Appeals to image and claims about quality: Understanding the psychology of advertising.

Examined, in 3 studies, the evaluative and behavioral reactions of 130 undergraduates with high and low self-monitoring personalities to 2 advertising strategies: appeals to a product's image and claims about a product's quality. High self-monitoring Ss reacted more favorably to image-oriented advertisements, were willing to pay more for products if they were advertised with an image orientation, and were more willing to try a product if it was marketed with an image appeal. By contrast, low self-monitoring Ss reacted more favorably to product-quality oriented ads, were more willing to pay more for products if they were advertised with a quality orientation, and were more willing to try a product if it was marketed with a quality claim. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A different perspective on androgyny: Evaluations of masculine and feminine personality characteristics.

Hypothesized that androgynous Ss would be liked best and perceived as most adjusted (Exp I) and also be perceived to be as instrumental as masculine Ss and as expressive as feminine Ss (Exp II). 179 undergraduates served as Ss in Exp I and 160 undergraduates served in Exp II. Personal Attributes Questionnaires ostensibly filled out by others were the stimuli evaluated. These stimuli were constructed so that the stimulus persons (SPs) were classified as either androgynous, undifferentiated, masculine, or feminine. Male and female Ss evaluated the SPs on dimensions of likeability, adjustment, expressiveness, instrumentality, masculinity, and femininity. Results demonstrate that androgynous persons, regardless of gender, were liked best and perceived as most adjusted, whereas undifferentiated persons were liked least and perceived as least adjusted. Masculine and feminine persons, regardless of gender, were rated midway between androgynous and undifferentiated persons and generally were not evaluated differently on these dimensions. Evaluations of SPs on stereotypically gender-related dimensions revealed that androgynous persons were seen to be as highly instrumental as masculine persons and as highly expressive as feminine persons, but generally less masculine and feminine than sex-typed persons. Implications for self-fulfilling prophecies in social behavior are discussed. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of linguistic variations by college students with and without head injuries.

Evaluated the impact of spoken language on listeners by examining the effects of prior head injury, speech register, and active vs passive listening among 56 head-injured (HI) and 55 non-HI undergraduates. Ss rated the degree to which they liked the speaker and also the extent to which groups of negative and positive adjectives described the speaker. There were no differences between HI and non-HI Ss in how much they liked speakers using the normal register, but non-HI Ss liked the motherese speakers more than did HI Ss. Raters liked motherese speakers less when addressed directly than when they were not being directly addressed. Regardless of listener perspective, HI Ss liked motherese speakers less and rated them more negatively than non-HI Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactions to child custody decisions involving homosexual and heterosexual parents.

Examined the effects of gender and sexual orientation of petitioning parents on attitudes about child custody decisions among 274 undergraduates who were either high or low in homophobia. In Phase 1, Ss completed the Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Homosexuals Scale and the Kinsey Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale that were embedded in a general questionnaire on social attitudes. In Phase 2, the same Ss were asked to give their opinions about the outcome of contrived custody cases where the parent winning custody was homosexual or heterosexual. There was less support for a homosexual than a heterosexual parent. This was particularly noticeable for male Ss. Unexpectedly, mothers were not favored over fathers; instead, Ss favored parents of their own gender. Ss who scored low in homophobia reacted more favorably to a homosexual parent than a heterosexual parent, while the reverse was true for those scoring high in homophobia. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender, language, and influence.

Mixed- and same-sex dyads were observed to examine effects of gender composition on language and of language on gender differences in influence. Ss discussed a topic on which they disagreed. Women were more tentative than men, but only in mixed sex dyads. Women who spoke tentatively were more influential with men and less influential with women. Language had no effect on how influential men were. In a 2nd study, 120 Ss listened to an audiotape of identical persuasive messages presented either by a man or a woman, half of whom spoke tentatively. Female speakers who spoke tentatively were more influential with male Ss and less influential with female Ss than those who spoke assertively. Male speakers were equally influential in each condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Believing another likes or dislikes you: Behaviors making the beliefs come true.

