Vested interest and symbolic politics—observations and recommendations: Reply to Sears (1997).

In his comment on the author's original article (W. D. Crano, see record 84-22517) on vested interest, symbolic politics, and attitude-behavior consistency, D. Sears (see record 84-22569) concentrated on 3 important features of the original study: the logic of the analytic design, the strength of effects and, more broadly, the possibility that the apparent discontinuity between survey and laboratory findings on self-interest and attitude may reside in respondent characteristics. In response, it is argued that (a) the analytic logic, although at variance with that used in survey studies of symbolic politics, is appropriate, logical, and in conformance with standard practice; (b) the predicted effects reported are both statistically and practically significant; (c) the discontinuity between laboratory and field research may be more apparent than real; but (d) a more intense integration of self-interest and symbolic politics—a suggestion made in the original article—is precisely what is needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vested interest as a moderator of attitude–behavior consistency.

Two studies examined the hypothesis that the degree to which an individual perceives an attitude as hedonically relevant affects the relationship between attitudes and behavior. In Exp I, 99 undergraduates' willingness to work actively against the passage of a referendum that would raise the legal drinking age was associated with their age and, consequently, the degree to which this change would affect them. In Exp II with 100 college students, Ss who felt strongly that they would be affected either positively or negatively by the imposition of a university-wide senior comprehensive examination were consistent with their expressed attitudes toward the examination. The behavior of Ss who felt that the test would not affect them, however, was not strongly related to their attitude toward it. Ego involvement did not moderate attitude–behavior consistency. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding knowledge effects on attitude-behavior consistency: The role of relevance, complexity, and amount of knowledge.

The role of properties of attitude-relevant knowledge in attitude- behavior consistency was explored in 3 experiments. In Experiment 1, attitudes based on behaviorally relevant knowledge predicted behavior better than attitudes based on low-relevance knowledge, especially when people had time to deliberate. Relevance, complexity, and amount of knowledge were investigated in Experiment 2. It was found that complexity increased attitude- behavior consistency when knowledge was of low-behavioral relevance. Under high-behavioral relevance, attitudes predicted behavior well regardless of complexity. Amount of knowledge had no effect on attitude- behavior consistency. In Experiment 3, the findings of Experiment 2 were replicated, and the complexity effect was extended to behaviors of ambiguous relevance. Together, these experiments support an attitude inference perspective, which holds that under high deliberation conditions, people consider the behavioral relevance and dimensional complexity of knowledge underlying their attitudes before deciding to act on them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locus of control, consistency of vocational interest patterns, and academic achievement.

Administered the SVIB, the W. James I-E Scale, and the American College Testing Program Examination (ACT) to 356 male university freshmen. Ss were classified as internals or externals on locus of control and as consistents or inconsistents on vocational patterns based on J. Holland's classification schema for scales on the SVIB. ACT scores were used to control for ability. Internals had a significantly higher GPA than externals; consistents had a higher GPA than inconsistents, but no significant interaction effects between vocational interest patterns and locus of control were found. (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)     

Values, politics, and psychology.

Comments on H. H. Kendler's positivist critique regarding the role of value in the world of psychology (see record 1999-11644-004). Smith objects to Kendler's interpretation of Smith's justification for a socially activist psychology. He argues that psychologists, as scientists and professionals, have just as much justification as anybody else, and more than many, to enter into democratic controversy about value choices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ability, interest, and aptitude.

Referring to published research, it is logically deduced and geometrically illustrated that there are grounds for the hypothesis that "in predicting success, the greater the time interval involved, the more important becomes interest and the less important becomes ability." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culture, identity consistency, and subjective well-being.

All individuals have multiple views of themselves. Whereas the consistency among the different aspects of identity is emphasized in Western cultures, the "multiple selves" are often viewed as coexisting realities in East Asian cultures. This research revisits the classic thesis in psychology that identity consistency is a prerequisite condition of psychological well-being. Between individuals (Study 1), people with a more consistent self-view had a more clear self-knowledge, were more assertive, and, most notably, had self-experiences that were less affected by the perspectives of others. Compared with North American participants (Study 2), Koreans viewed themselves more flexibly across situations, and their subjective well-being was less predictable from levels of identity consistency. Also, consistent individuals received positive social evaluations from others in the United States but not in Korea. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knowledge, interest, and narrative writing.

