Distinguishing Context Effects From Context Errors in Judgments of Behavior1

Context effects (assimilation and contrast) are examined in relation to accuracy in judgments of stimuli. Context effects are distinguished from context errors. This is shown to depend on one's definition of true scores, rater tendencies (leniency-severity) relative to true scores, and the direction and magnitude of observed context effects. The framework is illustrated empirically in a study of contrast effects involving performance judgments. Implications for reliability, validity, and agreement of behavior judgments in practice are explored.     

The Influence of Ethnicity,Social Class,and Context on Judgments About U.S. Women

Abstract

In 2 studies, the authors investigated impression formation as influenced by category-based stereotypes associated with ethnicity and social class. The participants in Study 1 made judgments about 1 target woman, described as interested in running for office in the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) of her children's school. The hypothetical woman was presented to the respondents along with her photograph and information about her ethnic background (Anglo-Saxon, Latina, or Jewish) and occupation (middle class or working class). In Study 2, the authors changed the context and presented a younger target woman (also varied by ethnicity and social class) to the respondents as the new girlfriend of their older brother or cousin. In both studies, judgments were assessed by the participants' responses to 45 bipolar adjectives that, in each case, yielded 8 component factors. In both hypothetical contexts, social class was a powerful trigger for a variety of negative expectations: With respect to ethnicity, the Latina women were judged to be more unsuitable for the job of PTO vice president than were the Anglo-Saxon or Jewish women. The authors discussed potential psychological and social consequences of such category-based judgments.     

中国情境下的关系自我和群体自我区分研究

通过两个研究探索中国情境下关系自我和群体自我的区分。研究一通过问卷调查发现在外显层面被试的关系自我和群体自我是独立的结构;女性被试的关系自我水平要高于群体自我。研究二通过单靶内隐联想测验(Single Target Implicit Association Test,ST-IAT)发现在内隐层面,相对于群体自我,中国情境下的被试具更倾向从人际关系角度定义自我。同时,研究二也发现外显关系自我和内隐关系自我二者是独立的结构;外显群体自我和内隐群体自我二者是独立的结构。最后,文章讨论了研究对自我建构领域的贡献。     

Order Effects in Preference Judgments: Evidence for Context Dependence in the Generation of Preferences

This paper explores the cognitive processes at work in preference generation. It tests the hypothesis that the evaluation process relies on a comparative context of alternatives. Participants in two experiments reviewed pairs of options that included one superficially attractive option and another that was normatively superior in some way but superficially unattractive. Experiment 1 (N= 116) found that when the superficially attractive option was rated first, reported preferences for both options were higher than when the less attractive alternative was rated first. Experiment 2 (N= 177) replicated this order effect on preferences using six pairs of options. I obtained process measures that suggest the effect is attributable to the process by which people generate judgments of preference. Options are rated more positively to the extent that they compare favorably to other real or imagined alternatives; options are rated more negatively to the extent that they compare poorly to their alternatives. These two experiments contribute to the literature on preference generation by specifying a process by which people generate preferences.     

Elastic Justification: How Unjustifiable Factors Influence Judgments

When making judgments, one may encounter not only justifiable factors, i.e., attributes which the judge thinks that he/she should take into consideration, but also unjustifiable factors, i.e., attributes which the judge wants to take into consideration but knows he/she should not. It is proposed that the influence of an unjustifiable factor on one's judgment depends on the presence of elasticity (ambiguity) in justifiable factors; the influence will be greater if there is elasticity than if there is not. Two studies involving different contexts demonstrated the proposed elasticity effect and suggested that the effect could be a result of a self-oriented justification process. Implications of this research for decisions involving a should-vs-want conflict are discussed.     

When the Context is in the Room: Extending the Relational Paradigm

Examining the approach to couples work described by Virginia Goldner, this commentary analyzes a number of the most significant interventions introduced by Goldner, pointing to her skillful use of paradox, the ways in which her focus on her own participation in the events of the session enables the members of the couple to take more responsibility in ways that point toward repair, and the ways her interventions share properties with what I have elsewhere called attributional interpretations. The paper also offers a critique of the ways in which the metaphors of left-brain and right-brain can be overused and misleading.     

