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Showing papers in "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1989"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth, and found that these aspects are not strongly tied to prior assessment indexes.
Abstract: Reigning measures of psychological well-being have little theoretical grounding, despite an extensive literature on the contours of positive functioning. Aspects of well-being derived from this literature (i.e., self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth) were operationalized. Three hundred and twenty-one men and women, divided among young, middle-aged, and older adults, rated themselves on these measures along with six instruments prominent in earlier studies (i.e., affect balance, life satisfaction, self-esteem, morale, locus of control, depression). Results revealed that positive relations with others, autonomy, purpose in life, and personal growth were not strongly tied to prior assessment indexes, thereby supporting the claim that key aspects of positive functioning have not been represented in the empirical arena. Furthermore, age profiles revealed a more differentiated pattern of well-being than is evident in prior research.

10,548 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A multidimensional coping inventory to assess the different ways in which people respond to stress was developed and an initial examination of associations between dispositional and situational coping tendencies was allowed.
Abstract: We developed a multidimensional coping inventory to assess the different ways in which people respond to stress. Five scales (of four items each) measure conceptually distinct aspects of problem-focused coping (active coping, planning, suppression of competing activities, restraint coping, seeking of instrumental social support); five scales measure aspects of what might be viewed as emotional-focused coping (seeking of emotional social support, positive reinterpretation, acceptance, denial, turning to religion); and three scales measure coping responses that arguably are less useful (focus on and venting of emotions, behavioral disengagement, mental disengagement). Study 1 reports the development of scale items. Study 2 reports correlations between the various coping scales and several theoretically relevant personality measures in an effort to provide preliminary information about the inventory's convergent and discriminant validity. Study 3 uses the inventory to assess coping responses among a group of undergraduates who were attempting to cope with a specific stressful episode. This study also allowed an initial examination of associations between dispositional and situational coping tendencies.

10,143 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a theoretical model based on the dissociation ofantomatic and controlled processes involved in prejudice was proposed, which suggests that the stereotype is automatically activated in the presence of a member (or some symbolic equivalent) of the stereotyped group and that Iow-prejudiee responses require controlled inhibition of the automatically activated stereotype.
Abstract: University of Wisconsin--Madis on Three studies tested basic assumptions derived from a theoretical model based on the dissociation ofantomatic and controlled processes involved in prejudice. Study I supported the model's assumption that high- and low-prejudice persons are equally knowledgeable of the cultural stereotype. The model suggests that the stereotype is automatically activated in the presence of a member (or some symbolic equivalent) of the stereotyped group and that Iow-prejudiee responses require controlled inhibition of the automatically activated stereotype. Study 2, which examined the effects of automarie stereotype activation on the evaluation of ambiguous stereotype-relevant behaviors performed by a race-unspecified person, suggested that when subjects' ability to consciously monitor stereotype activation is precluded, both high- and low-prejudice subjects produce stereotype-congruent evaluations of ambiguous behaviors. Study 3 examined high- and low-prejudice subjects' responses in a consciously directed thought-listing task. Consistent with the model, only low-prejudice subjects inhibited the automatically activated stereotype-congruent thoughts and replaced them with thoughts reflecting equality and negations of the stereotype. The relation between stereotypes and prejudice and implications for prejudice reduction are discussed.

5,300 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a model of perceived locus of causality (PLOC) was developed, using children's self-reported reasons for acting, and the proposed model and conceptualization of PLOC were discussed with regard to intrapersonal versus interpersonal perception, internalization, cause-reason distinctions, and significance of perceived autonomy in human behavior.
Abstract: Theories of internalization typically suggest that self-perceptions of the "causes" of (i.e. reasons for) behavior are differentiated along a continuum of autonomy that contains identifiable gradations. A model of perceived locus of causality (PLOC) is developed, using children's self-reported reasons for acting. In Project 1, external, introjected, identified, and intrinsic types of reasons for achievement-related behaviors are shown to conform to a simplex-like (ordered correlation) structure in four samples. These reason categories are then related to existing measures of PLOC and to motivation. A second project examines 3 reason categories (external, introject, and identification) within the domain of prosocial behavior. Relations with measures of empathy, moral judgement and positive interpersonal relatedness are presented. Finally, the proposed model and conceptualization of PLOC are discussed with regard to intrapersonal versus interpersonal perception, internalization, cause-reason distinctions, and the significance of perceived autonomy in human behavior.

