Are secret relationships hot, then not? Romantic secrecy as a function of relationship duration

Are secret romances alluring or aversive? One theory suggests that romantic secrecy increases obsessive preoccupation with romantic partners and thereby enhances romantic relationships. Another theory suggests that romantic secrecy is burdensome and thereby undermines romantic relationships. We sought to rectify these conflicting perspectives by examining romantic secrecy and relationship duration using a large, Internet-based sample (N = 564). We predicted that romantic secrecy would have a positive influence in newer romantic relationships (obsessive preoccupation theory) and a negative influence in older romantic relationships (burden theory). In contrast, the obtained results indicate that romantic secrecy is a burden to both new and old romantic relationships.     

Being attractive,advantage or disadvantage? Performance-based evaluations and recommended personnel actions as a function of appearance,sex, and job type

Prompted by a concern with the effects of appearance on how individuals and their work are regarded and how rewards are allocated in work settings, an experiment was conducted to determine whether physical attractiveness differentially affects the performance evaluations and recommended personnel actions for men and women holding managerial and nonmanagerial jobs. As predicted, attractiveness proved to be advantageous for women in nonmanagerial positions and disadvantageous for women in managerial ones. Unexpectedly, however, appearance had no effects whatsoever on reactions to men. Additional results indicated that attractiveness enhanced the perceived femininity of our female stimulus people, but did not enhance the perceived masculinity of those who were male. These data were interpreted as supportive of the idea that the differential effects of appearance in work settings are mediated by gender characterizations, and that fluctuations in the perceived person-job fit are key to understanding the seemingly inconsistent reactions to attractive and unattractive women in employment situations. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.     

What's in an author's name? Differential evaluations of performance as a function of author's name

Three hundred college students (150 female, 150 male) were asked to evaluate an academic article in the field of politics, psychology of women, or education (judged masculine, feminine, and neutral, respectively) that was written by either a male, a female, or an author with a sexually ambiguous name. The results indicated that ratings of the articles were differentially perceived and evaluated according to the name of the author. An article written by a male was valued more positively than if the author was not male. Furthermore, subjects' bias against women was stronger when they believed that sexually neutral authors were female.We thank Brad Waite for his help in data collection.     

When does giving voice or not matter? Procedural fairness effects as a function of closeness of reference points

The present study examined whether manipulating the closeness of reference points can provide further insights into explaining why people care so much about receiving voice (i.e., the opportunity to express one’s opinion with respect to allocation decisions). Participants read a scenario portraying a situation where they had always been a member of the relevant team (i.e., distant referent point condition) or where they had just become a member of the relevant team (i.e., close referent point condition). Thereafter, they were either told that they would receive voice or no voice with respect to the issue of distributing a financial bonus. The results showed that people cared more about voice when they were placed in the distant referent condition rather than in the close referent condition. This effect was strongest on participants’ positive emotions (i.e., being positive when receiving voice vs. receiving no voice) than on their negative emotions. The findings are discussed in light of procedural fairness, counterfactual thinking, and emotion literature.     

When does giving voice or not matter? Procedural fairness effects as a function of closeness of reference points

The present study examined whether manipulating the closeness of reference points can provide further insights into explaining why people care so much about receiving voice (i.e., the opportunity to express one’s opinion with respect to allocation decisions). Participants read a scenario portraying a situation where they had always been a member of the relevant team (i.e., distant referent point condition) or where they had just become a member of the relevant team (i.e., close referent point condition). Thereafter, they were either told that they would receive voice or no voice with respect to the issue of distributing a financial bonus. The results showed that people cared more about voice when they were placed in the distant referent condition rather than in the close referent condition. This effect was strongest on participants’ positive emotions (i.e., being positive when receiving voice vs. receiving no voice) than on their negative emotions. The findings are discussed in light of procedural fairness, counterfactual thinking, and emotion literature.     

Physical fitness differences between athletes and nonathletes: Do changes occur as a function of age and sex?

