Showing papers in "Basic and Applied Social Psychology in 1999"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined whether those identified as having a more present time perspective (PTP) are more likely to report using alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, and found that PTP was a significant predictor of reported substance use even after controlling for many personality traits that have been related to increased substance use.
Abstract: Two studies examined whether those identified as having a more present time perspective (PTP) are more likely to report using alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. In Study 1, across 2,627 participants from 15 samples, we found that PTP, as assessed by the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, was related to more frequent self-reported alcohol, drug, and tobacco use (Substance Use scale: average r = .34, p <.001). Future time perspective (FTP) was negatively related to reported substance use (average r = -.16, p < .001), but the relation was weaker than that of PTP, suggesting that PTP and FTP are independent constructs. In Study 2, we found that PTP was a significant predictor of reported substance use even after controlling for many personality traits that have been related to increased substance use. These findings indicate that time perspective is an important individual difference construct that should be considered when examining health-related behaviors, such as substance use and abuse, and in planning inter...
690 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors observed curbside recycling behaviors of 605 residents of single-family dwellings for 17 weeks and found significant increases from baseline in the frequency of participation and total amount of recycled material for the individual norm and the group feedback (i.e., descriptive norm) interventions.
Abstract: This field experiment increased the frequency of curbside recycling among community residents using feedback interventions that targeted personal and social norms. My team of researchers observed curbside recycling behaviors of 605 residents of single-family dwellings for 17 weeks. Groups of contiguous houses were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 experimental conditions: plea, plea plus information, plea plus neighborhood feedback, plea plus individual household feedback, or the control condition. Interventions were implemented using door hangers delivered to each household over a 4-week period. Results showed significant increases from baseline in the frequency of participation and total amount of recycled material for the individual (i.e., personal norm) and the group feedback (i.e., descriptive norm) interventions. None of the interventions altered the amount of contamination observed. These findings are interpreted as consistent with recent research on personal and social norms and suggest a link between b...
602 citations
TL;DR: The authors used an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) to predict alcohol and cannabis use in a study with a hundred seventy-six students, 69% of whom were successfully contacted 1 week later to provide behavioral data, and found support for the TPB as a predictor of alcohol-and cannabis-use intentions and behavior.
Abstract: Recent evidence has suggested that large numbers of university students both consume excessive quantities of alcohol and use cannabis. We designed this study to test the ability of an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) to predict alcohol and cannabis use. The main focus of the study was the issue of perceived control, particularly the measurement of control beliefs, and the proposed distinction between self-efficacy and "perceived control over behavior." One hundred seventy-six students completed TPB questionnaires, 69% of whom were successfully contacted 1 week later to provide behavioral data. Findings provided support for the TPB as a predictor of alcohol- and cannabis-use intentions and behavior, although analysis of belief components showed that a multiplicative combination is not always optimal. Evidence from confirmatory factor analyses, underlying control beliefs, and differential prediction of the two behaviors provided support for the refined perceived control components. The study also p...
268 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the mediational role of the planned behavior theory in the exercise domain using the Five Factor Model (FFM; Costa & McCrae, 1992) as the personality framework.
Abstract: Ajzen's (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB) proposes that the relation between personality and behavior is mediated by the social-cognitive constructs contained within the TPB. The purpose of the present studies was to examine the mediational role of the TPB in the exercise domain using the Five Factor Model (FFM; Costa & McCrae, 1992) as the personality framework. Two studies provided data to answer this question. Study 1 used a cross-sectional design with self-reported exercise behavior from 300 female undergraduate students. Study 2 used a prospective design with objective attendance records from 67 female participants enrolled in structured exercise classes. As expected, extraversion (E), conscientiousness (C), and neuroticism (N) were significantly related to exercise behavior. Contrary to our hypothesis, however, the relation between personality and exercise behavior was only partially mediated by the TPB. Specifically, hierarchical regression analysis of both data sets indicated that E had a di...
170 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the degree that social (public) and internal (private) consequences of reciprocation helped to explain both the power and the prevalence of the norm, and found support for both public and private reasons for reciprocation.
Abstract: The norm of reciprocity requires that we repay in kind what another has done for us. This study examined the degree that social (public) and internal (private) consequences of reciprocation helped to explain both the power and the prevalence of the norm. Participants were randomly assigned to conditions in which they were or were not given a small favor, and then were asked to comply with a request. Participants expected that the favor-doer would either know or not know whether they complied with the request. We found support for both public and private reasons for reciprocation, as the presence of a favor appeared to increase compliance in both public and private conditions. In addition, public compliance was greater than private compliance.
