The development of spontaneous trait inferences about the actor and spontaneous trait transferences about the informant: Evidence from children aged 8–13 years

In social‐cognitive research, little attention has been paid to the developmental course of spontaneous trait inferences about the actor (STIs about the actor) and spontaneous trait transferences about the informant (STTs about the informant). Using a false recognition paradigm, Study 1 investigated the developmental course of STIs and Study 2 investigated the developmental course of STTs, comparing 8‐, 9‐, 10‐, 11‐, 12‐ and 13‐year olds. The results of Study 1 showed that 8‐year olds could make STIs about the actor, and the magnitude of STIs increased from ages 8 to 10 years, stabilised at the age of 10, 11, 12 years, and decreased from ages 12 through 13 years. The results of Study 2 showed that 8‐year olds could make STTs about the informant, and the magnitude of STTs did not vary with age. In all age groups, the magnitude of STIs about the actor was greater than that of STTs about the informant.     

You are Cruel Even If He Did It: Behavior and Face Processing in Spontaneous Trait Inference and Transference

Spontaneous trait inferences (STIs) occur when people infer, without intention or awareness, personality traits from other people’s behaviors. Spontaneous trait transferences (STTs) occur when the trait inferred from the behavior of an actor is erroneously transferred to a person who is not the actor of the behavior. Here, we show that STIs and STTs are similar in the activation of the trait from the behavior and they differ in the link that is established between the inferred trait and the person, with stronger link being created in the STIs than in STTs.     

The interplay of controlled and automatic processing in the expression of spontaneously inferred traits: A PDP analysis

Inferences made about actors influence subsequent processing about those actors. Three experiments conducted in the context of spontaneous trait inference (STI) making demonstrate that such influences occur can either occur via automatic processes or via controlled processes. Results from Experiment 1 demonstrated that processing goals manipulated prior to encoding actor behavior affected the extent to which STIs automatically influenced subsequent responses but did not alter the extent to which STIs influenced those responses via controlled processes. Results from Experiment 2 showed that the extent to which STIs affected subsequent responding via the action of controlled processes were more affected by a delay between exposure to an actor behavior and the response task than the extent to which STIs affected task performance via the action of automatic processes. Finally, results from Experiment 3 showed that participants' subjective experience of awareness of their trait inferences is related to estimates of the extent to which controlled processing is involved in the production of their future responses but not to estimates of the extent to which those responses are affected by automatic processing.     

知觉者与行为者贫富对自发特质推理的影响

本研究采用探测词再认范式,分3个研究考察了知觉者和行为者的贫富对个体自发特质推理的影响。研究1考察了知觉者贫富对自发特质推理的影响,结果表明富裕启动条件下的被试更可能进行自发特质推理。研究2考察了行为者贫富对自发特质推理的影响,结果表明被试更有可能对富人刻板一致的行为句子进行自发特质推理。研究3考察了知觉者和行为者贫富对自发特质推理的交互影响,结果发现仅富裕启动条件下的被试更可能对富人刻板一致句子进行自发特质推理。本研究为自发特质推理发生的灵活性提供了新证据。     

What will Phil do next? : Spontaneously inferred traits influence predictions of behavior

Past research has shown that perceivers intentionally may make trait inferences about others and use this information to make predictions about these others' future behaviors. Other research has also shown that people can make trait inferences without intent—that is, spontaneously. However, one unexplored avenue is whether spontaneous trait inferences (STI), affect how perceivers predict others' will behavior. Three studies explored this issue. Results from Studies 1 and 2 showed that: (1) exposure to trait-implicative behaviors describing an actor influences subsequent behavior predictions made about the actor in a trait-consistent manner, and (2) predictions occurred regardless of behavior recall, implying that the behavior predictions were derived from prior trait inferences and not from behavior recall. Results from Study 3 bolstered this conclusion by showing that behavior predictions were similar regardless of whether subjects were explicitly instructed to make inferences or not, but that a manipulation known to interfere with inference generation (lie detection instructions) muted behavior predictions. Results from Study 3 also suggested that the prediction effects had both automatic and controlled components, and that reductions observed in the lie detection condition of Study 3 were caused by alterations in the automatic influence of trait knowledge to the behavior predictions. These results suggest that STI may be causal inferences about the actors' dispositions.     

The efficiency of binding spontaneous trait inferences to actors’ faces

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that the process of binding spontaneous trait inferences (STIs) to actors’ representations is relatively independent of attentional resources. Participants were presented with faces paired with single behaviors. Binding of STIs to actors was revealed by a higher false recognition of implied traits paired with actors’ faces than of implied traits randomly paired with other familiar faces. This effect replicated when each face-behavior pair was presented for 2 s (Experiment 1), when the processing of the information was shallow (Experiment 2), and when participants performed a secondary task during the presentation of behaviors (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 showed that explicit on-line trait judgments of the actor, but not explicit behavior judgments, predicted the false recognition of implied traits in the context of the actor. The possibility that the process of binding STIs to actors’ representations is automatic is discussed.     

