Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Spencer, Steven J.; Fein, Steven; Wolfe, Connie T.; Fong, Christina; Duinn, Meghan A.

doi: 10.1177/01461672982411001pmid: N/A

Does self-image threatening feedback make perceivers more likely to activate stereotypes when confronted by members of a minority group? Participants in Study 1 saw an Asian American or European American woman for several minutes, and participants in Studies 2 and 3 were exposed to drawings of an African American or European American male face for fractions of a second. These experiments found no evidence of automatic stereotype activation when perceivers were cognitively busy and when they had not received negative feedback. When perceivers had received negative feedback, however, evidence of stereotype activation emerged even when perceivers were cognitively busy. The theoretical implications of these results for stereotype activation and the relationship of motivation, affect, and cognition are discussed.

Pollock, Carrie L.; Smith, Shane D.; Knowles, Eric S.; Bruce, Heather J.

doi: 10.1177/01461672982411002pmid: N/A

The authors assessed whether That's-Not-All (TNA) influence techniques are mindless phenomena. A psychology club gourmet chocolate sale displayed either large or small boxes of chocolate. When passersby asked for the price of the chocolate, they were given a TNA offer or a control offer Inquirers were also told no reason, a placebic reason, or a good reason for buying the chocolate. The box price increased mindfulness. People considering the large box were persuaded by the real reason more than by the placebic reason, whereas people considering the small box were equally persuaded by placebic and real reasons. The TNA offer was effective in selling the small box of chocolate (76% for TNA vs. 45% for control) but not the large box (18% for TNA vs. 24% for control). These findings suggest that the TNA effect works only when people are mindlessly considering the offer.

Dijkstra, Pieternel; Buunk, Bram P.

doi: 10.1177/01461672982411003pmid: N/A

Following from evolutionary psychology, men and women differ in the characteristics they value in a partner. Men value physical attractiveness in women because a woman's physical attractiveness is related to her fertility, whereas women value dominance in men since dominance is related to a man's ability to provide resources. As jealousy is evoked by characteristics of the rival that are believed to be important to the other sex, it was predicted that jealousy in males would be influenced by the rival's dominance, whereas jealousy in females would be influenced by the rival's physical attractiveness. In an experiment, participants were presented with a scenario in which the participants' partners were flirting with an individual of the opposite sex. Each participant then received one of four profiles of rivals for the partner's attentions consisting of a photograph (low or high in attractiveness) and a personality description (low or high in dominance). Results showed that the hypotheses were supported. In addition, the rival's dominance had a greater impact on males' jealousy if males were exposed to a physically unattractive rival compared with a physically attractive rival.

Sagarin, Brad J.; Rhoads, Kelton v. L.; Cialdini, Robert B.

doi: 10.1177/01461672982411004pmid: N/A

Although psychologists have long recognized the havoc that a discovered lie can wreak on a relationship, this study indicates that even an undiscovered deception can bring about negative consequences. An experiment explored one such consequence by examining the hypothesis that in a dyadic relationship, if one partner lies to the other, the liar will begin to perceive the recipient as less honest. Participants who were induced to lie to a partner in a believable and, in some conditions, damaging manner then rated the partner on a variety of traits, including honesty. The results indicated a significant reduction in perceived honesty of the recipient of the lie, particularly by participants who told damaging lies. An exploration into the underlying mechanisms of the effect suggested that deceiver's distrust operates through affective means, with the liars justifying their actions in a self-protection motivated version of the false consensus effect.

Oishi, Shigehiro; Schimmack, Uhich; Diener, Ed; Suh, Eunkook M.

doi: 10.1177/01461672982411005pmid: N/A

This study presents alternative measures of S. H. Schwartz's theory of values using pairwise comparisons and goal concepts. Not only did the three measures of values-the Schwartz Value Survey (SVS), the Pairwise Comparison Value Survey (PCVS), and the Personal Striving Value Survey (PSVS) -converge but they were also correlated in similar ways with the Individualism-Collectivism Scale (ICS). This provides evidence that the newly developed scales can be alternatives to the SVS, which allows future studies of values using multiple measures. Moreover, the findings provide support for Schwartz's conception of values as higher order goals. The present findings have several implications for the study of values and their linkage to the study of individualism-collectivism and the self-concept.