One-hundred-six 9th graders and 203 undergraduates wrote a story about baseball for 25 min and then completed a 39-item multiple-choice test of baseball topic knowledge. Students also answered 6 questions about their individual interest in baseball. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested that knowledge and interest tests measured different constructs. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed Grade?×?Interest and Gender?×?Interest interactions on thematic maturity. Differences favoring undergraduates at low levels of interest disappeared at higher levels of interest, and differences favoring male students at low levels of interest disappeared at higher levels of interest. Topic knowledge predicted thematic maturity and was a better predictor of the interestingness of students' written texts than was individual interest. Implications for the assignment of student writing topics are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antivivisection: Questions of logic, consistency, and conceptualization.

Questions of animal welfare and animal rights have captured a growing amount of public and political attention. Antivivisectionists have become increasingly critical of all animal research and behavioral research has been targeted as an issue of particular concern (e.g., Friends of Animals, 1984). Indeed, McArdle (1984), who until recently was a ranking official of the Humane Society of the United States, advocates the 'complete elimination" of all psychological experimentation on animals (p. 3). Are animal welfare and animal rights activists conscientiously concerned with the genuine well being of animals? Are they focusing their efforts where they can do the most good? Have they developed an internally consistent and logical stand on these issues? Are they innocent of selective perception and compartmentalization when it comes to questions of pain and suffering in animals? In this paper we critically examine some of the arguments against the use of animals in psychological research and show that many of the positions held by antivivisectionists are untenable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude organization and the attitude-behavior relation: A reply to Dillon and Kumar.

Analyzed W. R. Dillon and A. Kumar's (see record 1985-29911-001) reanalysis of data previously reported by M. Fishbein and I. Ajzen (see record 1974-24385-001) and subsequently reanalyzed by the present authors (see record 1980-30231-001). Data involved attitude–behavior relations. The present authors show that the unidimensional attitude model fails to achieve convergent validity and that the 2-component model achieves convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time perspective, consistency of attitude, and social influence.

"We explored some effects of future perspective with respect to group membership upon the tendency of an individual to conform to the judgments of other group members when confronted with disagreement with them. Expectations were induced of future tasks that would be similar or dissimilar to the present one. Expectations of either continuing or noncontinuing group membership were also manipulated. There was a tendency to reject the others' judgments under both the anticipation of a continuous task and of noncontinuing membership. We also found that the strength of the individual's tendency to yield to the others or to remain adamant was correlated with his self-other evaluation consistency." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GE65G. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender, politics, and psychology's ways of knowing.

Recent work on the psychology of gender has emphasized comparisons of men and women. Such comparisons rest on a view of gender as an individual difference or psychological attribute. Feminist theorists have challenged this view as limited and inadequate. In place of it, a variety of alternative conceptions of gender are emerging. These conceptions shift the focus of analysis from the individual to interpersonal and institutional arenas. Moreover, they dispute the idea of gender as static, unitary, and separable from other markers of social identity and status. In contrast to Alice Eagly (see record 1995-21141-001), I assert that the production of knowledge (whether by scientific procedures or other means) is not set apart from society, but rather is always and inevitably embedded within it. Therefore, I call for efforts to uncover the ways in which psychological knowledge is shaped by ongoing societal struggles and cultural politics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Skew and internal consistency.

The effects of skew on the standardized item alpha were examined with Monte Carlo techniques. Alphas computed from normal variables were compared with alphas from lognormal variables, ranks, and skewed versus normal Likert-type variables. The extent and direction of skew were varied, as was the size of the population interitem correlation (rho), the number of items, and the number of categories for Likert-type variables. Because the average interitem correlation affects alpha and skew affects the average interitem correlation, the effect of skew on the average interitem correlation also was examined. Results indicated that skew decreased the average interitem correlation and produced small decreases in alpha that were largest when skew was large, rho was small, items were skewed in opposite directions, and there were fewer items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Business and politics.

