The effect of gender stereotype activation on entrepreneurial intentions.

In this study, the impact of implicit and explicit activation of gender stereotypes on men's and women's intentions to pursue a traditionally masculine career, such as entrepreneurship, was examined. On the basis of stereotype activation theory, it was hypothesized that men and women would confirm the gender stereotype about entrepreneurship when it was presented implicitly but disconfirm it when it was presented explicitly. Hypotheses were tested by randomly assigning 469 business students to one of 6 experimental conditions and then measuring their entrepreneurial intentions. Results supported the hypothesis when entrepreneurship was associated with stereotypically masculine characteristics but not when it was associated with traditionally feminine characteristics. Men also had higher entrepreneurial intention scores compared with women when no stereotypical information about entrepreneurship was presented, suggesting that underlying societal stereotypes associating entrepreneurship with masculine characteristics may influence people's intentions. However, men and women reported similar intentions when entrepreneurship was presented as gender neutral, suggesting that widely held gender stereotypes can be nullified. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of stereotype-incongruent information on perceived group variability and stereotype change.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 78(4) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2007-17406-001). In this article, Table 3 (p. 987) contained an error. The row "Number of subgroups" was inadvertently omitted. The corrected table appears in this erratum.] Three experiments showed increases in the perceived variability of social groups after perceivers received stereotype-incongruent information about group members. In Experiment 1, participants generated flatter distributions after exposure to incongruent information, compared with equally deviant congruent information, in the form of typical verbal materials. Experiment 2 indicated similar changes in dispersion after the presentation of numeric information about a single group member. In Experiment 3, the authors manipulated cognitive load at encoding or at the time group judgments were requested. Under conditions of cognitive constraint, stereotype-incongruent information ceased to promote more dispersed group representations. These results are consistent with the idea that incongruent information triggers more deliberative and comprehensive retrieval and generation of exemplars. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for stereotype change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of information on stereotype development in performance appraisal and interview contexts.

Investigated the development of stereotypes via information processing by presenting 120 male and 120 female undergraduates with information about 2 groups of hypothetical company employees. The percentage of favorable to unfavorable information and the amount of information were varied prior to ratings of the groups and individual members of the groups. The hypothesis that the distinctiveness in amount and favorability of information would result in differential stereotypes about the 2 groups was not confirmed. The hypothesis that ratings of individual members of the groups would differ from group perceptions was supported. Sex differences, contrast effects, and factors affecting a rater's overall impression were also found. Implications for personnel practices are discussed. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective information seeking after a single encounter.

In 3 experiments, the authors examined whether a single act of testimony can inform children's subsequent information seeking. In Experiment 1, participants saw one informant give a correct and another informant give an incorrect answer to a question, assessed who was right (wrong), and decided to whom to address a 2nd question. Adults and 7-year-olds but not 4-year-olds selected the previously correct informant. In Experiment 2, after assessing which informant was (not) very good at answering, even 4-year-olds selected the previously correct informant. In Experiment 3, in the absence of external demands to evaluate the informants, 7-year-olds and adults still selected the previously correct informant. Thus, a single encounter is sufficient for 7-year-olds and adults to engage in selective information seeking and trait labels enable 4-year-olds to do so too. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Causal uncertainty beliefs and diagnostic information seeking.

This study examined the extent to which chronic causal uncertainty beliefs influence diagnostic information seeking. Situational factors intended to increase the excitation level of causal uncertainty beliefs and the intensity of goal-directed behavior also were investigated. Participants expected to interview either a gender in-group or a gender out-group member, and half of them expected to be held accountable for their understanding of the interviewee. For out-group conditions, those accountable participants who possessed chronically accessible causal uncertainty beliefs revealed the greatest preference for diagnostic information. For in-group conditions, no differential pattern of information seeking as a function of chronic causal uncertainty beliefs or goal importance were found. Results are discussed in terms of a recent model of motivated social cognition proposed by G. Weary and J. A. Edwards (1996). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Octave generalization and the consolidation of melodic information.

Ss listened to a standard 6-tone melody, followed by a comparison melody that was always transposed up 4 semitones from the standard; this transposition was either exact or it was inexact while maintaining contour. Ss judged whether the comparison melody formed an exact transposition of the standard. Repetition of the standard melody, before presentation of the comparison, resulted in a significant improvement in performance compared to featuring only a single presentation of the standard. Improvement also resulted when the repeated melody was displaced intact an octave higher or an octave lower. However, when the standard melody was repeated such that its components were displaced alternately to the higher and lower octaves, performance was significantly worse than when the standard melody was not repeated at all. Octave equivalence effects for single tones did not operate in the consolidation of melodic information. (French summary) (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stereotype of the computer scientist.

