Phantom Behavioral Assimilation Effects: Systematic Biases in Social Comparison Choice Studies

ABSTRACT Consistent with social comparison theory (SCT), Blanton, Buunk, Gibbons, and Kuyper (1999) and Huguet, Dumas, Monteil, and Genestoux (2001) found that students tended to choose comparison targets who slightly outperformed them (i.e., upward comparison choices), and this had a beneficial effect on subsequent performance—a behavioral assimilation effect (BAE). We show (Studies 1 and 2) that this apparent BAE is due, in part, to uncontrolled measurement error in pretest achievement. However, using simulated data (Study 3), these phantom BAEs were eliminated with latent‐variable models with multiple indicators. In Studies 4 and 5, latent‐variable models were applied to the Blanton et al. and Huguet et al. data, resulting in substantially smaller but still significantly positive BAEs. More generally in personality research based on correlational data, failure to control measurement error in pretest/background variables will positively bias the apparent effects of personality variables of interest, but widely applicable approaches demonstrated here can correct for these biases.     

Why some women can feel more,and others less,attractive after exposure to attractive targets: The role of social comparison orientation

As the tendency to compare oneself with others may be associated with the tendency to focus on similarities, we hypothesized that individual differences in social comparison orientation (SCO) may moderate the consequences of upward and downward comparisons. In Study 1, high comparers were found to focus more on similarities than low comparers, suggesting that high comparers are more likely to assimilate in general. In Study 2, SCO was found to be positively associated with mood following exposure to an attractive target, and negatively associated with mood following exposure to a less attractive target. In Studies 2 and 3, SCO was found to be positively associated with self‐evaluations of attractiveness following exposure to an attractive target and negatively associated with self‐evaluations of attractiveness following exposure to a less attractive target. These results indicate that research on the consequences of social comparison must attend to individual differences in SCO. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Post-training reversible inactivation of the hippocampus enhances novel object recognition memory

Research on the role of the hippocampus in object recognition memory has produced conflicting results. Previous studies have used permanent hippocampal lesions to assess the requirement for the hippocampus in the object recognition task. However, permanent hippocampal lesions may impact performance through effects on processes besides memory consolidation including acquisition, retrieval, and performance. To overcome this limitation, we used an intrahippocampal injection of the GABA agonist muscimol to reversibly inactivate the hippocampus immediately after training mice in two versions of an object recognition task. We found that the inactivation of the dorsal hippocampus after training impairs object-place recognition memory but enhances novel object recognition (NOR) memory. However, inactivation of the dorsal hippocampus after repeated exposure to the training context did not affect object recognition memory. Our findings suggest that object recognition memory formation does not require the hippocampus and, moreover, that activity in the hippocampus can interfere with the consolidation of object recognition memory when object information encoding occurs in an unfamiliar environment.The medial temporal lobe plays an important role in recognition memory formation, as damage to this brain structure in humans, monkeys, and rodents impairs performance in recognition memory tasks (for review, see Squire et al. 2007). Within the medial temporal lobe, studies have consistently demonstrated that the perirhinal cortex is involved in this form of memory (Brown and Aggleton 2001; Winters and Bussey 2005; Winters et al. 2007, 2008; Balderas et al. 2008). In contrast, the role of the hippocampus in object recognition memory remains a source of debate. Some studies have reported novel object recognition (NOR) impairments in animals with hippocampal lesions (Clark et al. 2000; Broadbent et al. 2004, 2010), yet others have reported no impairments (Winters et al. 2004; Good et al. 2007). Differences in hippocampal lesion size and behavioral procedures among the different studies have been implicated as the source of discrepancy in these findings (Ainge et al. 2006), but previous studies have not examined the consequences of environment familiarity on the hippocampus dependence of object recognition memory.Previous studies addressing the role of the hippocampus in recognition memory relied on permanent, pre-training lesions (Clark et al. 2000; Broadbent et al. 2004; Winters et al. 2004; Good et al. 2007). Permanent lesions inactivate the hippocampus not only during the consolidation phase, but also during habituation, acquisition, and memory retrieval, potentially confounding interpretation of the results. Furthermore, permanent lesion studies require long surgery recovery times during which extrahippocampal changes may emerge to mask or compensate for the loss of hippocampal function. To overcome these problems, we reversibly inactivated the dorsal hippocampus after training mice in two versions of the object recognition task. We infused muscimol, a γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor type A agonist, into the dorsal hippocampus immediately after training in an object-place recognition task or immediately following training in a NOR task. Consistent with previous studies (Save et al. 1992; Galani et al. 1998; Mumby et al. 2002; Stupien et al. 2003; Aggleton and Brown 2005), we observed that hippocampal inactivation impairs object-place recognition memory. Interestingly, we observed that the degree of contextual familiarity can influence NOR memory formation. We found that when shorter periods of habituation to the experimental environment were used, hippocampal inactivation enhances long-term NOR memory. In contrast, after extended periods of contextual habituation, long-term recognition memory was unaltered by hippocampal inactivation. Together these results suggest that if familiarization with objects occurs at a stage in which the contextual environment is relatively novel, the hippocampus plays an inhibitory role on the consolidation of object recognition memory. Supporting this view, we observed that object recognition memory is unaffected by hippocampal inactivation when initial exploration of the objects occurred in a familiar environment.     

