Self-disclosure in a simulated psychiatric interview.

Describes 2 experiments in which a total of 192 undergraduates received 49 items of personal information previously scaled in terms of their intimacy and presented according to the method of constant stimuli. For each item, Ss indicated whether they believed they would have withheld or revealed that information under actual psychiatric interview conditions. Exp. I manipulated the professional role of the interviewer, confidentiality of obtained information, and sex of the interviewee in a 4 * 3 * 2 design. Results indicate that (a) Ss avowedly revealed more personal information to mental health professionals than they would in a control employment interview situation, with no differences between the mental health professionals; (b) informing Ss that the interview was not confidential produced significant information loss from female but not male Ss; and (c) Ss who received no information regarding confidentiality behaved like Ss who were told the information was confidential. In Exp. II, Ss were asked to assume the motivational-attitudinal state of persons either coerced or voluntarily seeking a psychiatric interview because they had violated interpersonal norms. Significant information loss occurred in coerced Ss while confidentiality had no effect on self-disclosure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The response of women to gender stereotyping during a health interview

Gender-stereotypical responses and critical health information were examined in this posttest-only experiment. Thirty-eight university women students and staff were randomly assigned to a gender-stereotyped or a nonstereotyped health interview. Gender-biased cues were embedded in three of the five questions in the gender-stereotyped interview. Women in the gender-stereotyped interview responded with significantly more gender-stereotypical responses. However, no subjects felt affected by the gender-biased cues. Findings suggest that women affirm gender-biased questions asked in health interviews.     

Response requirements and primacy-recency effects in a simulated selection interview.

Mailed information about 8 hypothetical applicants for a secretarial job to 140 personnel interviewers for evaluation. Analysis of the decisions of the 77 respondents shows that contrary to previous findings, recency effects of information favorability were found when Ss made repeated judgments. Consistent order effects were not found when only final judgments were required, although a primacy effect was observed with a rating of overall job suitability in 1 condition. The obtained recency effects were consistent with data from impression-formation studies. It is suggested that the impression-formation literature might serve as a useful source of selection interview research hypotheses. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bias against overweight job applicants in a simulated employment interview.

This study assessed whether moderately obese individuals, especially women, would be discriminated against in a mock employment interview. Potential confounding factors were controlled by having 320 Ss rate videotapes of a job interview that used the same professional actors appearing as normal weight or made up to appear overweight by the use of theatrical prostheses. Results suggested that bias against hiring overweight job applicants does exist, especially for female applicants. Bias was most pronounced when applicants were rated by Ss who were satisfied with their bodies and for whom perceptions of their bodies were central to self-concept. The decision not to hire an obese applicant was, however, only partially mediated by personality attributions. Implications and limitations of these results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of race on interview ratings in a situational panel interview.

This study investigated the effects of interviewer race, candidate race, and racial composition of interview panels on interview ratings. Data were collected on 153 police officers applying for promotion. Results confirmed a same-race rating effect (i.e., candidates racially similar to interviewers received higher ratings) for Black and White interviewers on racially balanced panels. A majority-race rating effect (i.e., candidates racially similar to the majority race of panel interviewers received higher ratings) existed for Black and White interviewers on primarily White panels. Rating patterns of Black and White interviewers on primarily Black panels also suggested a majority-race rating effect. Racial composition of selection interview panels in combination with interviewer and candidate race were proposed as variables affecting candidates' ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of threat in a performance appraisal interview.

Real-life appraisal interviews conducted by 92 manager-subordinate pairs were studied intensively. Reactions of subordinates were systematically obtained before and after their appraisal interviews and the proceedings in the actual interviews were carefully documented by trained Os. Measures of subsequent performance improvement realized as a result of the appraisal interviews were taken 12 wk. later. The results indicated that a manager's attempts to assist a subordinate by pointing up improvement needs were likely to be perceived by the subordinate as threatening to his self-esteem and to result in defensive behavior. The greater the threat, the less favorable the attitude toward the appraisal system and the less the subsequent constructive improvement in job performance realized. These reactions were strong to the extent that the subordinate had relatively low occupational self-esteem. Some practical implications for appraisal practices are cited. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender-based emotional stereotyping.

Previous research documents that mental health professionals' attitudes reflect the general public's stereotype of women as hyperemotional. This article reports the results of 6 studies exploring the existence of a complementary stereotype of men as hypoemotional. As predicted, counselors and college students consistently stereotyped men as hypoemotional (all ps?p?     

Belief in a just world and physical attractiveness stereotyping.

