Stress, affiliation, and emotional contagion.

Female participants were exposed to high or low threat in the presence of another person believed to be facing either the same or a different situation. In Study 1, each dyad consisted of 2 actual participants, whereas in Study 2, each dyad consisted of 1 participant and 1 confederate, trained to convey either a calm or a nervous reaction to the situation. Affiliation patterns in both studies, defined in terms of the amount of time spent looking at the affiliate, were consistent with S. Schachter's (1959) "emotional similarity hypothesis;" threat increased affiliation and did so particularly with affiliates believed to be facing the same situation. The authors also found evidence of behavioral mimicry, in terms of facial expressions, and emotional contagion, in terms of self-reported anxiety. The behavioral mimicry and emotional contagion results are considered from both primitive emotional contagion and social comparison theory perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social comparison and affiliation under threat: Effects on recovery from major surgery.

This study extends stress and affiliation research by examining the effects of preoperative roommate assignments on the affiliation patterns, preoperative anxiety, and postoperative recovery of 84 male coronary-bypass patients. Patients were assigned preoperatively to a room alone or to a semiprivate room with a roommate who was either cardiac or noncardiac and either preoperative or postoperative. Patients assigned to a roommate who was postoperative rather than preoperative were less anxious, were more ambulatory postoperatively, and had shorter postoperative stays. Independently, patients were more ambulatory postoperatively and were discharged sooner if assigned to a roommate who was cardiac rather than noncardiac. No-roommate patients generally had the slowest recoveries. Affiliations reflecting cognitive clarity concerns, emotional comparison, and emotional support were examined. Theoretical implications for research involving social comparison and affiliation under threat are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attempts to lead, group productivity, and morale under conditions of acceptance and rejection.

The hypothesis being tested by this experiment was that under conditions such that to attempt to lead is to invite rejection, group members with a relatively high need achievement and a relatively low need affiliation would make more frequent attempts to lead than would other members having relatively high affiliation and low achievement needs. 24 four-man groups were set up under controlled laboratory conditions. Although the major hypothesis was not confirmed, it was shown that differences in attempts to lead may be attributed to differences in the experimental conditions to which the groups were subjected, rather than to the major needs specified. 20 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vicarious punishment in a work setting.

Investigated the effects of punishment on the attitudes and behavior of co-workers (CWs) who observed a peer receiving punishment to test the hypothesis that observing a CW receive punishment will have a positive effect on observers' productivity without damaging job satisfaction. 60 students were hired through a university placement office for temporary clerical employment. Ss were exposed to observing either a CW receiving a reduction in pay or a threat of a reduction in pay or to no punishment (controls). Results support the hypothesis that punishment may be used effectively in work settings: Ss who observed a CW receiving a reduction in pay produced significantly more than controls and Ss who observed a threat of a reduction in pay. These effects did not diminish after 1 wk, and Ss across groups did not differ in levels of job satisfaction. Because none of the Ss knew each other, it is suggested that the absence of negative side effects may not have held if CWs had observed someone they knew receiving punishment. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fear and social comparison.

Schachter (1959) had found a positive relationship between fear and the desire to be with others (affiliation). Schachter concluded, following Festinger (1954), that a person will attempt to reduce cognitive dissonance with regard to his self-picture in terms of information obtainable from others. This investigation attempts to determine the validity of this hypothesis by focusing on the dimension of the intensity of the emotion. "If a person is uncertain as to the intensity of his emotional reaction, he should seek information from others that will help him measure it. To the extent that he has information from others regarding the intensity of their reactions, his desire to be with them prior to the impending experience should be reduced." The hypothesis was supported; however, factors such as sex and order of birth were seen to affect S's reaction to threat. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GE86G. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress and affiliation: Hospital roommate effects on preoperative anxiety and social interaction.

Studied 53 preoperative men assigned to a hospital roommate who varied in terms of the similarity of the roommate's health problem and surgical status. The similarity of a roommate's particular type of health problem to that of the patient exerted little detectable influence. However, patients assigned to a preoperative roommate were more anxious compared to those assigned to a postoperative or nonsurgical roommate. Affiliation was also significantly greater with fellow preoperative roommates compared with postoperative roommates. The possibility that the obtained roommate effects on anxiety are mediated directly by affiliation is explored. Additional mechanisms and theoretical implications for basic research involving social comparison, stress, and affiliation relationships are discussed. Practical considerations for hospital policy also are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social comparison and adjustment to breast cancer: An experimental examination of upward affiliation and downward evaluation.

