Showing papers in "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1984"

The independence of positive and negative affect.

Abstract: Five studies on the relation between positive and negative affect are reported. In Studies 1 and 2 we found that positive feelings were remembered as being nearly independent of negative feelings in the past year, but the two types of affect were moderately negatively correlated for the past month. In Studies 3 and 5, subjects completed daily mood reports for 70 and 30 days, respectively. In Study 4, subjects completed three-week, daily, and moment mood reports and also filled out reports when they experienced strong emotions. The principal finding was that the relation between positive and negative affect differed greatly depending on the time frame. The strongest negative correlation between the two affects occurred during emotional times. The correlation decreased in a linear fashion as the time span covered increased logarithmically. It appears that positive and negative affect are independent in terms of how much people feel in their lives over longer time periods. Researchers need to focus on the processes that underlie both positive and negative affect and that are responsible for producing their relative independence.

Personal control and stress and coping processes: A theoretical analysis.

Abstract: Laboratory and field research indicates that the relationships between personal control and stress, coping, and adaptational outcomes are more complex than was once assumed. Believing that an event is controllable does not always lead to a reduction in stress or to a positive outcome, and believing that an event is uncontrollable does not always lead to an increase in stress or to a negative outcome. These complex relationships involving control are examined in the context of Lazarus's cognitive theory of stress and coping. The first part of the article elaborates this theory and shows how two forms of control, generalized beliefs about control and situational appraisals of control, fit into the overall model. Situational appraisals of control are explored in this section, including the question, Control over what? which must be addressed in order to explain some of the perplexing findings. The second part of the article draws on the theoretical formulation of stress and coping to examine three important issues: (a) how believing one has control in a stressful transaction can heighten threat, (b) the relationship between control and coping, and (c) pathways through which control can affect the adaptational outcomes of stressful encounters.

The negative side of social interaction: Impact on psychological well-being.

Abstract: Social exchange theory has long emphasized that social interaction entails both rewards and costs. Research on the effects of social relations on psychological well-being, however, has generally ignored the negative side of social interaction. This study examined the relative impact of positive and negative social outcomes on older women's well-being. The sample consisted of 120 widowed women between the ages of 60 and 89. Multiple regression analyses revealed that negative social outcomes were more consistently and more strongly related to well-being than were positive social outcomes. This effect of negative social involvement did not appear to be due to major differences among women with high versus moderate or low levels of problematic social ties. Analyses of variance indicated that these three groups of women differed neither in important background characteristics nor in indices of social competence. The results demonstrate the importance of assessing the specific content of social relations. Implications for the design of social network interventions are discussed.

Gender stereotypes stem from the distribution of women and men into social roles

Abstract: According to stereotypic beliefs about the sexes, women are more communal (selfless and concerned with others) and less agentic (self-assertive and motivated to master) than men. These beliefs were hypothesized to stem from perceivers' observations of women and men in differing social roles: (a) Women are more likely than men to hold positions of lower status and authority, and (b) women are more likely than men to be homemakers and are less likely to be employed in the paid work force. Experiments 1 and 2 failed to support the hypothesis that observed sex differences in status underlie belief in female communal qualities and male agentic qualities. Experiment 3 supported the hypothesis that observed sex differences in distribution into homemaker and employee occupational roles account for these beliefs. In this experiment, subjects perceived the average woman and man stereotypically. Female and male homemakers were perceived as high in communion and low in agency. Female and male employees were perceived as low in communion and high in agency, although female employees were perceived as even more agentic than their male counterparts. Experiments 4 and 5 examined perceptions that might account for the belief that employed women are especially agentic: (a) A double burden of employment plus family responsibilities did not account for this belief, and (b) freedom of choice about being employed accounted for it reasonably well.

Choking under pressure: Self-consciousness and paradoxical effects of incentives on skillful performance

Abstract: Choking under pressure is defined as performance decrements under circumstances that increase the importance of good or improved performance. A model for choking on coordination and skill tasks is proposed, holding that the pressure increases the conscious attention to the performer's own process of performance and that this increased conscious attention disrupts the automatic or overlearned nature of the execution. Six experiments provided data consistent with this model. Three studies showed that increased attention to one's own process of performance resulted in performance decrements. Three other studies showed similar decrements produced by situational manipulations of pressure (i.e., implicit competition, a cash incentive, and audience-induced pressure). Individuals low in dispositional self-consciousness were shown to be more susceptible to choking under pressure than those high in it.

