scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question

Showing papers in "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1986"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article seeks to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ, and delineates the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena.
Abstract: In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators.

80,095 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an intraindividual analysis of the interrelations among primary appraisal (what was at stake in the encounter), secondary appraisal (coping options), eight forms of problem-and emotion-focused coping, and encounter outcomes in a sample of community-residing adults was performed.
Abstract: Despite the importance that is attributed to coping as a factor in psychological and somatic health outcomes, little is known about actual coping processes, the variables that influence them, and their relation to the outcomes of the stressful encounters people experience in their day-to-day lives. This study uses an intraindividual analysis of the interrelations among primary appraisal (what was at stake in the encounter), secondary appraisal (coping options), eight forms of problem- and emotion-focused coping, and encounter outcomes in a sample of community-residing adults. Coping was strongly related to cognitive appraisal; the forms of coping that were used varied depending on what was at stake and the options for coping. Coping was also differentially related to satisfactory and unsatisfactory encounter outcomes. The findings clarify the functional relations among appraisal and coping variables and the outcomes of stressful encounters.

3,401 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The pattern of relations indicated that certain variables were positively associated and others negatively associated with symptoms, but they did explain a significant amount of the variance in psychological symptoms.
Abstract: In this study we examined the relation between personality factors (mastery and interpersonal trust), primary appraisal (the stakes a person has in a stressful encounter), secondary appraisal (options for coping), eight forms of problem- and emotion-focused coping, and somatic health status and psychological symptoms in a sample of 150 community-residing adults. Appraisal and coping processes should be characterized by a moderate degree of stability across stressful encounters for them to have an effect on somatic health status and psychological symptoms. These processes were assessed in five different stressful situations that subjects experienced in their day-to-day lives. Certain processes (e.g., secondary appraisal) were highly variable, whereas others (e.g., emotion-focused forms of coping) were moderately stable. We entered mastery and interpersonal trust, and primary appraisal and coping variables (aggregated over five occasions), into regression analyses of somatic health status and psychological symptoms. The variables did not explain a significant amount of the variance in somatic health status, but they did explain a significant amount of the variance in psychological symptoms. The pattern of relations indicated that certain variables were positively associated and others negatively associated with symptoms.

2,545 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that attitudes characterized by a strong association between the attitude object and an evaluation of that object are capable of being activated from memory automatically upon the mere presentation of an attitude object.
Abstract: We hypothesized that attitudes characterized by a strong association between the attitude object and an evaluation of that object are capable of being activated from memory automatically upon mere presentation of the attitude object. We used a priming procedure to examine the extent to which the mere presentation of an attitude object would facilitate the latency with which subjects could indicate whether a subsequently presented target adjective had a positive or a negative connotation. Across three experiments, facilitation was observed on trials involving evaluatively congruent primes (attitude objects) and targets, provided that the attitude object possessed a strong evaluative association. In Experiments 1 and 2, preexperimentally strong and weak associations were identified via a measurement procedure. In Experiment 3, the strength of the object-evaluation association was manipulated. The results indicated that attitudes can be automatically activated and that the strength of the object-evaluation association determines the likelihood of such automatic activation. The implications of these findings for a variety of issues regarding attitudes--including their functional value, stability, effects on later behavior, and measurement--are discussed.

2,003 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For the 2 decades prior to 1960, published research in social psychology was based on a wide variety of subjects and research sites and content analyses show that since then such research has overwhelmingly been based on college students tested in academic laboratories on academic-like tasks as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: For the 2 decades prior to 1960, published research in social psychology was based on a wide variety of subjects and research sites. Content analyses show that since then such research has overwhelmingly been based on college students tested in academic laboratories on academiclike tasks. How might this heavy dependence on one narrow data base have biased the main substantive conclusions of sociopsychological research in this era? Research on the full life span suggests that, compared with older adults, college students are likely to have less-crystallized attitudes, less-formulated senses of self, stronger cognitive skills, stronger tendencies to comply with authority, and more unstable peer group relationships. The laboratory setting is likely to exaggerate all these differences. These peculiarities of social psychology's predominant data base may have contributed to central elements of its portrait of human nature. According to this view people (a) are quite compliant and their behavior is easily socially influenced, (b) readily change their attitudes and (c) behave inconsistently with them, and (d) do not rest their self-perceptions on introspection. The narrow data base may also contribute to this portrait of human nature's (e) strong emphasis on cognitive processes and to its lack of emphasis on (f) personality dispositions, (g) material self-interest, (h) emotionally based irrationalities, (i) group norms, and (j) stage-specific phenomena. The analysis implies the need both for more careful examination of sociopsychological propositions for systematic biases introduced by dependence on this narrow data base and for increased reliance on adults tested in their natural habitats with materials drawn from ordinary life.