From the point of view of a student of political science, Bauer's article (Amer. Psychologist, 1960, 15, 650-655) ends on any but "a happy note." While business organizations undoubtedly share features with social and political systems in general, the differences are significant. Bauer has not given any attention to the differences in goals of business and political systems, and the consequent implications for organization. If we believe that it is possible for a society, as well as its members, to have goals not derived from its system of production, and that it is possible for such goals to take precedence over the values of business, including productivity, then we are not compelled to accept organizational studies as our picture of reality. We would be far happier in emphasizing the differences between business organizations and political societies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication, symbolic communication, and language: Reply to Seidenberg and Pettito.

Seidenberg and Petitto's (1987) assertion that Kanzi and Mulika's lexigram usage is not representational is evaluated by contrasting their abilities with Nim's. Kanzi and Mulika's data indicate that they (a) comprehend spoken English words; (b) can identify lexigram symbols when they hear these words; (c) can comprehend lexigram usage; (d) can use lexigrams when referents are absent and can, if asked, lead someone to the referent; and (e) that all these skills were acquired through observation, not conditioning. Nim evidenced no comprehension of signs and could not use signs when referents were absent. He was forced to sign and encouraged to imitate his teachers. Seidenberg and Petitto's negative experiences with Nim apparently led them to overgeneralize to all other apes, regardless of species, modality, or training history. Consequently, they unjustifiably disregard important components of Kanzi and Mulika's comprehension data which demonstrate that their lexical knowledge could not have been acquired in an instrumental fashion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology, mental health, and the public interest.

Discusses existing similarities and differences in the situations of practitioners and academicians. Professional associations have increasingly offered the practitioner the career and status supports that academic settings have offered their faculties. Whereas tenure supports academic freedom, guarantees of third-party reimbursement support professional freedom. Both obviously establish financial security. Despite the seemingly self-serving quest of the practitioner for professional autonomy, he or she has functioned no more according to the principle of self-interest than has the academician who has accepted and supported the precept to "publish or perish." If the major constraints on the functioning of both groups were significantly altered, mental health problems might be addressed more coherently and collaboratively. This would require renunciation of the unequivocal commitment to publishing, on the one hand, and realization of genuine professional autonomy, on the other. Substantive issues might then more often replace concerns with status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age, education, and the internal consistency of personality scales.

Investigated whether the internal consistencies of personality scales increase with age and education and, if so, what causes these increases. Between 96 and 106 respondents in each of the age groups 13–24 yrs, 15–26 yrs, 17–28 yrs, and 19–20 yrs and 198 adults (aged 21–25 yrs) with varying amounts of formal education completed the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, the California F-Scale, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, a dogmatism scale, the Extraversion subscale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory, a self-monitoring scale, and a private self-conscious scale. Results show that age and education were both linearly related to the internal consistency with which Ss responded to all 8 personality scales. The relations were stronger for education than for age, the correlations between individuals' consistency scores across scales revealed a strong consistency response set. Stepwise regression showed that this internal consistency was related to age, education, the failure to understand items, and private self-consciousness. These last 2 contributions suggest that lower consistencies are partly a measurement problem and partly due to real lower personality consistencies on trait constructs. It is suggested that, because most personality research has used nonadults, the lower internal consistency of the younger Ss has contributed to the limited predictive power of personality scales. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forming attitudes that predict future behavior: A meta-analysis of the attitude-behavior relation.

A meta-analysis (k of conditions = 128; N = 4,598) examined the influence of factors present at the time an attitude is formed on the degree to which this attitude guides future behavior. The findings indicated that attitudes correlated with a future behavior more strongly when they were easy to recall (accessible) and stable over time. Because of increased accessibility, attitudes more strongly predicted future behavior when participants had direct experience with the attitude object and reported their attitudes frequently. Because of the resulting attitude stability, the attitude-behavior association was strongest when attitudes were confident, when participants formed their attitude on the basis of behavior-relevant information, and when they received or were induced to think about one- rather than two-sided information about the attitude object. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)