The working self-concept in transference: Significant-other activation and self change.

This research tested the hypothesis that changes in the working self-concept emerge in transference, defined as the activation and application of a significant-other representation to a new person and indexed by relevant inferences and memory (e.g., S. M. Andersen & A. Baum, see record 82-21185; S. M. Andersen et al, see record 82-40398). In an idiographic-nomothetic design, participants learned of a target person who resembled their own or a yoked participant's positively or negatively toned significant other. Results replicated the basic memory effect verifying transference. As predicted, the working self-concept changed in the transference condition. After learning about the new person, participants' freely listed self features shifted; the working self-concept became more infused with aspects of the self reflecting the self when with this significant other. Relevant changes in self evaluation were observed. Hence, changes in the working self-concept occurred in transference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Central relationship themes in group psychotherapy: A social relations model analysis of transference.

Group members (N = 55) in 11 therapy groups reported central relationship themes (CRTs) (wishes, responses of others, and responses of self) with other group members and with a romantic partner. Social relations model analyses were used to partition the variance in group member CRT ratings with other members into perceiver, target, and relationship plus error variance components. Significant perceiver variance in member CRT ratings was proposed to serve as a proxy for transference. Overall, significant perceiver variance and mostly insignificant target variance was found, and the perceiver effect accounted for substantially more variance than the target effect. As an exploratory question, the authors wondered to what extent relationship variance accounted for the total variance in member ratings of their CRT. Unfortunately, relationship variance could not be separated from error in this study. Relationship plus error variance accounted for, on average, 42% of the variance in scores. In addition, as a test of the social microcosm of the group theory, it was hypothesized that group member CRTs within the group would relate to member CRTs with a romantic partner outside of the group. Contrary to expectation, this hypothesis was not supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive affect, negative affect, and social interaction.

Two studies explored the relations of positive and negative affect (PA and NA) to social interaction. In Study 1, unacquainted dyads were surreptitiously videotaped as they participated in a 6-min interaction. Participants then evaluated the quality of the interaction. Independent observers also rated the videotaped interactions. Trait PA was positively related to both participant and observer evaluations of interaction quality. In Study 2, undergraduates kept diaries of their social interactions for 1 week, PA was again related to interaction quality. Both PA and NA were positively related to the number of interactions in which participants engaged, and the amount of time spent engaged in social contact, although different types of social encounters produced these relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping, expectancies, and alcohol abuse: A test of social learning formulations.

The model proposed here postulates that alcohol abuse can be predicted from a causal chain that includes alcohol consumption and "drinking to cope" as proximal determinants and general coping skills and positive alcohol expectancies as more distal determinants. To evaluate this model in a way that permits simultaneous consideration of its multiple determinants and control for demographic influences, path analytic techniques were applied to data from problem and nonproblem drinkers drawn from a general population sample. The hypothesized model accounted for significant variance in abuse status. Drinking to cope emerged as the most powerful predictor, exerting influence via direct and indirect pathways. Coping styles indicative of avoidance of emotion emerged as more important predictors of abuse than problem-focused coping. The predictive value of coping was moderated by alcohol expectancies such that avoidant styles of coping with emotion were predictive of abuse status only among drinkers expressing greater belief in alcohol's positive reinforcing properties. Findings both support and refine the social learning perspective on alcohol abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of expectancies and coping on pain-induced motivation to smoke.

