Showing papers in "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin in 1979"
TL;DR: In this paper, Allport's The Nature of Prejudice is extended with an application from attribution theory and an "ultimate attribution error" is proposed: when prejudiced peonle perceive what they regard as a negative act by an outgroup member, they will more than others attribute it dispositionally, often as genetically determined, in comparison to the same act by a ingroup member.
Abstract: Allport's The Nature of Prejudice is a social psychological classic Its delineation of the components and principles of prejudice remains modern, especially its handling of cognitive factors The volume's cognitive contentions are outlined, and then extended with an application from attribution theory An "ultimate attribution error" is proposed: (1) when prejudiced peonle perceive what they regard as a negative act by an outgroup member, they will more than others attribute it dispositionally, often as genetically determined, in comparison to the same act by an ingroup member: (2) wlhen prejudiced people perceive what they regard as a positive act by an outaroup member, they will more than others attribute it in comparison to the same act by an ingroup member to one or more of the following: (a) "the exceptional case," (b) luck or special advantage, (c) hig,h motivation and effort, and (d) manipulable situational context Predictions are advanced as to which of these responses will be adopted and under
1,041Â citations
TL;DR: This paper found that the inhibiting effect of forewarning was greater under high than low involvement conditions, i.e., reduced persuasion, increased counterargumentation, and reduced favorable thoughts.
Abstract: College undergraduates were either warned or not warned of the persuasive intent of a communication which was either of direct or only indirect personal relevance to them. Consistent with the hypothesis based on reactance theory (Brehm, 1966), the inhibiting effect of the forewarning (i.e., reduced persuasion, increased counterargumentation, and reduced favorable thoughts) was greater under high than low involvement conditions.
258Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a program of research in which elementary school students are "forced" to spend part of their classroom time mastering material in an interdependent structure, and the results indicate that such structured interdependence increases the self-esteem, the morale, the interpersonal attraction and the empathy of students across ethnic and racial divisions and also improves the academic performance of minority students without hampering the performance of the ethnic majority.
Abstract: The desegregated classroom has not produced many of the positive results initially expected by social scientists some 25 years ago. It is argued that one of the major reasons for this failure is the over-emphasis on competitiveness at the expense of interdependence in the classroom. In short, students in most classrooms very rarely cooperate with each other in pursuit of common goals. In this article, we describe a program of research in wihich elementary school students are "forced" to spend part of their classroom time mastering material in an interdependent structure. The results indicate that such structured interdependence increases the self-esteem, the morale, the interpersonal attraction, and the empathy of students across ethnic and racial divisions, and also improves the academic performance of minority students without hampering the performance of the ethnic majority.
240Â citations
TL;DR: The authors tested the hypothesis that perseverance of discredited self-perceptions after debriefing varies with subjects' opportunity to engage in causal explanation and found that subjects who, through distraction, were prevented from generating explanations showed no evidence of perseverance, while perseverance increased with an increasing opportunity to explain their outcomes to themselves.
Abstract: The present study tested the hypothesis that perseverance of discredited self-perceptions after debriefing varies with subjects' opportunity to engage in causal explanation. Subjects were presented with false feedback indicating that they had either succeeded or failed at a novel discrimination task. Four information processing conditions varied subjects' opportunity to explain their outcomes to themselves. Subjects who, through distraction, were prevented from generating explanations showed no evidence of perseverance, while perseverance increased with increasing opportunity to engage in causal explanation.
101Â citations
TL;DR: This article found that the number of false alarms increased with degree of self-reference of the adjectives, which was interpreted as evidence that the self is an important aspect of processing personal information.
Abstract: In a recognition memory study involving personal adjectives, the number of false alarms was found to increase with degree of self-reference of the adjectives. This was interpreted as: (1) evidence that the self is an important aspect of processing personal information, and (2) that the self functions as a cognitive prototype. The self can be seen to be a large and complex prototype that imparts a bias in processing personal information. This bias to perceive new, self-descriptive adjectives as being previously seen, has import for a theory of self and other-referent information processing.
88Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors found that the use of competitive tactics such as threats, positional commitments, and persuasive arguments by negotiators resulted in diminished joint and individual outcomes, and that constituents might fare better by not monitoring the behavior of their negotiators.
