Adding fuel to fire: The impact of followers' arousal on ratings of charisma.

The authors conducted an experimental laboratory study and a longitudinal field study to investigate the impact of followers' arousal on ratings of charisma. Both studies examined 2 contrasting hypotheses: (a) the misattribution hypothesis, which posits a direct effect of arousal, and (b) the response-facilitation hypothesis, which posits an interactive effect of arousal and leaders' charismatic appeal on ratings of charisma. The overall results from both studies provide support for the response-facilitation hypothesis. In addition, the authors tested the hypothesis that arousal effects are limited to ratings of charisma. As expected, ratings of transactional leadership, in contrast with ratings of charisma, were not influenced by followers' arousal states. The authors discuss the implications of these results and offer suggestions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Passionate love and the misattribution of arousal.

Two studies provide evidence that misattribution of arousal facilitates romantic attraction. In Exp I, arousal of 54 male undergraduates was manipulated through exercise. Arousal Ss liked an attractive female confederate more and an unattractive female less than did controls. In Exp II, arousal of 66 Ss was manipulated in a positive (comedy tape) or negative (mutilation tape) way; other Ss heard a nonarousing tape (textbook excerpt). Results replicate the interaction found in Exp I: Valence of initial arousal did not affect attraction to the confederate. Salience of plausible labels for arousal is hypothesized to mediate the misattribution effect. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-evaluation maintenance and the mediational role of emotion: The perception of friends and strangers.

Examined the causal role of emotional arousal in self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) processes. In previous work, A. Tesser and J. Campbell (see record 1983-12693-001) found that Ss were most charitable in their perception of another's performance when self-relevance was low and the other was close. If emotional arousal mediated this pattern of behavior, then the pattern of behavior should be replicated when arousal is present but attenuated when arousal is misattributed or low. The misattribution hypothesis was tested in Study 1. Study 2 was a correlational study in which physiological arousal and misattribution were measured. Results supported the prediction that SEM processes would be attenuated when arousal was attributed to external sources. The misattribution effect was particularly pronounced among more highly aroused Ss. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the SEM model and person perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On sending artifact in search of artifact: Reply to McDonald, Harris, and Maher.

Two studies are reported that show the P. J. McDonald et al (see record 1983-25674-001) critique of the present authors' (see record 1981-25503-001) earlier explanation for the arousal–self-awareness link to be mistaken. In Study 1 with 57 Ss, arousal-induced attention to self was demonstrated in a field setting devoid of any of the artifactual covariates of arousal induction suggested by McDonald et al. In Study 2, a replication of the McDonald et al experiment was conducted in which a crucial manipulation check was included; their study was burdened by the very artifact they claimed might exist in the present authors'. Slow running created self-focus through unusualness and embarrassment, whereas fast running led to self-focus via arousal. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How prevalent is wishful thinking? Misattribution of arousal causes optimism and pessimism in subjective probabilities.

People appear to be unrealistically optimistic about their future prospects, as reflected by theory and research in the fields of psychology, organizational behavior, behavioral economics, and behavioral finance. Many real-world examples (e.g., consumer behavior during economic recessions), however, suggest that people are not always overly optimistic. I suggest that people can be both overly optimistic and pessimistic in their beliefs about future events, depending on whether they focus on success or on failure. More specifically, people judge the likelihood of desirable and undesirable events to be higher than similar neutral events because they misattribute the arousal those events evoke to their greater perceived likelihood. I demonstrated this stake-likelihood effect in 4 studies. In Study 1, arousal was shown to increase likelihood judgments. Study 2 demonstrated that such elevated likelihood judgments are due to misattribution of the arousal from having a stake in the outcome. Study 3 demonstrated that such misattribution of arousal occurs for desirable and undesirable events. Study 4 showed the effects of optimism and pessimism on likelihood judgments in a field setting with soccer fans. Together, the findings suggest that wishful thinking might be less prevalent than previously believed. Pessimism might be as likely as optimism in subjective probabilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arousal and attraction: Evidence for automatic and controlled processes.

