The Effects of Food and Gender on Interpersonal Perceptions

Male and female subjects provided ratings of personal traits, femininity and masculinity, and total caloric consumption for a female or a male target based on the type of diet she or he had allegedly consumed. The gender associated with the foods presented for each dietary profile was manipulated. Results showed that Target Gender and Dietary Profile significantly affected impression ratings and calorie estimates. Both male and female subjects perceived male eaters and those who ate a feminine diet more favorably. Results are discussed in terms of the different underlying expectations held for males and females when food consumption is involved during the impression formation process.     

语境信息对面部表情加工的影响

为检验语境信息在面部表情加工和识别中的作用,通过两个实验考察语境信息的情绪性和自我相关性对中性以及不同强度恐惧面孔情绪加工的影响。结果发现,积极语境下中性情绪面孔效价的评分更高,自我相关语境下中性面孔唤醒度的评分更高;消极语境下面孔的恐惧情绪更容易被察觉。因此,面部表情加工中的语境效应表现为对中性情绪面孔的情绪诱发和增强作用,以及在情绪一致情况下对不同情绪强度面孔判断的促进作用。     

Difficulty as a Determinant of Interpersonal Appeal: A Social-Motivational Application of Energization Theory

This experiment investigated the hypothesis, derived from energization theory, that a target person's interpersonal appeal should vary nonmonotonically with the difficulty of establishing a favorable relationship with her or him. Male subjects learned that it would be easy, difficult, or impossible to persuade a woman to choose them as a co-worker. As expected, those who believed it would be difficult to be selected appraised the woman more favorably than did those who believed it would be easy or impossible to be selected. The study also examined, and confirmed, the prediction that appraisals of the woman would be at least as favorable under conditions where the difficulty of persuading her was not known as under conditions where the difficulty of persuading her was high, but possible. Findings are discussed in terms of the perennial question of whether there is interpersonal advantage in making oneself hard-to-get.     

Social Effects of Facial Blushing: Influence of Context and Actor Versus Observer Perspective

Blushing is restricted to the facial area that is uncovered and in the center of social attention. Together with the observation that blushing typically occurs in interpersonal situations, it has been proposed that the blush might have acquired signaling properties with relevant social implications. Following such a functional perspective, this article evaluates the signal value and social effects of the blush. First, it is argued that the blush fulfils all criteria for being a reliable social signal. It seems impossible to fake or to suppress, and it seems to co‐occur with a specific mental state: The acute awareness that one’s goal of esteem before others is at stake. Second, it is illustrated that the social effects of the blush may greatly vary as a function of context. In contexts that clearly imply some kind of misbehavior, the blush has face‐saving properties. Yet, in many other contexts, such as merely being the center of attention or situations that are ambiguous with regard to the blushing actors’ antecedent behaviors, the blush may have undesirable effects. Third, it is illustrated that the signal value of the blush not only affects the observers but also the blushing actors. It is shown that the anticipated influence of one’s blushing on other people’s judgments may help explain why actors often consider blushing as a highly undesirable response, and why some people may even develop a phobic fear of blushing.     

Strength of Discourse Context as a Determinant of the Subordinate Bias Effect

Two experiments examined the influence of strength of discourse bias on lexical ambiguity resolution. Short passages were constructed to bias polarized ambiguous words (homonyms) strongly or weakly toward the dominant or subordinate meanings. Using a self-paced reading task in Experiment 1, it was demonstrated that in strongly biased discourse, reading times for homonyms in dominant discourse did not differ from those in subordinate discourse. However, when the discourse was weakly biased, homonyms were read faster in dominant discourse than in subordinate discourse. Experiment 2 combined the reading paradigm with a naming task in order to provide an assessment of specific word-meaning activation. Reading times on ambiguous words replicated the results of Experiment 1. In addition, naming latencies for probe words revealed that only the contextually appropriate sense of a homonym was activated in strongly biased discourse. In contrast, both contextually appropriate and inappropriate senses were activated following a weakly biased subordinate discourse, whereas only the dominant sense was activated following weakly biased dominant discourse. The results demonstrate (1) an immediate influence of prior discourse information on lexical processing; and (2) that the strength of discourse constraints can play a governing role in lexical ambiguity resolution. The results were interpreted within the framework of a context-sensitive model of lexical ambiguity resolution.     