Abstract: Constituent surveillance encouraged the negotiator's use of such competitive tactics as threats, positional commitments, and persuasive arguments. Negotiators apparently chose these tactics in order to look tough in the eyes of their constituent. These tactics resulted in diminished joint and individual outcomes. The results of the study suggest that constituents might fare better by not monitoring the behavior of their negotiators. Future research might profit by identifying the crucial intervening variables that account for the surveillance effects.
85Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study was conducted which confirmed Gilley's (1975) prediction that "all the girls get prettier at closing time, they all get to look like movie stars".
Abstract: Despite psychology's attempts at keeping pace with hypotheses generated by song writers, research dealing with perceived physical attraction has fallen far behind. In an attempt to close the gap, a study was conducted which confirmed Gilley's (1975) prediction that "all the girls get prettier at closing time, they all get to look like movie stars..." A reactance interpretation based on predecisional preferences validated Gilley's observation "ain't it funny, ain' t it strange, the way a man's opinions change when he starts to face that lonely night."
75Â citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the aerobic power of 41 male and 29 female introductory psychology students was measured, and they were then subjected to a series of psychosocial stressors, with tonic heart rate as the criterion variable.
Abstract: The aerobic power of 41 male and 29 female introductory psychology students was measured. They were then subjected to a series of psychosocial stressors. Tonic heart rate was used as the criterion variable. Aerobic power was found to be significantly (p < .001) related to how quickly subjects recovered from stress.
73Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, a field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects on help-giving of the perceived intentionality and stability of the cause of a dependent person's need, and the results were discussed in terms of theorizing which has attempted to relate outcome attributions to helping behavior.
Abstract: A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects on help-giving of the perceived intentionality and stability of the cause of a dependent person's need. Subjects were asked to lend class notes to a caller whose need for help was described as due either to a lack of ability ("unintentional" dependency) or to a lack of effort ("intentional" dependency). The cause of the caller's dependency was also varied according to its perceived degree of stability (stable vs. unstable). As predicted, more help was elicited (1) when the caller's dependency was attributed to a lack of ability rather than to a lack Df effort, and (2) when the dependency was seen as stable rather than unstable. The results are discussed in terms of theorizing which has attempted to relate outcome attributions to helping behavior.
66Â citations
TL;DR: In an attempt to demonstrate that handicapped individuals tend to receive inaccurate feedback, a situation was created in which able-bodied subjects were asked to administer performance feedback to a confederate, presented either as handicapped or able-blooded.
Abstract: In an attempt to demonstrate that handicapped individuals tend to receive inaccurate feedback, a situation was created in which able-bodied subjects were asked to administer performance feedback to a confederate, presented either as handicapped or able-bodied. The confederate's performance followed a predetermined script intended to be perceived as a below-average performance. Analysis of the data showed that feedback to the able-bodied confederate was significantly different from that administered to handicapped confederates. An internal analysis of the data revealed that the difference in feedback was not because subjects expected the handicapped confederate to perform less well than the able-bodied. It was concluded that the "norm-to-be-kind" hypothesis was supported by the data.
59Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, the Asch/Kelley experiment was used to assess whether subjects in a typical, successful social psychological experiment pick up cues planted by experimenters and then proceed relatively mindlessly with the task at hand.
Abstract: An experiment, offered as a methodological prototype, was conducted to assess whether subjects in a typical, successful social psychological experiment pick up cues planted by experimenters and then proceed relatively mindlessly with the task at hand. The Asch/Kelley experiment was used to test this hypothesis. Subjects were tested on recall of information they had just been given. As predicted, subjects who were mindless with respect to this information were more likely to confirm the Asch/Kelley prediction than disconfirm it, while there was no difference in confirmation for the mindful group. The implications of these results for our ability to generalize our findings from the laboratory to the nonlaboratory world were discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared the social science statement of the Supreme Court on the effects of segregation and desegregation with the results of subsequent research, and found that the statement had no negative effect on the school achievement of white students.
Abstract: During the deliberations prior to its school desegregation decision in 1954 the Supreme Court had before it a Social Science Statement on the effects of segregation and desegregation. This article reassesses the quality of that Statement 25 years later. Key points in the Statement are compared to the results of subsequent research. Some points, e.g., no negative effect on the school achievement of white students, have been supported. Others, e.g., improvement in black self-esteem, are difficult to evaluate due to inconsistent and uninterpretable research findings. Still others, e.g., more favorable racial attitudes, cannot be compared to the research findings because desegregation was not carried out in accord with conditions that were specified as conducive to the outcomes predicted in the Statement. Much research effort has been wasted in the study of school desegregation conducted under conditions unknown to the investigator. In order to avoid such waste in the future it is suggested that investigators...
