Showing papers in "European Journal of Social Psychology in 2000"

Social identity theory: past achievements, current problems and future challenges

Abstract: This article presents a critical review of Social Identity Theory. Its major contributions to the study of intergroup relations are discussed, focusing on its powerful explanations of such phenomena as ingroup bias, responses of subordinate groups to their unequal status position, and intragroup homogeneity and stereotyping. In addition, its stimulative role for theoretical elaborations of the Contact Hypothesis as a strategy for improving intergroup attitudes is noted. Then five issues which have proved problematic for Social Identity Theory are identified: the relationship between group identification and ingroup bias; the self-esteem hypothesis; positive – negative asymmetry in intergroup discrimination; the effects of intergroup similarity; and the choice of identity strategies by low-status groups. In a third section a future research agenda for the theory is sketched out, with five lines of enquiry noted as being particularly promising: expanding the concept of social identity; predicting comparison choice in intergroup settings; incorporating affect into the theory; managing social identities in multicultural settings; and integrating implicit and explicit processes. The article concludes with some remarks on the potential applications of social identity principles. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Value priorities and subjective well‐being: direct relations and congruity effects

Abstract: Two studies investigated relations of value priorities to measures of subjective well-being. Samples of students and adults, from Israel and former East and West Germany (N=1261), participated in Part I. Hypothesized direct relations of nine types of values to well-being, based on ‘healthy’ values from the psychotherapy literature, relations of values to needs, self-determination theory, and the emotional resources needed to pursue various values were tested in each sample. Achievement, self-direction, stimulation, tradition, conformity and security values correlated with affective well-being, as predicted, but not with cognitive well-being. Part II tested the hypothesis that well-being depends upon congruence between personal values and the prevailing value environment. Results largely supported specific hypotheses regarding the values conducive to positive and negative well-being among students of business administration (n=40) and psychology (n=42). Hypotheses were derived from the social sanctions, environmental affordances for value attainment, and internal value conflicts likely to be experienced in each department. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination at the seam between the centuries: evolution, culture, mind, and brain

Abstract: Social psychologists possess considerable enthusiasm and expertise in the study of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, having commenced in the 1920s and 1930s. Research and theory in the next three to four decades focused on motivation, followed by a reactively exclusive focus on cognition in the 1970s and early 1980s, in turn followed by a 1990s joint focus on cognition and motivation. Throughout, intra-individual conflict analyses have alternated with contextual analyses, though both clearly have merit. Based on a social evolutionary viewpoint, a few core social motives (belonging, understanding, controlling, enhancing, and trusting) account for much current research on interpersonal category-based responses. Trends for the future should entail more emphasis on behavior, more sensitivity to cultural specificities and universals, as well as budding efforts on neural mechanisms of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Predicting and understanding behavioral volitions: the interplay between goals and behaviors

Abstract: In traditional attitude research behavioral volitions have been usually considered in isolation from the broader context that justify their formation. Most behaviors are functional to goal achievement and can be better understood and predicted by considering relevant constructs at the goal level. The interplay between behaviors and goals is the focus of this study. Constructs specified by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) are examined together with constructs proposed by the Model of Goal-directed Behavior (MGB) and two further goal constructs (goal desires and goal perceived feasibility). These theoretical ideas are tested on a sample of 104 students having a goal for body weight regulation or for studying effort. The results indicate that the inclusion of distal goal-related constructs significantly improve the prediction of behavioral volitions, over and above the prediction based on behavior-related constructs. The MGB and an extended model outperform the TPB and show substantial predictive power. The implications of the findings for research on behaviors and goals are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Social dominance orientation, anti-egalitarianism and the political psychology of gender: An extension and cross-cultural replication.

