenomena. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Energy conservation behavior: The difficult path from information to action.

Presents a social-psychological model of energy-use behavior that draws on behavioral and social research to explain influence processes and behavioral change related to energy conservation behavior. The model consists of 2 interacting sets of factors: psychological factors that refer to how information is processed by individual decision makers and positional factors that relate to characteristics of the decision makers' situations that support or constrain action. Suggestions for maximizing the effectiveness of informational appeals to conserve energy by convincing the consumer that a pay-off will result from the use of energy conserving devices are discussed. It is suggested that the adoption of a conservatory attitude is influenced by the vividness of the argument to conserve energy, the credibility of the source, the understanding and retention of the message, and the degree to which an individual is able and willing to install conservation devices in his/her home. Alternatives to informational appeals through mass media to encourage energy conservation are proposed. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and physical attractiveness of raters and applicants as determinants of resumé evaluations.

110 male and female student "interviewers," classified as either high, moderate, or low on physical attractiveness, evaluated 12 bogus job applicants for whom sex, physical attractiveness, and qualifications had been varied. A 2?×?3?×?2?×?3?×?2 analysis of variance was computed, with the 1st 2 variables (interviewer sex and attractiveness) constituting between-group factors, and the last 3 variables (applicant sex, attractiveness, and qualifications) constituting repeated measures factors. Regardless of interviewer sex and attractiveness, highly qualified applicants were preferred over poorly qualified applicants, male applicants were preferred over female applicants, and attractive candidates were preferred over unattractive candidates. Discrimination in employment decisions was attributed to sex-role and physical attractiveness stereotypes. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual asymmetry in consensus estimates of majority and minority members.

Three experiments revealed a consistent pattern of consensus estimates. Numerical status and group growth or decline were manipulated between subjects. Growth was manipulated orthogonally to a 3rd variable: focus. Focus was manipulated by describing growth information with respect either to the in-group or the out-group (e.g., in-group growth and out-group decline). A Numerical Status?×?Focus interaction emerged in Study 1. Numerical minority members' consensus estimates for an opinion issue increased when growth information was out-group focused, whereas majority members' estimates did not differ as a function of the focus variable. Study 2 replicated these effects across other opinion dimensions. Study 3 confirmed the importance of the growth and focus variables in the absence of numerical status manipulations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective attention and the formation of linear decision boundaries.

Classification experiments were designed to compare the predictions of a linear decision bound model with those of an exemplar-similarity model incorporating an explicit selective attention mechanism. Linear boundaries could account for the data only in tasks involving separable dimension stimuli and where the boundary separating the categories was orthogonal to the psychological dimensions. Linear boundaries provided poor fits to the classification data in situations involving integral dimensions or when the boundary needed to be oriented in oblique directions in the space. The results were consistent with the selection-attention assumptions embodied in the exemplar model. It was argued that similar assumptions about selective attention need to be incorporated within decision bound models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Profiles of peer competence in the preschool: Interrelations between measures, influence of social ecology, and relation to attachment history.

40 4–5 yr old first born Ss in 2 preschool groups, differing markedly in terms of classroom ecology, were observed throughout a school year. Peer competence was assessed via teacher rankings of social competence, peer sociometrics, and behavioral measures of social participation, attention structure, and social dominance. Rates of positive and negative affect, affiliation, leadership, assertiveness, and aggression were also recorded. Results show that individual rates of affective expression and social behavior were temporally stable and consistent across contexts for both classes. Teacher judgments and peer sociometrics were more robust with respect to the behavioral ecologies of the 2 classes and most consistently related to external criteria. Two dimensions of peer competence were evident: (1) an affiliative dimension characterized by emotional warmth, social maturity, and peer popularity and (2) a power dimension involving positive and negative affect and high peer status. Ss with secure attachment histories were higher on affiliative dimension, while anxious-resistant Ss were lowest in peer status. Definitions of behavior and response categories are appended. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive processes and individual differences in judgments relevant to drunk driving.

The present study explored cognitive processes in judgments of drunkenness relative to legally allowable blood alcohol levels for driving. Judgments were based on the manipulation of three cues in hypothetical scenarios in a 3?×?4?×?3 factorial design (Type of Drink?×?Number of Drinks?×?Time to Consume). In addition, personality and behavioral characteristics influencing the accuracy of judgments of drunkenness relative to true blood alcohol levels were examined. Results indicated the presence of several misperceptions and inappropriate response tendencies that potentially can be modified with educational efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)