Exposure to Product Placement in Text Can Influence Consumer Judgments

Five experiments explored the consequences of exposure to product placement in text. In each experiment, participants read three short stories containing the names of several brand‐name products. When given a surprise judgment task asking them to rate their likelihood of purchasing a number of brands—some of which were placed and some of which were not placed—participants rated placed brands significantly higher than non‐placed brands. This effect of product placement was observed even when participants were warned about product placement prior to reading the stories, and even when participants reported having a negative opinion about product placement as a form of advertisement. Under some conditions, however, the effect did interact with brand familiarity, such that judgments of familiar brands were affected less by product placement than were judgments of unfamiliar brands. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Identity Formation in a Relational Context: A Person-Centered Analysis of Troubled Youth

The purpose of this study was to examine the identity formation of troubled youth (8 female and 12 male adolescents, ages 14-17) in an after-school treatment program for problem behavior. To achieve this goal we (a) garnered information from 2 identity interviews given 6 to 8 weeks apart, (b) adopted a qualitative, person-centered analytical strategy to identify identity profiles, and (c) examined the identity profiles within a relational context, focusing on the developmentally salient domains of parents and peers. Analyses revealed 5 identity profiles similar to the identity statuses previously described by Marcia and others, but with unique phenomenological differences. Across the profiles, youth differed in their responses (in terms of exploration and commitment) to the "identity challenges" they encountered during this brief period. Likewise, the relational contexts of parental and peer support also varied across profiles.     

关系复杂性对关系类别间接性学习的影响

以216名大学生为被试,使用关系复杂性变化的三种虚拟外星生物实验材料,创设个人功能预测的关系类别的间接性学习条件和参照性交流功能预测的关系类别的间接性学习条件,探讨关系复杂性对关系类别间接性学习的影响。结果发现:关系类别的功能预测间接性学习过程中,关系复杂性和学习条件的交互作用极其显著,具体来讲,关系复杂性对关系类别间接性学习的影响仅显著地表现在参照性交流关系类别间接性学习过程中;当学习材料为4特征复杂关系时,参照条件下被试功能预测成绩极其显著高于个人条件,当学习材料为6特征复杂关系加二阶同功能简单关系时,两种学习条件间不存在显著差异,当学习材料为6特征复杂关系加二阶异功能简单关系时,个人条件极其显著高于参照条件。     

Context Effects in Environmental Judgments: Assimilation and Contrast Effects in Separate and Joint Evaluation Modes1

This research investigates whether consumers judge the environmental quality of food products differently according to whether the products are presented separately or jointly and whether assimilation or contrast effects are more likely to occur. Study 1 revealed contrast effects when products were judged in separate evaluation. Study 2 revealed assimilation effects when products were judged in joint evaluation. Increasing the range of the product alternatives, however, produced a displacement of the judgments in the opposite direction, indicating contrast effects again. Comparing the environmental judgments across both studies, reversal effects in judgments and ordering of products could be demonstrated. Overall, the findings underline that environmental judgments are highly unstable and context‐dependent.     

Informed Consent in Asymmetrical Relationships: an Investigation into Relational Factors that Influence Room for Reflection

In recent years, informed consent has been suggested as a way to deal with risks posed by engineered nanomaterials. We argue that while we can learn from experiences with informed consent in treatment and research contexts, we should be aware that informed consent traditionally pertains to certain features of the relationships between doctors and patients and researchers and research participants, rather than those between producers and consumers and employers and employees, which are more prominent in the case of engineered nanomaterials. To better understand these differences, we identify three major relational factors that influence whether valid informed consent is obtainable, namely dependency, personal proximity, and existence of shared interests. We show that each type of relationship offers different opportunities for reflection and therefore poses distinct challenges for obtaining valid informed consent. Our analysis offers a systematic understanding of the possibilities for attaining informed consent in the context of nanomaterial risks and makes clear that measures or regulations to improve the obtainment of informed consent should be attuned to the specific interpersonal relations to which it is supposed to apply.     

