Individual differences and cross-situational consistency of dyadic social behavior

A new theoretical analysis of individual differences and cross-situational consistency of behavior is proposed. The authors hypothesized that the social behavior of mice (Mus musculus) is determined by individual differences among animals in behavior emitted (i.e., actor effects), in behavior elicited from social partners (partner effects), and by unique responses of one animal to another (relationship effects). Each effect represents a distinct facet of individual differences with different psychological meaning; likewise, the cross-situational consistency of each effect has a distinct psychological meaning. Individual differences in behavior emitted were observed, and these actor effects were consistent longitudinally. Individual differences in behavior elicited from social partners were observed, and these partner effects were also consistent longitudinally. Unique responses to specific social partners also determined behavior but were inconsistent longitudinally. The theoretical importance of reconceptualizing the concepts of individual differences and cross-situational consistency in behavior is discussed. ((c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).     

The person-situation debate: A critical multiplist perspective

Critical multiplism is an approach to question and method choice predicated on the only partial validity of most current social science practices In the first part of this paper, the approach is described, and note is made of many of its advantages but also of two of its limitations Critical multiplism is then applied to the person-situation debate The analysis reveals that major protagonists in the debate have often discussed different versions of what appears to be the same question, and they usually agree when they define the questions similarly The major real difference concerns predictions about the extent of cross-situational consistency in behaviors This entails at least two subquestions (1) how consistent is the same molecular behavior across situations? and (2) how crosssituationally stable are different molecular behaviors presumed to indicate the same latent trait? Data from Peake (1982) reported in Mischel and Peake (1982) are then reanalyzed For molecular behaviors within the trait of conscientiousness, the central tendency of the cross-situational correlation is between 30 and 50, while for the nine different behaviors measured as most prototypical of the latent trait of conscientiousness it is in the 30 to 40 range While these values are higher than those of Mischel and Peake (1982), comparable analyses of their friendliness data failed to replicate the results for conscientiousness, cautioning us not to overgeneralize estimates of cross-situational consistency from any of the analyses currently available     

Acts and dispositions: A reconsideration of the Act Frequency Approach

The Act Frequency Approach (AFA) proposed by Buss and Craik was summarized and critically reviewed on the basis of a German replication study using six interpersonal traits each with 100 translated acts. The six traits studied were dominant, gregarious, agreeable, submissive, aloof, and quarrelsome. The internal structure of these categories was examined via multiple prototypicality ratings. It was demonstrated that many acts are highly prototypical for more than one category. The manifested categorical structure was tested by gathering retrospective act reports about performance and frequency of exhibiting each of these 600 acts using a sample of 213 adults. Aggregation of the acts according to their prototypicality key yielded reliable subscales. The validities obtained on the basis of the 25 highly prototypical acts were slightly higher compared with those of the 100 act set, as well as the sets with lower prototypicality. The validity gradient proposed by Buss and Craik was found using selected personality scales as well as global self-ratings and peer-ratings on some of the respective trait terms. In general, the results of the German study replicated the findings of Buss and Craik.     

Processing Illness Information: The Role of Disease Prototypes

Recently Bishop and Converse (1986) proposed that information about physical symptoms is interpreted by relating those symptoms to preexisting disease prototypes. The two present studies further examined this formulation by testing hypotheses concerning the speed of processing symptom information as well as associations made to sets of physical symptoms as a function of prototypicality. As predicted, Experiment 1 showed that response time to highly prototypical symptom sets was significantly shorter than that for symptom sets containing irrelevant symptoms. Also as predicted, the results of Experiment 2 showed significant differences in the associations made by experiment participants to symptom sets as a function of the prototypicality of the symptoms in those sets. Participants made more category-based associations to highly prototypical symptom sets than to those lower in prototypicality but made more associations to individual symptoms for symptom sets low in prototypicality. Implications for the prototype hypothesis and for understanding the processing of illness information are discussed.     

