The contagion of self-focus within a dyad.

Tested the hypothesis, suggested by C. H. Cooley (1902) and others, that the self-focused state of one person in a dyad triggers self-focus in the other dyad member. A corollary hypothesis concerned perspective-taking performance as a function of self-focused attention within the dyad. 62 female undergraduates interacted with a confederate whose ostensible tendency toward self-focus was manipulated by means of a bogus questionnaire shown to each S. As shown by the Private Self-Consciousness scale, Ss interacting with a presumed high-self-focus partner tended to become self-focused themselves. The perspective-taking measure, which required Ss to take the other's perspective into account in solving a maze, revealed that perceiving the other as highly self-focused facilitated perspective-taking performance among Ss who were low in measured self-focused attention. Results support the hypothesis and are congruent with the symbolic interactionist position. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perspective taking and self-awareness: Drawing an E on your forehead.

Self-awareness theory assumes that individuals direct their attention outward or back on themselves as a function of characteristics of the situation. Taking this theory literally, it was hypothesized that Ss taking a self-focused perspective would draw a capital letter E on their forehead such that the E would be oriented for the external perspective of an observer. Ss' whose attention was directed outward would draw an E that would appear backward to another person. As hypothesized, in 3 experiments with 175 female undergraduates, Ss in high self-focus conditions significantly more often than low self-focus Ss drew an E on their forehead oriented toward the perspective of an outside observer, even though they believed they could not be observed by anyone else. Self-focus was induced using a video camera placed either to the side of the S (Exp I) or behind the S (Exp II), where it could not record how the E was drawn. In Exp III, an audiotape recorder was used to induce self-focused attention. The results demonstrate that an external, reflexive visual perspective could be induced by an auditory self-focusing manipulation. Furthermore, in Exp III, when situationally induced self-focus was low, Ss who were high in public self-consciousness (as measured by the Self-Consciousness Scale) were more likely to draw the E from an external perspective than were Ss low in public self-consciousness. Degree of private self-consciousness was unrelated to perspective taking. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pessimistic self-preoccupation, performance deficits, and depression.

Conducted 3 studies to test a model of the cognitive performance deficits shown in depression. The model proposes that such deficits occur as an interaction of expectancy and focus of attention variables, that is, in the presence of both low expectancy of success and high self-focus. In Study 1 (a pilot study), 11 depressed Ss (DSs) and 16 nondepressed Ss (NSs) were selected from a large pool of undergraduate students who were administered the Beck Depression Inventory. Results indicate that DSs evidenced poorer anagram performance, greater self-focus, and lower pretask expectancies than did NSs. Study 2, conducted with 60 Ss drawn from the Study 1 S pool, showed that NSs evidenced performance deficits only when both expectancy was lowered and self-focus was increased. Data from the 59 Ss (also selected from the Study 1 S pool) in Study 3 suggest that DSs' performance deficits were overcome either by lowering self-focus or by raising expectancy. Discussed are discrepancies between self-report and performance data; the relevance of these studies to the test anxiety literature; the need to integrate literature concerning the effects of depression, anxiety, and self-esteem on performance; and how the interactive roles of positive expectancy and focus of attention may be related to effective coping in a variety of situations. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety and eating behavior in obese and nonobese American Indians and White Americans.

Compared 80 lower-SES obese and nonobese American Indians and 80 lower-SES obese and nonobese White Americans from multinational backgrounds on a test of emotional arousal theory (EAT), which proposes that obese people overeat when emotionally aroused while nonobese people do not. Ss were administered the trait anxiety form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and then assigned to a high-anxiety (HA) or low-anxiety condition. They were then administered the state form of the STAI and given a taste task to determine whether EAT is predictive of eating behaviors for both ethnic groups. Results indicate that women were more trait and state anxious than were men; HA women, all HA Ss, HA American Indians, and nonobese American Indians were more state anxious than were corresponding groups. Behavioral indicator results generally supported EAT: All obese and high-anxiety-condition obese Ss consumed more food than did nonobese and low-anxiety-condition obese Ss, respectively. The overall consumption of food was greater with American Indians than with White Americans, indicating that EAT does not fully explain American Indian eating behavior. An alternative stress-reaction theory is proposed to more fully account for American Indian eating behavior. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Good looks may help: Effects of helper's physical attractiveness and sex of helper on males' and females' help-seeking behavior.

