Stages in the analysis of persuasive messages: The role of causal attributions and message comprehension.

Describes a study with 400 female undergraduates in which an attribution analysis viewed opinion change as the outcome of a series of stages in message recipients' information processing. This processing was initiated by information about the communicator's background that led recipients to form an expectancy concerning what position the communicator would take in the message. The degree to which this premessage expectancy was confirmed or disconfirmed by the position the communicator took in the message then affected the outcome at each step of recipients' postmessage processing. In the 1st post-message step, disconfirmation of the expectancy led recipients to attribute the message primarily to the factual evidence associated with the issue, and confirmation led them to attribute it primarily to the communicator's background. Then, to the extent that recipients attributed the message to the factual evidence rather than to the communicator's background, they perceived the communicator as unbiased, a response that increased opinion change toward the message. In general, poor comprehension of message content lessened opinion change toward the message. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How communication goals determine when audience tuning biases memory.

After tuning their message to suit their audience's attitude, communicators' own memories for the original information (e.g., a target person's behaviors) often reflect the biased view expressed in their message--producing an audience-congruent memory bias. Exploring the motivational circumstances of message production, the authors investigated whether this bias depends on the goals driving audience tuning. In 4 experiments, the memory bias was found to a greater extent when audience tuning served the creation of a shared reality than when it served alternative, nonshared reality goals (being polite toward a stigmatized-group audience; obtaining incentives; being entertaining; complying with a blatant demand). In addition, the authors found that these effects were mediated by the epistemic trust in the audience-congruent view but not by the rehearsal or accurate retrieval of the original input information, the ability to discriminate between the original and the message information, or a contrast away from extremely tuned messages. The central role of epistemic trust, a measure of the communicators' experience of shared reality, was supported in meta-analyses across the experiments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some hedonic consequences of the confirmation and disconfirmation of expectances.

In a test of the hypothesis that events which disconfirm expectancies will be perceived as unpleasant, Ss tasted a random sequence of sweet and bitter solutions. On the basis of certain signals given by the E, they developed expectancies or hypotheses about whether the next solution would be bitter or sweet. On trials when the Ss' expectancies were disconfirmed due to incorrect signals, the solutions were judged to taste more unpleasant. Thus, a bitter solution was rated more bitter; a sweet solution was rated less sweet. The results were interpreted in terms of Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inferred sex differences in status as a determinant of gender stereotypes about social influence.

In 3 experiments, 470 male and 425 female university students read a scenario describing a communicator's attempt to influence a recipient and then judged how much influence would occur. The scenarios in Exp I described a man trying to influence a woman or a woman trying to influence a man. For scenarios in which job titles were omitted, Ss believed that women held lower status jobs than men and that women were more likely to comply behaviorally with men than men were with women. For scenarios in which job titles were included, Ss' beliefs about compliance were based on job status rather than the sex of the stimulus persons. In Exp II, scenarios in which job titles were omitted described an influence attempt between same- or opposite-sex persons. Both the communicator's and the recipient's sex were found to contribute to the greater perceived compliance of women to men (vs men to women). In Exp III, this perceived sex difference in compliance occurred only when the communicator and recipient were employed by the same organization. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The obstinate audience: The influence process from the point of view of social communication.

The social model of man and the scientific model(s) of man and "the relationships of these 2 models in the area of social communication" are discussed. Major findings of research on attitude change are summarized. Communication, given a reasonably large audience, varies in its impart. The audience exercises much more initiative outside the laboratory than it does in the experimental situation. The audience in effect influences the communicator by the role it forces on him. Individuals process new information as a function of their perceived relationship to future audiences. The audience selects from what is offered. "The process of social communication and of the flow of influence in general must be regarded as a transaction. The argument for using the transactional model for scientific purposes is that it opens the door more fully to exploring the intention and behavior of members of the audience and encourages inquiry into the influence of the audience on the communicator by specifically treating the process as a 2-way passage." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demonstration and analysis of an alarm pheromone in mice.

