Daumenregel oder Kopfzerbrechen? Zum Zusammenhang zwischen Erfolgserwartung und allgemeinen oder spezifischen Fähigkeitsselbstkonzepten

Erfolgserwartungen in Bezug auf spezifische Aufgaben sollen den Annahmen verschiedener Theorien zufolge enger mit dem entsprechenden spezifischen Fähigkeitsselbstkonzept als mit allgemeinen Fähigkeitsselbstkonzepten zusammenhängen. Im Gegen-satz dazu wird hier argumentiert, dass im Falle peripherer Informationsverarbeitung die Erfolgserwartung enger mit dem allgemeinen, im Falle zentraler Informationsverarbeitung enger mit dem spezifischen Fähigkeitsselbstkonzept zusammenhängen sollte. In einem Experiment (N = 252) zeigte sich hypothesengemäß, dass bei hoher Relevanz korrekter Erfolgserwartungen (die zu zentraler Informationsverarbeitung führen sollte) die Erfolgserwartung durch das spezifische, nicht aber durch das allgemeine Fähigkeitsselbstkonzept vorhergesagt werden konnte. In einer Kontrollbedingung zeigte sich dieses Zusammenhangsmuster jedoch nur für Personen mit einer hohen Freude am Nachdenken (Need for Cognition), während Personen mit einem niedrigen Need for Cognition die Erfolgserwartung für eine spezifische Aufgabe aus ihrem allgemeinen Fähigkeitsselbstkonzept abzuleiten schienen

On the ease of (dis)believing: The role of accessibility experiences in credibility judgments

Credibility judgments are common and consequential in many applied settings. Although much research has addressed human observers' ability to discriminate true and deceptive statements, less is known about the psychological processes involved in such judgments. Here, it is proposed that the process of mustering evidence for or against credibility is reflected in a feeling-based form (ease-of-retrieval) and that such feelings can be used as a basis for credibility judgments. The results of an experiment show, as predicted, that the perceived ease with which participants could identify clues strongly influenced credibility judgments. Ironically, mustering more clues in support of a truthful account lowered credibility judgments; in contrast, mustering more clues in support of a deceptive account increased credibility judgments. Mediation analyses suggest that this is because participants relied on a feeling-based as opposed to content-based judgment strategy. Practical implications are discussed, and theoretical issues regarding the process of credibility judgment are raised

When failing feels good - relative prototypicality for a high-status group can counteract ego-threat after individual failure

Two studies demonstrate that members of high-status groups (i.e., men and students of business administration) but not members of low-status groups (i.e., women and education students) react with an increase in state self-esteem after an alleged poor performance on a fictitious intelligence test. This Failure-as-an-Asset (FA) effect is only observed when the high-status ingroup (i.e., men) is outperformed by a low-status outgroup (i.e., women). In this case, a poor performance will lead to a strong identification with the ingroup due to high ingroup prototypicality. As predicted, the effects of experiencing success or failure on self-esteem were mediated by identification with the ingroup

Effectiveness of Self-Generation During Learning is Dependent on Individual Differences in Need for Cognition.

Self-generated information is better recognized and recalled than read information. This so-called generation effecthas been replicated several times for different types of stimulus material, different generation tasks, and retention intervals. The present study investigated the impact of individual differences in learners’ disposition to engage in effortful cognitive activities (need for cognition, NFC) on the effectiveness of self-generation during learning. Learners low in NFC usually avoid getting engaged in cognitively demanding activities. However, if these learners are explicitly instructed to use elaborate learning strategies such as self-generation, they should benefit more from such strategies than learners high in NFC, because self-generation stimulates cognitive processes that learners low in NFC usually tend not to engage in spontaneously. Using a classical word-generation paradigm, we not only replicated the generation effect in free and cued recall but showed that the magnitude of the generation effect increased with decreasing NFC in cued recall. Results are consistent with our assumption that learners higher in NFC engage in elaborate processing even without explicit instruction, whereas learners lower in NFC usually avoid cognitively demanding activities. These learners need cognitively demanding tasks that require them to switch from shallow to elaborate processing to improve learning. We conclude that self-generation is beneficial regardless of the NFC level, but our study extends the existing literature on the generation effect and on NFC by showing that self-generation can be particularly useful for balancing the learning disadvantage of students lower in NFC