148 citations
TL;DR: The tendency to believe that one's risk is less than that of one's peers is a well-documented and pervasive tendency as discussed by the authors, which is reduced in certain circumstances, such as when people h...
Abstract: The tendency to believe that one's risk is less than that of one's peers is a well-documented and pervasive tendency. This optimistic bias is reduced in certain circumstances, such as when people h...
135 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors interviewed residents of 4 southeastern cities that differed in the nature of their exposure to Hurricane Hugo 2 years following the hurricane about their current precautionary behaviors and attitudes in the domains of hazard preparedness, crime prevention, vehicular safety, and health maintenance.
Abstract: We interviewed residents of 4 southeastern cities that differed in the nature of their exposure to Hurricane Hugo 2 years following the hurricane about their current precautionary behaviors and attitudes in the domains of hazard preparedness, crime prevention, vehicular safety, and health maintenance. Earlier interviews provided data on individual differences in severity of exposure. Both individual- and community-level measures of exposure predicted hazard preparedness. The effects of exposure on behavior were largely mediated by exposure's effects on the perceived usefulness of those behaviors. Although smaller in magnitude, effects of exposure generalized to self-protective acts other than hazard preparedness. The findings contradict earlier conclusions in the literature that the effects of personal experience on self-protective behavior are modest, transient, and specific.
126 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the idea that an important motivation for identifying with social groups is to reduce subjective uncertainty, particularly uncertainty on subjectively important dimensions that have implications for the self-concept (e.g., Hogg, 1996; Hogg & Mullin, 1999).
Abstract: An experiment was conducted to investigate the idea that an important motive for identifying with social groups is to reduce subjective uncertainty, particularly uncertainty on subjectively important dimensions that have implications for the self-concept (e.g., Hogg, 1996; Hogg & Mullin, 1999). When people are uncertain on a dimension that is subjectively important, they self-categorize in terms of an available social categorization and, thus, exhibit group behaviors. To test this general hypothesis, group membership, task uncertainty, and task importance were manipulated in a 2 × × × 2 between-participants design (N = 128), under relatively minimal group conditions. Ingroup identification and desire for consensual validation of specific attitudes were the key dependent measures, but we also measured social awareness. All three predictions were supported. Participants identified with their group (H1), and desired to obtain consensual validation from ingroup members (H2) when they were uncertain about thei...
115 citations
TL;DR: This article explored subtle prejudice against lesbians by examining heterosexual women's tendency to distance themselves socially from lesbians, regardless of whether they agree with the other person, and found that participants said more sexist remarks and were less likely to identify as feminists.
Abstract: We explored subtle prejudice against lesbians by examining heterosexual women's tendency to distance themselves socially from lesbians. People can distance themselves socially by expressing beliefs that are dissimilar to another person's beliefs, regardless of whether they agree with the other person. We used a conformity paradigm, in which the majority was perceived to be heterosexual, and a dissenter was represented as either lesbian or heterosexual, to investigate social distancing. The majority expressed unpopular personal preferences (e.g., preference for different types of musical instruments), gave sexist responses, and did not identify as feminist; the dissenter did the opposite. The sexual orientation of the dissenter affected high-prejudiced participants' expression of personal preferences and both high- and low-prejudiced participants' expression of modern sexist beliefs and self-identification as feminist. The consequence was that participants said more sexist remarks and were less likely to i...
96 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors measured collective self-esteem as it relates to students' memberships in their residence halls and found that development in collective selfesteem was associated with improvements in adjustment to college from the 1st semester to the second semester.
Abstract: This study investigates whether collective self-esteem predicts adjustment in a particular domain. We measured collective self-esteem as it relates to students' memberships in their residence halls. Our adjustment measures included social and academic adjustment to college, as well as grade point average. Measures were taken at two different time periods during an academic year. The results showed that academic adjustment at the end of the 1st year in college was predicted by development in collective self-esteem. Moreover, development in collective self-esteem was associated with improvements in adjustment to college from the 1st semester to the second semester. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of their ramification for students' academic adjustment, as well as for understanding the role of positively valued group memberships in general well-being.
87 citations
TL;DR: For instance, the authors suggested that multiplicative models of prosocial behavior may account for weak and inconsistent relations between traits and prosocial behaviors, and proposed a multiplicative model for prosocial behaviour.
Abstract: Prior theorists and researchers have suggested that multiplicative models of prosocial behavior may account for weak and inconsistent relations between traits and prosocial behaviors. This study ex...
TL;DR: This article found that participants were significantly more likely to help an individual portrayed as not responsible for disease onset, and helping was most pronounced in participants who held a high belief in a just world (BJW).
