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Agency influences vicarious approach/avoidance effects
Cognition and Emotion
Abstract
Social learning plays a prominent role in shaping individual preferences. The vicarious approach-avoidance effect consists of developing a preference for attitudinal objects that have been approached over objects that have been avoided by another person (model). In two experiments (N = 448 participants), we explored how the vicarious approach-avoidance effect is affected by agency (model's voluntary choice) and identification with the model. The results consistently revealed vicarious approach-avoidance effects in preference, as indicated by the semantic differential and the Implicit Association Test. Agency increased the size of the preference assessed through the semantic differential but did not significantly impact preference in the Implicit Association Test. Identification with the model had no significant impact on the vicarious approach-avoidance effect. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.
... The outcome of this encounter would alter the slopes of his next water encounter. Human approach and avoidance gradients can be altered as well by mere observation of models who navigate similar demand characteristics (Zogmaister, Brignoli, et al., 2023;Zogmaister, Vezzoli, et al., 2023). ...
Liminality is a sociological construct that describes the process of identity transitions and group assimilations that occurs over time as a function of rites of passages. Liminal Commitment Theory (LCT) represents an extension of an analysis of the psychological factors that motivated people to search over a decade for a bronze treasure chest hidden in the Rocky Mountains. LCT postulates that many seductive factors that motivate treasure hunting generalize to other equally ''unattainable'' goal pursuits. Unattainability in this theory is defined by the goal's distal nature and markedly low public or personal estimate of achievability. The aspiration may be viewed as laudable or unsettling, and outcomes can vary from monumental achievements to utter hardship. A central tenet of the theory is that meaningful long-term commitments occur in a stepwise leveling process with transitions through serial impasses into increasingly sophisticated plateaus of competence. LCT examines the psychological needs, traits, and environmental contingencies that compel people to pursue lofty objectives. The Fenn treasure hunt was relied upon to illustrate how LCT principles might account for audacious goal pursuits.
Our behavior towards a stimulus can change as a result of observing a regularity between that stimulus and someone else’s emotional reaction, a type of social learning referred to as observational conditioning. We explore the idea that causal attributions (i.e., the extent to which the observer attributes the model’s reaction to the stimulus) play an important role in observational conditioning effects. In three experiments (total N = 665), participants watched videos in which one cookie was followed by a positive reaction and another cookie was followed by a negative reaction, after which their own evaluations of each cookie were measured via self-reports and an implicit association test (IAT). Critically, we manipulated whether the observed reactions were high or low in terms of distinctiveness (Experiments 1a and 1b) or consensus and consistency (Experiment 2). These three variables are known to influence stimulus attributions and were therefore predicted to moderate observational conditioning effects. In line with our predictions, high distinctiveness (Experiments 1a and 1b) and high consensus and consistency (Experiment 2) both resulted in larger observational conditioning effects, with one exception: high distinctiveness did not lead to larger changes in automatic evaluations (i.e., IAT effects). Taken together, our findings suggest that causal attributions play an important role in observational conditioning. We outline more elaborate analyses of the attributional processes that are involved and suggest potential future directions for research on observational conditioning.
Social learning represents an important avenue via which evaluations can be formed or changed. Rather than learn slowly through trial and error, we can instead observe how another person (a “model”) interacts with stimuli and quickly adjust our own behaviour. We report five studies (n = 912) that focused on one subtype of social learning, observational evaluative conditioning (OEC), and how it is moderated by relational information (i.e., information indicating how a stimulus and a model’s reactions are related). Participants observed a model reacting positively to one stimulus and negatively to another, and were either told that these reactions were genuine, faked, or opposite to the model’s actual feelings. Stimulus evaluations were then indexed using ratings and a personalised Implicit Association Test (pIAT). When the model’s reactions were said to be genuine, OEC effects emerged in the expected direction. When the model’s reactions were said to be faked, the magnitude of self-reported, but not pIAT, effects was reduced. Finally, stating that the model’s reactions were opposite to his actual feelings eliminated or reversed self-reported effects and eliminated pIAT effects. We consider how these findings relate to previous work as well as mental-process theories.
Observing how another person responds to a stimulus creates stimulus-response (SR) episodes. These can be retrieved from memory on later occasions, which means that observed responses are utilized for regulating one’s own actions. Until now, evidence for storage and retrieval of observationally acquired SR episodes was limited to dyadic face-to-face interactions between two partners who respond in alternating fashion. In two pre-registered studies (total N=252), we demonstrate for the first time that observational SR episodes can also be acquired in online interactions: Robust retrieval effects emerged when observers believe to be interacting with another person. In turn, retrieval effects were absent when observers believe to be interacting with a computer. Our findings show that feature-based binding and retrieval principles are pervasive and also apply to social interactions, even under purely virtual conditions. We discuss implications of our findings for different explanatory accounts of social modulations of automatic imitation.
Keywords: observational stimulus-response bindings, event files, observational learning, episodic retrieval, online interactions.