In an experiment with 31 C57Bl/6J mice, Ss exposed to the odor of a stressed conspecific communicator-S were averse to the source of the odor, although prior to the stress they preferred the source of the communicator's odor. No correlation existed between the communicator urinating or defecating and the recipient showing an aversion to the odor. Ss that were socially isolated for 12 wk. after weaning could emit the odor when stressed, but responded inappropriately. After 15 wk. of social experience, the odor aversion of these isolates improved, but was not restored to normal. Removal of the olfactory mucosa abolished the odor aversion, indicating the presence of a true pheromone. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Illusory correlation and social anxiety

An illusory correlation (IC) experiment examined the presence of a phobia-relevant covariation bias in the context of social anxiety. Low (n = 28) and high (n = 32) social anxious women were shown a series of slides comprising pictures of angry, happy and neutral faces which were randomly paired with either a shock, a siren or nothing. One half of the participants were shown women faces, whereas the other half were shown men faces. Participants indicated outcome expectancies on a trial by trial basis. After the experiment proper they estimated the contingencies of all slide/outcome combinations. Participants showed both an a priori and an a posteriori IC between angry faces and shock. This covariation bias was similar for men and women faces and independent of prior fear. The pattern of results is consistent with the idea that ICs arise from initial expectancies that survive extinction.     

Audience-tuning effects on memory: The role of shared reality.

After tuning to an audience, communicators' own memories for the topic often reflect the biased view expressed in their messages. Three studies examined explanations for this bias. Memories for a target person were biased when feedback signaled the audience's successful identification of the target but not after failed identification (Experiment 1). Whereas communicators tuning to an in-group audience exhibited the bias, communicators tuning to an out-group audience did not (Experiment 2). These differences did not depend on communicators' mood but were mediated by communicators' trust in their audience's judgment about other people (Experiments 2 and 3). Message and memory were more closely associated for high than for low trusters. Apparently, audience-tuning effects depend on the communicators' experience of a shared reality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linguistic intergroup bias: Differential expectancies or in-group protection?

The linguistic intergroup bias describes the tendency to communicate positive in-group and negative out-group behaviors more abstractly than negative in-group and positive out-group behaviors. This article investigated whether this bias is driven by differential expectancies or by in-group protective motives. In Exp 1, northern and southern Italian participants (N?=?151) described positive and negative behaviors of northern or southern protagonists that were either congruent or incongruent with stereotypic expectancies. Regardless of valence, expectancy-congruent behaviors were described more abstractly than incongruent ones. Exp 2 (N?=?40) showed that language is used in an equally biased fashion for individuals as previously demonstrated for groups. Exp 3 (N?=?192) induced expectancies experimentally and found greater abstraction for expectancy-congruent behaviors regardless of valence. All experiments confirmed the differential expectancy approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring Developmental Changes in Alcohol Expectancies.

The goal of this study was to measure shifts in alcohol expectancies from childhood into adolescence while controlling for changes in the psychometric properties of the instrument. One thousand nine hundred ninety-three 4th-grade and 1,632 9th-grade students from South Dakota rated the likelihood that 23 outcomes would result from alcohol use. These expectancies were modeled using a 2-factor confirmatory factor analysis. After differences in the psychometric properties of the instrument were controlled, the cohorts were distinguished by a large difference in Alcohol Positivity, with older participants viewing alcohol's effects more positively. Additionally, older participants displayed greater Alcohol Potency, believing that alcohol has a larger impact on all outcomes. There were also significant differences in the interpretation of the alcohol expectancies items across cohorts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diversity in in-group bias: Structural factors, situational features, and social functions.