Emotion Regulation in Workgroups: The Roles of Demographic Diversity and Relational Work Context

Drawing on the social identity perspective, we investigate the cross‐level relationship between demographic diversity in workgroups and emotion regulation. We propose that age, racial, and gender diversity in workgroups relate positively to emotion regulation because of demography‐related in‐group/out‐group dynamics. We also examine the moderating role of the relational work context, specifically task interdependence and social interaction, on the relationship between demographic diversity and emotion regulation. Results from a sample of 2,072 employees in 274 workgroups indicate that working in a group with greater age diversity is positively related to an employee's emotion regulation. Results suggest the operation of the age diversity effect can be attributed primarily to younger employees when they are in workgroups with older coworkers. Results reveal asymmetric effects for racial diversity such that racial out‐group members engage in higher levels of emotion regulation than racial in‐group members when racial diversity is low, whereas racial in‐group members engage in higher levels of emotion regulation than racial out‐group members when racial diversity is high. Race effects also suggest a moderating effect of social interaction; specifically, social interaction weakens the relationship between racial diversity and emotion regulation. Gender effects are not significant.     

Relational Considerations in the Use of Influence Tactics1

It is proposed that the existing relationship between the influencing agent and the target of influence plays a central role in the choice of using hard and soft influence tactics. In a field study, 3 key aspects of the relation between agent and target were examined, and the results generally supported our hypotheses. First, the more unfairly people felt they were treated, the more often they wielded influence, especially using harder influence tactics. Second, the better the influencing agent liked the target, the relatively less often he or she used hard tactics. Finally, the more the influencing agent felt dependent upon the target, the fewer influence tactics, both hard and soft, were used. The discussion focuses on both the practical and theoretical implications of these findings.     

非流畅性对定向遗忘元认知判断的影响

目的:研究拟探讨知觉改变引起的难度和材料意义引起的真实难度导致的非流畅体验对元认知判断的影响;同时对比记住判断和遗忘判断的不同。方法:引入定向遗忘程序,让被试在"记住"条件下作学习判断,在"忘记"条件下作遗忘判断,考察两种不同难度对人们有意遗忘和识记能力的影响。结果:两种材料难度对预测判断和学习成绩有不同的影响,而且两个实验均表明学习判断值显著高于遗忘判断值。结论:知觉属性导致的表面难度引起的非流畅性不同于材料的真实难度引起的非流畅性体验,由真实难度引发的加工可能促使记忆更加深刻,同时,记住判断的准确性高于遗忘判断。     

Socialization in an International Context

The globalization of the world economy, the widespread expansion of corporations into overseas markets and the increased use of expatriate and repatriate job assignments have all fundamentally changed the context in which organizational socialization now takes place. This article examines the distinctive socialization issues made salient by this organizational context change. The paper reviews existing theoretical and empirical research, provides hypotheses to guide future socialization research in this area and discusses the implications of an international context for the management of organizational socialization programmes.     

The Influence of Arbitrary Breakpoints on Judgments of Maximum Output

Consumers often wonder about the product's maximum output: the highest rotation speed of a blender or the best printing quality of a printer. We examine how the number of levels (e.g., a blender with 3 vs. 7 speeds) influences judgments of maximum product output. Objectively speaking, the number of levels is no more than a set of breakpoints in an already predetermined continuum from the product's minimum to maximum output. Nevertheless, because of the ubiquitous association between number of breakpoints and quantity in daily life, consumers do not simply view more levels as a signal of greater precision (i.e., giving consumers more control over the possible outputs). They also incorrectly believe that the product has greater power (i.e., a higher maximum output), even when such an inference is in conflict with diagnostic attribute information (e.g., watts). A series of five studies documents the phenomenon, its asymmetric nature, and its boundary conditions. Reliance on the inaccurate “more levels, more power” lay theory weakens when participants consider a reduction rather than an increase in number of levels, and it disappears when the consumer is presented with an explicit relationship between each level and its corresponding output value (e.g., level 4:400 W).     

How the Opinions of Racial Minorities Influence Judgments of Discrimination

We investigated the influence of target versus non-target group members on judgments of racial discrimination. In Study 1, Black individuals were regarded as better sources of information about racial discrimination than White individuals. In Study 2, Black peers were more influential than White peers on judgments of discrimination. In Study 3, the influence of Black peers was moderated by internal concern with prejudice, and mediated by the perceived credibility of the peer. We discuss these findings in terms of targeted social referencing, whereby members of relevant target groups exert more influence than members of non-target groups over assessments of discrimination.