Tesser, Abraham; Beach, Steven R. H.; Mendolia, Marilyn; Crepaz, Nicole; Davies, Blossom; Pennebaker, James

doi: 10.1177/01461672982411006pmid: N/A

Two studies examined self-defensiveness as a result of thinking about one's intimate relationship in terms of self-partner similarity or uniqueness. Fifty married couples (Study 1) and 106 single women who were involved in romantic relationships (Study 2) wrote essays on self-partner similarities or uniqueness or on movies (control). All participants were then given threatening information-spouse outperformed self on a novel task (Study 1)-or negative feedback on desirable attributes (Study 2). Defensiveness was measured. Content analysis revealed that relationship-similarity essays were associated with good feelings, a "we" focus, and limited cognitive processing. Relationship-uniqueness essays were associated with a self-focus, negative feelings, and substantial cognitive processing in terms of understanding and assimilation. In neither study did relationship-similarity essays reduce defensiveness; in both studies, relationship-uniqueness reduced defensiveness. Results are discussed in terms of the syndromes produced by the similarity and uniqueness essays.

Darke, Peter R.; Chaiken, Shelly; Bohner, Gerd; Einwiller, Sabine; Erb, Hans-Peter; Hazlewood, J. Douglas

doi: 10.1177/01461672982411007pmid: N/A

This study examined the influence of majority opinion on attitudes in the absence of persuasive argumentation. Participants who were either high or low in accuracy motivation were presented with an opinion poll that conveyed consensus information and the sample size of the poll. According to the law of large numbers (LLN), large polls provide more reliable estimates of consensus than smaller polls. Results generally supported predictions. Less-motivated participants tended to be influenced by consensus regardless of poll size, whereas highly motivated participants based attitudes on this information only if the poll was reliably large. Thus, participants who were highly motivated seemed to appreciate the LLN when making their attitude judgments. Consistent with the heuristic-systematic model, process measures indicated that consensus influenced attitudes through both heuristic and biased systematic processing under high motivation, but it influenced attitudes only via heuristic processing when motivation was low.

Arndt, Jamie; Greenberg, Jeff; Simon, Linda; Pyszczynski, Tom; Solomon, Sheldon

doi: 10.1177/01461672982411008pmid: N/A

Two studies assessed the terror management hypothesis that when mortality is salient, people will avoid stimuli that increase self-awareness. In Study 1, we measured the length of time that participants wrote about either their death or an exam in cubicles that either did or did not contain a large mirror. In Study 2, participants completed either a death anxiety scale or a future concerns scale and then wrote a story fostering either an internal or external focus of attention. As predicted, in Study 1, the self-focusing stimulus reduced the amount of time that participants spent in the cubicles contemplating their mortality. In Study 2, mortality-salient participants wrote less when the task prompted an internal focus of attention than when it prompted an external focus. Across both studies, no differences emerged between participants in the control conditions. Implications of this research for understanding the relationship between terror management processes and self-awareness are briefly discussed.

Rowatt, Wade C.; Cunninghan, Michael R.; Druen, Perri B.

doi: 10.1177/01461672982411009pmid: N/A

Two studies examined whether some people use more deceptive self-presentation to initiate a dating relationship. Participants reviewed information depicting prospective dates and constructed profiles to be used by the prospects to select a date. In this context, high self-monitoring men and women engaged in more deceptive self-presentation to the person that they desired to date than low self-monitors. Study 2replicated this finding with a variety of personal dimensions and revealed that high self-monitors hold more favorable attitudes toward using deception in dating initiation and admit altering their self-presentation in an attempt to initiate a date. No sex differences in the amount of deceptive self presentation were found. These outcomes suggest that high self-monitors behave in a chameleon-like fashion during dating initiation, strategically and deceptively changing their self-presentation in an attempt to appear more desirable to the person they want to date. Motivations for using deception are discussed.