Shared experiences and the similarity of personalities: a longitudinal study of married couples.

Do spouses become more similar over time? What processes contribute to enduring similarities between them? Using the 20-year Kelly Longitudinal Study of couples, no support for the hypothesis that couples increasingly resemble each other with time was found. Rather, couples maintain the same degree of similarity across 20 years. Structural equation analyses suggest that the shared environmental experiences of couples play a significant role in maintaining these similarities over time. We distinguish the shared marital environment from the shared rearing environment and consider developmental and dynamic-relational factors that moderate the relative importance of nonshared and shared environmental experiences in life-span personality development. Whereas nonshared influences in one's family of origin contribute to development in childhood and adolescence, shared influences in one's family of destination may contribute a great deal to development in adulthood.     

Coalition or derogation? How perceived discrimination influences intraminority intergroup relations

Five studies explored how perceived societal discrimination against one's own racial group influences racial minority group members' attitudes toward other racial minorities. Examining Black-Latino relations, Studies 1a and 1b showed that perceived discrimination toward oneself and one's own racial group may be positively associated with expressed closeness and common fate with another racial minority group, especially if individuals attribute past experiences of discrimination to their racial identity rather than to other social identities (Study 1b). In Studies 2-5, Asian American (Studies 2, 3, and 4) and Latino (Study 5) participants were primed with discrimination against their respective racial groups (or not) and completed measures of attitudes toward Black Americans. Participants primed with racial discrimination expressed greater positivity toward and perceived similarity with Blacks than did participants who were not primed. These results suggest, consistent with the common ingroup identity model (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000), that salient discrimination against one's own racial group may trigger a common "disadvantaged racial minority" (ingroup) identity that engenders more positive attitudes toward and feelings of closeness toward other racial minorities.     

Attachment, attention, and cognitive control: Attachment style and performance on general attention tasks

Three studies examined the effects of attachment style on performance in non-attachment-related attention tasks; one study also assessed the effect of priming memories of experiences of attachment security or insecurity on attentional performance in a flanker task. In Study 1, participants performed a psychological refractory period (PRP) task assessing their ability to switch attention rapidly from one decision to another; in Studies 2 and 3 they performed a flanker task assessing their ability to resist distracters. Avoidant attachment predicted better performance on both tasks, and the effects remained even after controlling for neuroticism, general anxiety, and BIS/BAS scores. Study 3 showed that thinking in detail about a past experience of insecurity eliminated avoidant participants’ superior performance. In sum, avoidant people are generally skilled at regulating their attention, even on non-attachment-related tasks, but their performance is hampered by reminders of experiences of insecurity.     

Mother's milk: an existential perspective on negative reactions to breast-feeding

Drawing from an existential perspective rooted in terror management theory, four studies examined the hypothesis that breast-feeding women serve as reminders of the physical, animal nature of humanity and that such recognition is threatening in the face of one's unalterable mortality. Study 1 demonstrated that mortality salience (MS) led to more negative reactions toward a scenario depicting a woman breast-feeding her infant in public, and in Study 2, MS decreased liking and increased physical avoidance of a potential task partner described as breast-feeding in another room. Further supporting the hypothesis that such reactions are rooted in threats associated with human creatureliness, MS in conjunction with a breast-feeding prime led to an increase in the accessibility of creaturely related cognitions (Study 3) and priming human/animal similarities (i.e., creatureliness) led to increased negativity toward a magazine cover depicting a woman breast-feeding her child (Study 4). Implications of this research are discussed.     

When lack of control enhances closeness to others: The case of unemployment and economic threat

When personal control is threatened, people often turn to their own group and show negativity towards others. In three studies, we tested an alternative prediction that the salient lack of personal control (vs. control) experienced in the context of unemployment can lead to connectedness and more positive perception of similar others (e.g., members of groups affected by unemployment or the economic crisis). In two European countries, we found experimental (Study 1: Poland) and correlational (Study 2: Spain) evidence that a lowered sense of control of unemployed people was related to more favorable intergroup evaluations. Furthermore, when lack of control related to unemployment threat was experimentally induced, participants perceived a Greek outgroup more positively, and this effect was mediated by identification with and similarity to this group (Study 3). We discuss the role of the shared experience of collective uncontrollability in promoting positive intergroup relations.     