3,003 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Deux etudes examinent les relations entre different types d'appreciation and de disposition a l'action and des categories emotionnelles variees dans des epreuves de memorisation d'experiences d'etats emotionnels as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Deux etudes examinent les relations entre differents types d'appreciation et de disposition a l'action et des categories emotionnelles variees dans des epreuves de memorisation d'experiences d'etats emotionnels

1,916 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Affect Grid as mentioned in this paper is a single-item scale, designed as a quick means of assessing affect along the dimensions of pleasure-displeasure and arousal-sleepiness, which is suitable for any study that requires judgments about affect of either a descriptive or a subjective kind.
Abstract: This article introduces a single-item scale, the Affect Grid, designed as a quick means of assessing affect along the dimensions of pleasure-displeasure and arousal-sleepiness. The Affect Grid is potentially suitable for any study that requires judgments about affect of either a descriptive or a subjective kind. The scale was shown to have adequate reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity in 4 studies in which college students used the Affect Grid to describe (a) their current mood, (b) the meaning of emotion-related words, and (c) the feelings conveyed by facial expressions. Other studies are cited to illustrate the potential uses of the Affect Grid as a measure of mood. In this article, we introduce the Affect Grid, a scale designed as a quick means of assessing affect along the dimensions of pleasure-displeasure and arousal-sleepiness. The Affect Grid is potentially suitable for any study that requires judgments about affect of either a descriptive or a subjective kind. The Affect Grid is a single-item scale. Our aim was for an instrument that would be short and easy to fill out and that could, therefore, be used rapidly and repeatedly. Currently available scales of affect are multiple-item checklists or questionnaires that are too time-consuming or too distracting for some purposes. In particular, they do not lend themselves to continuous or quickly repeated observation. They are awkward in dealing with the rapid fluctuations of affect that occur, for example, in response to music, or for all we know, to many everyday emotion-laden events. In repeated-meas ures designs, subjects tiring of the same checklist may eventually become less conscientious or, in longitudinal studies, drop out of the study. Researchers who have wanted something quick and simple have sometimes resorted to homespun measures—with resulting uncertainty as to precisely what is being measured and how well. The Affect Grid is shown in Figure 1. The subject is asked to take several minutes beforehand to learn precisely how to use it. General instructions for this purpose are given in the Appendix.1 Once the subject understands these general instructions, he or she can then be given the Affect Grid together with whatever specific instructions are appropriate, such as "Please rate

1,720 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results showed that all the variables measuring the quality of experience, except for relaxation and motivation, are more affected by flow than by whether the respondent is working or in leisure.
Abstract: Followed 78 adult workers for 1 week with the experience sampling method. (This method randomly samples self-reports throughout the day.) The main question was whether the quality of experience was more influenced by whether a person was at work or at leisure or more influenced by whether a person was in flow (i.e., in a condition of high challenges and skills). Results showed that all the variables measuring the quality of experience, except for relaxation and motivation, are more affected by flow than by whether the respondent is working or in leisure. Moreover, the great majority of flow experiences are reported when working, not when in leisure. Regardless of the quality of experience, however, respondents are more motivated in leisure than in work. But individuals more motivated in flow than in apathy reported more positive experiences in work. Results suggest implications for improving the quality of everyday life.

1,674 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Path analysis revealed that perceived self-efficacy had both a direct effect on organizational performance and an indirect effect through its influence on analytic strategies, and personal goals also affected organizational performance through the mediation of analytic strategies.
Abstract: Tested the hypothesis that induced conceptions of ability as a stable entity or as an acquirable skill would affect self-regulatory mechanisms governing performance in a simulated organization. Ss served as managerial decision makers in which they had to match employees to subfunctions and to discover and apply managerial rules to achieve a difficult level of organizational performance. Those who performed the challenging managerial task under an entity conception of ability suffered a loss in perceived self-efficacy, lowered their organizational goals, and became less efficient in their analytic strategies. Ss who managed the organization under an acquirable skill conception of ability sustained their perceived self-efficacy, set challenging organizational goals, and used analytic strategies effectively. These divergences in self-regulatory factors were accompanied by substantial differences in organizational performance. Path analysis revealed that perceived self-efficacy had both a direct effect on organizational performance and an indirect effect through its influence on analytic strategies. Personal goals also affected organizational performance through the mediation of analytic strategies. The relation of prior organizational performance to subsequent performance was mediated entirely by the combined influence of the self-regulatory factors.