The prevalence of tobacco smoking among persons with recurrent pain is approximately twice that observed in the general population. Smoking has been associated with the development and exacerbation of several chronically painful conditions. Conversely, there is both experimental and cross-sectional evidence that pain is a potent motivator of smoking. A recent study provided the first evidence that laboratory-induced pain could elicit increased craving and produce shorter latencies to smoke (Ditre & Brandon, 2008). To further elucidate interrelations between pain and smoking, and to identify potential targets for intervention, in the current study, we tested whether several constructs derived from social–cognitive theory influence the causal pathway between pain and increased motivation to smoke. Smokers (N = 132) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions in this 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design. Results indicated that manipulations designed to (a) challenge smoking-related outcome expectancies for pain reduction and (b) enhance pain-related coping produced decreased urge ratings and increased latencies to smoke, relative to controls. An unexpected interaction effect revealed that although each manipulation was sufficient to reduce smoking urges, the combination was neither additive nor synergistic. These findings were integrated with those of the extant literature to conceptualize and depict a causal pathway between pain and motivation to smoke as moderated by smoking-related outcome expectancies and mediated by the use of pain coping behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative affect and interpersonal rejection among prison inmates in a therapeutic community: A social relations analysis.

The authors used D. A. Kenny's (1994a) social relations model to examine J. C. Coyne's (1976b) interpersonal theory of depression among a clinical sample of well-acquainted prison inmates. Members of 12 therapy groups (N/&=/&142) diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder completed a self-report measure of depression and anxiety and indicated their desire to interact with other group members. There was both consensus about which group members were rejected and individual differences in the participants' reported desire for future interaction with other group members. Those reporting high levels of depressive negative affect were most likely to be rejected. Those lowest in positive affect indicated the least desire for future interaction with others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Control, motivation, affect, and strategic self-regulation in the college classroom: A multidimensional phenomenon.

This study of 397 undergraduate students examined relations between self-reported control, goal orientation, future time perspective, affect, and strategic self-regulation. Five patterns were found in three canonical dimensions. The high end of bipolar Dimension 1 linked high self-regulated strategy use and study effort to high self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, and effort causal attribution; high mastery and performance approach and low work avoidance goal orientations; and positive affect. The low end of Dimension 1 linked low strategy use and effort to low self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, and effort causal attribution; high work avoidance goal orientation; and low affect. The high end of bipolar Dimension 2 linked knowledge-building strategies, but not active self-regulation or study effort, to high self-efficacy, outcome expectancy for learning but not grades, and affect causal attribution; high mastery goal orientation; and positive affect. The low end of Dimension 2 linked surface learning, consisting of active self-regulation and study effort but not personal knowledge building, to high effort causal attribution but low self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. Unipolar Dimension 3 linked learned helplessness to high outcome expectancy and external causal attribution but low self-efficacy; high work avoidance goal orientation; and high negative affect and anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Favorable and unfavorable target expectancies and social information processing.

The certainty engendered by expectancies and the degree to which relevant information is subsequently processed should differ depending on the expectancy's favorability. Consistent with this proposal, the results of Experiment 1 indicated that favorable expectancies elicited more testing of the expectancy than did unfavorable expectancies and engendered greater memory performance overall. In Experiment 2 these findings were replicated, and results also showed that unfavorable expectancies led to attentional decrements in impression formation whereas favorable expectancies did not. In Experiment 3 comparable results were obtained using information (traits) that has been shown to induce confirmatory processing. Also, participants indicated that they were more cognitively engaged with the impression task when they held favorable rather than unfavorable expectancies. Finally, the findings of Experiment 4 showed that participants who held favorable expectancies did not show primacy effects in judgment, whereas participants who held unfavorable expectancies did. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal orientation and task demand effects on motivation, affect, and performance.

Two studies tested the joint effects of goal orientation and task demands on motivation, affect, and performance, examining different factors affecting task demands. In Study 1 (N?=?199), task difficulty was found to moderate the effect of goal orientation on performance and affect (i.e., satisfaction with performance). In Study 2 (N?≠&189), task consistency was found to moderate the effect of goal orientation on self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. Results are discussed in relation to self-regulatory processes cued by goal orientations, attentional resource demands, and the need to match goal orientations to the nature of the task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Residential mobility, self-concept, and positive affect in social interactions.