A meta-analysis, a review, and an experiment investigated the effect of arousal on attraction. The meta-analysis examined experiments that manipulated arousal level. Results indicated that arousal affects attraction even when the arousal source is relatively unambiguous. In contrast, a review of experiments that manipulated arousal source ambiguity suggested that arousal exerts a stronger influence on attraction when arousal sources are greater in ambiguity. The authors proposed a judgment and adjustment model that states that arousal automatically affects judgments of attraction but that individuals can correct (i.e., adjust) for this automatic effect when the arousal source is unambiguous. Consistent with this model, an experiment provided evidence that cognitive busyness interferes with the adjustment process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Schachter theory of emotion: Two decades later.

Several of the less clearly defined aspects of S. Schachter and J. Singer's (1962) cognition-arousal theory of emotion are clarified, and empirical evidence pertaining to 3 major deductions from the theory is reviewed. It is concluded that only 1 of these deductions, claiming that misattributed arousal from an extraneous source intensifies emotional reactions, is adequately supported by the data. Little support is found for the 2nd hypothesis, that arousal reduction leads to a reduction in the intensity of emotional state. The status of the 3rd hypothesis, that misattribution of emotionally induced arousal to a neutral source results in a reduction of emotionality, is considered equivocal because of plausible alternative interpretations of the pertinent findings. There is no convincing evidence for Schachter and Singer's claim that arousal is a necessary condition for an emotional state, nor for the suggestion that emotional states may result from a labeling of unexplained arousal. It is suggested that the role of arousal in emotion has been overstated and that the available data support at best a rather attenuated version of Schachter's theory—that arousal feedback can have an intensifying effect on emotional states—and that this arousal–emotion relationship is mediated, in part, by causal attributions regarding the source of arousal. (6 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modifying shyness-related social behavior through symptom misattribution.

An experimental misattribution paradigm proved to be a significant intervention treatment of altering social participation among 14 dispositionally shy undergraduate women. When specific arousal symptoms previously associated with their social anxiety were misattributed to a nonpsychological source (high-frequency noise), Ss behaved as if they were not shy. Their verbal fluency and interactional assertiveness resembled that of 16 not-shy Ss given the same treatment. Moreover, their scores on these measures were significantly elevated from the low levels recorded by 15 shy controls who had been led to expect shyness-irrelevant "side effects" from their exposure to noise. A male partner (a confederate) accurately perceived whether or not Ss in the 2 control groups were shy, but he misjudged as "not shy" the shy Ss in the misattribution group. The greater enjoyment of the interaction by those in this latter group, despite high-frequency noise bombardment, was also reflected in their stronger preference for further affiliation than that shown by either comparison group. The continuously monitored heart rate data provide grounds for speculation as to the relationship of physiological arousal and behavior. However, a paradoxical placebo finding emerged when it appeared that not-shy Ss in this same misattribution condition experienced a higher level of arousal, and this anxiety-like arousal was associated with preferences for nonaffiliation. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misattribution, preparatory information, and speech anxiety.

In two experiments with undergraduate subjects, I compared the effects of misattribution versus information manipulations on speech anxiety. In Experiment 1, some subjects were allegedly exposed to subliminal noise while reading a speech in front of a camera. These subjects were told that subliminal noise makes people feel either unpleasantly aroused or pleasantly relaxed or that it has no effect. Subjects in a fourth condition were given accurate information about how they would feel (unpleasantly aroused) but were not exposed to the subliminal noise misattribution source. In Experiment 2, I replicated the arousing noise and accurate information conditions from the first study and added two new groups incorporating a delay that should preclude misattribution. In both experiments, the alleged presence of arousing subliminal noise reduced subjects' speech dysfluencies during the speech task, whereas the presentation of accurate information alone did not have a comparable ameliorative effect. Thus, both experiments supported the misattribution interpretation of why neutral labels for arousal can reduce emotionality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arousal-induced self-awareness: An artifactual relationship?