The Interactive Effects of Facial Maturity and Name Warmth on Perceptions of Job Candidates

This study investigated the interactive effects of' name warmth and facial maturity on job-hiring recommendations and trait perceptions of others. Subjects examined the bogus resume of a job applicant, attached to which was a picture of a babyfaced or maturefaced female or male. The name of the applicant was either cold or warm, as determined by pretesting. The suitability of the candidate for jobs requiring warmth and competence was rated, and other trait judgments were made. Results revealed that applicants with warm names were viewed as more suitable for a job requiring warmth, hut less suitable for a job requiring competence, and were judged as more sincere, but less powerful, than were applicants with cold names. Name warmth modified the perceptions of power and coldness that are typical when perceiving maturefaced people, although babyfaced job-seekers' name warmth did not affect their suitability for jobs. Specifically, maturefaced applicants with warm names were judged as less powerful and more suited for a job requiring warm than were maturefaced applicants with cold names, and maturefaced female applicants with warm names were perceived as more sincere than their cold-named counterparts. The results are discussed within a context suggesting that both physical appearance, and other nonbehavioral information jointly, and systematically influence impressions of others.     

网络对人际交往心理的影响

网络对于人际交往的影响研究存在两大理论分野,形成横向研究和纵向研究相结合的交叉性研究策略,并初步建构了网络影响人际交往的心理机制。     

线索相对强度对再认场合效应的影响

本研究通过变化计算机屏幕呈现的物理特性(前景和背景颜色)控制场合因素,操纵词对的呈现次数(实验一)及双字词的加工水平(实验二)控制项目强度,考察了线索相对强度与再认场合效应的关系。结果发现：(1)项目呈现次数对再认场合效应无显著影响;(2)项目加工水平对再认场合效应有显著影响,深加工项目的激活对场合效应发生了掩蔽。最后,在回顾实验设计的基础上,对上述结果的成因及潜在变量的影响进行了简要探讨。     

Risk as a Determinant of Trust

I propose that the degree of trust an individual forms toward an interaction partner is a function of the degree of risk that is involved in the situation. Two experiments were conducted in order to test this hypothesis. Subjects had to decide whether they would lend either an inexpensive scientific book (low-risk condition) or an expensive scientific book (high-risk condition) to a fictitious male fellow student. After subjects had made their decision, they had to indicate the degree of trust they had formed toward the interaction partner by means of a scale that referred to similar trust-related interactions. The hypothesis was clearly confirmed: The degree of trust was higher in the high-risk condition than in the low-risk condition. Results are explained in terms of self-perception theory. Implications are discussed.     

The Effects of Interpersonal Confrontation on Females

A three-component confrontation model was empirically tested with females. The results were consistently positive on all nine measures used with confronters of either gender.     

人际关系感知影响记忆从众

采用记忆再认范式,通过词组再认任务(实验一)和图形偏好选择任务(实验二)操纵同伴赞同率,诱发对不同赞同率下人际关系的感知,探索感知到的人际关系对个体记忆从众的影响。两个实验一致发现,被试对高赞同率的同伴更为信任、与他们的关系也更为亲密;更重要的是,被试的回忆也与高赞同率同伴的记忆更为一致(即回忆更为从众),具体表现为,同伴判断正确时,被试的词组再认正确率更高,同伴判断错误时,被试的词组再认正确率更低。实验二还发现,被试与同伴一起回忆时的正确率要低于被试单独回忆的正确率,从众倾向降低了被试的记忆准确度。本研究表明,情境诱发的短期人际关系的变化会影响记忆从众;回忆不单纯是一个基本认知过程,它可以受到社会关系、社会认知的调节。     

The Effects of Anticipated Informational and Normative Influence on Perceptions of Hypothetical Opinion Change

Two experiments addressed the role of anticipated informational or normative influence on perceptions of hypothetical opinion change in the context of either an intellective or judgmental task. The findings from Experiment 1 indicate that informational and normative influence processes are perceived as being differentially effective in changing people's opinions about a judgmental task but not about an intellective task. Experiment 2 explores some possible causes of these findings.     

Affectionate Same-Sex Touch: The Influence of Homophobia on Observers' Perceptions

Abstract

The author extended the proposition (V. J. Derlega, R. J. Lewis, S. Harrison, B. A. Winstead, & R. Costanza, 1989) that the fear of being seen as homosexual accounts for the common finding that U.S. women engage in more same-sex touch than do U.S. men. The author proposed a theoretic model positing that the magnitude of homophobia's influence on behavior and on reactions to behavior is proportional to the likelihood that the behavior is sexual in nature. An experiment involving reactions to same-sex embraces demonstrated that, although homophobia was negatively related to evaluations of same-sex affectionate touch, the magnitude of the relationship covaried with the probability that the touch was sexual. The implications of these findings for longer range theory development are discussed.     

