Remedial self-fulfilling prophecy: Two field experiments to prevent Golem effects among disadvantaged women.

The Pygmalion effect is a self-fulfilling prophecy (SFP) in which raising leader expectations boosts subordinate performance. Although attempts to produce Pygmalion effects have been successful repeatedly among men, attempts to produce Pygmalion effects with female leaders have yielded null results. Also, only 1 experiment has demonstrated the Golem effect (i.e., negative SFP in which low leader expectations impair subordinate performance). In 2 field experiments testing the SFP hypothesis among women leading disadvantaged women, experimental leaders were led to believe that their trainees had higher than usual potential. In reality, the trainees had been assigned randomly. Manipulation checks confirmed that the treatment raised leader expectations toward experimental trainees. Analysis of variance of performance detected the predicted SFP effects in both experiments. These were the first-ever experimental confirmations of SFP among women as leaders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stigma of psychological therapy: Stereotypes, interpersonal reactions, and the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Investigated stereotypes of counseling center clients and examined how these preconceptions influence social interaction. 136 undergraduates, told they were participating in a study of the acquaintance process in social interactions, were randomly assigned to be perceivers or targets. Ss engaged in a brief getting-acquainted conversation. Targets were randomly assigned to conditions in which perceivers were told that their conversational partner, the target, had been recruited either from among students seeking psychological therapy (clients) or from students in introductory psychology courses (nonclients). As was predicted, perceivers rated clients less favorably than they did nonclients before they interacted. Futhermore, consistent with previous research on the self-fulfilling prophecy, judges' ratings of the interactions revealed that perceivers behaved more negatively toward clients than toward nonclients, and clients came to behave in a less socially desirable manner than did nonclients. It is suggested that fear of rejection that makes people reluctant to seek psychological therapy appears to be justified. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When self-efficacy negatively relates to motivation and performance in a learning context.

Recent reviews of the training literature have advocated directly manipulating self-efficacy in an attempt to improve the motivation of trainees. However, self-regulation theories conceive of motivation as a function of various goal processes, and assert that the effect of self-efficacy should depend on the process involved. Training contexts may evoke planning processes in which self-efficacy might negatively relate to motivation. Yet the typical between-persons studies in the current literature may obscure the effect. To examine this issue, 63 undergraduate students completed a series of questionnaires measuring self-efficacy and motivation before 5 class exams. Self-efficacy was negatively related to motivation and exam performance at the within-person level of analysis, despite a significant positive relation with performance at the between-persons level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-fulfilling prophecy: Is there a phenomenon to explain?

Argues that the basic concept of self-fulfilling prophecy does not have the empirical support claimed by W. P. Archibald (see record 1974-10487-001). Rather, that review article may be taken as an example of interpretive oversights, inferential errors, and distortions of empirical evidence that contribute to the widespread popularity of the concept of self-fulfilling prophecy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-hypnosis as a facilitator of self-efficacy: A case example.

Presents a case example of a 20-yr-old female undergraduate who sought counseling when her widowed mother was remarrying. Her father had died suddenly 3 yrs previously. Self-hypnosis was used in a 4-session treatment to facilitate her mourning process. It is suggested that self-hypnosis (rather than enhancing imagery) increases self-efficacy. S's sense that she could perform behaviors that lead to desired outcomes increased by allowing her to choose scenes from her life to be explored through imagery. S imagined events around her father's death and "rewrote history" in an attempt to permit herself the direct expression of emotions. At a 3?-yr follow-up, S reported that the self-hypnosis was used to relax and that she had reentered therapy 6 mo before. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory self-efficacy predicts memory performance: Results from a 6-year follow-up study.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between memory self-efficacy (MSE) and a 6-year follow-up assessment of memory functioning in a sample of Dutch older adults. MSE was assessed by a Dutch abridged version of the Metamemory in Adulthood questionnaire (MIA; R. A. Dixon, D. F. Hultsch, & C. Hertzog, 1988; C. Hertzog, D. F. Hultsch, & R. A. Dixon, 1989; R. W. H. M. Ponds & J. Jolles, 1996). The total MSE score predicted memory performance at 6 years, as measured by the Visual Verbal Learning Task (VVLT; N. Brand & J. Jolles, 1985). A separate analysis of the different MSE subscales indicated that the MIA Change score was the most salient domain-specific MSE predictor of subsequent memory performance after 6 years. An extreme groups analysis of the MIA Change score revealed a pattern of performance for those who perceived that their memory was worsening, performing less well on the 3 trials of the VVLT when these were readministered at the 6-year follow-up. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Catecholamine secretion as a function of perceived coping self-efficacy.