1,431 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that the mortality salience effect does not result from heightened self-awareness or physiological arousal, and implications for the role of fear of death in social behavior are discussed.
Abstract: On the basis of terror management theory, it was hypothesized that when mortality is made salient, Ss would respond especially positively toward those who uphold cultural values and especially negatively toward those who violate cultural values. In Experiment 1, judges recommended especially harsh bonds for a prostitute when mortality was made salient. Experiment 2 replicated this finding with student Ss and demonstrated that it occurs only among Ss with relatively negative attitudes toward prostitution. Experiment 3 demonstrated that mortality salience also leads to larger reward recommendations for a hero who upheld cultural values. Experiments 4 and 5 showed that the mortality salience effect does not result from heightened self-awareness or physiological arousal. Experiment 6 replicated the punishment effect with a different mortality salience manipulation. Implications for the role of fear of death in social behavior are discussed.

1,215 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that the typical utility function is steeply increasing and convex for disadvantageous inequality and weakly declining and a convex utility function for advantageous inequality in two-person ultimatum games and that disputants are concerned not only with the outcomes they receive, but also with their opponents' outcomes.
Abstract: Three studies examined preferences for outcomes to self and a codisputant. Studies I and 2 estimated social utility functions from judgments of satisfaction with alternative outcomes. Comparing functional forms, we found that a utility function, including terms for own payoff and for positive and negative discrepancies between the parties' payoffs (advantageous and disadvantageous inequality), provides a close fit to the data. The typical utility function is steeply increasing and convex for disadvantageous inequality and weakly declining and convex for advantageous inequality. We manipulated dispute type (personal, business) and disputant relationship (positive, neutral, or negative) and found that both strongly influence preferences for advantageous but not disadvantageous inequality. A third study contrasted implications of the social utility functions with predictions of individual utility theories. People care about the outcomes of others. We sacrifice our own interests to help loved ones or harm adversaries. Participants withdraw from profitable participation in a laboratory experiment if they perceive inequity in remuneration (Schmitt & Marweli, 1972). Players in two-person ultimatum games (in which one player proposes a distribution of a fixed amount of money that the other has the option of either accepting or rejecting) frequently reject a positive but inequitable offer even though the alternative is no gain at all (Guth, Schmittberger, & Schwarze, 1982). Negotiations between parties often collapse when one party becomes incensed with the other and attempts to "maximize his opponent's displeasure rather than his own satisfaction" (scigel & Fouraker, 1960, p. 100). In general, disputants are concerned not only with the outcomes they receive, but also with the outcomes of their opponents (Pruitt & Rubin, 1986).