Tested an alternative explanation for the arousal–self-awareness link found by D. M. Wegner and T. Giuliano (see record 1981-25503-001). It is suggested that the running-in-place manipulation used by Wegner and Giuliano may have increased self-awareness, not because of the increased arousal it engendered, but because of its "unusual" nature. 48 undergraduates were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: fast running (both arousing and unusual), slow running (unusual but not arousing), and control (neither arousing nor unusual). Results support the unusual-behavior hypothesis. Ss in both running groups, regardless of speed and arousal, showed more self-awareness on a sentence-completion form than did Ss in the control condition. Implications for self-awareness theory are considered. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivational biases in causal attributions of arousal.

Two studies hypothesized that the desire to seek ambiguity as to the cause of a particular state of arousal will increase if either that arousal state or its source is potentially threatening to self-esteem. In Exp I, 22 high- and 21 low-sex-guilt male undergraduates (as determined by the Mosher Forced Choice Sex Guilt Inventory) were shown either an arousing erotic movie or a nonarousing movie; in Exp II, 28 high- and 28 low-guilt females were led to believe that they were very aroused by pictures of nude men. Ambiguity was introduced into both situations by means of a bogus, nonthreatening, alternative arousal source (a placebo). Results indicate that high-guilt Ss were actively involved in the process of determining which source was arousing them. More importantly, this involvement appeared to be motivated by ego-defensiveness. In both experiments, when high-guilt Ss were confronted by an erotic stimulus, they chose to attribute arousal to the bogus source—and thus create ambiguity as to the actual cause and nature of their arousal—more than did low-guilt Ss. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit misattribution as a mechanism underlying evaluative conditioning.

Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to the formation or change of an attitude toward an object, following that object’s pairing with positively or negatively valenced stimuli. The authors provide evidence that EC can occur through an implicit misattribution mechanism in which an evaluative response evoked by a valenced stimulus is incorrectly and implicitly attributed to another stimulus, forming or changing an attitude toward this other stimulus. In 5 studies, the authors measured or manipulated variables related to the potential for the misattribution of an evaluation, or source confusability. Greater EC was observed when participants’ eye gaze shifted frequently between a valenced and a neutral stimulus (Studies 1 & 2), when the 2 stimuli appeared in close spatial proximity (Study 3), and when the neutral stimulus was made more perceptually salient than was the valenced stimulus, due to the larger size of the neutral stimulus (Study 4). In other words, conditions conducive to source confusability increased EC. Study 5 provided evidence for multiple mechanisms of EC by comparing the effects of mildly evocative valenced stimuli (those evoking responses that might more easily be misattributed to another object) with more strongly evocative stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the Importance of Cognitive Evaluation as a Determinant of Interpersonal Attraction.

Three studies examined a model of attraction in which the cognitive evaluation of the target individual was the primary determinant of interpersonal attraction. In Study 1, the cognitive evaluation of the target individual mediated the influence of attitude similarity on interpersonal attraction. In Study 2, a path analysis revealed significant indirect effects of (a) similarity on cognitive evaluation via the valence of information implied by attitudes and (b) the valence of information implied by attitudes on attraction via cognitive evaluation of the target. Study 3 provided empirical and theoretical support for the uniqueness of interpersonal attraction from cognitive evaluation. The implications of these data for existing attraction theory are discussed, and a new model of interpersonal attraction is described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infant arousal in an en-face exchange with a new partner: effects of prematurity and perinatal biological risk

Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants of higher (n = 18) and lower (n = 29) perinatal biological risk were contrasted at 4 months adjusted age with healthy full-term infants (n = 32) in their arousal during a standardized peekaboo game with an examiner. VLBW infants showed less positive arousal, more negative arousal, and 3 mixtures of behavioral cues across the peekaboo game seldom seen for full-term infants-strong cues of both positive and negative arousal, strong cues of negative arousal alone, and no strong cues of either positive or negative arousal. Contrary to expectations, perinatal biological risk did not strongly predict variations in arousal within the VLBW group. Possible changes in how internal and external sources of arousal are integrated provide one explanation for the presence of strong relationships between perinatal biological risk and social responsiveness near term age and their disappearance by 4 months of age.     

