"Eating lightly" and the self-presentation of femininity.

In Experiment 1, male and female subjects were given an opportunity to snack as they participated in a "get-acquainted study" with a same-sex or opposite-sex partner (confederate) whose social desirability was manipulated. Consistent with the hypothesis that women may eat less when motivated to present themselves in a feminine light, female subjects ate significantly less with a desirable male partner than in the remaining three conditions. In contrast, male subjects did not eat more (or less) with a desirable woman, although they did show an overall tendency to eat less with female (vs. male) partners. In Experiment 2, female subjects snacked as they got acquainted with a desirable male partner (confederate). Before this interaction, subjects received feedback indicating that they had either very masculine or very feminine interests. In addition, subjects believed either that their male partner was aware of their gender feedback or that he was unaware. Consistent with predictions derived from Schlenker's (1982) analytic-identity theory of social conduct, subjects in the partner-aware conditions ate less when they had received masculine (vs. feminine) feedback, whereas subjects in the partner-unaware conditions ate less when they had received feminine (vs. masculine) feedback. Implications for understanding eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonverbal behavior, gender, and influence.

Participants viewed a videotape of either a male or female confederate delivering a persuasive message using a high task, social, submissive, or dominant nonverbal style. Participants were influenced more after viewing the social and task styles than the dominant or submissive styles. Participants liked task and social confederates more than dominant confederates and considered submissive confederates to be less competent than the other 3 styles. Although both likableness and competence were predictive of influence, likableness was a more important determinant of influence for female than male speakers when the audience was male. Consequently, with a male audience, women exhibiting a task style were less influential and likable than men exhibiting that style. Men were not more influential than women when displaying dominance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and worker acceptance of a former mental patient.

Continues a series of studies measuring the acceptance accorded to former mental patients. The procedure was to send a confederate in the guise of a job applicant to be evaluated by a worker already on the job. The 12 male workers were told either that the female applicant was an ex-mental patient or that she was an ordinary applicant, and for each condition the confederate was calm for half of the Ss and nervous for the rest. The studies show that women are more accepting of former patients than men and that men are more accepting of female than male ex-patients. Nervous applicants were rejected by workers of both sexes. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anti-Black prejudice as a function of exposure to the negative behavior of a single Black person.

The authors examined whether the negative behavior of 1 Black male would influence White participants' perceptions of Black Americans and behavior toward another Black person. In Study 1, it was found that participants in the Black-negative condition tended to stereotype Blacks more than participants in the Black-control condition did. It was also found that participants who had observed a negative behavior, whether it was performed by a Black or a White confederate, avoided a subsequently encountered Black person more often than did participants in either the positive condition or the control condition. In a 2nd study, interpersonal interactions with a Black person were minimized only after participants observed the negative behavior of a Black confederate. Study 3 extended the findings of Study 1 by showing that group level stereotypes and the expression of ingroup favoritism resulted from simply overhearing a conversation in which a Black person was alleged to have committed a crime. (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)     

Reactions of workers to male and female mental patient job applicants.

48 female department store workers in Exp I evaluated a female confederate unfavorably when she was tense, but whether or not she had been mentally ill made no difference to them. In Exp II 48 male hospital employees rejected a male confederate both when he was tense and when he had a history of mental illness. In Exp III 44 female hospital workers met another female confederate, and the results were virtually identical to those of Exp I. It is concluded that either the sex of the Ss and/or of the patient seems to be an important variable in the acceptance granted previous mental patients. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Provocation to anger and opportunity for retaliation as determinants of alcohol consumption in social drinkers.

Assigned 30 male and 30 female college students identified as heavy social drinkers to 1 of 6 groups in a 3 * 2 factorial design. In addition to the S sex factor, the 3 main treatment groups were provocation to anger with no opportunity to retaliate, provocation with opportunity for retaliation, and a no-provocation, no-retaliation control group. Provoked Ss were angered by an insulting confederate, whereas controls experienced a neutral interaction with the confederate. In the retaliation condition, Ss were given the opportunity to deliver a fixed number of shocks to the confederate who had provoked them. Drinking rates in all Ss were then determined by their participation in a standardized taste-rating task, which permitted an unobtrusive measure of alcohol consumption. Results show that group members who were provoked and expressed their anger by retaliating against the confederate consumed significantly less alcohol than provoked Ss in the no-retaliation condition. Controls drank an intermediate amount of alcohol but did not differ significantly from the other 2 groups. Sex was not a significant determinant of alcohol consumption. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication immediacy, cognitive compatibility, and immediacy of self-disclosure.

Assessed the immediacy of self-disclosures of 24 conceptually complex and 24 conceptually simple introductory psychology students as a function of (a) the level of immediacy of a confederate's self-disclosures and (b) the similarity of the S's and confederate's levels of conceptual complexity. Equal numbers of male and female Ss were used. Ss were slightly more immediate when the confederate was immediate and conceptually complex than when he was nonimmediate and conceptually complex. However, when the confederate was conceptually simple, the effects of confederate immediacy were reversed, contrary to expectations based on social exchange theory but consistent with an interpretation based on the double-bind theory of communication. Female Ss were more immediate in similar than in dissimilar dyads, although this pattern did not occur for male Ss. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social pressure in public and private situations.