Just-world theory provides a possible explanation of physical attractiveness stereotyping, in that believing in a just world should lead to a positive bias toward "winners," such as the physically attractive. Several hypotheses derived from this premise were tested by having adults complete the Just World Scale and rate the personality traits and expected life outcomes of an attractive or unattractive stimulus person. Predictions for the personality trait ratings were borne out for male but not for female stimulus persons: (a) Believers in a just world perceived the personalities of attractive, male stimulus persons as more socially desirable than nonbelievers and also attributed more socially desirable personalities to male stimulus persons who were attractive rather than unattractive; and (b) no effects were found for female stimulus persons. Predictions for the life-outcome ratings and differences in correlations between personality and life-outcome ratings as a function of belief in a just world were clearly supported. Implications for just-world theory, status-characteristics theory, and physical attractiveness stereotyping are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit stereotyping in person judgment.

Three experiments demonstrated implicit gender stereotyping. A target's social category determined the use of previously primed stereotyped information, without Ss' awareness of such influence. After unscrambling sentences describing neutral or stereotyped behaviors about dependence or aggression, Ss evaluated a female or male target. Although ratings of female and male targets did not differ after exposure to neutral primes, Ss exposed to dependence primes rated a female target as more dependent than a male target who performed identical behaviors (Exp 1A). Likewise, Ss rated a male, but not a female, target as more aggressive after exposure to aggression primes compared with neutral primes (Exp 1B). Exp 2 replicated the implicit stereotyping effect and additionally showed no relationship between explicit memory for primes and judgment of target's dependence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of interview length and applicant quality on interview decision time.

Investigated the impact of applicant quality (high vs low) and expectation of interview length (30 vs 15 min) on interview decision time using 60 experienced employment counselors from private employment agencies as Ss (30 males average age 35.5 yrs; modal education level 4 yrs of college). Ss were shown a videotape of a staged interview and were asked to make a hire/not hire decision as soon as they felt they had sufficient information. As predicted, Ss required significantly more time to decide when viewing the high-quality applicant. They also required more time to decide when they expected the interview to last 30 min. An examination of the correlations between ratings and decision time for the high-quality-applicant condition showed most of them to be negative. However, correlations in the low-quality-applicant condition were mostly positive. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The experimenter as a sex-role model in sex-role stereotyping.

Notes that the influence of the experimenter (E) has been neglected in sex role stereotypy research. Thus, it was predicted that male and female Ss' stereotyping would vary as the sex roles modeled by male and female Es varied from traditional to liberated. 100 high school students rated the concepts of adult male and female on standard stereotypic items and rated the Es' behavior and personality. The general hypothesis of E influence was supported by several significant interaction effects. Results show that the male concept was rated more competent and less warm-expressive than the female concept, thus replicating the basic finding in the literature, but traditional stereotypical differences were most accentuated when male and female Ss were crossed with task-oriented Es of the opposite sex. The reconceptualization of sex-role stereotypes as situationally influenced expectancies, in accord with a social learning theory interpretation of stereotyping, is discussed. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body image, self-esteem, expectations, self-assessments, and actual success in a simulated job interview.

98 female undergraduates completed the Body Image Satisfaction Scale, Self-Cathexis Scale, Janis-Field-Eagly Self-Esteem Scale, and a job interview performance expectation scale prior to participating in a 15-min simulated job interview. After the job interviews, Ss rated their own performance. Two judges independently rated each S's performance by viewing videotapes of the job interviews. Expectations for job interview success were significantly related to both body satisfaction and self-esteem. Job interview self-ratings and the tendency to overrate or underestimate how well one actually performed were significantly related to self-esteem but not to body satisfaction. Body satisfaction was found to be subsumed by self-esteem in ability to predict interview expectations and self-assessments. Actual quality of interview performance was not related to either self-esteem or body attitudes. Discussion focuses on self-esteem consistency theory and implications for assisting applicants to assess more accurately their behavior in actual job interviews. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of failure to meet client preference in a counseling interview analogue.

The hypothesis that failure to meet client preference for high- or low-directive counselor style would adversely affect interpersonal process was tested with 48 undergraduates in a counseling intervention analog oriented around students' actual problems. Students with strongly stated preferences for high- or low-directive counselors were randomly assigned to a counselor whose style was congruent or incongruent with their preference. The Therapist Behavior Scale was used to assess counselor directiveness. Dependent variables included 3 speech and 2 satisfaction measures. The data do not support the hypothesis. There was no evidence that failure to meet client preference adversely affected interview process. Clients of high-directive counselors expressed significantly greater satisfaction with the client–counselor relationship, spent only about 50% as much time per utterance, responded significantly more quickly, and exhibited less silence time while they held the floor than did clients of low-directive counselors. Results suggest that recent interest in ascertaining and meeting client preference may not be relevant to the quality of the interpersonal process. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit gender stereotyping in judgments of fame.