The present research examined (a) the link between personal history of residential mobility and the self-concept and (b) the implications of such a link for positive affect in social interactions. Study 1 showed that the personal self was more central to the self-definition of frequent movers than to that of nonmovers, whereas the collective self was more central to the self-definition of nonmovers than to that of frequent movers. Results from a laboratory and a 2-week event sampling study (Studies 2 and 3) demonstrated that frequent movers felt happier when an interaction partner accurately perceived their personal selves, whereas nonmovers felt happier when a partner accurately perceived their collective selves. These findings present the first direct evidence on how personal history of residential mobility is linked to important individual differences in the self and positive affect in social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol choice and outcome expectancies in social drinkers

Eighteen male social drinkers underwent four training sessions during which they ingested two colour-coded drinks (red or blue, balanced for drink type); one containing alcohol (aliquots of 0.1 g/kg) and the other placebo (aliquots of orangeade). Following the training sessions, subjects were presented with both drinks, and instructed to choose the drink they felt like consuming and to indicate their preference for their chosen drink over the other drink. In addition, they were instructed to consume the first drink but that all subsequent drinks (total of six drinks), offered at 10-min intervals, were optional. A number of trait characteristics were assessed including alcohol outcome expectancies, drinking habits and personality traits. The acute effects of alcohol on mood was also evaluated by comparing subjective ratings following alcohol and placebo during the training sessions. Of the 18 subjects, 12 chose alcohol at least once ('samplers'), whereas six never chose alcohol ('non-samplers'). Over the three sessions, however, alcohol and placebo were chosen equally. When alcohol was chosen, subjects drank significantly more than when placebo was chosen, which may be consistent with a priming effect of drinking alcohol. The amount of alcohol drunk was seen to correlate with the alcohol expectancy factor 'sociability'. Subjective reports of feeling 'alert', 'clear-headed', 'quick-witted', and 'attentive' all showed a main effect of choosing behaviour (i.e. 'samplers'/'non-samplers'). Further analysis indicated that this effect was due to 'samplers' reporting increased subjective ratings of these mood states following the ingestion of alcohol compared to 'non-samplers'. These increased subjective ratings were also positively correlated with the amount of alcohol consumed by the subjects during the choice procedure. No other relationships were found between the amount of alcohol consumed and any of the other state or trait measures. These data suggest that social drinkers who sample alcohol in a laboratory setting can be primed by alcohol to consume more. The results also indicated that the amount drunk was related to the degree to which subjects expected alcohol to increase sociability and to reports of subjective stimulant effects of alcohol (e.g., 'alert', 'clear-headed', 'quick-witted', and 'attentive').     

Generality and specificity in health behavior: Application to warning-label and social influence expectancies.

Outlined a meta-theoretical and an analytic framework for construing the predictive effects of health-behavior expectancies, or beliefs, in terms of both general and specific processes. This framework was applied empirically to the investigation of the predictive effects of outcome expectancies related to the recently mandated alcohol-warning label as well as to expectancies reflecting social influence processes. Results show that general and specific predictive effects of expectancies on alcohol-use behaviors operated simultaneously, demonstrating the potential value of the framework. The authors summarized implications for continued theoretical development as well as applications in prevention of alcohol abuse through warning-label and social influence interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recognition of facial affect in psychopathic offenders.

The authors examined the reliability of facial affect processing deficits found in psychopathic individuals (R. Blair et al., 2004) and whether they could be modified by attentional set. One hundred eleven offenders, classified using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (R. Hare, 2003) and Welsh Anxiety Scale (G. Welsh, 1956), performed a facial affect recognition task under 2 conditions. On the basis of research linking psychopathy, amygdala dysfunction, and deficits in facial affect recognition, the authors predicted that psychopathic offenders would display performance deficits when required to identify the emotional expression of particular faces. In addition, given evidence linking the affective processing deficits in psychopathy to focus of attention, the authors predicted that any deficits in facial affect processing would disappear when participants could anticipate which affective cues would be relevant on a given trial. Contrary to expectation, psychopathic offenders performed as well as controls in both conditions. The authors conclude that the conditions that reveal affective deficits in psychopathic individuals require further specification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intrinsic intellectuality: Its relations to social class, intelligence, and achievement.