Explored the extent and nature of the characterizations applied uniquely to computer scientists by 436 undergraduate psychology students (aged 17–60 yrs) and 74 undergraduate computer science students (aged 20–24 yrs) within the stereotyped paradigm. The Adjective Checklist was used for assessing stereotypes. It was found that Ss tended to stereotype computer scientists along 2 dimensions: technological dedication and sociability. Characterizations by computer science students did not differ greatly from those of the general population; however, they did not typify themselves, as prospective computer scientists, as personally fulfilling an unsociability stereotype. Computer science respondents described themselves as more outgoing and interested in the people around them than they perceived most of the other computer scientists to be. (French abstract) (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reduction of cognitive dissonance by seeking consonant information.

"An experiment was conducted to test two hypotheses about the reduction of cognitive dissonance by seeking information. The hypotheses were: (a) a person in whom dissonance has been produced by exposure to a communication advocating an opinion contrary to the person's is more likely to seek information than a person exposed to a compatible communication, and (b) a person in whom dissonance has been produced by a contrary communication tends to seek information from a source agreeing with his opinion. The opinions of 100 mothers on the importance of hereditary and environmental factors in child rearing were ascertained by personal interview; they were then exposed to a tape recorded, authoritative communication espousing a hereditary or an environmental point of view… . The results supported the first hypothesis." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3GG74A. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal study of the effects of information seeking on newcomer socialization.

In this study, the effects of information seeking on newcomer socialization are assessed. The results suggest that by seeking information, organizational newcomers can facilitate the socialization process. The frequency with which 135 new staff accountants sought specific types of information during their first 6 mo of employment was related to how well they mastered their job, defined their role, learned about their organization's culture, and became socially integrated. In contrast to findings from research focusing on the organization's role in socialization, these findings suggest that newcomers are proactive information seekers who take an active role in adjusting to their new environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Different levels of cognitive dissonance, information seeking, and information avoidance.

An experiment with 122 15–17 yr olds tested the curvilinear relationship between the amount of dissonance and the tendency to seek consonant information and avoid dissonant information. The dependent variables, information seeking and information avoidance, were measured separately, and additional data were collected about the perceived probability of revising the decision and about changes of decision certainty. Results show that Ss' preference for information consonant with the decision was highest when they had neither won nor lost large amounts of money. With increasing gains or losses, the opposite tendency emerged. This pattern held both for the number of consonant pieces of information chosen and for the difference in desirability ratings for reading consonant vs dissonant communications. Independent of the amount of money won or lost, more dissonant than consonant information was avoided. Data are explained within the framework of dissonance theory as well as choice-certainty theory. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Negro stereotype and perceptual accentuation.

3 hypotheses were tested: (1) There is no difference in the degree of personality stereotyping of Negro photographs varying widely in physiognomic Negroidness; (2) Anti-Negro judges exaggerate the personality stereotype of Negroes, whereas pro-Negro judges de-emphasize it; and (3) Both anti- and pro-Negro judges perceive the Negro as more Negroid in physiognomic traits than do neutral judges. The first 2 hypotheses were supported by the data. Although a comparison of the mean Negroidness scores for the 3 groups of judges supported the third hypothesis, the difference between the neutral group and the pro-Negro group was not statistically significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An information seeking disposition in child surgery patients.

A coping strategies interview was used to assign an information seeking (IS) score to 59 child elective surgery patients (aged 62–134 mo). This score was related to parent ratings of the child"s typical coping behaviors and preference for information acquisition; to question asking and discussion of medical procedures as rated by an observer during the blood test, by the nurse during anesthesia induction, and by the parent during recovery from surgery; to the information acquired prior to hospitalization; and to stress responses. High IS scores predicted more adaptive behaviors prior to the blood test. This cross-rater and cross-situation validation suggests the existence of an IS dimension in children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of task- and ego-achievement goals on information seeking during task engagement.

Two studies tested the proposal that information seeking is affected by achievement goals and by stages of skill acquisition (D. N. Ruble and K. S. Frey [1991]). 188 college students worked on problems in a task- or an ego-goal condition and could request task (best solutions), objective, normative, or no information after each. As expected, task-goal Ss requested more task information mainly for later problems. Ego-goal Ss made more normative requests also for early problems, and information requests were modified by skill level. These indications that self-assessment is accompanied by self-improvement concerns under task goals and by self-enhancing concerns under ego goals have implications for the debate between self-assessment and self-evaluation theories of information seeking and for research on help seeking and feedback effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The generalization of expectancies.