Tested the idea that when target persons believe that a perceiver has a general negative evaluation of them, especially after a personal encounter, the targets would be unlikely to believe that the perceiver's behavior can be modified easily, resulting in an expectancy confirmation. This expectancy confirmation should occur regardless of the target's self-perceptions. 60 undergraduates participated in a 2 (expectancy [like or dislike])?×?2 (role [perceiver or target])?×?2 (self-likability [high or low]) factorial study. Results show that falsely leading Ss to believe that another liked or disliked them led Ss to be actually liked or disliked. Ss who believed they were liked after a personal encounter self-disclosed more, disagreed less, expressed dissimilarity less, and had a more positive tone of voice and general attitude than Ss who believed they were disliked. These behaviors led to reciprocal behaviors on the part of the other. No differences were obtained in number of conversations initiated, compliments, eye gaze, forward leaning, or placement of the chair. Being liked was also correlated with self-disclosure, expressions of similarity and dissimilarity, voice tone, and general attitude. Perceived self-likability was correlated with the belief that one was liked and tended to be correlated with actually being liked. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential recall as a function of mood disorder in clinically depressed patients: Between- and within-subject differences.

In Study 1, 23 depressed outpatients (aged over 60 yrs); 23 controls matched to the depressed group on age, sex, education, and SES; and 23 undergraduates rated trigrams as liked or disliked and were asked to recall a portion of these after a study period. Results show that depressed Ss recalled more trigrams they had disliked than ones they had liked. Both control groups had the opposite pattern, but undergraduates recalled significantly more trigrams than did older Ss. In Study 2, 20 of the 23 depressed Ss from Study 1 were administered different trigram packets at the middle and end of therapy using the same procedure. Results show that the change from a depressed to a nondepressed state across therapy correlated with a change from the superiority of disliked trigrams in the recall to a superiority of liked trigrams. It is suggested that this simple differential-recall procedure can be used as a moderate measure of the continuum of depression and success in therapy. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of sex role attitudes and similarity on men's rejection of male homosexuals.

Investigated 120 male undergraduates' reactions to homosexuals. Ss preselected on the basis of their profeminist, moderate, or antifeminist scores on the Attitude Toward Feminism Scale were assigned at random to 1 of 4 experimental conditions. Using a standard attraction paradigm design, Ss rated a bogus "partner," who was represented as either homosexual or heterosexual and as having attitudes either similar or dissimilar to theirs. Consistent with prediction, similar partners were liked more than dissimilar partners, and heterosexual partners were liked more than homosexuals. Homosexuals were seen as more dissimilar to the Ss in all conditions. Liberals were more accepting of homosexuals and dissimilar partners than were traditionals. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship between sex role attitudes and tolerance of dissimilarity. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Telling lies.

Men and women (20 each) were videotaped while describing someone they liked, someone they disliked, someone they were ambivalent about, someone they were indifferent about, someone they liked as though they disliked him or her, and someone they disliked as though they liked him or her. Accuracy at detecting that some deception had occurred was far greater than accuracy at detecting the true underlying affect, and Ss who were good at detecting that deception was occurring were not particularly skilled at reading the speakers' underlying affects. However, Ss whose deception attempts were more easily detected by others also had their underlying affects read more easily. Speakers whose lies were seen more readily by men also had their lies seen more readily by women, and observers better able to see the underlying affects of women were better able to see the underlying affects of men. Skill at lying successfully was unrelated to skill at catching others in their lies. A histrionic strategy (hamming) was very effective in deceiving others, and this strategy was employed more by more Machiavellian Ss, who also tended to get caught less often in their lies. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal adjustment and the free recall of materials with affectively positive or negative meaningfulness.

Conducted 2 experiments on the role of affective assessment in human verbal learning. In Exp I, 40 high school students grouped according to Tennessee Self-Concept Scale scores were given consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams as learnable items. Ss with high self-concepts learned the trigrams they liked more rapidly than disliked trigrams. Ss with low self-concepts reversed this customary pattern and learned disliked trigrams more rapidly than liked trigrams. In Exp II, 64 undergraduates who had completed the Barron Ego-Strength scale were given real words as learnable materials. Results showed that it was possible for the same S to learn certain words along a negative and other words along a positive reinforcement-value sequence. This depended upon whether the word meanings involved reflected a problem area or an area of competence for the Ss being studied. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-schemas and gender.

