Predicting outcomes of psychotherapy: A comparison of predictions from two attitude theories.

Compared social judgment and dissonance theory in their ability to predict the outcomes of psychotherapy on the basis of patient-therapist attitudinal similarity. 65 mental health clinic outpatients of 16 therapists were given attitude questionnaires before and after approximately 12 therapy contacts. It was found that dissonance theory was better able than social judgment theory to predict both those attitude changes that took place and the amount of similarity that a patient perceived between himself and his therapist. On the other hand, certain concepts from social judgment theory did prove efficacious in predicting certain kinds of outcomes among certain therapy conditions, but not in the manner predicted. Finally, certain outcomes of psychotherapy were found to be unpredictable from either theory studied. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Undergraduate ratings of the acceptability of single and combined treatments for depression: A comparative analysis.

Consumers' perceptions regarding the acceptability of treatments for mental disorders can have a direct effect on the clinical practices of professional psychologists. This exploratory study compared the acceptability of single and combined treatments commonly offered to adults with depression (cognitive-behavioral therapy or interpersonal therapy—each by itself and in combination with medication—and support group with medication). All treatments were seen as acceptable, but psychotherapy alone was more desirable than when combined with medication. Support group with medication was least acceptable. Implications for professional practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude and activity preference similarity: Differential bases of interpersonal attraction for low and high self-monitors.

The paradigmatic research of Byrne (1971) on the similarity–attraction relation has been recently challenged by the view that it is the similarity of people's pastime preferences more than the similarity of their attitudes that may better predict both friendship and initial attraction (Werner & Parmelee, 1979). An integration of these two views is proposed in the hypothesis that the personality variable of self-monitoring (Snyder, 1974) may moderate both the attitude similarity–attraction relation and the activity preference similarity–attraction relation in initial interpersonal attraction. An experiment is reported in which low and high self-monitors formed impressions of four same-gender persons representing each of the crossed combinations of high and low value-based attitude similarity, and high and low activity preference similarity. As predicted, for low self-monitors, attitude similarity influenced initial attraction to the stimulus persons more than did activity perference similarity, and this was expressed most strongly on attraction ratings relevent to the attitude domain (i.e., judgments of respect and inferences of intellectually desirable personality traits). By contrast, for high self-monitors, activity preference similarity influenced initial attraction more than did attitude similarity, and this was expressed most strongly on attraction ratings relevant to the activity preference domain (i.e., judgments of liking and inferences of socially desirable personality traits). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude alignment in close relationships.

On the basis of principles of balance theory and interdependence theory, this research examined a phenomenon termed attitude alignment, or the tendency of interacting partners to modify their attitudes in such a manner as to achieve altitudinal congruence. The results of three experiments generally were consistent with the proposed model. First, tendencies toward attitude alignment were greater to the extent that attitudinal discrepancies were salient. Second, alignment tendencies were greater to the extent that an issue was central to the partner; there was also evidence that the degree to which an issue was peripheral to the self affected alignment processes (e.g., for changes in centrality of issue, with regard to persuasion methods). Third, degree of alignment tended to be greater in dating-partner interactions than in stranger interactions and tended to be greater among couples with high adjustment than among those with low adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude centrality, organization, and measurement.

Reviews definitions of attitude involvement, importance, and centrality, which suggest that more central attitudes should be more highly correlated as long as they derive from the same underlying values. Survey data on 5 political issues were used to test 4 hypotheses for expecting more central attitudes to be more highly correlated than less central attitudes by examining a modified multitrait–multimethod matrix with the use of a confirmatory second-order factor analytic model. Results suggest that more central attitudes are more polarized and measures of them are less influenced by question format; however, no evidence was found that they are more closely linked to underlying values or that they can be measured with less random error than less central values. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude similarity and therapist credibility as predictors of attitude change and improvement in psychotherapy.

Assessed the effects of therapist credibility and patient-therapist similarity (measured by the Situational Appraisal Inventory) on interpersonal persuasion and the relationship between patient attitude change and psychotherapy outcome. Data from 97 psychiatric patients and their 6 therapists suggest that initial patient-therapist similarity is inversely related to the therapist's persuasive influence, regardless of his perceived credibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The person-positivity bias.

A "person-positivity bias" is proposed such that attitude objects are evaluated more favorably the more they resemble individual humans. Because perceived similarity should increase liking, individuals should attract more favorable evaluations than should less personal attitude objects, such as inanimate objects or even aggregated or grouped versions of the same persons. Findings from 11 studies with undergraduate Ss support this view. Individuals were overwhelmingly evaluated favorably. Personal versions of a given attitude object were evaluated more favorably than impersonal versions of it. Individual persons, as wholes, were evaluated more favorably than were their specific attributes. Individuals were evaluated more favorably than were the same individuals in aggregates or groups. Attitudes toward groups were cognitively compartmentalized from attitudes toward individual group members. Perceivers tended to underestimate the positivity of their own and others' attitudes toward individual persons. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude similarity, topic importance, and psychotherapeutic attraction.

