Daniel R. Stalder’s research while affiliated with University of Wisconsin–Whitewater and other places

Forgas (1998) reported "on being happy and mistaken," finding that a happy mood increased the fundamental attribution error (FAE) compared to a sad mood. However, the standard attitude-attribution paradigm used by Forgas might contain demand characteristics, to which happy people might be especially susceptible. In addition, Goldenberg and Forgas (2012) showed that a happy mood decreased a form of the FAE. Using the questioner-contestant paradigm, we replicated Forgas's result, but only when participants were already having a "good day."

Two studies investigated the potential for social psychology instruction to improve interpersonal understanding and to reduce conflict among American undergraduates. In Study 1, in comparison with general-education social science students who received fewer lectures and exercises on the fundamental attribution error (FAE), social psychology students showed: (a) greater openness to their own FAE; (b) less FAE in explaining anti-American terrorism; and (c) less negative feeling and judgment in response to negative behaviour in general. Self-reported understanding of the FAE concept predicted all three of these outcome measures across courses. In Study 2, from pre- to post-instruction periods, social psychology students showed: (a) an increase in openness to their own biases; (b) a decrease in the FAE in judging three of five targets (driver, employee, terrorist); (c) a decrease in negative feelings toward one of four targets (driver); but (d) a slight increase in a self-serving bias. All but one result in Study 2 remained after covarying for social desirability.

Using a cognitive dissonance framework, this research tried to identify predictors of openness toward divorce and trivialization of wedding vows. Using single undergraduates, Study 1 showed that those reminded of traditional (divorce-inconsistent) wedding vows reported less openness toward divorce than those not reminded (possibly indicative of dissonance-induced attitude change). Study 1 also showed that those who received social-comparison (divorce-rate) information were more likely to trivialize the vows than those who did not receive such information. Study 2 showed that marital status moderated these two primary effects: married individuals showed a stronger vow-reminder effect than divorced individuals, and divorced individuals showed a stronger social-comparison effect. Study 2 also demonstrated pluralistic ignorance in that participants took divorce more seriously than they thought “other people” did. Other results, implications, and counseling applications are discussed.

Using the English version of the Need for Closure Scale, this research investigated previous, though largely ignored, recommendations to exclude the close-mindedness subscale and to treat the Need for Closure Scale as a two-factor (vs single-factor) scale. Reliability and correlational analyses supported the recommendation to exclude close-mindedness. The two-factor model without close-mindedness yielded better fit indexes than a single-factor model or a two-factor model with close-mindedness. Despite the strong cross-cultural use of the scale, no investigation had yet tested the two-factor model without close-mindedness using any language other than Dutch. The present results and discussion can improve the study of need for closure by encouraging more researchers to consider the supported recommendations. Roets and Van Hiel's proposed modification to make the Need for Closure Scale a single-factor scale was also discussed.

This article provides a list of statistical mnemonics for instructor use. This article also reports on the potential for such mnemonics to help students learn, enjoy, and become less apprehensive about statistics. Undergraduates from two sections of a psychology statistics course rated 8 of 11 mnemonics as significantly memorable and helpful in learning statistics. Undergraduates rated the 3 remaining mnemonics as helpful after excluding students who did not recall those mnemonics (beyond scale midpoint). Other measures indicated a relatively high regard for the overall use of statistical mnemonics. In particular, mnemonics were rated as motivating and fun. Students also reported moderate belief that mnemonics could reduce statistics anxiety. The variety of positive findings suggests strong promise for statistical mnemonics.

Stalder and Baron (1998) found no relation between need for closure (NFC) and dissonance, despite a prediction by Kruglanski and Webster (1996) for a positive relation. However, Stalder and Baron did not consider the two orthogonal subfactors of NFC, decisiveness and need for structure (Neuberg, Judice, & West, 1997). A reanalysis of the original data showed that need for structure predicted dissonance-produced attitude change whereas decisiveness attenuated it. In addition, only decisiveness related to two other modes of dissonance reduction (trivialization and external justification). Results underscore the importance of considering both NFC subfactors and support further investigation of dissonance-NFC connections.

After reading a detailed account of a serious mistake in which a similar-age other went against personal values or a prior commitment, undergraduates rated their feelings of dissonance (regret, hypocrisy, and stupidity) had they been in the actor's place. Relative to a control condition, reading relevant proverbs such as "everybody makes mistakes" or "live and learn" significantly reduced feelings of dissonance in men but not women. For men but not women, perceived applicability of the proverbs also predicted trivialization of the mistake.

Webster’s (1993) finding that the need for closure (NFC) trait predicts the fundamental attribution error (FAE) is well-cited but has mixed support. After detailing failed replications and contradictory findings, this article reports an attempt to verify the positive NFC–FAE relation using the questioner–contestant paradigm. Rarely investigated but potentially vital to the field, this research also considered the two orthogonal subfactors of NFC, decisiveness and need for structure (Neuberg, Judice, & West, 1997). Results showed that need for structure predicted, overall NFC partially predicted, but decisiveness attenuated the FAE. Thus, Webster’s finding was both replicated and reversed by different aspects of NFC. Decisiveness adds to a short list of trait moderators of the FAE. Implications are discussed for how to measure NFC.

This article re‐examines Latané and Nida's (198112. Latané , B. and Nida , S. 1981 . Ten years of research on group size and helping. . Psychological Bulletin , 89 : 308 – 324 . [CrossRef], [Web of Science ®], [CSA]View all references) meta‐analysis on the inhibiting effect of groups on helping behavior and highlights the distinction between social inhibition and a victim's likelihood of receiving help. Correcting a minor miscalculation in one of Latané and Nida's analyses indicated that, under restricted communication among bystanders, victims were significantly more likely to receive help from a group than from an individual. New correlational analyses indicated that as group size increased, the likelihood of receiving help increased under restricted communication and did not change under full communication. I address several implications of these new findings, including those regarding the case of Kitty Genovese and the role of communication type in bystander intervention. I also briefly report on recent studies on online requests for help.