High in the hierarchy: How vertical location and judgments of leaders’ power are interrelated

Leadership implies power. We argue, from a social embodiment perspective, that thinking about power involves mental simulation of vertical location. Three studies tested whether judgments of leaders’ power and information on a vertical location are interrelated. In Studies 1a–1c, participants judged a leader’s power after being presented with, among other information, an organization chart containing either a long or a short vertical line. A longer vertical line increased judged power. Study 2 showed that this effect persists when longer (vs. shorter) vertical lines are presented in an independent priming task and not in an organization chart, and that horizontal lines do not have the same effect. Finally, Studies 3a and 3b showed the reverse causal effect: information about a leader’s power influenced participants’ vertical positioning of a leader’s box in an organization chart and of a leader picture into a team picture. Implications for leadership communication are discussed.     

On the Induction and Consequences of Variation in Behavior Perception

Research indicates that perceivers regulate information gain from their observation of ongoing behavior by varying the number and kind of actions they identify as meaningful. Although numerous factors have been shown to induce variation in this behavior-perception process, it is not currently known whether observers must consciously and intentionally initiate these changes. To address this question, different observational goals (impression formation or memorization) were nonconsciously primed in participants who then viewed and segmented a behavior sequence into meaningful actions. Although participants were unaware of its effects, the priming manipulation led to quantitative and qualitative shifts in their perception of the behavior that were similar to those found in a previous study in which observational goals were manipulated via explicit instructions. Importantly, these shifts in perception, in turn, influenced evaluations of the observed actor and memory for her behavior. We conclude that an act of will is not required for adjustments in behavior perception to be initiated, and, furthermore, that a full understanding of social judgment cannot be achieved without examination of the behavior-perception process.

The conceptual link between social desirability and cultural normativity

Psychologists have a recurrent concern that socially desirable responding (SDR) is a form of response distortion that compromises the validity of self‐report measures, especially in high‐stakes situations where participants are motivated to make a good impression. Psychologists have used various strategies to minimise SDR or its impact, for example, forced choice responding, ipsatization, and direct measures of social desirability. However, empirical evidence suggests that SDR is a robust phenomenon existing in many cultures and a substantive variable with meaningful associations with other psychological variables and outcomes. Here, we review evidence of the occurrence of SDR across cultures and tie SDR to the study of cultural normativity and cultural consonance in anthropology. We suggest that cultural normativity is an important component of SDR, which may partly explain the adaptiveness of SDR and its association with positive outcomes.     

The fit between dignity self‐construal and independent university norms: Effects on university belonging,well‐being,and academic success

Universities struggle with students’ low well‐being and high dropout rates. High (compared to low) fit between students’ self‐construal and perceived university norms might help to prevent these problems. A strong dignity self‐construal (i.e., the understanding that one's worth is independent of others) is adaptive if university norms stress independence. The more a university norm is perceived as stressing independence, the better the fit for students with a strong (vs. weak) dignity self‐construal. Thus, if students with a strong dignity self‐construal perceive a university norm as stressing independence, they should develop a greater sense of belonging to the university and, in turn, experience higher well‐being, more motivation, and lower dropout intention. A longitudinal study with two measurement points conducted with students from 18 universities (N = 719) provided support for these predictions. This underlines the relevance of the fit between student and (perceived) school characteristics for the higher education sector.     

Multiple Levels of Family Factors and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms Among Chinese Children

Family factors are closely associated with child developmental outcomes. This study examined the relationship of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms and factors at whole family, dyadic, and individual levels in Chinese children. Participants, who were recruited from 14 primary schools in north, east, and south‐west China, included 80 father‐child dyads and 169 mother‐child dyads. Children in the participating dyads were previously diagnosed with ODD. Results revealed that family cohesion/adaptability was indirectly associated with ODD symptoms via parent–child relationship and child emotion regulation. Parent–child relationship affected ODD symptoms directly and indirectly through child emotion regulation. In addition, the effects of family cohesion/adaptability on parent emotion regulation and child emotion regulation were mediated by the parent–child relationship. The tested model provides a comprehensive framework of how family factors at multiple levels are related to child ODD symptoms and highlights the importance of understanding child emotional and behavioral problems within the family context, more specifically within the multiple levels of family relationships.     

Accuracy and assumed similarity in first impressions of personality: Differing associations at different levels of analysis

How are accuracy and assumed similarity associated in first impressions of personality? In a large-scale video perception study, accuracy and assumed similarity were strongly negatively associated across traits, consistent with past research (e.g., Beer & Watson, 2008). However, across perceivers and perceiver-target dyads, the ability to perceive others accurately was independent of the tendency to assume similarity with others. Thus, viewing others in general or specific others as overly similar to the self does not imply viewing them inaccurately. In sum, accuracy and assumed similarity are inversely related when examined across traits but are independent across perceivers and dyads.     

What emotional reactions can tell us about the nature of others: An appraisal perspective on person perception

The present research aimed to assess how people use knowledge about the emotional reactions of others to make inferences about their character. Specifically, we postulate that people can reconstruct or “reverse engineer” the appraisals underlying an emotional reaction and use this appraisal information to draw person perception inferences. As predicted, a person who reacted with anger to blame was perceived as more aggressive, and self-confident, but also as less warm and gentle than a person who reacted with sadness (Study 1). A person who reacted with a smile (Study 1) or remained neutral (Study 2) was perceived as self-confident but also as unemotional. These perceptions were mediated by perceived appraisals.     

When feeling bad makes you look good: Guilt,shame, and person perception

In two studies, we examined how expressions of guilt and shame affected person perception. In the first study, participants read an autobiographical vignette in which the writer did something wrong and reported feeling either guilt, shame, or no emotion. The participants then rated the writer's motivations, beliefs, and traits, as well as their own feelings toward the writer. The person expressing feelings of guilt or shame was perceived more positively on a number of attributes, including moral motivation and social attunement, than the person who reported feeling no emotion. In the second study, the writer of the vignette reported experiencing (or not experiencing) cognitive and motivational aspects of guilt or shame. Expressing a desire to apologise (guilt) or feelings of worthlessness (private shame) resulted in more positive impressions than did reputational concerns (public shame) or a lack of any of these feelings. Our results indicate that verbal expressions of moral emotions such as guilt and shame influence perception of moral character as well as likeability.     

La construction de la personne dans les Confessions de Saint-Augustin. Perspectives historique et épistémologique

The psychologists code of ethics specifies that the object of the psychology is the person, without the notion of person seems clearly defined. This study analyses certain aspects envisaged as historic construction, according to the perspectives opened by the psychology of Meyerson which dialectize the connection between the person and its works. In this context, Confessions of Augustin is examined in conformance with the “concern of itself, investigating and working the « folds » of the soul, which contribute to the emergence of the modern person by occurring as work”.     

The imbibing idiot bias: Consuming alcohol can be hazardous to your (perceived) intelligence

Alcohol consumption and cognitive impairment frequently co-occur. We propose that the relationship is so familiar that exposure to alcohol cues primes expectations of cognitive impairment. Across five studies, we find that in the absence of any evidence of reduced cognitive performance, people who hold an alcoholic beverage are perceived to be less intelligent than those who do not, a mistake we term the imbibing idiot bias. In fact, merely priming observers with alcohol cues causes them to judge targets who hold no beverage at all as less intelligent. The bias is not driven by a belief that less intelligent people are more likely to consume alcohol. We find that the bias may be costly in professional settings. Job candidates who ordered wine during an interview held over dinner were viewed as less intelligent and less hireable than candidates who ordered soda. However, prospective candidates believe that ordering wine rather than soda will help them appear more intelligent.