Roos Vonk

Negativity and potency effects in impression formation

This study examined the combined effects of likeability-related and potency-related information in an impression formation setting, using a 2 (likeability of target behaviour: high/low) x 2(potency: high/low) design. Presumably, the behaviour of a strong, dislikeable person can produce more severe consequences than the behaviour of a weak, dislikeable or a strong, likeable person and, consequently, should be perceived as more informative. As predicted, judgements of the target persons likeability and potency indicated that (a) dislikeable behaviour carries more weight in likeability judgements when it co-occurs with strong than with weak behaviour, and that (b) strong behaviour carries more weight in potency judgements when it co-occurs with dislikeable than with likeable behaviour. These results suggest that the informativeness of behaviour is not only a function of its perceived causes (i.e. underlying dispositions) but also of its potential consequences for others.

The Multifaceted Self: Androgyny Reassessed by Open-Ended Self-Descriptions

The existing literature on androgyny does not provide information about the fundamental question of how masculine and feminine qualities are organized within the self, and houandrogynous persons «view of the self differs from others». We examined several features in open-ended self-descriptions of subjects classified by a direct self-report measure as androgynous, undifferentiated, masculine, or feminine. Androgynous subjects used more situational qualifiers in describing their masculine, feminine, and gender-neutral attributes; this finding suggests: 1) that they enact masculine and feminine qualities on different occasions, and 2) that androgyny is an instance of a more general situational flexibility

Differential evaluations of likeable and dislikeable behaviours enacted towards superiors and subordinates

Subjects (N=129) judged the favourability of 20 behaviours enacted towards either subordinates or superiors of the actor. Likeable behaviours were evaluated more moderately when they were enacted towards superiors, indicating that subjects took into account the possibility that the actor was engaging in ingratiation. Moderately dislikeable behaviours were evaluated more negatively when they were enacted towards subordinates, suggesting that their negative meaning was strengthened when the behavioural target was powerless. Extremely dislikeable behaviours were evaluated negatively regardless of the persons towards whom they were enacted. These results suggest that, in interpreting positive and moderate (i.e. ambiguous) behaviours, characteristics of the behavioural targets are used to determine the actors intentions and, thereby, the evaluative meaning of the behaviour. Copyright

Trait Inferences, Impression Formation, and Person Memory: Strategies in Processing Inconsistent Information about Persons

This chapter addresses the question of how schema-inconsistent information about persons is processed and how it affects impressions. Three strategies in resolving inconsistencies are proposed, based on an integration of the literature on trait attribution, impression formation, and person memory. First, inconsistent descriptions can be attributed to different nondispositional factors. Second, recognition of nondispositional factors can produce a conditional trait attribution, leading to multiple, situation-specific, representations of the person. Third, inconsistencies can instigate a search for a trait implication that fits both the consistent and inconsistent descriptions, producing a change of meaning. The effects of conditional trait attribution and meaning change on impressions are discussed.

Thinking about gender types: Cognitive organization of female and male types

We examined the content and dimensional structure of a large and representative sample of gender types. In Study 1, using an open-ended procedure, participants generated 306 different labels for female types (e.g. housewife, feminist, femme fatale, secretary, slob) and 310 for male types (e.g. workaholic, family man, sissy, womanizer, labourer). In Study 2A, a multidimensional configuration of 229 of these male and female types was derived from a free sorting task among a new set of participants. In Study 2B, a subset of types was judged on several dimensions of meaning, which were then fitted into the configuration of types. The most important dimensions in describing the structure of gender types were: young-old, masculine-feminine and traditional-modern. The masculine-feminine dimension showed that the male and female types were largely separated from each other; within each gender category, the types were ordered by their position on the masculine-feminine dimension. Several other aspects of current thinking about men and women are discussed.

Inferences about causes and consequences of behavior of leaders and subordinates

This study addresses spontaneous inferences about causes and consequences of performance-related behavior of leaders and subordinates. Respondents (leaders and subordinates) completed sentences describing the behavior of leaders or subordinates. It was expected that behavior of leaders induces more causal analysis because it can more strongly affect others. This hypothesis was confirmed, suggesting that position labels can trigger control motivation. It was also found that leader behavior induced more inferences about the consequences for the environment than for the actor, supporting the assumption that leaders are seen as persons who affect their environment. In addition, the data indicate that subordinate respondents made more inferences about causes as well as consequences than leaders did, and have a more positive view of others. Copyright

Dilemmas of academic practice: Perceptions of superiority among social psychologists.

The current research examines social psychologists’ beliefs regarding the probability of self and others to engage in desirable and undesirable actions relevant to solving dilemmas of academic practice (e.g. openly discussing versus concealing complex effects in a paper). Consistent with hypotheses, results revealed that social psychologists believed that others are more likely than they themselves to engage in undesirable actions and less likely to engage in academically desirable actions. Moreover, the probability of undesirable actions by both self and others was perceived to be greater under conditions of low rather than high perceived traceability (i.e. when others within the field are believed not to verify the appropriateness of the actions). Interestingly, but unexpectedly, this latter result was observed among faculty members but not among individuals with less research experience (i.e. graduate students). The discussion considers possible explanations for this latter finding and closes with an implication relevant to the peer review system. # 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.