Empirical validation of affect, behavior, and cognition as distinct components of attitude.

Abstract: A prevalent model of attitude structure specifies three components: affect, behavior, and cognition. The validity of this tripartite model was evaluated. Five conditions needed for properly testing the three-component distinction were identified. Two new studies were then designed to validate the tripartite model. A consideration of the tripartite model's theoretical basis indicated that the most important validating conditions are (a) the use of nonverbal, in addition to verbal, measures of affect and behavior, and (b) the physical presence of the attitude object. Study 1, in which subjects' attitudes toward snakes were examined, indicated very strong support for this tripartite model: The model was statistically acceptable, its relative fit was very good, and the intercomponent correlations were moderate (.38 less than r less than .71). Study 2 was a verbal report analogue of Study 1. Results from Study 2 indicated that higher intercomponent correlations occurred when attitude measures derived solely from verbal reports and when the attitude object was not physically present.

Coping, stress, and social resources among adults with unipolar depression

Abstract: We used a stress and coping paradigm to guide the development of indices of coping responses and to explore the roles of stress, social resources, and coping among 424 men and women entering treatment for depression. We also used an expanded concept of multiple domains of life stress to develop several indices of ongoing life strains. Although most prior studies have focused on acute life events, we found that chronic strains were somewhat more strongly and consistently related to the severity of dysfunction. The coping indices generally showed acceptable conceptual and psychometric characteristics and only moderate relationships to respondents' sociodemographic characteristics or to the severity of the stressful event for which coping was sampled. Coping responses directed toward problem solving and affective regulation were associated with less severe dysfunction, whereas emotional-discharge responses, more frequently used by women, were linked to greater dysfunction. Stressors, social resources, and coping were additively predictive of patient's functioning, but coping and social resources did not have stress-attenuation or buffering effects.

Revision of the Self-Monitoring Scale.

Abstract: Snyder's (1974) Self-Monitoring Scale exhibits a stable factor structure that does not correspond to the five-component theoretical structure he presents. Sets of face-valid items that better approximate the theoretical structure are described. Correlations between these sets of items and measures of other constructs reveal that four of the five components are positively related to social anxiety. Effective social interaction is supposedly the high self-monitor's forte, and social anxiety appears to be incompatible with this. The correlational results therefore question the entire theory and indicate the need for a narrower definition of the construct. Adopting such a definition from Snyder's review article (1979), we present a 13-item Revised Self-Monitoring scale which measures only sensitivity to the expressive behavior of others and ability to modify self-presentation. A 20-item Concern for Appropriateness scale is also described. This scale measures 2 variables that are directly associated with social anxiety--cross-situational variability and attention to social comparison information. Both scales have acceptable internal consistency, and both yield 2 subscale scores as well as a total score. Prospective users of either scale are advised to treat the 3 scores separately.

The influence of affect on categorization.

Abstract: Three studies and a pilot experiment showed that positive affect, induced in any of three ways, influenced categorization of either of two types of stimuli—words or colors. As reflected by performance on two types of tasks (rating and sorting), people in whom positive affect had been induced tended to create and use categories more inclusively than did subjects in a control condition. On one task, they tended to group more stimuli together, and on the other task they tended to rate more low-prototypic exemplars of a category as members of the category. These results are interpreted in terms of an influence of affect on cognitive organization or on processes that might influence cognitive organization. It is suggested that borderline effects of negative affect on categorizatio n, obtained in two of the studies, might result from normal people's attempts to cope with negative affect. Recent research has suggested that positive affect may have a pervasive effect on cognitive processes. For example, a mild positive affective state has been shown to be capable of serving as a retrieval cue for positive material in memory, regardless of the affective state the subject was in when the list was learned, influencing such measures as the reaction time for recall of positive words and the subset of words likely to be recalled from a memorized list (e.g., Isen, Shalker, Clark, & Karp, 1978; Laird, Wagener, Halal, & Szegda, 1982; Nasby & Yando, 1982; Teasdale &

