Showing papers in "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1968"

Attitudinal effects of mere exposure.

Abstract: The hypothesis is offered that mere repeated exposure of the individual to a stimulus object enhances his attitude toward it. By \"mere\" exposure is meant a condition making the stimulus accessible to the individual's perception. Support for the hypothesis consists of 4 types of evidence, presented and reviewed: (a) the correlation between affective connotation of words and word frequency; (b) the effect of experimentally manipulated frequency of exposure upon the affective connotation of nonsense words and symbols; (c) the correlation between word frequency and the attitude to their referents j (d) the effects of experimentally manipulated frequency of exposure on attitude. The relevance for the exposure-attitude hypothesis of the exploration theory and of the semantic satiation findings were examined.

Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility.

Abstract: Ss overheard an epileptic seizure. They believed either that they alone heard the emergency, or that 1 or 4 unseen others were also present. As predicted the presence of other bystanders reduced the individual's feelings of personal responsibility and lowered his speed of reporting (p < .01). In groups of size 3, males reported no faster than females, and females reported no slower when the 1 other bystander was a male rather than a female. In general, personality and background measures were not predictive of helping. Bystander inaction in real-life emergencies is often explained by "apathy," "alienation," and "anomie." This experiment suggests that the explanation may lie more in the bystander's response to other observers than in his indifference to the victim.

Group inhibition of bystander intervention in emergencies.

Abstract: Male undergraduates found themselves in a smoke-filling room either alone, with 2 nonreacting others, or in groups of 3. As predicted, Ss were less likely to report the smoke when in the presence of passive others (10%) or in groups of 3 (38% of groups) than when alone (75%). This result seemed to have been mediated by the way 5s interpreted the ambiguous situation; seeing other people remain passive led Ss to decide the smoke was not dangerous.

Social facilitation of dominant responses by the presence of an audience and the mere presence of others.

Abstract: Experiments have shown that the presence of an audience affects individual performance b y enhancing the emission o f dominant responses. A n experiment was conducted t o evaluate the proposal o f Zajonc that the mere presence of other persons is responsible for audience effects. A total o f 4 5 university students performed a pseudorecognition task; 1 5 performed the task alone, I S performed the task before a n audience o f 2 passive spectators, and 1 5 performed the task in the presence o f 2 persons who were not spectators. The task placed previously established verbal habits i n competition with each other. The presence o f a n audience enhanced the emission o f dominant responses, but the mere presence of others did not.

Words, deeds, and the perception of consequences and responsibility in action situations '

Abstract: It is proposed that correspondence between people's norms and their behavior can be expected only when pertinent norms are activated in the choice situation, and that activation depends upon how consequences and responsibility for social behavior are perceived. Using indexes of tendencies to become aware of consequences for the welfare of others and to ascribe responsibility to the self, 118 male college students were assigned to groups with different probabilities of experiencing activation of their norms. Within groups presumed to experience little activation of norms, no correspondenc e between norms and behavior was observed. Increasingly positive correlations were found within groups more likely to experience activation of norms. (For a summary index, r = .02 in the lowest group, and r = .58 in the highest.) The findings suggest an interaction between ascription of responsibilit y and awareness of consequences in activating norms. The question of how verbalizations concerning attitudes, opinions, and norms are related to overt behaviors is of continuing concern in social science. Deutscher (1966a) has compiled a bibliography of several hundred sources dealing with aspects of this question. Yet the conclusions drawn by reviewers of this literature are widely divergent. DeFleur and Westie (1963), for example, labeled the idea that there should be consistency between verbal behavior and actions "the fallacy of expected correspondence," arguing that verbalizations and overt actions constitute separate universes of response. Yet Campbell (1963, pp. 157-162) asserted that true inconsistency is rarely found, and called what is reported in the social attitude literature "pseudoinconsistency." He cited failure to recognize that verbal behavior and overt behavior have different situational thresholds as the basis for many inconsistency interpretations. The springboard for the research reported here is the often noted fact that verbalizations are commonly elicited or measured in one setting, while the actions which they 1 This research was supported in part by Public Health Service fellowship MH-23, 855, and computer analysis was funded by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the National Science Foundation. The author is indebted to Howard Schuman for his critical comments and suggestions. presumably might govern are observed in another (cf. Campbell, 1963; DeFleur &

Pattern of performance and ability attribution: An unexpected primacy effect.

Abstract: 6 experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of varying distributions of success and failure on attributions of intellectual ability. In the 1st 4 experiments 5s confronted a stimulus person who solved 15 out of 30 problems in a random, descending, or ascending success pattern. In the 5th experiment only the descending and ascending patterns were compared. Contrary to prediction, the performer who showed improvement (ascending success) was not consistently judged to be more able than the performer with randomly spaced successes. The performer with a descending success rate, however, was consistently judged to he more intelligent and was expected to outperform those with either ascending or random patterns. Memory for past performance was uniformly distorted in favor of recalling more success for the descending performer and less success for the ascending and random performers. Neither this measure nor ratings of intelligence required, for their discriminating effects, that 5 himself solve the problems in parallel with the person being judged. In the final experiment S himself performed in an improving, deteriorating, or random but stable fashion, and was then asked to estimate his future performance. Under these circumstances, the ascending performer was more confident about his ability than the descending or random performer, reversing the picture of the 1st 5 experiments. The results were discussed in terms of the salience of early information in attributing ability and the role of social comparison processes. Heider's (1958) analysis of person perception has generated considerable interest in the attribution process or in the conditions under which various personal dispositions are inferred from observed acts. Recent theoretical extensions of Heider's work by Jones and Davis (1965) and Kelley (1967) reflect this continuing interest. The number of empirical studies dealing with attribution is not large, and the bulk of these focus on such dispositions as motives, intentions, and attitudes. Ability dispositions have been almost entirely ignored in considering various attribution instances. The present series of studies does focus on inferences about ability drawn from observed performance. There are undoubtedly many conditions that affect the extent to which 1 This research was facilitated by National Science Foundation Grant G8857. The authors are indebted for comments and suggestions to Jack Brehm, Darwyn Linder, Roland Radloff, and John Thibaut. Catherine Bayes served as the experimenter in the first study and on film; she made a number of perceptive contributions to the planning of the first

