Informational social influence and product evaluation.

Describes a class marketing research project in which 144 undergraduates, in 4 groups, were asked to evaluate a new product. 2 groups of ss were exposed to 16 scaled product evaluations (supposedly from peers). High uniformity and low uniformity conditions were determined by degree of dispersion, and ss expected their evaluations to be visible to others. 2 remaining groups were given no information regarding others' evaluations, and one of these groups expected their evaluations to be visible to others. It was found that ss' subsequent evaluations were significantly influenced by others' ratings, the greatest influence occurring under the high uniformity-visibility condition. There was, however, no significant difference due to ss' expectations that their ratings would be visible to others. Individual differences in interpersonal response orientations were not significantly related to the acceptance of information from others, although the direction of results was in accord with predictions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of some hypnotist and subject variables on hypnotic susceptibility.

Randomly assigned 48 21-56 yr. Old females to 1 of 4 groups given different information with regard to a hypnotist's warmth and experience. The 6 male graduate student hypnotists had previously been judged on their objective warmth and competent appearance. Following structuring, all ss underwent individual hypnotic induction. As predicted, ss run by the objectively warmer, more competent appearing es obtained significantly higher susceptibility scores. Structured warmth produced significant differences only in ss run by the objectively less warm es. Both structured warmth and experience affected ss' subjective impressions of whether they thought they had been hypnotized. The complex relationship between antecedent variables and the various objective and subjective dependent indicators of hypnotic phenomena are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fears as attitudes: Experimental reduction of fear through reinforcement.

Investigated the hypothesis that fears are attitudes and can be reduced through the use of positive reinforcement. Fear was defined behaviorally as an expression of avoidance responses in the presence of the phobic object (in this study a harmless snake). 76 female undergraduates were selected according to their responses on a fear survey schedule, and randomly assigned to 4 treatment groups 1 experimental and 3 control. All ss were given the bandura snake approach scale and snake behavioral approach scale before and after the experiment, and were seen for 5 treatment sessions at which different parameters were tested for effects in shaping ss' behavior. There was a significant decrease (p     

Two studies with the Psychiatric Rehabiliation Attitude Survey.

Evaluated the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Attitude Survey (PRAS) by the 1st author and A. Sklare-Lancaster (1981) in 2 experiments. In Exp I, reliability and validity data of the PRAS were assessed, using 37 vocational rehabilitation practitioners. Results indicate that test–retest reliability was high and that convergent and divergent validity were adequate compared with the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Exp II assessed the effect of a 4-wk field placement on the attitudes of 48 undergraduate rehabilitation psychology majors. There was a significant positive change in Ss' attitudes toward psychiatric rehabilitation, and their scores after field placement were significantly more positive than norms obtained from general-caseload rehabilitation practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of the survey of work values.

Developed a series of scales measuring attitudes toward work. The survey of work values (swv) was based on a number of dimensions of protestant ethic, specifically those aspects that deal with the meaning that an individual attaches to his role at work. The content validity of the items was established by the reallocation method of scaling. Items were analyzed to determine the best method of scoring and to select items for the subscales according to the internal consistencies and independence of the subscales. Unweighted, multipoint scoring was selected for 54 items. Swv scores discriminated among occupational groups of 449 ss and correlated with background characteristics of 342 employed and 133 disadvantaged ss. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental child-rearing attitudes and preadolescents' problem behaviors.

Correlated teacher's ratings of 278 5th and 6th graders on internalization and externalization behaviors with scores on ss' reports of their parents' child-rearing behaviors as assessed by schaefer's child report of parental behavior inventory. While the degrees of both internalization and externalization were inversely related to reported parental acceptance, externalization alone was related to reported parental control in a positive direction. High correlations between internalization and externalization were also found. Results are discussed in terms of the ss' characteristics, past findings, and conceptualization of internalization and externalization as categories of a more general dimension of maladjustment. (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes toward old people: The development of a scale and an examination of correlates.