Solidarity across group lines: Secondary transfer effect of intergroup contact,perceived moral distance,and collective action

We tested, in three studies, whether the generalization of contact effects from primary to secondary outgroups—the secondary transfer effect (STE)—occurs for collective action. The results supported a serial mediation model: contact with immigrants by advantaged group members (Italians: Study 1, N = 146, 121 females, M_age = 28.31 years; Study 3, N = 406, 239 females, M_age = 36.35; British people, Study 2, N = 160, 113 females, M_age = 32.31) was associated with lower perceived moral distance toward primary outgroups, which in turn was associated with more positive attitudes and greater collective action intentions toward primary outgroups, and lower perceived moral distance toward secondary outgroups. Lower perceived moral distance toward secondary outgroups and stronger collective action intentions toward the primary outgroup were associated with higher collective action intentions toward secondary outgroups (results were inconsistent for attitudes). We discuss the findings with a focus on how a consideration of perceived moral distance extends current theorizing, and the relevance of generalized prejudice for the STE.     

Inclusive victim consciousness predicts minority group members’ support for refugees and immigrants

What motivates minority group members to support other minorities, rather than compete for resources? We tested whether inclusive victim consciousness —i.e., perceived similarities between the ingroup's and outgroups’ collective victimization—predicts support for other minority groups; and whether personal and family experiences of group‐based victimization moderate these effects. Study 1 was conducted among members of historically oppressed groups in India. As hypothesized, inclusive victim consciousness predicted support for refugees. Personal experiences of group‐based victimization moderated this effect. Conceptually replicating these findings, in Study 2 (among Vietnamese Americans, mostly second‐generation immigrants) inclusive victim consciousness predicted less hostility toward other refugees and immigrants, and greater perceived responsibility to help victims of collective violence. This effect was moderated by family experiences of victimization.     

The attraction–similarity model and dating couples: Projection,perceived similarity,and psychological benefits

According to the attraction–similarity model, relationship quality leads to perceptions of partner–self similarity. Relationship quality and perceived similarity then provide psychological benefits for the perceiver. Across 3 studies, relationship quality positively predicted perceptions of similarity. Study 1 indicated that for moderate, but not low, relationship‐relevant traits, individuals projected the self onto the dating partner as a way of perceiving similarities. In Study 2, priming high, as opposed to low, relationship quality led to greater perceived similarity on the moderately relevant traits. Study 3 indicated greater perceived similarity between self and dating partner than between self and average same‐gender student on the moderately relevant traits. Relationship quality and perceived similarity with the dating partner on the moderately relevant traits also predicted psychological benefits.     

Intrafamilial similarities and cross-generational differences in the earliest childhood memories of daughters,mothers, and grandmothers

This study aimed to examine how daughters, mothers, and grandmothers from the same families resembled each other and how these three generations differed from each other in narrating their earliest childhood memories. Fifty-nine triads from the same families filled out a memory questionnaire and were asked to narrate their earliest childhood memories. Results revealed both intrafamilial similarities and cross-generational difference on characteristics of triads’ earliest childhood memories. After earliest childhood memories were coded for memory characteristics, we measured intrafamilial similarities using intra-class correlation coefficients across three generations for each memory characteristic. Results revealed that the earliest childhood memories of members of the same family were significantly similar in terms of level of detail and volume. Although similar patterns among members of the same families were observed in self-related and other-related words, the other/self ratio did not display an intrafamilial similarity. We also measured cross-generational differences and found that daughters’ reported age of their earliest childhood memories was dated significantly earlier compared to their grandmothers. Results revealed predominant intrafamilial similarities among the members of the same family and cross-generational differences in terms of the age of the earliest childhood memory.     

