Characteristics of interactional behavior in a psychotherapy analogue.

Ss discussed topics with an interviewer (I) whose comments were controlled by a motor response made by S. In Exp. I, there was less increase in silence over trials, more negative attitude toward the I, and longer delay after I responses when these were interpretations rather than reflections. With a choice between interpretation and reflection, several personality differences were found between Ss preferring one rather than the other of the two classes of I response. Ss in Exp. 1 requested an I response less frequently when he disagreed with them, but only under conditions in which Ss were told the I would try to influence them. Under influence instructions there was a positive correlation between frequency of I responses and negative attitude toward him. In Exp. 3, frequency of I response was maintained over trials only for Ss high on the Social Desirability Scale. The attitude of high SD Ss was more negative when emotional, rather than neutral, topics were discussed. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)