TL;DR: The authors examined the effect of anxiety on encoding processes in memory and found that high-anxiety subjects can be characterized as encoding fewer semantic features, encoding less elaboratively, and being less flexible in utilizing alternative memory strategies.
Abstract: This paper examines the effect of anxiety on encoding processes in memory. It is argued that the levels of processing model of memory provides a useful approach to the study of anxiety effects on encoding. In particular, relative to low-anxiety subjects, high-anxiety subjects can be characterized as encoding fewer semantic features, encoding less elaboratively, and being less flexible in utilizing alternative memory strategies. The levels framework can also be combined with the encoding specificity view of retrieval to supplement the drive theory analysis of anxiety effects on retrieval.
TL;DR: The authors focused on sample size as one factor which may mediate the efficacy of sample-based consensus information and found that subjects confronted with two conflicting base rates relied on the one derived from the larger sample when making individual and population predictions.
Abstract: The present research focused on sample size as one factor which may mediate the efficacy of sample-based consensus information. In one experiment, subjects confronted with two conflicting base rates relied on the one derived from the larger sample when making individual and population predictions. In a second experiment, subjects for whom consensus percentages were discrepant with expectations assumed that these base rates were derived from a smaller sample than did subjects for whom the percentages were congruent with expectations. These results were discussed in the context of the literature on consensus, prediction, and attribution.
TL;DR: In this article, three causal models of the stigmatization process are presented: attribute-as-cause, labeling, and scapegoat, and important dimensions of stimulus variation among different types of stigma: visibility, threat, potential for sympathy and pity arousal, and apparent responsibility of the possessor.
Abstract: Goffman (1963) believes that the stigma notion can provide a unifying perspective in the field of intergroup relations. But except for his treatment, the term stigma has never been examined as a social psychological concept. In this paper a preliminary explication is attempted. Following a brief review of Goffman's contribution, three causal models of the stigmatization process are presented: attribute-as-cause, labeling, and scapegoat. Implications for research are discussed. Next described are some important dimensions of stimulus variation among different types of stigma: visibility, threat, potential for sympathy and pity arousal, and apparent responsibility of the possessor. Attitudes of observers toward a range of stigmas appear to be ambivalent, and an ambivalence-response amplification theory of social reactions to stigmatized individuals is mentioned, along with some empirical evidence.
TL;DR: This paper found that the extent of own-race bias was significant for elderly black subjects but not for elderly whites in a study of elderly black and white subjects, and found that a significant race of subject by race of picture interaction was found.
Abstract: Research involving college students has identified the existence of an "own-race bias" such that people tend to recognize facial pictures of members of their own race better than pictures of members of another racial group. Some theorists have assumed that this bias is greater among whites than among minority group members, although the research evidence is mixed. In the present study, the responses of elderly blacks and whites (mean age 72) were investigated. A significant race of subject by race of picture interaction was found, similar to that found with college students. The extent of own-race bias was significant for elderly black subjects but not for elderly whites. The implications of these findings are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, a field experiment was designed to determine whether the manipulations used in previous door-in-the-face studies led to assumptions of negative self-presentation, and the results indicated that subjects believed an observer of their refusal would rate them as significantly less helpful, less friendly, and less concerned after they refused the moderately large as opposed to the extremely large request.
Abstract: Cialdini has proposed a reciprocal concessions explanation of the door-in-the-face technique for inducing compliance. We wish to propose an alternative explanation, that this technique increases compliance because it induces concern about self-presentation. A field experiment was designed to determine whether the manipulations used in previous door-in-the-face studies led to assumptions of a negative self-presentation. Fifty male university students were presented with either a moderately large request for help (similar to those used in the door-in-the-face studies) or an extremely large request. After refusing the request subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire. Responses to this questionnaire indicated that subjects believed an observer of their refusal would rate them as significantly less helpful, less friendly, and less concerned after they refused the moderately large as opposed to the extremely large request. These results were predicted by our selfpresentation explanation of the door-in-th...