In a study designed to evaluate the divergence of social comparison activities under health threat, breast cancer patients (n?=?94) were assigned randomly to listen to an audiotaped interview in which the target's psychological adjustment and disease prognosis were manipulated to reflect good, poor, and unspecified psychological and physical health status. Results supported hypotheses regarding downward self-evaluative and upward affiliative comparison activity, as well as predictions regarding the influences of comparison dimension. With regard to desire for affiliation, participants demonstrated a greater desire for information and emotional support from the well-adjusted target than from the poorly adjusted target. Self-evaluation of adjustment and prognosis varied as a function of target characteristics, although a pervasive tendency toward downward comparison in self-evaluation also was noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Smoking cessation: Social comparison level predicts success for adult smokers.

The affiliation preferences of 151 adult heavy smokers who joined smoking cessation groups were assessed at the 1st group session and were then used to predict their smoking status 6 and 12 months later. Those who preferred to be in groups with other smokers who were having relatively little trouble quitting were more likely to be successful than were those who preferred others who were having more difficulty quitting. This prospective effect was mediated by psychological distancing from the image of the typical smoker: Preference for others who were doing well was associated with a decrease in perceived similarity to the typical smoker, which, in turn, was associated with successful cessation. Implications of these findings for cessation groups and social comparison theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between real similarity and assumed similarity with favorability controlled.

"The present study tests the hypothesis that subjects who share a number of characteristics in common with a stimulus person tend to assume greater similarity to him in common with him. Special attention is given to controlling the influence of favorability on the measurements of assumed similarity… . The data almost completely fail to support the hypothesis that… [assumed similarity] varies with… [real similarity] when the favorability component is controlled… . the data suggest that, when the stimulus object is relatively socially acceptable and has characteristics with which all S's are relatively familiar… [assumed similarity] is determined primarily by the favorability response set… and is almost uninfluenced by… [real similarity]." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reactions to intergroup similarity: Examination of the similarity-differentiation and the similarity-attraction hypotheses.

Hypothesized that intergroup similarity results in in-group–out-group differentiation rather than intergroup attraction, particularly when social identity is threatened. 66 female and 79 male undergraduates who had expressed their support for 2 issues relating to the equality of men and women were run in 28 pairs of opposite-sex groups. Each pair developed a written position on one of these issues. Intergroup belief similarity was manipulated using false feedback. Each group was led to believe that the other group affirmed or denied that the issue was of importance. The evidence did not support the similarity–differentiation hypothesis; rather, the similarity–attraction hypothesis was supported, particularly for female groups. Groups differentiated the out-group from their own group along stereotype and attitude dimensions in response to threat to social identity. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suppression of Attentional Bias in PTSD.

Sixty combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder performed an emotional Stroop task under 1 of 4 contextual conditions designed to test theoretical explanations for an attentional bias suppression effect. Results revealed that when the emotional Stroop task was performed under conditions involving a future threat of either watching a combat video or giving a speech, attentional bias was inhibited. There was limited support for the prediction that the suppression effect was strongest when stressor content matched word content on the Stroop. In contrast to participants in the threat conditions, veterans who believed that they would receive additional compensation for speeded color naming or who believed that they would have no other experimental demands were slower when color naming combat-threat words. Potential theoretical explanations of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A defensive response set and the relation between cognitive and emotional functioning: a replication

This study was designed to examine the hypothesis that a defensive self-report response set tends to attenuate the strength of the relationship between self-reported emotional functioning and cognitive tests, particularly the functioning of verbal memory. 75 patients with end-stage lung disease were administered the MMPI and a cognitive test battery as part of a psychosocial evaluation for transplantation. Patients were separated into defensive and nondefensive groups using the MMPI F - K Gough Dissimulation index (raw score F minus K < or = -15). Cognitive factor scores were generated and correlated with non-K-corrected raw scores of MMPI Scales 2, 7, and 8. Correlation coefficients were compared across groups. As predicted, increases on Scales 2 and 7 were significantly associated with decreased functioning of verbal memory (r = -.35 and -.34, respectively) among the nondefensive group but were unrelated in the defensive group. It is argued that the attenuation of the relationship between self-reported emotional status and verbal memory functioning is, in part, due to a restricted range of symptom endorsement on the MMPI among the defensive group. These findings replicate those previously reported using a sample of patients with cardiac disease.     

Perceiver threat in social interactions with stigmatized others.

