Psychological reactance and the attractiveness of unobtainable objects: Sex differences in children's responses to an elimination of freedom

This study examined possible sex and age differences in children's perceptions of the attractiveness of unobtainable and obtained objects. Using an experimental paradigm developed by Hammock and J. Brehm (1966), half of the male and female first-grade and sixth-grade subjects were led to expect to choose between two objects; the other half were told they would be given one of two objects, but were not led to expect to choose between these objects. After subjects ranked an array of 10 objects, all subjects were given their third-ranked object and denied their fourth-ranked object. No subject was given any opportunity to indicate a preference or make a choice between these two alternatives. As predicted, subjects' subsequent rankings of the objects differed according to sex. Male subjects behaved in accordance with theoretical predictions based on J. Brehm's theory of psychological reactance and, thus, replicated the results obtained by Hammock and Brehm. The behavior of female subjects did not conform to the reactance theory model. No age differences were predicted and none were obtained. The implications of these results for predicting whether an unobtainable object will become more or less attractive, and for the nature and extent of sex differences in children's responses to the loss of behavioral freedoms, are discussed.     

Incidental learning as a function of anticipated task difficulty

Three experiments were conducted to demonstrate the effects of motivational arousal, due to anticipated task difficulty, on retention of familiar and unfamiliar incidental materials. Brehm, Wright, Solomon, Silka, and Greenberg (1983) have provided evidence that motivational arousal in immediate anticipation of a task is a nonmonotonic function of task difficulty, with difficult tasks producing a relatively higher level of motivational arousal than easy or impossible tasks. It was predicted that increased motivational arousal would facilitate retention of incidentally presented familiar materials (presumably more easily retained) and interfere with retention of incidentally presented unfamiliar materials (presumably less easily retained). In Study 1, subjects anticipating either an easy or a difficult task were exposed to familiar and unfamiliar first names. The predicted interaction between task difficulty and familiarity on recall of the first names was reliably supported. In Study 2, an impossible task condition was added. The results indicated that an effective impossible condition had not been created. In a third study designed as a procedural modification of Study 2, the predicted nonmonotonic interaction was found. Theoretical implications are discussed.These experiments were ably conducted by Ralph Young, whose help is gratefuly acknowledged. We would like to express our gratitude to Jack Brehm for invaluable suggestions concerning this research.     

Task difficulty, cardiovascular response, and the magnitude of goal valence

Sixty-four young women expected to perform an easy, moderately difficult, or extremely difficult memory task with the opportunity to earn a small incentive for good performance. Cardiovascular (heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) and subjective measures were taken immediately prior to task performance. Both systolic blood pressure (SBP) responses and ratings of goal attractiveness were nonmonotonically related to expected task difficulty, with the most pronounced SBP elevations and highest goal attractiveness in the moderately difficult task condition. Product-moment correlations among cardiovascular response measures revealed a strong positive association between systolic and diastolic pressure (but not heart rate) change in the easy condition, positive relationships among all measures in the moderately difficult condition, and no significant correlations in the extremely difficult condition. Subjective measures of arousal were not affected by the task difficulty manipulation. Principal findings are discussed in terms of a theoretical model proposed by Brehm (1979) that states that motivation varies as a nonmonotonic function of the difficulty of goal attainment. Intercorrelations among cardiovascular response variables are considered in terms of their possible indication of the mechanisms underlying blood pressure changes associated with variations in motivation.     

Attributed reasons for support of the feminist movement as a function of attractiveness

Male and female subjects were shown photographs of attractive and unattractive women. They were asked to indicate, for each photograph, the main reason why they thought the woman in the photograph was a feminist. Subjects attributed more positive, flattering reasons to the attractive women than to the unattractive women. In addition, it was found that subjects who did this task after having done a filler task made a greater distinction between the attractive and unattractive women than did subjects who did this task first. Interpretations and limitations of the results are discussed.     

Age and forgetfulness: perceivers' impressions of targets' capability.

In a person perception paradigm, 72 young and 72 old adult Ss listened to tape recordings of a nonforgetful, moderately forgetful, or highly forgetful female target person being interviewed for a volunteer job. Ss then rated their opinion of the target's memory and how likely they would be to assign the target to easy and difficult tasks. Overall, Ss gave higher memory opinion ratings to old than to young targets. As expected, they were more likely to assign tasks to nonforgetful than to forgetful targets. However, they were more egalitarian than was hypothesized in their task assignment ratings for forgetful young versus forgetful old targets.     