Hypothesized that perceived coping self-efficacy mediates the effects of environmental events on catecholamine secretion. Differential levels of perceived self-efficacy were induced in 12 female phobic Ss, aged 19–40 yrs, through modeling. Their level of catecholamine secretion was then measured as they were presented with coping tasks in their high, medium, and low ranges of perceived self-efficacy. High perceived self-efficacy was accompanied by low levels of plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine during interaction with a phobic object, whereas moderate perceived self-inefficacy gave rise to substantial increases in plasma catecholamines. Both catecholamines dropped sharply when Ss declined tasks for which they judged themselves completely inefficacious. In contrast, dihydroxyphenyl-acetic acid was released maximally by mere apperception of task demands that Ss regarded as overwhelming their coping capabilities. After perceived self-efficacy was strengthened to the maximal level by S modeling, all of the tasks were performed without any differential catecholamine responses. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mood, self-efficacy, and performance standards: Lower moods induce higher standards for performance.

Examined the effects of induced mood on personal standards for performance and judgments of one's performance capabilities, or self-efficacy judgments. Three experiments involving 208 undergraduates were conducted. In Exp 1, standards and self-efficacy judgments were assessed on common social and academic tasks. In Exp 2, these variables were assessed on 2 novel tasks. In both experiments, negative mood induced higher standards for performance. Induced mood had no effect on perceived self-efficacy. Negative mood Ss thus held minimal standards for performance that significantly exceeded the levels of performance they judged they actually could attain. Exp 3 provided support for the hypothesis that negative mood raises standards by lowering evaluations of prospective outcomes. (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)     

Goal orientation and ability: Interactive effects on self-efficacy, performance, and knowledge.

This study examined the direct relationship of goal orientation--and the interaction of goal orientation and cognitive ability--with self-efficacy, performance, and knowledge in a learning context. The authors argue that whether a particular type of goal orientation is adaptive or not adaptive depends on individuals' cognitive ability. Consistent with previous research, learning orientation was positively related to self-efficacy, performance, and knowledge, whereas performance orientation was negatively related to performance only. The interactions between goal orientation and ability also supported several hypotheses. As expected, learning orientation was generally adaptive for high-ability individuals but had no effect for low-ability individuals. In contrast, the effects of performance orientation were contingent on both individuals' level of cognitive ability and the outcome examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linking goal progress to subjective well-being at work: The moderating role of goal-related self-efficacy and attainability.

Although goal progress is often hypothesized to be positively linked to well-being, existing research points to an inconsistent relationship and suggests that potential moderators need to be examined. This longitudinal study investigated whether 2 aspects of goal cognition—goal attainability and self-efficacy—influence the relationship between goal progress and well-being (viz., job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion) in a sample of 172 nurses. Work goal progress was not directly associated with well-being. Rather, the link between goal progress and well-being was moderated by goal cognition. Individuals who started off with unfavorable goal cognitions but who managed to achieve goal progress reported an increase in well-being, compared with those who had favorable goal cognitions and similar rates of progress. Progress appears to have compensated for low initial goal cognition in the prediction of well-being, and high initial goal cognition appears to have undermined this predictive relationship. Also, goal progress was associated with an increase in self-efficacy and goal attainability from Time 1 to Time 2. Results are discussed in relation to goal theories and the concept of self-correcting goal cycles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigating equity sensitivity as a moderator of relations between self-efficacy and workplace attitudes.

This study integrated measures of equity sensitivity and self-efficacy in an effort to better understand how these variables may affect job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to leave. Equity sensitivity denotes how sensitive people are to overreward and underreward situations and has recently enhanced the accuracy of equity theory in predicting job satisfaction in social exchange situations. Self-efficacy, or task-specific self-confidence, is a central component of Bandura's social cognitive theory, and its influence on individuals' goals, efforts, and task persistence is well documented. Results from a field study of 242 employees in a health care firm support the moderating role of equity sensitivity in relations between self-efficacy and job satisfaction and between self-efficacy and intent to leave, but not between self-efficacy and organizational commitment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative effects of destructive criticism: Impact on conflict, self-efficacy, and task performance.

In Study 1, 83 undergraduates received either constructive criticism (feedback that was specific, considerate, and did not attribute poor performance to internal causes) or destructive criticism (feedback that violated these basic principles) of their work. Those who received destructive criticism reported greater anger and tension and indicated that they would be more likely to handle future disagreements with the source through resistance or avoidance and less likely to handle disagreements through collaboration or compromise. In Study 2, 106 undergraduates who received destructive criticism of their work on an intitial task set lower goals and reported lower self-efficacy on two additional tasks than did subjects who received constructive criticism or no feedback. In Study 3, 108 employees of a large food-processing company rated the importance of 14 potential causes of conflict in their organization. Poor use of criticism was perceived as a more important cause of conflict and received higher ratings than did competition over resources or disputes over jurisdiction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From self-prediction to self-defeat: Behavioral forecasting, self-fulfilling prophecies, and the effect of competitive expectations.