The main objectives were to determine (a) if physical fitness superiority of athletes over nonathletes increases as a function of age, and (b) if the magnitude of athlete-nonathlete fitness differences are the same in males as in females, and if these differences are consistent across ages. Approximately 3,000 students in grades 3, 7, and 11 (ages 9, 13, and 17 years) were tested on measures of static and explosive muscular strength, static and dynamic muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility. MANOVA and follow-up univariate ANOVAs indicated that the higher the grade, the better the performance; males outperformed females on all measures except flexibility; and athletes were superior to nonathletes on all six test items. Furthermore, (a) there was no difference between athletes and nonathletes at grade 3, athletes were considerably better than nonathletes by grade 7, and the magnitude of the difference was virtually the same at grade 11, (b) the fitness superiority of athletes over nonathletes was essentially of the same magnitude for males as for females at each grade level.     

Memory for pictures and words as a function of level of processing: Depth or dual coding?

The experiment was designed to test differential predictions derived from dual-coding and depth-of-processing hypotheses. Subjects under incidental memory instructions free recalled a list of 36 test events, each presented twice. Within the list, an equal number of events were assigned to structural, phonemic, and semantic processing conditions. Separate groups of subjects were tested with a list of pictures, concrete words, or abstract words. Results indicated that retention of concrete words increased as a direct function of the processing-task variable (structural < phonemic 相似文献   

Want a tip? Service performance as a function of emotion regulation and extraversion

Surface acting and deep acting with customers are strategies for service performance, but evidence for their effectiveness is limited and mixed. We propose that deep acting is an effective strategy for most employees, whereas surface acting's effect on performance effectiveness depends on employee extraversion. In Study 1, restaurant servers who tended to use deep acting exceeded their customers' expectations and had greater financial gains (i.e., tips) regardless of extraversion, whereas surface acting improved tips only for extraverts, not for introverts. In Study 2, a call center simulation, deep acting improved emotional performance and increased the likelihood of extrarole service behavior beyond the direct and interactive effects of extraversion and other Big Five traits. In contrast, surface acting reduced emotional performance for introverts and not extraverts, but only during the extrarole interaction. We discuss implications for incorporating traits into emotional labor research and practice.     

Embarrassing age spots or just plain ugly? Physical attractiveness stereotyping as an instrument of sexism on american television commercials

Frequencies of attractiveness-based messages were examined on 4,294 network television commercials. As expected, attractiveness statements appeared to be associated more with food and drink and personal care ads, and with female performers and with male voice-overs. Implications of an association of women and attractiveness on television are explored.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta, March 1983.     

Unconscious perception or not? An evaluation of detection and discrimination as indicators of awareness

Most investigations of unconscious perception use a dissociation design in which an awareness variable (e.g., detection) is compared with a perceptual processing variable (e.g., identification). Unconscious perception is inferred when the awareness variable lacks sensitivity to the stimulus but evidence of perceptual processing is still obtained. In two studies we examined the relationship between word identification and detection (Study 1) or discrimination (words vs. nonwords; Study 2) with a variety of techniques. In both studies, dissociations suggestive of unconscious perception occurred when the data were examined with subjective threshold approaches, but these differences disappeared when the variables were compared with techniques derived from signal detection theory (SDT). These results do not support unconscious perception in subjective threshold paradigms. In addition, detection appears to be the most sensitive and appropriate task for assessing stimulus awareness, provided that several SDT assumptions are met.     

Was that a man? Sex identification as a function of menstrual cycle and masculinity

The accuracy of female perceivers on a face sex‐categorization task was investigated as a function of perceivers' menstrual cycle and target facial qualities. Regularly ovulating female participants completed a sex‐categorization task twice, once during ovulation (high fertility) and once during menstruation (low fertility). Perceivers made more errors in identifying male than female faces at both testing sessions. Fewer errors were made in identifying male targets rated high on masculinity, but only during periods of high fertility. For female targets accuracy was negatively associated with masculinity and positively associated with attractiveness ratings, at both high and low fertility testing sessions. Results are discussed in terms of adaptive person construal. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Externality as a function of obesity in children: pervasive style or eating-specific attribute?

The developmental sources of the link between stylistic externality and food-related externality found in the obese by Schacter and others were explored by testing whether the externality phenomena that have been found to differentiate obese and normal adults are also discriminators of obese and normal children. The results suggest that obese children as young as 7-12 years of age show an external responsiveness to salient food cues but not yet a generally external perceptual style. The implications of these findings for the development of obese externality are examined.     

