Role of Self-Esteem in Perceptions of Ability and EffortBaumgardner, Ann H.; Levy, Paul E.
doi: 10.1177/0146167288143001pmid: N/A
According to Heider (1958), ability and effort are viewed as inversely related. However, indirect evidence suggests that some persons (i.e., those who are confident in their abilities) view effort as an indication of high ability. The present experiment was designed to test this issue more fully and to address whether this is due to a failure to employ rules of inference, or due to an assumption that those "who try hard are smart. "Participants were presented with a scenario in which a target expended effort, withdrew effort intentionally, or withdrew effort unintentionally (i.e., an unforeseen occurrence prevented effort expenditure) in preparation for an examination. Subjects were then told that the target had performed well or poorly on the examination. Findings indicated that when a target performed poorly, high-esteem persons viewed a target who expended effort as higher in ability than one who intentionally withdrew effort. However, they also viewed a target who withdrew effort unintentionally as more able than one who withdrew effort intentionally. Low-esteem subjects did not make this discrimination. This suggests that high-esteem persons believe that those who expend effort possess high ability. The implications of these results for strategic effort withdrawal and self-handicapping among low-esteem persons, and for self-presentation generally, are discussed.
Responses to Violence in a Psychiatric SettingBond, Charles F.; DiCandia, Clarisse G.; MacKinnon, John R.
doi: 10.1177/0146167288143003pmid: N/A
With an archival method, we studied 453 incidents of violence at a Connecticut state psychiatric hospital for adolescents. Records revealed no difference in the number of violent acts by White and non-White patients. However, the White hospital staff physically restrained non-White patients nearly four times as often as they restrained Whites. Interracial contact reduced this differential imposition of restraints. These findings complement experimental evidence and illustrate contemporary race relations.
The Effects of Apparel on ComplianceBushman, Brad J.
doi: 10.1177/0146167288143004pmid: N/A
Past research indicates that apparel influences our behavior and our impressions of others. One type of apparel that is both salient and symbolically significant is the uniform. Few studies, however, have examined the influence of uniforms on behavior, especially with female authority figures. In this study a female confederate who was dressed in a uniform, professional attire, or sloppy clothing told subjects to give change to a person who was parked at an expired parking meter (Bickman, 1974). The results showed that compliance was higher when the confederate was dressed in a uniform. Verbal reasons given for complying also differed across conditions. The study shows that a uniform is a certificate of legitimacy (Joseph & Alex, 1972)for females as well as males and that both sexes are influenced by a female dressed in a uniform.
Effects of Involvement on Observers' Estimates of Consensus, Distinctiveness, and ConsistencyChen, Hong-Jen; Yates, Brian T.; McGinnies, Elliott
doi: 10.1177/0146167288143005pmid: N/A
It was hypothesized that personal involvement affects actors' and observers' effort, ability, difficulty, and luck attributions. In addition, different involvement levels were expected to affect actors' and observers' consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency information estimates. Results partially confirm Kelley's attribution model. The findings support the notion that involvement is relevant to interpretations of actors' and observers' attribution differences and information inferences.
Human Physical Aggression as a Function of DiazepamGantner, Anita B.; Taylor, Stuart P.
doi: 10.1177/0146167288143006pmid: N/A
The effects of diazepam on the aggressive behavior of male and female subjects were investigated using the Taylor competitive reaction time paradigm. The results indicated that subjects given diazepam responded more aggressively than subjects given a placebo. The aggression-enhancing effect of diazepam occurred for both male and female competitors. Male subjects were observed to be more aggressive than females. The possibility that depressants as a class of drug increase an individual's aggressive behavior is discussed.
Self-Monitoring and Beliefs about Partner Compatibility in Romantic RelationshipsGlick, Peter; DeMorest, Judith A.; Hotze, Carla A.
doi: 10.1177/0146167288143007pmid: N/A
Self-monitoring differences in the manner in which people assess the compatibility of couples as romantic partners were explored. On the basis of previous research, we hypothesized that high, in contrast to low, self-monitoring individuals focus relatively more on the match between the levels of physical attractiveness of a couple when assessing compatibility. Low, in contrast to high, self-monitors were expected to focus relatively more on the similarity between the personality traits and interests of a couple when assessing compatibility. High -and low-self-monitoring participants were given photographs and personality information about 5 men and 5 women. Participants indicated the five couples they felt were most compatible by using the 10 targets to create five couple pairings. As predicted, high, relative to low, self-monitors created matches in which targets were more similar in ratings of physical attractiveness while low, relative to high, self-monitors created matches in which targets were more similar in personality traits and interests. Implications of these results for previous research on self-monitoring and dating relationships are discussed.
Making it without Losing itHelmreich, Robert L.; Spence, Janet T.; Pred, Robert S.
doi: 10.1177/0146167288143008pmid: 11537087
In a study by Matthews, Helmreich, Beane, and Lucker (1980), responses by academic psychologists to the Jenkins Activity Survey for Health Prediction (JAS), a measure of the Type A construct, were found to be significantly, positively correlated with two measures of attainment, citations by others to published work and number of publications. In the present study, JAS responses from the Matthews et al sample were subjected to a factor analysis with oblique rotation and two new subscales were developed on the basis of this analysis. The first, Achievement Strivings (AS) was found to be significantly correlated with both the publication and citation measures. The second scale, Impatience and Irritability (I/I), was uncorrelated with the achievement criteria. Data from other samples indicate that I/I is related to a number of health symptoms. The results suggest that the current formulation of the Type A construct may contain two components, one associated with positive achievement and the other with poor health.
Attributional Style and the Components of HardinessHull, Jay G.; van Treuren, Ronald R.; Propsom, Pamela M.
doi: 10.1177/0146167288143009pmid: N/A
Recent research has suggested that individual differences in the personality variable of hardiness are related to health and illness. Although these studies suggest a connection between hardiness and health, they do not provide evidence of specific mediators of this effect. This study tested the hypothesis that attributional style is a potential mediator of hardiness effects. Specifically, it was predicted that compared to nonhardy individuals, hardy individuals would be more likely to make internal, stable, global attributions for positive events and external, unstable, specific attributions for negative events. In addition, it was predicted that this pattern would be most characteristic of the hardiness subcomponents of commitment and control. The pattern of attributions for the subcomponent of commitment provided strong support for the predictions. Similar, but weaker, effects were found for the subcomponent of control. Challenge yielded only one effect and that was in the opposite direction of the other scales. Composite hardiness yielded no significant effects. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for potential mediators of hardiness effects and the viability of composite hardiness as a unitary construct.
Sex and Age Differences in Response to Informational and Controlling FeedbackKast, Audrey; Connor, Kathleen
doi: 10.1177/0146167288143010pmid: N/A
This study examined two issues ensuing from cognitive evaluation theory (Deci, 1975; Deci & Ryan, 1980, 1985), through the manipulation of positive feedback to third, fifth, and eighth grade children. Analysis of self-reported interest revealed that, as predicted, controlling feedback significantly lowered interest relative to informational -and no-feedback groups. The hypothesis that informational feedback would raise interest levels relative to the no-feedback group was not supported, perhaps due to a ceiling effect. These results replicate and extend previous findings with adults to children in a classroom context. A mixed-feedback condition, containing components of both information and control, yielded sex differences. As predicted, in the mixed condition, females reported interest levels significantly lower than those reported by males in that condition and by females in the informational -and no-feedback conditions. Although interest declined across grade level, the decline was greatest in the mixed condition, between fifth and eighth grades.