Attributions, Beliefs About Control, and Adjustment to Breast Cancer

Abstract: Attributions for cancer and beliefs about control over cancer were examined for their association with adjustment to breast cancer. Although 95% of the respondents made attributions for their cancer, no particular attribution (e.g., stress, diet) was associated with better adjustment. Analyses of attributions of responsibility for the cancer to the self, environment, another person, or chance yielded only a negative relation between adjustment and blaming, another person. In contrast, both the .belief that one could now control one's cancer and the belief that others, (e.g. the physician) could now control the cancer were significantly associated with good adjustment. Of the different types of control, cognitive control was most strongly associated with adjustment, behavior control was less strongly associated with adjustment, and information control and retrospective control were unassociated with adjustment. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. Social psychologists have become increasingly interested in how individuals adjust to sudden, unexpected, and/or negative events in their environments. Two constructs that have been useful in this analysis are causal attributions and beliefs in control. In the present study, we examined the usefulness of these constructs in understanding adjustment to breast cancer. Breast cancer is a major cause of death among American women, striking approxiThis research was supported by both research funds from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH 34167) and a Research Scientist Development Award (MH 00311) to the first author, and by research funds from the University of California at Los Angeles to all three authors. The third author was also supported by a National Institute of Mental Health training grant. Theauthors are grateful to Barbara Futterman, Patricia Loftus, and Sharon Schuller for their aid in data collection; to Carol Wixom, Alexandra Koltun, and Natasha Hamlin for their aid in data,coding; to Martin Gahart for his help in statistical analyses; and to Alex Pinkston, Project Coordinator. Gratitude is expressed to Avrum Bluming, Robert Leibowitz, and Gary Dosik for making their patients available to us.

Structure of gender stereotypes: Interrelationships among components and gender label.

Abstract: Various components of gender stereotypes were examined in three studies to determine their interrelationship and their influence relative to gender label. In the first two experiments, male and female college students were given information about gender and either role behaviors or traits and were asked to assess the probability that the stimulus person possessed other gender-related characteristics. In the third experiment, each of four gender stereotype components was presented in a within-subjects design and subjects made judgments about each other component. Results indicate that (a) information about one stereotype component can implicate other components; (b) specific component information may outweigh gender identification; and (c) components differ in their ability to implicate other components of gender stereotypes, with physical appearance playing a dominant role. The significance of these findings in understanding the structure and operation of gender stereotypes is discussed. Stereotypes play an important role in human judgment, and investigators have shown sustained interest in exploring the content and consequences of such judgments. From Lippman's (1922) early and insightful analysis of the "pictures in our heads," through the work of Katz and Braly (1933), Allport (1954), Campbell (1967) and others, stereotypes have continued to hold the interest of social scientists concerned with ways in which we judge and misjudge members of recognizable groups. In recent years, interest in the topic has accelerated, with new attention focused both on the general nature of stereotypes as well as on specific content categories (Hamilton, 1979, 1981; Miller, 1982). At the general level, investigators are increasingly coming to conceptualize stereotypes as one particular instance of more general cognitive processes (Ashmore D Hamilton, 1979;McCauley,

Effects of group identity on resource use in a simulated commons dilemma.

Abstract: In a review of research on in-group categorization and group identity, Brewer (1979) proposed that cooperative solutions to social dilemmas, such as Hardin 's (1968) "tragedy of the commons ", may be achieved by exploiting the positive consequences arising from a common social-group identity. Three laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the effects of making salient either a superordinate (collective) or subordinate (differentiating) group identity in heterogeneous groups. In the first two experiments, naturally occurring social categories were used as a basis for group differentiation. In the third, the level of social-group identity was manipulated by varying the common fate of the group members. It was predicted that individual restraint would be most likely when a superordinate group identity was made salient and under conditions in which feedback indicated that the common resource was being depleted. Results from all three experiments provide support for this general hypothesis, indicating that cooperative responding is enhanced even when the basis for superordinate group identity is minimal.

Culture and the Development of Everyday Social Explanation

Abstract: The impact of cultural meaning systems on the development of everyday social explanation is explored in a cross-cultural investigation undertaken among Indian and American adults and children (ages 8, 11, and 15 year). It is demonstrated that at older ages Americans make greater reference to general dispositions and less reference to contextual factors in explanation than do Hindus . References to general dispositions also undergo a much greater developmental increase among Americans than among Hindus , whereas references to contextual factors show the opposite pattern of developmental change. Evidence suggests that these cross-cultural and developmental differences result from contrasting cultural conceptions of the person acquired over development in the two cultures rather than from cognitive., experiential, or informational differences between attributors . Discussion focuses on theoretical implications of such a demonstration for understanding: (a) the importance of integrating semantic with structural considerations in theories of social attribution, (b) the need to develop nonteleological frameworks for interpreting age and cultural diversity in conceptualization, and (c) the role of cultural communication in the acquisition of everyday social knowledge.

