The impact of mode of presentation on gender differences in social perception

This research investigated the conditions under which males might perceive sexuality in females in heterosexual interactions (the Abbey effect). Caucasian male and female couples participated in a brief interaction in which they were rated by observers. Interactants also rated themselves as well as their partners. These live interactions were videotaped, audiotaped, and photographed, and subsequently rated by other observers (subjects). Subjects made ratings on a variety of dimensions, including adjectives relating to the sexuality of the interactants as well as the interactants' desire for future interaction with their partners. Results indicated that males attributed more sexuality and a higher desire for future interactions to females they observed or with whom they interacted than females did. Further, the tendency to attribute sexuality was affected by way in which stimuli were presented to the raters. Photos, which had the least amount of information relative to the other methods, produced the highest sexuality and future interaction ratings, suggesting that stereotyping might play a role. Implications of the results and future research are discussed.This research was based on a master's thesis conducted by the first author under the direction of the second author. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Anthony J. Conger in the design and analysis of this research.To whom reprint requests should be addressed at Purdue University, Department of Psychological Sciences, West Lafayette, IN 47907.     

Beliefs about female and male nonverbal communication

Participants (N= 441) rated from 1 to 10 how frequently or well they believed hypothetical women and men performed each of twenty nonverbal behaviors or skills. Women were believed to use more expressive and involved nonverbal behaviors than men, and to be more skilled at sending and receiving nonverbal messages. Men were believed to be louder and more interruptive, and to display more nervous, dysfluent behaviors. Ratings given to females by females were higher than were ratings in the other gender combinations for over half the variables, which may accurately describe female—female interaction. Perceived gender differences correlated positively with differences reported in observational studies, indicating that beliefs about nonverbal gender differences were generally accurate. The authors wish to thank Tom Leahy for his assistance in data collection.     

Gender differences in memory for the appearance of others

Five studies investigated gender differences in the accurate recall of the appearance of others. The greater interpersonal orientation and interpersonal sensitivity of women were predicted to give women an advantage over men in appearance accuracy. Under both directed- and incidental-learning conditions, women more accurately recalled information concerning the appearance of their social targets than did men, participants' memory for the appearance of female targets was more accurate than it was for male targets, and neither gender was found to be a relative advantage in recalling the appearance of same-gender targets. The motivational and knowledge-based factors that might underlie a gender difference in appearance accuracy are discussed.     

Book Review: The Widening Scope of Shame,edited by Melvin R. Lansky and Andrew P. Morrison,The Analytic Press, 1997, 456 pp.

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Self-efficacy,parent–child relationships,and academic performance: a comparison of European American and Asian American college students

Parent–child relationships play an important role in successful academic outcomes. Previous research suggests that the association between parent–child relationships and offspring’s academic achievement may be mediated by offspring’s self-efficacy levels, although these relationships are not fully understood. Furthermore, the association between family support and academic outcomes is well-documented among European Americans, but not across cultures. Therefore, the present study examined how parent–child relationship quality relates to young adults’ academic achievement and self-efficacy among European Americans and Asian Americans. Participants were 258 undergraduate students (85 male, 173 female) who completed a survey. Overall, both parent–child relationships and self-efficacy were significantly associated with the offspring’s academic performance, and self-efficacy mediated the relationship between parent–child relationships and school outcomes. Ethnicity moderated these relationships: among European American students, quality of parent–child relationships was not associated with self-efficacy level whereas for Asian Americans, parent–child relationships were associated with self-efficacy. These findings suggest that European American college students’ self-efficacy levels are less dependent on parent–child relationship quality, but for Asian Americans college students it may be important for educators to facilitate communication and family support so students may continue to use family as a resource for self-efficacy levels.     

Perspective taking in referring to objects behind versus in front of an observer: Frames of reference,intraindividual consistency,and response latencies