Narrative messages are increasingly being used in the field of tobacco prevention. Our study is based on narrative persuasion and aims to analyze the psychological mechanisms that explain why the narrative voice is relevant to promote persuasive impact. An online experiment with a 2 (narrative voice) × 2 (message) factorial design was carried out. Participants (525 adult smokers) were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions (first-person versus third-person narrative message). To increase the external validity of the study, two different messages were used within each condition. After reading the narrative message the mediating and dependent variables were evaluated. Participants who read the narrative in the first person experienced greater identification. Moreover, mediational analysis showed that both counterarguing and cognitive elaboration played a significant role in the relationship between narrative voice, identification, and persuasive impact. This study confirm that narrative voice is not only an anecdotal formal choice but that it indirectly affects variables related to tobacco prevention, due to the fact that first-person messages activate a mechanism of affective connection with the message (increasing the identification with the protagonist) that decreases resistance to prevention (the counterarguing process) while simultaneously stimulating reflection or cognitive elaboration.
The implicit association test (IAT) is widely used in psychology. Unfortunately, the IAT cannot be run within online surveys, requiring researchers who conduct online surveys to rely on third-party tools. We introduce a novel method for constructing IATs using online survey software (Qualtrics); we then empirically assess its validity. Study 1 (student n = 239) revealed good psychometric properties, expected IAT effects, and expected correlations with explicit measures for survey-software IATs. Study 2 (MTurk n = 818) showed predicted IAT effects across four survey-software IATs (ds = 0.82 [Black–White IAT] to 2.13 [insect–flower IAT]). Study 3 (MTurk n = 270) compared survey-software IATs and IATs run via Inquisit, yielding nearly identical results and intercorrelations that would be expected for identical IATs. Survey-software IATs appear to be reliable and valid, offer numerous advantages, and make IATs accessible for researchers who use survey software to conduct online research. We present all the materials, links to tutorials, and an open-source tool that rapidly automates survey-software IAT construction and analysis.
The idea that attitudes are associations in memory has been highly influential. We highlight an alternative perspective according to which stimulus evaluation is mediated by propositional representations. Unlike simple associations, which are merely links between nodes via which activation can spread, propositional representations are units of information that specify how events are related and that have a truth value. We review research on attitude acquisition and attitude activation that was inspired by this propositional perspective. This research reveals surprising parallels between phenomena that are often assumed to be fundamentally different (e.g., evaluative conditioning vs. persuasion; implicit vs. explicit evaluation) but also interesting differences that provide the impetus for future research.
Moran and Bar-Anan (Moran, T., & Bar-Anan, Y. (2013). The effect of object-valence relations on automatic evaluation. Cognition and Emotion, 27(4), 743–752) demonstrated that evaluations on a direct measure reflected information on both US valence and CS-US relations, whereas evaluations on an indirect measure (IAT) reflected only information on US valence. This dissociation between measures supposedly tapping into propositional and associative processes apparently supports dual process models of EC. In the present study, we present an alternative explanation of this pattern, based on an interpretation of IAT effects in terms of flexible similarity construction processes. According to this account, processing draws on those features that discriminate between target categories, and help to align targets with attributes in the compatible block. Across two experiments, we consistently found that IAT effects did not reflect rigid associations, but instead depended on whichever information could be used for similarity constructions between targets and attributes in different variants of the IAT. The findings are discussed with regard to theoretical models of EC as well as in reference to prominent accounts of IAT performance.
This study adds to existing research on liking of anti-heroes by demonstrating the importance of perceived interaction and identification on character liking. Our first experiment used a televised series (House of Cards) as the narrative context, and the second study employed a written narrative. In both experiments, versions featuring the main character speaking directly to the viewer/reader resulted in heightened feelings of perceived interaction (parasocial interaction and feelings of complicity), with these feelings predicting greater identification with the character. Further, higher levels of identification were generally associated with greater liking across levels of morality of the character. Together, these studies point to the important role of character identification as one additional means of understanding the appeal of anti-heroes. Further, these studies suggest that aspects of media presentation (i.e., breaking the fourth wall) may be consequential in predicting liking of anti-heroes in the face of perceived immorality.
Despite the increasing popularity of Bayesian inference in empirical research, few practical guidelines provide detailed recommendations for how to apply Bayesian procedures and interpret the results. Here we offer specific guidelines for four different stages of Bayesian statistical reasoning in a research setting: planning the analysis, executing the analysis, interpreting the results, and reporting the results. The guidelines for each stage are illustrated with a running example. Although the guidelines are geared toward analyses performed with the open-source statistical software JASP, most guidelines extend to Bayesian inference in general.
Over the past decade, an increasing number of studies have shown that the performance of specific actions (e.g., approach and avoidance) in response to a stimulus can lead to changes in how that stimulus is evaluated. In contrast to the reigning idea that these effects are mediated by the automatic formation and activation of associations in memory, we describe an inferential account that specifies the inferences underlying the effects and how these inferences are formed. We draw on predictive processing theories to explain the basic processes underlying inferential reasoning and their main characteristics. Our inferential account accommodates past findings, is supported by new findings, and leads to novel predictions as well as concrete recommendations for how action performance can be used to influence real-world behavior.