1,131 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a dynamic account of relations between personality, life events, and subjective well-being is presented, where each person is regarded as having "normal" equilibrium levels of life events and SWB, predictable on the basis of age and personality.
Abstract: Using data from 4 waves of an Australian panel study, this study offers a dynamic account of relations between personality, life events, and subjective well-being (SWB). Members of the Victorian Quality of Life panel study were interviewed 4 times: in 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1987. The initial sample size was 942; 649 respondents remain. The study shows that very stable personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience) predispose people to experience moderately stable levels of favorable and adverse life events and moderately stable levels of SWB. However, contrary to the implications of previous research (Costa & McCrae, 1980, 1984), life events influence SWB over and above the effects of personality. A dynamic equilibrium model is outlined, in which each person is regarded as having "normal" equilibrium levels of life events and SWB, predictable on the basis of age and personality. Only when events deviate from their equilibrium levels does SWB change. Unusually favorable events enhance SWB; unusually adverse events depress it. The dynamic equilibrium model is compared with 3 alternatives: personality models, adaptation level models, and models that treat life events as being wholly exogenous.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Path analyses revealed that perceived self-efficacy, which was affected by prior accomplishments, influenced subsequent organizational performance through its effects on analytic strategies and enhanced organizational attainments directly and through mediation of analytic strategies.
Abstract: Tested the hypothesis that perceived controllability and stringency of performance standards would affect self-regulatory mechanisms governing performance attainments of a simulated organization. Ss who managed the simulated organization under a cognitive set that organizations are not easily controllable displayed low perceived self-efficacy, even when standards were within easy reach, and lowered their organizational goals. Ss who operated under a cognitive set that organizations are controllable maintained a strong sense of self-efficacy, set increasingly challenging goals, and exhibited effective analytic thinking. The divergent changes in these self-regulatory factors were accompanied by large differences in organizational attainments. Path analyses revealed that perceived self-efficacy, which was affected by prior accomplishments, influenced subsequent organizational performance through its effects on analytic strategies. After further experience, the performance system was regulated more extensively and intricately by Ss' self-conceptions of efficacy. Perceived self-efficacy affected subsequent organizational attainments both directly and indirectly through its influence on personal goal challenges. Personal goals, in turn, enhanced organizational attainments directly and through mediation of analytic strategies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Action identification theory holds that any action can be identified in many ways, ranging from low-level identities that specify how the action is performed to high level identities that signify why or with what effect it is performed as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: This research examined individual differences in action identification level as measured by the Behavior Identification Form. Action identification theory holds that any action can be identified in many ways, ranging from low-level identities that specify how the action is performed to high-level identities that signify why or with what effect the action is performed. People who identify action at a uniformly lower or higher level across many action domains, then, may be characterized in terms of their standing on a broad personality dimension: level of personal agency. High-level agents think about their acts in encompassing terms that incorporate the motives and larger meanings of the action, whereas low-level agents think about their acts in terms of the details or means of action. Research on the convergent, divergent, and predictive validity of this construct examined its implications for the individual's overall competence in action, for the individual's inclination toward planful versus impulsive action and for the degree to which the individual's actions are organized by and reflected in the self-concept. Some people think they can do big things. They set out to write a book, to make a fortune, or to win an election. There are others, however, who may undertake much the same tasks with far more meager aims in mind. They might get some ideas on paper, make a profit this week, or shake a few hands at the factory gate. Ultimately, the people who see their acts in big ways may find the same success as those who focus on the details. However, the two ways of identifying action are appropriate and effective in vastly different situations, and they promote radically distinct styles of action. This research was designed to test the reliability and validity of an instrument assessing this action identification dimension. High levels of personal agency represent the tendency to understand one's action in terms of its consequences and implications, whereas low levels of personal agency represent the tendency to see one's action in terms of its details or mechanics. The dimension of personal agency level is derived from action identification theory, a set of principles on the understanding