"Fifty-two groups of two were set up experimentally, containing one genuine S and one confederate. The S received standard sets of written messages, in what was ostensibly a discussion of the merits of a picture. The Ss manifested more social influence when their final opinion was stated in 'public' to the confederate, than when stated in 'private.' It was predicted that more influence would occur when the messages had a 'rejecting' tone than when they were 'accepting.' This did not occur; various explanations are advanced. Perceived rejection was greater when rejecting messages were received. This effect was most marked in the 'private' condition." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On sex differences in self-disclosure during the acquaintance process: The role of anticipated future interaction.

In Exp I, 48 female and 48 male undergraduates who either anticipated or did not anticipate further interaction with a same-sex confederate, alternated with that person in disclosing private information on 4 personal topics. The confederate spoke first on each topic, presenting either highly intimate or nonintimate information in response to all 4 issues. Content analyses revealed that as hypothesized, males became more intimate and emotionally invested in their disclosures when they expected to interact with their partners in the future. By contrast, females showed an unexpected decline in the intimacy and emotional investment of their self-presentations when expecting further interaction with their partners, and they were actually somewhat less self-revealing under this circumstance than were males. Supplementary data suggest that females' reluctance to disclose intimately to a partner with whom they expected further interaction did not stem from problems in their contemporaneous interpersonal relationships with this individual. The avoidance of intimacy and an evaluation hypothesis received support as proposed explanations for the dampening effect of anticipated future interaction on female self-disclosure in a 2nd experiment involving 26 female and 20 male undergraduates. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responses to depressed interpersonal behavior: Mixed reactions in a helping role.

We placed 144 female subjects in a helping role and randomly assigned them to interact with a confederate in a 3?×?3?×?2?×?2 (Psychopathology?×?Blaming?×?Advice Seeking?×?Sex of Confederate) factorial design. In order to study behaviors that mediate interpersonal responses to depression, male and female confederates enacted depressed, anxious, or normal roles and blamed themselves, others, or no one for their problems. The confederates requested advice in half of the conditions. Results indicated that depressed confederates were rejected more on questionnaire measures; however, depressed confederates received more conversational advice and support from subjects than did the equally disturbed anxious confederates. The self-blaming and advice-seeking manipulations did not interact with depression to produce more negative reactions in subjects. There was no evidence of a negative mood induction in subjects, nor did the sex of the confederate have important interpersonal consequences. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical and methodological issues in studies of interpersonal factors in depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of source expertise and physical distance on minority influence.

The treatment of source strength and immediacy distinguishes social impact theory from other theories of social influence. The present study examined the effects of source expertise (e.g., strength) and physical distance (i.e., immediacy) on minority influence. Groups (N?=?40), consisting of 2 naive research participants and 1 confederate who argued for a minority position, provided ratings for 40 hypothetical graduate school applicants. The confederate was seated either 4 ft (1.2192 m; high immediacy) or 10 ft (3.048 m; low immediacy) from the other group members and presented himself as either a senior who had recently applied to several graduate programs (high strength) or as a freshman (low strength). The confederate exerted more influence in the high-strength condition than in the low-strength condition, but only when immediacy was low. The implications of these findings for social impact theory and for future research and practice are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Victim reactions in aggressive erotic films as a factor in violence against women.

Investigated whether the behavioral characteristics of the people in erotic films and the nature of the targets available for aggression afterward can affect subsequent aggression. In Exp I, 80 male undergraduates were angered by a male or female confederate. They were then shown a neutral film or 1 of 3 erotic films. The erotic films differed in terms of their aggressive content (2 were aggressive and 1 was not) and the reactions of the female victim in the 2 aggressive films (positive vs negative). Ss were then allowed to aggress against the confederate via electric shock. Results indicated that films had no effect on male targets, whereas both types of aggressive erotic films increased aggression toward the females. In Exp II with 80 male Ss, the effects of the above films on nonangry viewers were investigated with only female confederates. Results indicate that angered Ss were more aggressive toward the female after viewing either aggressive erotic film but that only the positive-outcome aggressive film increased aggression in nonangered Ss. The theoretical and applied aspects of aggressive and nonaggressive erotica are discussed. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of motive for helping, recipient's inability to reciprocate, and sex on devaluation of the recipient's competence.

