The role of categories of an actor's goals in organizing inferences about a person.

96 female undergraduates made inferences about a target woman described by a list of traits by answering questions that had been prejudged for their relevance to the fundamental goals of either a mother-wife or career woman role. Ss had been primed by neutral terms or by terms related to the contexts of family or career life and had studied the trait list with either an impression or a memory processing set. ANOVA showed that Ss' inferences were fastest and most confident when the questions were congruent with the content of the primed context and Ss had an impression set. As predicted from a theory of action-oriented representation, this effect occurred only when the questions pertained to the more fundamental goals associated with the role. Data are consistent with the theory that social knowledge is mentally represented by schemata of social actions, which include categories of actors and their goals. Results suggest that categories of goals are important building blocks in the representations of specific persons within such schemata. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inhibitory effect of schematic processing on perceptual encoding.

Hypothesized that although schemata facilitate organized conceptual processing, and hence recall, they simultaneously inhibit perceptual encoding. This inhibitory effect should emerge because schemata allow perceivers to rely on prior knowledge in place of incoming information and because schemata facilitate selective attention. Exps 1 and 2 demonstrated that Ss encode less relevant perceptual information when they are provided with or are able to induce a schema. Exp 3 demonstrated that Ss encode less relevant perceptual information when they are self-schematic in a domain, even though they have better recall for that information. Exp 4 demonstrated that Ss encode less irrelevant perceptual information when they are provided with a schema. Thus, results show that although schemata facilitate recall, they simultaneously inhibit perceptual encoding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The motivational and emotional consequences of considering positive or negative possibilities for an upcoming event.

The hypothesis that attention to negative possibilities for an upcoming event can have advantages for performance in comparison with a more optimistic approach was examined in 2 studies. Focus of attention to positive or negative possibilities for a social interaction was manipulated for Ss previously identified as optimists or defensive pessimists in the social domain. In Study 1, negatively focused defensive pessimists performed better in their conversations than positively focused defensive pessimists on several dimensions (e.g., talk time, perceived effort, and sociability). Optimists' behavior was unaffected by the focus manipulation. However, all negatively focused Ss felt worse after their conversations than did positively focused Ss. Study 2 examined the cognitive process by which a negative focus may lead to positive behaviors. Some pessimists may benefit from an initial negative focus that is not accompanied by lowered expectations and that actually facilitates positive thoughts about the self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal engagement in social perception: The consequences of getting into the action.

Examined the effects on person perception of varying levels of observer-actor engagement using 60 undergraduates. Ss observed a male actor (confederate) responding to interview questions on a prerecorded videotape under 3 conditions of interpersonal engagement: Ss in a detachment condition knew that they were simply observing a tape; Ss in an anticipated-interaction condition knew that they were observing a tape but expected to interact subsequently with the actor; Ss in an actual-interaction condition thought that they were interacting with the actor over a video hook-up. Half of the Ss observed the actor preface his responses with a positive comment regarding the interviewer's question (positive actor); the other half observed the actor preface his responses with a negative comment (negative actor). It was predicted that anticipated-interaction Ss would demonstrate hopefulness by attributing the positive actor's behavior dispositionally and the negative actor's behavior situationally but that actual-interaction Ss would show the opposite causal attribution pattern in an attempt to protect or enhance their own self-esteem. Results confirm these predictions. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attribution difficulty and memory for attribution-relevant information.

Compared the processing and retrieval of attribution-relevant information when the attributional inference is easy or difficult to make. Ss attributed behavioral events to the person or to the situation, based on several items of context information. Each context sentence implied either the person or the entity as causal agent. When the attributional inference was difficult to make (an equal number of context sentences implied actor and entity as the causal agent), Ss recalled more of the behavioral events, recalled more context sentences, and were less confident in their attributions than when the attributional inference was easy to make (most context sentences implied the same causal agent). Ss also recalled context information that was implicationally incongruent with the majority of the other context sentences with a higher probability than when that same information was implicationally congruent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading in perspective: What real cops and pretend burglars look for in a story.

Tested 2 explanations of how readers' existing knowledge structures (their schemata) function during reading. According to the selective attention (SA) hypothesis, activated schemata identify certain text elements as important and direct increased processing toward those elements. According to the slot-filling hypothesis, schemata provide ready structures into which relevant information can be assimilated without additional processing. Two experiments were performed. 55 Ss participated in Exp I and 106 in Exp II. In both experiments, Ss chosen to represent 3 naturally occurring perspectives (police, real estate, and education students) were assigned to 1 of 3 perspectives (burglar, homebuyer, control). In Exp I, text elements relevant to readers' assigned perspective were rated more important. In Exp II, text was presented by computer, and reading times for individual sentences were recorded. Results confirm the powerful influence of assigned perspective on recall. Consistent with the SA hypothesis, readers spent more time on sentences containing information important to their assigned perspective. Naturally occurring perspectives had little effect in either experiment. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Savings in relearning: II. On the formation of behavior-based trait associations and inferences.