Failure as an asset for high-status persons - relative group performance and attributed occupational success

According to research on social identity theory and on prescriptive norms and stereotypes people are viewed as prototypical of a group to the extent that they possess ingroup characteristics but not outgroup characteristics. Following this assumption, even failure might have positive effects for high-status persons when they underperform in low-status domains. In this case, individual failure may be viewed as indicative of strong prototypicality for the high-status group and therefore lead to the attribution of future occupational success. Five experiments, using different high- and low-status groups, confirmed the hypothesis that people will attribute high occupational success to high-status persons who allegedly scored poorly on an achievement test in which a low-status group in general excelled relative to a high-status group. This effect was shown to be mediated by the attribution of prototypicality for the high-status group

Bullying, Cheating, Deceiving: Teachers’ Perception of Deceitful Situations at School

Two studies investigated in which situations teachers (would) investigate whether a student was lying or telling the truth and how these situations were perceived. Results of Study 1 indicate that teachers (would) interview students when it comes to use of unfair means, aggressive behavior, theft, absence without permission, bullying, and vandalism, whereat deceitful situations with rather light consequences were most frequently described. Moreover, participants perceived the frequency of occurrence of all situations as lower for themselves compared to colleagues. In both studies, the use of unfair means, absence without permission, and bullying (over a longer period) were rated as most frequently occurring in everyday school life. Further, deception detection was perceived as being mostly important in situations with severe consequences. Study 2 also demonstrates that situations with light consequences are perceived as situations where it is of relatively less importance to make accurate judgments, avoid wrongful accusation, and detect misbehavior, as compared with situations with severe consequences. Overall, teachers perceive avoiding wrong accusation as more important than detecting misbehavior. Influences of teachers’ perceptions on their behavior are discussed

Prepared to fake? The relationship between applicants’ job interview preparation and faking

Multiple frameworks and models postulate an effect of job interview preparation on faking. Two studies were conducted to examine if applicants’ interview preparation is correlated with higher faking. Besides analyzing the general extent of preparation, we also distinguished between different preparation categories. In Study 1 (N = 237), a presented preparation video led to higher intentions on image protection but did not increase overall faking intentions. Study 2 (N = 206) focused on past preparation and impression management (IM). The total time spent on preparation was positively correlated with faking. Applicants’ preparation via online videos and professional interview preparation was correlated with higher deceptive and honest IM. Preparation via online videos was additionally correlated with a higher perceived interview difficulty

Bullying, Cheating, Deceiving: Teachers’ Perception of Deceitful Situations at School

Two studies investigated in which situations teachers (would) investigate whether a student was lying or telling the truth and how these situations were perceived. Results of Study 1 indicate that teachers (would) interview students when it comes to use of unfair means, aggressive behavior, theft, absence without permission, bullying, and vandalism, whereat deceitful situations with rather light consequences were most frequently described. Moreover, participants perceived the frequency of occurrence of all situations as lower for themselves compared to colleagues. In both studies, the use of unfair means, absence without permission, and bullying (over a longer period) were rated as most frequently occurring in everyday school life. Further, deception detection was perceived as being mostly important in situations with severe consequences. Study 2 also demonstrates that situations with light consequences are perceived as situations where it is of relatively less importance to make accurate judgments, avoid wrongful accusation, and detect misbehavior, as compared with situations with severe consequences. Overall, teachers perceive avoiding wrong accusation as more important than detecting misbehavior. Influences of teachers’ perceptions on their behavior are discussed