Moods as spotlights: the influence of mood on accessibility effects

Three studies explore the manner in which one's mood may affect the use and impact of accessible information on judgments. Specifically, the authors demonstrated that positive and negative moods differentially influence the direction of accessibility effects (assimilation, contrast) by determining whether abstract traits or concrete actor-trait links are primed. Study 1 investigated the impact of positive versus negative mood on the judgmental impact of trait-implying behaviors and found that positive moods lead to assimilation and negative moods to contrast. In Study 2, this effect was replicated in a subliminal priming paradigm. In Study 3, it was demonstrated that the type of information activated by trait-implying behaviors is indeed mood dependent, such that abstract trait information is activated in a positive mood, whereas specific actor-trait links are activated in a negative mood.     

Does It Make You Happy Feeling This Way? A Core Affect Account of Preference for Current Mood

Two experiments were conducted to investigate whether and how preference for current mood is related to the valence and activation dimensions of core affect. In Study 1, 100 undergraduates rated valence and activation of their naturally occurring current mood and preference for this mood. In Study 2, another 90 undergraduates performed the same ratings for various induced moods. The results showed as expected that preference for current mood is related to both valence and activation. Whereas the relation to valence is direct, the relation to activation is invertedly U-shaped with a maximum that increases with valence.     

"Moods as spotlights: The influence of moods on accessibility effects": Retraction of Avramova and Stapel (2008)

Reports the retraction of "Moods as spotlights: The influence of mood on accessibility effects" by Yana R. Avramova and Diederik A. Stapel (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2008[Sep], Vol 95[3], 542-554). This retraction follows the results of an investigation into the work of Diederik A. Stapel (further information on the investigation can be found here: https://www.commissielevelt.nl/). The Levelt Committee has determined data supplied by Diederik A. Stapel to be fraudulent. His co-author was unaware of his actions and was not involved in the collection of the fraudulent data. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-11108-004.) Three studies explore the manner in which one's mood may affect the use and impact of accessible information on judgments. Specifically, the authors demonstrated that positive and negative moods differentially influence the direction of accessibility effects (assimilation, contrast) by determining whether abstract traits or concrete actor-trait links are primed. Study 1 investigated the impact of positive versus negative mood on the judgmental impact of trait-implying behaviors and found that positive moods lead to assimilation and negative moods to contrast. In Study 2, this effect was replicated in a subliminal priming paradigm. In Study 3, it was demonstrated that the type of information activated by trait-implying behaviors is indeed mood dependent, such that abstract trait information is activated in a positive mood, whereas specific actor-trait links are activated in a negative mood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Smart and easy: Co-occurring activation of spontaneous trait inferences and spontaneous situational inferences

Social perceivers have been shown to draw spontaneous trait inferences (STI’s) about the behavior of an actor as well as spontaneous situational inferences (SSI’s) about the situation the actor is in. In two studies, we examined inferences about behaviors that allow for both an STI and an SSI. In Experiment 1, using a probe recognition paradigm, we found activation of both STI’s and SSI’s. In Experiment 2, using a relearning paradigm, we again found activation of both STI’s and SSI’s, regardless of temporarily activated processing goals. Results are discussed in light of three-stage models of the process of social inference.     

Differentiating the effects of anger and sadness: A perspective of spontaneous trait inference

In the present research, three experiments were conducted to examine the effects of anger and sadness on spontaneous trait inferences (STIs). Using a probe recognition paradigm, Experiment 1 revealed that angry participants made more errors in response to probes following trait‐implying behaviours than sad participants did. Using a false recognition paradigm, Experiments 2 and 3 revealed that angry participants made more errors in response to systematic pair trials than sad participants did. The three experiments provided convergent evidence that angry individuals were more inclined to form STIs than sad individuals were. The current research first demonstrated the different effects of specific negative mood states (anger vs. sadness) on STIs, providing further insight into the relationship between mood and STIs.     

Gratitude in intermediate affective terrain: links of grateful moods to individual differences and daily emotional experience

Two studies were conducted to explore gratitude in daily mood and the relationships among various affective manifestations of gratitude. In Study 1, spiritual transcendence and a variety of positive affective traits were related to higher mean levels of gratitude across 21 days. Study 2 replicated these findings and revealed that on days when people had more grateful moods than was typical for them, they also reported more frequent daily episodes of grateful emotions, more intense gratitude per episode, and more people to whom they were grateful than was typical for them. In addition, gratitude as an affective trait appeared to render participants' grateful moods somewhat resistant to the effects of discrete emotional episodes of gratitude.     

