Attributional bias (unrealistic optimism and responsibility) was examined in relationship to conflict among married and divorced individuals. Individuals perceived themselves as better than average and as more responsible than their partners for marital problems. Optimism bias was lower among divorced individuals and those with a higher level of…

Manipulated the content of attributional interpretations and their discrepancy from client attributions (N=38) to examine the respective importance of these two variables to the effectiveness of interpretation. Results indicated that interpretation content was irrelevant to change in clients' negative emotions, attributional styles, and…

Sixteen "helpless" learning disabled students (grades four to five) assigned to an attribution training group demonstrated greater reading persistence and showed significant increases in effort attributions for failure as well as more internal attributions for achievement situations when compared to Ss in the control group. Treatment gains for…

Investigated whether leader's (N=89) locus of control moderated the relationship between perceived leader influence behaviors and certain subordinate (N=245) outcome variables. The results showed that locus of control did significantly moderate the effect of supervisor influence on productivity and subordinate satisfaction with supervision. (JAC)

An activity that teaches psychology students about the primacy effect that occurs when individuals make judgments about the ability of other people is described. The primacy effect is the tendency for an observer's judgment to be influenced more strongly by early information about a person than by information that comes later. (Author/RM)

Tests the applicability of the physical attractiveness stereotype to perceptions of the elderly. In the first study, college-age and elderly observers rated the attractiveness of faces of elderly people. In the second study, subjects rated faces at three levels of attractiveness on personality, success in life experiences, and occupational…

Uses a Granger-Sims statistical causality test applied to survey and social security data from 1955 to 1980 to examine the attractiveness of welfare as an inducement for Black women to stay single. Refutes this economic motivation theory and suggests a decline in available Black males as a determinant. (JAC)

Administered the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale and the Templer Death Anxiety Scale to 50 medical students. Results showed the internally oriented group obtained a significantly lower score on the Death Anxiety Scale, suggesting that internally oriented students are better equipped to confront illness and death. (JAC)

Reviews literature on the social influence model, which suggests that counseling is an interpersonal influence process. Discusses the process of counselor social power, causality thorugh reattribution, and influence as a two-way exchange. Suggests future directions for research. (JAC)

Assessed marital change following childbirth in a longitudinal study of 72 couples. Analysis indicated the transition to parenthood resulted in somewhat unfavorable changes, but spouses scoring high on marital functioning tended to do so with their new parent role as well. (JAC)

Examined the relationship between the attributions and action plans formulated by untrained students role playing peer counselors for same-sex or opposite-sex students who failed. Results revealed significantly higher attributions to internal factors for all stimulus persons, and higher attributions to controllable as opposed to uncontrollable…

Presents a causal explanation predicting kinship ties involving division of labor and the usefulness of kin. Data on white households in the Public Use Sample of the 1900 U.S. Census confirmed that wife's parents would be more common in nonfarm households, while husband's parents would predominate in farm households. (JAC)

Investigates logical and perceptual determinants of social-cognitive development by examining children's use of consensus information for causal attribution. Results verify the importance of perceptual processes, demonstrating that children can use consensus for person attribution earlier in development than they can for stimulus attribution.…

Replicates research on the process of moving from observations to clinical judgments. Counselors (N=20) made status inferences, attributional inferences, and diagnostic classification of clients based on case folders. Results suggest the clinical judgment process was stagewise mediated, and attributional inferences had little direct impact on…

This study examined the effects of performance patterns and attributional information regarding performance causes on attributions and task persistence in fourth and fifth graders who tended to minimize effort as a cause of school performance. Performance patterns did not influence attributions or persistence. Effort feedback influenced…