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results reveal the complex emotional effects of daily stressors, and in particular they suggest that future investigations should focus primarily on interpersonal conflicts.
Abstract: This article examines the influence of daily stressors on mental health in a community sample. Ss were 166 married couples who completed diaries each day for 6 weeks. In pooled within-person analyses, daily stressors explained up to 20% of the variance in mood. Interpersonal conflicts were by far the most distressing events. Furthermore, when stressors occurred on a series of days, emotional habituation occurred by the second day for almost all events except interpersonal conflicts. Contrary to certain theoretical accounts, multiple stressors on the same day did not exacerbate one another's effects: rather an emotional plateau occurred. Finally on days following a stressful event, mood was better than it would have been if the stressor had not happened. These results reveal the complex emotional effects of daily stressors, and in particular they suggest that future investigations should focus primarily on interpersonal conflicts.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There was a strong positive association between level of optimism and postsurgical quality of life at 6 months and dispositional optimism (as assessed prior to surgery) correlated positively with manifestations of problem-focused coping and negatively with the use of denial.
Abstract: The effect of dispositional optimism on recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery was examined in a group of 51 middle-aged men. Patients provided information at three points in time--(a) on the day before surgery, (b) 6-8 days postoperatively, and (c) 6 months postoperatively. Information was obtained relating to the patient's rate of physical recovery, mood, and postsurgical quality of life. Information was also gathered regarding the manner in which the patients attempted to cope with the stress of the surgery and its aftermath. As expected, dispositional optimism proved to be an important predictor of coping efforts and of surgical outcomes. More specifically, dispositional optimism (as assessed prior to surgery) correlated positively with manifestations of problem-focused coping and negatively with the use of denial. Dispositional optimism was also associated with a faster rate of physical recovery during the period of hospitalization and with a faster rate of return to normal life activities subsequent to discharge. Finally, there was a strong positive association between level of optimism and postsurgical quality of life at 6 months.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: When asked to evaluate their own abilities, the assessments they provide tend to be self-serving as discussed by the authors, and often the appraisals that people endorse appear to be favorable to a logically impossible degree.
Abstract: When people are asked to evaluate their own abilities, the assessments they provide tend to be self-serving. Indeed, often the appraisals that people endorse appear to be favorable to a logically impossible degree. Perhaps the most direct demonstration of self-serving appraisal is the above average effect . When asked to judge their own capacities and performances in a specific domain against those of their peers, people predominantly respond, “I'm above average.” The above average effect has been demonstrated in the realm of driving ability (Svenson, 1981), ethics (Baumhart, 1968), health (Larwood, 1978: Weinstein, 1980), and managerial skills (Larwood & Whittaker, 1977). The most extreme documentation of this phenomenon comes from a survey conducted by the College Board in 1976–1977 of 1 million high school students. When rating themselves vis-a-vis their peers, 70% rated themselves as above average in leadership ability, whereas only 2% judged themselves as below average. When considering athletic ability, 60% considered themselves above the median and only 6%, below. When asked to judge their ability to get along with others, all students rated themselves as at least average, 60% placed themselves in the top 10%, and 25% placed themselves in the top 1%. The extremity of the phenomenon in this particular survey might be chalked up to youthful exuberance, although the above average effect occurs even among older and more educated people.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Using a sample of 315 adult men and women, self- reports on Wiggins's revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales were jointly factored with self-reports, peer ratings, and spouse ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory to examine the relations between the two models.
Abstract: Using a sample of 315 adult men and women, self-reports on Wiggins's revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales were jointly factored with self-reports, peer ratings, and spouse ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory to examine the relations between the two models. Results suggest that the interpersonal circumplex is defined by the two dimensions of Extraversion and Agreeableness, and that the circular ordering of variables is not an artifact of response biases or cognitive schemata. Circumplex and dimensional models appear to complement each other in describing the structure of personality, and both may be useful to social psychologists in understanding interpersonal behavior.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Relationship Closeness Inventory (RCI) as mentioned in this paper was developed to measure the closeness between two individuals, based on the conceptualization of closeness as high interdependence between two people's activities proposed by Kelley et al. (1983).
Abstract: This article describes the development of the Relationship Closeness Inventory (RCI), which draws on the conceptualization of closeness as high interdependence between two people's activities proposed by Kelley et al. (1983). The current "closest" relationship of individuals (N = 241) drawn from the college student population served as the basis for RCI development, with the closest relationship found to encompass several relationship types, including romantic, friend, and family relationships. The development and psychometric properties of the three RCI subscales (Frequency, Diversity, Strength), their scoring, and their combination to form an overall index of closeness are described. The RCI's test-retest reliability is reported and the association between RCI score and the longevity of the relationship is discussed. RCI scores for individuals' closest relationships are contrasted to those of not-close relationships, to a subjective closeness index, and to several measures of relationship affect, including Rubin's (1973) Liking and Loving scales. Finally, the ability of the RCI to predict relationship break up is contrasted to that of the Subjective Closeness Index, an index of the emotional tone of the relationship, and to relationship longevity. It is concluded that the RCI possesses acceptable internal and test-retest reliability, satisfactory discriminant and construct validity, and encouraging predictive validity, thus suggesting that it constitutes a viable means of assessing relationship closeness.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Three factors were identified that uniquely contribute to people's global self-esteem: people's tendencies to experience positive and negative affective states, people's specific self-views (i.e., their conceptions of their strengths and weaknesses), and the way people frame their self- views.
Abstract: Three factors were identified that uniquely contribute to people's global self-esteem: (a) people's tendencies to experience positive and negative affective states, (b) people's specific self-views (i.e., their conceptions of their strengths and weaknesses), and (c) the way people frame their self-views. Framing factors included the relative certainty and importance of people's positive versus negative self-views and the discrepancy between people's actual and ideal self-views. The contribution of importance to people's self-esteem, however, was qualified in 2 ways. First, importance contributed only to the self-esteem of those who perceived that they had relatively few talents. Second, individuals who saw their positive self-views as important were especially likely to be high in self-esteem when they were also highly certain of these positive self-views. The theoretical and therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine aupres de 360 etudiants en petits groupes l'efficacite de deux strategies fondees sur la categorisation sociale dans la reduction du biais inter-groupe.
Abstract: Une experience examine aupres de 360 etudiants en petits groupes l'efficacite de deux strategies fondees sur la categorisation sociale dans la reduction du biais inter-groupe