TL;DR: In this article, two samples of married couples, one from the mainland United States and one from Hawaii, show matching for physical attractiveness, including young and recently married, middle-aged, and older couples.
Abstract: Two samples of married couples, one from the mainland United States and one from Hawaii, show matching for physical attractiveness. The samples include young and recently married, middle-aged, and older couples. When age effects on attractiveness are partialled out, the spouse correlations are .30 and .25 for mainland and Hawaiian couples, respectively. These data suggest that the matching phenomenon is stable within and across generations.
TL;DR: The authors showed facial and body shots of stimulus persons answering factual questions, both truthfully and untruthfully, and found that confidence in the judgments of truth or lying was greater for dishonest than honest answers, supporting Ekman and Friesen's theory and extending findings to factual (non-emotional) statements.
Abstract: Videotapes showed facial and body shots of stimulus persons answering factual questions, both truthfully and untruthfully. Subjects (n=32) viewed the videotapes and judged whether each answer was the truth or a lie. Results indicated accuracy was greatest for body shots of dishonest answers, supporting Ekman and Friesen's (1969; 1974) theory and extending findings to factual (non-emotional) statements. Confidence in the judgments of truth or lying was greater for dishonest than honest answers.
TL;DR: In this paper, a criminal trial was presented to male and female undergraduates in one of four modes: videotape, audiotape, transcript, or summary, and significant differences in verdicts and in perceptions of the effectiveness of attorneys' presentations were observed across modes.
Abstract: A criminal trial was presented to male and female undergraduates in one of four modes: videotape, audiotape, transcript, or summary. Significant differences in verdicts and in perceptions of the effectiveness of attorneys' presentations were observed across modes, but no differences in perceptions of witnesses were noted.
TL;DR: In this article, factor analyses of the responses of random samples of men and women from three cities indicate the presence of two relatively independent dimensions of rape prevention attitudes: a) beliefs about measures calling for restrictions in women's behavior, and b) belief about measures involving changes in the environment, or assertive actions by women.
Abstract: Factor analyses of the responses of random samples of men and women from three cities indicate the presence of two relatively independent dimensions of rape prevention attitudes: a) beliefs about measures calling for restrictions in women's behavior, and b) beliefs about measures involving changes in the environment, or assertive actions by women. Sex and race differences in ratings of the effectiveness of the two types of prevention measures illustrate the usefulness of this two-dimensional approach for understanding rape prevention beliefs. The implications of these results for attribution theory and for anti-rape policies are discussed.
TL;DR: A follow-up study of students who, during their freshman year, were either placed two to a room or three-to-a room in a room designed for two persons was conducted two years later as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: A follow-up study of students who, during their freshman year, were either placed two to a room or three to a room in a room designed for two persons was conducted two years later. In comparison to their performance during their sophomore and junior years, grade point averages of tripled students, but not of doubled students, were significantly depressed during their freshman year. Additionally, tripled students were less satisfied and more unhappy with their living conditions as freshmen than were doubled students. During their later college careers, all students, regardless of their freshman room assignment, were equally well adjusted to college, equally satisfied with college and performed equally well in their courses.
TL;DR: This paper found that high self-monitors assumed significantly greater responsibility for success than for failure when videotaped, but assumed only somewhat more responsibility for failure than for success when not taped.
Abstract: Research has shown that individuals' causal attributions are affected by the degree of public scrutiny of their behavior (Bradley, 1978). An experiment was conducted to test a self-presentational explanation of this finding. High and low self-monitors were or were not closely scrutinized (videotaped) during their performance of a task at which they either succeeded or failed. Low self-monitors were expected to provide an attributional baseline (little or no self-presentation) against which the self-presentational tendencies of high self-monitors could be assessed. It was found that high self-monitors assumed significantly greater responsibility for success than for failure when videotaped, but assumed only somewhat more responsibility for success than for failure when not taped. Surprisingly, low self-monitors' attributions were affected by the manipulation of evaluation intensity. Low self-monitors assumed more responsibility for success than for failure when they were not taped, but assumed no more resp...
TL;DR: This article reported three failures to replicate the Touhey's experiment, which suggests that as people come to expect increases in the proportion of women in a high status profession, their ratings of the prestige and desirability of that profession decreases.