1,932 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the consequences of mate preferences for the processes of assortative mating and sexual selection are discussed. And the authors present alternative hypotheses to account for the replicated sex differences in preferences for attractiveness and earning potential.
Abstract: In this article we examine preferences in mate choice within the broader context of the human mating system. Specifically, we discuss the consequences of mate preferences for the processes of assortative mating and sexual selection. In Study 1 (N = 184) we document (a) the mate characteristics that are consensually more and less desired, (b) the mate characteristics that show strong sex differences in their preferred value, (c) the degree to which married couples are correlated in selection preferences, and (d) the relations between expressed preferences and the personality and background characteristics of obtained spouses. In Study 2 (N = 100) we replicated the sex differences and consensual ordering of mate preferences found in Study I, using a different methodology and a differently composed sample. Lastly, we present alternative hypotheses to account for the replicated sex differences in preferences for attractiveness and earning potential. Neither men nor women prefer all members of the opposite sex equally. Some are favored over others, and one important research task is to identify the characteristics that prospective mates consider to be important. Although mate choice is clearly a crucial adult decision for more than 90% of the population (Price & Vandenberg, 1980), surprisingly little is known about the characteristics that men and women seek in potential mates (Thiessen & Gregg, 1980). In this article we develop a conception of the role of mate preferences within the human mating system. Specifically, we address the consequences for sexual selection and assortative mating. In two empirical studies we document several basic features of this conception.

1,326 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Examining how optimists differ from pessimists in the kinds of coping strategies that they use revealed modest but reliable positive correlations between optimism and problem-focused coping, seeking of social support, and emphasizing positive aspects of the stressful situation.
Abstract: Previous research has shown that dispositional optimism is a prospective predictor of successful adaptation to stressful encounters. In this research we attempted to identify possible mechanisms underlying these effects by examining how optimists differ from pessimists in the kinds of coping strategies that they use. The results of two separate studies revealed modest but reliable positive correlations between optimism and problem-focused coping, seeking of social support, and emphasizing positive aspects of the stressful situation. Pessimism was associated with denial and distancing (Study 1), with focusing on stressful feelings, and with disengagement from the goal with which the stressor was interfering (Study 2). Study 1 also found a positive association between optimism and acceptance/resignation, but only when the event was construed as uncontrollable. Discussion centers on the implications of these findings for understanding the meaning of people's coping efforts in stressful circumstances.

1,222 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Les auteurs ont explore les effets structurant sur des decisions impliquant l'utilisation de ressources communes, en fonction de l'identite sociale, de la taille du groupe de sujets (N=88) and de la structure de decision as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Les auteurs ont explore les effets structurant sur des decisions impliquant l'utilisation de ressources communes, en fonction de l'identite sociale, de la taille du groupe de sujets (N=88) et de la structure de decision