Although propositional models of associative learning are often referred to in the literature on evaluative conditioning (EC), it has not yet been stipulated clearly what propositional models of EC entail. The aim of this paper is to describe in more detail the assumptions of propositional models of EC. This includes a discussion of the core assumption that EC is mediated by propositions about stimulus relations, as well as assumptions about the processes via which those propositions are formed and influence liking. Based on this discussion, I put forward the Integrated Propositional Model that combines a number of these assumptions and discuss some of the predictions that can be derived from this model. The paper ends with a reflection on the limitations and strengths of propositional models of EC.
Evaluative conditioning (EC) is defined as the change in the evaluation of a conditioned stimulus (CS) due to its pairing with a positive or negative unconditioned stimulus (US). According to the associative-propositional evaluation (APE) model, EC effects can be the result of two functionally distinct learning mechanisms: associative and propositional learning. The current article reviews the core assumptions of the APE model regarding (1) the defining features of associative and propositional learning, (2) the mental representations resulting from the two learning mechanisms, (3) the processes involved in the behavioral expression of these representations, and (4) the automatic versus controlled nature of the processes underlying EC effects. In addition to reviewing the core assumptions of the APE model, the article reviews relevant evidence to illustrate the theory's main hypotheses, its explanatory and predictive power, as well as empirical challenges for the theory.
Associative attitude learning is typically viewed as a low-level process that automatically registers mere co-occurrences between stimuli, independent of their validity and relational meaning. This view invites to critically examine how attitude formation conforms to four operating conditions (i.e., unawareness, efficiency, goal independence, and uncontrollability) and two operating principles (i.e., unqualified registration of mere co-occurrences between stimuli and formation of direct stimulus–response links), which is the main purpose of the present contribution. The general discussion examines how contemporary attitude models endorse these conditions and principles. Overall, this contribution calls for (a) a nuanced understanding of the nature and scope of associative attitude learning, (b) a fine-grained understanding of how contemporary attitude models endorse conditions and principles reviewed here and find them relevant to their theorization of attitude formation, (c) a clarification of how direct and indirect evaluative measures relate to these conditions and principles, and (d) enhanced efforts in specifying contemporary attitude formation models.
Over the past decade an increasing number of studies across a range of domains have shown that
the repeated performance of approach and avoidance (AA) actions in response to a stimulus leads
to changes in the evaluation of that stimulus. The dominant (motivational-systems) account in
this area claims that these effects are caused by a rewiring of mental associations between
stimulus representations and AA systems that evolved to regulate distances to positive and
negative stimuli. In contrast, two recently forwarded alternative accounts postulate that AA
effects are caused by inferences about the valence of actions and stimuli (inferential account) or a
transfer of valenced action codes to stimulus representations (common-coding account). Across
four experiments we set out to test these three competing accounts against one another.
Experiments 1-3 illustrate that changes in stimulus evaluations can occur when people perform
valenced actions that bear no relation to a distance regulation, such as moving a manikin upwards
or downwards. The observed evaluative effects were dependent on the evaluative implication of
the instructed movement goal rather than whether the action implied a movement towards or
away from the stimuli. These results could not be explained with a rewiring of associations to
motivational systems. Experiment 4 showed that changes in stimulus evaluations occurred after
participants passively observed approach-avoidance movements, supporting an explanation in
terms of cognitive inferences.
Current research on identification with narrative characters poses two problems. First, although identification is seen as a dynamic process of which the intensity varies during reading, it is usually measured by means of post-reading questionnaires containing self-report items. Second, it is not clear which linguistic characteristics evoke identification. The present paper proposes that an interdisciplinary framework allows for more precise manipulations and measurements of identification, which will ultimately advance our understanding of the antecedents and nature of this process. The central hypothesis of our Linguistic Cues Framework is that identification with a narrative character is a multidimensional experience for which different dimensions are evoked by different linguistic cues. The first part of the paper presents a literature review on identification, resulting in a renewed conceptualization of identification which distinguishes six dimensions: a spatiotemporal, a perceptual, a cognitive, a moral, an emotional, and an embodied dimension. The second part argues that each of these dimensions is influenced by specific linguistic cues which represent various aspects of the narrative character’s perspective. The proposed relations between linguistic cues and identification dimensions are specified in six propositions. The third part discusses what psychological and neurocognitive methods enable the measurement of the various identification dimensions in order to test the propositions. By establishing explicit connections between the linguistic characteristics of narratives and readers’ physical, psychological, and neurocognitive responses to narratives, this paper develops a research agenda for future empirical research on identification with narrative characters.
In reporting Implicit Association Test (IAT) results, researchers have most often used scoring conventions described in the first publication of the IAT (A. G. Greenwald, D. E. McGhee, & J. L. K. Schwartz, 1998). Demonstration IATs available on the Internet have produced large data sets that were used in the current article to evaluate alternative scoring procedures. Candidate new algorithms were examined in terms of their (a) correlations with parallel self-report measures, (b) resistance to an artifact associated with speed of responding, (c) internal consistency, (d) sensitivity to known influences on IAT measures, and (e) resistance to known procedural influences. The best-performing measure incorporates data from the IAT's practice trials, uses a metric that is calibrated by each respondent's latency variability, and includes a latency penalty for errors. This new algorithm strongly outperforms the earlier (conventional) procedure.
