Showing papers in "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin in 1986"

Social Comparison Theory Psychology from the Lost and Found

Abstract: The history of Festinger's social comparison theory is traced from its publication in 1954 to its celebration at the APA convention in 1984. Social comparison theory received little attention after its original publication. Possible explanations include Festinger's turning to dissonance theory and the relatively low circulation of the journal in which it was published, Human Relations. The theory was kept alive by Schachter's work on affiliation and emotions and by the papers published in Latane's (1966) JESP Social Comparison supplement. After the 1966 supplement, work by Pettigrew, Brickman, and Wheeler and the linkage of social comparison to attribution theory rekindled interest in comparison processes. This interest culminated in the publication of Suls and Miller's (1977) book on social comparison. Interest in social comparison is predicted to remain high because of the centrality of social comparison processes in overall self-evaluation and their relevance to a wide range of social psychological con...

Validation of a Short Index of Self-Actualization

Abstract: This research reports the development of a 15-item index of self-actualization that will be useful in research contexts. The index is based primarily on modified items from the most widely accepted measure of self-actualization, the Personal Orientation Inventory. The index had a significant correlation with this inventory (r = .67, p < .001). It also correlated as expected with measures of self-esteem, rational behavior and beliefs, neuroticism, and extraversion. The index discriminated between groups of people nominated as self-actualizing and as non-self-actualizing. There were no problems with response sets, and the index was resistant to "faking good." Weaknesses of the scale are discussed as well as means to overcome these weaknesses.

Counterfactual Thinking and Victim Compensation A Test of Norm Theory

Abstract: Norm theory (Kahneman & Miller, 1986) identifies factors that determine the ease with which alternatives to reality can be imagined or constructed. One assumption of norm theory is that the greater the availability of imagined alternatives to an event, the stronger will be the affective reaction elicited by the event. The present two experiments explore this assumption in the context of observers' reactions to victims. It was predicted that negative outcomes that strongly evoked positive alternatives would elicit more sympathy from observers than negative outcomes that weakly evoked positive alternatives. The ease of counterfactual thought was manipulated in the first experiment by the spatial distance between the negative outcome and a positive alternative, and in the second experiment by the habitualness of the actions that precipitated the victimization. Consistent with norm theory, subjects recommended more compensation for victims of fates for which a positive alternative was highly available. Implic...

Affect of the Game Player Short-Term Effects of Highly and Mildly Aggressive Video Games

Abstract: Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of playing different types of video games on players' short-term affective states. In the first experiment, college student subjects played 11 different video games and rated them on a number of characteristics. From these ratings, two games were selected for use in Experiment 2. These games differed only in the level of aggression displayed. One was highly aggressive; the other was only mildly aggressive. In Experiment 2, each subject played one of the games or was assigned to a no-game control condition. Hostility, anxiety, and depression subsequently were assessed by the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist. Hostility was increased in both game conditions, relative to the control group. The high-aggression game led to higher hostility than the mild-aggression game, but the difference was not significant. However, those who had played the high-aggression game were significantly more anxious than either those who played the mild-aggression game or thos...

The Knowledge of What Might have Been Affective and Attributional Consequences of Near Outcomes

Abstract: This study examined certain affective and attributional consequences of outcomes and "near outcomes"in the lives of target individuals. A total of 121 subjects read versions of scenarios that systematically differed in the valence of a major life outcome and whether the outcome actually or only nearly happened (the "near outcome"). Results generally indicated that near outcomes as well as actual out-comes had significant impact on the perceived affective consequences of the situation, and that near outcomes also affected trait inferences and predictions regarding the target person. Differences between the perceived affective consequences of positive near outcomes and negative near outcomes were generally a function of differences in the valence of the near outcomes rather than of differences in objective circumstances. Other results also reflected a derogation of the "near winner." The personalities of individuals who narrowly missed experiencing a positive event were rated more negatively; they also were...

Loneliness and Social Support A Confirmatory Hierarchical Analysis

Abstract: Important research literatures have grown independently around the study of loneliness and social support. However, it is not clear whether these constructs are empirically or conceptually different. In this study, data from 739 young adults are used to examine the factor structure of two sets of loneliness scales and two sets of social support measures. Results indicated that four substantive factors related to the original scales and two support-specific factors accounted for the variation in 14 loneliness and social support variables. The substantive factors representing the Differential Loneliness Scale, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Socially Supportive Relationships, and Social Resources were all highly intercorrelated, but significantly less than 1.0. A second-order factor was fit to the four substantive factors and found to be an acceptable representation of their intercorrelations. The support-specific factors were negatively correlated, indicating that Family-Specific Support was inversely associate...