Abstract: This experiment integrated information from two areas of research-patient perception and belief in a just world (BJW)-that have heretofore offered relatively separate insights into when people will help others We provided participants an actual opportunity to help a target medical patient and attempted to demonstrate that volunteering is affected by both characteristics of the patient (perceived responsibility for disease onset) and characteristics of the perceiver (BJW) Participants were significantly more likely to help an individual portrayed as not responsible for disease onset, and helping was most pronounced in participants who held a high BJW Our findings suggest an interactive model of patient perception and helping behavior in which characteristics of the patient interact with characteristics of the perceiver
TL;DR: The authors found that physically attractive individuals are often viewed more favorably than unattractive people on dimensions that are weakly related or unrelated to physical looks, such as intelligence, sociability, and morality.
Abstract: Physically attractive individuals are often viewed more favorably than unattractive people on dimensions that are weakly related or unrelated to physical looks, such as intelligence, sociability, and morality. Our study investigated the role of U.S. films in this "beauty-and-goodness" stereotype. In Study 1, we established that attractive characters were portrayed more favorably than unattractive characters on multiple dimensions (e.g., intelligence, friendliness) across a random sample from 5 decades of top-grossing films. The link between beauty and positive characteristics was stable across time periods, character sex, and characters' centrality to the plot. Study 2 established that exposure to highly stereotyped films can elicit stronger beauty-and-goodness stereotyping. Participants watching a highly biased film subsequently showed greater favoritism toward an attractive graduate school candidate (compared with ratings of an unattractive candidate) than participants viewing a less biased film.
TL;DR: This paper examined whether the amount of unshared information (i.e., information that only one group member or another possesses prior to discussion) exchanged within groups is related to group-judgment accuracy.
Abstract: This study was conducted to examine whether the amount of unshared information (i.e., information that only one group member or another possesses prior to discussion) exchanged within groups is related to group-judgment accuracy when the correct response is not apparent to the members prior to discussion. Thirty-nine 3-person groups were asked to make a series of 36 judgments regarding the probability that hypothetical high school dropouts would return to school. These judgments were based on a set of information, part of which was given to all group members prior to discussion (shared information) and part of which was divided among them (unshared information). Moreover, this information was distributed to the members in such a way that their individual prediscussion preferences would tend to be either inaccurate (hidden profiles) or accurate (manifest profiles), relative to the optimal group judgment based on all of the information that was given to the group as a whole (i.e., both shared and unshared i...
TL;DR: This paper found that participants underestimate the probability of other people experiencing anger, fear, guilt, jealousy, joy, and shame, and that pluralistic ignorance may be caused by underestimation of how inhibited other people are by embarrassment.
Abstract: In 3 studies, we asked participants to report on their own emotional experience in specific scenarios, and to predict how others would respond. In line with speculation in the literature, in Study 1 we found underestimation of the percentage of others who would experience embarrassment. We also found truly false consensus effects. In Study 2 we asked participants to report on their experiences of inhibition due to embarrassment, and we found underestimation of how commonly others had been inhibited. We found evidence of a false consensus effect but no evidence of a truly false consensus effect. In Study 3, we found that participants underestimated the probability of other people experiencing anger, fear, guilt, jealousy, joy, and shame. We again found truly false consensus effects. Our results support the idea that pluralistic ignorance may be caused by underestimation of how inhibited other people are by embarrassment.
TL;DR: This paper examined how people are led to regard ethically ambiguous negotiation tactics as more or less morally acceptable and found that participants who identified with either initiators or targets of the ambiguous action would exhibit biased evaluations of what they considered ethical in negotiation.
Abstract: This study examines how people are led, via differential identification, to regard ethically ambiguous negotiation tactics as more or less morally acceptable. Research participants evaluated a videotape of a dyadic negotiation that either contained or did not contain an ethically ambiguous action. Crosscutting this variable, either the "perpetrator" or the "victim" in the negotiation videotape was made situationally relevant for the participant by telling him or her that he or she would later negotiate, taking either the role of the perpetrator or the victim. We predicted that participants who identified with either initiators or targets of the ethically ambiguous action would exhibit biased evaluations of what they considered ethical in negotiation. Consistent with this hypothesis, perpetrator-focused participants perceived the perpetrator and the ethically ambiguous action as significantly more ethical than victim-focused participants. The results of a third, "neutral observer" group of participants hel...
TL;DR: This paper found that the extremity of behavior should have a greater impact on correspondent inferences than on causal attributions, and that perceivers' interpretations of behavior predicted correspondent inference better than causal attribution.