Distinguishes between orientation toward intellectual behavior that is motivated by ulterior purposes (e.g., grades, material success) and intellectuality for its own satisfaction. A scale was devised that excludes instrumental attitudes toward intellectual pursuits and measures intrinsic intellectual motivation (IIM). Data were obtained on 455 high school sophomores testing hypotheses that involve the relations between IIM, SES, need achievement, intelligence, and sex. Ss were administered a battery of tests that included the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule and Metropolitan Achievement Tests: High School Battery. Findings indicate a positive relationship between IIM and scholastic achievement, whereas need achievement showed no relationship. IIM was only moderately related to IQ and was weakly related to SES. No relationship was found between IIM and need achievement. When IQ was controlled, no relationship between IIM and SES appeared. Results show that IIM contributes significantly to academic achievement in addition to and independent of IQ. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contingency, imitation, and affect sharing: Foundations of infants' social awareness.

Predictions about the role of contingency, imitation, and affect sharing in the development of social awareness were tested in infants during natural, imitative, and yoked conditions with their mothers at 5 and 13 weeks of age. Results showed that at both ages, infants of highly attuned mothers gazed, smiled, and vocalized positively more during the natural than during the imitative and yoked conditions, whereas they increased negative vocalizations during the yoked conditions. In contrast, infants of less attuned mothers did not differentiate between the conditions, except at 13 weeks when these infants increased their gazes during the imitative condition. Whereas contingency and imitation draw infant attention to conspecifics, affective communication appears to lay the foundation for infants' social awareness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Urge and affect: A facial coding analysis of smokers.

This study used an established facial coding system to assess participants' immediate affective responses during a smoking cue exposure protocol. Current smokers, randomly assigned to either a 12-hr smoking-deprived or a smoking-nondeprived condition, were exposed to both smoking and control cues. During exposure, the authors manipulated participants' perceived opportunity to smoke. Participants' reactions to the cues were videotaped and coded using P. Ekman and W. V. Friesen's (1978) Facial Action Coding System. Information regarding smoking opportunity, although altering participants' expressed affect, had no effect on the strength of their reported urge to smoke. The facial coding data are consistent with previous findings using self-report measures of affect and support the use of facial coding as a sensitive and unobtrusive measure of the affective responses to drug cue exposure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The bidirectional relations between affect and belief.

Whereas a majority of previous work has focused on the cognitive factors that influence beliefs, current theory and research suggest that affect also plays an important role. In this article, we comprehensively describe the bidirectional relations between affect and belief. On the basis of our review of existing theory and research, we develop the following three empirically derived premises. First, the need to make sense of experience and the need to regulate affect drive a reciprocal feedback loop through which affect and belief influence each other. Second, changes in affect arousal, valence, and type influence belief content and conviction. Third, changes in belief content and conviction influence affect arousal, valence, and type. We discuss empirical research supporting each premise, needed empirical tests, and avenues for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affect, expectancies, urges, and smoking: Do they conform to models of drug motivation and relapse?

Social-learning models of drug motivation and relapse often include the constructs of affect and drug expectancies. Most research has taken a molar approach to examining relations between these constructs and level of drug use. An experiment examined the roles of affect and expectancies in multiple measures of situation-specific motivation to smoke tobacco. Undergraduate smokers (n?=?101) received either a positive or negative mood manipulation (false feedback on an intelligence test). Self-reported urge was influenced by both negative affect and expectancies for positive reinforcement from smoking. Actual consumption was related only to smoking expectancies and only among abstaining smokers. affect by expectancy interactions were also found. Findings support a limited role of affect and expectancies in smoking motivation. Poor coherence among the motivational indexes challenges the assumptions of existing models of drug motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)