Multidimensional Self-Concepts A Long-Term Follow-Up of the Effect of Participation in an Outward Bound Program

Abstract: Marsh, Richards, and Barnes (1986) examined systematic change and stability in multiple dimensions of self-concept and the effects of participation in a 26-day residential program called Outward Bound. Multidimensional self-concepts measured with the Self Description Questionnaire (SDQ) III increased as a consequence of the intervention and the increases were significantly larger for those facets judged a priori to be more relevant to program goals. For purposes f the present investigation participants from the previous study were asked to complete the SDQ III again, 18 months after completion of the program; and there was little systematic change in the multidimensional self-concepts during the long-term follow-up interval. Coupled with the results of the earlier study and further examination of the psychometric properties of the SDQ III, these findings further support the Outward Bound program as an effective intervention for enhancing self-concept and the construct validity of responses to the SDQ III....

The Association between Romantic Love and Marriage Kephart (1967) Twice Revisited

Abstract: In the mid-1960s, college men and women held different views of the importance of romantic love as a necessary precondition to marriage (Kephart, 1967). Women, much more so than men, reported that the absence of romantic love would not necessarily deter them from contracting a marriage. In two investigations, conducted approximately 10 and 20 years after Kephart's survey, we reassessed the role that romantic love assumes in the establishment and maintenance of marital relationships. Our results reveal that (1) a vast majority of both men and women now view romantic love as a necessary prerequisite to establishing a marital relationship; (2) since the mid-1960s, a significantly larger percentage of both men and women now indicate that they would not marry someone unless they were in love with him or her; and (3) romantic love is perceived to play a critical role not only in the establishment of a marital relationship but in its maintenance as well. These findings are discussed in the context of the dramati...

Loneliness, Social Skills, and Social Perception

Abstract: Previous studies have investigated loneliness from primarily one of three traditions: social skills, perceptions of others, and sex-role orientation. How do these variables affect loneliness? Past research addresses their independent effects, making it impossible to know if there are any single or multiple pathways to loneliness. The present study was concerned with the conceptual interdependence of these factors; that is, whether they have unique or joint efforts. Two other issues were also of interest. First, because as previously shown, lonely persons hold negative perceptions of new acquaintances and people in general, we sought to extend this phenomenon to close others. Second, we assessed a wider range of social skills than have formerly been examined in order to specify which particular social skills are most relevant to loneliness. First-year college roommate pairs participated in the study. Individuals completed questionnaires assessing themselves and their roommate. Results showed that lonelier ...

Judgments of Physical Attractiveness: The Role of Faces and Bodies

Abstract: The relative and combined influences of faces and bodies on judgments of physical attractiveness were assessed in a factorial design crossing 3 levels (high, moderate, and low) of face and body attractiveness. Based on preratings, 3 sets of slides were created that super imposed faces onto bodies. A second sample of subjects then rated these 27 slides (3 faces X 3 bodies X 3 sets) on physical attractiveness, intelligence, sociability, and morality. Strong effects of both face and body on attractiveness ratings were obtained. In addition, a significant interaction was obtained between faces and bodies on ratings of physical attractiveness. Faces significantly influenced ratings of intelligence, sociability, and morality, whereas bodies had a significant effect on ratings of intelligence and sociability.

Prosocial Moral Judgment and Behavior in Children The Mediating Role of Cost

Abstract: In the past, researchers generally have examined the issue of whether moral behavior is related to moral judgment, not under which conditions the two are associated. In the present research, a potential mediator of the relation between prosocial behavior and moral reasoning (cost of the prosocial behavior) was examined. Preschoolers and third graders were given opportunities to donate both costly and less costly commodities and could assist another at a cost or little cost to the self. Moreover, prosocial moral judgment was assessed. High -and low-cost donating were not significantly related; high-cost helping was significantly correlated with only low-cost donating for older children, and with high-cost donating for preschoolers. High-cost, but not low-cost, donating was related to developmentally mature moral judgment. Similarly, low-cost helping was unrelated to reasoning; high-cost helping was related to level of moral judgment for preschoolers only. The results are discussed in terms of their implica...