"The present paper reports on the development of a Likert scale for assessing attitudes toward old people and discusses empirical relations found between such attitudes and other attitudinal and personality variables. Three samples of college undergraduates served as subjects… a scale containing items making unfavorable reference to old people and a scale containing matched favorably worded items [were constructed]… no clear consistent relation obtained between authoritarianism as measured by the F Scale and attitudes toward old people. On the other hand, unfavorable attitudes toward old people were associated with feelings of anomie, and with negative dispositions toward ethnic minorities and a variety of physically disabled groups. A nurturance factor… was significantly correlated with… scale scores, the more nuturant subjects being more positively disposed toward old people." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3GD44K. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of occupational therapy education on students' perceived attitudes toward persons with disabilities

OBJECTIVES: The effect of occupational therapy education on students' perceived attitudes toward persons with disabilities was studied. METHOD: The perceived attitudes of 144 occupational therapy students toward persons with disabilities were measured before (retrospective pretest) and after (posttest) the students attended formal professional education at the University of Alberta. RESULTS: Posttest scores were significantly higher than the retrospective pretest scores, indicating that students' attitudes became more positive after they commenced formal professional education. The posttest scores of students at various levels of education, however, did not show any significant difference. CONCLUSION: On the basis of these observations, a positive but nonlinear relationship between occupational therapy education and attitudes toward persons with disabilities was postulated.     

The generalizability of subliminal mere exposure effects: Influence of stimuli perceived without awareness on social behavior.

This article describes three experiments investigating the extent to which subliminal mere exposure effects are obtainable not only with simple stimuli but also with complex human stimuli in social situations. In the first experiment, undergraduate subjects were exposed to slides of abstract geometric figures at both subliminal (i.e., 4 ms) and supraliminal exposure durations. Subjects' attitudes toward the subliminally presented stimuli became significantly more positive with repeated exposures, even when subjects were unaware that exposures had occurred. Experiment 2 demonstrated that similar attitude changes are produced by subliminal exposure to photographs of actual persons. The results of Experiment 3 indicate that attitudes toward persons encountered in the natural environment of the psychology experiment are also enhanced by subliminal exposure to a photograph of that person. These findings are discussed in the context of prevailing models of mere exposure effects as well as an alternative psychodynamic model. Implications for research on attitudes, social cognition, and interpersonal object choice are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in Scholastic Aptitude Test: Mathematics problem solving among high-ability students.

Examined whether male and female students of high mathematical ability use different solution strategies on math problems that had previously yielded gender differences in correct responding. Structured interviews were conducted with high school students who had scored at least 670 on the math portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT-M). Eight types of solution strategies could be further dichotomized as conventional or unconventional in approach. Female students were more likely than male students to use conventional strategies. SAT-M scores were correlated with positive attitudes (confidence and persistence) toward math: use of conventional strategies was correlated with negative attitudes (dislike, nonrelevance) toward math. Findings may help to explain patterns of gender differences on SAT-M problems among high-ability students in which female students outperform male students on conventional problems and male students outperform female students on unconventional problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism.

The authors present a theory of sexism formulated as ambivalence toward women and validate a corresponding measure, the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI). The ASI taps 2 positively correlated components of sexism that nevertheless represent opposite evaluative orientations toward women: sexist antipathy or Hostile Sexism (HS) and a subjectively positive (for sexist men) orientation toward women, Benevolent Sexism (BS). HS and BS are hypothesized to encompass 3 sources of male ambivalence: Paternalism, Gender Differentiation, and Heterosexuality. Six ASI studies on 2,250 respondents established convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. Overall ASI scores predict ambivalent attitudes toward women, the HS scale correlates with negative attitudes toward and stereotypes about women, and the BS scale (for nonstudent men only) correlates with positive attitudes and stereotypes about women. A copy of the ASI is provided, with scoring instructions, as a tool for further explorations of sexist ambivalence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demand characteristics or conformity?: Suspiciousness of deception and experimenter bias in conformity research.

Administered to 87 undergraduates (a) the Psychology Research Survey (PRS), a measure of attitudes toward psychology experiments; and (b) a battery of attitude scales on current issues. 6 advanced undergraduate Es, led to believe that Ss had high- or low-conformity scores on the battery, presented R. Wyer's dot-estimation conformity task to Ss. Results of a postexperimental questionnaire indicate Ss' suspiciousness of deception was quite common (43.7%) and suspicious Ss conformed less. The prediction that suspicious Ss would be more positive in their attitudes on the PRS than nonsuspicious Ss was not supported. However, Ss who were aware that they were being deceived and nevertheless conformed had significantly more positive attitudes on the PRS than aware Ss who conformed less. In addition, Es who tested Ss of the opposite sex biased their results according to their expectations, while for Ss of the same sex the bias was reversed. It is apparent that conformity studies are quite susceptible to the effects of demand characteristics and that only with controlled E-S interaction and more attention to deception procedures can results be generalized. (French summary) (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The fakability of two measures of prejudice: The California F Scale and Gough's Pr Scale.