Dark traits: Sometimes hot,and sometimes not? Female preferences for Dark Triad faces depend on sociosexuality and contraceptive use

Although the Dark Triad personality (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) has been researched widely, only few studies have investigated women's preferences for men who present high and low Dark Triad features. With an on-line two-alternative forced choice questionnaire we investigated the interaction between preferences of 1962 Finnish women for facial stimuli that differed in the intensity of the Dark Triad traits, accounting for mating context, contraceptive use, and sexual openness (sociosexuality). Among non-contraceptive-using women, unrestricted sociosexuality was positively correlated with preference for high narcissistic male faces, whereas in contraceptive-using women, sociosexuality correlated negatively with preference for high Machiavellian male faces. We suggest that i) facial cues to Dark Triad traits are detectable by women, but ii) their effect on the judgments of attractiveness may vary depending on sociosexuality and contraceptive use, and that iii) preference for narcissism follows similar variation trends as masculinity preference, depending on sociosexuality and the use of hormonal contraception.     

Do I get better looking each day? Changes in self‐perceptions of attractiveness as a function of temporal perspective

Do people perceive themselves as becoming more attractive across time? The present studies investigated whether individuals (a) judge their previous self as physically less attractive than their current self and (b) judge their future self to be physically more attractive than their current self. The studies also investigated when temporal biasing of attractiveness is most likely to occur. In Study 1, students rated their present and past attractiveness. The results revealed that participants' ratings of past attractiveness were lower than current ratings, but only among individuals for whom attractiveness was important to their self‐concept. In Study 2, participants rated their present attractiveness and their expected attractiveness in 5 years. The results revealed that ratings of future attractiveness were higher than current ratings, but only among individuals who frequently engage in social comparisons. The implications of the results are discussed with respect to self‐appraisals of attractiveness and psychological well‐being. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Between- or within-culture variation?: Culture group as a moderator of the relations between individual differences and resource allocation preferences

Recent theoretical discussion of the influence of between- and within-culture factors on social behaviors suggests that both approaches may be useful. The present study was designed to investigate the joint influence of sociocultural (between-group) and individual (within-group) factors on resource allocation preferences. Brazilian (n=166) and European–American (n=99) children with ages ranging from 37 to 140 months were administered a resource allocation task, which consisted of distributing rewards to themselves or to an acquaintance. As expected, individualistic resource allocation preferences decreased with age, whereas competitive and cooperative resource allocation preferences increased with age. Culture group, the task-specific cognitive demands, and the gender of the child, however, moderated these age differences. For example, gender differences in resource allocation preferences were stronger among Brazilians as compared to European–Americans and stronger in the reduced cognitive demand condition. Models of cooperative and competitive behaviors that consider the role of culture group, gender, and cognitive development and applied implications are discussed.     

Curriculum tracking and teacher evaluations of individual students: selection, adjustment or labeling?

Past research into the consequences of tracking mainly documented on the impact of attending different tracks on students’ achievement and behavior. Less attention has been paid to the impact of track positions on teachers’ perceptions and expectations regarding students. By means of multi-level analysis of data of 6,545 students in 46 Flemish secondary schools with self-reported student measures and teachers’ evaluations of students, this study examines if teachers’ evaluations of secondary school students’ cognitive capacity, effort in class and diligence in doing homework vary by track, and whether teachers’ perceptions are informed (1) by the typical students’ background features; (2) by the students’ resistance to school; or (3) by labeling of students attending certain tracks. Teachers perceive lower track students as less able and less diligent in doing homework because of students’ social and cognitive characteristics and anti-school behavior. Accounting for the latter, teachers even evaluate lower track students as paying slightly more effort. The implications for future research and social policy are discussed.     

The effects of social change within a group on membership preferences: to leave or not to leave?

Two studies examined immediate (Study 1) and long-term (Study 2) behavioral consequences of previously documented asymmetries in cognitive and evaluative reactions to change in majority and minority positions within a group. Study 1 found an overall decrease in preferences for group membership immediately following change, which was preceded by decategorization and devaluation of the group in response to loss, together with lack of categorization and positive evaluation in response to gain of the majority position. Study 2 found a gradual increase in preference to stay with (vs. exit) the group among former minorities with prolonged interactions that confirmed their gained majority position. A gradual increase in preference for group membership was paralleled with gradual increases in perception of both inclusion within and differentiation from the group.