1,122 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An examination of reanalyses of studies of self-monitoring, analyses of the internal structure of the Self-Monitoring Scale, and further relevant data suggest that the measure does tap a meaningful and interpretable causal variable with pervasive influences on social behavior, a variable reflected as a general self- monitoring factor.
Abstract: An extensive network of empirical relations has been identified in research on the psychological construct of self-monitoring. Nevertheless, in recent years some concerns have been expressed about the instrument used for the assessment of self-monitoring propensities, the Self-Monitoring Scale. Both the extent to which the measure taps an interpretable and meaningful causal variable and the extent to which the self-monitoring construct provides an appropriate theoretical understanding of this causal variable have been questioned. An examination of reanalyses of studies of self-monitoring, analyses of the internal structure of the Self-Monitoring Scale, and further relevant data suggest that the measure does tap a meaningful and interpretable causal variable with pervasive influences on social behavior, a variable reflected as a general self-monitoring factor. We discuss the evaluation and furthering of the interpretation of this latent causal variable, offer criteria for evaluating alternative measures of self-monitoring, and present a new, 18-item Self-Monitoring Scale.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For example, the authors found that people are less accurate at throwing darts at pictures of the faces of people they like than those of people who liked or neutral people when faced with pictures of pictures of dangerous, disgusting, or valued objects.
Abstract: Two laws of sympathetic magic were described by Frazer and Mauss at the beginning of this century to account for magical belief systems in traditional cultures. In this study, we show that these laws fit well with a variety of behaviors in American culture, in responses to disgusting, dangerous, or valued objects. The first law, contagion, holds that "once in contact, always in contact." That is, there can be a permanent transfer of properties from one object (usually animate) to another by brief contact. For example, in this study we show that drinks that have briefly contacted a sterilized, dead cockroach become undesirable, or that laundered shirts previously worn by a disliked person are less desirable than those previously worn by a liked or neutral person. The second law, similarity, holds that "the image equals the object," and that action taken on an object affects similar objects. In this study, we demonstrate this law by showing, for example, that people reject acceptable foods (e.g., fudge) shaped into a form that represents a disgusting object (dog feces), or that people are less accurate at throwing darts at pictures of the faces of people they like. With these and other measures, we found a great deal of evidence for the operation of the laws of sympathetic magic in all 50 of the subjects we studied. The laws of sympathetic magic correspond to the two basic laws of association (contiguity and similarity}. We discuss the parallel and report a disgust conditioning study to develop this parallel.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Deux experiences differenciant les sujets selon le niveau de leurs besoins en cognition examinent les effets de ces derniers sur le traitement d'un message and le persuasion and mettent a l'epreuve un modele associant un mode de pensee extensif a plus forte correspondance entre attitude and comportement as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Deux experiences differenciant les sujets selon le niveau de leurs besoins en cognition examinent les effets de ces derniers sur le traitement d'un message et le persuasion et mettent a l'epreuve un modele associant un mode de pensee extensif a une plus forte correspondance entre attitude et comportement

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors review group polarization studies that address themselves to either one of the two primary explanatory mechanisms thought to underly group polarization, namely social comparison and persuasive argumentation processes, and present a summary of the effect sizes of these studies.
Abstract: This article critically reviews recent (1974–1982) group polarization studies that address themselves to either one of the two primary explanatory mechanisms thought to underly group polarization, namely social comparison and persuasive argumentation processes. A summary of the effect sizes of 21 pu

