Gender displays in portrait photographs

Following the research of Goffman (1976) and Henley (1977) on sex differences in nonverbal behavior, 1,296 portrait photographs from high school and university yearbooks and from the media files of a university were analyzed for sex differences. Females smiled with a significantly greater frequency and expansiveness than males and head canted significantly more than males. Results supporting the hypothesis that males would face the camera more directly than females failed to reach the acceptable significance level. The prediction that persons working in opposite-sex roles would deintensify their gender displays failed to gain support.The author expresses appreciation to Bill Drell and Andrea Wilson for their assistance in data collection.     

Approach and withdrawal analysis of the effects of hypothalamic stimulation and lesions in rats.

In a paradigm in which rats would both initiate and terminate hypothalamic stimulation, "purely" rewarding lateral hypothalamic and "purely" aversive medial hypothalamic electrodes were identified. Subjects were then given a series of tests designed to assess the effects of brain stimulation on approach and withdrawal behaviors. Lateral hypothalamic stimulation facilitated approach behavior and suppressed withdrawal behaviors, whereas medial hypothalamic stimulation produced largely the opposite effects. No serious motor deficits due to stimulation were detected with either type of electrode. In a second experiment, the approach-withdrawal effects of bilateral lateral hypothalamic lesions were tested and found to suppress approach behaviors and facilitate withdrawal behaviors. Other neurological examinations revealed motor deficits, but these deficits do not account for the specific pattern of results observed on the approach-withdrawal tests. These approach-withdrawal phenomena are interpreted in terms of altering a natural balance between approach and withdrawl behavior facilitating systems in the lateral and medial hypothalamus, respectively.     

Dispelling the illusion of invulnerability: the motivations and mechanisms of resistance to persuasion

Three studies examined the impact of a treatment designed to instill resistance to deceptive persuasive messages. Study 1 demonstrated that after the resistance treatment, ads using illegitimate authority-based appeals became less persuasive, and ads using legitimate appeals became more persuasive. In Study 2, this resistance generalized to novel exemplars, persevered over time, and appeared outside of the laboratory context. In Study 3, a procedure that dispelled participants' illusions of invulnerability to deceptive persuasion maximized resistance to such persuasion. Overall, the present studies demonstrate that attempts to confer resistance to appeals will likely be successful to the extent that they install 2 conceptual features: perceived undue manipulative intent of the source of the appeal and perceived personal vulnerability to such manipulation.