Studied the effect of attitude similarity and topic importance on attraction in a natural setting by exposing 75 prison inmates, incarcerated for public intoxication, to varying attitudes of a psychotherapist prior to hearing him in a taped therapy session. The therapist's attitudes were either similar or dissimilar to the S's and pertained to either alcoholism (important) or general (unimportant) issues. Attraction was assessed using the Client's Personal Reaction Questionnaire developed by J. D. Ashby et al. A group of control Ss received no attitudinal information. Ss were more attracted to the therapist after receiving alcohol items regardless of degree of similarity expressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is a rose always a rose? The role of social category exemplar change in attitude stability and attitude-behavior consistency.

Three experiments tested whether changes in social category exemplars affect attitude stability, attitude–behavior consistency, or attitude change. In Experiment 1, participants displayed greater attitude stability across 1 month, in several social categories, when they named the same rather than different exemplars. In Experiment 2, participants displayed greater attitude–behavior consistency toward each of 2 social categories when they named the same rather than different exemplars at behavior assessment and at attitude assessment. Participants who named a more likable exemplar behaved more positively, and those who named a less likable exemplar behaved more negatively, than their initial attitudes predicted. In Experiment 3, participants changed their attitudes in the predicted direction after estimating the height of an exemplar who was either more or less likable than the one they had earlier named. The results are interpreted as consistent with recent theory and research on attitude introspection, the matching hypothesis, and models of social judgment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult attachment styles and group psychotherapy attitudes.

The current study examined the relationship between 63 intake clients’ and 28 college student’s attachment styles and their attitudes of group psychotherapy. The authors examined the relationship between attachment anxiety and avoidance and the subscales of the Group Therapy Survey-R (Carter, Mitchell, & Krautheim, 2001). Results revealed a significant relationship between attachment avoidance in adult romantic relationships and increased fears of being vulnerable in group psychotherapy. As hypothesized, avoidance in romantic relationships was related to fears of shame and humiliation in group therapy. Contrary to predictions, clients’ anxiety ratings were negatively related to negative myths of group psychotherapy. The greater the clients rated fears of being rejected and abandoned, the less they rated negative myths about group treatment. Neither attachment anxiety nor avoidance was related to ratings of group therapy efficacy. Implications of the findings for future research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repulsion or attraction?: Group membership and assumed attitude similarity.

Three studies investigated group membership effects on similarity-attraction and dissimilarity-repulsion. Membership in an in-group versus out-group was expected to create initially different levels of assumed attitude similarity. In 3 studies, ratings made after participants learned about the target's attitudes were compared with initial attraction based only on knowing target's group membership. Group membership was based on political affiliation in Study I and on sexual orientation in Study 2. Study 3 crossed political affiliation with target's obnoxiousness. Attitude dissimilarity produced stronger repulsion effects for in-group than for out-group members in all studies. Attitude similarity produced greater increments in attraction for political out-group members but not for targets with a stigmatic sexual orientation or personality characteristic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher interaction with preschool children: Attitudes, contacts, and their effects.

Nine teachers and 80 preschoolers were the Ss in an investigation to determine whether teaching attitudes such as "attachment," "concern," "indifference," and "rejection" toward the children were related to the manner in which the teachers made instructional, social, and disciplinary contacts with the children. It was shown that more instructional contacts were made with the attachment pupils than with those in any other attitude group. Also, an attitude of concern led to more instructional contacts than did the attitudes of indifference or rejection. More disciplinary contacts were made with the concern and rejection children as compared with the attachment or indifference individuals. Ratings of the appearance and behavior of the children indicated that the attachment children were perceived most favorably by the teachers. The findings also show that the children evoked similar attitudes from the teachers in certain cases and different attitudes in others. The findings are considered with respect to a child's educational experience. (French summary) (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Priming us and them: Automatic assimilation and contrast in group attitudes.

Social judgment theory holds that a person's own attitudes function as reference points, influencing the perception of others' attitudes. The authors argue that attitudes themselves are influenced by reference points, namely, the presumed attitudes of others. Whereas exposure to a group that acts as a contextual reference should cause attitude assimilation, exposure to a group that acts as a comparative reference should cause attitude contrast. In Study 1, participants subliminally primed with their political ingroup or outgroup endorsed more extreme political positions than did controls. Study 2 demonstrated that prime types known to uniquely facilitate assimilation and contrast enhanced the polarization effect in the ingroup and outgroup conditions, respectively. Study 3 established an important boundary condition for whether group salience produces attitude assimilation or contrast by showing that perceived closeness to the elderly moderates the direction and strength of the group priming effect. The results suggest that the transition from assimilation to contrast occurs when a group ceases to function as a context and becomes a comparison point. Implications for social judgment theory, assimilation and contrast research, and conflict escalation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student/instructor attitude similarity, student ratings, and course performance.

