Showing papers in "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1982"

The need for cognition.

Abstract: Four studies are reported in which a scale to assess the need for cognition (i.e., the tendency for an individual to engage in and enjoy thinking) was developed and validated. In Study 1 a pool of items was administered to groups known to differ in need for cognition. Members of a university faculty served as subjects in the high-need-for-cognition group, whereas assembly line workers served as subjects in the low-need-for-cognition group. The criteria of ambiguity, irrelevance, and internal consistency were used to select the items for subsequent studies. A factor analysis was performed on the selected items and yielded one major factor. In 'Study 2 the scale was administered to a more homogeneous population (400 undergraduates) to validate the factor structure obtained in Study 1 and to determine whether the scale tapped a construct distinct from test anxiety and cognitive style. The factor structure was replicated in Study 2, responses to the need for cognition scale were predictably and weakly related to cognitive style, and responses were unrelated,to test anxiety. In Study 3, 104 subjects completed need for cognition, social desirability, and dogmatism scales and indicated what their American College Test scores were. Results indicated that need for cognition was related weakly and negatively to being close minded, unrelated to social desirability, and positively correlated with general intelligence. Study 4 replicated the major findings of Study 3 and furnished evidence of thj predictive validity of the Need for Cognition Scale: Attitudes toward simple an complex versions of a cognitive task appeared indistinguishable until the subjects' need for cognition was considered. The theoretical utility of the construct and measure of need for cognition are discussed.

Changing the world and changing the self: A two-process model of perceived control.

Abstract: There is extensive evidence that people strongly value and are reluctant to relinquish the perception of control. Yet, both helplessness and locus of control theorists interpret various "inward" behaviors (passivity, withdrawal, and submissiveness) as signs of relinquished perceived control. As evidence, they note that inward behavior frequently is accompanied by causal attributions to limited ability, chance, and powerful others—all attributions that suggest uncontrollability. In contrast, we claim,that these attributions and the behaviors to which they relate may often reflect a type of perceived control that is generally overlooked. People attempt to gain control not only by bringing the environment into line with their wishes (primary control) but also by bringing themselves into line with environmental forces (secondary control). Four manifestations of secondary control are considered: (a) Attributions to severely, limited ability can serve to enhance predictive control and to protect against disappointment. Passive and withdrawn behaviors reflect the attempt to inhibit unfulfillable expectations, (b) Attributions to chance can reflect illusory control, since people often construe chance as a personal characteristic akin to an ability ("luck"). Individuals who make attributions to chance may exhibit passivity and withdrawal in skill situations, reserving energy and emotional investment for situations that allow them to capitalize on their perceived strength—that is, being lucky, (c) Attributions to powerful others permit vicarious control when the individual identifies with these others. Submission to a powerful leader, a group, or a deity sometimes enables the individual to join in their power, (d) All of the preceding attributions may foster interpretive control, in which the individual seeks to understand and derive meaning from otherwise uncontrollable events in order to accept them. When perceived control is recognized in both its primary and secondary forms, a broad range of inward behaviors can be seen as efforts to sustain rather than relinquish the perception of control.

Social psychology of creativity: A consensual assessment technique.

Abstract: Although personality research has made much progress in developing an individual-difference psychology of creativity, the nature of this phenomenon can only be fully illuminated if a social psychology of creativity is developed as well. Yet experimental studies of social and environmental influences on creativity are extremely rare. A major obstacle to such research is the criterion problem: the lack of a clear operational definition and an appropriate assessment methodology. For a variety of reasons, both the popular creativity tests and the subjective assessment techniques used in some previous creativity studies are ill-suited to social psychological studies of creativity. A consensual definition of creativity is presented and, as a refinement of previous subjective methods, a reliable subjective assessment technique based on that definition is described. Several studies testing the methodology in both artistic and verbal domains are presented, and the advantages and limitations of this technique are discussed. The present methodology can be particularly useful for the development of a social psychology of creativity because of the nature of the tasks employed and the nature of the creativity assessments obtained. In the discussion, creativity assessment is considered as one instance illustrating the more general issue of the divergent aims and methods of personality psychology and social psychology.

