A psychophysiological examination of cognitive processing of and affective responses to social expectancy violations.

Several models of person perception predict that expectancy violations have both affective and cognitive consequences for the perceiver. Although extant evidence generally supports these claims, the temporal resolution of traditional self-report measures has limited researchers' ability to convincingly link underlying physiological processes with observed outcomes. In this study, we examined these issues by measuring brain (event-related brain potentials) and peripheral (facial electromyogram) electrophysiological activity while participants read positive and negative expectancy-consistent, expectancy-violating, expectancy-irrelevant, and semantically incongruent behavioral sentences about fictitious characters. The electromyogram results indicated that negative (but not positive) expectancy-violating behaviors elicited enhanced negative affect as early as 100 to 300 ms poststimulus. The event-related potentials showed enhanced positivities with latency exceeding 300 ms in response to expectancy violations and negative behaviors. Semantically incongruent sentence endings influenced a separate negative component (N400), suggesting fundamental differences between semantic- and behavior-consistency processing. This difference also was evident in participants' recall. Implications for theoretical models of expectancy violation are discussed.

Status differences and in-group bias: a meta-analytic examination of the effects of status stability, status legitimacy, and group permeability.

This work examines the moderating effects of status stability, legitimacy, and group permeability on in-group bias among high- and low-status groups. These effects were examined separately for evaluative measures that were relevant as well as irrelevant to the salient status distinctions. The results support social identity theory and show that high-status groups are more biased. The meta-analysis reveals that perceived status stability, legitimacy, and permeability moderate the effects of group status. Also, these variables interacted in their influences on the effect of group status on in-group bias, but this was only true for irrelevant evaluative dimensions. When status was unstable and perceived as illegitimate, low-status groups and high-status groups were equally biased when group boundaries were impermeable, compared with when they were permeable. Implications for social identity theory as well as for intergroup attitudes are discussed.

Social roles as mechanisms for psychological need satisfaction within social groups.

The authors explored ways in which needs for autonomy and relatedness can be simultaneously met within the context of group life. Specifically, it was hypothesized that social role performances provide means of both expressing the self and connecting with group members. Consistent with the assumption that autonomy and relatedness are complementary rather than conflictual, these needs were positively correlated in all 5 studies. Consistent with the authors' assumption that these needs are both important, feelings of autonomy and relatedness in social roles independently predicted subjective well-being, as measured by concurrent (Studies I and 3), peer-report (Study 2). and longitudinal (Studies 4 and 5) methodologies. Study 5 showed that participants whose characteristics matched an assigned role experienced more autonomy and relatedness and thus more positive mood during a group task. Implications for optimal functioning in group contexts are discussed.

Gender differences in aggression as a function of provocation: a meta-analysis.

In this article, we meta-analytically examine experimental studies to assess the moderating effect of provocation on gender differences in aggression. Convergent evidence shows that, whereas unprovoked men are more aggressive than women, provocation markedly attenuates this gender difference. Gender differences in appraisals of provocation intensity and fear of danger from retaliation (but not negative affect) partially mediate the attenuating effect of provocation. However, they do not entirely account for its manipulated effect. Type of provocation and other contextual variables also affect the magnitude of gender differences in aggression. The results support a social role analysis of gender differences in aggression and counter A. H. Eagly and V. Steffen's (1986) meta-analytic inability to confirm an attenuating effect of provocation on gender differences in aggression.

An evaluation of the American Lung Association's home video smoking cessation program.

One hundred and one participants received In Control: A Home Video Freedom from Smoking Program. Of 53 completing self-treatment, 31 were verified by CO testing as abstinent one month after completion. Twenty-one per cent of the sample (40 per cent of those completing treatment) had not smoked in the past three months prior to 12 month follow-up and 16 per cent of the total sample (30 per cent of those completing treatment) had not smoked at all in the past 11 months.