Dissonance arousal: Physiological evidence.

Two studies examined whether cognitive dissonance is accompanied by physiological arousal. In Exp I, a standard induced-compliance paradigm was replicated and found to produce the expected pattern of attitude change in 30 male undergraduates. In Exp II, physiological recordings were obtained from 30 additional male undergraduates within the same paradigm. Ss who wrote counterattitudinal essays under high-choice conditions displayed significantly more nonspecific skin conductance responses than other Ss, but they did not change their attitudes. Results support dissonance as an arousal process. Results also indicate that the Ss misattributed their arousal to the physiological recording device. Findings are discussed in terms of dissonance theory, misattribution phenomena, and social psychophysiological research methods. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional arousal and aggressive behavior

Reviews evidence that (a) supported the proposition that general emotional arousal facilitates aggression in the presence of aggressive cues and (b) substantiated the position that an arousal state of anger specifically increases the instigation to aggression. Furthermore, research is reviewed which supports the view that additional general arousal increases or decreases the effect of anger on aggression, depending on whether the arousal state is attributed to the source of the anger or to another source of general arousal. Controversy about the anger/aggression relation is discussed in terms of the failure to specify the function of the aggressive response. Research revealed that if the aggressive response is directed primarily toward injuring the target (but not toward some other goal), an angered person expresses aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social Corroboration and Opinion Extremity

Four studies found that social corroboration of one's (pro/con) attitudinal position leads to increases in attitude extremity. Study 1 focused on attraction ratings made by college women. This study demonstrated both increases in opinion extremity following corroboration and decreases in opinion extremity following contradiction. Study 2 focused on dental chair comfort ratings made by dental patients and found greater opinion extremity following corroboration from either fellow patients or the dentist. Study 3 reported greater charity donation amounts as well as heightened opinion confidence following corroboration. Study 4 replicated Study 1 varying duration of stimulus exposure and found that, as predicted, confidence scores were affected more by the corroboration/contradiction manipulation when initial exposures were brief. Unexpectedly, however, the affect of corroboration on attraction ratings, was not moderated by initial exposure time. Rather, across both long and short exposure times, attraction scores were most extreme following corroboration and least extreme following contradiction. Path analyses in Study 4 supported the view that this association between corroboration and extremity was mediated by confidence. This research indicates that the relationship between corroboration and opinion extremity appears to be respectably robust across populations and target variables, and is not specific to sensitive within subject designs. Moreover, Study 3 indicates that social corroboration is capable of increasing the extremity of behavior having real consequences for participants. The data are discussed in terms of possible moderator variables, as well as theories of group polarization and opinion extremity.     

Alternative explanations for self-fulfilling prophecy.

Discusses alternative explanations for 1 type of self-fulfilling prophecy phenomenon: where a person's expectations for his own behavior alter his actual behavior. These explanations include claims that events fitting prophecies are sought out in order to reduce cognitive dissonance (dissonance reduction) or anxiety (anxiety reduction); or that events are inadvertently altered because the goal or effort changes (defensive effort), because the prophet is distracted from the task (anxiety distraction), or because prophecy-induced arousal adversely affects performance (energizing arousal). Although the defensive effort explanation is most clearly supported by available research, there is not enough information to adequately evaluate the alternative explanations. Suggested strategies for future research include (a) using measures of alternative processes within the same experiment; and (b) manipulating dissonance, anxiety, effort, distraction, and/or arousal independently of prophecies. These strategies allow inferences about the frequency with which various processes occur and the sufficiency and necessity of these processes as explanations for self-fulfilling prophecy. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of wage inequities on work quality.

Previous studies of the relationship between perceived wage inequities and productivity and work quality derived predictions from dissonance theory. A plausible alternative explanation of the observed effects of wage inequities is that they are a function of the arousal of job insecurity rather than of dissonance. The experiment reported was designed to determine which of the 2 alternative interpretations of the data has the greater validity. The data support only a dissonance-theory interpretation. The experiment also presents new data on dissonance-reduction processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)