Creating distinct implicit and explicit attitudes with an illusory correlation paradigm

Two studies used an illusory correlation procedure to test whether distinct implicit and explicit evaluations can result from the same learning episode. All participants learned twice as much about the qualities of one group (majority) than another (minority). In one condition, the ratio of positive to negative information was equal between groups. In other conditions, the majority group showed proportionally more positive qualities than the minority group, or vice versa. Participants in the pro-majority and pro-minority conditions formed both implicit and explicit attitudes consistent with the attitude induction. Participants in the illusory correlation condition showed the expected preference for the majority group (the illusory bias), but showed no implicit preference, suggesting distinct influences on implicit and explicit attitude formation. The effects are consistent with dual-process models in which implicit attitudes reflect accounting of covariation and explicit attitudes reflect interpretative judgments of that covariation.     

Paranormal believers are more prone to illusory agency detection than skeptics

It has been hypothesized that illusory agency detection is at the basis of belief in supernatural agents and paranormal beliefs. In the present study a biological motion perception task was used to study illusory agency detection in a group of skeptics and a group of paranormal believers. Participants were required to detect the presence or absence of a human agent in a point-light display. It was found that paranormal believers had a lower perceptual sensitivity than skeptics, which was due to a response bias to ‘yes’ for stimuli in which no agent was present. The relation between paranormal beliefs and illusory agency detection held only for stimuli with low to intermediate ambiguity, but for stimuli with a high number of visual distractors responses of believers and skeptics were at the same level. Furthermore, it was found that illusory agency detection was unrelated to traditional religious belief and belief in witchcraft, whereas paranormal beliefs (i.e. Psi, spiritualism, precognition, superstition) were strongly related to illusory agency detection. These findings qualify the relation between illusory pattern perception and supernatural and paranormal beliefs and suggest that paranormal beliefs are strongly related to agency detection biases.     

Seeking positive experiences can produce illusory correlations

Individuals tend to select again alternatives about which they have positive impressions and to avoid alternatives about which they have negative impressions. Here we show how this sequential sampling feature of the information acquisition process leads to the emergence of an illusory correlation between estimates of the attributes of multi-attribute alternatives. The sign of the illusory correlation depends on how the decision maker combines estimates in making her sampling decisions. A positive illusory correlation emerges when evaluations are compensatory or disjunctive and a negative illusory correlation can emerge when evaluations are conjunctive. Our theory provides an alternative explanation for illusory correlations that does not rely on biased information processing nor selective attention to different pieces of information. It provides a new perspective on several well-established empirical phenomena such as the ‘Halo’ effect in personality perception, the relation between proximity and attitudes, and the in-group out-group bias in stereotype formation.     

Extensions of the lost letter technique to divisive issues of creationism,darwinism, sex education,and gay and lesbian affiliations

Two field studies using 1,004 "lost letters" were designed to test the hypotheses that returned responses would be greater in small towns than from a city, that addressees' affiliation with a group either (1) opposed to physical education in schools, (2) supporting gay and lesbian teachers, or (3) advocating Creationism or Darwinism would reduce the return rate. Of 504 letters "lost" in Study A, 163 (32.3%) were returned in the mail from residents of southeast Louisiana and indicated across 3 addressees and 2 sizes of community, addressees' affiLiations were not associated with returned responses. Community size and addressees' affiliations were associated with significantly different rates of return in the city. Return rates from sites within a city were lower when letters were addressed to an organization which opposed (teaching) health education in the schools than to one supporting daily health education. Of 500 letters "lost" in Study B, 95 (19.0%) were returned from residents of northwest Florida and indicated across 5 addressees and 2 sizes of community, addressees' affiliations were significantly associated with returned responses overall (5 addressees) and in small towns (control, Creationism, Darwinism addressees), but not with community size. Community size and addressees' affiliations were associated with significantly different rates of return in small towns, with returns greater than or equal to those in the city (except for the addressee advocating teaching Darwinism in public schools). The present findings appear to show that applications of the lost letter technique to other divisive social issues are useful in assessing public opinion.     

当代民众信仰状况及其相关因素的心理学研究

为研究当代民众的信仰状况及其相关因素,采用自行设计的调查问卷对745名天津市民进行测量。结果显示:不同类别人群在信仰追求上存在非常显著的差异。物质信仰、伦理信仰与年龄有显著的正相关,精神信仰基本上不存在年龄差异。精神信仰和国家社会信仰与文化程度存在非常显著的正相关,而物质信仰、伦理信仰和宗教信仰均与文化程度存在非常显著的负相关。精神信仰和国家社会信仰与社会安定意识呈正相关,物质信仰和宗教信仰与社会安定意识呈负相关。     