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, Hendrick et al. used a 42-item rating questionnaire, with seven items measuring each of the six basic love styles: Eros (passionate love), Ludus (game-playing love), Storge (friendship love), Pragma (logical, shopping list" love), Mania (possessive, dependent love), and Agape (all-giving, selfless love).
Abstract: This research was part of a larger research program on love and sex attitudes. Earlier work on love was reported in Hendrick, Hendrick, Foote, and Slapion-Foote (1984). The work on love extends Lee's (1973/1976) theory of six basic love styles: Eros (passionate love), Ludus (game-playing love), Storge (friendship love), Pragma (logical, "shopping list" love), Mania (possessive, dependent love), and Agape (all-giving, selfless love). Theory development has proceeded concurrently with the development of measurement scales. Study I (N = 807) used a 42-item rating questionnaire, with 7 items measuring each of the love styles. Six love style scales emerged clearly from factor analysis. Internal reliability was shown for each scale, and the scales had low intercorrelations with each other. Significant relationships were found between love attitudes and several background variables, including gender, ethnicity, previous love experiences, current love status, and self-esteem. Confirmatory Study II (N = 567) replicated factor structure, factor loadings, and reliability analyses of the first study. In addition, the significant relationships between love attitudes and gender, previous love experiences, current love status, and self-esteem were also consistent with the results of Study I. The love scale shows considerable promise as an instrument for future research on love.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that the more "origin" the children perceived in their classroom, the higher their perceived self worth, cognitive competence, internal control, and mastery motivation, and the lower their perceived control by unknown sources or powerful others.
Abstract: Two studies examined the significance of children's perceptions of their classroom environment along autonomy versus external control dimensions. Study 1 related a self-report measure of the perceived classroom climate to other self-related constructs. In a sample of 140 elementary children, it was found that the more "origin" the children perceived in their classroom, the higher their perceived self worth, cognitive competence, internal control, and mastery motivation, and the lower their perceived control by unknown sources or powerful others. These relationships were primarily due to individual differences within classrooms rather than average classroom differences. Children also wrote projective stories about an ambiguous classroom scene. Ratings of these stories indicated that, within children's fantasy, origin-like behavior of students was associated with autonomy-oriented teachers and low aggression. Self-report and projective methods converged, particularly for children whose self-reported perceptions were extreme. In a second study (N = 578), relative contributions of classroom and individual difference effects were further examined. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of perceived autonomy and issues in assessment strategies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the social environment was varied by creating a situation in which subjects found themselves to be either very unique or very similar to others, and subjects responded to a series of self-concept measures.
Abstract: The self-concept literature is characterized by a continuing controversy over whether the self-concept is stable or malleable. In this article we suggest that it is both but that the stability observed for general descriptions of the self may mask significant local variation. In this study the social environment was varied by creating a situation in which subjects found themselves to be either very unique or very similar to others. Following this manipulation, subjects responded to a series of self-concept measures. Although the uniqueness and similarity subjects did not differ in the trait terms they used to describe themselves, they did differ systematically in their latency for these judgments, in positivity and negativity of their word associations, and in their judgments of similarity to reference groups. These findings imply that subjects made to feel unique recruited conceptions of themselves as similar to others, whereas subjects made to feel similar to others recruited conceptions of themselves as unique. The results suggest that very general self-descriptive measures are inadequate for revealing how the individual adjusts and calibrates the self-concept in response to challenges from the social environment.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Riggio et al. as discussed by the authors proposed a conceptual framework for defining and assessing basic social skills, called the Social Skills Inventory (SSI), which is a 105-item, pencil-and-paper measure of seven basic dimen-sions of social skills.
Abstract: California State University, FullertonFollowing recent developments in the measurement of individual differences in nonverbal socialskills, we proposed a conceptual framework for defining and assessing basic social skills. Preliminarytesting resulted in the development of a 105-item, pencil-and-paper measure of seven basic dimen-sions of social skills, called the Social Skills Inventory (SSI). In a series of validation studies usingundergraduate students, the SSI demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity in relation toother measures of nonverbal social skill and traditional personality scales. Scores on the SSI alsopredicted some social group memberships, typical social behaviors, and the depth of social networks.This evidence suggests that the SSI could prove to be a valuable tool for research in personality andsocial psychology and for work in applied settings.In recent years there has been increased attention to denningand assessing individual differences in social abilities and inter-personal skills. Work in this area is progressing on severalfronts. Psychologists have become increasingly concerned withthe assessment and development of social skills for assistingclinical populations (see Curran & Monti, 1982; Trower, Bry-ant, & Argyle, 1978; Wine & Smye, 1981). Personality and so-cial psychologists have developed standardized instruments thatassess dimensions related to interpersonal skill and social effec-tiveness, for example, measures of constructs such as empathy(Hogan, 1969; Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972), shyness, sociabil-ity, (Cheek & Buss, 1981), and self-monitoring (Snyder, 1974,1979). Communication researchers have concerned themselveswith the assessment of communicative competence (Diez,1984;Wiemann, 1977;WiemannB E. L. Thorndike, 1920;R. L. Thorndike, 1936; R. L. Thorndike & Stein, 1937). How-ever, difficulties in assessing social intelligence, particularly theinability to discriminate social intelligence from general intelli-gence, led to the demise of this line of research. It was manyyears later that research on the measurement of social abilitieswas revived with the work of Ouilford and his colleagues onbehavioral intelligence (Guilford, 1967) and the development ofscales to assess empathy (Dymond, 1949; Hogan, 1969). MoreThis research was supported by intramural grants from CaliforniaState University, Fullerton (CSUF) and from a CSUF President's Sum-mer Research Grant.Special thanks go to Barbara Throckmorton, Kathy Lang, and BruceSmith for their tremendous assistance in data collection and to MariaHale, Patti Hopkinson, Larisa Lamb, Mary Lybeck, Kevin McNulty,Mitch Okada, and Debbie White for their help. Chris Cozby, RichardLippa, Keith Widaman, Stan Woll, and Judy Zimmerman made manyhelpful comments and suggestions.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ron-ald E. Riggio, Department of Psychology, California State University,Fullerton, California 92634.recent are the attempts to measure individual differences innonverbal communication skill (Rosenthal, 1979; see alsoO'Sullivan, 1983, for a historical overview).Although the present research is most closely aligned withthis latest orientation, it is impossible to define social skillswithout incorporating the work of a vast array of social scienceresearchers. There is perhaps no adequate single definition ofsocial skills. The variety and assortment of dimensions labeledas social skills is enormous. Yet there are certain consistenciesin the varying theoretical perspectives. Many social skill re-searchers agree that the basic sending and receiving of informa-tion represent key social skills. Indeed, Hall (1979) divided so-cial communication skills into two broad classes of sending andreceiving. Additional social skills involve cognitive abilitiessuch as interpersonal problem-solving skills and role-playingabilities (Meichenbaum, Butler, & Gruson, 1981).Many existing measures of social skills focus on a single, spe-cific type of skill, skill deficit, or skill-related construct such asassertiveness (Rathus, 1973), nonverbal sensitivity (Rosenthal,Hall, DiMatteo, Rogers, & Archer, 1979), fear of negative evalu-ation (Watson & Friend, 1969), or communication apprehen-sion (McCroskey, 1977). Some instruments that purport tomeasure singular dimensions of social skill may, in fact, be as-sessing constructs that are truly multidimensional; that is, com-prised of more basic independent social skills. Such appears tobe the case with Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale (SMS, Snyder,1974), which may be composed of three more basic social skills(Briggs , Cheek & Buss 1980 ; Riggio Friedman 1982 seealso Lennox & Wolfe, 1984). Similar multidimensionality mayunderly the constructs of empathy (Davis, 1983) and assertive-ness (Galassi, Galassi, & Vedder, 1981).The presen t study is an attemp to develop general frame-work for several basic dimensions of social skill and to reporton the construction of a self-report assessment tool to measurethese basic skill dimensions. This framework is derived frommultidisciplinary research on social and interpersonal skills,but it springs most directly from the attempts of social personal-ity psychologists to measure individual differences in nonverbalcommunication skills. Most notable of these attempts are thework of Rosenthal and his colleagues (Rosenthal et al., 1979)and Buck (1984) on measuring nonverbal sensitivity, Friedman