96 19–21 yr old Ss were asked to solve a detective story and were under the impression that correct solutions could be obtained only after a specified number of preliminary questions were answered correctly. Some of these questions were unanswerable, and Ss could ask another S for help. In line with past research (E. Bercheid and E. Walster, 1974; A. Nadler, see PA, Vol 66:5817; H. Sigall and E. Aronson, PA, Vol 43:8310; S. Stokes and L. Bickman, PA, Vol 54:3045), data indicate that for same-sex others, Ss tended to seek less help from physically attractive than unattractive helpers. In cases of cross-sex helping (a) males sought less help from a physically attractive female than an unattractive female and (b) females sought more help from a physically attractive than an unattractive male. Findings are discussed in terms of a self-presentation approach to interpersonal help-seeking behavior. A model of help-seeking and self-presentation is presented. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of trait labels in counseling supervision by experienced and inexperienced supervisors.

On the basis of attribution theory, it was hypothesized that as supervisors gain experience at counseling, they would attribute their supervisee's counseling behaviors less often to counselor traits than would supervisors who have little or no counseling experience. 10 min of an audiotaped counseling session were presented to 82 Ss in 4 groups: undergraduate psychology students, master's degree students in counseling and clinical psychology, post-master's degree students, and post-PhD counselors. The Ss then rated the degree to which the counselor could be described by 8 trait labels. As predicted, Ss with more counseling experience made weaker trait attributions than did those with little or no experience. It is suggested that this result is due to the increased empathy of experienced counselors. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inferior performance as a selective response to expectancy: Taking a dive to make a point.

Investigated factors that determine whether persons conform to what is expected of them or not. 40 female undergraduates took a bogus personality test that established either publicly or privately that they had a particular (fictional) trait, which was presented either as a very desirable or a very undesirable trait. Ss then attempted an anagram-solving task after being informed that persons with this trait usually perform poorly on such tasks. Ss for whom the expectancy was presented as derived from the desirable trait, when it was publicly established that they had this trait, solved significantly fewer anagrams than Ss in the other 3 conditions, implying that self-presentational concerns are important in determining the extent to which an expectancy influences behavior. Differences between the number of anagram solutions Ss reported during the experiment and the number of actually correct solutions suggested that when the expectancy was linked to an undesirable trait, Ss actively sought to disconfirm it. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions, false consensus, and valence: Two field studies.

Two studies, with 1,056 Ss, investigated attitudes, knowledge, and behavior with regard to several environmental issues. Findings demonstrate that observers tend to perceive a false consensus with respect to the relative commonness of their own behavioral choices. This phenomenon was replicated across a variety of behaviors. This bias was not related, however, to Ss' trait inferences of the typical person who would choose a particular alternative. Neither estimated commonness of responses nor Ss' own behavioral choice provided an adequate explanation of the obtained differences in attributional inferences. Results show that Ss made more extreme and confident trait ratings about evaluatively positive behavior, irrespective of their own behavioral choice. Ss' trait ratings were in accordance with L. Ross's (1977) proposal, that Ss make more extreme ratings about dissimilar others, only when Ss rated their own behavioral choice relatively unfavorably compared with the behavioral alternative. Implications for previous investigations dealing with the false consensus effect are outlined, and evaluative and motivational mechanisms are proposed for research on social inference and attributional processes. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectations of success and anagram performance of depressives in a public and private setting.

Three groups of Ss—depressed, nondepressed, and nondepressed pretreated with an inescapable-noise/insoluble-problems manipulation—were compared on anagram performance and on stated expectations of success on trials of a perceptual task. Ss were 48 undergraduates who had been rated on the Beck Depression Inventory, the MMPI Depression scale, and the Self-Consciousness Scale. The design, frequently used in learned helplessness research, was used in both a public (experimenter present) and a private (experimenter absent) condition. Expectancy-of-success results revealed differences among the group's behaviors across the public–private conditions, suggesting that interpersonal mechanisms between S and experimenter rather than a learned helplessness conceptualization may account for these data. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of marijuana on human physical aggression.

30 male undergraduates received intense provocation following their ingestion of a low dose (.1 mg/kg), a medium dose (.25 mg/kg), or a high dose (.4 mg/kg) of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Each S was informed that he was competing in a reaction time (RT) task with another S in an adjoining room. At the beginning of each trial, he was told to select any 1 of 11 intensities of shock he wished his opponent to receive if his opponent lost the trial. If he lost, he would receive the shock his opponent had set for him. Regardless of who won, each S was able to see, following each trial, what level of shock his opponent had set for him. The frequency of wins and losses and the amount of shock received were programmed by the experimenter. Findings show that the Ss in the low-dose condition tended to respond in a more aggressive manner than the Ss in the moderate- and high-dose conditions. They set significantly higher shocks than Ss in the medium- and high-dose groups in a number of trials. Ss in the high-dose condition behaved in a relatively nonaggressive manner throughout the experimental session. Results support the consensus that marihuana does not instigate, precipitate, or enhance aggressive behavior. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Havana daydreaming: A study of self-consciousness and the negative reference group among Cuban Americans.