Five experiments based on Carlston and Skowronski's (1994) relearning paradigm suggest that people spontaneously derive trait knowledge about actors from behaviors but that this knowledge may reflect either explicit trait inference processes or implicit actor–trait associations. Experiments 1 and 2 found that inference-instructed and control Ss showed equivalent savings in subsequent efforts to learn actor–trait pairs but not when instructed Ss initially inferred the wrong trait. Experiment 3 showed that savings were equivalent for stimuli from different sources, and Experiment 4 showed that savings effects persisted even when the target was only incidentally associated with a stimulus behavior. Finally, Experiment 5 suggests that after several days, even explicit trait inferences can become inaccessible to intentional retrieval, although the earlier experiments show that they continue to exert an implicit effect on learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond the actor's traits: forming impressions of actors, targets, and relationships from social behaviors

Perceivers who observe social behaviors may form impressions not only of actors' traits but also of people as targets and of interpersonal relationships. In Study 1, Ss read about 4 individuals' behaviors under instructions to form actor-, target-, and relationship-based impressions. Ss then read additional behavioral information that they later tried to recall. Ss accurately perceived actor, target, and relationship effects in the presented information, and they better recalled subsequent behaviors that were consistent with all 3 types of impressions. In Study 2, Ss thought of 4 people they knew and judged how much each liked the other 3. These ratings revealed actor, target, and relationship effects as well as individual and dyadic reciprocity. Perceivers can form relatively accurate impressions of people as actors and as targets and accurate impressions of relationships between people, and these impressions influence memory for further behaviors.     

Are shy people reluctant to ask for help?

Examined the help-seeking behaviors of shy and not-shy men and women. In Study 1, Ss worked on an impossible task in the presence of a male or female confederate whom they were told had just successfully completed the task. Shy Ss asked for help no less frequently than did not-shy Ss overall, but they did seek help less frequently from opposite-sex confederates than from same-sex confederates. In Study 2, shy and not-shy men and women were required to call a man and a woman and ask them to complete a questionnaire. All respondents agreed to return the questionnaire. However, when shy Ss (compared with not-shy Ss) called opposite-sex respondents, fewer of the questionnaires were actually returned. When making their calls, shy Ss sounded somewhat less warm and confident than did not-shy Ss, and they also spoke less fluently. Fluency, in turn, predicted response rate for the shy subjects calling respondents of the opposite sex. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accuracy motivation attenuates covert priming: The systematic reprocessing of social information.

Three studies, with a total of 382 undergraduates, tested the hypothesis that assimilation of impressions to primed constructs is a product of relatively superficial processing and is unlikely to occur when behavioral information about a target person is processed systematically. In Study 1, the impressions of accuracy-motivated Ss did not assimilate to covertly primed trait constructs, although the impressions of unmotivated Ss did. Studies 2 and 3 showed that when Ss become accuracy motivated after exposure to target information, both retrieval of that information and opportunity for effortful processing of it were necessary to eliminate assimilation effects. In addition, accuracy-motivated Ss showed no special attention to primes or awareness of their influence on judgment. Even when one is unaware of the potential biasing influence of primed constructs, they often may not bias impression formation, so long as available target information is processed systematically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perception of cross-situational consistency.

88 undergraduates rated the degree of relation in each of 21 pairs of items that described behavior in the domains of conscientiousness, friendliness, and extraversion. In these 3 domains, estimates of relations by the average S correlated, respectively, with actual empirical relations, .63, .58, and .40. Relations corresponding to correlations between .10 and .20 could be significantly distinguished by Ss from relations in the range of .00 to .10 in 2 of the 3 domains. The confidence that Ss placed in their perceptions varied directly with the accuracy of their judgments against the empirical criterion. In addition, Ss were more confident of what they perceived to be extreme relations in both directions than of intermediate relations, and they also tended to be more confident of their judgments of strong positive relations than of zero relations. They exhibited an intuitive awareness of the effect of aggregation over occasions and items of behavior on the magnitude of cross-situational relations and the demonstration of traits. They also reported using reasonable strategies in arriving at decisions. Far from being inveterate trait believers, as has been previously suggested, Ss' intuitions paralleled psychometric principles in several important respects when assessing relations between real-life behaviors. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and the illusion of control

24 depressed and 24 nondepressed undergraduates (Beck Depression Inventory) placed bets on a dice game. The throwing of the dice was either under player-control or croupier-control conditions. As predicted, depressed Ss were more confident of success in the croupier-control condition, and nondepressed Ss were more confident of success in the player-control condition. Results support the view that depressed Ss are characterized by a sense of personal incompetence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of mood on health-relevant cognitions.