Illusory correlation and attitude-based vested interest

The present studies test whether having a ‘vested interest’ in a particular outcome affects perceived covariation. Vested interest was defined as a function of whether Dutch university students were in favour or against the implementation of a threatening policy (receiving lectures in English as opposed to the native Dutch). In both studies subjects were told that this policy would be tried out at either their own or another comparable university, and that the university chosen would be the one with the greatest proportion of support for the plan. In Study 1 subjects (n = 151) were presented with statements expressing pro or contra attitudes and arguments to the policy. These were ostensibly derived from students at both universities but university affiliation was not indicated. In Study 2 (n = 114) similar information was provided but the statements were attributed to students from the two universities, such that there was an equal proportion of opposition/support for the plan at both universities. We hypothesized that illusory correlations would reflect the vested interest of attitude such that students opposing the policy would overestimate the proportion of opponents to supporters at their own university compared to those in favour of the policy. The results of both studies supported our hypothesis and they also revealed attitude to be a more important predictor of illusory correlation than perceived personal consequences for themselves. The prediction that illusory correlations would be weaker in Study 2 than in Study 1, because it provides less scope for bias, was not supported. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Illusory figures: Individual differences apparent depth and lightness

When the luminance of a pattern that induces a sharp-edged illusory circle was decreased, both illusory contrast with the surround and the illusory depth difference between that circular area and the inducing elements reliably increased. Thus, changes in both of these effects apparently participate in (contribute to) the increased overall salience that had previously been found with decreased luminance. However, among individuals, the correlation between this improvement in contrast and this increase in depth was exceedingly small.     

Ideology is related to basic cognitive processes involved in attitude formation

Ideological orientation shapes the perception of the social world and conservatism is associated to an increased weighting of negative over positive information. In the present work we explored how this ideology-based difference is also related to basic cognitive processes involved in attitude formation. In particular, we hypothesized that conservatives, as compared to liberals, would show stronger illusory correlation effects when negative information is relatively infrequent. In Study 1 we employed the typical illusory correlation paradigm (Hamilton & Gifford, 1976) and results confirmed the hypothesis: conservatives developed more negative impressions toward the minority group and showed consistent memory biases. In Study 2, positive information represented the infrequent dimension and in this case no ideology-based difference was observed. Overall, findings indicate that when exposed to numerically different novel groups and negative behaviors are infrequent, illusory correlation effects are accentuated among individuals embracing conservative rather than liberal views of the world. This result may help to understand why conservatives tend to form more negative attitudes toward social minorities.     

Religion, Death Attitudes, and Belief in Afterlife in the Elderly: Untangling the Relationships

The study investigated the relationship between religion, belief in afterlife, and death attitudes (death anxiety and death acceptance) in an elderly population using instruments with sound psychometric properties. Survey data was collected from 71 elderly participants. Results indicated a strong correlation between belief in afterlife and intrinsic religion, and differential statistically significant relationships between intrinsic religion and both death anxiety and death acceptance depending on whether the effects of belief in afterlife were partialed out. Findings were discussed in light of the absence of clinically meaningful results and, the role that belief in afterlife appears to play in the literature investigating religion and death anxiety.     

Nursing Home Residents' Perception of the “Good Death”

ABSTRACT

Little is known about the concept of the “good death” and its relationship to formal Christian religious belief. In this research, 15 nursing home residents participated in a semi-structured open-ended interview in which they were asked to describe their beliefs about the good death experience. This paper summarizes the most distinctive themes of one study of the impact, of formal religious belief on attitudes regarding the good death. The majority of interviewees defined a good death in terms of freedom from pain and suffering, and indicated that religious faith and prayer were important to them in coping with death and dying.     

Children correlate infrequent behaviors with minority groups: a case of illusory correlation

Adults perceive an illusory correlation between negative social behaviors and membership in the smaller of two groups — the minority group (Hamilton & Gifford, 1976). Two experiments investigated the development of this illusory correlation. We created pictorial stimuli showing children performing good or bad behaviors. In Experiment 1 we told participants (children in grades 1, 3, 5, and 7 and adults) that each picture depicted a child from one of two groups. Group membership and behavior were uncorrelated, but, like adults, children perceived a correlation between the smaller group and negative behaviors. Children’s attributions of good and bad behaviors to the two groups showed a weak but significant bias. Their estimations of the number of children in each group who behaved badly showed a stronger bias. Children also rated the smaller group more negatively on many dimensions. Experiment 2 showed that the illusory correlation is not dependent on social stimuli. Children performed essentially the same tasks, but good and bad behaviors were replaced by the colors red and green, and the group members were represented as squares and triangles. The results were strikingly similar to those obtained with social stimuli. In both experiments, the strength of the illusory correlation did not vary significantly with age. The results are discussed from the perspective of theories that have been proposed to account for adult behavior and the implications of no developmental trend.     