Abstract: This study explored differences in levels of anti-egalitarianism and social dominance orientation among groups with different social status, and examined the degree to which these differences in anti-egalitarianism varied across a number of situational and contextual factors. Consistent with both the cultural deterministic (CD) and social dominance (SD) paradigms, when defining social status as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or ‘race’, differences in anti-egalitarianism between members of high- and low-status groups were found to be contingent upon a range of contextual and situational factors, such as the degree to which the two groups varied in social status. However, consistent with the SD perspective and the invariance hypothesis, the data also showed that males were more anti-egalitarian than females, and that this male/female difference in social and group dominance orientation tended to be largely invariant across cultural, situational, and contextual boundaries. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Emotional state and the detection of change in facial expression of emotion

Abstract: A new method is presented for examining effects of emotion in the detection of change in facial expression of emotion. The method was used in one experiment, reported here. Participants who were induced to feel happiness, sadness, or neutral emotion, saw computerized 100-frame movies in which the first frame always showed a face expressing a specific emotion (e.g. happiness). The facial expression gradually became neutral over the course of the movie. Participants played the movie, changing the facial expression, and indicated the frame at which the initial expression was no longer present on the face. Emotion congruent expressions were perceived to persist longer than were emotion incongruent expressions. The findings are consistent with previous findings documenting enhanced perceptual processing of emotion congruent information. The value of the current technique, and the types of everyday situations that it might model are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Classical and modern racial prejudice: a study of attitudes toward immigrants in Sweden

Abstract: In two studies we develop and validate a Classical-overt or direct-and a Modern-covert or subtle-Racial Prejudice Scale, concerning attitudes toward immigrants, for a Swedish (Scandinavian) context. Further, we examine whether these two forms of prejudice

Social cognition: learning about what matters in the social world

Abstract: Social-cognitive principles underlie people's learning about what matters in the social world. The benefits of these social-cognitive principles reveal essential aspects of what it means to be human. But these social-cognitive principles also have inherent costs, which highlight what it means to be ‘only human’. Social cognition is ‘social’ because what is learned concerns the social world, and where the learning takes place is in the social world. This paper reviews the benefits and costs of both sides of social cognition: (1) the cognition of social psychology principles of organization, explanation, knowledge activation and use; and (2) the social psychology of cognition principles of shared reality role enactment, social positions and identities and internal audiences. The fact that there are inherent costs of the same social-cognitive principles for which there are essential benefits affords a new perspective on social-cognitive costs that is different from either the classic ‘conflict’ perspective or the more current ‘limited capacity’ and ‘dual-process’ perspectives. This ‘trade-off’ perspective deepens both our understanding of the true nature of these principles and our appreciation of our common humanity. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Terror management and the vicissitudes of sports fan affiliation: The effects of mortality salience on optimism and fan identification.

Abstract: The present research examined the hypothesis derived from terror management theory that identifications with sports teams shield against the potential consequences of awareness of death. Experiment 1 demonstrated that Dutch participants who were reminded of their death expressed greater optimism about the results of the national soccer team compared to a control condition. Experiment 2 conceptually replicated this finding with American participants and college sports teams. In addition, Experiment 2 tested the hypothesis that success of a team is a prerequisite for sports fan affiliation to function as a buffer against death concerns. Before the college football season began, participants who were reminded about death expressed greater relative preference for a more salient, but less successful college football team over a national college champion basketball team compared to control participants. However, after the football team lost its first game of the season, participants who were reminded about death indicated greater relative preference for the successful basketball team. Results are discussed with regard to the psychological function of social identifications.

Self-schemas and the theory of planned behaviour

Abstract: This paper argues that empirical, conceptual, and statistical difficulties characterise previous demonstrations that self-schemas moderate the relationship between intentions and behaviour. A longitudinal study (n=163) was designed to overcome limitations of previous research. Theory of planned behaviour variables, past behaviour, and self-schemas were assessed in relation to exercise. Behaviour was followed up two weeks later. Findings showed that self-schemas moderated the intention–behaviour relation such that schematics were more likely to enact their intentions to exercise compared to unschematics. Evidence suggested that the importance dimension of self-schema measures was responsible for the moderator effect. Self-schemas were also associated with improved prediction of behavioural intentions after controlling for the other predictors. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Interdependence in negotiation: effects of exit options and social motive on distributive and integrative negotiation