Abstract: Several researchers have reported findings indicating that dispositional inferences and causal attributions differ. This suggests that such findings may reflect a more general difference between correspondent inferences (both dispositional and situational) and causal attributions. Current theory suggests that correspondent inferences are more closely linked to perceived behavior than are causal attributions. If so, then the extremity of behavior should have a greater impact on correspondent inferences than on causal attributions. In support of this hypothesis, our 1st investigation found that perceivers' interpretations of behavior predicted correspondent inferences better than causal attributions. Our 2nd investigation found that a manipulation of the behavior interpretation influenced correspondent inferences but not causal attributions. We discuss implications for current models of attribution.
TL;DR: This article showed that people tend to overestimate the relative degree of association between an infrequent or distinctive category of behavior and a minority group or target, an illusory correlation effect with implications for numerous social processes including stereotyping and product perception.
Abstract: Perceivers tend to overestimate the relative degree of association between an infrequent or distinctive category of behavior and a minority group or target, an illusory correlation effect with implications for numerous social processes including stereotyping and product perception. We argue that such illusory correlations can form under a broader set of conditions than has been previously shown. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that illusory correlations can emerge even when no distinctive behaviors are presented (i.e., in the absence of co-occurrences of infrequent events). Experiments 2 and 3 showed that perceivers are more likely to form strong illusory correlations when the difference in the amount of information describing majority versus minority groups is large rather than small. These findings support a process account suggesting that illusory correlations can form merely as a result of differences in the amount of information acquired about targets; minority group targets are assumed to have more...
TL;DR: This article found that making a request more attractive before the recipient has an opportunity to respond increases compliance beyond that of recipients who receive only the final version of the request, which suggests an important limit to the application of the that's-not-all technique.
Abstract: Research on the that's-not-all compliance procedure finds that making a request more attractive before the recipient has an opportunity to respond increases compliance beyond that of recipients who receive only the final version of the request. However, participants in Studies 1 and 2 presented with an improved offer before responding to a request were significantly less likely to agree to the final request than those not exposed to the technique. Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that this reversal is a function of the size of the initial request. Compared to a control group receiving only the final request, participants presented with an initial request that was substantially larger than the final request were less likely to comply, whereas participants presented with an initial request that was only slightly larger than the final request were more likely to comply. The findings suggest an important limit to the application of the that's-not-all technique.
TL;DR: This article examined the effect of mortality salience on the formation of distinctiveness-based illusory correlations and found that mortality salient or not made participants either mortality salient, or not, and then gave them information about the behavior of members of two groups using an illusary correlation paradigm.
Abstract: This study examined the effect of mortality salience on the formation of distinctiveness-based illusory correlations. I made participants either mortality salient or not and then gave them information about the behavior of members of 2 groups using an illusory correlation paradigm. I expected the illusory correlation to be stronger when I asked participants to contemplate their own death than when I asked them to contemplate a neutral topic. The results of Study 1 supported this prediction on several measures, although the illusory correlation did not occur as expected in the control condition. Consequently, I conducted a 2nd experiment to maximize the illusory correlation effect by presenting the stimuli for a shorter time interval and to replicate the results of Study 1. Although this change did not serve to increase the illusory correlation in the control condition, I replicated the basic findings of Study 1.
TL;DR: This paper found that people will perceive or exaggerate advantages in a target, that make the target inappropriate for social comparison, when they anticipate a comparison with the target and are uncertain of the outcome.
Abstract: Three experiments examined how people perceive a social comparison target when a dimension important to identity is threatened and a relatively unfavorable social comparison is anticipated. All 3 experiments show that people will perceive or exaggerate advantages in a target, that make the target inappropriate for social comparison, when they anticipate a comparison with the target and are uncertain of the outcome. Experiments 2 and 3 show that reports of some target advantages are moderated by individual differences in self-esteem, such that people with low self-esteem are more likely than people with high self-esteem to perceive that a comparison target enjoys subtle, subjective advantages. Finally, Experiment 3 shows that the report of overt target advantages reflects actual perceptions on the part of the perceiver, and are not merely self-presentational claims intended to manage audience attributions.
TL;DR: This article found that participants were more optimistic about a player who won the first trial than those who wanted him to lose after he was said to have won it, and ratings after individual trials were also sensitive to whether the yoked player won or lost.
Abstract: Participants in 2 studies received information varying in diagnosticity about another person whom they were motivated to view positively or negatively. In Study 1, participants' chances of winning a prize depended on whether another player won or lost an 11-trial game. Although estimates of this player's chances of winning were identical prior to the game, participants who wanted him to win were more optimistic than those who wanted him to lose after he was said to have won the first trial. Predictions following later trials also showed evidence of motivation, but only when participants had not made pregame predictions. Ratings after individual trials were also sensitive to whether the yoked player won or lost. In Study 2, participants received information that did or did not relate to the probable performance of their partner, opponent, or a control target in an upcoming creativity game. After receiving the information, participants rated their opponent more negatively than they did the control target, r...
