Predictions of others' responses in a mixed-motive game: Self-justification or false consensus?

Examined speculations by D. M. Dawes et al (see record 1977-25298-001) concerning the extent to which persons use their own responses in mixed-motive situations as a basis for predicting the behavior of others. 172 female undergraduates played a 1-trial Prisoner's Dilemma game and predicted the responses of their partner and a person in another dyad. As predicted, Ss, irrespective of the particular choice they had made, tended to attribute their own response to others. In many Ss, this attribution appeared to be self-justifying, in that it was specific to the S's partner. Even more frequently, Ss attributed their own response to both partner and nonpartner (i.e., a false consensus), although they also tended to be more confident about their prediction of their partner's choice. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vested interest as a moderator of attitude–behavior consistency.

Two studies examined the hypothesis that the degree to which an individual perceives an attitude as hedonically relevant affects the relationship between attitudes and behavior. In Exp I, 99 undergraduates' willingness to work actively against the passage of a referendum that would raise the legal drinking age was associated with their age and, consequently, the degree to which this change would affect them. In Exp II with 100 college students, Ss who felt strongly that they would be affected either positively or negatively by the imposition of a university-wide senior comprehensive examination were consistent with their expressed attitudes toward the examination. The behavior of Ss who felt that the test would not affect them, however, was not strongly related to their attitude toward it. Ego involvement did not moderate attitude–behavior consistency. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)