Examined the information processing consequences of self-schemas about gender in 2 studies (467 undergraduates). Systematic differences in cognitive performance were observed among Ss identified as masculine schematics, feminine schematics, low androgynous, and high androgynous (Bem Sex-Role Inventory). Feminine schematics remembered more feminine than masculine attributes, endorsed more feminine qualities, required shorter processing times for "me" judgments to these attributes, were more confident of their judgments, and were able to supply relatively more examples of past feminine than masculine behavior. A parallel pattern of results was found for masculine stimuli in masculine schematics. Androgynous Ss recalled as many masculine as feminine attributes and did not differentiate between masculine and feminine attributes with respect to latency or confidence. Comparison of the 2 groups of androgynous Ss shows that only low androgynous Ss should be considered aschematic with respect to gender. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Art work versus photography: An experimental study.

"Four paired advertisements, one using photography and the other using art work, were shown to a matched sample of 962 adults in the New York City area. The Ss ranked each advertisement on the dimensions of most liked, believability, and recall. No sex or socioeconomic differences emerged. Statistically significant differences were found for the photographic version of three advertisements, respectively showing a man, a woman in an office, and a man drinking coffee. Art work was favored in one advertisement, which semihumorously showed a dog in motion. Any decision to use either art work or photography for a communication depends on many factors, including the object to be reproduced, the medium of communication, the effect desired, and the associated text. The results of this study, based on advertisements from one consumer magazine, must be interpreted with caution." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Image advertisements for alcohol products: is their appeal associated with adolescents' intention to consume alcohol?

Criticism has been directed toward alcohol advertising, particularly regarding the use of image (lifestyle) advertising, and its potential influence on teenage alcohol consumption. This study sought to determine if adolescents who drink, or intend to drink alcohol at some future time, find image advertisements for alcohol more appealing than product advertisements. The results indicated that image advertising was preferred to product advertising, particularly by younger adolescents. Evidence of an association between preference for image advertisements and intent to drink in the future was found. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

Peers as mediators of television food advertisements aimed at children.

Past research on the effects of TV has focused primarily on it as a unitary force rather than as 1 source of influence in a network of cross-pressures. The present study attempted to determine how peer-modeled food preferences combined with TV food commercials to influence the food preferences of school-aged children. 40 Black and 40 White 4th graders were assigned randomly to 1 of 4 conditions: TV control, TV advertisements with similar peer-modeled food preferences, and TV advertisements with dissimilar peer-modeled food preferences. An additional 40 children served as peer models. Ss in the TV advertisement condition preferred foods in the same class as the advertised foods more frequently than did Ss in the TV control condition. Ss in the TV advertisement/peer-similar condition preferred foods like the advertised food more often than Ss in the TV advertisement condition, whereas Ss in the TV/peer-dissimilar condition preferred foods like the advertised food less frequently than did Ss in the TV advertisement condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

English as the second language of deaf children.

Administered the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to 13 deaf adolescents with deaf parents and to 13 deaf adolescents with hearing parents. Scores achieved by all Ss on the Paragraph Meaning and Language subtests of the Stanford Achievement Test were also available. Ss with deaf parents scored significantly higher than Ss with hearing parents on all but 1 measure. Performance by hearing, foreign students on the TOEFL was more highly correlated with the performance by Ss with deaf parents than with the performance by Ss with hearing parents. Results indicate that English may be a 2nd language for deaf children and that early experience with sign language may facilitate later learning of English. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem, communicator characteristics, and attitude change.