The Causal Dimension Scale: A measure of how individuals perceive causes.

Abstract: Dan RussellCollege of Medicine, University of IowaA shortcoming of previous attribution research has been the assumption thatresearchers can accurately translate causal attributions into causal dimensions.Attributional statements are often ambiguous and even when clearly stated maybe perceived quite differently by the attributor and the researcher. The studiesreported describe the development of the Causal Dimension Scale, a measuredesigned to assess how the attributor perceives the causes he or she has statedfor an event. This scale assesses causal perceptions in terms of the locus ofcausality, stability, and controllability dimensions described by Weiner. Twostudies are reported that test the reliability and validity of the Causal DimensionScale. All three subscales were found to be reliable and valid, and a three-modefactor analysis confirmed the three-dimensional structure of the scale. Resultsalso indicated differences in the perception of causes of success and failure, withattributions for success being perceived as more internal, stable, and controllablethan attributions for failure. The relationship between the Causal DimensionScale and other attribution measures (such as locus of control or "attributionalstyle" measures) is discussed.

Automatic information processing and social perception: The influence of trait information presented outside of conscious awareness on impression formation.

Abstract: The accessibility of a category in memory has been shown to influence the selection and interpretation of social information. The present experiment examined the possibility that information relevant to a trait category (hostility) presented outside of conscious awareness can temporarily increase that category's accessibility. Subjects initially performed a vigilance task in which they were exposed unknowingly to single words. Either 0%, 20%, or 80% of these words were semantically related to hostility. In an ostensibly unrelated second task, subjects read a behavioral description of a stimulus person that was ambiguous regarding hostility, and then rated the stimulus person on several trait dimensions. The amount of processing subjects gave to the hostile information and the negativity of their ratings of the stimulus person both were reliably and positively related to the proportion of hostile words to which they were exposed. Several control conditions confirmed that the words were not consciously perceived. It was concluded that social stimuli of which people are not consciously aware can influence conscious judgments.

Perception of Out-Group Homogeneity and Levels of Social Categorization: Memory for the Subordinate Attributes of In-Group and Out-Group Members

Abstract: Four experiments were conducted to explore the hypothesis that in-group members perceive their own group as more variegated and complex than do out-group members (the out-group homogeneity principle). The first three experiments were designed to demonstrate this effect in a symmetric manner for both parties of the in-group-out-group dichotomy, and the fourth experiment tested one particular theoretical account of this phenomenon. In Experiments 1 and 2, men and women subjects estimated the proportion of men or women who would endorse a variety of personality/attitude items. The items were constructed to vary on the dimensions of stereotypic meaning (masculinity-femininity) and social desirability (favorable-unfavorable). It was predicted and found that outgroup members viewed a group as endorsing more stereotypic and fewer counterstereotypic items than, did in-group members. These findings were interpreted as support for the out-group homogeneity principle, and it was argued that since this effect was general across items varying in social desirability, the phenomenon was independent of traditional ethnocentrism effects. Experiment 3 asked members of three campus sororities to directly judge the degree of intragroup similarity for their own group and two other groups. Again, each group judged its own members to be more dissimilar to one another than did out-group judges. In Experiment 4 a theory was proposed suggesting that different "levels of social categorization" are used to encode in-group and out-group members' behavior and that this process could account for the perception of out-group homogeneity. It was predicted and found that men and women were more likely to remember the subordinate attributes of an in-group member than of an out-group member, which provides some evidence for the theoretical model.

Sex differences in attributions for friendly behavior: Do males misperceive females' friendliness?