Expectation-based and data-based illusory correlation: the effects of confirming versus disconfirming evidence

The present study (n=154) examines the effects of expectations and stimulus information on the perception of illusory correlation. There have been few studies attempting to integrate expectation-based and data- (distinctiveness-) based processes. These studies suggest that data-based illusory correlation can be overruled by prior expectations, but it is not clear whether this is a consequence of a confirmation bias. In the present study, where participants were not exposed to the specific stimulus information, expectation was manipulated by stating that group B behaved more negatively than group A. Moreover, participants were provided with information contained in a statement-rating task that allowed for the confirmation and disconfirmation of the prior expectations. Participants rated the desirability of these behaviours and also performed the standard illusory correlation tasks. Based on self-categorization theory and Alloy and Tabachnik (1984), we predicted that in the absence of prior expectations, completing the rating task before the illusory correlation tasks would produce stronger illusory correlation than the reverse order. However, in the presence of prior expectations we expected the rating task to undermine illusory correlation, because the information obtained in this task tends to disconfirm prior expectations. Results support the predicted interaction between task order and expectation. We discuss some implications for research on confirmation bias.     

Sermons on Racial Tolerance and the Parish Neighborhood Context1

A study was conducted concerning racial attitudes of a group of white, Roman Catholic residents of a large midwestern city interviewed before and after they heard two sermons opposing raeial injustice and segregation. There was no significant relationship between presermon and postsermon change in a parishioner's attitude toward racial integration and the prointegration intensity of the sermons he heard. However, variation in the prointegration intensity of sermons delivered in a parish was closely related to the socioeconomic status of the parishioners, suggesting that the priests’perception of parish norms may have influenced the contents of the sermons. The needs or functions that segregationist attitudes may serve were considered. The 3 strongest of 14 correlates of segregationist attitudes investigated in this study were (a) belief that racial integration leads to neighborhood deterioration, (b) authoritarian aggression, and (c) perception of neighbors’attitudes toward integration. These three correlates appear to reflect object appraisal needs, externalization of inner conflict needs, and social adjustment needs, respectively.     

The effect of evaluation on co-occurrence memory judgement

Three experiments tested the effect of an attitude towards an object on the memory judgement of whether this object co-occurred with positive versus negative stimuli. We induced positive or negative attitudes towards novel male stimuli, and paired each man with an equal number of positive and negative animals. In a memory test, participants reported more co-occurrences of same-valence man/animal pairs than opposite-valence pairs. This valence-compatibility effect occurred even when attitudes were induced after the pairing (Experiment 1), when participants knew that each man occurred with an equal number of positive and negative animals (Experiment 2), and in reports of clear memory of pairs that did not co-occur (Experiment 3). The present findings suggest that evaluation causes illusory correlation even when the co-occurring stimuli are not traits or behaviours attributed to the attitude object. The results question the validity of co-occurrence memory judgements as measures of co-occurrence awareness in evaluative conditioning (EC) research.     

Boundary completion in illusory contours: interpolation or extrapolation?

Most computational and neural-style models of contour completion (ie illusory and occluded contours) are based on interpolation: the filling in of an edge between two visible edges. The results of three experiments suggest an alternative conception, that units are formed as a result of extrapolation from visible edges. In three experiments, subjects reported illusory contours between standard illusory-contour inducing elements and forms that do not, by themselves, induce illusory contours. We suggest that these forms are not a special case of inducing elements but that they represent a different class--receiving elements. Receiving elements are forms that can receive an illusory contour but cannot generate one, and they can alter contour formation. In experiment 1, receiving elements increased the judged clarity of illusory contours. In experiment 2, illusory edges were seen to connect to corners, line ends, and even the edges of circles. Boundary formation in motion displays also appears to be based on extrapolation. In experiment 3, subjects reported that small moving dots altered the formation of spatiotemporally defined boundaries. Implications for higher-order operator and network models of boundary formation are discussed.     

Interfaith marriage attitudes in Muslim majority countries: A multilevel approach

ABSTRACT

This research uses multilevel structural equation modeling to examine Muslims’ attitudes toward interfaith marriage with Christians in 22 countries with a Muslim majority population (N = 21,373). Attitudes toward interfaith marriage, for sons and daughters separately, were measured with single items, and three binary items were used to measure participants’ religious beliefs. Overall attitudes were negative and more negative toward marriage of one’s daughter compared to one’s son. Stronger religious belief was associated with more negative attitudes, but less so for Muslims who perceived more similarities than differences between Islam and Christianity. Perceived religious similarity was associated with more positive attitudes. The proportion of Christians in a country was not associated with interfaith marriage attitudes. However, the association between belief and attitude was found to differ considerably across countries.     