Evidence for the Effectiveness of Manipulations of Communal and Exchange Relationships

Abstract: This study examined the effectiveness of manipulations of desire for communal and exchange relationships that have been used in several studies. In these past studies, to create desire for communal relationships subjects have been exposed to an attractive target person who, they discover, is single, new at the university, and anxious to meet new people. To create desire for exchange relationships subjects have been exposed to the same attractive target who, they discover, is married and has been at the university for two years. In the present study, half of the subjects were exposed to the communal manipulation and half to the exchange manipulation. In addition, to examine whether the effectiveness of the manipulations depends upon the confederate being physically attractive, half the subjects were exposed to an attractive and half to an unattractive target. Following these manipulations subjects' desire to follow communal and exchange norms in their relationship with the other was measured. The results s...

Atrocity as a Function of Lynch Mob Composition A Self-Attention Perspective

Abstract: An archival analysis was conducted to determine whether the atrocities committed by lynch mobs could be accounted for in terms of self-attention processes. In all, 60 newspaper reports of lynching events were coded for information regarding group composition and atrocity. Group composition was operationalized in terms of the Other-Total Ratio (that is, Other-Total Ratio = Number of Victims/[Number of Victims + Number of Lynchers]), an algorithm previously established to predict the effects of group composition on self-attention processes. Atrocity was operationalized in terms of a composite index, representing the occurrence or nonoccurrence of hanging, shooting, burning, lacerating, or dismembering of the victim, as well as the duration of the lynching. The self-attention theory Other-Total Ratio was found to be significantly negatively related to lynch mob atrocity. It was suggested that, as the lynchers became more numerous relative to the victims, the lynchers became less self-attentive, or more deind...

Ethical Ideologies of the Machiavellian

Abstract: Although Machiavellian individuals (Machs) have been characterized as lacking a concern for conventional standards of morality, it is clear from previous research that high Machs are not consistently more amoral or immoral than low Machs. A study was conducted to explore the ethical orientations of persons who score low versus high in Machiavellianism. The Mach V Scale and the Ethics Position Questionnaire were completed by 119 subjects. Results showed that Machiavellian subjects endorsed ethical positions that were more relativistic and less idealistic than subjects who scored low in Machiavellianism.

Selection of Information after Receiving more or Less Reliable Self-Threatening Information

Abstract: In this article two experiments are reported in which the degree of seriousness of a "self-threat" was varied and both behavioral and cognitive consequences were tested. Subjects in both experiments received fictitious intelligence test results that were always negatively discrepant from their self-evaluations (self-threat), but varied in their degree of seriousness. The degree of seriousness was manipulated by telling subjects that their fictitious test results were either reliably or not reliably scored. Subjects were then given the opportunity to choose among several articles containing information that emphasized either the validity or invalidity of intelligence tests. In both experiments it was found that subjects in the serious self-threat conditions were more prone to search selectively for information disparaging intelligence tests and to rate being highly intelligent as less important compared with subjects in the less serious self-threat conditions. The implications of these results for self-est...

The Loneliness Experience of College Students Sex Differences

Abstract: The present study examined sex differences among college students in the quantitative and qualitative aspects of loneliness. Measurements of loneliness, emotional reactivity, and social risk taking were administered to 112 undergraduates. Males evidenced greater self-reported loneliness than females. Generally, affective and social risk-taking measures were more highly related to loneliness among males than females. The results suggest that loneliness is more likely to be associated with negative personal and affective self-evaluations for males than for females. Males may react to loneliness more negatively than females because of a tendency to attribute loneliness to personal failure rather than external, uncontrollable causes. Evidence also suggests that having difficulty in initiating social risks may contribute to loneliness for males more than females.

Unmasking the "Polite Smile" Situational and Personal Determinants of Managed Affect in Adult-Child Interaction

Abstract: It was predicted that rapid onset and offset times of smiles are indicators of strategic or managed positive affect. Women (N = 96) were videotaped interacting with elementary-aged boys whose behavior (responsive, cooperative versus unresponsive, resistant) was likely to elicit positive versus negative affect. Adult smiles were found to fade faster when directed to unresponsive than to responsive children. Onset time of adult smiles, on the other hand, were found to vary as a function of caregiver attributions, that is, faster onset times were shown by "luck" than "ability" attributors. Fast offset time was interpreted as an indicator of unreciprocated positive affect (situational influence on smiling). Fast onset time of smiles was interpreted as reflecting an ingratiating self-presentation strategy (personal influence on smiling). Trends were observed indicating that slow onset and offset times of smiles acted to increase child responsiveness.