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the relation between specific adult female facial features and the attraction, attribution, and altruistic responses of adult males was investigated, and the relative size of 24 facial features in an international sample of photographs of 50 females was obtained.
Abstract: Two quasi-experiments investigated the relation between specific adult female facial features and the attraction, attribution, and altruistic responses of adult males. Precise measurements were obtained of the relative size of 24 facial features in an international sample of photographs of 50 females. Male subjects provided ratings of the attractiveness of each of the females. Positively correlated with attractiveness ratings were the neonate features of large eyes, small nose, and small chin; the maturity features of prominent cheekbones and narrow cheeks; and the expressive features of high eyebrows, large pupils, and large smile. A second study asked males to rate the personal characteristics of 16 previously measured females. The males were also asked to indicate the females for whom they would be most inclined to perform altruistic behaviors, and select for dating, sexual behavior, and childrearing. The second study replicated the correlations of feature measurements with attractiveness. Facial features also predicted personality attributions, altruistic inclinations, and reproductive interest. Sociobiological interpretations are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It was hypothesized that the extent to which individuals' attitudes guide their subsequent perceptions of and behavior toward the attitude object is a function of the accessibility of those attitudes from memory, and a field investigation concerning the 1984 presidential election was conducted as a test of these hypotheses.
Abstract: It was hypothesized that the extent to which individuals' attitudes guide their subsequent perceptions of and behavior toward the attitude object is a function of the accessibility of those attitudes from memory. A field investigation concerning the 1984 presidential election was conducted as a test of these hypotheses. Attitudes toward each of the two candidates, Reagan and Mondale, and the accessibility of those attitudes, as indicated by the latency of response to the attitudinal inquiry, were measured for a large sample of townspeople months before the election. Judgments of the performance of the candidates during the televised debates served as the measure of subsequent perceptions, and voting served as the measure of subsequent behavior. As predicted, both the attitude-perception and the attitude-behavior relations were moderated by attitude accessibility. The implications of these findings for theoretical models of the processes by which attitudes guide behavior, along with their practical implications for survey research, are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For high- Discrepancy subjects, but not low-discrepancySubjects with a predominant actual:ideal discrepancy felt more dejection whereas ought priming increased their agitation, and cognitive-motivational factors that may serve as vulnerability markers for emotional problems are discussed.
Abstract: Two studies examined whether the type of emotional change experienced by individuals is influenced by the magnitude and accessibility of the different types of self-discrepancies they possess. In both studies, subjects filled out a measure of self-discrepancy a few weeks prior to the experimental session. Subjects were asked to list up to 10 attributes each for different self-states--their actual self, their ideal self (their own or others' hopes and goals for them), and their ought self (their own or others' beliefs about their duty and obligations). Magnitude of self-discrepancy was calculated by comparing the attributes in the actual self to the attributes in either the ideal self or the ought self, with the total number of attribute pairs that matched being subtracted from the total number of attribute pairs that mismatched. In Study 1, subjects were asked to imagine either a positive event or a negative event and were then given a mood measure and a writing-speed task. Subjects with a predominant actual:ideal discrepancy felt more dejected (e.g., sad) and wrote more slowly in the negative event condition than in the positive event condition, whereas subjects with a predominant actual:ought discrepancy, if anything, felt more agitated (e.g., afraid) and wrote more quickly in the negative event condition. In Study 2, subjects were selected who were either high in both kinds of discrepancies or low in both. Half of the subjects in each group were asked to discuss their own and their parents' hopes and goals for them (ideal priming), and the other half were asked to discuss their own and their parents' beliefs concerning their duty and obligations (ought priming). For high-discrepancy subjects, but not low-discrepancy subjects, ideal priming increased their dejection whereas ought priming increased their agitation. The implications of these findings for identifying cognitive-motivational factors that may serve as vulnerability markers for emotional problems is discussed.