Abstract: This study extends past research on the impact of alternatives in dyadic negotiation by (a) providing negotiators with the mere possibility to negotiate with an outside party and (b) examining the moderating role of the negotiators' social motive. Business students engaged in face-to-face negotiations, which were audio-taped and transcribed. None, one, or both dyad members were provided with an exit option—the possibility to leave the current negotiation and start new negotiations with someone else. Dyads were also given instructions to maximize own outcomes (egoistic motive) or to consider both own and the other's outcomes (prosocial motive). Results showed that, as expected, dyads with a one-sided exit option engaged in more distributive and less integrative behavior, and obtained lower joint outcomes than dyads having either two-sided or no exit options. However, this effect occurred only under an egoistic rather than a prosocial motive. No differences were found for negotiations with two-sided exit options compared to negotiations without exit options, suggesting one's own exit option is counterbalanced by the other's escape possibility. Our results indicate that negotiators who wish to maximize personal as well as joint outcomes should try to combine a power advantage in terms of exit options with a shared prosocial orientation

Social relationships: the nature and function of relational schemas

Abstract: This paper reviews developments in the field of close relationships from an interdependence theory perspective. It concludes that focusing on the relational, dyadic aspects of relationships has led to a much better understanding of social cognition and of interpersonal processes. In this vein, the nature and function of relational schemas seems a particularly promising new direction for research. It encompasses recent work on self-in-relation-to-other schema structure, the organization of schemas in cognitive networks, motivated construal in service of a need for felt security, and the dynamics of attachment and dependency regulation. Despite some impressive advances in research on close relationships, however, a more social psychological emphasis on the causal influence of features of social situations on cognition and behavior is important for the future health of the field. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Acculturation discrepancies and well‐being: the moderating role of conformity

Abstract: This study examines associations of immigrants' well-being with the discrepancies they perceive between their own acculturation attitudes and the acculturation expectations of members of the host society. A hundred immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union reported their personal value priorities, their satisfaction with life, their attitudes towards acculturation, and their beliefs about what members of the dominant society require of them. The immigrants believed that Israelis want them to relinquish their distinctive identity and to assimilate more than they themselves wish to do. As hypothesized, perceived pressure to assimilate correlated negatively with life satisfaction only among those who value conformity, but not among others. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Assimilation and contrast in social comparisons as a consequence of self‐construal activation

Abstract: We extended existing research about self-construal activation to the study of social comparisons, specifically to self–other similarity ratings. Independent self-knowledge substantiates the notion of dissimilarity, whereas interdependent self-knowledge implies similarity with others. Therefore, perceived self–other similarity was predicted to decrease after independent and increase after interdependent self-knowledge priming. However, we expected such assimilation effects to occur only if the priming was subtle, but contrast effects if it was overt. In order to test this hypothesis, we developed a scrambled sentences test for priming the respective self-knowledge. The unscrambled sentences described the self either in terms of independence or interdependence. The subtlety of this priming was manipulated by having participants write down either the full sentences (overt priming) or only the remaining word in each item (subtle priming). Results confirmed the predictions. Underlying cognitive processes of the effects are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Group socialization and prejudice: the social transmission of intergroup attitudes and beliefs

Abstract: In order to examine the social transmission of prejudice in the military, attitudes and beliefs of Francophone (minority) and Anglophone (majority) prospective military officers toward their own and other groups were assessed at the beginning and at the end of a four-year officer-training program. Consistent with social dominance theory and system justification theory, majority group members become significantly more negative toward outgroups (e.g. Francophones, civilians and immigrants) and more likely to internalize beliefs that legitimize the economic gap between Francophones and Anglophones in Canada. Moreover, as predicted on the basis of self-categorization theory, the results show that identification with the category ‘Canadian Forces Officers’ assessed at the midpoint in the program, moderates the change in intergroup attitudes and beliefs. Finally, minority group members did not internalize negative stereotypes of their own group. These results provide important evidence for the role of group socialization in the explanation of intergroup attitudes and beliefs and suggest that social identification is a key factor in group socialization, consistent with self-categorization theory. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Agenda 2000 — Social judgment and attitudes: warmer, more social, and less conscious