Several models of narrative persuasion posit that a reader's phenomenological experience of a narrative plays a mediating role in the persuasive effects of the narrative. Because the narrative reading experience is multidimensional, this experiment investigates which dimensions of this experience - referred to here as narrative engagement - mediate between reading a story and the persuasive effects of the story. Narrative engagement was manipulated by giving participants a selection task to carry out while reading or by adding language errors to the story. Results showed that the task decreased the engagement dimension Being in Narrative World and the language errors decreased the dimension Attentional Focus. No corresponding effects on attitudes were found. However, comparisons with a control group showed that reading the story rendered attitudes more consistent with the story. Regression analysis indicated that this effect may be explained by readers' emotions regarding the characters.
758 children in the US and 220 children in Finland were interviewed and tested in each of 3 yrs in an overlapping longitudinal design covering Grades 1–5. Parents of 591 US Ss and 193 Finnish Ss were also interviewed. For girls in the US and boys in both countries, TV violence viewing was significantly related to concurrent aggression and significantly predicted future changes in aggression. The strength of the relation depended as much on the frequency with which violence was viewed as on the extent of the violence. For boys, the effect was exacerbated by the degree to which the boy identified with TV characters. Path analyses suggested a bidirectional causal effect in which violence viewing engendered aggression, and aggression engendered violence viewing. No evidence was found that those Ss predisposed to aggression or those with aggressive parents were affected more by TV violence. However, a number of other variables (e.g., strong identification with aggressive characters) were correlates of aggression and violence viewing. A multiprocess model in which violence viewing and aggression affect each other and, in turn, are stimulated by related variables is used to explain the findings. (74 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Several lines of research have found that information previously encoded into memory can influence inferences and judgments, even when more recent information discredits it. Previous theories have attributed this to difficulties in editing memory: failing to successfully trace out and alter inferences or explanations generated before a correction. However, in Exps 1A and 1B, Ss who had received an immediate correction made as many inferences based on misinformation as Ss who had received the correction later in the account (despite presumably having made more inferences requiring editing). In a 2nd experiment, the availability of the misinformation within the comprehension context was tested. Results showed that Ss continued to make inferences involving discredited information when it afforded causal structure, but not when only incidentally mentioned or primed during an intervening task. Exps 3A and 3B found that providing a plausible causal alternative, rather than simply negating misinformation, mitigated 1 effect. The findings suggest that misinformation can still influence inferences one generates after a correction has occurred; however, providing an alternative that replaces the causal structure it affords can reduce the effects of misinformation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
concerned with correction processes in judgment / under what conditions do people attempt to correct judgments they have already made; when are they motivated to do so; and how do they go about it / raise a very telling point at the outset: exactly what does it mean to hold an accurate, unbiased belief / this is a critical issue for models . . . that posit a motivation to hold accurate beliefs / note that "accuracy" can be defined by the individual in several ways: a judgment free of presumed bias, but perhaps also one that conforms to contemporaneous social norms as to appropriate beliefs to hold (via., political correctness of beliefs) / in other words, an important theoretical and research issue for those concerned with accuracy motivation is that of the definition and standards of accuracy as held by the individual
[discuss] the circumstances under which a person is motivated to correct a judgment / analyze the epistemic and social motivations the individual may have for correction (such as a desire to hold valid beliefs), as well as the potential interpersonal costs of holding socially undesirable opinions (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Considerable research has been devoted to the effects of celebrity endorsers on consumer behavior. Most of the research has examined credibility or attractiveness as a determinant of message effectiveness. A review of Burke, Kelman, and Bandura's theories suggests that there may be another critical factor underlying celebrity effects -- identification. A review of previous research results suggests that identification may be a viable explanation for the effectiveness of celebrity endorsers. A test of the identification effect was probed by examining people's personal concern, perceived risk, and sexual behaviors a year after Magic Johnson's announcement that he tested positive for HIV. The results of this study indicate that identification mediates message effects. This finding has important implications for media campaigns. It suggests that a spokesperson with whom the audience identifies insures the greatest likelihood of achieving lasting attitude or behavior change.
Male and female participants were instructed to produce an altered response pattern on an Implicit Association Test measure of gender identity by slowing performance in trials requiring the same response to stimuli designating own gender and self. Participants' faking success was found to be predictable by a measure of slowing relative to unfaked performances. This combined task slowing (CTS) indicator was then applied in reanalyses of three experiments from other laboratories, two involving instructed faking and one involving possibly motivated faking. Across all studies involving instructed faking, CTS correctly classified 75% of intentionally faking participants. Using the CTS index to adjust faked Implicit Association Test scores increased the correlation of CTS-adjusted measures with known group membership, relative to unadjusted (i.e., faked) measures.
