Seeking Information about Different Ethnic Groups: The Role of Motivation and Confirmation1

Two factors were investigated in terms of their effects on information seeking about ethnic groups: degree to which the information confirmed one's stereotype, and motivation for seeking information. Forty-two English Canadians (Ss) were given the opportunity to seek up to 45 items of information about 18 individuals, 3 from each of six ethnic groups. The three members of each group either confirmed, partially disconfirmed, or totally disconfirmed the group stereotype. Results indicated that more information was sought about the confirming member of each group by the Ss instructed to seek information that interested them. Ss instructed to describe or evaluate ethnic group members sought information equally from all members. These results are discussed in terms of expectancy theory, and in relation to other findings on ethnic perception and ethnic interpersonal attraction.     

Managing Self-Uncertainty Through Group Identification

Hogg's uncertainty-identity theory (UIT) is briefly described to identify similarities and differences to Van den Bos's uncertainty management model (UMM). Against a background of significant overlap in scope, mission and concepts, four differences are identified: First, UMM is primarily a theory of motivation for ideological conviction; UIT is a theory of motivation for group identification. Second, UMM talks about personal uncertainty; UIT talks about self-uncertainty—the implications of this difference in terminology are discussed. Third, both theories focus on uncertainty about self; but UIT also focuses on an array of moderating variables that affect the experience of uncertainty and the way in which self-uncertainty is reduced. Finally, and most significantly, UMM does not detail the process of uncertainty reduction; UIT does—it specifies social cognitive processes that reduce self-uncertainty and contexts that direct these processes toward “normal” group phenomena or toward more extreme group phenomena.     

Conversations With Able-Bodied and Visibly Disabled Strangers An Adversarial Test of Predicted Outcome Value and Uncertainty Reduction Theories

Conversations with visibly disabled strangers entail unequivocally higher uncertainty and relatively more negative predicted outcome values compared to conversations with able-bodied strangers. Contrasting derivations from uncertainty reduction and predicted outcome value theories were tested by comparing observations associated with respondents’ separate conversations with able-bodied and visibly disabled partners. Four hypotheses were cast to favor predicted outcome value interpretations with respect to information seeking, three global features of the respondent's awareness of the partner's behavior, and the association of information seeking with nonverbal affiliative expressiveness and amount of verbal communication. Statistically significant differences in information seeking and awareness of the partner's behavior favored the predicted outcome value interpretation. Implications for predicted outcome value theory and interaction with visibly disabled conversational partners are discussed.     

Uncertainty and the Avoidance of the State of One's Family in Stepfamilies,Postdivorce Single‐Parent Families,and First‐Marriage Families

The current study tested the applicability of uncertainty management theory (URT; Berger & Calabrese, 1975) to information‐regulation efforts in families with comparatively different uncertainty levels. Differences in uncertainty and avoidance for parents within the various family types are also discussed. In general, the findings lend further support for URT (e.g., Brashers, 2001) which suggests that in certain situations, such as that of postdivorce family life, individuals may prefer to maintain their uncertainty through avoidance. Contrary to what URT suggests, the association between uncertainty about one's family relationships and the avoidance of the state of one's family was positive and linear for adolescents and young adults in stepfamilies and postdivorce, single‐parent families. For first‐marriage families, however, this association was curvilinear in nature. Unexpectedly, closeness with one's parents or stepparents did not moderate this association for any of the family types. Nevertheless, satisfaction with one's parents was a moderator for children in first‐marriage families. The degree of uncertainty in stepfamilies was also a function of the length of time in the stepfamily, but avoidance was not.     

Information‐Seeking Strategies,Uncertainty, and Computer‐Mediated Communication

This article argues that existing theory and research on computer‐mediated communication (CMC) provide a limited view of information‐seeking behavior and proposes a conceptual model for its examination via CMC and new media. Although most CMC environments eliminate or severely reduce nonverbal and contextual information available to address uncertainty, form impressions, and develop relationships, such environments offer alternative mechanisms for acquiring social information about others. The article discusses strategies for seeking social information and identifies factors influencing their selection from alternatives, incorporating them into a conceptual model. Finally, 2 promising approaches for examining the effects and effectiveness of social information seeking in CMC are described, with an emphasis on how the proposed conceptual model can aid in the development of each.     