Four experiments addressed the different forms and functions of in-group bias in different contexts. The authors proposed 2 functions: an identity-expressive function and an instrumental function (or promotion of positive social change). The authors manipulated status differentials, the stability of these differences, and the communication context (intra- vs. intergroup) and measured in-group bias and both functions. As predicted, identity expression via in-group bias on symbolic measures was most important for stable, high-status groups. By contrast, material in-group bias for instrumental motives was most prevalent in unstable, low-status groups but only when communicating with in-group members. This latter effect illustrates the strategic adaptation of group behavior to audience (i.e., displaying in-group bias may provoke the out-group and be counterproductive in instrumental terms). Stable, low-status groups displayed more extreme forms of in-group bias for instrumental reasons regardless of communication context (i.e., they had nothing to lose). Results are discussed in terms of a contextual-functional approach to in-group bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk factors for elementary school drinking: Pubertal status, personality, and alcohol expectancies concurrently predict fifth grade alcohol consumption.

Little is known about the correlates and potential causes of very early drinking. The authors proposed this risk theory: (a) pubertal onset is associated with increased levels of positive urgency (the tendency to act rashly when experiencing intensely positive mood), negative urgency (the tendency to act rashly when distressed), and sensation seeking; (b) those traits predict increased endorsement of high-risk alcohol expectancies; (c) the expectancies predict drinker status among fifth graders; and (d) the apparent influence of positive urgency, negative urgency, and sensation seeking on drinker status is mediated by alcohol expectancies. The authors conducted a concurrent test of whether the relationships among these variables were consistent with the theory in a sample of 1,843 fifth grade students. In a well-fitting structural model, their hypotheses were supported. Drinker status among fifth graders is not just a function of context and factors external to children: it is predictable from a combination of pubertal status, personality characteristics, and learned alcohol expectancies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When expectancy meets desire: Motivational effects in reconstructive memory.

Investigated, in 2 studies with 326 undergraduates, the effects of motivational factors on expectancy use in reconstructive memory. Ss were given a target's midterm grades for later recall; expectancies about the target's future performance were then manipulated. Ss' desires to see their expectancies confirmed were manipulated by making the target likable or unlikable. It was hypothesized that when expectancy and liking "matched," Ss would give significant weight to their expectancies at retrieval, resulting in expectancy-congruent distortion of the midterm grades. However, when expectancy and liking were "mismatched," expectancies would be discounted, and Ss would show little or not expectancy-congruent distortion. Results supported these predictions. Study 2 varied the order of the expectancy and liking information. Order affected the process by which mismatch Ss discounted their expectancies. Results demonstrate that motivations not only may bias memory search but also may affect the reconstruction of existing memory traces. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disruptive effects of disconfirmed expectancies about crowding.

Utilized a 2 (high vs low room density)?×?2 (forewarning of a crowded room vs no forewarning)?×?2 (simple vs complex task) design to examine the effects of anticipation of crowding on task performance of 80 undergraduates. More tasks were attempted and efficiency was higher when expectancies about the crowd were confirmed. Ss not told to anticipate a crowd who actually worked under high density and Ss warned about a crowd that did not materialize performed most poorly. These differences were largest for the complex task. The results of A. Baum and C. I. Greenberg (see PA, Vol 56:2328) were replicated with the performance data. Perceptions of the experimental room also differed as a function of anticipation, but failure to obtain a Crowding?×?Anticipation interaction did not support their hypothesis that anticipating a crowd induces perceptions identical to those obtained under actual crowding. Results are discussed in terms of disconfirmed expectancies being disruptive of performance, particularly complex task performance. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Medical students' and residents' gender bias in the diagnosis, treatment, and interpretation of coronary heart disease symptoms.

Two competing hypotheses explaining gender bias in cardiac care were tested. The first posits that women's coronary heart disease (CHD) symptoms are simply misinterpreted or discounted. The second posits that women's CHD symptoms are misinterpreted when presented in the context of stress. In two studies, medical students and residents randomized to 2 (male vs. female) × 2 (stress vs. nostress) experiments read vignettes of patients with CHD symptoms and indicated their diagnosis, treatment, and symptom origin interpretation. Both studies disconfirmed the first hypothesis and strongly supported the second. Only when stress was added did women receive significantly lower CHD diagnoses and cardiologist referrals than men and did the origin interpretation of women's CHD symptoms (e.g., chest pain) shift from organic to psychogenic. Neither participants' gender nor their attitude toward women influenced assessments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Public versus private expectancy of success: Confidence booster or performance pressure?

