The Nature of Attitude

ABSTRACT

Previous research has shown that acute alcohol consumption is associated with negative responses toward outgroup members such as sexual minorities. However, simple alcohol cue exposure without actually consuming alcohol also influences social behavior. Hence, it was reasoned that priming participants with words related to alcohol (relative to neutral words) would promote prejudiced attitudes toward sexual minorities. In fact, an experiment showed that alcohol cue exposure causally led to more negative implicit attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. In contrast, participants’ explicit attitudes were relatively unaffected by the priming manipulation. Moreover, participants’ typical alcohol use was not related to their attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. In sum, it appears that not only acute alcohol consumption but also the simple exposure of alcohol cues may promote negative views toward lesbians and gay men.     

Adaption-Innovation and Self-Esteem

Abstract

Psychosocial factors that may influence subjective well-being were examined. A random sample of 581 Chinese adults living in a metropolitan Taiwanese city completed questionnaires concerning demographic variables, personality traits, life stress, and social support. The results of multivariate analyses indicated that (a) extraversion and social support were related to better mental health, whereas neuroticism and stress were related to poorer mental health; (b) older age, better education, and social support were related to higher life satisfaction, whereas neuroticism and stress were related to lower life satisfaction; and (c) older age, extraversion, and social support were related to higher happiness, whereas neuroticism was related to lower happiness.     

Testing the BIAS Map Model: The Positive Effects of Perceiving Weakness and Harmony in Powerful Out-Groups

ABSTRACT

Two experimental studies were used to test predictions derived from the BIAS map model. While the first experiment manipulated the perception of power in the out-group (the USA), the second manipulated the perceived harmony of the relationships between this out-group and the participants' own national group. The results confirmed the hypotheses derived from the model. The manipulation of power affected the perception of competence, thus affecting emotions and behavioral dispositions towards out-group members. The manipulation of perceived harmony of intergroup interests had a similar effect, but was not mediated by changes in the attribution of competence, but of warmth. Attitudes did not play a significant role in the prediction of emotions and behavioral intentions.     

‘I'm not a war monger but…’: Discourse Analysis and Social Psychological Peace Research

The present paper argues for a discourse analytic approach to social psychological peace research and demonstrates the potential of such an approach through a re‐specification of the concept of attitudes to war. This is illustrated through an analysis of a series of televised debates broadcast in the UK in February–March 2003 in the build‐up to the formal outbreak of the Iraq War. Analysis draws attention to the importance of rhetorical context and function, the inseparability of attitude object and evaluation and the formulation of evaluations as specific or general. Findings are discussed in the context of recent calls for methodological pluralism in social psychological peace research with a suggestion that matters of epistemology stand prior to methodology. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of achievement goals on self-regulation of eating attitudes among elite female athletes: An experimental study

Introduction

The influence of achievement goals on eating attitudes has mainly been examined through correlational studies (e.g., [De Bruin et?al., 2009] and [Duda and Kim, 1997]), and none of the studies to date has focused on the self-regulation of eating attitudes in athletes. The present study experimentally tested the effects of achievement goals on both self-reported (Study 1) and behavioral indices (Study 2) of the self-regulation of eating attitudes in female figure skaters.

Method

Elite female figure skaters (Study 1: n = 44; Study 2: n = 54) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions designed to induce specific goal involvement (performance-approach, mastery-approach, performance-avoidance, and mastery-avoidance) or a control condition (no goal induction). The participants in Study 1 completed the Self-Regulation of Eating Attitudes in Sport Scale (SREASS, Scoffier, Corrion, Paquet, & Arripe-Longueville, 2010) and those in Study 2 completed a virtual behavioral measure of self-regulation of eating attitudes (VSSR; Scoffier, 2009).

Results

Variance analyses indicated that induced mastery-approach goals and performance-avoidance goals resulted in higher scores for self-regulation of eating attitudes than induced performance-approach goals and mastery-avoidance goals. The relationships were the same at both self-reported and behavioral levels.

Discussion

This experimental study confirms the findings of previous correlational works and shows that achievement goals contribute to the causal processes of self-regulation of eating attitudes. These findings might help to prevent eating disorders in female athletes by providing guidance for the development of adapted motivational strategies.     

The Association of Cognitive Ability with Right‐wing Ideological Attitudes and Prejudice: A Meta‐analytic Review

The cognitive functioning of individuals with stronger endorsement of right‐wing and prejudiced attitudes has elicited much scholarly interest. Whereas many studies investigated cognitive styles, less attention has been directed towards cognitive ability. Studies investigating the latter topic generally reveal lower cognitive ability to be associated with stronger endorsement of right‐wing ideological attitudes and greater prejudice. However, this relationship has remained widely unrecognized in literature. The present meta‐analyses revealed an average effect size of r = ?.20 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) [?0.23, ?0.17]; based on 67 studies, N = 84 017] for the relationship between cognitive ability and right‐wing ideological attitudes and an average effect size of r = ?.19 (95% CI [?0.23, ?0.16]; based on 23 studies, N = 27 011) for the relationship between cognitive ability and prejudice. Effect sizes did not vary significantly across different cognitive abilities and sample characteristics. The effect strongly depended on the measure used for ideological attitudes and prejudice, with the strongest effect sizes for authoritarianism and ethnocentrism. We conclude that cognitive ability is an important factor in the genesis of ideological attitudes and prejudice and thus should become more central in theorizing and model building. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Environmental attitudes mediate the link between need for cognition and pro-environmental goal choice

Need for cognition is a form of cognitive motivation, which reflects the extent that one actively seeks information and enjoys critical thinking about information. Accordingly, those high in need for cognition seek out and acquire information, resulting in stronger and more stable attitudes. However, need for cognition has yet to be examined in the domain of goal pursuit. Toward that end, we examined how this form of cognitive motivation impacts goal related cognitions. Specifically, how need for cognition influences goal choice. Because need for cognition is a domain-general form of cognitive motivation, we hypothesized that domain-specific attitudes would mediate the relationship between need for cognition pro-environmental goals. This hypothesis was tested in two separate studies. Results demonstrate consistent evidence in support of our hypothesis that environmental attitudes mediate the relationship between need for cognition and pro-environmental goal choice. Results hold implications for goal pursuit research, such that need for cognition can be empirically studied in relation to goal related cognitions and behaviors to the same extent as other forms of cognitive motivation. Moreover, these results suggest that need for cognition can be considered along side previously investigated antecedents of pro-environmental behavior.     

A meta-analytic integration of research on the relationship between right-wing ideological attitudes and aggressive tendencies

ABSTRACT

Many studies have investigated the relationship between ideological attitudes and aggressive tendencies. The present meta-analytic integration of research on this relationship included data of 177 samples (total N = 47,933 participants). The results revealed that this relationship was substantial, r =.31, 95% CI [.27 to.35], p <.001. Such a relationship emerged for both attitudes towards violence and behavioural indicators, although the former relationship was stronger. Moreover, with respect to the different types of attitudes towards violence, we obtained equally strong relationships for attitudes towards war and military action, intergroup hostility and aggression, punitive attitudes, and intimate violence. Among the behavioural measures, context-specific aggression bore out a stronger effect size than chronic aggressive behaviour. Finally, type of right-wing attitude did not moderate the relationship under study. In the discussion, we argue that the pattern of results indicates that the greater aggressive tendencies among right-wing individuals are manifested both attitudinally and behaviourally.