Affective influences on interpersonal perceptions

Es wird der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit affektive Einflüsse die interpersonale Wahrnehmung und die Meinungsbildung im sozialen Kontext beeinflussen. Modelle der sozialen Wahrnehmung werden dargestellt und einige theoretische Grundlagen für derartige Effekte entwickelt. Ergebnisse empirischer Untersuchungen (z. B. bei der Selbsteinschätzung, der Partner-Einschätzung oder der Präferierung von Partnern) zeigen deutlich unterschiedliche Ergebnisse in Abhängigkeit von der 'Stimmung' der Untersuchungspersonen. Es wird ein Modell zur Beschreibung dieser Effekte entwickelt und diskutiert. (psz)'What role do feelings play in interpersonal perception? This chapter reviews our empirical research program on affective influences on social judgments, and a new theoretical framework accounting for such effects is presented. In the first section, models of social judgment, and the affect-priming framework are outlined. Empirical work on affective influences on social judgments is reviewed next. Results show robust and reliable mood effects on a variety of social judgments, from simple behaviour interpretations tasks to complex and demanding attribution and interpersonal preference judgments. The role of affect in social judgments by children, in discussion groups, and in field settings is also considered, and evidence for the affect-priming model from reaction-time studies is summarized. In the final section, more recent theoretical formulations are discussed, and a multi-process model able to account for the empirical findings is presented. The implications of these results for everyday social judgments, and for contemporary models of social cognition are considered.' (author's abstract

Mood effects on interpersonal preferences: evidence for motivated processing strategies

In mehreren Experimenten werden die Einflüsse der Stimmungslage auf die Wahl eines Partners (z. B. eines Arbeitspartners, eines Sitzpartners oder eines Gesprächspartners) und die Informationsverarbeitungsstrategien in derartigen Situationen untersucht. Es zeigte sich, daß niedergeschlagene oder traurige Untersuchungspersonen deutlich abweichendes Verhalten zeigen, z. B. in Bezug auf die benötigte Entscheidungszeit oder die Verarbeitung von interpersonalen Informationen. Die Ergebnisse werden interpretiert als Beweis für eine stimmungsabhängige Strategiewahl bei der Verarbeitung von interpersonalen Präferenzen. (psz)'Are interpersonal choices influenced by mood? Three experiments found that information search and decision strategies when selecting a partner are significantly influenced by feeling state and the personal relevance of the task. Personal choices by dysphoric subjects in particular were based on 'motivated processing strategies', looking for, remembering and using more effectively information about rewarding personal characteristics in a future partner. In Experiment 1 (N=60), sad subjects preferred rewarding to competent partners, and remembered better information supporting that choice. In Experiment 2 (N=96), motivated processing led to information selectivity, greater decision speed, and a distinct processing strategy. Experiment 3 (N=42) used computerized stimulus presentation, and found that sad subjects selectively choise and looked at interpersonal information, remembered it better, and were faster in choosing a rewarding partner. The results are interpreted as evidence for motivated mood-repair strategies in interpersonal choices. The implications of the findings for research on interpersonal relations, and for contemporary affect-cognition theories are discussed.' (author's abstract

Social Cognition and Democracy: The Relationship Between System Justification, Just World Beliefs, Authoritarianism, Need for Closure, and Need for Cognition in Hungary

This research was aimed at examining just-world beliefs, system justification, authoritarianism, and cognitive style in a nationally representative sample (N = 1000) in Hungary, and at relating these phenomena to various demographic and political variables to find out whether the findings in Hungary would differ from its Western counterparts. According to system justification theory, there is a psychological motive to defend and justify the status quo. This theory has been tested several times in North American and Western European samples. The core finding of our study was that Hungarian people, unlike people in Western democracies, did not justify the existing establishment. There was strong pessimism with regard to the idea that the system serves the interests of the people. Members of disadvantaged groups (people with low economic income and/or far right political preference) strongly rejected the system. System justification beliefs were moderately related to just world beliefs, and there was a significant relationship between some aspects of need for closure (need for order, discomfort with ambiguity, and closed-mindedness) and authoritarian beliefs. Need for cognition was only related to one aspect of need for closure: closed-mindedness. The voters of right-wing parties did not display higher levels of authoritarianism than the voters of the left social-democrat party. The role of demographic and political variables, limitations, and possible developments of this research are discussed

Praise or blame? Affective influences on attributions for achievement

Three experiments showed that mood influences achievement attributions and that cognitive processes underlie these effects. In Experiment 1, happy Ss made more internal and stable attributions for success than failure in typical 'life dilemmas'. In Experiment 2, attributions for real-life exam performance were more internal and stable in a happy than in a sad mood. Dysphoric moods resulted in self-critical rather than self-enhancing attributions, contrary to motivational theories, but consistent with cognitive models and the clinical literature on depression. In Experiment 3 this pattern was repeated with direct self vs. other comparisons, and for self-efficacy judgments. The results are interpreted as supporting cognitive rather than motivational theories of attribution biases. The implications of the results for clinical research, and contemporary affect-cognition theories are considered

Social relationships : cognitive, affective, and motivational processes/ Edit.: Joseph P. Forgas; Julie Fitness

xii, 356 hal.; 24 cm