Abstract: An experiment reported by John Touhey (1974) suggests that as people come to expect increases in the proportion of women in a high status profession, their ratings of the prestige and desirability of that profession decreases. The present study reports three failures to replicate this finding. These failures to replicate should caution researchers regarding the generalizability of the original finding and the extent to which it can be cited as an explanation for fluctuations in occupational prestige.
TL;DR: Theories of experimental social psychology and related research findings are usually presented in a manner suggesting that they apply to humans everywhere as mentioned in this paper, but this is misleading, since it can be shown that many of the theories have built-in assumptions that are not met in a wide range of traditional cultures.
Abstract: Theories of experimental social psychology and related research findings are usually presented in a manner suggesting that they apply to humans everywhere. It is argued that this is misleading, since it can be shown that many of the theories have built-in assumptions that are not met in a wide range of traditional cultures.
TL;DR: The authors found that subjects do not attribute arousal to a female confederate when a clear and salient aversive stimulus is present, instead, subjects correctly assigned causality to the experimental situation.
Abstract: Four studies were done in an attempt to test the misattribution explanation of earlier findings showing a connection between aversive arousal and attraction. All four studies indicated that subjects do not attribute arousal to a female confederate when a clear and salient aversive stimulus is present. Instead, subjects correctly assigned causality to the experimental situation. All four studies also failed to reproduce the original attraction finding, i.e., aversive circumstances were not found to enhance attraction for the confederate.
TL;DR: For instance, this article found that a change in the overall central tendency from a baseline value produced a significant shift in ability estimates only if the change involved the scores of similar others, indicating that selectivity in the desire for information extends to the use of that information for self-evaluation.
Abstract: Previous research has generally supported Festinger's proposal that similar others are preferred sources of comparison information, but has not examined the use to which the information is put. Subjects in the present study took a test and received a score and comparison information from both similar and dissimilar others. A change in the overall central tendency from a baseline value produced a significant shift in ability estimates only if the change involved the scores of similar others. Thus, selectivity in the desire for information extends to the use of that information for self-evaluation.
TL;DR: The anti-smoking campaign appears to influence attitudes toward smokers but previous research suggests the effect is restricted to nonsmokers as discussed by the authors, which suggests that smokers would find other smokers attractive while nonsmoker would prefer nonsmoking targets.
Abstract: The anti-smoking campaign appears to influence attitudes toward smokers but previous research suggests the effect is restricted to nonsmokers. Psychological attractiveness findings predict that smokers would find other smokers attractive while nonsmokers would prefer nonsmokers. The present study tested smoker and nonsmoker attitudes toward smoking and nonsmoking targets. As predicted, smokers preferred smokers and nonsmokers preferred nonsmokers, although smokers in general were rated less attractive. Physical attractiveness ratings were not influenced by status.
TL;DR: The authors found that self-serving biases affect attributions about one's own behavior; these biases also affect perceptions of another person's behavior, i.e., self-enhancing and self-protective biases.
Abstract: Ninety subjects read one of eight paragraphs describing an encounter between a same-sex actor and a target person The Actor's implied evaluation of the target (positive or negative) and whether the subject or another person of the same sex was identified as the target were varied When subjects allocated attribution points to target, actor, and circumstances, both selfenhancing and self-protective biases were demonstrated; ie, when subjects themselves were target persons, most attributions to the self and least to circumstances were made in the positive evaluation condition and fewest attributions to the self and most to circumstances were made in the negative evaluation condition No sex differences were found Discrepancies with an open-ended measure were discussed Previous studies have shown that self-serving biases affect attributions about one's own behavior; this study demonstrates that these biases also affect perceptions of another person's behavior
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of perceivers' cognitive set and the saliency of a defendant on the evaluation and sentencing of a criminal were examined in a videotaped mock trial.
Abstract: A videotaped mock trial was employed to examine the effects of perceivers' cognitive set and the salience of a defendant upon perceivers' evaluations and sentencing of him. Cognitive set influenced both the range and the direction of salience effects. The defendant was seen as more responsible for the crime by perceivers who were set to watch a trial and to determine his guilt than by those who were set to watch a social interaction and to form an impression of him. Given a trial set, the more visibly salient the defendant, the more negatively he was evaluated. However, the defendant's salience did not influence the recommended sentence. Given an impression set, the more visibly salient the defendant, the more positively he was evaluated, and the more lenient the recommended sentence.