That rates of normative behaviors produced by sample surveys are higher than actual behavior warrants is well evidenced in the research literature. Less well understood is the source of this error. Twenty-five cognitive interviews were conducted to probe responses to a set of common, conventional survey questions about one such normative behavior:…

After acquiescing to a small initial request, people typically are more susceptible to a later call for assistance. This foot-in-the-door phenomenon was examined based on principles of social reinforcement. In Experiment 1, subjects induced to perform the same initial prosocial behaviors were found to be differentially susceptible to a later…

Adolescents who were more internally focused were more able to discern which symptoms actually covaried with blood glucose (BG) fluctuations; those with higher trait anxiety tended to misattribute non-diabetes-related symptoms to BG levels. Interactions suggested those who both attend to internal physical sensations and experience-heightened…

High social anxiety subjects switched from assuming greater personal responsibility for success than for failure to assuming greater responsibility for failure than for success when told that their attributions would be scrutinized by others. Low social anxiety individuals did just the opposite. Additional studies of response among high and low…

The relationships between feedback, its source, and the increases or decreases of the behavior associated with it were investigated to apply predictions of the credibility gap regarding the effects of feedback on the acquisition of an individual skill. Subjects (N=45) were randomly assigned to one of five treatment conditions and provided…

Differences between male and female medical students in attitude changes toward themselves and their environment were investigated. In general, women students appeared to have had a harder time, showing more negative developments in both attitudes toward the environment and in those toward themselves. Compared with men, women showed sharp declines…

Three studies examined observers' attributions and reactions to negative emotional displays, as well as expressers' expectations about others' reactions. Analysis revealed that people attribute others' negative emotions equally to situational factors and dispositions, whereas their own emotions are attributed to the situation more than to…

Self-schemas are knowledge-structures that organize information relevant to the "self." Research has demonstrated that persons who are schematic (versus aschematic) for a particular trait process self-relevant information on that dimension more efficiently. To determine whether individual self-schemas are organized into relatively…

Systematic investigations have verified the existence of a number of behavioral manifestations of the "Type A" behavior pattern. For example, brief exposure to salient uncontrollable stress has led to enhanced performance by Type A's on a subsequent task, whereas prolonged exposure has lead to performance deterioration. The ongoing experiences of…