In Exp I, private expectancies of success were manipulated by having 38 male and 26 female undergraduates complete a confidential preliminary test that was rigged to cause either success or failure. Ss furnished confidential self-reports of expectancies and were informed that their audience expected them to succeed in an anagram-solving task. Results show that Ss' private expectancies of success improved performance, while audience's expectations of success lowered performance. Findings were strongest for Ss low in trait self-consciousness and for males. In Exp II, 30 undergraduates completed a personality questionnaire and were told they had an integration score of 75. Ss were (1) told they were expected to do well on the basis of past research findings, (2) told they were expected to do well on the basis of the experimenter's theory, or (3) given no information about expectations. Results show that Condition 1 raised performance while Condition 2 lowered performance. Findings fit a model holding that audience expectations of success constitute performance pressure that harms performance except when substantial private confidence is created. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maintenance of smoking cessation: Effect of follow-up letters, smoking motivation, muscle tension, and health locus of control.

Following smoking-cessation treatment, half of 44 Ss (22–58 yrs) were sent supportive maintenance letters. Letters produced no main effect but reduced smoking in Ss who smoked from habit or who received little pleasure from the sensorimotor stimulation of smoking, perhaps by increasing their awareness of smoking. Letters also reduced smoking in Ss with high muscle tension. Letters increased smoking among opposite S groups and in those believing powerful others could not influence their health. Independent of letter receipt, maintenance was enhanced by internal health locus of control (Multidimensional Health Locus of Control) and hampered by chance control expectancies. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The goal of forming accurate impressions during social interactions: Attenuating the impact of negative expectancies.

Investigated the idea that impression formation goals may regulate the impact that perceiver expectancies have on social interactions. In simulated interviews, interviewer Ss were given a negative expectancy about one applicant S and no expectancy about another. Half the interviewers were encouraged to form accurate impressions; the others were not. As predicted, no-goal interviewers exhibited a postinteraction impression bias against the negative-expectancy applicants, whereas the accuracy-goal interviewers did not. Moreover, the ability of the accuracy goal to reduce this bias was apparently mediated by more extensive and less biased interviewer information-gathering, which in turn elicited an improvement in negative-expectancy applicants' performances. These findings stress the theoretical and practical importance of considering the motivational context within which expectancy-tinged social interactions occur. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher expectations: Self-fulfilling prophecies, perceptual biases, and accuracy.

Students' performance may confirm teachers' expectations because teacher expectations create self-fulfilling prophecies, create perceptual biases, or accurately predict, without influencing, student performance. Longitudinal data obtained from 27 teachers and 429 students in 6th-grade math classes assessed the extent of self-fulfilling prophecies, perceptual biases, and accuracy. Results revealed modest self-fulfilling-prophecy effects on student achievement and motivation, modest biasing effects on the grades teachers assigned students, and that teacher expectations predicted student performance more because they were accurate than because they caused student performance. Results provide more support for perspectives emphasizing limitations on expectancy effects than for perspectives emphasizing the power of expectancies to create social reality. They also provide more evidence of accuracy in social perception than of error and bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Signal detection analyses of repetition blindness.

Three experiments used a signal detection model to demonstrate that repetition blindness (N. Kanwisher; see record 1988-34836-001) reflects a reduction in sensitivity (d°) for the detection of repeated compared with unrepeated visual targets. In Experiment 1, repetition blindness (RB) was found for rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) letter sequences, whether the visual targets were specified by category membership (vowels) or as 1 of 2 prespecified letters (e.g., A or O). In Experiment 2, RB was found to a similar degree even when the 1st critical item was displayed for twice as long as the other list items, although overall performance was considerably improved. Experiment 3 found RB for displays containing just 2 simultaneously presented letters. These results support Kanwisher's (1987) account of RB as a genuine perceptual effect, and rule out alternative accounts of RB as the result of response bias, output interference, or guessing biases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)