Identifying Salient Beliefs About Leisure Activities: Frequency of Elicitation Versus Response Latency1

Sets of 16 beliefs about the consequences of each of 6 leisure activities were selected in a pilot study by means of free elicitation. The beliefs varied in salience (salient vs. nonsalient), valence (positive vs. negative), and type (instrumental vs. effective). In the main study, 69 college students expressed their agreements with each belief, evaluated the consequences involved in the beliefs, and rated each leisure activity on 4 evaluative scales as a standard measure of attitude. The latencies of these responses were used to assess accessibilities of beliefs and attitudes in an effort to quantify degree of salience. Accessibility of beliefs was found to increase significantly with frequency of elicitation in the pilot study (salience) and with the judged favorability of the consequences. Salience was further found to be related to degree and extremity of agreement. Accessibility was also found to moderate the correlation between beliefs and attitudes posited in the expectancy-value model of attitude. The correlation between a given belief and the direct attitude measure increased with the belief's accessibility, and the correlation between a measure of attitude based on the set of salient beliefs and the standard attitude measures increased with the accessibility of the attitude. Implications for the identification and measurement of perceived benefits and costs of leisure are discussed.     

Illusory correlation in the perception of performance by self or a salient other

Past research has shown that judges overestimate the degree of relative association between a salient group target and an infrequent behavior. However, judges also overestimate the degree of relative association between a salient individual target and a frequent behavior. The present study investigated judgments when either the self or a salient individual was one of the targets. Subjects either performed a knowledge task along with three other participants or they observed the performance of four participants, one of whom was made salient. The knowledge task was presented as either important or unimportant. In addition, in one condition, all the participants succeeded on 70% of the trials. In the other condition, all the participants failed 70% of the time. Results in the salient individual target condition replicated previous results, in that the salient target was perceived as more strongly associated with the frequent behavior than were the nonsalient targets. This pattern of illusory correlation was also obtained for the self, with one exception: When the self and the other participants predominantly failed and the outcome was important, no such illusory correlation was shown. The results are interpreted in terms of motivational processes that are engaged by threats to the self. These motivational processes counteract or supplant the cognitive biases that typically lead to the illusory correlation based on the perception of relatively greater association between a salient individual target and the frequent behavior. Results are discussed in terms of their relevance to self-perception processes, social comparison, and research on attributional biases.     

MODERATOR RESEARCH AND THE LAW OF SMALL NUMBERS1

The thesis of this paper is that many proposed moderators in personnel psychology are probably illusory, having been created solely by belief in the law of small numbers. Evidence is presented that race as a moderator of test validity is one such illusory moderator. In addition, a model for validity generalization is described which, in addition to eliminating the need for criterion-related validity studies under certain circumstances, strongly calls into question the idea that situations moderate test validity, i.e., the traditional doctrine of situational specificity of test validities. Calculations are presented which show that adequate statistical power in moderator research requires much larger sample sizes than have typically been employed. This requirement is illustrated empirically using validity data for the Army Classification Battery for 35 jobs and 21,000 individuals. These analyses show that (1) even when a moderator is generally assumed to be large, large samples are required to gauge its effect reliably and (2) large sample research may show that moderators that appear plausible and important a priori are nonexistent or trivial in magnitude. The practice of pooling across numerous small sample studies to obtain statistical power equivalent to that of large sample studies is recommended. In light of the evidence that many proposed moderators may not exist, the authors hypothesize that the true structure of underlying relationships in personnel psychology is considerably simpler than personnel psychologists have generally imagined it to be.     

Justice Beliefs,Personal Well-Being and Harsh Social Attitudes: Initial Demonstration of a Polynomial Regression and Response Surface Methodology

Tendencies to believe in justice are multidimensional and include beliefs that the world is fair to one’s self (personal justice beliefs) as well as to others (general justice beliefs). Previous research suggests that personal and general justice beliefs are divergently linked to well-being and harsh social attitudes, respectively. However, whether and how these justice tendencies conjointly affect well-being and harsh social attitudes is less well known. Guided by equity theory, the current study used polynomial regression and surface response methodology to demonstrate how specific discrepancies between justice beliefs for self and others predict personal well-being and harsh social attitudes. Participants (N?=?1079) completed measures of tendencies to believe in personal and general justice, as well as measures of physical symptoms associated with illness and attitudes towards the poor. Results suggested that discrepancy between personal and general justice beliefs had detrimental effects on these outcomes (i.e., higher number of illness symptoms and harsher attitudes towards the poor). Moreover, discrepancy resulting from a strong belief in general justice and a weak belief in personal justice (i.e., other-favorable discrepancy) was more strongly negatively associated with well-being and positively associated with harsh attitudes towards the poor than discrepancy resulting from a strong personal justice belief and a weak general justice belief (i.e., self-favorable discrepancy). The current research highlights the potential for personal and general justice beliefs to conjointly predict well-being and social attitudes, while simultaneously demonstrating the capacity to better understand these interactive relationships through the use of surface response methodology.