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, facial electromyographic (EMG) activity was used to distinguish both the valence and intensity of the affective reaction to the visual stimuli, and independent judges were unable to determine from viewing videotapes of the subjects' facial displays whether a positive or negative stimulus had been presented or whether a mildly or moderately intense stimulus was presented.
Abstract: Physiological measures have traditionally been viewed in social psychology as useful only in assessing general arousal and therefore as incapable of distinguishing between positive and negative affective states. This view is challenged in the present report. Sixteen subjects in a pilot study were exposed briefly to slides and tones that were mildly to moderately evocative of positive and negative affect. Facial electromyographic (EMG) activity differentiated both the valence and intensity of the affective reaction. Moreover, independent judges were unable to determine from viewing videotapes of the subjects' facial displays whether a positive or negative stimulus had been presented or whether a mildly or moderately intense stimulus had been presented. In the full experiment, 28 subjects briefly viewed slides of scenes that were mildly to moderately evocative of positive and negative affect. Again, EMG activity over the brow (corrugator supercilia), eye (orbicularis oculi), and cheek (zygomatic major) muscle regions differentiated the pleasantness and intensity of individuals' affective reactions to the visual stimuli even though visual inspection of the videotapes again indicated that expressions of emotion were not apparent. These results suggest that gradients of EMG activity over the muscles of facial expression can provide objective and continuous probes of affective processes that are too subtle or fleeting to evoke expressions observable under normal conditions of social interaction.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper investigated the role of representation of evidence in a juror's decision process and concluded that adequate theories of decision-making must emphasize cognitive aspects of performance, such as the representations of evidence.
Abstract: This study investigates the role of representation of evidence in a juror's decision process. A model is presented that includes an initial stage of processing in which cognitive representations of the evidence in the form of stories are produced. This is followed by a computation of the decision by evaluating the goodness-of-fit of the evidence representation (story) to the verdict categories. Subjects, drawn from jury pools, made individual decisions on the verdicts for a filmed murder trial. Extensive interviews provided the data for analysis of their cognitive representations of the evidence in the case, the verdict categories presented in the trial judge's instructions, and the procedures they were to follow according to law to reach a verdict. We found, as hypothesized, that the trial evidence was represented in a story form. Furthermore, differences among jurors in cognitive representations of evidence were correlated with their verdicts, although other aspects of the decision process (verdict category representations, application of the standard of proof procedural instruction) were not. We conclude that adequate theories of decision making must emphasize cognitive aspects of performance, such as the representation of evidence.



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report meta-analyses of the relation of attributional styles to depression in 104 studies involving nearly 15,000 subjects, and several attributional patterns had reliable associations with depression scores.
Abstract: In this article we report meta-analyses of the relation of attributional styles to depression. In 104 studies involving nearly 15,000 subjects, several attributional patterns had reliable associations with depression scores. For negative events, attributions to internal, stable, and global causes had a reliable and significant association with depression. Studies in which the attribution factors of ability and luck were measured also showed a reliable association with depression. For positive events, attributions to external, unstable, and specific causes were associated with depression. Ability and luck attribution factors for positive events were also associated with depression. The relations for positive events, however, were weaker than the corresponding ones for negative events. In general, these patterns of relations were independent of a number of potential mediators suggested by authors in this literature, including the type of subject studied (psychiatric vs. college student), the type of event about which the attribution is made (real vs. simulated), the depression measure used, or the publication status of the research report. These conclusions are compared with those of other reviews. Implications for attributional models of depression are discussed.