Behavioral change and consistency across contexts

The degree to which behavior changes across situations is often conflated with the cross-situational consistency of individual differences. The current study assesses the extent of behavioral change and consistency, the relationship between them, and variables associated with behaviors’ differing patterns of change and consistency. Two hundred fifty-six participants were observed in three different, three-person interactions. In line with previous research, behaviors showed a great deal of both change and consistency. Behavioral change across situations was unrelated to the degree to which individual differences in these same behaviors were maintained, demonstrating that behavioral consistency does not imply lack of situational adaptation. Behaviors rated as relatively broad and as relatively automatic showed more consistency; behaviors rated as relatively controlled showed more change.     

The role of social relationships and culture in the cognitive representation of emotions

There are individual and cultural differences in how memories of our emotions are cognitively represented. This article examines the cognitive representation of emotions in different cultures, as a result of emotional (in)consistency in different cultures. Using a continuous semantic priming task, we showed in two studies that individuals who were less emotionally consistent across relationships have stronger associations of their emotions within those relationships. Further, we found (in Study 2) that in a culture characterised by higher levels of emotional inconsistency across relationships (Singapore), stronger associations between emotions within relationships were found than in a culture characterised by emotional consistency (USA). This cultural difference in cognitive representation was fully mediated by individual differences in cross-situational consistency levels.     

Prototypicality norms for 28 semantic categories

The extent to which an item is a prototypical exemplar of a category has been found to predict several experimental results (e.g., reaction times in category classification, free and cued recall of lists, release from proactive inhibition in recall). We present prototypicality ratings for 840 words, equally distributed over 28categories. Thecategories were taken from Battig and Montague’s (1969) normative tables; only those categories that contained “concrete” items in common usage were employed in the study. Intragroup reliability correlations were high for all categories tested, as were the correlations for prototypicality ratings between the present study and that of Rosch (1975). In addition, correlations between prototypicality ratings, production frequencies, and word frequencies of the items are given.     

Prototypical Behaviour Patterns of Social Intelligence: An Intercultural Comparison between Chinese and German Subjects

By using the Act Frequency Approach (Buss & Craik, 1980), Chinese subjects (N = 31) generated a list of acts (specific behaviours) considered to represent social intelligence. These acts were rated by Chinese subjects (N = 39) and German subjects (N = 29) for prototypicality. A comparison of results showed that the construct of social intelligence is culture dependent. For the Chinese, social intelligent behaviours seem to reflect the classical traditions and ideals of Confucianism. Acts that received the highest scores were those that described conforming to and fulfilling expected roles, and acts in which the wellbeing of the entire society was described as being more important that the desires of an individual. This was especially true for older subjects and for women. Items controlling for socially desirable behaviour and social engagement showed clear differences between the two cultures; as expected, the German subjects rated these items lower, whereas the Chinese subjects found both items to be high prototypical of social intelligence.     

Group status is related to group prototypicality in the absence of social identity concerns

Based on self-categorization theory, group status should be positively related to group prototypicality when the relevant superordinate category is positively valued. In this case, high-status groups should be perceived to be more prototypical than low-status groups even in the absence of concerns about maintaining a positive social identity. To test this hypothesis, a minimal group study was conducted in which participants (N = 139) did not belong to any of the groups involved. Consistent with predictions, participants perceived high-status groups to be significantly more prototypical than low-status groups. Consistent with self-categorization theory's cognitive analysis, these results demonstrate that the relation between group status and group prototypicality is a relatively basic and pervasive effect that does not depend on social identity motives.     

Cross-situational consistency of affective experiences across cultures

This study examined cross-situational consistency of affective experiences using an experience-sampling method in Japan, India, and the United States. Participants recorded their moods and situations when signaled at random moments for 7 days. The authors examined relative (interindividual) consistency and absolute (within-person) consistency. They found stable interindividual differences of affective experiences across various situations (mean r =.52 for positive affect.51 for negative affect) and cultural invariance of the cross-situational consistency of affective experiences. Simultaneously, the authors found a considerable degree of within-person cross-situational variation in affective experiences, and cultural differences in within-person cross-situational consistency. Thus, global affective traits exist among non-Western samples, but the degree to which situations exert an influence on the absolute level of affective experience varies across cultures.     