Abstract: This investigation tested the hypothesis that friendliness from a member of the opposite sex might be misperceived as a sign of sexual interest. Previous research in the area of acquaintance and date rape suggests that males frequently misunderstand females' intentions. A laboratory experiment was conducted in which a male and female participated in a 5-minute conversation while a hidden male and female observed this interaction. The results indicate that there were sex differences in subjects' rating of the actors. Male actors and observers rated the female actor as being more promiscuous and seductive than female actors and observers rated her. Males were also more sexually attracted to the opposite-sex actor than females were. Furthermore, males also rated the male actor in a more sexualized fashion than females did. These results were interpreted as indicating that men are more likely to perceive the world in sexual terms and to make sexual judgments than women are. Males do seem to perceive friendliness from females as seduction, but this appears to be merely one manifestation of a broader male sexual orientation. The research described in this article grew out of the observation that females' friendly behavior is frequently misperceived by males as flirtation. Males tend to impute sexual interest to females when it is not intended. For example, one evening the author and a few of her female friends shared a table at a crowded campus bar with two male strangers. During one of the band's breaks, they struck up a friendly conversation with their male table companions. It was soon apparent that their friendliness had been misperceived by these men as a sexual invitation, and they finally had to excuse themselves from the table to avoid an awkward scene. What had been intended as platonic friendliness had been perceived as sexual interest. After discussions with several other women verified that this experience was not unique, the author began to consider several related, researchable issues. Do women similarly misjudge men's intentions or is this bias limPortions of this manuscript were based on the author's

Attention and Automaticity in the Processing of Self-Relevant Information

Abstract: A neglected aspect of the study of social cognition has been the way in which people select information for further processing from the vast amount available in social environments. A major contemporary model of attention holds that there are two separate types of processes that operate concurrently: a flexible but resource-limited control process that regulates the contents of conscious awareness, and a relatively inflexible automatic process that can attract attention to stimuli without conscious intent. Passive automatic processes, can either facilitate or inhibit active attentional processing, necessitating either less or more attentional effort, depending on the characteristics of the information that is currently present. On a dichotic listening task in which subjects attended to or ignored self-relevant stimuli, it was found that self-relevant information required less attentional resources when presented to the attended channel, but more when presented to the rejected channel, relative to neutral words. This differential capacity allocation occurred despite subjects' lack of awareness of the contents of the rejected channel. The results supported the existence and interaction of the two processes of attention in social information processing.

Exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect: Responses to dissatisfaction in romantic involvements.

Abstract: A typology of characteristic responses to dissatisfaction in romantic relationships is discussed, and hypotheses concerning the determinants of each category of response are outlined. It is argued that the four primary reactions to relationship decline are exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect. Three investment model variables (Rusbult, 1980a) should predict the conditions under which each response is most likely to be enacted: (a) the degree of satisfaction with the relationship prior to the emergence of problems, (b) the magnitude of the individual's investment of resources in the relationship, and (c) the quality of the best available alternative to the relationship. Four studies provided generally consistent support for the hypotheses. As predicted, to the extent that prior satisfaction was high, voice and loyalty were more probable, whereas exit and neglect were less probable. Similarly, increases in investment size encouraged voice and loyalty, whereas lower levels of investment appeared to inspire exit or neglect responses. More attractive alternatives promoted exit while hampering loyalist behavior. These results are in agreement with investment model predictions. However, there seemed to be no (or, at best, a weak) relation between alternative quality and voice or neglect reactions to dissatisfacti on. How do individuals respond when they become dissatisfied with their romantic involvements? Under what circumstances are they likely to actively discuss problems, and under what circumstances are they likely simply to end their relationships? When are people likely to react with quiet loyalty, and when do they respond with benign neglect? Social scientists have proffered numerous theories designed to describe the development of romantic relationships (Clore & Byrne, 1974; Levinger & Snoek, 1972; Murstein, 1976; Saegert, Swap, & Zajonc, 1973), but insufficient attention has been given to the phenomenon of relationship decline. Some researchers have explored the impact of a variety of concrete factors (e.g., income, education, age) on specific responses

Self-schemas and gender.

Abstract: Self-schemas are knowledge structures developed to understand, integrate, or explain one's behavior in a particular domain. Two, studies examined the information-processing consequences of self-schemas about gender. Systematic differences in cognitive performance were observed among groups of individuals identified as masculine schematics, feminine schematics, low androgynous, and high androgynous. Those individuals identified as feminine schematics remembered more feminine than masculine attributes, endorsed more feminine qualities, required shorter processing times for \"me\" judgments to these attributes than to other types of attributes, and were more confident of their judgments. These individuals were able to supply relatively more examples of past feminine behavior than masculine behavior. A parallel pattern of results was found for masculine stimuli for those individuals identified as masculine schematics. In contrast, those subjects identified as androgynous recalled as many masculine attributes as feminine attributes and did not differentiate between masculine and feminine attributes with respect to latency or confidence. A careful comparison of the two groups of androgynous subjects shows that only the low androgynous should be considered aschematic with respect to gender. Overall the findings suggest that individuals differ markedly in the nature of their knowledge structures about gender and in how gender is integrated into the self-concept.