Four studies explored behavioral forecasting and the effect of competitive expectations in the context of negotiations. Study 1 examined negotiators' forecasts of how they would behave when faced with a very competitive versus a less competitive opponent and found that negotiators believed they would become more competitive. Studies 2 and 3 examined actual behaviors during a negotiation and found that negotiators who expected a very competitive opponent actually became less competitive, as evidenced by setting lower, less aggressive reservation prices, making less demanding counteroffers, and ultimately agreeing to lower negotiated outcomes. Finally, Study 4 provided a direct test of the disconnection between negotiators' forecasts for their behavior and their actual behaviors within the same sample and found systematic errors in behavioral forecasting as well as evidence for the self-fulfilling effects of possessing a competitive expectation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning to form a spatial category of tight-fit relations: How experience with a label can give a boost.

Two experiments explored the ability of 18-month-old infants to form an abstract categorical representation of tight-fit spatial relations in a visual habituation task. In Experiment 1, infants formed an abstract spatial category when hearing a familiar word (tight) during habituation but not when viewing the events in silence or when hearing a novel word. In Experiment 2, infants were given experience viewing and producing tight-fit relations while an experimenter labeled them with a novel word. Following this experience, infants formed the tight-fit spatial category in the visual habituation task, particularly when hearing the novel word again during habituation. Results suggest that even brief experience with a label and tight-fit relations can aid infants in forming an abstract categorical representation of tight-fit relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to commentaries: Raising a new vision of higher education: Psychology and social issues.

Replies to the numerous comments (see cases 2007-09070-001, 2007-09071-001, 2007-09072-001, 2007-09073-001, and 2007-09074-001) made on the current author's original article (see record 2007-09069-001). The crisis in higher education is far more about psychology than it is about education, and appropriately so. "Crisis" is, after all, a term from personality and clinical psychology. Our interventions must be more akin to the cognitive restructuring of psychotherapy than to the experimental or scientific analysis of a substantive issue. We already understand well enough the education part. We have not yet acknowledged the psychological part and unleased the power of action-research that allows us to combine living and knowing in way which does not make them a mutually exclusive choice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory self-efficacy and performance differences in young and old adults: The effect of mnemonic training.

We evaluated the hypothesis that mnemonic training would result in higher memory self-efficacy and better memory performance in young and old adults. Forty-eight young adults (17- to 19-year-olds) and 45 old adults (60- to 78-year-olds) received either training in the method of loci or no training and were given either performance feedback or no feedback on a serial-word recall task. Ss were tested at pre- and posttraining and were asked to rate their self-efficacy strength (SEST) and self-efficacy level (SEL) at each test session. Young adults recalled more than old adults and had higher self-efficacy scores. Training with feedback improved recall performance in both age groups but failed to increase SEST or SEL. When SEL scores were used to derive a measure of prediction inaccuracy, no age differences were observed. We conclude that efficacy expectations and attributions for memory performance may influence mnemonic training outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: An experimental longitudinal intervention to boost well-being.

An 8-month-long experimental study examined the immediate and longer term effects of regularly practicing two assigned positive activities (expressing optimism and gratitude) on well-being. More important, this intervention allowed us to explore the impact of two metafactors that are likely to influence the success of any positive activity: whether one self-selects into the study knowing that it is about increasing happiness and whether one invests effort into the activity over time. Our results indicate that initial self-selection makes a difference, but only in the two positive activity conditions, not the control, and that continued effort also makes a difference, but, again, only in the treatment conditions. We conclude that happiness interventions are more than just placebos, but that they are most successful when participants know about, endorse, and commit to the intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tracking performance on a visual display apparently vibrating at one to ten Hertz.

20 20-34 yr. old males performed compensatory 2-dimensional tracking on a visual display. This was viewed through a periscope, the lower mirror of which was oscillated about an axis so as to impose apparent vertical vibration on the display. The vibration frequency range 1-10 Hz. was explored, at (double) amplitudes of 2 and 4–. The decrement due to apparent vibration was frequency dependent, being greatest at those frequencies (3-5 Hz.) where a changeover in viewing technique was taking place. Over this range, progressively, reflexive eye pursuit is abolished and a virtual image at the limit of vibration excursion becomes usable. Data from eye movement studies on an additional group of 6 Ss corroborate this. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microanalysis of action and fear arousal as a function of differential levels of perceived self-efficacy.

Two experiments combining intergroup and intra-S designs tested the hypothesis that perceived self-efficacy (SE) operates as a cognitive mediator of coping behavior (CB) and fear arousal (FA). Differential levels of SE were induced in 20 snake- and spider-phobic Ss (aged 16–62 yrs) through enactive mastery or modeling, and their CB and FA were measured. In the next phase, SE was successively raised to designated levels within the same Ss, and their CB and FA were measured again. CB corresponded closely to instated SE, with higher levels of perceived SE being accompanied by greater performance attainments. The SE–action relationship was replicated across different modes of SE and behavioral dysfunctions, and in both intergroup and intra-S comparisons. The hypothesis that FA stems largely from perceived coping inefficacy also received support. Results of Exp II (12 Ss), which used cardiac acceleration and elevation in blood pressure as indicants of FA, further corroborate the generality of the relationship between perceived coping inefficacy and stress reactions. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)