Information Seeking Beyond Initial Interaction.

This essay extends previous work on uncertainty and information seeking within close relationships by considering how relationship parameters correspond with the directness of people's information‐seeking strategies. Because we believe that assumptions of uncertainty reduction theory (Berger & Calabrese, 1975) have been translated into the context of close relationships without attention to the unique features of that domain, we begin by reframing questions about uncertainty to reflect issues relevant to intimate associations. In particular, we reconsider the focus of uncertainty, the function of uncertainty reduction, and the nature of information seeking. We then discuss how relationship intimacy, power dynamics, and information expectancies correspond with information‐seeking behavior within close relationships. In doing so, we highlight how the negotiation of relational uncertainty may function to sustain intimate associations.     

Attitude similarity and attraction: Validation,positive affect,and trust as sequential mediators

Effectance motivation—an urge for certainty and a feeling of being able to know, predict, and control one's environment—was initially proposed as the mechanism underlying attitude similarity effects on attraction. However, this motivation was discarded as an explanation when positive affect was identified. The presence of alternative mechanisms did not deny a role for the validation of attitudes in attraction. Therefore, we investigated the validation of one's views by those of peers as an additional mediator and its relation with two previously known mediators of positive affect and trust. As hypothesized, validation mediated attitude similarity effects when measured alone (Experiment 1) and within sequential mediation patterns involving positive affect (Experiment 2A) and trust (Experiments 2B and 2C).     

Attraction to a dissimilar stranger as a function of level of effectance arousal

An experiment was carried out to demonstrate that the relationship between attitudes of a stranger and attraction to that stranger can be mediated by effectance arousal and the consequent information search to reduce the arousal. The argument posited was that individuals under high effectance arousal produced by a confusing and ambiguous film would be attracted to dissimilar others as a source of information and uncertainty reduction. Results indicated that high levels of arousal produced greater attraction to a dissimilar stranger than to a similar stranger. This finding was reversed when an explanation was provided along with the confusing film, lending support to the uncertainty reduction position.     

The Effectiveness of Teaching a Life Skills Program in a Sport Context

This research examined the role of attraction to one's team in predicting alcohol and marijuana use among intercollegiate athletes. Attraction to team and alcohol-related information were collected via an online survey and marijuana use-related information was gathered in a live setting. We investigated the influence of attraction to one's team above and beyond the influence of gender and perceived norms, and attraction to team as a moderator of these relationships. Attraction to one's team accounted for significant variance in marijuana use, and alcohol-related consequences after controlling for alcohol consumption. Regression analyses revealed significant interactions between gender, attraction to team, and norms in predicting alcohol and marijuana use. Stronger attraction to one's team may increase alcohol use but decrease marijuana use among male athletes, suggesting the importance of attraction to team when developing interventions for athletes.     

Events That Increase Uncertainty in Personal Relationships II Replication and Extension

Events that change relational knowledge were investigated because they have theoretical implications for uncertainty reduction and relational cognition and they have important consequences in terms of personal trauma and relational damage. Data were gathered in ways that corrected major problems in earlier studies, results were compared between two studies, and hypotheses about differences were tested. Additional information was also gathered concerning how often such events occurred, what led up to them, attributions about causes, coping strategies, and how the experience was viewed in hindsight. The results indicated that although the emotional and cognitive effects of the events were nearly as strong as found in earlier studies, the effects on relationships were not as negative. Other findings and their implications for uncertainty reduction theory and existing models of schema change were also discussed.     

Linking Feedback Quality and Goal Orientation to Feedback Seeking and Job Performance

Contemporary feedback researchers have adopted theoretical perspectives in which personal characteristics interact with aspects of the feedback environment to influence feedback-related perceptions, feedback seeking, and job performance. To test these assertions, this study incorporates implicit person theory, uncertainty reduction theory, and Korman's theory of work motivation (2001) to develop a model that links a critical aspect of the feedback environment (feedback quality) and goal orientation to perceptions of feedback utility, feedback seeking, role clarity, and task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors. Results from supervisor–subordinate dyadic data (N?=?202) obtained from employed students largely support the hypothesized model. Implications are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Uncertainty and Desire for Feedback: A Test of Competing Hypotheses1

The relationship between uncertainty and desire for feedback was investigated in 2 studies. Results of Study 1 showed support for a curvilinear relationship. People were interested in feedback at high and low levels of uncertainty, as opposed to moderate levels of uncertainty, indicating the activation of both uncertainty reduction and self‐verification motives. In Study 2, the curvilinear relationship with uncertainty was replicated for indirect feedback‐seeking behavior. In contrast, we found a negative relationship between direct feedback seeking and uncertainty, moderated by certainty orientation. People seemed more motivated by self‐verification vs. uncertainty reduction strivings, depending on their certainty orientation. These findings suggest that the relationship between uncertainty and desire for feedback is less simple than previously thought.     

Choice confidence in the webrooming purchase process: The impact of online positive reviews and the motivation to touch

The webrooming purchase process (i.e. searching for information online and then buying the product offline) is the most extended cross‐channel shopping behaviour. With the aim of offering a better understanding of this behaviour, this research relies on information processing and uncertainty reduction theories to propose that consumers use the online information to make the offline purchase with a higher degree of confidence. We examine the effects of a previous online interaction with a product on the preferences and decision at the physical store, as well as on the outcomes of the experience. In this path to purchase, we analyse how positive online customer reviews, as a specific form of electronic word of mouth, help the consumer to improve their experience, given their great potential to reduce the consumer's uncertainty in a purchase situation. In addition, the role of the motivation to touch the product is examined. The results of two studies show that the combination of an online search and an offline purchase improves the consumers' purchase experience in pre‐choice variables (i.e. purchase intentions), choice and post‐choice variables (i.e. search‐process satisfaction and choice confidence). Moreover, reading a positive online customer review influences choice confidence, and all the variables considered in the research when it is received at the physical store. Finally, the results stress the importance of the motivation to touch when studying multichannel shopping behaviour, given its direct and moderating effects on the webrooming purchase process. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Generalized Information Theory Meets Human Cognition: Introducing a Unified Framework to Model Uncertainty and Information Search

Searching for information is critical in many situations. In medicine, for instance, careful choice of a diagnostic test can help narrow down the range of plausible diseases that the patient might have. In a probabilistic framework, test selection is often modeled by assuming that people's goal is to reduce uncertainty about possible states of the world. In cognitive science, psychology, and medical decision making, Shannon entropy is the most prominent and most widely used model to formalize probabilistic uncertainty and the reduction thereof. However, a variety of alternative entropy metrics (Hartley, Quadratic, Tsallis, Rényi, and more) are popular in the social and the natural sciences, computer science, and philosophy of science. Particular entropy measures have been predominant in particular research areas, and it is often an open issue whether these divergences emerge from different theoretical and practical goals or are merely due to historical accident. Cutting across disciplinary boundaries, we show that several entropy and entropy reduction measures arise as special cases in a unified formalism, the Sharma–Mittal framework. Using mathematical results, computer simulations, and analyses of published behavioral data, we discuss four key questions: How do various entropy models relate to each other? What insights can be obtained by considering diverse entropy models within a unified framework? What is the psychological plausibility of different entropy models? What new questions and insights for research on human information acquisition follow? Our work provides several new pathways for theoretical and empirical research, reconciling apparently conflicting approaches and empirical findings within a comprehensive and unified information‐theoretic formalism.     

人际交往的不确定性减少理论(URT)述评

"不确定性减少理论"(URT)的产生受到信息论、认知失调理论等理论的直接影响.URT认为,人际关系中常常充满了不确定性,个体将通过交往来减少这种不确定性;减少不确定性是人际交往的核心动力.以此为基础,提出了7项公设和21条定理.自诞生以来,URT得到了一定的支持,也受到了某些挑战.URT对人际交往研究作出了重要贡献,它使"不确定性"成为交际研究的主要范畴,同时它也存在某种局限性.     