Self-Relevant Scenarios as Mediators of Likelihood Estimates and Compliance: Does Imagining Make It So?

Abstract: A series of studies w as conducted to determ ine the viability of a scenario pro-cedure as a com pliance technique. In four experim ents, subjects w ho, throughthe use of a structured scenario, w ere led to im agine them selves experiencingcertain events cam e to believe m ore strongl y that the events w ould befall them .T his prom otive effect of the scenario procedure on probability or likelihood es-tim ates occurred fo r both positive events (e.g., w in n in g a contest) an d negativ eevents (e.g., being arrested fo r a crim e) and occurred in both laboratory andfield contexts. F urtherm ore, and crucial to its relevance for com pliance, thescenario procedur e w as show n to influence not bnly probability judgm ents butalso behavior. H om eow ners w ho im agined them selves utilizing a cable televisionservice w ere subsequently m ore likely to subscribe to such a service w hen re-quested to do so w eeks later. Finally, it w as determ ined that the effec t of struc-tured scenarios on com pliance is no t du e to additional in fo rm atio n provided bythe scenario. Instead, an interpretation based on the availability heuristic isfavored.

Microanalysis of action and fear arousal as a function of differential levels of perceived self-efficacy.

Abstract: Two experiments combining intergroup and intrasubject designs were conducted to test the hypothesis that self-percepts of efficacy operate as cognitive mediators of coping behavior and fear arousal. Differential levels of self-efficacy were induced in phobic subjects through either inactive mastery or modeling. Their coping behavior and accompanying fear arousal were then measured. In the next phase, self-efficacy was successively raised to designated levels within the same subjects, whereupon their behavior and fear arousal were again measured. Coping behavior corresponded closely to instated self-percepts of efficacy, with higher levels of perceived self-efficacy being accompanied by greater performance attainments. The efficacy-action relationship was replicated across different modes of efficacy induction, different types of behavioral dysfunctions, and in both intergroup and intrasubject comparisons. The hypothesis that fear arousal stems largely from perceived coping inefficacy also received support from the findings. As subjects' self-efficacy level was raised, they experienced progressively less anticipatory and performance distress while coping with threats. Results of a third experiment using cardiac acceleration and elevation in blood pressure as indicants of arousal further corroborate the generality of the relationship between perceived coping inefficacy and stress reactions.

Academic Achievement and Future Time Perspective as a Cognitive-Motivational Concept

Abstract: A new approach to future time perspective (FTP) was taken by integrating FTP into cognitive theories of motivation. Valence and instrumentality measurements of 23 general motivational goals were made in a group of 251 high-school boys. Goals were classified in three time zones: near future, distant future, and open present. Results showed that students with high grade point averages (GPA) and high study persistence attached significantly higher valence to goals in the distant future and perceived studying hard as more instrumental for reaching goals in the distant future and open present, than students with low GPA and low study persistence.

When our identities are mistaken: Reaffirming self-conceptions through social interaction.

Abstract: Although those who have labored to change self-concepts in naturally occurring situations (jave often experienced difficulty, laboratory investigators have reported considerable success in this endeavor. This research sought to reconcile these contradictory findings by examining how people respond behaviorally and psychologically when they receive feedback that disconfirms their self-conceptions. The results showed that self-discrepant feedback produced changes in selfratings only when recipients had no opportunity to reject and refute it. If participants had opportunity to behaviorally discredit discrepant feedback, they did so and subsequently displayed minimal self-rating change. The discussion proposes some important differences between transitory fluctuations and enduring changes in self-ratings and suggests some conditions that must be met before lasting self-concept changes will occur.

Development and validation of a physical self-efficacy scale.