Cultural pluralism and prejudice reduction

Predictions derived from models of cultural pluralism and cultural assimilation were tested. Previous research has shown that highlighting differences between ethnic groups, in conjunction with self-focus, can reduce prejudice. The presented research tested the following questions: (a) does highlighting differences function to reduce prejudice between groups that are dissimilar to each other as well as between those that are highly similar, (b) is prejudice reduction due to distinctiveness a function of the lessened ingroup positivity or lessened outgroup negativity, (c) does making distinctiveness salient reduce prejudice toward only the distinctive outgroups or to outgroups more generically, and (d) does the manipulation equally impact African American, Mexican American, Mexican National, and White American participants? Results demonstrated that highlighting differences while simultaneously focusing on the self reduces prejudice, although similarity mediates the relationship with those who are perceived as more different. Distinctiveness also reduced outgroup negativity and generalized to other outgroups. Finally, the manipulation reduced prejudice only for White Americans, Mexican Americans, and Mexican Nationals.     

Moral in whose eyes? Cross-cultural differences in moral decision making and behaviour

All people want to feel that they are morally adequate. People tend to evaluate their moral adequacy by judging their behaviour through their own eyes (first-person perspective) or the eyes of others (third-person perspective). People in all cultures use both perspectives, but there may be cultural variations in which perspective takes precedence. By conducting two studies, we explore the way people in face cultures are more likely to secure their moral self-regard through the eyes of others (vs. their own eyes), whereas the opposite is true in case of people from dignity cultures. Study 1 found that people from face culture (Korean participants) cheated to a lesser extent when others were invoked (vs. not invoked), but people from dignity culture (American participants) were not affected by this priming. Study 2 found that moral intentions were more strongly influenced by what participants perceived others to do in moral situations in face (vs. dignity) cultures. In contrast, moral intentions were found to be more strongly influenced by what they believed they should do in moral situations in dignity (vs. face) cultures.     

Reconstruction of the subjective temporal distance of past interpersonal experiences after mortality salience

The present article examines the effect of mortality salience on the subjective temporal distance of past experiences with close friends. Since mortality salience motivates relational strivings, it should also affect the perception of past interpersonal experiences that influence the anticipation of future closeness and continuity of the friendship. Three studies were conducted with a total of 428 Japanese college students. Study 1 revealed that a smaller temporal distance of an experience of positive conduct from a friend was associated with greater satisfaction with the friendship. Study 2 found that the temporal distance of such an experience was perceived as smaller in the mortality salience than in the control condition. Study 3 found equivalent results with respect to the temporal distance of the participants' positive conduct toward a close friend. These results suggest that people cope with existential concerns through reconstructing autobiographical memories in the interpersonal domain.     

Perspective taking and opinions about forms of reparation for victims of historical harm

The authors investigated the effects of perspective taking on opinions about reparations for victims of historical harm. In two studies, they showed that when non-Indigenous Australians took an Indigenous Australian perspective, this increased perceived entitlement to, and decreased anger toward, monetary compensation. Moreover, perceived entitlement mediated the relationship between anger about monetary compensation and perspective taking. Study 2 demonstrated the mutual influence of emotions and perceived entitlement. In particular, self-image shame rather than group-based guilt or anger predicted support for reparation when an Indigenous Australian perspective was adopted. The results suggest that taking the perspective of people who have experienced harm from one's own group can bolster a commitment to positive social change in relation to a pressing social issue.     

Do observer ratings validate self-reports of intergroup contact?: A round-robin analysis

Two studies used a round-robin design to examine whether the observers made consensual judgments of targets' degree and quality of intergroup contact, and whether these consensual judgments were correlated with the targets' own self ratings, and moderated by the observability of the contact. Study 1 revealed projection/assumed similarity, with participants rating others as similar to themselves to a large extent, but also yielded evidence for the validity of whites' self-reports of direct, but not extended, intergroup contact with Asians, even when controlling for extraversion and perceived attitudes. Study 2 replicated the main results, using both Asians and Gay men as outgroups, and showed that participants' ratings discriminated between the two discrete outgroups, with measures of contact and attitude being only meaningfully related within, but not between, outgroups. Overall, these findings help to validate self-report measures of direct intergroup contact.     