The nature of equity-restoration: Some approval-seeking considerations

Subjects performed a proofreading task and evaluated its difficulty both beforehand and afterwards. They were overpaid or equitably paid by an experimenter who was or was not directly responsible for the level of pay they received, and who they believed would or would not see their post-test ratings. All subjects knew the experimenter would grade their task performance. Consistent with equity theory, overpaid subjects rated the task as having been more difficult than they had expected and did higher quality work than did equitably paid subjects. However, subjects who thought the experimenter would see their ratings (Aware condition) rated it as more difficult and performed more poorly on it than those who thought she would not see them (Unaware condition). Reported task difficulty increased among overpaid subjects under aware conditions, remained stable among overpaid subjects under unaware conditions, and decreased for equitably paid subjects. These findings suggested that what appears to be “equity-restoration” may be a self-presentation strategy designed to win the experimenter's approval, and that task ratings rather than performance will be used for this purpose when they can be communicated to the experimenter. The experimenter's responsibility for the subject's pay had no effect in the present study.     

Social context and perceived task difficulty as mediators of depressive self-evaluation

This study examined two separate, but potentially interactive, influences on depressive self-evaluation: social context and perceptions of task difficulty. First, it was hypothesized that, if negative self-evaluations of depressed individuals are motivated by a desire to elicit attention and sympathy from others, depressed subjects should evaluate themselves more negatively than nondepressed subjects in a public setting, but not when they make self-evaluative judgments in private. Second, it was hypothesized that negative self-evaluation results from a bias to perceive tasks as being intrinsically easy, i.e., if a task is easy, a given score would be evaluated more poorly than if the task were difficult. It was found that the self-evaluations of depressed subjects were influenced by the social context, but not always in a negative direction. Depressed subjects did not differ from nondepressed subjects when performance evaluations were made in private. In a public condition, depressed subjects evaluated themselves more negatively than nondepressed subjects following an easy task, but evaluated themselves more positively following a difficult task. Depressed subjects did not evidence a bias to perceive tasks as being intrinsically easy. Depressed subjects did rate the tasks to be more difficult for themselves than they thought they would be for others and this expectancy was predictive of negative self-evaluation. These results were discussed in terms of alternative self-presentation motives and theories of social cognition. Self-evaluation often involves social comparison and researchers need to attend to the potentially complex interactions among social and cognitive processes.I would like to thank Deborah Davis and Paul Westerholm for their help in data collection, Ruth Maki for her statistical expertise, and the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments. Portions of this paper were presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, 1989.     

The roles of self-esteem and self-consciousness in the Wortman-Brehm model of reactance and learned helplessness

The present experiments were designed to study the conditions under which failure would enhance or inhibit subsequent task performance. Based on the theory of Wortman and Brehm (1975), it was expected that small amounts of failure would produce reactance (manifested by improved performance at a subsequent task), whereas large amounts would lead to learned helplessness (i.e., impaired later performance). It was further expected that individual differences in self-esteem and private self-consciousness would serve as moderator variables for the above effects. In Experiment 1, subjects were exposed to either a small amount of failure or no failure before working on an anagrams task. As predicted, subjects high in self-consciousness, who have shown greater reactance arousal in attitude change studies, performed better on the anagrams task than subjects low in self-consciousness in the small-failure condition, but not in the no-failure condition. Further analyses revealed that this Self-Consciousness X Small Failure interaction was attributable to the performance data of the low, but not the high self-esteem subjects. Experiment 2 was designed to replicate and extend these results. Subjects were pretreated with either a small amount of failure, an extended amount of failure, or no failure before working on the anagrams task. A significant Self-Esteem X Helplessness Training interaction emerged. Relative to the no-failure condition, in which the two self-esteem groups did not differ, low self-esteem participants (low SEs) performed marginally better than did high self-esteem individuals (high SEs) in the small-failure condition but significantly worse than high SEs in the extended-failure condition. The effect of private self-consciousness was considerably weaker in this study, possibly because the sample included few low SEs (who are especially influenced by self-focused attention) who were also relatively low in self-consciousness. Questionnaire data from Experiment 2 were consistent with the notion that enhanced performance reflected reactance, whereas impaired performance signified helplessness.     

Female aggression as a response to sexual jealousy: A sex role reversal?