Tested the prediction that motive base will interact with reciprocation such that greater superiority in perceived competence will occur following nonreciprocation than following reciprocation of efficacy-motivated helpers. It was hypothesized that this effect would be qualified by the helper's motivation for helping, the evaluative attribute in question, and the helper's set. 60 male and 60 female undergraduates were asked to imagine that during the preceding weekend they had successfully rescued a boatload of children. For half of the Ss, the scenario emphasized efficacy-motivating helping; for the other half, it emphasized empathy-motivated helping. Ss were then put to work on the "easier" of 2 "randomly assigned" word-forming tasks, whereas their same-sex partner (a confederate) worked on the "harder" task. Once Ss reached their quota they were invited to send their excess letters to the still-struggling co-worker; all did. In return, the confederate attempted successfully or unsuccessfully to share his or her earnings. As predicted, the efficacy-motivated helpers, unlike their empathy-motivated counterparts, rated themselves as more competent than, but not more sociable than, the recipient who was unable to reciprocate. Weak support was found for the prediction that these differences in perceived competence would largely apply to male helpers. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Egocentric biases in availability and attribution.

Conducted 5 experiments to assess biases in availability of information in memory and attributions of responsibility for the actions and decisions that occurred during a previous group interaction. The S populations sampled included naturally occurring discussion groups (of undergraduates), 37 married couples, 74 female and 84 male players on intercollegiate basketball teams, and groups of undergraduates assembled in the laboratory. Data provide consistent evidence for egocentric biases in availability and attribution: The S's own contributions to a joint product were more readily available, i.e., more frequently and easily recalled, and Ss accepted more responsibility for a group product than other participants attributed to them. In addition, statements attributed to the self were recalled more accurately and the availability bias was attenuated, though not eliminated, when the group product was negatively evaluated. When another S's contributions were made more available to the S via a selective retrieval process, this S allocated correspondingly more responsibility for the group decisions to the coparticipant. The determinants and pervasiveness of the egocentric biases are considered. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer conformity and achievement in female manic-depressives.

Tested the assumption that female manic-depressives have similar personality characteristics to those reported for male manic-depressives. Besides using previously employed self-report measures from which personality attributes related to conformity and value achievement have been inferred, a peer conformity experiment was carried out. 16 remitted female manic-depressives were matched with 16 nonpsychiatric controls. The groups did not differ on the self-report personality measures. Experimental conformity scores were analyzed as a function of direction and intensity of confederate endorsement of authoritarian statements. Manic-depressives were generally less conforming than controls. Endorsement conditions yielded varying amounts of conformity, with extremely positive confederate endorsement evoking significant anticonformity in remitted manic-depressives. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Oral imagery and autonomic arousal in social isolation.

Electrodermal activity of 120 male Ss high and low on Rorschach oral-dependent responses was monitored in 1 of 3 conditions while the S was in a soundproof chamber for 40 min: alone with no task, alone working on a clerical task, and together with a male confederate, both working independently on the clerical task. Oral-dependent Ss placed in the chamber with the confederate showed fewer electrodermal increases over time than orals sitting alone or nonorals either alone or with the confederate. On the clerical task there was a strong main effect of orality, with nonorals showing more accuracy than orals. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ego-identity status, personality, and social-influence style.

80 female undergraduates were identified as having diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, of identity achievement statuses on the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status. Ss then completed the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style and engaged in a social influence experiment with a same- or opposite-sex peer confederate. Results show that foreclosure Ss were least able to integrate ideas and to think analytically, whereas moratorium and achievement Ss were better able to process large amounts of information and to be alone with their thoughts and feelings. Diffusion and foreclosure Ss were also more likely than moratorium and achievement Ss to make errors in judgment due to reduced attentional focus. In the social influence task, identity-achievement Ss were more likely to use verbally aggressive behavior, whereas foreclosure Ss manifested a greater degree of image-control behavior. Lower ego-identity statuses were associated with more frequent use of resources and deception. The sex of the confederate also differentially affected the behaviors of Ss with different ego-identity statuses. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How can you resist? Executive control helps romantically involved individuals to stay faithful.

In the present research, we examined why some people have more difficulty than others in staying faithful to their romantic partners. Three studies supported our main prediction that executive control is associated with romantically involved individuals' ability to stay faithful. Study 1 showed that participants with a higher level of executive control reported less difficulty in staying faithful to their partners than did those with lower levels of executive control. In Study 2, romantically involved male participants were placed in a waiting room together with an attractive female confederate. Results showed that participants with a higher level of executive control showed less flirting behavior with the confederate than did those with lower levels of executive control. Study 3 demonstrated that a higher level of executive control was related to a lower expressed desire to meet an attractive other, but only for romantically involved participants. Together, these studies showed that executive control helps romantically involved individuals to deal with the lure of attractive alternatives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonverbal affect responses to male and female leaders: Implications for leadership evaluations.

It was hypothesized that female leaders would elicit more negative nonverbal affect responses from other group members than male leaders offering the same initiatives. Male and female subjects participated in 4-person discussions in which male or female confederates assumed leadership. During the discussion subjects' nonverbal affect responses to the confederates were coded from behind one-way mirrors. Female leaders received more negative affect responses and fewer positive responses than men offering the same suggestions and arguments. Female leaders received more negative than positive responses, in contrast to men, who received at least as many positive as negative responses. The data demonstrate a concrete social mechanism known to cause devaluation of leadership, and thus support a more social interpretation of female leadership evaluations, in contrast to previous interpretations based on private perceptual bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)