When data are collected via anonymous Internet surveys, particularly under conditions of obligatory participation (such as with student samples), data quality can be a concern. However, little guidance exists in the published literature regarding techniques for detecting careless responses. Previously several potential approaches have been suggested for identifying careless respondents via indices computed from the data, yet almost no prior work has examined the relationships among these indicators or the types of data patterns identified by each. In 2 studies, we examined several methods for identifying careless responses, including (a) special items designed to detect careless response, (b) response consistency indices formed from responses to typical survey items, (c) multivariate outlier analysis, (d) response time, and (e) self-reported diligence. Results indicated that there are two distinct patterns of careless response (random and nonrandom) and that different indices are needed to identify these different response patterns. We also found that approximately 10%-12% of undergraduates completing a lengthy survey for course credit were identified as careless responders. In Study 2, we simulated data with known random response patterns to determine the efficacy of several indicators of careless response. We found that the nature of the data strongly influenced the efficacy of the indices to identify careless responses. Recommendations include using identified rather than anonymous responses, incorporating instructed response items before data collection, as well as computing consistency indices and multivariate outlier analysis to ensure high-quality data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
This study examined emotional responses to excerpts from short stories by James Joyce. Forty-eight introductory psychology students, including 24 males and 24 females, read four short story excerpts from James Joyce's Dubliners each divided into four segments of equal length. Two of the short story excerpts had unifying Emotional themes, while two others were Descriptively dense. Readers were instructed either to be spectators and feel sympathy for the protagonist (Spectator Set) or to imagine what it is like to be the protagonist (Identification Set). Set and story type were factorially combined in a within-subjects design. After reading each segment, subjects indicated whether they felt a ‘fresh emotion’ and/or an ‘emotional memory’, rated each kind of experience on 11-point scales measuring Pleasure, Intensity, and Tension, and also indicated if they experienced specific Primary Emotions (e.g., happiness, anger). Afterwards, they were given a two-choice recognition memory task pertaining to setting and person-oriented details. Results showed that ‘fresh emotions’ were elicited more frequently than ‘emotional memories’, though the memories were rated as more Pleasant, Tense, and Intense. The Emotional excerpts prompted fresh emotions and emotional memories almost equally, whereas Descriptively dense passages evoked more fresh emotions than memories. The results show that identification makes readers experience ‘fresh emotions’ in the moment in response to the Descriptive texts, while being a spectator directs readers toward their ‘emotional memories’. Overall, differences in the kinds of emotional effects (tendencies towards fresh emotions versus emotion memories) arose both with variations in textual properties and in the reader's psychological set.
The present research introduces the concept of experience-taking-the imaginative process of spontaneously assuming the identity of a character in a narrative and simulating that character's thoughts, emotions, behaviors, goals, and traits as if they were one's own. Six studies investigated the degree to which particular psychological states and features of narratives cause individuals, without instruction, to engage in experience-taking and investigated how the merger between self and other that occurs during experience-taking produces changes in self-judgments, attitudes, and behavior that align with the character's. Results from Studies 1-3 showed that being in a reduced state of self-concept accessibility while reading a brief fictional work increased-and being in a heightened state of self-concept accessibility decreased-participants' levels of experience-taking and subsequent incorporation of a character's personality trait into their self-concepts. Study 4 revealed that a first-person narrative depicting an ingroup character elicited the highest levels of experience-taking and produced the greatest change in participants' behavior, compared with versions of the narrative written in 3rd-person voice and/or depicting an outgroup protagonist. The final 2 studies demonstrated that whereas revealing a character's outgroup membership as a homosexual or African American early in a narrative inhibited experience-taking, delaying the revelation of the character's outgroup identity until later in the story produced higher levels of experience-taking, lower levels of stereotype application in participants' evaluation of the character, and more favorable attitudes toward the character's group. The implications of these findings in relation to perspective-taking, self-other overlap, and prime-to-behavior effects are discussed.
The correspondence bias is the tendency to draw inferences about a person's unique and enduring dispositions from behaviors that can be entirely explained by the situations in which they occur. Although this tendency is one of the most fundamental phenomena in social psychology, its causes and consequences remain poorly understood. This article sketches an intellectual history of the correspondence bias as an evolving problem in social psychology, describes 4 mechanisms (lack of awareness, unrealistic expectations, inflated categorizations, and incomplete corrections) that produce distinct forms of correspondence bias, and discusses how the consequences of correspondence-biased inferences may perpetuate such inferences.
An implicit association test (IAT) measures differential association of 2 target concepts with an attribute. The 2 concepts appear in a 2-choice task (2-choice task (e.g., flower vs. insect names), and the attribute in a 2nd task (e.g., pleasant vs. unpleasant words for an evaluation attribute). When instructions oblige highly associated categories (e.g., flower + pleasant) to share a response key, performance is faster than when less associated categories (e.g., insect & pleasant) share a key. This performance difference implicitly measures differential association of the 2 concepts with the attribute. In 3 experiments, the IAT was sensitive to (a) near-universal evaluative differences (e.g., flower vs. insect), (b) expected individual differences in evaluative associations (Japanese + pleasant vs. Korean + pleasant for Japanese vs. Korean subjects), and (c) consciously disavowed evaluative differences (Black + pleasant vs. White + pleasant for self-described unprejudiced White subjects).