Abstract: Developments in social judgment research during the last two decades have broadened the explanatory power of the information processing perspective by paying attention to the social context of human judgment, the importance of ‘warm' cognition, and the role of nonconscious processes. The application of social cognition theorizing to the formation of attitude judgments provided new insights into classic issues of attitude research, suggesting that attitudes may be fruitfully conceptualized as temporary constructions. Implications of these developments, open issues, and potentially fruitful avenues for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cognitive load and perspective‐taking: applying the automatic‐controlled distinction to verbal communication

Abstract: The boundary conditions of perspective-taking were explored in two experiments. Participants gave instructions on the assembly of a machine model. In Experiment I, cognitive load was manipulated, and speakers gave two instructions to different addressees with divergent knowledge. Unlike utterances produced under low load, instructions given under high load were not adapted to the addressees. Experiment II demonstrated that this load effect was partially compensated for by high accountability. Findings support a two-stage model of utterance planning: the controlled processes of monitoring and adjustment operate on the output of a predominantly automatic stage of planning. Cognitive load impairs monitoring and adjustment, and leads to ‘standard’ utterances that are not adapted to the addressee's perspective. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

How current feedback and chronic effectiveness influence motivation : everything to gain versus everything to lose

Abstract: We found that the effects on subsequent motivation of success and failure feedback are moderated by the extent to which individuals have been previously successful in promotion self- regulation (achieving their ideals) and prevention self- regulation (meeting their oughts). Specifically, we found that the more individuals are ideal congruent, the more their performance increases over time following success than failure feedback, whereas the more individuals are ought congruent, the more their performance increases over time following failure than success feedback. These findings have implications for research on the effects of feedback on motivation, as well as for the motivational significance of the expressions, ‘everything to gain’ and ‘everything to lose’. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Agenda 2000: Communication: Language as an implementational device for cognition.

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to identify the functions of social cognition in a communication context. It is argued that social cognition is for the regulation of adaptive action and makes use of external devices (e.g. language) to implement action. First, the complexity of communication as a social achievement is discussed to prepare the ground for examining the link between language, cognition and communication. The implementational devices (language) of social cognition are addressed next. On the basis of these considerations a message-modulation model is proposed to conceptualize the interplay between language, cognition, motivation and communication. The application of this model to research on the transmission and maintenance of stereotypes illustrates the types of open research issues and directions that may be possible routes for future work. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Overcoming the planning fallacy through willpower : effects of implementation intentions on actual and predicted task-completion times

Abstract: Previous work has shown that people often underestimate their task-completion times (Buehler, Griffin, & Ross, 1994). The present research examined whether this optimistic bias may be reduced through the formation of implementation intentions. In an experimental study, participants were requested to complete an assignment within a specked time period. Half of these participants made implementation intentions about where and when they would complete the assignment. The remaining participants were simply given the goal of completing the assignment. The results showed that furnishing participants' goals with implementation intentions led to (a) more optimistic completion predictions, (b) an even greater increase in actual rates of goal completion, and, consequently, (c) a significant reduction in optimistic bias in completion predictions. Furthermore, the reduction in optimistic bias among implementation-intention participants was found to be mediated by a smaller number of interruptions while working on the assignment. Together, these findings attest to the importance of implementation planning in overcoming unrealistic optimism in task-completion predictions.