The Beck Anxiety Inventory-Trait (BAIT): a measure of dispositional anxiety not contaminated by dispositional depression

We describe development of the Beck Anxiety Inventory-Trait (BAIT), a measure of trait anxiety. In Study 1 with 191 undergraduates, the BAIT correlated higher with another trait-anxiety measure than with state anxiety and trait depressiveness and lower with depressiveness than the other trait-anxiety measure did. In Study 2 (Ns of 149 undergraduates initially and 107 at 3 weeks later), the BAIT demonstrated convergent validity against the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI; Beck, Epstein, Brown, & Steer, 1988) and self-rated trait anxiety plus discriminant validity against abstract curiosity. In Study 3 (Ns of 161 undergraduates initially and 121 at 3 weeks later), the BAIT correlated more highly with another anxiety measure than with depression, stress, positive affect, and negative affect. It also showed good internal consistency across studies and high stability in Studies 2 and 3, higher than the BAI's in Study 2. Factor analyses across studies all supported 2 factors, 1 Somatic and 1 Subjective.     

Spontaneous trait inference and construal level theory: Psychological distance increases nonconscious trait thinking

Can psychological distance affect how much perceivers form spontaneous trait inferences (STI) from others’ behaviors? On the basis of construal level theory (CLT) which posits that distant (vs. near) entities are represented more in terms of their abstract, global, and decontextualized features, we predicted that perceived distance would increase the tendency for perceivers to draw spontaneous trait inferences from behavioral information about actors. In two experiments, participants learned about people who were perceived as being distant or proximal to the self, and STI formation was subsequently assessed. We found that perceivers were more likely to form STIs about distant vs. near actors from the same behavioral information. These findings generalized across two distance dimensions: space and time. In addition, we found that priming individuals to adopt a high-level (vs. low-level) construal mindset also resulted in increased STI (Experiment 3). In sum, psychological distance facilitates STI formation, and this occurs via high-level construal of actors and their behaviors.     

Seeing others through rose-colored glasses: An affiliation goal and positivity bias in implicit trait impressions

People infer traits from other people's behaviors without intention, awareness, or effort, and this spontaneous trait inference (STI) effect has been shown to be robust. The purpose of the present research was to demonstrate the flexibility of STIs despite the ubiquity. Specifically, we examined the effect of an affiliation goal on STI formation and found a positivity bias. In Experiment 1, perceivers with an affiliation goal formed more positive (versus negative) spontaneous trait inferences compared to those without this goal and those who had been primed with semantically positive, affiliation-unrelated words. Experiment 2 provided evidence that this effect was driven by a motivational state by showing that the positivity bias occurs only when a perceiver's goal to affiliate remains unfulfilled. The goal's interaction with trait valence showed focused, goal-relevant bias. These studies are the first to show that STIs form flexibly in response to perceivers' primed social goals supporting the functionality account of STIs in implicit impression formation.     

What does "being American" mean? A comparison of Asian American and European American young adults

Two studies found that the meaning of "being American" differs for Asian Americans and European Americans. In Study 1, Hmong and European American undergraduates described what "being American" meant to them. In Study 2, Chinese American and European American undergraduates described what "American culture" meant to them. Responses were coded for references to cultural exposure, customs/traditional behavior, ethnic diversity, political ideology, and patriotism. Across both studies, Asian Americans referred to American customs and traditional behavior more than European Americans. European Americans referred to patriotism more than Hmong (in Study 1) and to ethnic diversity more than Chinese Americans (in Study 2). The authors suggest that these differences reflect the distinct statuses, concerns, and experiences of Asian Americans and European Americans.     

Correction of Effects of Memory Valence and Emotionality on Content and Style of Judgements

Research on interactions of emotional and cognitive processes provides evidence for congruency effects in the content and style of cognitive processing. This experiment investigated if and how these two kinds of bias can be compensated for. Participants were 194 undergraduates (mean age 22.58 years, SD = 4.85), who were asked to recall a positive or negative autobiographical memory in either an emotional or detached manner; half of the participants later received a suggestion to compensate for the effects of their moods. All participants then made judgements about the likelihood of future events. Interactions of Memory Valence, Emotionality, and Correction replicated the mood-congruency effects found in other research. Three aspects qualified the results. First, content congruency was found in both emotional and unemotional conditions. Furthermore, this content congruency was corrected for under emotional recall of positive and negative events, although less completely with positive events. Second, the undifferentiated judgement style of positive moods was also corrected for. Third, different correction procedures for styles of judgement were used, depending on whether participants experienced positive or negative moods. The results were discussed with regard to mood congruency and the cognitive-priming and feelings-as-information hypothesis.