Abstract: Theory development in the area of. perceived physical self-efficacy has been impeded by a lack of psychometrically sound instruments to measure physical self-concept. Six studies were conducted as part of a research program designed to remedy this deficiency by creating an individual-difference measure of physical self-efficacy with adequate psychometric properties. In the first study, data from a large pool of items that had been administered to undergraduates were factor analyzed, and two underlying dimensions within a global measure of physical self-efficacy were identified: a Perceived Physical Ability factor and a Physical Self-Presentation Confidence factor. The second study was aimed at the establishment of the stability of these two subscales and the total scale, Test-retest and alpha coefficients were found to be highly satisfactory. The remaining four studies were concerned with determining the construct validity of the scales. In line with theoretical expectations, subjects who perceived themselves as having excellent physical skills had higher self-esteem, an internal locus of control, a lack of social anxiety and self-consciousness, and a tendency to engage in adventurous physical activities as well as disinhibiting sexual experiences. It was also found that subjects with positive perceptions of their physical competence outperformed subjects with poorer self-regard in this sphere on three tasks involving the use of physical skills. Finally, potential uses for the scale in medical, physical education, and clinical settings are discussed.

More evidence that empathy is a source of altruistic motivation.

Abstract: Additional evidence is provided that empathic emotion can evoke altruistic motivation to help. To provide this evidence, we employed Stotland's (1969) technique for manipulating empathy; subjects were exposed to a person in distress and instructed either to observe the victim's reactions (low empathy) or to imagine the victim's feelings (high empathy). As in previous research testing the empathy-altruism hypothesis, this empathy manipulation was crossed with a manipulation of ease of escape without helping (easy vs. difficult) to form a 2X2 design. Results patterned as predicted by the empathy-altruism hypothesis. Subjects in the low-empathy condition helped less when escape was easy than when it was difficult. This pattern suggested that their helping was directed toward the egoistic goal of reducing their own distress. Subjects in the highempathy condition, however, displayed a high rate of helping, even when escape was easy. This pattern suggested that their helping was directed toward the altruistic goal of reducing the distress of the person in need. Finally, analyses of subjects' self-reported emotional response provided additional support for the hypothesis that feeling a predominance of empathy rather than distress on witnessing someone in need can evoke altruistic motivation. Evidence for the empathy-altruism hypothesis continues to mount, Is the motivation to help ever, in any degree, truly altruistic? That is, is a helper's ultimate goal ever to increase the victim's welfare, or is the motivation underlying helping always egoistic, designed to increase the helper's own welfare? This question, carrying as it does implications for one's view of human nature (Hoffman, 1981), was a central question for many 18th and 19th century

Impact of causal attributions on affective reactions to success and failure.

Abstract: Assessed the impact of outcome (success vs failure) and attribution (internal vs external) on affect in an achievement setting. Following the theorizing of B. Weiner et al (1978, 1979), it was anticipated that the outcome manipulation would determine general positive and negative affective reactions

Retrieval of attitude-relevant information from memory: Effects on susceptibility to persuasion and on intrinsic motivation.

Abstract: A distinction was drawn between (a) classic views of attitudes as stable dispositions based on beliefs and prior experiences accessed from memory and (b) the self-perception analysis of attitudes as relatively transitory responses dependent on current contextual cues. Access to relevant information in memory was assessed by the number of issue-related beliefs and prior experiences subjects could retrieve. To the extent that subjects could not retrieve information, they were expected to change their opinions to be consistent with new information and experiences concerning the attitude topic. In the first experiment, subjects read a counterattitud inal message. As expected, subjects with little access to beliefs and prior experiences, in comparison to those with greater access, changed their opinions to be more consistent with the message position. In the second experiment, subjects agreed to advocate a proattitudinal position for either a reward or no reward. As expected, subjects with access to little relevant information in memory inferred their attitudes from their decision to proselytize: Rewarded (vs. unrewarded) subjects explained their decision less in terms of their own belief in the advocated position and therefore inferred they were less in favor of this topic. In contrast, subjects who had greater access to information indicating that they were in favor of the stance taken in the message tended to attribute their decision to a belief in the topic, regardless of the presence or absence of the reward, and thus remained relatively favorable.