CROSS-SITUATIONAL SPECIFICITY IN MANAGERs' PERCEPTIONS OF SUBORDINATE PERFORMANCE, ATTRIBUTIONS, AND LEADER BEHAVIORS

Managers' perceptions of subordinates' performance, causes (attributions) of subordinates' performance, and the leader behaviors they employed toward subordinates were examined from the standpoint of cross-situational consistency versus cross-situational specificity. Cross-situational consistency would be indicated if managers' perceptions of performance, attributions, and leader behaviors were stable over different situations, whereas cross-situational specificity would be indicated if these same perceptions indicated reliable variation, as a function of situation. Empirical results for 377 Navy managers provided strong support for cross-situational specificity. Results are discussed in relation to prior research, generated by interactional theory on consistency versus specificity of responses across situations, and in relation to research and developmental needs in leadership, attribution theory, and performance evaluation.     

Uncertainty reduction, self-enhancement, and ingroup identification

Two experiments tested the prediction that uncertainty reduction and self-enhancement motivations have an interactive effect on ingroup identification. In Experiment 1 (N = 64), uncertainty and group status were manipulated, and the effect on ingroup identification was measured. As predicted, low-uncertainty participants identified more strongly with a high- than low-status group, whereas high-uncertainty participants showed no preference; and low-status group members identified more strongly under high than low uncertainty, whereas high-status group members showed no preference. Experiment 2 (N = 210) replicated Experiment 1, but with a third independent variable that manipulated how prototypical participants were of their group. As predicted, the effects obtained in Experiment 1 only emerged where participants were highly prototypical. Low prototypicality depressed identification with a low-status group under high uncertainty. The implications of these results for intergroup relations and the role of prototypicality in social identity processes are discussed.     

Prototypes are attractive because they are easy on the mind

People tend to prefer highly prototypical stimuli--a phenomenon referred to as the beauty-in-averageness effect. A common explanation of this effect proposes that prototypicality signals mate value. Here we present three experiments testing whether prototypicality preference results from more general mechanisms-fluent processing of prototypes and preference for fluently processed stimuli. In two experiments, participants categorized and rated the attractiveness of random-dot patterns (Experiment 1) or common geometric patterns (Experiment 2) that varied in levels of prototypicality. In both experiments, prototypicality was a predictor of both fluency (categorization speed) and attractiveness. Critically, fluency mediated the effect of prototypicality on attractiveness, although some effect of prototypicality remained when fluency was controlled. The findings were the same whether or not participants explicitly considered the pattern's categorical membership, and whether or not categorization fluency was salient when they rated attractiveness. Experiment 3, using the psychophysiological technique of facial electromyography, confirmed that viewing abstract prototypes elicits quick positive affective reactions.     

Inverse cross-modality matching: A test of ratio judgment consistency for group and individual data

Direct and inverse cross-modality matches made by 20 subjects were assessed for ratio judgment consistency. Each subject matched apparent duration to loudness, and vice versa, in both a directly and an inversely proportional manner. All four tasks were repeated twice so that individual differences could be examined using interrepetition correlations. Group data exhibited the appropriate inverse relationship indicative of consistency, although the inverse matches were slightly curvilinear and resembled earlier studies with inverse attribute scales. Some individuals showed a high degree of consistency but many departed widely from inverse proportionality. Individual differences in exponents, which occurred for both types of tasks, were not removed by S. S. Stevens’ (1971) regression balance procedure. However, interrepetition correlations for the differences in the absolute values of the direct and inverse exponents of individuals were nonsignificant, suggesting that when subjects’ exponents differed for the two types of tasks they did so on a random basis. The latter finding implies that subjects would give inversely proportional matches were it not for random factors. The findings were discussed in relation to other types of ratio consistency.     