Transportation was proposed as a mechanism whereby narratives can affect beliefs. Defined as absorption into a story, transportation entails imagery, affect, and attentional focus. A transportation scale was developed and validated. Experiment 1 (N = 97) demonstrated that extent of transportation augmented story-consistent beliefs and favorable evaluations of protagonists. Experiment 2 (N = 69) showed that highly transported readers found fewer false notes in a story than less-transported readers. Experiments 3 (N = 274) and 4 (N = 258) again replicated the effects of transportation on beliefs and evaluations; in the latter study, transportation was directly manipulated by using processing instructions. Reduced transportation led to reduced story-consistent beliefs and evaluations. The studies also showed that transportation and corresponding beliefs were generally unaffected by labeling a story as fact or as fiction.
In 2 studies of 25 class rooms of 7th grade children, it was noted that viewers "identify themselves with the like-sexed leading character, in viewing a movie which included both a strong male and strong female lead. With respect to similarity of social class, however, viewers were more likely to choose the protagonist whose social class corresponded with the viewer's aspired social class, rather than his current objective status."
Dans cet article, nous mettons de l'avant l'hypothèse que le Test d'association implicite (TAI) permet une mesure générale de la similarité. Cela suppose que le rendement au TAI reflète non seulement la similarité en ce qui a trait à la signification ou à la prégnance d'une attitude, mais aussi en ce qui touche d'autres particularités. La recherche antérieure suggère en effet que les effets du TAI peuvent être fondés sur les propriétés perceptuelles du stimuli (p. ex., Lasaga et Garner, 1983; Mierke et Klauer, 2003). Nous prolongerons cette recherche en démontrant que le rendement au TAI peut dépendre d'une similarité perceptuelle même lorsque seulement certains éléments des concepts sont semblables (p. ex. photo d'une pizza ronde et d'une pièce de monnaie ronde; photo d'une rivière sinueuse et d'un serpent sinueux; expérience 1). Nous avons également examiné pour la première fois si le contexte du test peut déterminer le type de similarité sur lequel se base le TAI. Les résultats de l'expérience 2 ont montré que le rendement au TAI reflète une similarité en ce qui touche la forme (p. ex. ronde ou sinueuse) lorsque cette particularité perceptuelle a été rendue saillante au cours d'une phase de formation, mais qu'elle reflétait une similarité en ce qui touche une caractéristique fonctionnelle (p. ex. mangeable ou non mangeable) lorsque cette particularité était rendue saillante au cours de la phase de formation.
Les idées et les données qui sont présentées dans cet article comptent un certain nombre de suppositions théoriques. De façon plus importante, notre perception de similarité présente une nouvelle perspective sur la question de ce que mesure le TAI. La proposition qu'il peut mesurer toutes sortes de similarités englobe les propositions antérieures. Il ne faudrait pas l'opposer à l'idée que le TAI mesure les associations en mémoire sémantique (p. ex., Banaji, 2001; Greenwald et al., 1998), non plus que le point de vue que le TAI reconnaît les régularités dans la saillance (par ex., Rothermund et Wentura, 2001, 2004). La perception de similarité amène à l'intuition que ces propositions antérieures ne sont pas mutuellement exclusives, mais peuvent être en fait considérées comme deux cas de principes généraux que le TAI mesure la similarité. Il s'agit aussi de la seule perspective qui est compatible au fait que les effets du TAI peuvent être fondés sur la similarité perceptuelle.
Les idées et les résultats que nous présentons ont non seulement des conséquences sur la question de ce que mesure le TAI, mais présentent aussi de l'information concernant la deuxième question théorique : Comment surviennent les effets du TAI? Une première supposition est qu'un modèle de processus adéquat du TAI devrait être en mesure d'expliquer que les effets du TAI peuvent refléter non seulement les associations en mémoire, mais aussi d'autres genres de similarités. Une deuxième supposition concerne le rôle des éléments et des étiquettes dans le TAI. Le fait que nous avons trouvé un effet du TAI qui était fondé sur une similarité perceptuelle entre des éléments (expériences 1 et 2) montre clairement que les propriétés et les éléments peuvent avoir une incidence importante sur les effets du TAI. En dernier lieu, notre proposition que le TAI fournit une mesure générale de similarité pourrait également être pertinente pour les chercheurs qui comptent sur le concept de « similarité » dans leur travail parce que le TAI pourrait fournir une mesure utile de similarité dans ces domaines de recherche.
A central theme in recent research on attitudes is the distinction between deliberate, “explicit” attitudes and automatic, “implicit” attitudes. The present article provides an integrative review of the available evidence on implicit and explicit attitude change that is guided by a distinction between associative and propositional processes. Whereas associative processes are characterized by mere activation independent of subjective truth or falsity, propositional reasoning is concerned with the validation of evaluations and beliefs. The proposed associative-propositional evaluation (APE) model makes specific assumptions about the mutual interplay of the 2 processes, implying several mechanisms that lead to symmetric or asymmetric changes in implicit and explicit attitudes. The model integrates a broad range of empirical evidence and implies several new predictions for implicit and explicit attitude change.