Assessing the accuracy of conflicting autobiographical memories

We examined criteria that rememberers and neutral audiences use to validate conflicting memories. In Experiment 1, rememberers described an incident that they recalled differently from someone else from their own and the other person’s perspective. Rememberers and audiences then evaluated the accuracy of statements in both accounts, explained their accuracy ratings, and appraised the qualities of the memories. In Experiment 2, dyads who possessed conflicting memories of a shared past episode evaluated each other’s recollections. In both studies, rememberers rated their own recollections as more accurate than other people’s and based their judgments primarily on the internal coherence of the memories. Rememberers used consensus more frequently and sensory detail less often to evaluate other people’s memories than their own. Audiences (Experiment 1) reported examining the consistency between the accounts and their own experiences; they also used consensus and normative behavior to a greater extent than rememberers. In both studies, rememberers judged their own accounts to be more detailed and coherent. Their ratings of detail and coherence predicted their ratings of accuracy.     

Green Tea and Ham: Cultural Mixing Reminders Decrease Considerate Behavior

Past research examined how encounters with cultural mixing affect people’s responses toward those cultures. We examined broader effects of cultural mixing—on general social behavior. We tested that reminders of mixing between one’s local culture and a foreign culture make people less considerate. Also, this response is more likely for people who are voluntarily psychologically distant (vs. close) to the foreign culture. In studies with Americans, reminders of American and Asian (local–foreign) cultural mixing decreased considerate behavior. Individuals who were psychologically distant from Asian culture showed this effect (Studies 1–5). The underlying process involved perceived threat (Studies 2–5). Threat was decreased by highlighting cleansing (Study 3) or priming affinity to Asian culture (Study 5). Overall, mixing between home and foreign cultures can put people in a self-protective (self-concerned) mode that decreases their consideration of others. We discuss the implications for research on cultural mixing and organizational behavior.     

The effects of culture and gender on perceived self-other similarity in personality

Gender and culture may influence individuals’ perceptions of their similarity to others. 391,454 individuals from 20 countries rated their own personality traits and the personality traits they attribute to other people in general. A multilevel analysis on distinctive profile similarity (Furr, 2008) demonstrated that both gender and culture play a role in perceived self-other similarity. Specifically, women and those from highly collectivistic cultures saw themselves as more similar to others. Country-level analysis based on self-other similarity correlations (e.g., Srivastava, Guglielmo, & Beer, 2010) within each country revealed that cultural assertiveness uniquely predicted this assumed similarity. The findings shed light on how people construe themselves in relation to others and contribute to the understanding of personality within cultural contexts.     

The Unnoticed Absence of Emotion in Autobiographical Memory

Memory for one's own life experiences, or autobiographical memory, is impressive in its accuracy and flexibility. A memory is constructed anew at each recollection through a process of finding and temporarily joining together specific details about location, sensory experiences, and other details. Curiously missing, however, are emotional details. Although emotional experiences are well remembered, the emotional aspect of an experience is neither retained in its full intensity nor reexperienced during recollection. The adaptive benefits of omitting emotion from autobiographical memory include uninterrupted goal pursuit and emotional stability. But most people make metacognitive errors that convince them that autobiographical memories generally do contain emotion. Possible causes of these errors include naïve theories, motivation to believe that one is healthy, filling in current emotion for remembered emotion, and biased sampling of memories.     

Lay beliefs about meaning in life: Examinations across targets,time, and countries

We examined how lay beliefs about meaning in life relate to experiences of personal meaning. In Study 1 (N = 406) meaning in life was perceived to be a common experience, but one that requires effort to attain, and these beliefs related to levels of meaning in life. Participants viewed their own lives as more meaningful than the average person’s, and technology as both creating challenges and providing supports for meaning. Study 2 (N = 1719) showed cross-country variation in levels of and beliefs about meaning across eight countries. However, social relationships and happiness were identified as the strongest sources of meaning in life consistently across countries. We discuss the value of lay beliefs for understanding meaning in life both within and across cultures.