TL;DR: The authors found that the greater weight accorded evidence based on a factual assertion about a specific event (as opposed to evidence framed in strictly probabilistic terms) may be related to the difficulty of "undoing" a prior mental representation of that event.
Abstract: The prevalence of systematic information processing errors suggests that people may frequently process information according to a set of rules that differs from a normative model. Research evidence on the treatment of probabilistic information, "naked statistical evidence," is a case in point. Wells (1992), for example, demonstrated the lack of influence of such evidence on judgments of civil liability. Results of our study suggest that the greater weight accorded evidence based on a factual assertion about a specific event (as opposed to evidence framed in strictly probabilistic terms) may be related to the difficulty of "undoing" a prior mental representation of that event. Analyses of responses to counterfactual alternatives indicated important differences between cognitions of participants given strictly probabilistic evidence and cognitions of those who read about a representation of the event. Drawing on Gilbert (1991) and the counterfactual reasoning literature, we propose a theoretical explanation...
TL;DR: The psychological sequelae of choosing to learn or not to learn one's HIV serostatus were examined in a group of 224 men who had been tested for HIV, and both HIV-seropositive and HIV-serving men who were initially unaware showed a decline in mood disturbance on learning their HIV status.
Abstract: The psychological sequelae of choosing to learn or not to learn one's HIV serostatus were examined in a group of 224 men who had been tested for HIV. Correlates of this avoidance were measured (a) when both groups had been tested and given the opportunity to receive the test results, and (b) after the group that initially chose to avoid HIV-serostatus information had learned their test results (and an equivalent time point for those who had already learned their HIV serostatus). Results indicate that those who kept themselves unaware of their serostatus had AIDS-related worries and concerns significantly higher than individuals aware that they were HIV seronegative and equivalent to individuals aware that they were HIV seropositive, at the first time point. Thus, unaware seronegative men suffered unnecessary worries and concerns. Both HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative men who were initially unaware showed a decline in mood disturbance on learning their HIV status. These findings suggest that learning ...
TL;DR: This paper found that blood pressure responses during the second task period tended to be greater for negative ability feedback than for those who received positive ability feedback, but did not differ as a function of ability feedback if the second tasks was dissimilar to the first.
Abstract: Participants first performed a reaction-time task and received feedback that they had high or low ability with respect to it. They then performed a second task that was either similar or dissimilar in character to the first, with the chance to earn a prize if they attained a moderate performance standard. Blood pressure responses assessed during the second task period were or tended to be greater for those who received negative ability feedback than for those who received positive ability feedback if the second task was similar to the first, but did not differ as a function of ability feedback if the second task was dissimilar to the first. Findings add to the body of evidence supporting a recent integrative analysis of effort, ability, and cardiovascular (CV) response and confirm the assumption that CV ability effects are performance-domain specific. Findings also call further into question the common supposition that CV responsivity is proportional to perceived ability in an appetitive context, and they provide empirical grounds for analyzing CV response instability effects in perceived-ability terms.
TL;DR: This article examined the ability of a perceiver's ability to postdict whom a person selected as a dating partner as well as the types of cues utilized by the perceiver to make this judgment.
Abstract: A perceiver's ability to postdict whom a person selected as a dating partner as well as the types of cues utilized by the perceiver to make this judgment were examined Segments of a television matchmaking series were used It was found that perceivers accurately postdicted whom a dater selected, although these judgments were not related to the compatibility of the couple As predicted, perceivers used physical attractiveness to select dating partners
TL;DR: This article found that people generally thought that public school charges were reasonable, but that private schools charges were unreasonable, and that people increased their reasonableness ratings of private school prices but not public school prices after receiving subsidy information.
Abstract: Three studies tested the hypotheses that (a) people think college tuition is too high, (b) people know very little about the subsidies colleges provide, and (c) providing people with subsidy information leads them to judge college prices as more reasonable. The results offered qualified support. First, people generally thought that public school charges were reasonable, but that private school charges were unreasonable. Second, people were aware of the subsidies provided by public schools, but were often unaware of those provided by private schools. Third, after receiving subsidy information, people increased their reasonableness ratings of private school prices but not public school prices. This was true even when they correctly estimated the private schools' subsidies. Making subsidy information salient seems to reframe reasonableness judgments.