P. Niels Christensen

Women's Preferences for Male Behavioral Displays Change Across the Menstrual Cycle

Women prefer both the scent of symmetrical men and masculine male faces more during the fertile (late follicular and ovulatory) phases of their menstrual cycles than during their infertile (e.g., luteal) phases. Mens behavioral displays in social settings may convey signals that affect womens attraction to men even more strongly. This study examined shifts in womens preferences for these behavioral displays. A sample of 237 normally ovulating women viewed 36 or 40 videotaped men who were competing for a potential lunch date and then rated each mans attractiveness as a short-term and a long-term mate. As predicted, womens preference for men who displayed social presence and direct intrasexual competitiveness increased on high-fertility days relative to low-fertility days, but only in a short-term, not a long-term, mating context. These findings add to the growing literature indicating that womens mate preferences systematically vary across the reproductive cycle.

Social Norms and Identity Relevance: A Motivational Approach to Normative Behavior

Two studies demonstrated that greater identification with a group was associated with more positive emotions for members who conformed with versus violated the group’s norms. These effects were found with injunctive norms, which specify what members should do or what they ideally would do, but emerged less consistently with descriptive norms, which specify what members typically do. Descriptive norms affected emotional responses when they acquired identity-relevance by differentiating an important ingroup from a rival outgroup. For these descriptive norms, much like injunctive norms, greater identification yielded more positive emotions following conformity than violation. The authors suggest that positive emotions and self-evaluations underlie conformity with the norms of self-defining groups.

Social anxiety and interpersonal perception: a social relations model analysis

Cognitive models of social phobia posit that an individuals negative beliefs about the way he or she is perceived by others (metaperceptions) are a core feature of the disorder. The social relations model () was used to analyze interpersonal perception data collected following unstructured social interactions in 62 socially anxious (SA) and 62 not socially anxious (NSA) individuals. Using this model, the interpersonal perceptions were analyzed to evaluate whether pathological levels of social anxiety are associated with self-perceptions, metaperceptions, and perceptions from others. SA participants saw themselves negatively and believed others saw them negatively. Although seen as more nervous by others, SA participants were not seen as less likeable. A mediational model demonstrated that the negative metaperceptions of SA individuals were more a function of their own self-perceptions than the negative perceptions of others. These findings were not attributable to depressive symptoms. Implications for theory and treatment of social phobia are discussed.

Perceptions of and by Lonely People in Initial Social Interaction

The Social Relations Model was used to examine the relationship between loneliness and interpersonal perception in initial social interactions. Unacquainted students interacted in groups of four same-gender members. Following the interaction, all group members rated themselves and others on 10 personal characteristics, such as physical attractiveness, social skills, and anxiety. Members also judged how they thought other group members saw them on the same 10 variables (metaperceptions). Results indicated that lonelier people viewed others somewhat more positively, themselves more negatively, and thought others viewed them more negatively. Lonelier people, however, were generally not seen differentially by others, except they were seen as friendlier

The Effects of Social Change Within a Group on Membership Preferences: To Leave or Not to Leave?

Two studies examined immediate (Study 1) and long-term (Study 2) behavioral consequences of previously documented asymmetries in cognitive and evaluative reactions to change in majority and minority positions within a group. Study 1 found an overall decrease in preferences for group membership immediately following change, which was preceded by decategorization and devaluation of the group in response to loss, together with lack of categorization and positive evaluation in response to gain of the majority position. Study 2 found a gradual increase in preference to stay with (vs. exit) the group among former minorities with prolonged interactions that confirmed their gained majority position. A gradual increase in preference for group membership was paralleled with gradual increases in perception of both inclusion within and differentiation from the group.

Group Conversion Versus Group Expansion as Modes of Change in Majority and Minority Positions: All Losses Hurt But Only Some Gains Gratify

This study examined reactions to minority and majority positions that were either stable or reversed through group conversion that transformed opponents (supporters) of the minority (majority) into supporters (opponents) or through group expansion that brought new supporters (opponents) for the minority (majority) into the group. Minorities who became majorities through group expansion, compared with those who changed through group conversion, perceived their supporters and the overall group as significantly more similar to the self, and had significantly higher expectations for future positive interactions within the group. Perception of similarity with the supporters mediated the effect of the experimental conditions on perception of the overall group-self similarity. Implications of changes through conversion and expansion for the functioning of social groups are discussed.

The relationship between interpersonal perception and post-traumatic stress disorder-related functional impairment: a social relations model analysis.

This study used Kennys social relations model to examine the relationship between Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder‐related impairment and interpersonal perceptions. Participants were 124 students who had previously completed the Post‐traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale as part of a larger study. After engaging in brief dyadic conversations with 3 other students, participants recorded perceptions of personality traits for themselves, their interaction partners and how they believed their partners saw them (metaperceptions). Results indicated that those with more severe post‐traumatic stress disorder‐related impairment saw themselves negatively and believed their interaction partners also viewed them negatively. However, these individuals were not seen differently by others, except that they were rated as less dependable. Our findings suggest that post‐traumatic stress disorder is associated with negative beliefs about the self that may influence self‐esteem and interpersonal relationships.

Projection and Mirror Effects in Cross-group Interactions: A Social Relations Model Study of Similarity Perceptions

Unstructured interactions between members of different ethnic groups are increasingly common, yet have received relatively little research attention. The present research examined whether membership of an ethnic majority/minority group and ones ethnic identification predicted perceptions of similarity with cross-group interaction partners. Each participant spoke individually with three members of another ethnic group in round-robin fashion. Analyses using the social relations model revealed that majority/minority status moderated the relationship between ethnic identification and similarity perceptions. Among minority participants, but not those from the majority, stronger ethnic identification was associated with less projection (perceived and assumed dissimilarity). Additional analyses revealed that, across both groups, stronger other-group orientation was correlated with more mirror effects (eliciting similarity perceptions from others).

Motives for social Influence after social change: Are new majorities power hungry?

Although much research has investigated different motives for accepting social influence, few studies have examined motives for exerting social influence to achieve the majority position. Among several possible motives for exerting influence, the present research examined the instrumentality motive: seeking majority agreement so that one has more control over group outcomes. Participants attempted to influence five confederates to agree with his or her positions in a mock political campaign. Feedback from the confederates and experimenter manipulated each participants faction size (majority vs minority), faction stability (stable vs reversed positions), and the power of the majority faction. Analyses confirmed that instrumental motives for seeking majority agreement were predicted by the interaction of these three variables. When groups underwent a reversal in factional size, powerful new majorities reported stronger instrumental motivation than powerless new minorities. These differences did not occur for stable majorities versus stable minorities, or when power was not associated with the majority position. The different motivations of new majorities and new minorities may make such groups ripe for conflict after social change.

Group-Based Self-Evaluation Outside of the Laboratory: Effects of Global Versus Contextual Status

An event-contingent diary methodology was used to study the impact of intergroup and intragroup factors on self-evaluations in naturally occurring groups. Participants reported their contextual group status, group identification, and self-evaluations each time they self-categorized as a group member throughout a 1- week period. Indicators of global group status, interdependence, and permeability of group boundaries also were obtained. Multilevel modeling revealed that contextual status and global status interacted to predict self-evaluations. Contextual status had a stronger relationship with self-evaluations for members of global low-status groups than for members of high-status groups. Analyses of intragroup factors revealed that greater group interdependence but not permeability of group boundaries also was associated with higher self-evaluations. The effects of both contextual status and group interdependence were mediated by group identification.