中国文化中内隐自大对人际吸引力的影响

研究考察了中国被试的内隐自大是否能够被激发从而影响人际吸引力。通过两个实验,研究者发现,在中国被试当中内隐自大不但会被被试自己的姓所激发,也能被被试母亲的姓所激发;被试会偏好那些和自己或者自己母亲的姓相似的对方,而这种偏好在遭遇自我概念威胁之后更加明显,而在受到自我肯定之后会受到抑制;对母亲概念的威胁和对自我概念的威胁作用基本类似。另外,母亲的姓比起被试自己的姓来,激发了被试更大更一致的受吸引程度。这说明母亲概念属于自我概念当中比较积极正面的一部分。     

Conservatism as a Determinant of Sexual Experiences

An examination of the relationship of conservatism to reports of sexual experiences and reasons for nonparticipation was conducted using 64 male and 50 female introductory psychology students. Conservatism was found to be inversely related to the frequency and variety of sexual behaviors. High conservative subjects gave the reason that it was morally wrong more often than any other reason for not engaging in coital activities and more intimate forms of petting. Results were in accord with previous research and were interpreted as supporting the notion that the fear of loss of control of one's impulses and hence the basis for conservative attitudes are determinants of sexual experiences.     

The Influence of Affirmative Action on Perceptions of a Beneficiary's Qualifications1

Relative to females, males tended to discount the qualifications of a woman promoted into management. However, the male-female difference was dependent upon the promoting organization's Affirmative Action environment. There were no differences between males and females when females thought that the organization promoting the woman had an Affirmative Action program in place. Under these circumstances females behaved as males in discounting the woman's qualifications. In contrast, females who thought that the organization promoting the woman was anti-Affirmative Action augmented the woman's qualifications. The interpretation of this is that these women viewed the organization's anti-Affirmative Action position as an inhibitory factor that could only have been overcome on the basis of the promoted woman possessing the necessary qualifications. Results are interpreted in relation to practical implications for Affirmative Action programs.     

The Influence of Task Difficulty on Context Effect - Compromise and Attraction Effects

Research in psychology finds strong context effects in consumer behavior and help consumer make up their mind from choice set when none of each option better than the others in all aspects. Context effect signifies that when evaluating a focal option, individuals take into consideration characteristics of other comparative alternatives rather than only the features of that focal alternative, complicating the decision-making process. The compromise effect and attraction effect (known together as context effect) explain the underlying motivations that cause consumers to choose the middle option and introduce an inferior option to make the originally dominated option more preferable. But past research on this domain has predominantly used an easy-to-count choice scenario (refers to the ease of using individual’s math skill on comparative attributes in the choice task) which is not ideally existed in real world situation. In real world purchasing situations, most of the time consumers become confused by a variety of products presented with irregular pricing, packaging or attributes which are apparently difficult to compare by math skill. This paper aim to examine “When the level of difficulty changed while processing the comparative task on the context of a choice set, how does this influence the resultant occurrence of context effect?” Results from four experiments demonstrate that both compromise and attraction effects decreased when the choice task become more difficult.     

The Effects of Apology and Perspective Taking on Interpersonal Forgiveness: A Dissonance-Attribution Model of Interpersonal Forgiveness

Abstract

The author investigated (a) the effects of a victim's perspective taking and a transgressor's apology on interpersonal forgiveness and (b) forgiveness as a mode of dissonance reduction. Before the participants read a scenario describing a situation in which they imagined being mistreated by a classmate, the author randomly assigned them to 1 of 4 perspective-taking conditions: (a) recalling times when they had mistreated or hurt others (i.e., the recall-self-as-transgressor condition); (b) imagining how they would think, feel, and behave if they were the classmate (i.e., the imagine-self condition); (c) imagining how the classmate would think, feel, and behave (i.e., the imagine-other condition); or (d) imagining the situation from their own (i.e., the victim's/control) perspective. After reading the scenario, the participants read an apology from the classmate. The participants in the recall-self-as-transgressor condition were significantly more likely than those in the control condition to (a) make benevolent attributions, (b) experience benevolent emotional reactions, and (c) forgive the transgressor. The relationship between the perspective-taking manipulation and forgiveness was mediated by the benevolent attributions and positive emotional reactions experienced by the victims.