Authoritarianism and interpersonal spacing behavior

When the relationship between interpersonal distance and authoritarianism was examined by Frankel and Barrett (1971), they failed to mention that their main effect for authoritarianism was not significant. Adorno et al. (1950), however, claim that authoritarians like greater interpersonal space. As the measure of authoritarianism concerned (the F scale) has been shown to be largely a measure of conservatism, any relationship observed could have wide applicability. Methodological weaknesses in the Frankel and Barrett paper are noted and a further experiment with 25 student Ss is reported. Correlations of 0.41 and 0.43 between F-scale score and distance adopted from two target persons (confederates) were found. Extensive controls for possibly confounding variables did not alter this result by any more than a minor amount.     

Relationship control and interpersonal perception in marriage

The correlation between married couples' interpersonal perception and relationship control in communication was investigated. A normated, standardized and shortened version of Laing et al. 's Interpersonal Perception method (IPM) was used to measure interpersonal perception. The test contain three levels of perception, namely (1) direct perception of the relationship, (2) misunderstandings, and (3) disagreements about the relationship. The couples' relationship control was observed in three different situations. Previous studies have found the amount of one-upmanship in married couples to be associated with problems of interpersonal perception. Although different methods were applied in the present study, this finding was replicated to some extent. Additionally, the results indicate that the more the couples communicated to each other that they both had the right to control the relationship, the less problems they had in interpersonal perception. The results also strongly suggest that couples communicating in egocentric and self-disqualifying ways perceive their marriage as less satisfying, and they also perceive each other's feelings and behaviours less accurately than those who have little or no such deviant communication.     

特质认知和关系认知对人际信任的影响

特质认知和关系认知是影响人际信任的两个重要因素。在中西方不同的文化背景下,特质认知和关系认知对人际信任存在不同的影响。通过整合以往有关特质认知和关系认知影响人际信任的研究成果,发现关系认知影响人际信任的相关研究不应仅仅局限于简单的"亲疏关系"效应。尤其是在理解中国人人际信任的研究中,需要进一步深入探讨诸如能够体现中国社会关系核心构架的"阶层关系"等更为重要的社会关系的认知过程对于中国人人际信任的深刻作用。以"阶层关系"认知为核心的关系认知可能调节着特质认知对于中国人人际信任的影响。     

Similarity of trait construal and consensus in interpersonal perception

This study examined the roles of similarity of trait construal and length of acquaintanceship in interpersonal consensus. Pairs of roommates were asked to rate a mutual acquaintance on six ambiguous traits and to describe their behavioral definitions of those traits. They were then asked to rate the acquaintance again, once on the basis of their own definition of the trait and then on the basis of their roommate’s definition of the trait. Consensus was greater when roommates based their judgments on the same, shared trait definitions than when they based their judgments on their own unshared trait definitions. Furthermore, those roommates who reported similar trait construals exhibited significantly higher consensus in their initial unrestricted judgments of the mutual acquaintance than did those whose trait construals were dissimilar. Length of acquaintance appeared unrelated to similarity of trait construal and consensus. Discussion focuses on trait construal, interpersonal agreement, and social judgment.     

Self-concept, social anxiety, and interpersonal perception skills

The Interpersonal Perception Task videotape provided a criterion variable to test hypotheses about social information processing skills of socially anxious subjects. Results from 68 undergraduates show negative correlations between both shyness social anxiety and nonverbal decoding scores, and positive correlations between shyness and measures of test anxiety. Results are interpreted in light of cognitive conceptions of social anxiety and its role in decoding nonverbal communication.     

A general model of consensus and accuracy in interpersonal perception

Consensus refers to the extent to which 2 judges agree in their ratings of a common target. A general model of interpersonal perception based on Anderson's (1981) weighted-average model is developed. The model shows that increased acquaintance does not always lead to large changes in consensus. Degree of overlap between the target behaviors observed by the judges and similarity of meaning systems are key but neglected parameters. The model can also be used as a basis for determining the accuracy of person perception. In some cases, accuracy can increase with greater acquaintance, whereas consensus may not.