摘要:

The negativity effect is defined as the disproportionate weighting of negative information in comparison to equidistantly valenced positive information in the formation of judgments. The informativeness explanation of the negativity effect posits that the evaluative extremity (the distance from a psychological neutral point) and evaluative valence (positive/negative) of an event serve as determinants of its informativeness. Traditionally, this informativeness hypothesis explains the occurrence of a negativity effect by presuming a skewed distribution with unequal tails for the frequency of outcomes for valence; a mirror‐image distribution for informativeness as a function of valence; and a negative, linear relationship between typicality and informativeness. These three assumptions were tested directly in this research through the fitting of nonlinear equations. It was determined that (a) a negatively skewed distribution of outcomes for valence does not occur in interaction contexts and that (b) typicality was a determinant of informativeness, although its importance as a determinant varies in response to whether one's perspective is that of an observer or a participant. Thus, reliance on evaluative extremity and evaluative valence as determinants of informativeness was rejected; these variables are only descriptors when the distribution for the frequency of outcomes for valence is skewed and has uneven tail

ISSN:0360-3989    

DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1989.tb00208.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Sexual amassment of employees by organizational superiors is a significant and all too common problem in the workplace. Victims of harassment typically want to achieve a variety of instrumental, relational, and identity management goals. The present study tested the perceived effectiveness of different messages with respect to several of these goals. Messages varied systematically with respect to what O'Keefe (1988) has termed “design logic” and “goal structure.” Participants(N= 577)generally perceived messages reflecting advanced design logics and goal structures as being most effective at projecting desired identities and preserving relationships. However, the effects for goal structure were qualified by interactions with gender and interpersonal cognitive complexity. Significantly, none of the messages were perceived as particularly effective at stopping the Liarasser's offensive conduct. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for both O'Keefe's analysis of messages and the management of sexual harassment in the wo

ISSN:0360-3989    

DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1989.tb00209.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The current monograph asserts that nonverbal behaviors can serve as useful overt indices of experienced arousal. Various conceptualizations of arousal and factors eliciting arousal in communication situations are examined. It is proposed that, from a communication standpoint, indices of arousal and arousal change are best classified along two dimensions of arousal intensity and arousal valence. Diverse bodies of literature on nonverbal concamitants of arousal are reviewed. As a first test of whether separate profiles exist for negatively, as opposed to positively or neutrally, valenced arousal, data are analyzed from a mock‐interview experiment in which, following a baseline interview, participants (N=52) were subjected by an interviewer to either increased or decreased involvement. The involvement changes were expected to elevate arousal intensity for all participants and induce positively or negatively valenced arousal in the two respective conditions. Polynomial regressions and z‐test comparisons of correlations revealed that 16 composites, comprising a total of 47 nonverbal variables, showed significant associations with changes in arou

ISSN:0360-3989    

DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1989.tb00210.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Children at three age levels (5–6, 8–9, and 10–12 years) were exposed to a televised story in which the auditory and visual content conflicted at the semantic level: a character was depicted as behaving kindly in one channel and cruelly in the other. Comparison groups were exposed to audio‐only and video‐only versions of the program. It was found that awareness of the auditory‐visual discrepancy, assessed at the end of the testing session, increased with age. On a recognition memory test, the presence of conflicting video significantly reduced recognition of the audio content among children in the two older groups, but not among those in the youngest group. This pattern did not emerge for recognition of video content. However, the tendency to interpret video depictions in terms of the inconsistent audio information increased with age. On a measure of free recall, mention of the content of both channels, rather than only one channel, also increased with age. Finally, for all three age groups, personality ratings of the central character were less extreme among respondents exposed to the mismatch version of the program than among those exposed to the audio‐only or video‐only versions (in which the character exhibited only one type of behavior). Overall, the results were interpreted as indicating a developmental increase in utilization of the semantic content of both channels to form a unified representation of the events in the narrative. However, evaluations of the character's personality suggest that children at all three age levels integrated the content of both channels

ISSN:0360-3989    

DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1989.tb00211.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Recent speculation and research concerning the achievement of unanimous agreement in small groups underscores the importance of consensus, implicit or explicit, regarding the criteria for selecting an option from the pool of alternative decisions. Moreover, an emerging stream of research indicates that individuals vary in their tendency to make choices that are indicative of specific decision rule orientations. Although many individuals do not demonstrate consistent orientations, many others display tendencies to select options congruent with assumptions underlying maximax, maximin, and maximum expected utility decision rules. In the present study, participants were assigned to groups composed of members who were either identical (matched) or different (mixed) with respect to decision rule orientation. The results indicated that, for interacting groups, consensus was more likely in matched than in mixed groups. However, the hypothesis did not hold for noninteracting groups. Implications for group consensus and the decision rule orientation construct arc discussed.

ISSN:0360-3989    

DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1989.tb00212.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Effective social decision making often depends upon gathering needed information. Since the kind and quality of information obtained depends on the tactics used to gain it, the study of information‐gathering tactics is of prime importance in understanding the processes of social decision making. We focused on one facet of information‐gathering—the cognitive process of second‐guessing developed by Hewes and Planalp (1982). We developed and tested a theory of reinterpretation assessment that explores the relationship between second‐guessing and the use of social information‐gathering tactics. Four of the five principles on which this theory is based are tested empirically. They concern the effects of motivational (need for accuracy), cognitive (processing load), and practical (social effort) antecedents on the tactics employed by social actors to improve subjectively the quality of their reinterpretations of messages. Moderate support is garnered for all four principles. Some challenging anomalies result in modifications of

ISSN:0360-3989    

DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1989.tb00213.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY