An Authority Behavior Inventory

This article describes the development and validation of an Authority Behavior Inventory (ABI) to assess acceptance of authority. Each of the 24 items on the self-report ABI correlated significantly with corresponding peer ratings. In two studies (n = 200 and n = 150), the ABI was shown to have high internal consistency and high degrees of concurrent validity. Validity was assessed by means of correlations with the General Attitude Towards Institutional Authority Scale (Rigby, 1982, 1984a) using a student and a nonstudent sample; and, among nonstudents, with ratings of attitude to authority provided independently by both the subjects and their raters. In addition, the ABI discriminated significantly between matched subjects judged by peers as differing in attitude to authority, and between supporters of two Australian political parties differing in conservatism.     

Psychological changes over the course of pregnancy: a study of attitudes toward the fetus/neonate

Pregnant women's attitudes towards their fetus over the course of the pregnancy were studied in relation to physiological events of pregnancy, namely seeing the fetus via ultrasound and experiencing fetal movement. A consecutive series of primiparae (n = 129) was randomly assigned, at recruitment between 10 and 14 weeks menstrual age, to conditions of high (n = 67) or low (n = 62) feedback real time ultrasound. Thereafter, women were assessed at 16 and 32 weeks gestation, within 24 hours of delivery and by questionnaire at 3 months postpartum. On each occasion women completed attitude rating scales concerning their pregnancy and their fetus or neonate. These scales were subjected to principal components analysis and two main dimensions were derived for ratings of both attitudes towards the pregnancy and the fetus/neonate. No relationship was found between factor scores and ultrasound feedback condition, although scores on the fetal attachment dimension showed a significant linear increase over the pregnancy. Women reporting fetal movement at 16 weeks displayed significantly higher scores on the fetal-attachment dimension at all three assessment points. Multiple regression analyses were utilized to identify predictors of initial reactions to the neonate and attachment ratings at 3 months postpartum. At delivery, ratings of attachment to the neonate were related to drug requirements in labor and attachment ratings at 32 weeks. Reactions to the neonate at delivery and ratings of postpartum mood emerged as significant predictors of maternal attachment at 3 months postpartum. These results are discussed in the context of research attempting to establish the importance of postpartum bonding.     

Authority Defied: Need for Cognitive Closure Influences Regulatory Control When Resisting Authority

The present studies examined whether differences in need for cognitive closure (NCC) were related to differences in regulatory control when confronted with authority. In two studies, levels of regulatory control were measured when participants resisted (Study 1; N = 46) or prepared to resist the influence attempt of an authority figure (Study 2; N = 50). Results showed that resisting the influence attempt from a high‐authority figure was more depleting for participants higher in NCC compared to individuals lower in NCC. However, when they were given instructions and time to prepare the act of resistance, individuals high in NCC actually showed an increase in regulatory control. Authority is usually viewed as a general principle of influence; however, the present studies suggest that there are individual differences that influence how people may experience interactions with authorities.     

Measuring epistemic authority: studies of politicians and professors

Two studies assessed the perception of epistemic authority (denoting a source of information which has a determinative influence on the acquisition of knowledge) by means of a scale (Epistemic Authority Scale) which was constructed for this purpose. The first study showed that individuals perceive political leaders with similar political orientations as greater epistemic authorities than political leaders with different political orientations. In addition, the study investigated the reasons used by the subjects to explain reliance or lack of reliance on political leaders. In general, the responses showed that leaders' expressed opinions and characteristics were important determinants in epistemic authority selection. The second study found that students of statistics departments have a greater tendency to perceive their professors as epistemic authorities in their disciplinary knowledge than students of psychology departments, while the latter are more likely than the former to perceive their professors as epistemic authorities in general knowledge domains. Analysis of the Reason scores for reliance on the professors in the two departments reveals that expertness received the highest ratings.     

Self-esteem and perceptions of conveyed impressions: is negative affectivity associated with greater realism?

Two studies examined the notion that negative affectivity (Watson & Clark, 1984) is associated with more accurate perceptions of conveyed impressions in social interactions. In Study 1 (n = 160), low self-esteem (LSE) and high self-esteem (HSE) subjects were paired with either an LSE or an HSE partner. After a 15-min interaction, they rated themselves, their partners, and how they believed their partners would rate them on 20 adjectives related to social competence. Study 2 (n = 40) was identical except that each interaction was observed by 2 observers who rated each participant, and participants also rated how they believed an observer would rate them. LSE subjects exhibited greater accuracy only with respect to the elevation component of observers' ratings; HSE subjects overestimated the positivity of observers' evaluations, whereas LSE subjects were relatively accurate. However, LSE subjects exhibited less overall accuracy with respect to their partners' ratings. We argue that when these results are considered with earlier research, there is no support for the notion of depressive realism in assessing conveyed impressions.     

Some personality correlates of self-rated academic success.

Using subjects' own ratings of their academic performance, a group of american university students were divided into academically successful (n = 312) and unsuccessful (n = 170) subgroups. A comparison of mean scores of the two groups on nine personality variables convered by Eysenck's PEN Inventory and Lanyon's Psychological Screening Inventory showed that academic success, as rated by subjects themselves, is associated with low psychoticism, neuroticism, and discomfort but high extraversion and defensiveness.     

品牌态度强度与品牌态度可达性的关系性质

运用态度量表和反应时实验比较了品牌态度强度与品牌态度可达性的关系性质。研究发现,女性被试对保健品品牌要素的态度评价越肯定,态度通达和提取的时间就越快,两者之间形成有规律的函数关系;但在否定性态度条件下,没有出现类似的规律性;当要求被试把模糊性态度明确为肯定或否定态度时,67％的被试明确为否定态度,但所用时间显著慢于明确为肯定态度所用的时间     

True intercorrelation among job components, time delay in rating, and rater intelligence as determinants of accuracy in performance ratings

Ninety subjects viewed one of three sets of videotapes which presented simulated work performances by five ratees. Subjects viewed videotapes where the true intercorrelation among the three job components was either high, moderate, or low. Half of the subjects completed ratings immediately after viewing all five ratees and again, 24 h later. The remaining subjects completed ratings only once, 24 h after viewing the videotapes. Rater intelligence was assessed via the Wesman Personnel Classification Test. Performance ratings for each ratee on each of the three job components were completed using a magnitude estimation scale. Subjects' ratings were compared to ratee true scores (based on objective worker output) to obtain four components of rater accuracy: elevation, differential elevation, stereotype accuracy, and differential accuracy as well as a measure of overall accuracy. Results indicated that subjects' ratings were more accurate with respect to overall accuracy and differential accuracy when the true intercorrelation among job components was high rather than low. Rater intelligence was significantly correlated with stereotype accuracy. In addition, rater intelligence was significantly related to overall accuracy, differential elevation, and elevation, but only when the true intercorrelation among job components was moderate or high. Also, there was a curvilinear component to the relationship between intelligence and both differential accuracy and stereotype accuracy such that the most intelligent raters tended to be less accurate than more moderately intelligent raters who were, in turn, more accurate than the least intelligent raters. Finally, subjects' immediate ratings were not more accurate than ratings provided by subjects who completed only delayed ratings. However, repeated measures analyses found that for subjects who completed both immediate and delayed ratings, delayed ratings were less accurate than immediate ratings with respect to overall accuracy, differential accuracy, and differential elevation.     

Electrodermal response to sexual materials.

Four groups of college students selected on the basis of high or low Eysenck Personality Inventory scores were asked to talk or simply think about a series of slides differing in overt sexual content. Data showed that for both conditions those high on Neuroticism (n = 8) showed more electrodermal activity than did those scoring low (n = 8), and over all subjects there was a significant correlation between Neuroticism scores and the physiological measure. High and low scorers on Extraversion scale (ns = 10) showed no analogous differences in electrodermal activity.     

Individual differences in ratings of words combined in sentences

To examine the efficiency of regression-compounded group means as predictors of individual ratings of words combined in sentences, a study by Heise (1969) was replicated and extended to obtain pre- and postcombination ratings from the same subjects. Heise's model efficiently predicted group ratings for words combined in sentences (R²=0.86), but neither group-weighted (R²=0.19) nor individually weighted (R²=0.28) regression equations efficiently predicted the rating of individual subjects. The findings are consistent with several findings that question the applicability of widely studied models of attitude change to individual differences and alternative approaches to this problem are discussed.     

Effects of displayed emotion on attitude and impression formation in visual speech-reading

In two experiments on visual speech-reading, with a total of 132 normal-hearing participants, the effects of displayed emotion and task specificity on speech-reading performance, on attitude toward the task and on person impression were explored, as well as associations between speech-reading performance, attitude, and person impression. The results show that displayed emotion increased speech-reading performance and attitude ratings, and that the actor was perceived as more extraverted both when displaying emotions, and when his speech was high in specificity The main conclusion was that displayed emotion enhances speech-reading performance by providing information that is useful to the speech-reader.     

Lateralization of defence mechanisms related to creative functioning

Eighty-four undergraduate students were randomly divided into left and right visual half-field groups. They were tested in either visual half-field with a percept-genetic test of anxiety and defense mechanisms (the MCT). The subjects also took a test of creative functioning (the CFT) and degree of lateralization in the MCT was related to level of creativity in the CFT. Subjects low in creativity were significantly lateralized on measures typical for the right visual half-field group (isolation and repression) and tended to differ on a left visual half-field measure (regressive strategies). For high creative subjects no differences were found between the visual half-field groups. Also, high creative persons more often responded with non-hemisphere-specific defenses than low creative ones. The results were interpreted as due to differing levels of transmission of information between the two hemispheres of the brain.     

Attitude importance as a moderator of the relationship between implicit and explicit attitude measures

The authors examined attitude importance as a moderator of the relationship between the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and explicit attitude measures. In Study 1 (N = 194), as ratings of attitude importance regarding the 2000 presidential election increased, the strength of the relationship between a Bush-Gore IAT and explicit attitude measures also increased. Study 2 provided a conceptual replication of these results using attitudes toward Coke and Pepsi (N = 112). In addition, across both studies, explicit attitude measures were better predictors of deliberative behaviors than IAT scores. In Study 3 (N = 77), the authors examined the role of elaboration as a mechanism by which attitude importance may moderate IAT-explicit attitude correlations. As predicted, increased elaboration resulted in stronger IAT-explicit attitude correlations. Other possible mechanisms by which attitude importance may moderate the IAT-explicit attitude relationship also are discussed.     

Neuromotor microalterations in subjects with spasmophilia symptoms: a preliminary study

Spasmophilia is a relatively unknown condition characterized by perturbations of the neuromuscular system. We hypothesized that spasmophilia may negatively affect neuromotor functions in subtle ways. Three tests including tremor, rapid pointing movements, and alternating movements were quantified in a group of subjects with spasmophilia symptoms (SS) (n = 10) and a healthy control group (n = 10). Most of the characteristics used to evaluate motor functions in these three tests revealed no significant differences between the two groups except for two characteristics in alternating movements and two characteristics in rapid pointing movements. In terms of variances, a dissociation between voluntary movements and involuntary movements was observed for the two groups. Control subjects had significantly higher variances in involuntary movements such as tremor, while subjects with SS had significantly higher variances in voluntary movements such as alternating and rapid pointing movements. A significant increase in asymmetry in hand laterality was also noted for some characteristics in subjects with SS.     

COGNITIVE TUNING AND DIFFERENTIATION OF ARGUMENTS IN COMMUNICATION

In an experiment examining the effects of cognitive tuning and attitudinal position upon individuals’ cognitive differentiation in generating arguments supporting and opposing an attitude issue, 162 undergraduate students were “tuned” either as potential sources (transmission tuning) or potential receivers (reception tuning) of a persuasive communication on one of two issues. They then prepared two lists of arguments, one positive and one negative for one of the attitude issues, after which they completed an attitude measure in both issues. As predicted, the subjects made salient and reported significantly more arguments consistent with than inconsistent with their attitudes toward the issues. More importantly, those persons prepared to function as communication sources generated significantly more arguments consistent with and fewer arguments inconsistent with their attitudes than did subjects expecting to receive persuasive communications on the issues.     

Do self‐presentation concerns moderate the relationship between implicit and explicit homonegativity measures?

This study investigated whether the relation between implicit and explicit homonegativity measures is affected by self-presentation concerns, since previous research in this area has been inconclusive. In Experiment 1, 70 high-school students made evaluative ratings of pictures of homosexual and heterosexual couples. Self-presentation was manipulated by either instructing participants that the study concerned attitudes regarding sexual orientation (socially sensitive) or attitudes regarding age (less sensitive). The age-instruction led to increased homonegativity but not to a stronger correlation with an Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee & Schwartz, 1998) with homo/heterosexual couples. Concerns regarding the construct validity of the present implementation of the IAT were alleviated in Experiment 2, where heterosexual (n= 30) but not homosexual (n= 30) participants showed implicit homonegativity. The current findings are problematic for the interpretation of low correspondence between implicit and explicit attitude measures as being primarily an effect of self-presentation concerns.     

Deficits in executed and imagined aiming performance in brain-injured children

Motor disorders are a frequent consequence of acquired brain injury (ABI) in children and much effort is currently invested in alleviating these deficits. The aim of the present study was to test motor imagery (MI) capabilities in children with ABI (n=25) and an age- and gender-matched control group (n=25). A computerized Virtual Radial Fitts Task (VRFT) was used to investigate the speed-accuracy trade-offs (or Fitts' law) that occur as target size is varied for both executed and imagined performance. In the control group, the speed for accuracy trade-off for both executed and imagined performance conformed to Fitts' law. In the ABI group, only executed movements conformed to Fitts' law. These findings suggest that children with ABI show an inferior ability to imagine the time needed to complete goal-directed movements with differential difficulty levels.