Sexual jealousy can be interpreted as a strategy which serves to retain the partner and defend exclusive sexual relationships. Because of the asymmetry in paternity confidence, it should be a more important strategy for males than for females. Indeed, male sexual jealousy is apparently a cross-cultural phenomenon and is often the proximate cause of violence against the female partner. The objective of this study was to investigate through self-report whether male “victims” of partner infidelity are expected to react more aggressively than female “victims,” how subjects themselves say they would react to a partner's infidelity, and whether these expectations vary across the sexes. Contrary to our predictions, subjects expected females more than males to react aggressively and revengefully when confronted with infidelity. These expectations were mainly sustained by the female subjects. Females were also more likely than males to declare that they themselves would verbally and physically abuse the partner. In addition, female subjects anticipated that they would cry, feign indifference, and try to look attractive and cool. Males were more likely than females to report that they would get drunk. Our results on aggressive reactions represent a departure from traditional sex roles. It is argued that emancipatorial development, as well as the levelling influence of contraceptives on the sexes' parental certainty, have triggered this change in sex roles. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Ambiguity of acceptance,social desirability,and dating choice

Male subjects differing in social desirability (likableness, physical attractiveness) chose a date from an array of females of three levels of physical attractiveness. Choices were made under two conditions: one where acceptance was assured regardless of whom subject chose; the other where acceptance was left ambiguous. The findings were as follows: (a) subjects selected a more physically attractive female when assured of acceptance than when acceptance was left ambiguous; (b) subjects estimated that highly physically attractive females were less likely to accept them as a date than were either moderately physically attractive or physically unattractive females; (c) subjects' self-ratings of their likableness were not related to the physical attractiveness of their choices under either choice condition nor to their estimates of their chances that the females would accept them as a date; and (d) subjects' self-evaluated physical attractiveness, although unrelated to the physical attractiveness of the subjects' choices, did relate to subjects' estimates of their chances of acceptance. Highly physically attractive subjects estimated their chances of acceptance as better than did subjects who considered themselves low in physical attractiveness. The implications of the findings for the “matching hypothesis” are discussed.     

Extraversion,Neuroticism, and Face-Name Learning

Previous research has attempted to relate personality traits to paired-associate learning. We tested name recall as a function of extraversion and neuroticism (as assessed by the Eysenck Personality Inventory) and task difficulty. Face photographs were paired with one of three levels of information: names only (an easy task); names and occupations; or names, occupations, and interests (a difficult task). On the easy and difficult tasks, extraverted subjects recalled more names than did subjects scoring at the median or below on that trait. Contrary to expectations, subjects scoring high on neuroticism recalled more names than did subjects scoring low on that trait. Neither trait was significantly related to recall on the moderately difficult task. There was no interaction between traits for name recall, but there was for interests: Neurotic introverts were significantly impaired at recalling interests, whereas the other subjects recalled interests better than names. These findings thus differ from those of paired-associate learning tasks using words and nonsense syllables.     

The role of facial masculinity/femininity in the attribution of homosexuality

This study examined whether subjects would differentially perceive male and female faces as homosexual based upon facial masculinity/femininity, and the extent to which their attitudes toward homosexuals would influence their perceptions. Sixty-eight undergraduates indicated how likely they thought it was that 6 male and 6 female faces were homosexual; they also rated the individuals on attractiveness. The present sample also completed the Index of Homophobia, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, a conservatism scale, and a demographic questionnaire. The subjects assigned higher homosexuality ratings to feminine male and masculine female faces compared to their masculine and feminine counterparts, respectively. In addition, unattractive female faces received higher attribution of homosexuality ratings compared to the attractive faces; such an effect was not observed for the male photographs. Sex of subject and attitudes toward homosexuality did not significantly affect evaluations.Portions of this paper were presented at the meetings of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, August 1989.     

Performance of an unpleasant task: Effects of over- vs under-payment on perception of adequacy of rewards and task attractiveness

Subjects who came to an experiment expecting to receive a moderate amount of money for performing a task were then told, either before or after performing it, that their pay would be higher than, equal to, or less than they had expected. When the actual payment was announced after the task was performed, subjects' evaluations of the task increased with the amount they were paid; however, they estimated a higher rate of pay to be appropriate if they received either more or less than they expected than if they received what they expected. When the actual payment was announced before the task was performed (and before subjects made their decision to perform it), a different pattern emerged. Subjects rated the task more attractive when they were offered either more or less than the expected amount, while their judgments of the appropriateness of the pay offered increased with the amount of the offer. Implications of the results for incentive and dissonance theories as well as self-perception and equity theories are discussed.     

Difficulty and instrumentality of imminent behavior as determinants of goal attractiveness

Subjects were presented with an easy or moderately difficult memorization task and told they could earn either a very low or very high chance of obtaining a modest prize if they did well. A measure of goal attractiveness was taken during an interval immediately preceding the task performance period. As expected, anticipatory goal attractiveness ratings were higher in the moderately difficult condition than in the easy condition when the probability of goal attainment (given success) was high, but were low in both task conditions when the probability of goal attainment (given success) was low. Results are discussed in terms of Brehm's recent theory of motivation.     