Effort in the face of difference: Feeling like a non‐prototypical group member motivates effort

Three studies examined the relationship between individuals' perceived “prototypicality” in a group, their subsequent self‐presentation goals, and individual effort in that group. Consistent with the finding that feelings of marginal ingroup membership status elicit a desire to seek stronger social connections within ingroups, we predicted that non‐prototypical group members will have more salient self‐presentation goals than prototypical members, and as such will exert more individual effort to exhibit the value of their membership to the group. Correlational Study 1 confirmed that non‐prototypical group members may be more likely than prototypical members to volunteer for activities that would benefit their group. Two experimental studies were then conducted to test the causal influence of feelings of prototypicality while also identifying theoretically relevant moderating conditions of perceived task efficacy (Study 2) and public versus private task performance (Study 3). These findings suggest that effortful performance in groups is partly motivated by the desire to foster social ties. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A cross-cultural comparison using the act frequency approach (AFA) in West Germany and the United States

Two studies were conducted in West Germany and the United States to investigate cultural similarities and differences on features of personality assessed through act frequency methods. The first study analysed the acts considered to be central and peripheral to each of six dispositional categories: dominance, quarrelsomeness, gregariousness, submissiveness, agreeableness, and aloofness. The results indicated moderate to strong similarity between the cultures in the prototypicality structure for all categories except agreeableness, which showed little concordance. The second study examined the manifested structure of act performance as assessed through retrospective act reports. The results indicated greater similarity of act endorsements between the two sexes within each culture than between cultures within each sex. Generally, the Americans showed higher base rates than the Germans. Furthermore, over all samples, females showed lower base rates than males. The correlations between relative base rates within each of the six different categories were moderately strong between the cultures (0.56, p < 0.001). Analyses of the relations between the prototypicality structure and the manifested structure yielded a complex picture that was highly dependent on dispositional category. For quarrelsome acts, for example, the more central acts were reported to be performed less frequently in both cultures, while other categories showed positive correlations between base rates and prototypicality. The limitations of these studies are described, and future research directions regarding expanding the range of act frequency methods and the number of nations in the search for personality functioning across cultures are suggested.     

Urban district identity as a common ingroup identity: The different role of ingroup prototypicality for minority and majority groups

In this paper, we examined how identification with urban districts as a common ingroup identity and perceived ingroup prototypicality influence the attitudes of residents toward other ethnic groups in their neighborhood. The overall conclusion of two field studies (N = 214 and N = 98) is that for majority‐group members, there may be a positive relation between identification with an overarching identity and outgroup attitudes but only when they perceive their ingroup as low in prototypicality for the overarching group (Study 1 and 2). Conversely, for minority‐group members, there may be a positive relation between identification and outgroup attitudes but only when they perceive their ingroup as high in prototypicality for the overarching group (Study 2). Outgroup prototypicality did not moderate the relation between identification and outgroup attitudes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Family resemblances: Studies in the internal structure of categories

Six experiments explored the hypothesis that the members of categories which are considered most prototypical are those with most attributes in common with other members of the category and least attributes in common with other categories. In probabilistic terms, the hypothesis is that prototypicality is a function of the total cue validity of the attributes of items. In Experiments 1 and 3, subjects listed attributes for members of semantic categories which had been previously rated for degree of prototypicality. High positive correlations were obtained between those ratings and the extent of distribution of an item's attributes among the other items of the category. In Experiments 2 and 4, subjects listed superordinates of category members and listed attributes of members of contrasting categories. Negative correlations were obtained between prototypicality and superordinates other than the category in question and between prototypicality and an item's possession of attributes possessed by members of contrasting categories. Experiments 5 and 6 used artificial categories and showed that family resemblance within categories and lack of overlap of elements with contrasting categories were correlated with ease of learning, reaction time in identifying an item after learning, and rating of prototypicality of an item. It is argued that family resemblance offers an alternative to criterial features in defining categories.