Investigated the validity of student ratings of instructional effectiveness by exploring the relations among student ratings, course performance, and the perceived attitude similarity of students and their instructors. 349 college students enrolled in 22 classes first rated instructor effectiveness on a 28-item rating form and then rated their own attitudes plus instructor attitudes on an attitude scale adapted from D. Byrne (1971). Another 296 college students enrolled in 19 classes rated instructor effectiveness and then their own attitudes plus instructor attitudes on an attitude scale adapted from F. E. Hofman and L. Kremer (see record 1980-33352-001). For both S groups, official end-of-term grades were also collected. Consistent with prior research, modest correlations were found between student ratings and perceived attitude similarity. There was also a modest relation between similarity and course grades. These relations were greatly reduced (56.2 and 44.5%, respectively) when the large influence of instructors on ratings and achievement was removed. Findings fail to support the claim that perceived attitude similarity is a substantial source of bias in student ratings. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trainees' attitudes toward seeking psychotherapy scale: Development and validation of a research instrument.

A scale measuring future psychotherapy practitioners' attitudes toward seeking psychotherapy was developed and standardized. Participants were 275 master's degree and doctoral students being trained to provide counseling and psychological services. Subjects were recruited from five schools across the United States. The scale reliably distinguished between students who previously sought psychotherapy and those who did not and correlated significantly with E. H. Fischer and A. Farina's (1995) version of the Attitude toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale. Factor analysis revealed four dimensions of the attitude: importance for professional growth/effectiveness, concern with professional credibility, concern with confidentiality, and need for self-sufficiency. Results showed that the scale may be used to study trainees' attitudes toward seeking psychotherapy for themselves and to measure the effectiveness of educational interventions aimed at attitude change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes toward self-care among practicing physicians

Self-care, although growing as a concept and a movement among providers and consumers, has not been studied systematically in any dimension. Because of the potential role of physicians in establishing the credibility and acceptability of self-care interventions and practices, an exploratory investigation was launched to develop an attitude instrument, to describe the degree to which practicing physicians in a community favor self-care, and to explore some of the correlates of the attitudes expressed. A 13-item attitude scale was developed. Physicians with the most favorable attitudes were most likely to have come from a Jewish religious background, to be under 46 years old, to have health beliefs which reflect an internal locus of control, and to be in a group practice or clinic. Physicians with the least favorable attitudes came from Protestant backgrounds, were 46 to 63 years old, had externally controlled health beliefs, and practiced medicine alone.     

Can Something Hard Be Made Easy? A Book Essay.

Three books that are intended to teach about psychotherapy (B. D. Beitman & D. Yue, (see record 1999-02454-000); N. A. Cummings & J. L. Cummings, (see record 2000-08252-000); M. O'Brien & G. Houston, (see record 2001-14109-000)) are reviewed with an intent to note points of agreement and disagreement. Although they disagree about some specifics, they agree as to the crucial role of research, theory, and experience and focus on the centrality of the therapeutic relationship. Each endorses the value of psychotherapy integration, although they approach it in different ways. In addition, each recognizes the importance of the cultural context of the treatment relationship and emphasizes the importance of knowledge and attitudes as preconditions to developing appropriate skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group therapist self-disclosure: Development and validation of a scale.

Developed the Group Therapist Orientation Scale consisting of 20 Likert-type items designed to measure attitudes toward therapist self-disclosure in group psychotherapy. With an original sample of 143 Ss the scale demonstrated reasonable internal consistency or item homogeneity. Validity data from 5 separate additional samples suggest that scores on the Group Therapist Orientation Scale related meaningfully to actual behavior in a group therapy context. Moreover, scores on the scale were associated with number of years experience as a group psychotherapist, involvement in encounter groups as both a leader and participant, and theoretical orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit ambivalence from attitude change: An exploration of the PAST model.

Traditional models of attitude change have assumed that when people appear to have changed their attitudes in response to new information, their old attitudes disappear and no longer have any impact. The present research suggests that when attitudes change, the old attitude can remain in memory and influence subsequent behavior. Four experiments are reported in which initial attitudes were created and then changed (or not) with new information. In each study, the authors demonstrate that when people undergo attitude change, their old and new attitudes can interact to produce evaluative responses consistent with a state of implicit ambivalence. In Study 1, individuals whose attitudes changed were more neutral on a measure of automatic evaluation. In Study 2, attitude change led people to show less confidence on an implicit but not an explicit measure. In Studies 3 and 4, people whose attitudes changed engaged in greater processing of attitude-relevant information than did individuals whose attitudes were not changed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)