Three experiments assessed the effects of mood on symptom appraisal, health behavior self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and perceptions of vulnerability. Ss in Experiments 1 and 2 were acutely ill, whereas Ss in Experiment 3 were healthy. In each experiment, happy, sad, and neutral moods were induced. In Experiment 1, Ss who experienced sadness reported more aches and pains and greater discomfort than happy Ss. Sad Ss were less confident that they could carry out illness-alleviating behaviors. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that mood's influence of vulnerability perceptions is moderated by health status. Although mood had little impact on perceptions of vulnerability among ill Ss, probability estimates of future negative health-relevant events among healthy Ss were mood sensitive. Seeing oneself as invulnerable to future negative events was accentuated among happy Ss and attenuated among sad Ss. Mood may be an important determinant of care seeking, adherence, and recovery from illness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consensus information and fundamental attribution error: The role of development and in-group versus out-group knowledge.

24 4-yr-olds, 24 9-yr-olds, and 24 undergraduates watched a target actor select an item from an array, and other actors either agreed (high consensus) or disagreed (low consensus) with the choice. Actors were either peers or nonpeers of the Ss, and the target's choice did or did not match the S's own preference. Ss were asked why the actor liked the chosen object best. Ss in all age groups appropriately used the consensus information. Nine-year-olds and adults, however, were much less likely to use the consensus information when judging peers than when judging nonpeers, suggesting the use of self-provided consensus information. Four-yr-olds made greater entity attributions when they agreed with the target actor's choice than when they disagreed, suggesting that young children use self-reference as a basis for normative expectancies. There was also a developmental shift in general attributional bias. Nine-year-olds and adults had a person bias for peer targets, but they had no attribution bias for nonpeer targets. Four-year-olds had an entity bias for both peer and nonpeer targets. (28 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)     

Children's understanding of social anxiety.

202 2nd, 4th, and 7th graders evaluated story characters who were either highly or less motivated to impress an audience and had either high or low expectations of being able to accomplish their self-presentational goals. As predicted according to a self-presentation model of social anxiety, both factors were related to judgments of the character's social anxiety, especially for the older Ss. For all age groups, actors who expected to do poorly rather than well were regarded as more anxious, as more likely to exhibit nervous responses and to have communication difficulties, and as less likely to be successful in accomplishing their goal; they were also evaluated less favorably. The actor's motivation had different effects on younger and older Ss; 2nd graders attributed less anxiety to highly motivated actors, whereas older Ss attributed greater anxiety to them. For all age groups, high motivation was expected to have a channeling effect on behaviors that would increase interpersonal effectiveness. A finding that was consistent with the literature on social-cognitive development was that older Ss displayed greater differentiation in their cause–effect inferences and that they better appreciated the complex implications of social anxiety. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When are dysphoric individuals distressing to others and vice versa? Effects of friendship, similarity, and interaction task.

Examined several factors hypothesized to affect how dysphoric and nondysphoric individuals react to each other. 92 pairs of female college students participated in the study. Ss interacted with either a friend or stranger who had a similar or dissimilar dysphoria status in 3 tasks: a casual conversation, disclosure of a personal problem to the partner, and response to the partner's disclosure of a personal problem. Ss' moods, evaluations of their partners, and verbal behaviors were assessed. Dysphoric Ss exhibited characteristic negative mood and verbal content but did not elicit negative reactions from their partners. Negative reactions were most evident in dysphoric Ss' responses to dissimilar (nondysphoric) strangers, underscoring the need for greater attention to dysphoric individuals' perspective on their social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Romantic attraction and generalized liking for others who are sources of conflict-based arousal.

Demonstrated the arousal-attraction effect in circumstances where negative reinforcement does not occur by making the stimulus persons the source of aversive arousal rather than a distraction lowering the arousal. 40 male and 40 female undergraduates witnessed a 30-min videotape of S. Milgram's (1974) obedience paradigm, in which the characters were of the opposite sex from the viewers. Ss were told either that they were watching actors role-play, or that these were real participants. Ss gave attractiveness ratings of the characters, and completed self-reports of arousal. Findings show that for conflict-based arousal, males and females interpret their affective reactions differently, with males reporting more anger, females more anxiety. It is suggested that sex role socializing might influence the schemata that determine self-reports of affective states. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)