Stress, anxiety, and cognitive interference: Reactions to tests.

Abstract: : Test anxiety, its nature and relationships to performance and cognitive interference, are analyzed from the standpoint of attentional processes. A new instrument to assess dimensions of reactions to tests is presented, and its psychometric properties are described. The scales of the Reactions to Tests questionnaire (Worry, Tension, Test-irrelevant Thinking, Bodily Symptoms) were compared with regard to intellective performance and cognitive interference. The results were consistent with the idea that the problem of anxiety is, to a significant extent, a problem of intrusive thoughts that interfere with task-focused thinking. In the last of the three studies reported, it was shown that self-preoccupying intrusive thinking can be reduced by means of a task-focusing experimental condition. The studies suggest that the Reactions to Tests questionnaire may be useful in defining anxiety more sharply and improving understanding of how it relates to performance. (Author)

Simpatia as a Cultural Script of Hispanics.

Abstract: : A cultural script is a pattern of social interaction which is characteristic of a particular cultural group. Simpatia, and its component harmony, or the emphasis on positive behaviors in positive situations (e.g., complimenting somebody who has done a good job) and the de-emphasis of negative behaviors in negative situations (e.g., criticising) may be a Hispanic cultural script. Lower status individuals are not supposed to show aggression even when their rights are taken away. The data indicate that Hispanic recruits expect more positive behaviors in positive social situations and de-emphasize the appropriateness of negative behaviors in situations of conflict, particularly when the actor is of lower status. The implications of these findings for the Navy is that Hispanics are likely to have higher levels of expectations concerning the appropriateness of positive behaviors (e.g., receiving a compliment if they do a good job) than Mainstream recruits. Thus, they will feel underrewarded in situations where they do a good job. Conversely, they will expect less expression of criticism from lower status individuals, and therefore even mild criticism from such individuals might be seen as extreme criticism. (Author)

The Impact of Cultural Collectivism on Reward Allocation

Abstract: Chinese University of Hong KongIt is argued that the collectivism of a culture leads to different styles of rewardallocation with in-group and out-group members. Two studies using Chinese andAmerican subjects examined this issue. In the first study an out-group situationwas used, in which subjects were led to believe that they worked with a partnerwhom they would not meet, to obtain a group reward. The collectivistic Chinesesubjects were found to follow the equity norm more closely in dividing the groupreward than the individualistic American subjects when pressure of social evaluationwas removed. In the second study Chinese and American subjects read a scenarioin which an allocator worked with either an in-group or out-group member. Theallocator had either a low or high input and used either the equity or equalitynorm to divide a group reward. Compared with American subjects, Chinesesubjects liked an allocator who divided the group reward equally with an in-groupmember more and regarded such an allocation as fairer. When subjects wereasked to assume that they were the allocator and to hypothetically divide thereward, Chinese subjects followed the equity norm more closely than didAmerican subjects when the recipient was an out-group member or when thesubjects' input was low. However, when the subjects' input was high and therecipient was an in-group member, Chinese subjects followed the equality normmore than did American subjects. These findings are discussed in terms of thedesire for maintaining group solidarity in a collectivist culture.One of the major constructs in theoreticaldiscussions in cross-cultural psychology, so-ciology, and anthropology is that of collectiv-ism-individualism (e.g., Berger, Berger, K Brittan, 1977). However, onlyrecently have we had an empirical basis toevaluate the significance of this construct. Ina large scale survey of beliefs and values in40 countries, Hofstede (1980) extracted fourdimensions of national culture—individual-ism was one of them. In his data the U.S.has the highest score on individualism,whereas countries of a Chinese background(Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan) are onthe collectivistic end of the scale. This resultis consistent with Hsu's (1970) wide-ranging

Some antecedents and consequences of social-comparison jealousy

Abstract: 80 undergraduates were randomly assigned to 1 of 8 experimental conditions in which they received either positive or negative feedback on a bogus personality test that was either self-definitionally relevant or irrelevant, followed by feedback of successful performance by another person in a domain

When are social judgments made? Evidence for the spontaneousness of trait inferences