Gaze direction signals another person's focus of interest. Facial expressions convey information about their mental state. Appropriate responses to these signals should reflect their combined influence, yet current evidence suggests that gaze-cueing effects for objects near an observed face are not modulated by its emotional expression. Here, we extend the investigation of perceived gaze direction and emotional expression by considering their combined influence on affective judgments. While traditional response-time measures revealed equal gaze-cueing effects for happy and disgust faces, affective evaluations critically depended on the combined product of gaze and emotion. Target objects looked at with a happy expression were liked more than objects looked at with a disgust expression. Objects not looked at were rated equally for both expressions. Our results demonstrate that facial expression does modulate the way that observers utilize gaze cues: Objects attended by others are evaluated according to the valence of their facial expression.
Recoding processes can influence the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) in a way that impedes an unequivocal interpretation of the resulting compatibility effects. We present a modified version of the IAT that aims to eliminate recoding, the IAT-RF (short for "IAT-recoding free"). In the IAT-RF, compatible and incompatible assignments of categories to responses switch randomly between trials within a single experimental block. Abandoning an extended sequence of consistent category-response mappings undermines recoding processes in the IAT-RF. Two experiments reveal that the IAT-RF is capable of assessing compatibility effects between the nominally defined categories of the task and effectively prevents recoding. By enforcing a processing of the stimuli in terms of their task-relevant category membership, the IAT-RF eliminates the confounding of compatibility effects with task switch costs and becomes immune against biased selections of stimuli.
We present five studies investigating the effects of approach and avoidance behaviours when individuals do not enact them but, instead, learn that others have performed them. In Experiment 1, when participants read that a fictitious character (model) had approached a previously unknown product, they ascribed to this model a liking for the object. In contrast, they ascribed to the model a disliking for the avoided product. In Experiment 2, this result emerged, with a smaller effect size, even when it was clear that the behaviours followed specific instructions from a third party. The model had been a mere executor instead of behaving autonomously. Finally, in Experiments 3, 4, and 5, we showed, with direct and indirect measures of attitudes, that reading that the model had approached vs avoided products was sufficient to create preferences in the participant for the approached one, regardless of whether it was explained that the model was a mere executor. This research highlights the largely unexplored effects of vicarious approach/avoidance behaviours. Theoretical and practical implications and possible developments of this line of research are discussed.
Attitudes are mental representations that help to explain why stimuli evoke positive or negative responses. Until recently, attitudes were often thought of as associations in memory. This idea inspired extensive research on evaluative conditioning (EC) and implicit evaluation. However, attitudes can also be seen as propositional representations, which, unlike associations, specify relational information and have a truth value. We review research on EC and implicit evaluation that tested the basic tenets of the propositional perspective on attitudes. In line with this perspective, studies show that both phenomena are moderated by relational and truth information. We discuss implications for the prediction and influencing of seemingly irrational behavior such as excessive alcohol intake and implicit racial bias.
This study conceptually and empirically distinguishes two mental processes in narrative processing of food safety health messages-identification with and egocentric projection onto story characters. Two studies examined the effects of narrative autobiographical accounts of contracting foodborne illness (salmonella) because of careless food preparation. Both studies consistently found that identification increased, but egocentric projection decreased audience members' behavioral intention to perform safe food handling practices, indicating that egocentric projection and identification represent unique mental processes and yield distinct persuasive outcomes. In addition, confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence that egocentric projection and identification are distinct constructs. Implications for the role of identification and egocentric projection for understanding narrative processing and for health persuasion are discussed.
People are better suited to understand stories than arguments. This research examined the influence of a narrative transportation approach on luxury hotel consumers’ perceptions of brand image, using a variety of brand story structures. This study measured the effect of brand story structure on brand image and the mediating role of narrative transportation. Data was obtained via a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment, and a crafted brand story of a fictitious luxury hotel brand, with eight structurally varied versions. The results suggest that a well-structured brand story has the potential to enhance brand image, mediated by narrative transportation.
G*Power (Erdfelder, Faul, & Buchner, 1996) was designed as a general stand-alone power analysis program for statistical tests commonly used in social and behavioral research. G*Power 3 is a major extension of, and improvement over, the previous versions. It runs on widely used computer platforms (i.e., Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Mac OS X 10.4) and covers many different statistical tests of the t, F, and chi2 test families. In addition, it includes power analyses for z tests and some exact tests. G*Power 3 provides improved effect size calculators and graphic options, supports both distribution-based and design-based input modes, and offers all types of power analyses in which users might be interested. Like its predecessors, G*Power 3 is free.