The Irrational Beliefs Inventory: Cross Cultural Comparisons Between American and Dutch Samples

The 50-item Irrational Beliefs Inventory (IBI) was developed in the Netherlands for the assessment of irrational thinking. The IBI was derived from the Rational Behavior Inventory (RBI) and the Irrational Beliefs Test (IBT). The present study was designed to assess the applicability of the IBI in a different cultural context. The IBI was administered to a non-clinical sample in the USA; scores were consistent with Dutch findings and support the utility of the English language version of the IBI.     

Personality, birth order and attachment styles as related to various types of jealousy

The relationships between jealousy, personality, attachment styles and birth order were examined in a sample of 100 Dutch men and 100 Dutch women. Three types of jealousy were examined: reactive jealousy (a negative response to the emotional or sexual involvement of the partner with someone else), preventive jealousy (efforts to prevent intimate contact of the partner with a third person), and anxious jealousy (obsessive anxiety, upset, and worrying about the possibility of infidelity of the partner). The three types of jealousy were not at all related to egoism and dominance, but significantly correlated with neuroticism, social anxiety, rigidity and hostility. Only among women was a low self-esteem correlated with jealousy. On all three jealousy measures, those with an anxious-ambivalent attachment style were more jealous than those with an avoidant style, with those with a secure attachment style being the least jealous. Attachment style was strongly related to most personality dimensions, but the effects of attachment style upon jealousy stayed virtually the same when controlling for personality factors. The most important finding in the present study was that laterborns were more jealous according to all three measures than firstborns, a finding that was not due to personality differences between first- and laterborns, nor to differences in attachment style, gender or occupational level of the father. Because some evidence was found that only borns were slightly less jealous than firstborns, it is suggested that the experience of exclusive love and attention in one's childhood, leads to a lower level of jealousy among firstborns.     

The Moderating Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs in the Relationship Between Anticipated Feelings of Regret and Condom Use1

This prospective study examined how the feelings of regret and self-blame one anticipates after engaging in unsafe sex affect condom use in new sexual relationships. The central theoretical question is whether self-efficacy perceptions can moderate the relationship between anticipated feelings and actual condom use. Consistent with theories of anticipated regret and social cognitive learning, participants were most likely to use condoms between the first and second waves of data collection when they anticipated negative feelings as a result of not using condoms (and positive feelings after having used condoms), particularly when they also believed that they had the power to exercise control over the sexual situation (high self-efficacy). The implications for interventions aimed at promoting safer sex are discussed.     

Commitment to the Relationship,Extradyadic Sex,and AIDS Preventive Behavior1

This study was conducted among 251 heterosexual adults in The Netherlands that included a substantial number of individuals who had had unprotected sex with a new partner. Relationship status and commitment had independent effects upon the willingness to engage in extradyadic sex above and beyond the effects of past extradyadic sex and satisfaction, and commitment was the only psychological predictor of the intention to use condoms in extradyadic sexual contacts. Commitment predicted the willingness to inform the steady partner about one's unsafe extradyadic sex and to protect the steady partner against the possible risk of HIV infection after unsafe extradyadic sex. The implications for AIDS prevention are discussed.     

The assessment of relationship beliefs in a marital context

The current study presents data on reliability and validity of the Relationship Beliefs Inventory (RBI), a 40-item questionnaire which was designed to assess beliefs people hold about intimate relationships. The RBI was administered to clinical and non-clinical couples along with measures of marital functioning, communication, and irrational beliefs. The RBI-scales are relatively unaffected by social desirability and have adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Evidence was provided for its construct validity, but discriminant validity is poor.