Speakers of English and German typically adopt the reflection variant of the relative frame of reference (FoR) in order to describe how nonoriented objects that are located in front of them are related to one another. Little is known, however, about how they proceed in dorsal settings, with objects located in their back. In this article, we explore the turn hypothesis, which assumes a (mental) 180° turn of the observer to face the objects, converting the dorsal into a frontal situation, so that the preferred FoR variant for frontal settings can be applied. To elicit spatial references, we used photographs that showed an observer and two objects either in the observer's visual field (frontal condition) or in the observer's back (dorsal condition). The observer was looking either in the same direction as the referencing individual (aligned perspectives) or in the opposite direction (vis-à-vis perspective). Data from two experiments show that while participants do adopt the observer's perspective, their references in dorsal settings are incompatible with the turn hypothesis. Analyses of response latencies indicate additional cognitive costs for establishing a FoR for the very first item in the dorsal condition as compared to the frontal condition, but fast adaption for subsequent items, and high intraindividual consistency in FoR choice in both conditions. Maintaining the assumption that references in dorsal settings should be compatible with the variant of the relative FoR adopted in frontal settings, participants’ references can be explained by assuming a backward projection that gets by without a (mental) turn of the observer.     

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Interactive Test of Interpersonal Behavior (ITIB): a pilot study examining interpersonal deficits in chronic depression

Chronic depression is assumed to be caused and maintained by interpersonal deficits. We describe the development and psychometric evaluation of the Interactive Test of Interpersonal Behavior (ITIB) that we developed for self‐assessment of these deficits. Participants with chronic depression (CD, N = 15), episodic depression (ED, N = 15) and healthy controls (HC, N = 15) participated in this pilot study. They completed the ITIB and a number of pen and paper questionnaires including the Lübeck Questionnaire of Preoperational Thinking (LQPT) and the inventory of interpersonal problems (IIP). The ITIB was highly acceptable for use in these participants. Internal consistency for the ITIB was adequate for group comparisons (Cronbach's alpha = 0.649). Item‐total correlations indicated adequate discriminatory power of five of the six items. The ITIB correlated moderately with the LQPT (r = 0.524) and the IIP (r = –0.568). The ITIB score differed significantly between the diagnostic groups (ANOVA F(2,42) = 6.22, p = 0.004). It was the only measure that – albeit at a trend level – was associated with diagnostic group (CD vs. ED) on multinomial logistic regression analysis (B = 0.049 ± 0.029; OR 1.051; p = 0.088). We found preliminary evidence that the ITIB is an acceptable and psychometrically adequate measure of interpersonal behavior that distinguishes between patients with CD and patients with ED. If replicated with an improved version of the test, our results could support the hypothesis that having interpersonal problems is a core deficit in patients with CD.     

Using the Implicit Association Test to Assess Children's Implicit Attitudes toward Smoking

The development and psychometric properties of an Implicit Association Test (IAT) measuring implicit attitude toward smoking among fifth grade children were described. The IAT with "sweets" as the contrast category resulted in higher correlations with explicit attitudes than did the IAT with "healthy foods" as the contrast category. Children with family members who smoked (versus non-smoking) and children who were high in sensation seeking (versus low) had a significantly more favorable implicit attitude toward smoking. Further, implicit attitudes became less favorable after engaging in tobacco prevention activities targeting risk perceptions of addiction. Results support the reliability and validity of this version of the IAT and illustrate its usefulness in assessing young children's implicit attitude toward smoking.     

The functional independence of trait self-knowledge: Commentary on Sakaki (2007)

In a recent paper, Sakaki (2007) proposed that Klein and Loftus's conclusion that semantic and episodic trait self-knowledge are functionally independent (e.g., Klein, Babey, & Sherman, 1997; Klein & Loftus, 1993a; Klein, Loftus, Trafton, & Fuhrman, 1992b) was based on questionable assumptions and not supported by the available evidence. In this paper we show that Sakaki (2007) has misinterpreted our position on the independence of self-knowledge, omitted mention of large portions of the relevant research at odds with her contention, and conducted her studies with procedures we explicitly warned against due to interpretive ambiguities associated with their use.     

Autobiographical memory bias in social anxiety

In social anxiety the psychological self is closely related to the feared stimulus. Socially anxious individuals are, by definition, concerned about how the self is perceived and evaluated by others. As autobiographical memory is strongly related to views of the self it follows that biases in autobiographical memory play an important role in social anxiety. In the present study high (n = 19) and low (n = 29) socially anxious individuals were compared on autobiographical memory bias, current goals, and self-discrepancy. Individuals high in social anxiety showed a bias towards recalling more negative and more social anxiety-related autobiographical memories, reported more current goals related to overcoming social anxiety, and showed larger self-discrepancies. The pattern of results is largely in line with earlier research in individuals with PTSD and complicated grief. This suggests that the relation between autobiographical memory bias and the self is a potentially valuable trans-diagnostic factor.