To test the proposition that generalization of expectancy changes occurs along a dimension of learned-goal similarity, a level-of-aspiration paradigm was utilized. The results were dealt with in terms of proportion of Ss who changed their expectancies on three generalization tasks (which varied in goal-relatedness to a control task by decreasing amounts) after experiencing success or failure on the control task. The data supported the hypothesis and indicated that the three tasks were significantly different from each other in relative position along the dimension of goal similarity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the combined effects of newcomer information seeking and manager behavior on socialization.

Both the newcomer and an important organizational insider, the manager, are predicted to influence the socialization process. Previously, these socialization mechanisms have been discussed or studied in the literature in isolation from one another. Data from 205 newcomers, 364 of their coworkers, and 112 of their managers were used to test the proposed model of newcomer socialization using a longitudinal, 3-wave data collection research design. In general, task-oriented manager behavior predicted task accommodation and relationship-oriented manager behavior predicted relational accommodation. Newcomer proaction, in the form of information seeking, was not a potent predictor of newcomer socialization. Only accommodation variables predicted performance, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Thus, it appears that different socialization behaviors tend to serve specialized roles in the socialization process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social comparison information and judgments about depression and seeking counseling.

Examined the effects of social comparison information, and the interaction of this information with symptom severity and sex, on 40 male and 40 female undergraduates' evaluations of depression symptoms and their willingness to seek counseling. Ss were administered the Depression Adjective Checklist—Form E (DACL—E) and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Help Scale, as well as ratings of willingness to seek counseling and manipulation checks. A significant main effect was found on DACL—E scores for social comparison information. Ss who received serious social comparison information reported the highest depression scores. In addition, a significant interaction was found between social comparison information and sex of S in DACL—E scores. A significant main effect was also found on Ss' ratings of willingness to seek counseling for social comparison information and sex of S. Ss were more willing to seek counseling help when the social comparison information was serious. Also, female Ss were more willing to seek counseling than were male Ss. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stereotype of the mentally ill

The objective of the submitted work was to obtain a more accurate picture of lay ideas on mentally ill people in seven selected population groups--two classes from a school for health workers, two classes of general secondary schools, participants of a training course for nurses organized by the church, employees of the law court and prosecution and patients of a psychiatric hospital/a total of 181 respondents. The respondents were asked to give at least 5 expressions characterizing a mentally sick person or lunatic. A total of 948 statements, incl. 450 different ones, were obtained. The statements were divided into four categories, depending whether they expressed a favourable or unfavourable quality, the need of assistance, protection or sympathy or whether they were neutral. The author assessed the ratio of categories by groups of respondents, repeatedly used expressions and qualities described in the statements. With the exception of the from of pupils of an extension course for health workers, where the majority were statements expressing the need of assistance, in the remaining groups more than half the expressions were unfavourable, in five the difference was statistically significant. The difference between students from the school for health workers and students from general secondary schools was significant only as regards the number of favourable replies from those in the extension course the difference was a smaller number of unfavourable replies. Against expectations, adverse ideas were recorded in the group of subjects training for nursing. Employees of the law court and prosecution used most frequently adverse expressions and made the smallest number of statements expressing the necessity of assistance.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

"Company motivates the miserable": The impact of consensus information on help seeking for psychological problems.

Based on an attribution theory analysis, it was predicted that normal Ss (those who do not evidence a particular target problem) would be least motivated to seek help for a psychological problem when they believe that the problem is actuarially common (i.e., high consensus). Based on an analysis of how target problem people evaluate their psychological problem, however, it was predicted that such Ss (unlike normals) should be maximally motivated to seek help when they believe that the problem is common. To test these predictions, target problem and normal Ss (72 high vs average test anxious female undergraduates, as assessed by the Test Anxiety Inventory) were given feedback that they possessed a problem (test anxiety). Ss were then told that their problem was either common, uncommon, or given no consensus information. As predicted, the higher consensus information led to the least help-seeking behavior for the normal Ss and to the most help-seeking behavior for the target problem Ss. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perspective-taking: Decreasing stereotype expression, stereotype accessibility, and in-group favoritism.

Using 3 experiments, the authors explored the role of perspective-taking in debiasing social thought. In the 1st 2 experiments, perspective-taking was contrasted with stereotype suppression as a possible strategy for achieving stereotype control. In Experiment 1, perspective-taking decreased stereotypic biases on both a conscious and a nonconscious task. In Experiment 2, perspective-taking led to both decreased stereotyping and increased overlap between representations of the self and representations of the elderly, suggesting activation and application of the self-concept in judgments of the elderly. In Experiment 3, perspective-taking reduced evidence of in-group bias in the minimal group paradigm by increasing evaluations of the out-group. The role of self- other overlap in producing prosocial outcomes and the separation of the conscious, explicit effects from the nonconscious, implicit effects of perspective-taking are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)