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Evidence is provided that reduced cognitive capacity to process the message contributes to the decrements shown by positive mood Ss, as well as cognitive mediators of the reduced processing of persuasive messages shown by recipients in a positive mood.
Abstract: Motivational and cognitive mediators of the reduced processing of persuasive messages shown by recipients in a positive mood were tested. Ss in positive or neutral moods read strong or weak counterattitudinal advocadies for either a limited time or for as long as they wanted. Under limited exposure conditions, neutral mood Ss showed attitude change indicative of systemic processing, whereas positive mood Ss showed no differentiation of strong and weak versions of the message. When message exposure was unlimited, positive mood Ss viewed the message longer than did neutral mood Ss and systematically processed it rather than relying on persuasion heuristics. These findings replicated with 2 manipulations of mood and 2 different attitude issues. We interpret the results as providing evidence that reduced cognitive capacity to process the message contributes to the decrements shown by positive mood Ss.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This experiment tested predictions derived from a social contingency model of judgment and choice that identifies 3 distinctive strategies that people rely on in dealing with demands for accountability from important interpersonal or institutional audiences.
Abstract: This experiment tested predictions derived from a social contingency model of judgment and choice that identifies 3 distinctive strategies that people rely on in dealing with demands for accountability from important interpersonal or institutional audiences. The model predicts that (a) when people know the views of the audience and are unconstrained by past commitments, they will rely on the low-effort acceptability heuristic and simply shift their views toward those of the prospective audience, (b) when people do not know the views of the audience and are unconstrained by past commitments, they will be motivated to think in relatively flexible, multidimensional ways (preemptive selfcriticism), and (c) when people are accountable for positions to which they feel committed, they will devote the majority of their mental effort to justifying those positions (defensive bolstering). The experiment yielded results supportive of these 3 predictions. The study also revealed some evidence of individual differences in social and cognitive strategies for coping with accountability. Many writers have criticized cognitive social psychology for its apparent indifference to the interpersonal and institutional settings within which people make judgments and choices (e.g., Gergen, 1982; Sampson, 1981). Although these critiques make important points, it is necessary to advance beyond metatheoretical position papers and to specify the particular ways in which interpersonal and institutional variables interact with cognitive tendencies of the perceiver to shape how people actually make up their minds. Recent research on accountability points to one possible answer. Tetlock (1985a) has argued that accountability is a universal feature of everyday decision-making environments. Accountability, from this standpoint, is a critical rule- and normenforcement mechanism: the social psychological link between individual thinkers on the one hand and the social systems to which they belong on the other. The fact that people are ultimately accountable for their decisions is an implicit or explicit constraint on virtually everything they do. Failure to behave in ways for which one can construct acceptable accounts leads to varying degrees of censure—depending, of course, on the gravity of the offense and the norms of the organization (Schlenker, 1982; Scott L Tetlock, 198 la). A good deal of experimental evidence indicates that accountability pressures can affect both what people think (the beliefs and preferences they express) and how they think (the reasoning

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Etude interculturelle de la perception du soi a partir des reponses d'individus a deux questionnaires non contextualise ou contextualise (demandant aux sujets de se decrire dans des contextes varies)
Abstract: Etude interculturelle de la perception du soi a partir des reponses d'individus a deux questionnaires non contextualise ou contextualise (demandant aux sujets de se decrire dans des contextes varies)

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results indicate that when the harm-doers apologized, as opposed to when they did not, the victim-subjects refrained from severe aggression against them.
Abstract: Two studies examined the effects of an apology on a victim's aggression and explored the psychological mechanisms underlying such effects. In Study 1, female undergraduates were psychologically harmed and then received an apology by another female student. In Study 2, male undergraduates were asked to role play a victim in a hypothetical harm situation. Results indicate that when the harm-doers apologized, as opposed to when they did not, the victim-subjects refrained from severe aggression against them. Regression analyses suggested that such aggression-inhibitory effects of an apology were mediated by impression improvement, emotional mitigation, and reduction in desire for an apology within the victims. It was also found that when the harm was severe, such effects of an apology on aggression were attenuated. The more severe the harm is, the more extensive of an apology may be needed to alleviate the victim's anger and aggression.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Heart rate deceleration during exposure to the needy others was associated with increased willingness to help, and adults' reports of sympathy, as well as facial sadness and concerned attention, were positively related to their intention to assist.
Abstract: Assessed sympathy and personal distress with facial and physiological indexes (heart rate) as well as self-report indexes and examined the relations of these various indexes to prosocial behavior for children and adults in an easy escape condition Heart rate deceleration during exposure to the needy others was associated with increased willingness to help In addition, adults' reports of sympathy, as well as facial sadness and concerned attention, were positively related to their intention to assist For children, there was some indication that report of positive affect and facial distress were negatively related to prosocial intentions and behavior, whereas facial concern was positively related to the indexes of prosocial behavior These findings are interpreted as providing additional, convergent support for the notion that sympathy and personal distress are differentially related to prosocial behavior