The Influence of Different Encoding Sets Upon the Formation of Illusory Correlations and Group Impressions

Abstract: Subjects encoded information about two hypothetical groups using either an impression formation or memorization encoding set. One group was 44% as large as the other. In all, 33% of the information was negative and 67% of the information was positive about each group. Subjects were subsequently asked (1) to recognize the information attributed to each group from a larger list of information, (2) to estimate the number of positive and negative information items ascribed to each group, and (3) to indicate how much they liked each group. Results in the memorization condition replicated the illusory correlation results in memory and liking measures reported in Hamilton and Gifford (1976). However, the impression formation instructions moderated the influence of distinctiveness upon memory measures and eliminated any influence of illusory correlations upon the liking measure. These results are discussed with regard to their relevance for understanding memory/judgment interrelationships.

The Need for Meaning Following Disaster Attributions and Emotional Upset

Abstract: Child victims of a lightning strike were interviewed to assess their attributions for the incident and to judge the degree of their emotional upset and symptomatology following the tragedy. Those who made any attribution were significantly more upset than those who made no attribution for the incident. Anecdotal data suggest that self-blaming attributions were made by those adults who, by virtue of their roles, had an opportunity to feel more responsibility for the incident; and these were the adults who seemed most emotionally upset (symptomatic) after the incident. The results have importance for the concept of "need for meaning" and for the issue of "when do people make attributions?"

Beliefs about Women: Components and Correlates

Abstract: In the past decade researchers have become increasingly interested in examining the many facets of gender stereotypes. One particular area on which attention has been focused concerns "stereotypic" beliefs about women. The present article describes the development and validation of a self-report questionnaire measuring 15 stereotypes about women, the Beliefs about Women Scale (BA WS). The results provided evidence supporting the reliability and validity of the BA WS. The discussion deals with the use of the BA WS in the investigation of women's and men's personal functioning, cognitive activity, and interpersonal relationships.

Dysphoric College Students and Roommates A Study of Social Behaviors Over a Three-Month Period

Abstract: Subjects in this study were 22 dysphoric individuals who initially scored in the mild to moderate range of the Beck Depression Inventory and their nondysphoric college roommates. Twenty-two additional roommate pairs who were nondysphoric served as controls. On a post hoc basis the initially dysphoric subjects were divided into those who remained dysphoric for the duration of the 3-month study (unremitted) and those who had remitted. Roommates' interpersonal behaviors toward one another were assessed by the Interpersonal Checklist, on which they reported their own behaviors and their perceptions of roommate behaviors after they had been living together for 1, 5, and 1I weeks. The results indicated that unremitted subjects initiated the roommate relationship with relatively dependent, distrustful, and self-devaluating behaviors; and, further, that their dependent behaviors increased over time. The roommates of unremitted subjects showed some evidence of progressive increases in caretaking behaviors over the...

Self-Monitoring and Attitude Accessibility

Abstract: In a study investigating the relation between self-monitoring and attitude accessibility, high -and low-self-monitoring individuals evaluated a wide variety of attitude objects Attitude accessibility was operationalized in terms of latency of response to these attitudinal inquiries As predicted, response latencies were faster for low than for high self-monitoring individuals This finding implies that the attitudes of low self-monitoring individuals are characterized by stronger object evaluation associations and, consequently, are more accessible from memory, relative to the attitudes of high self-monitoring individuals The implications of the present findings for understanding the mechanisms underlying the moderating influence of self-monitoring on the attitude-behavior relation are discussed

Does Social Approval Increase Helping

Abstract: In order to determine the interactive effects of social response and individual differences in need for approval on subsequent helping behavior, 46 female subjects were either socially rewarded or punished for helping the experimenter. As predicted, subjects who were high in need for approval were subsequently more likely to help a confederate who had dropped books if they had been socially rewarded than if they had been punished. Subjects low in need for approval were unaffected by the previous social reinforcement. Several explanations for these results are offered. The importance of examining interactions between personality and situational variables in research on prosocial behavior is discussed.