A social-cognitive framework for understanding serious lies: Activation-decision-construction-action theory

Little is known about the cognition of deception (Gombos, 2006). We propose a cognitive account of serious lying (i.e., deception involving high stakes) in response to a solicitation of a truth: Activation-Decision-Construction-Action Theory (ADCAT). Built on the Activation-Decision-Construction Model of answering questions deceptively (Walczyk, Roper, Seeman, & Humphrey, 2003), the theory elaborates on the roles of executive processes, theory of mind, emotions, motivation, specifies cognitive processing thoroughly, and considers the rehearsal of lies. ADCAT's four processing components are (a) activation of the truth, the (b) decision whether and how to alter deceptively the information shared, (c) construction of a deception, and (d) action [acting sincere while delivering a lie]. Core constructs are “theory of mind” and “cognitive resources”. Specifically, throughout serious deception, individuals are inferring the current or potential mental states of targets and taking steps to minimize the allocation of cognitive resources during delivery to appear honest and lie well.     

STIGMA MANAGEMENT IN NORMAL-STIGMATIZED INTERACTIONS: TEST OF THE DISCLOSURE HYPOTHESIS AND A MODEL OF STIGMA ACCEPTANCE

This study explored the efficacy of disclosure as a stigma management strategy in normal-stigmatized interactions. A laboratory experiment was conducted using confederates to simulate three classes of stigmas. As predicted, reactions of normals (nonstigmatized subjects) were uniform across stigmas. While there is some indication that disclosure may reduce uncertainty in normal-stigmatized interactions, no support obtained for the hypothesis that disclosure about a stigma increases acceptance of the bearer. Path analysis of the data indicated a process leading from uncertainty, tension, and attraction to acceptance/rejection, as expected. Findings are discussed in terms of stigma attributions and relational development.     

Self-efficacy,motivation, and performance

Abstract

This article discusses the relation of self-efficacy to motivation and performance in cognitive and sport domains. Self-efficacy refers to one's beliefs about accomplishing a task and can influence choice of activities. effort, persistence. and achievement. People enter activities with varying levels of self-efficacy derived from prior experience, personal qualities, and social support. As they work on tasks they acquire information about how well they are doing. This information influences their self-efficacy for continued learning and performance. Research is described in which interventions involving models, goal setting, and feedback, were employed to affect self-efficacy. Regardless of domain, research shows that self-efficacy helps to predict motivation and performance. and studies testing causal models highlight the important role played by self-efficacy. Suggestions for future research are given, along with implications of theory and research for education and training.     

Ambivalence, Uncertainty, and Processes of Candidate Evaluation

The on-line and memory-based processing models of candidate evaluation can be better understood by incorporating the concepts of ambivalence and uncertainty, both as subjective feeling states and as objective properties of information. An experiment was designed to address three questions: What are the relationships between ambivalence and uncertainty? What are the informational foundations of subjective ambivalence and uncertainty, and to what extent are they rooted in on-line (time of exposure) and memory-based (time of judgment) processes? What are the consequences of ambivalence and uncertainty for candidate evaluation? The results suggest that (1) subjective uncertainty is more strongly rooted in information about the candidate than is subjective ambivalence; (2) subjective uncertainty and (to a lesser extent) ambivalence are associated with an increased propensity to engage in memory-based processing; and (3) subjective ambivalence and uncertainty result in more negative evaluations, particularly among less sophisticated people. These results suggest ways in which the on-line and memory-based models might productively be combined.     

Reducing uncertainty to promote appropriate decisions when facing hazardous phenomena at an active volcano

This study investigated a new direction for improving the decision making of populations at risk in the context of uncertain environmental events, such as volcanic hazards. According to the risk as feelings theory and dual process models, situations with certain outcomes do not necessarily require the use of affect heuristics (e.g., experienced feelings, anticipated emotions) as valid information in the decision‐making process. In the case of difficult decisions with moral dilemmas, certainty could even improve decisions. Thus, using an ecological design with various scenarios depicting upcoming volcanic hazards, we examined whether reducing the uncertainty of lethal threat by conveying certainty in an information campaign could influence decision making and promote a better quality of choice (correct application of the recommendations from the competent authorities). We focused specifically on two populations composed of local people living in the vicinity of an active volcano (Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador) and local scientists. We also examined whether a difficult decision involving a moral dilemma (e.g., leaving people behind so as not to jeopardize one's own life) potentiated this effect, compared to a less difficult situation without a dilemma. We demonstrated that, for local people facing a moral dilemma (difficult decision), the reduction of uncertainty of lethal threat involved a better application of the actual recommendations. These outcomes provided perspectives on improving the applications of the recommendations among local populations at risk in the context of a real risk exposure.