Manipulated time and eating behavior

Abstract: By the use of doctored clocks, the external, food-relevant cue, "dinner time," is manipulated so that some Ss entered an experimental eating situation believing it to be later than their regular dinner time and others believing it to be before dinner time. Obese Ss ate more when they thought that they were eating after their regular dinner hour than they did when they thought that they were eating before their dinner hour. There is no such effect for normal Ss. Additional data relevant to the hypotheses are presented from a questionnaire study of the eating routine and regularity of obese and normal Ss.

Postdecision dissonance at post time.

Abstract: 2 experiments were conducted to investigate postdecisional dissonance reduction processes following a commitment to bet on a horse in the natural and uncontrived setting of a race track. In the 1st study, 69 $2 Win bettors rated the chance that the horse they had selected would win the forthcoming race and 72 other bettors provided ratings immediately after making a $2 Win bet. On the 7-point rating scale employed, prcbet subjects gave a median rating of 3.48, which corresponded to a "fair chance of winning"; postbet subjects gave a median rating of 4.81, which corresponded to a "good chance of winning." This difference was significant beyond the .01 level. The general findings were replicated in a 2nd study in which harness-race patrons rated how confident they felt about their selected horse either just before or just after betting. Results from both studies provide support for Feslinger's theory in a real life setting and indicate that dissonance-reducing processes may occur very rapidly following commitment to a decision. In the last decade there have been numerous laboratory experiments conducted to test various implications of Festinger's (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance. In spite of sometimes serious methodological faults (cf. Chapanis & Chapanis, 1964), the laboratory evidence as a whole has tended to support Festinger's notions. Confidence in the theory, as Brehm and Cohen (1962) have previously suggested, can now be further strengthened by extending empirical tests from lifelike to real life situations. The present study investigates the effects of postdecision dissonance on bettors in their natural habitat, the race track. Festinger (1957) had originally contended that due to the lingering cognitions about the favorable characteristics of the rejected alternative(s), dissonance was an inevitable consequence of a decision. Subsequently, however, Festinger (1964) accepted the qualification that in order for dissonance to occur, the decision must also have the effect of committing the person. A favorite technique for reducing postdecisional dissonance, ac

Relationship between vocalizations and head nods as listener responses.

Abstract: An earlier study showed that listeners in conversations insert brief responses (\"mm-hmm,\" \"I see,\" and the like) almost exclusively at the ends of rhythmical units in the talker's speech (Dittmann & Llewellyn, 1967). In this study these vocal responses were compared with a visible one, the head nod, and it was found that the 2 occurred together more often than chance would predict. Content analysis showed that these co-occurrences usually serve an interpersonal function: the wish of the listener to speak or the wish of the talker for feedback. When they did occur together, nods were found to precede the vocal response slightly. Apparently the listener must hold a vocal response politely until the speaker has finished a unit, but may nod before then.

Rejection as a consequence of perceived similarity.

Abstract: 48 male and 48 female Ss took part in a study of \"impression formation,\" during which they evaluated a \"partner\" who was presented as either similar or dissimilar to themselves, and who was further presented as either normal or emotionally disturbed. Ss rated the partner's attractiveness, similarity to themselves, and indicated their willingness to interact with him. When the partner was believed to be normal, Ss indicated a greater desire to interact with a similar than a dissimilar partner. However, when the partner was perceived as disturbed, Ss showed greater willingness to interact with a dissimilar partner than with one who was similar to themselves.

Combining visual and verbal information in an impression-formation task.

Abstract: 40 FEMALE STUDENTS RATED MALES USING A PHOTOGRAPH AND 2 PERSONALITY-TRAIT ADJECTIVES IN TERMS OF DESIRABILITY AS A DATE, TO TEST INTEGRATION OF THESE 3 PIECES OF INFORMATION TO FORM THE OVERALL IMPRESSION. RESULTS SUPPORTED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE 2 ADJECTIVES WERE SIMPLY AVERAGED TOGETHER, BUT THERE WAS A STRONG INTERACTION BETWEEN ADJECTIVES AND PHOTOGRAPH. THE ADJECTIVES HAD LESS EFFECT IN THE CONTEXT OF LESS DESIRABLE PHOTOGRAPHS, WHICH WORKED AS A DISCOUNTING EFFECT. IT WAS NOTED THAT THE AVERAGING MODEL WOULD BE CONSISTENT WITH THE INTERACTION IF DISCOUNTING PRODUCED LOWER VALUES OF THE WEIGHT PARAMETERS OF THE ADJECTIVES. THE AVERAGING FORMULATION WAS ALSO CONSISTENT WITH THE COMPARISONS BETWEEN RATINGS OF PHOTOGRAPHS ALONE AND PHOTOGRAPHS PLUS ADJECTIVES. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)