The Role of Source Legitimacy in Sequential Request Strategies of Compliance

Abstract: The foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face techniques for compliance were compared under conditions of high and low source legitimacy in a telephone survey. Calls were made to 240 people, employing either the FITD, DITF, or a control, requesting television viewing preferences for either a public interest group (high legitimacy) or a private consulting firm (low legitimacy). It was predicted that both techniques would be effective when legitimacy was high but that only the FITD would be effective when legitimacy was low. Compliance results supported this prediction, yielding a significant chi-square for response X strategy X source legitimacy. The results were interpreted in terms of the type of pressure or obligation that may follow from each strategy.

Trait Distinctiveness and Accessibility in the Self-Schema

Abstract: The distinctiveness of trait adjectives as self-descriptors was assessed in two ways. One method focused on how many people the trait described (self only, or self and others), whereas the other focused on how much it describes the self When distinctiveness is defined in terms of how many people the trait characterizes, distinctive traits yield slower self-reference decisions than common traits, regardless of degree of descriptiveness. On the other hand, when distinctiveness is defined as degree of descriptiveness, an inverted-U function results, with traits at either extreme of descriptiveness yielding faster decisions than those of intermediate descriptiveness. The results indicate these alternative definitions assess different aspects of distinctiveness, and conclusions drawn from one assessment may not apply to the other.

Extreme Deindividuation in the Laboratory: Its Magnitude and Subjective Components

Abstract: One cause of violent or wildly celebratory behavior in groups is deindividuation. The present study addresses two issues of concern to recent deindividuation researchers: (1) the investigation of a more extreme form of deindividuation than that customarily used in prior research and (2) the accurate assessment of the composition of the subjective deindividuated state. In the initial study, a manipulation of extreme deindividuation was developed in a context conducive to collective aggression. Subjects exposed to the extreme condition responded with significantly greater shock intensities and shock durations than those observed in previous research. In the second study, the self-reports of 91 subjects exposed to the extreme deindividuation condition were factor analyzed, revealing a subjective deindividuated state composed of Altered Experience and Private Self-Awareness. A path analysis indicated a possible causal role for Private Self-Awareness, but not Altered Experience, in producing aggression. Result...

Intimacy Status Its Relationship to Locus of Control, Self-Disclosure, and Anxiety in Adults

Abstract: The purpose of these studies was to determine whether individuals who have afully developed capacity for intimacy, as assessed by an intimacy status interview and rating, could be distinguished from those with lesser capacities based on their locus of control orientation, self-disclosure, and anxiety levels. Study I indicated that women high in depth and commitment in their romantic relationships were more internally orientated than those low in either depth or commitment. A finding of no group differences in self-disclosure was thought to be due to the absence of a specified target for the disclosure. In study 2 target persons were specified. It was found that those with high levels of intimacy development had disclosed more about themselves to their romantic partners than those lower in intimacy development and that highly intimate individuals disclosed more to significant others than to casual acquaintances, whereas less intimate participants did not disclose differentially when communicating to differ...

Categorization and Stereotypes about Men and Women

Abstract: This experiment examined the relationship between categorization by gender and stereotyping of men and women After listening to a recorded discussion, college students tried to match up the male and female discussants with their statements They then evaluated on stereotype measures either these speakers or men and women they had not seen before Results showed that categorization, that is, the difference between intra -and intersex recognition errors, was correlated with sex-stereotyping of discussion participants on one of two stereotype measures Categorization was unrelated to stereotyping of individuals whose behavior was not observed These results suggest that categorization may produce different impressions of individuals from different categories by biasing the specific information associated with them, but that these impressions may not generalize to stereotypes about category members in general

The Effects of Perceived Intimacy and Valence on Self-Disclosure Reciprocity

Abstract: This study tested the intimacy equilibrium and valence explanations of disclosure reciprocity and liking; 60 female college students were randomly assigned to one of two experimental treatments involving intimacy and valence. Half the subjects in the intimacy condition were assigned for high intimacy treatment; the other half received a low intimacy treatment. These treatments were crosscut by a positive and negative valence manipulation. Subjects were presented with written scenarios that ostensibly described a past event in the life of their partners. The scenarios were manipulated by experimental instruction to affect the following disclosure styles across the four experimental cells: (1) high intimate-positive valence, (2) high intimate-negative valence, (3) low intimate-positive valence, and (4) low intimate-negative valence. An analysis of covariance of disclosure revealed a significant main effect for intimacy, a main effect for valence, and an interaction of these effects. Higher levels of disclos...