J. van der Pligt

Attitudes and decisions

The concept of attitude has long been a central part of social psychological theories. The authors of this new text set out to show how attitudes and motives are crucial in human-decision making, and explore the relationship between them. This book should be of interest to students of psychology.

Perceiving AIDS-related risks: Accuracy as a function of differences in actual risk

: This study investigates the perceived risk of an HIV infection. Cognitive antecedents of biases in risk perception and their effects on behavioral intentions were investigated. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative accuracy of risk assessments for samples that vary in actual risk for AIDS. Subjects were citizens of Amsterdam, heterosexuals with private partners, gay men, and heterosexuals with prostitution partners. Although optimistically biased in all samples, perceptions of risk were related to previous risk behavior in high-risk samples only. Pessimism was more pronounced in samples higher at risk. Optimists had lower levels of previous risk behavior and increased intentions to adopt safe sex practices. Ss in samples higher at risk had, therefore, relatively adequate perceptions of risk.

Risk perception and behavior: Pessimism, realism, and optimism about aids-related health behavior

Abstract This study investigates the perceived risk of becoming infected with HIV for heterosexuals with multiple sexual partners, examines cognitive and motivational antecedents of biases in risk perception, and relates these biases to behavior. We obtained a moderate degree of optimism in a longitudinal study based on a sample of 535 visitors of a STD clinic. Further analyses—after classifying subjects as “pessimists”, “realists”, or “optimists”—revealed that pessimists were extremely pessimistic and optimists remarkably optimistic. Optimism increased with perceived control and decreased with prior experience, supporting a cognitive explanation of optimism. The data also provided some support for a motivational explanation: optimists who scored higher on a defensive coping style were more optimistic about their risks. Contrary to other findings, we found a positive relation between optimism and intentions to reduce risks. Furthermore, results revealed that optimists showed lower levels of subsequent beh...

Not having what you want versus having what you don't want. The impact of type of negative outcome on the experience of disappointment and related emotions.

The present research focuses on the emotional consequences of negative outcomes. Two types of negative outcomes are distinguished: The absence of a positive outcome and the presence of a negative outcome. It is argued that disappointment, because of its close link with hope, desire, and promise, is more associated with the absence of a positive outcome than with the presence of a negative outcome. Disappointment is also expected to be more associated with the absence of a positive outcome than related negative emotions, such as sadness, anger, frustration, and regret. The results of four studies, using different methodologies, confirm these predictions. In Study 1 and Study 2 participants recalled an autobiographical emotional episode, and appraisals concerning two different types of negative outcomes were assessed. In Study 3 a scenario methodology was used in which the type of negative outcome was experimentally manipulated and ratings for different emotions were assessed. Finally, in Study 4 on-line em...

Undoing Regret on Dutch Television: Apologizing for Interpersonal Regrets Involving Actions or Inactions

In a series of studies, the authors examined apology as a means of undoing interpersonal regrets. In the first study, 63 cases from a Dutch television show called I. Am Sorry were coded on two dimensions. This show provides people with the opportunity to undo regrets arising in social relationships. The results show that people are more likely to undo interpersonal regrets by apologizing when these regrets stem from action than when they stem from a failure to act. Results also show that the time between the occurrence of the regretted interpersonal event and the apology is longer for failures to act than for actions. Both findings are replicated in a series of large-scale surveys using a representative sample of the Dutch adult population. The findings are discussed in relation to Gilovich and Medvecs hypothesis concerning the temporal pattern of the experience of regret.

Nuclear attitudes after chernobyl: a cross-national study

Abstract A total of 840 subjects from universities in Australia, England, France, Germany and The Netherlands completed a questionnaire during the months following the Chernobyl accident. Items included measures of political decision-making style, nuclear attitudes, reactions to Chernobyl and general political orientation. Decision-making style and the favourability/ unfavourability of nuclear attitudes were relatively independent of each other. However, those who described themselves as more informed and interested in nuclear issues, and as having paid more attention to, and having been more frightened by, the news of Chernobyl, scored lower on the style of ‘defensive avoidance’ but higher on that of ‘self-esteem/vigilance’. Reactions to Chernobyl were strongly related to attitudes on other nuclear issues defined within specific national contexts, and more conservative or right-wing political preferences were predictive of greater support for nuclear power.

Generalizing the illusory correlation effect

We used two experiments to examine the influence of ones own attitude on the perception of group attitudes. In the first experiment, subjects viewed opinion statements, supposedly made by residents of two towns, on the issue of building a local nuclear power station. One town was large and had frequently occurring statements and the other was small with infrequently occurring statements; there was an equal proportion of pro and anti statements in both towns. The prediction that subjects would perceive an illusory correlation between attitude positions similar to their own (self-relevance) and the infrequently cited (distinctive) town was supported for anti subjects only. Subsequent investigation indicated that this was due to the confounding effect of a prior expectation associating small towns with more antinuclear attitudes. Experiment 2 eliminated the variable of town size by informing subjects that towns of equal size had been more heavily or lightly sampled. Consist! ent with the hypotheses, both pro and anti subjects perceived an illusory correlation between their own attitude and the town providing the smaller sample, this effect increasing with attitude extremity. The consequences of these findings for the generalizability of illusory correlation explanations of stereotyping are discussed.

Risk and behavior: the mediating role of risk-appraisal

Abstract The main issue of this paper concerns the mediating role of risk appraisal in the relation between past and future behavior. We expected previous risky behavior to heighten risk appraisal, which, in turn, should stimulate preventive behavior. Results ofthree tests of this mediation hypothesis showed that past behavior was strongly related to future behavior; people who behaved hazardously in the past indicated that they tend to do so in the future. Generally, the expected relation between past behavior and risk appraisal was supported. More risky behavior in the past was associated with a heightened risk appraisal. Results also indicate a relation between risk appraisal and future behavior, but in the opposite direction as predicted. Heightened risk appraisal was related to increased levels of risk in future behavior. When predicting future behavior by both risk appraisal and past behavior the effect of risk appraisal on future behavior disappeared, while past behavior remained a strong predictor of future behavior. In a few cases risk appraisal still predicted future behavior when past behavior was controlled for. Unfortunately, these cases showed the opposite relation; i.e., heightened risk appraisal was related to more risky future behavior. Implications of these findings for research on the role of risk appraisal will be discussed.

Chernobyl: Four years later: Attitudes, risk management and communication

Discusses the impact that the nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl has had on risk management and risk communication in relation to risk perception; decisions and coping with uncertainty; and public opinion, personal attitudes, and public policy.

Problem representation, frame preference and risky choice

Abstract Previous research has demonstrated that the way in which decision problems are formulated or ‘framed’, can have strong and predictable effects on peoples preference for alternatives with risky or certain outcomes. To predict peoples behavior in decisions in less restricted situations, we studied what frame people prefer and whether this preference is related to their preference for risky or certain options. In this article we present two experiments testing the hypothesis that preference for a frame in which the alternatives are described as losses (loss frame) will lead to risk seeking and preference for gain frames will lead to risk aversion. We tested this relation including standard problems in the domain of human lives and more everyday problems. Results provided weak support for the predicted relation, but in the domain of human lives only. In the second experiment we included two types of problem presentation. We did obtain a substantial effect of the initial problem presentation on option preference, moreover, this effect was obtained irrespective of the frame subjects preferred to describe the problem. Results indicate that the initial problem presentation has an overriding effect on option preference. Implications of these findings are discussed.