Predicting the Strength of Preference for Labor Contracts Using Policy Modeling

This study tests the predictive accuracy of policy models that describe the cognitive strategies used when subjects evaluate labor contracts. Subjects rated labor contracts that varied in wage offered, job security, and profit sharing plans. Profit sharing plans varied in two dimensions: the time when the profit was received and level of stability that was known about the company′s ability to maintain a profit. All the subjects appeared to average the subjective values of the contract features; however, subjects differed in the way they weighted the outcomes. One week later, subjects returned to choose between labor contracts and to indicate how much they preferred each choice. The preference orderings that were predicted by the policy model for the majority of the subjects were fairly consistent with the observed preference ratings. However, in the preference task, the observed preference ratings for the acceptable contracts were stronger than predicted by the policy model. Furthermore, contracts that were rated as least attractive were rated in the preferences task as more similar to each other than predicted. For the majority of subjects, these results indicated that policy modeling would be a useful method of representing information about an individual′s point of view to predict how they might compare contracts when asked to trade off the features. One small group of subjects rated the contracts based almost exclusively on wage during the rating task and then used wage, security, and profit sharing when comparing the contracts. The advantages of the policy model as a method of anticipating the value of labor contracts in the preference task are discussed as an approach to studying the resolution of conflict between two parties.     

Task performance and magnitude of goal valence

J. W. Brehm and his associates (J. W. Brehm, R. A. Wright, S. Solomon, L. Silka, & J. Greenberg, 1983, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 19, 21–48) recently argued that the magnitude of goal valence (the attractiveness or unattractiveness of a potential outcome) varies directly with motivational arousal level. Motivational arousal, in turn, is thought to be a function of the perceived difficulty of goal attainment. This formulation was tested in the present study by examining the relationship between goal attractiveness ratings and performance on an anagram task. According to the Yerkes-Dodson law (R. M. Yerkes & J. D. Dodson, 1908, Journal of Comparative Neurological Psychology, 18, 459–482), the relationship between motivational arousal and performance should be curvilinear; optimal performance is usually observed for moderate levels of motivation relative to either low or very high motivation levels. Consistent with the Brehm et al. hypothesis, optimum performance in the present study was observed for subjects who reported moderate levels of goal attractiveness relative to subjects who reported either low or high levels of goal attractiveness. Anticipatory ratings of the difficulty of the anagrams were also congruent with the Brehm et al. model. These findings converge with data from other studies supporting the utility of goal attractiveness as an index of motivational arousal and provide an additional dimension of support for the model proposed by Brehm et al.     

Causal attribution of success and failure as a function or authoritarianism and sex.

We predicted that authoritarian actors would engage in defensive attribution, and authoritarian observers would derogate the other, to a greater extent than egalitarian perceivers. 48 male and 48 female college students were run in pairs of same sex and authoritarianism. A set of easy anagrams was given to subjects in success conditions and difficult anagrams to those in failure conditions. Each subject rated own outcome and other outcome in terms of internal factors of ability and effort, and external factors of task and luck. We found that authoritarian actors were more internal than egalitarian actors only in the condition own success-other's failure. Authoritarian observers, as compared to egalitarians, were more external for other's success and more internal for other's failure only when own outcome was successful. It seems that authoritarian perceivers exaggerate their abilities and derogate the other only when they are clearly in a superior position vis-a-vis the other. There were no sex differences as a function of outcome and authoritarianism.     

女性面孔吸引力的加工及其对男性诚实道德行为的影响:一项ERP研究

研究考察了不同女性面孔吸引力情境对男性被试诚实道德决策行为的影响,同时采用ERP技术对社会情境中面孔吸引力的信息加工方式特点进行探究。结果发现,高面孔吸引力记录员情境中被试倾向更加真实地报告自己的预测结果而表现出更多诚实的道德决策;ERP结果则发现高吸引力记录员面孔较之于低吸引力记录员面孔在反应提示界面在大脑中后部诱发更大的早期N200成分。结果提示,在与面孔审美评价无关的社会情境中个体面孔的吸引力信息能够被快速识别与自动化加工,同时也会直接促进他人自身的道德行为水平。     

Task-related arousal of type A and type B persons: level of challenge and response specificity

To determine whether different levels of challenge had differential effects on the arousal levels of Type A and Type B persons, 30 Type A and 30 Type B male subjects worked on an intelligence test task (digits backwards recall) that was easy, moderately difficult, or extremely difficult. Arousal was measured in terms of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, pulse volume, skin resistance, and subjective arousal. Results indicated that while working on the extremely difficult task, the Type A subjects evidenced reliably higher systolic blood pressure than did the Type B subjects (p = 0.1; difference = 7.52 mm of Hg) and that there were not reliable differences between the subjects in systolic blood pressure at other levels of challenge or on other measures of arousal.