Implicit (unconscious) gender stereotyping in fame judgments was tested with an adaptation of a procedure developed by L. L. Jacoby, C. M. Kelley, J. Brown, and J. Jasechko (1989). In Experiments 1–4, participants pronounced 72 names of famous and nonfamous men and women, and 24 or 48 hr later made fame judgments in response to the 72 familiar and 72 unfamiliar famous and nonfamous names. These first experiments, in which signal detection analysis was used to assess implicit stereotypes, demonstrate that the gender bias (greater assignment of fame to male than female names) was located in the use of a lower criterion (B) for judging fame of familiar male than female names. Experiments 3 and 4 also showed that explicit expressions of sexism or stereotypes were uncorrelated with the observed implicit gender bias in fame judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Students play therapist: Relative effects of role playing, videotape feedback, and modeling in a simulated interview.

Assessed role playing, videotape feedback, and modeling in combination, using 18 male and 30 female undergraduates randomly allocated into 4 groups of 12 Ss each: no-treatment controls, role playing, video feedback, and modeling. The control condition consisted of a waiting period, and the other 3 groups "played therapist" for 2 12-min sessions with a "client" confederate. Interposed between Sessions 1 and 2 was a 12-min interval during which the role-playing group merely waited, the feedback group received a verbatim replay of Session 1, and the modeling group watched a modeling tape. All 4 groups were pretested and posttested on several measures, and "therapist behavior" was assessed by the Ashby Client's Personal Reaction Questionnaire and specially developed verbal and nonverbal behavioral coding systems. Results show, as predicted, that modeling produced the greatest overall behavioral change, feedback was next, and role playing was a poor third. It is concluded that modeling has significant impact on therapist behaviors in a brief quasi-therapeutic encounter, videotape feedback is inconsistent and erratic in its effects, and role playing is basically inert when used alone. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A ratio measure of sex stereotyping.

The goals of these two studies were (a) to develop a measure of cultural sex stereotypes and individual differences in sex stereotyping and (b) to determine the accuracy of cultural sex stereotypes. Stereotype measures were based on ratio scores. For a given attribute, the strength of a stereotype was indexed by the ratio of perceivers' estimates of the percentage of women versus men with that attribute. In Study 1, one group of subjects estimated the prevalence in men and women of 30 socially desirable traits. A second group of subjects rated themselves on the same traits, thus providing group norms that were used as criteria for accuracy. Ratio measures were found to be useful in identifying the content of cultural sex stereotypes and in assessing individual differences in stereotyping. Individual differences in stereotyping were found to generalize across a wide variety of traits. To assess accuracy, stereotypes were compared with group norms. Group norms showed only a few large sex differences on traits, although there were many small sex differences. Stereotypes were much more extreme; that is, large sex differences were assumed to exist for virtually every trait. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 and extended the findings to socially undesirable sex stereotypes. Implications of these results are discussed for the "kernel of truth" debate and for schema theories of stereotyping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of participation in a simulated society on attitudes of business students.

Assessed the effects of participation in a stimulated society involving social, economic, and political factors on attitudes toward business with 129 undergraduate business students as Ss. Results of a posttreatment attitude questionnaire show that in comparison to controls, simulated-society Ss placed greater emphasis on societal goals and less emphasis on suboptimizing business practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Not all stereotyping is created equal: Differential consequences of thoughtful versus nonthoughtful stereotyping.

Much research emphasizes heuristic use of stereotypes, though stereotypes have long been considered as capable of influencing more thoughtful processing of social information. Direct comparisons between thoughtful and nonthoughtful stereotyping are lacking in the literature. Recent research in attitude change emphasizes the different consequences of judgments arising from relatively thoughtful versus nonthoughtful processes. Therefore, increased thought could not only fail to decrease stereotyping but might also create stereotypic perceptions that are more likely to have lasting impact. The current studies demonstrate thoughtful and nonthoughtful stereotyping within the same setting. More thoughtful stereotyping is more resistant to future attempts at change and to warnings of possible bias. Implications are discussed for the typical research questions asked after observing stereotypic judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)