Why do superiors attend to negative stereotypic information about their subordinates : Effects of power legitimacy on social perception

Abstract: Power can be defined as control over people's outcomes. using this definition, we explored the impact of power on attentional processes involved in impression formation. Because powerful individuals may want to maintain and justify their position, powerful participants should pay particular attention to negative stereotype-consistent information about their subordinates. In contrast, powerless participants should devote their attention to stereotype-inconsistent information in an attempt to increase their control over the social context. Study 1 directly manipulated control by assigning participants to the role of leader or subordinate ina task group. Results showed that, compared to subordinates, leaders devoted more attention to negative stereotypic attributes. Study 2 manipulated the legitimacy of power and replicated the pattern found in Study 1 but only when power was illegitimate. Our findings suggest that the experience of power can be associated with feelings of threat, especially when power is illegitimate, thereby orienting impression-formation processes toward information likely to maintain the existing social structure. We discuss our results in the context of current work on motivated social cognition, social identity, and legitimisation. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

The reinstatement of dissonance and psychological discomfort following failed affirmations

Abstract: The research in this article examined the consequences of a failed attempt to reduce dissonance through a self-affirmation strategy. It was hypothesized that disconfirming participants' affirmations would reinstate psychological discomfort and dissonance motivation. In Experiment 1, high-dissonance participants who affirmed on a self-relevant value scale and received disconforming feedback about their affirmations expressed greater psychological discomfort (Elliot & Devine, 1994) than either affirmation-only participants or low-dissonance/affirmation disconformed participants. In Experiment 2, disconfirmation of an affirmation resulted in increased attitude change. The results of both experiments suggested that a failed attempt to reduce dissonance reinstates psychological discomfort and dissonance motivation. We discuss how the reduction of psychological discomfort may play a role in the success of affirmations in reducing dissonance-produced attitude change. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The effects of social context, source fairness, and perceived self-source similarity on social influence: A self-categorisation analysis.

Abstract: Based upon a self-categorisation analysis of social influence (Turner, 1991), we predicted that individuals who self-categorise with the source of a communication would align their own private attitudes more closely with the source when that source was distributively fair rather than unfair in an intragroup context. We expected this pattern to reverse in an intergroup context when the unfairness was ingroup favouring. These expectations were confirmed in a laboratory experiment (N=101). The data suggest that neither source similarity nor source fairness serve simply as persuasion cues to which individuals thoughtlessly conform. We argue, instead that, once self-categorised, individuals: (1) actively attend to an ingroup member's behaviours and the context in which they occur, and (2) are influenced only by a source who provides some form of social identity enhancement, either by being fair in an intragroup context (Lind & Tyler, 1988) or ingroup favouring in an intergroup context (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Folk conceptions of fairness and unfairness

Abstract: This study sought to identify the standards people invoke when judging the fairness or unfairness of outcomes of everyday events, and to determine whether their standards of judgment vary according to the fairness of the outcome and to their perspective, i.e. whether the outcomes are ones they personally experienced or witnessed. The standards of fairness laypeople were found to invoke, even when unprompted, coincided with the standards social scientists have emphasized (e.g. distributive, procedural) in their theories of psychological justice. However, laypeople emphasized these standards differently when accounting for the fairness–unfairness of personal experiences versus those they had witnessed, and when accounting for fair versus unfair outcomes. As predicted, they were more likely to invoke procedural and interpersonal criteria when judging the fairness–unfairness of their own outcomes, but more likely to invoke distributive criteria when judging others' outcomes. Regardless of perspective, laypeople cited procedural criteria as the major determinants of their fairness judgements; but cited procedural, distributive and interpersonal criteria as comparably influential in determining their unfairness judgments. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The typical student as an in‐group member: eliminating optimistic bias by reducing social distance

Abstract: While demonstrations of optimistic bias are plentiful, successful attempts at eliminating the bias (debiasing) are rare. The current study attempted to debias by reducing the perceived social distance between the self and the typical own university student. Using self-categorisation theory, it was predicted that rating the out-group target (the typical student at another university) before the in-group one would reduce the perceived social distance between the self and the latter and lead to a reduction in optimistic bias. Both predictions were supported, with optimistic bias being eliminated for negative events and attenuated for positive events. In the standard optimistic bias condition (in-group first) optimistic bias was obtained for both negative and positive events. The findings provide support for perceived social distance in determining optimistic bias. The implications for recent arguments that comparisons with an abstract target automatically evoke an ‘I am better than average’ heuristic or necessarily entail the use of distributional judgmental frameworks are explored. Whilst the automatic linking of abstract targets with heuristic or distributional thinking is called into question, a case is made for integrating these ideas with the self-categorisation approach. Where practitioners aim to reduce optimistic bias, the findings suggest promoting the perception of the target as a fellow in-group member may help do so. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Recovering Bartlett's social psychology of cultural dynamics