The extent to which stigmatized interaction partners engender perceivers' threat reactions (i.e., stigma–threat hypothesis) was examined. Experiments 1 and 2 included the manipulation of stigma using facial birthmarks. Experiment 3 included manipulations of race and socioeconomic status. Threat responses were measured physiologically, behaviorally, and subjectively. Perceivers interacting with stigmatized partners exhibited cardiovascular reactivity consistent with threat and poorer performance compared with participants interacting with nonstigmatized partners, who exhibited challenge reactivity. In Experiment 3, intergroup contact moderated physiological reactivity such that participants who reported more contact with Black persons exhibited less physiological threat when interacting with them. These results support the stigma–threat hypothesis and suggest the utility of a biopsychosocial approach to the study of stigma and related constructs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal abuse from outsiders versus insiders: Comparing frequency, impact on emotional exhaustion, and the role of emotional labor.

Research on aggression from organizational outsiders (customers, clients or patients) has ignored insider-instigated aggression, and has been limited to employees in emotional labor jobs (e.g., social work and customer services). The authors argue that customer-employee interactions have distinct characteristics from organizational insider interactions, and provide two studies to compare the frequency and strain of verbal abuse from customers, supervisors and coworkers. Furthermore, they assess whether customer verbal abuse is only a critical issue for employees in jobs requiring emotional labor, measured with both O*NET job codes and self-reported display rules. With a national random sample of U.S. employees (n = 2446) and a convenience sample of U.S. employees who have customer contact (n = 121), the authors find that verbal abuse from outsiders (1) occurs more frequently than insider verbal abuse, particularly for those with higher emotional labor requirements, and (2) predicts emotional exhaustion over and above insider verbal abuse, regardless of emotional labor requirements. The authors conclude that better integration of customer aggression and insider aggression research is needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional adjustment in terminal patients: A quantitative approach.

Used a quantitative approach to identify factors relating to emotional adjustment in 84 13-82 yr old dying patients. 11 hospital chaplains collected data by interviewing the patients. Results indicate that emotional adjustment to the awareness of a limited life expectancy was not related principally to religious orientation, although this was an important factor. Emotional adjustment was influenced more by the patient's physical condition (level of discomfort), by previous experiences with dying persons, and by interpersonal relationships. The most important aspect of the religious variable was the quality of religious orientation rather than mere religious affiliation or verbal acceptance of religious beliefs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Very first impressions.

First impressions of people's personalities are often formed by using the visual appearance of their faces. Defining how quickly these impressions can be formed has critical implications for understanding social interactions and for determining the visual properties used to shape them. To study impression formation independent of emotional cues, threat judgments were made on faces with a neutral expression. Consequently, participants' judgments pertained to the personality rather than to a certain temporary emotional state (e.g., anger). The results demonstrate that consistent first impressions can be formed very quickly, based on whatever information is available within the first 39 ms. First impressions were less consistent under these conditions when the judgments were about intelligence, suggesting that survival-related traits are judged more quickly. The authors propose that low spatial frequencies mediate this swift formation of threat judgments and provide evidence that supports this hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interacting with sexist men triggers social identity threat among female engineers.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 97(4) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2009-16971-002). The affiliation for William von Hippel is incorrect. The affiliation should have been University of Queensland.] Social identity threat is the notion that one of a person’s many social identities may be at risk of being devalued in a particular context (C. M. Steele, S. J. Spencer, & J. Aronson, 2002). The authors suggest that in domains in which women are already negatively stereotyped, interacting with a sexist man can trigger social identity threat, undermining women’s performance. In Study 1, male engineering students who scored highly on a subtle measure of sexism behaved in a dominant and sexually interested way toward an ostensible female classmate. In Studies 2 and 3, female engineering students who interacted with such sexist men, or with confederates trained to behave in the same way, performed worse on an engineering test than did women who interacted with nonsexist men. Study 4 replicated this finding and showed that women’s underperformance did not extend to an English test, an area in which women are not negatively stereotyped. Study 5 showed that interacting with sexist men leads women to suppress concerns about gender stereotypes, an established mechanism of stereotype threat. Discussion addresses implications for social identity threat and for women’s performance in school and at work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do perceived popular adolescents who aggress against others experience emotional adjustment problems themselves?

Aggression is associated with a host of behavioral, social, and emotional adjustment difficulties. However, some aggressive youth are perceived as “popular” by peers. Although these perceived popular aggressive youth appear relatively well adjusted, especially in the social domain, the emotional well-being of these youth is understudied. The current findings indicate that perceived popularity buffers adolescents who hurt others through relational aggression from internalizing symptoms. In contrast, perceived popularity did not buffer adolescents who engaged in overt verbal and physical aggression from internalizing symptoms. The results suggest that relationally aggressive perceived popular adolescents may be especially resistant to intervention if their aggression helps them manipulate their social worlds but does not contribute to internalizing symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)