Characteristic defenses were predicted to cause different Ss to resist influence from different kinds of persuasive communications. In a 3-way factorial design, 88 Ss representing high and low self-esteem were exposed to optimistic and pessimistic communications from communicators who were portrayed as "copers" or "noncopers." Optimism-pessimism unexpectedly produced no effect. However, characteristics of the communicator interacted with characteristics of Ss in producing attitude change. High-esteem Ss were influenced more by the coper and low-esteem Ss by the noncoper, even though all Ss evaluated the noncoper unfavorably. Further investigation indicated that Ss high and low in self-esteem were themselves copers and noncopers, respectively. Ss appeared to accept persuasive influence from the communicator more comparable to themselves, regardless of how they consciously felt toward him. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Writing and revising persuasive documents: Cognitive demands.

In 2 experiments, 40 graduate and 60 undergraduate students wrote preliminary and final drafts of a persuasive document. In Exp I, the need for Ss to comply with mechanics (i.e., punctuation and spelling), to form complete sentences, and to sequence their ideas, respectively, were eliminated one at a time from preliminary-draft formats. The elimination of sentence-formation and sequence operations produced corresponding increments in persuasive argument production. In Exp II, Ss with average verbal ability (as assessed by the Scholastic Aptitude Test) benefited more from the elimination of these structure operations than did Ss with low verbal ability. When allowed to freely choose their typical preliminary-draft format, Ss with average verbal ability usually selected proposition-based formats (e.g., lists, outlines, and diagrams) that dispensed with the need for structure operations. Ss with average verbal ability also produced more sentences, more arguments per sentence, and fewer mechanical errors than did those with low verbal ability. In both experiments, comparatively few new arguments were constructed during revision. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communicator physical attractiveness and persuasion.

In a field setting, each of 68 physically attractive or unattractive male and female communicator Ss (undergraduates) delivered a persuasive message to 2 undergraduate target Ss of each sex. Results indicate that attractive (vs unattractive) communicators induced significantly greater persuasion on both a verbal and behavioral measure of target agreement. In addition, female targets indicated greater agreement than male targets. Data gathered from communicator Ss during an earlier laboratory session indicate that physically attractive and unattractive communicators differed with respect to several communication skills and other attributes relevant to communicator persuasiveness, including GPA, Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, and several measures of self-evaluation. These findings suggest that attractive individuals may be more persuasive than unattractive persons partly because they possess characteristics that dispose them to be more effective communicators. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

If you are gender schematic, all members of the opposite sex look alike.

96 male and 96 female undergraduates classified on the basis of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory were asked to recall "who said what" after listening to a taped conversation either among 3 men and 3 women (the gender study) or among 3 Blacks and 3 Whites (the race study). Analysis of Ss' errors revealed that both sex-typed and cross-sex-typed Ss confused the members of the opposite sex with one another significantly more than androgynous or undifferentiated Ss did. In contrast, no individual differences related to sex typing emerged in the race study, which suggests that the greater gender schematicity of sex-typed individuals is specific to gender, as S. L. Bem's (see record 1981-25685-001) gender schema theory implies. The finding that cross-sex-typed Ss were significantly more gender schematic than anyone else and the apparent inconsistency of the data with the self-schema theory of H. Markus et al (see record 1982-23588-001) are discussed. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regional brain activation with advertising images.

Preferences for purchasing goods and services may be shaped by many factors, including advertisements presenting logical, persuasive information or those using images or text that may modify behavior without requiring conscious recognition of a message. We tested the hypothesis that these two types of messages (logical persuasion [LP] vs. nonrational influence [NI]) might affect brain function differently in a pilot project, using stimuli drawn from real-world print advertisements and quantitative electroencephalography as a noninvasive measure of regional brain activity. Twenty-four healthy subjects, 11 women and 13 men, viewed images while brain electrical activity was recorded. We used the low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography method to quantify current intensity in brain regions implicated in decision-making and emotional processing. Data were analyzed using a block design to compare brain activity during LP and NI stimuli periods. LP images were associated with consistently and significantly higher activity levels in orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate, amygdala, and hippocampus regions than were NI images. These findings suggest that advertising images can evoke different levels of regional brain activity related to the use of LP and NI elements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)