Abstract: Despite the current treatment of Frederic C. Bartlett as a cognitive psychologist, his psychology was fundamentally socio-cultural. More than half a century after the publication of Psychology and Primitive Culture (1923) and Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology (1932), his theoretical contribution has contemporary implications for a social psychology that takes culture seriously. This paper seeks to recover and appraise Bartlett's social psychology in light of the recent literature on culture and psychology, and discusses his relevance for a social psychology of cultural dynamics. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Interdependence, social motives, and outcome satisfaction in multiparty negotiation

Abstract: What makes negotiators satisfied with their outcomes? In this study, we examined whether interpersonal interdependence, in the context of multi-party multi-issue negotiation, affected negotiators' satisfaction with their individual and group outcomes. We integrated principles from interdependence, social comparison, and social value theories to generate hypotheses about the social-evaluative nature of satisfaction with negotiation outcomes. Controlling for differences in quality of individual outcomes, we found a positive association between satisfaction and individual outcome and a negative association between satisfaction and group outcome. Relative to those with prosocial social value orientation, negotiators with an individualistic social value orientation were less satisfied with the group outcome, regardless of induced motivational orientation. Neither motivational orientation nor an interaction between motivational orientation and social value orientation were related to satisfaction. We discuss the implications of our results for research on interdependence processes in negotiations and the role of social motives. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The pleasure of possessions: affective influences and personality in the evaluation of consumer items

Abstract: What is the role of affect in the way people perceive and evaluate their material possessions? Participants induced to feel good or bad estimated the subjective and objective value of a number of consumer items they owned or wanted to own. Participants also completed the Openness to Feelings (OF) scale. As expected, mood had no effect on objective evaluations. However, we found a significant interaction between personality (OF) and mood on subjective evaluations. Individuals scoring high on OF showed a clear mood congruent pattern: They made more positive evaluations of consumer items when in a positive rather than negative mood. In contrast, people scoring low on OF showed an opposite, mood-incongruent bias. Openness to Feelings moderated the mood effects regardless of whether the mood was induced using an autobiographical or a video mood induction procedure, and regardless of whether the items were owned or merely desired. The results are interpreted in terms of the cognitive mechanisms responsible for mood effects on consumer judgments, and the role of personality variables in moderating these effects is discussed. The implications of the findings for contemporary affect-cognition theories, and for our understanding of the variables influencing consumer judgments are considered. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A longitudinal exploration of the continuity of children's social participation and social withdrawal across socioeconomic status levels and social settings

Abstract: The major purpose of this study was to determine the stability across time and social setting of children's social participation and social withdrawal. We followed a sample of Canadian children, aged five years at the beginning of the study, for two years. Children from lower-SES homes were less involved than those from the higher-SES in group play after school and during outdoor recess. Across the full sample, social withdrawal was not very stable. There was, however, considerable stability across setting and time among extreme groups of withdrawn participants. Social withdrawal was largely unrelated to parents' initiation of peer contacts for their children. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Compatibility between approach/ avoidance stimulation and valenced information determines residual attention during the process of encoding

Abstract: We tested the hypothesis that the activation of the motivational systems of approach or avoidance by body postures and taste influences residual attention during the process of encoding differentially valenced words. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to stand upright or kneel while learning either positive or negative adjectives. To measure participants' differential cognitive capacities, a dual task paradigm was used, including a finger-dexterity test as a secondary task. We were able to show that participants performed worse on the secondary task compared to a baseline assessed before if there was incompatibility between postures and the valence of the information. In Experiment 2, we replicated the results with bitter and sweet taste instead of body positions. It is our contention that the activation of approach or avoidance systems by bodily states prepares the organism for information of differential valence.