"Fifty-two elementary psychology students, who did not belong to minority groups and who were naive to the tests, were given the California F (authoritarian) scale and Gough's Pr (prejudice) scale. First they took the scales with the regular instructions. They repeated them, once faking prejudiced attitudes, and again faking unprejudiced attitudes. The Ss were clearly able to fake the prejudiced approach. However, they were able to change their scores significantly toward the unprejudiced direction only on the Pr scale… . It appears particularly easy to fake prejudice if the person is so inclined." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of a course in psychology on the attitudes of research and development supervisors.

In comparing lecture and nondirective approaches to changing group attitudes, 72 corporation supervisors taking a psychology course were subjected to pre and posttest comparisons of attitudes toward the supervisory role using a sentence completion test with both experimental and control groups. Negative findings involving a worsening of attitudes in the control group was attributed to group solidarity stimulated by threat of competition being forced upon them from without. The lecture method and emphasis on research findings produced improved attitudes toward supervisory work. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal constructs and homosexual stress.

Evaluated a personal-construct approach to the assessment of the potential for homosexual threat (homosexual stress). The measure, modified from personal construct research on death threat, was tested with 20 male and 20 female undergraduates. Those Ss who were more stressed by homosexuality had more negative attitudes toward homosexuality. Further, those Ss with the most negative attitudes toward homosexuals were those who saw homosexuality as invalidating more important constructs. Males who viewed homosexuality as more stressful tended to construe homosexuality as a more personally meaningful issue; females showed the opposite tendency. The homosexual stress measure was independent of authoritarianism (California F Scale) and was not highly related to Religious Fundamentalism Scale scores. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in problem-solving performance as a function of attitude differences.

Men make significantly higher scores than women on a scale of attitudes toward problem solving. Attitude scores "have some positive relationship to performance scores." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:1GD56C. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on eye movements as a measure of emotional reactivity to chromatic elements in Rorschach stimuli.

Measured s reactivity to colored stimuli by recording the eye movements of 24 impulsive and 24 inhibited undergraduates while they were shown rorschach cards. Analysis of eye-movement variables indicating the location of ss' visual inspection on cards ii and iii revealed that inhibited ss, compared with impulsive ss, spent more total time looking at chromatic elements. Inhibited ss tended to look at chromatic areas more frequently during the recording period. In contrast, impulsive ss mentioned color more often in verbal reports. It is suggested that eye movements may serve as a measure of the difficulty an s has in "handling" a particular stimulus element. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic underachievement, other-direction, and attitudes toward women's roles in bright adolescent females.

Studied achievement patterns and the relationship of other-direction and attitudes toward women to achievement in 43 10th-grade females with IQ scores above 110. Underachievers were Ss whose high school grade average was below the class mean. Achievement indices consisted of high school grades and scores on the Stanford Achievement Test and the Iowa Tests of Educational Development. Grade averages from Grades 2 through 10 were examined. Achievement patterns revealed a significant difference between the grades of achievers and underachievers beginning at Grade 6. Other-direction and attitudes toward women were significantly related to mathematical achievement test scores and high school grades. Results are discussed in relation to research in locus of control and factors contributing to adult underachievement in bright females. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes toward depression among rehabilitation participants with acute stroke: Evidence of an age cohort effect.

Purpose/Objective: Depression is commonplace after acute stroke and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. No data exist regarding attitudes about depression among older persons with acute stroke and their potential impact on self-report of depressive symptoms. The objective of this study was to determine if attitudes toward depression affect depression symptom reporting. Research Method/Design: Cross-sectional using data from an inpatient rehabilitation unit. Seventy-two people with acute stroke were surveyed regarding their attitudes toward depression as part of a larger battery assessing their cognitive and emotional functioning. Results: Both age and cognitive status were significant predictors of attitudes toward depression. Older participants expressed significantly more negative attitudes about depression and seeking professional help compared with younger participants. Those with higher cognitive scores held more positive attitudes. However, attitudes about depression were unrelated to participants' responses on self-report measures of depression. Conclusions/Implications: Participants with stroke who were older were more likely to report negative attitudes about depressive symptoms than were younger participants. However, these attitudes do not appear to represent a barrier to their ability to accurately report the presence and severity of depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)