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The hypothesis that greater familiarity with a social group leads to greater perceived differentiation and variability regarding that group is supported and a computer simulation experiment indicated that PDIST is sufficient to explain the results of 4 experiments.
Abstract: This research studied 2 properties of perceived distributions of the characteristics of social category members: the probability of differentiating (making distinctions) among category members and the perceived variability (variance) of category members. The results of 4 experiments supported the hypothesis that greater familiarity with a social group leads to greater perceived differentiation and variability regarding that group. In-group members formed more differentiated and variable distributions for groups defined by age and more differentiated distributions for groups defined by nationality. For gender (where students were roughly equally familiar with people of both genders), no in-group--out-group differences occurred. Also, students perceived greater differentiation and variability among classmates over the course of a semester. To explain these results, we developed PDIST, a multiple exemplar model that assumes that people form perceived distributions by activating a set of category exemplars and then judging the relative likelihoods of different feature values on the basis of the relative activation strengths of these feature values. The results of a computer simulation experiment indicated that PDIST is sufficient to explain the results of our 4 experiments. According to the perceived distributions formed by PDIST, increasing familiarity leads to greater differentiation and variability, has a concave impact, and has greater impact on differentiation than on variability.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Three experiments examine how the type of language used to describe in-group and out-group behaviors contributes to the transmission and persistence of social stereotypes and the important role that abstract versus concrete communication plays in the perpetuation of stereotypes.
Abstract: Three experiments examine how the type of language used to describe in-group and out-group behaviors contributes to the transmission and persistence of social stereotypes. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that people encode and communicate desirable in-group and undesirable out-group behaviors more abstractly than undesirable in-group and desirable out-group behaviors. Experiment 1 provided strong support for this hypothesis using a fixed-response scale format controlling for the level of abstractness developed from Semin and Fiedler's (1988a) linguistic category model. Experiment 2 yielded the same results with a free-response format. Experiment 3 demonstrated the important role that abstract versus concrete communication plays in the perpetuation of stereotypes. The implications of these findings and the use of the linguistic category model are discussed for the examination of the self-perpetuating cycle of stereotypes in communication processes.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that people may escape the unconscious effects of misleading information by recollecting its source, raising the criterion level of familiarity required for judgments of fame, or by changing from familiarity to a more analytic basis for judgment.
Abstract: Nonfamous names presented once in an experiment are mistakenly judged as famous 24 hr later. On an immediate test, no such false fame occurs. This phenomenon parallels the sleeper effect found in studies of persuasion. People may escape the unconscious effects of misleading information by recollecting its source, raising the criterion level of familiarity required for judgments of fame, or by changing from familiarity to a more analytic basis for judgment. These strategies place constraints on the likelihood of sleeper effects. We discuss these results as the unconscious use of the past as a tool vs its conscious use as an object of reflection. Conscious recollection of the source of information does not always occur spontaneously when information is used as a tool in judgment. Rather, conscious recollection is a separate act.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results revealed the predicted pattern for the tendency to experience anger and a "motor" component of hostility.
Abstract: We examined stability of self-esteem and level of self-esteem as predictors of dispositional tendencies to experience anger and hostility. We reasoned that individuals with unstable high self-esteem would report especially high tendencies to experience anger and hostility, and that individuals with stable high self-esteem would report particularly low tendencies. We expected individuals with stable and unstable low self-esteem to fall between these two extremes. These predictions were derived from an analysis of anger and hostility that emphasized the instigating role of threats to self-esteem. Stability of self-esteem was assessed through multiple assessments of global self-esteem in naturalistic settings. Results revealed the predicted pattern for the tendency to experience anger and a "motor" component of hostility. The importance of considering both stability and level of self-esteem in analyses of anger and hostility is discussed.