Reasoned that the Castro government in Cuba represents an important negative reference group for Cuban Americans in the US. Exp I asked 43 Cuban-American undergraduates to give their opinions on issues surrounding the liberalization of relations between Cuba and the US. As expected, opinions were more opposed to such liberalization when an ostensible representative of the Castro government was quoted as favoring it than when no mention was made of the Castro government. Exps II and III (137 Ss) tested the prediction that utilization of negative reference groups would be mediated by dispositional self-consciousness. In Exp II, Ss gave their opinions after favorable opinions had been attributed to officials of the Castro government. Opposition among these Ss was positively correlated with their public self-consciousness but was unrelated to private self-consciousness. Exp III replicated the effect of public self-consciousness when the reference group was salient but yielded an ambiguous effect for an experimental manipulation of self-focus. Findings appear to confirm the role of dispositional self-consciousness in reference-group behavior. Moreover, they appear to suggest that Ss used their opposition to the negative reference group for self-presentational purposes rather than for self-definitional purposes. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alienation in college students: A comparison of counseling seekers and nonseekers.

Investigated alienation level in 100 undergraduates who sought personal adjustment or vocational-educational counseling and 50 who did not seek counseling. A battery of tests, including the Lowe and Damankos Anomie Scale, Berger Self-Acceptance Scale, Dean Social Isolation Scale, and Keniston Cultural Alienation and Cultural Commitment Scales were used to assess degree of general, self-, interpersonal, and cultural alienation, respectively. Although results of a factorial analysis of variance indicate that Ss who sought counseling reported more pronounced feelings of alienation on all scales than Ss who did not seek counseling, differences were due mainly to the elevated scores of the personal adjustment group. (25 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client cooperative interview behavior and outcome in paradoxical and behavioral brief treatment approaches.

Assessed client cooperation vs resistance in 16 university clients (mean age 28.6 yrs) on the basis of behavior during intake interviews in terms of a coordinating style construct (which assesses how well the client coordinates contributions to the interaction with the interviewer's contributions and the client's own contributions at other points in time). Ss then completed a brief course of counseling—9 in a paradoxical condition and 7 in a behavioral condition. Results indicate that there was a stronger negative relation between noncoordinating style and improvement in the behavioral condition as compared with the paradoxical condition. Findings provide preliminary empirical support for the widely held position that a paradoxical approach is especially well-suited for resistant clients, whereas behavioral approaches are appropriate for cooperative clients. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does affect induce self-focused attention?

Despite growing evidence that depression is linked with self-focused attention, little is known about how depressed individuals become self-focused or, more generally, about what arouses self-focus in everyday life. Two experiments examined the hypothesis that affect itself induces self-focused attention. In Experiment 1, moods were manipulated with an imagination mood-induction procedure. Sad-induction Ss became higher in self-focus than did neutral-induction Ss. Experiment 2 replicated this effect for sad moods by means of a musical mood-induction procedure and different measures of self-focus. However, Experiment 2 failed to support the hypothesis that happy moods induce self-focus. The results have implications for mood-induction research, self-focused attention, and recent models of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shyness and sociability.

Two studies investigated the relationship between shyness (tension and inhibition with others) and sociability (preference for being with others rather than being alone) using 952 undergraduates. A factor analysis of shyness and sociability items revealed 2 distinct factors, indicating that shyness and sociability are distinct personality dispositions. Self-reported shyness showed only a moderate negative correlation with self-reported sociability. Furthermore, the measures of shyness and sociability had different patterns of correlations with other personality scales (e.g., the Public and Private Self-Consciousness scales of the Self-Consciousness Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the EASI [Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, Impulsivity] Temperament Survey). On the basis of these findings, it is concluded that shyness is not just low sociability. Next, 4 groups of Ss were selected: shy–sociable, shy–unsociable, unshy–sociable, and unshy–unsociable. Pairs of these Ss, matched for both traits, interacted for 5 min. Shy–sociable Ss talked less, averted their gaze more, and engaged in more self-manipulation than did the other 3 groups. In studying social behavior, it should be known whether Ss are shy but also whether they are sociable. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)