Abstract: Do people make trait inferences, even without intentions or instructions, at the encoding stage of processing behavioral information? Tulving's encoding specificity paradigm (Tulving & Thomson, 1973) was adapted for two recall experiments Under memory instructions only, subjects read sentences describing people performing actions that implied traits Later, subjects recalled each sentence under one of three cuing conditions: (a) a dispositional cue (eg, generous), (b) a strong, nondispositional semantic associate to an important sentence word; or (c) no cue Recall was best when cued by the disposition words Subjects were unaware of having made trait inferences Interpreted in terms of encoding specificity, these results indicate that subjects unintentionally made trait inferences at encoding This suggests that attributions may be made spontaneously, as part of the routine comprehension of social events

A Battle of Wills: Self-Verification Versus Behavioral Confirmation

Abstract: When a perceiver forms an expectancy about a target individual that is discrepant with that target's self-conception, whose viewpoint will triumph? Although research on behavioral confirmation argues that perceivers will "win" by causing targets to confirm the expectancy, research on self-verification argues that targets will "win" by bringing perceivers to treat them in a manner that confirms their self-conceptions. The research reported here sought to reconcile these competing viewpoints by considering the certainty of perceivers' expectancies and targets' self-conceptions. Perceivers first formed relatively certain or uncertain expectancies about targets that were inconsistent with targets' self-conceptions. They then interacted with targets, who possessed relatively certain or uncertain self-conceptions, in a series of three successive interview sessions. Analyses of the behavior or targets indicated that self-verification always occurred when targets were certain of their self-conceptions. Self-verification also tended to occur when both perceivers and targets were uncertain of their beliefs. Behavioral confirmation tended to occur only when perceivers were certain of their expectancies and targets were uncertain of their self-conceptions. At the end of the experiment, perceivers had generally abandoned their expectancies, but targets revealed no self-rating change. The conditions under which self-verification versus behavioral confirmation occur are discussed.

Social and emotional loneliness: An examination of Weiss's typology of loneliness.

Abstract: This study examined Weiss' conceptualization of social and emotional loneliness. Using data from an extensive survey of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Iowa, we measured social and emotional loneliness, students' affective and behavioral reactions to loneliness, students' social relationships, and their judgments of the degree to which their relationships supply the six social provisions described by Weiss. As expected, we found differences in the subjective experiences of social and emotional loneliness, although both forms of loneliness were also characterized by a common core of experiences. The results generally supported Weiss's ideas concerning the determinants of social and emotional loneliness. Predictions concerning the affective and behavioral consequences associated with each type of loneliness, however, were only partly supported, although the two forms of loneliness were associated with different affective reactions and coping behaviors. The implications of these findings for Weiss's typology of loneliness are discussed.

Considering the Opposite: A Corrective Strategy for Social Judgment

Abstract: It is proposed that several biases in social judgment result from a failure--first noted by Francis Bacon--to consider possibilities at odds with beliefs and perceptions of the moment. Individuals who are induced to consider the opposite, therefore, should display less bias in social judgment. In two separate but conceptually parallel experiments, this reasoning was applied to two domains--biased assimilation of new evidence on social issues and biased hypothesis testing of personality impressions. Subjects were induced to consider the opposite in two ways: through explicit instructions to do so and through stimulus materials that made opposite possibilities more salient. In both experiments the induction of a consider-the-opposite strategy had greater corrective effect than more demand-laden alternative instructions to be as fair and unbiased as possible. The results are viewed as consistent with previous research on perseverance, hindsight, and logical problem solving, and are thought to suggest an effective method of retraining social judgment.

Person x situation interactions: choice of situations and congruence response models.

Abstract: Two models of Person X Situation interaction were examined. The first model predicts that there is a relation between personality and the situations people naturally choose to be in; the second model predicts that when there is congruence between the situation and personality, a person will experience more positive and less negative affect. These models were investigated by using mood and activity reports gathered on 3,512 occasions sampled randomly from the everyday lives of 42 subjects. Situational dimensions were related to some but not all personality variables investigated. Need for order predicted choice of typical situations and extraversion correlated with time spent recreating socially. However, it was found that individuals did not spend more time in those settings where they experienced more positive emotions nor less time in those situations where they experienced more negative affect. In terms of the affect-congruence model, several predicted relations were found, but several others did not reach significance. The failure of the affect-congruence model to be consistently supported was probably because the affect of individuals was relatively consistent across situations. The present results suggest that although some theoretically meaningful Person X Situation interactions do occur, they are not necessarily strong or easily predictable.