In this article I argue that although the notion of identification with media characters is widely discussed in media research, it has not been carefully conceptualized or rig- orously tested in empirical audience studies. This study presents a theoretical discus- sion of identification, including a definition of identification and a discussion of the consequences of identification with media characters for the development of identity and socialization processes. It is suggested that a useful distinction can be made be- tween identification and other types of reactions that media audiences have to media characters. A critical look at media research involving identification exposes the in- herent conceptual problems in this research and leads to hypotheses regarding the antecedents and consequences of identification with media characters. The impor - tance of a theory of identification to media research and communication research, more broadly, is presented. When reading a novel or watching a film or a television program, audience members often become absorbed in the plot and identify with the characters portrayed. Unlike the more distanced mode of reception—that of spectatorship—identification is a mechanism through which audience members experience reception and interpreta- tion of the text from the inside, as if the events were happening to them. Identification is tied to the social effects of media in general (e.g., Basil, 1996; Maccoby & Wilson, 1957); to the learning of violence from violent films and television, specifically (Huesmann, Lagerspetz, & Eron, 1984); and is a central mechanism for explaining such effects. As Morley (1992) said: "One can hardly imagine any television text having any effect whatever without that identification" (p. 209). The most promi-
Two central avenues for audience involvement in entertainment are identification and transportation. This study conceptually and empirically differentiated between these processes by manipulating information about the hero of a film and about the plot in order to affect the ways viewers respond to the film and character. The valence of information about the hero affected the level of identification (but not the level of transportation), and the time of deeds affected the level of transportation (but not the level of identification). These results provide evidence that identification and transportation are distinct processes and an analysis of how each of them relates to enjoyment supports this conclusion. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and methodological contribution to the study of audience involvement.
Social cognitive theory provides an agentic conceptual framework within which to analyze the determinants and psychosocial mechanisms through which symbolic communication influences human thought, affect and action. Communications systems operate through two pathways. In the direct pathway, they promote changes by informing, enabling, motivating, and guiding participants. In the socially mediated pathway, media influences link participants to social networks and community settings that provide natural incentives and continued personalized guidance, for desired change. Social cognitive theory analyzes social diffusion of new styles of behavior in terms of the psychosocial factors governing their acquisition and adoption and the social networks through which they spread and are supported. Structural interconnectedness provides potential diffusion paths; sociocognitive factors largely determine what diffuses through those paths.
Infants as young as 12 months readily modulate their behavior toward novel, ambiguous objects based on emotional responses that others display. Such social-referencing skill offers powerful benefits to infants' knowledge acquisition, but the magnitude of these benefits depends on whether they appreciate the referential quality of others' emotional messages, and are skilled at using cues to reference (e.g., gaze direction, body posture) to guide their interpretation of such messages. Two studies demonstrated referential understanding in 12- and 18-month-olds' responses to another's emotional outburst. Infants relied on the presence versus absence of referential cues to determine whether an emotional message should be linked with a salient, novel object in the first study (N= 48), and they actively consulted referential cues to disambiguate the intended target of an affective display in the second study (N= 32). These findings provide the first experimental evidence of such sophisticated referential abilities in 12-month-olds, as well as the first evidence that infant social referencing at any age actually trades on referential understanding.
Intercultural training poses a special challenge due to the fact that it is most often attempted in isolation from the new culture. This experience gap, which those involved with intercultural training will readily recognize, is the focus of this article. Can quality, imaginative fiction be a source to bridge this pedagogical chasm between the “we” and the “they?” Nothing can take the place of actual experience, but until that most important facility is available, engaging fiction can provide a type of virtual learning. If the human brain can be likened to the hardware, then imaginative, interculturally oriented fiction, is the software. Intercultural competencies can be better achieved by evoking the imagination of the culture learner through the vicarious experience afforded through good fiction. This article will offer a sampling from the vast body of culturally significant literature to see how such works could support the training process. These practical examples from a variety of genres will be couched in the framework of a transformative training theory that is workable.
Experiential learning theory stresses the primacy of personal experience and the literature suggests that direct clinical experience is required in order for learning to take place. However, raw or first hand experience may not be the only mechanisms by which students engage in experiential learning. There is a growing body of literature within higher education which suggests that students are able to use another's experience to learn: vicarious learning. This literature review aims to outline vicarious learning within a nursing context. Many of the studies regarding vicarious learning are situated within Higher Education in general, however, within the United States these relate more specifically to nursing students. The literature indicates the increasing global interest in this area. This paper reveals that whilst the literature offers a number of examples illustrating how vicarious learning takes place, opinion on the role of the lecturer is divided and requires further exploration and clarification. The implications for nurse education are discussed.
The Implicit Association Test (IAT; A. G. Greenwald, D. E. McGhee, & J. L. K. Schwartz, 1998) can be used to assess interindividual differences in the strength of associative links between representational structures such as attitude objects and evaluations. Four experiments are reported that explore the extent of method-specific variance in the IAT. The most important findings are that conventionally scored IAT effects contain reliable interindividual differences that are method specific but independent of the measures' content, and that IAT effects can be obtained in the absence of a preexisting association between the response categories. Several techniques to decrease the impact of method-specific variance are evaluated. The best results were obtained with the D measures recently proposed by A. G. Greenwald, B. A. Nosek, and M. R. Banaji (2003).
Does association formation contribute to evaluative conditioning? A review of current methodologies and their findings
- K Bading
Bading, K. (2021). Does association formation contribute to evaluative conditioning? A review of current methodologies and
their findings [Doctoral dissertation, Universität zu Köln].