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We extend investigations of the impact of the content of video contact with an individual with schizophrenia on stigma reduction. We examine whether differential impacts persist over a 2-week period and the extent to which they are mediated by perceived similarity and feelings of empathy and/or sympathy. We used a randomized control trial wherein participants were exposed to a video in which an individual described his recovery from schizophrenia, or the same person described acute symptoms of schizophrenia, or a no-video control condition. Outcomes included impressions of and preferred social distance to the person in the video and people in general with schizophrenia and well as perceptions of similarity and feelings of sympathy and empathy. We also measured an overt behaviour, seating distance, at 2-week follow-up. The recovery-focused material was generally more effective in improving impressions and reducing preferred level of social distance. Although the symptom-focused video resulted in great sympathy for the person, this did not translate into positive impressions or reduced social distance. Mediational analyses yielded findings consistent with the benefits of the recovery video being mediated by increased perceptions of similarity and lower feelings of sympathy. Exposure to the recovery-focused video resulted in less anxiety in anticipation of meeting the person in the video relative to the control condition. Video contact emphasizing potential for recovery from schizophrenia was more effective in reducing stigmatizing responses than contact highlighting acute symptoms. Increased sympathy does not necessarily translate into reductions in stigma.

191 participants either watched a video of a person with schizophrenia who discussed his recovery or the symptoms he experienced when acutely ill. Participants were asked to focus either on similarities or differences between themselves and the person depicted. Uncertainty orientation, the extent to which people prefer to resolve uncertainty (uncertainty-orientated) or avoid it in order to main certainty (certainty-orientated) was assessed for each participant. Results showed that for explicit attitudes, the recovery video and uncertainty orientation were significantly associated with more positive responses. The similarity manipulation interacted with video content and uncertainty orientation in influencing implicit attitudes. As expected, compared to those who are uncertainty-oriented, participants who are certainty-oriented were more likely to hold positive implicit attitudes after watching the recovery than symptoms video, particularly when attending to similarities.

In this manuscript, the origin of studying human motivation from a personality by situation perspective is discussed. It follows a thread from Galileo to Newton to Lewin to Atkinson to our own research and theory. Its major emphasis is that theories of motivation may benefit by looking at exceptions to the rule, mainly those who may not conform to a theory’s dictates. As with Galileo, by looking at these exceptions, the true rule may emerge. Using our own research, and that of our predecessors, as examples, we illustrate how many theories in social psychology may hold only for a small segment of the population and arguments are presented to explain why person by situation interactions could alter these theories. A cursory examination of current research on personality or situation versus personality and situation is then presented. The manuscript ends by showing that even personality by situation interactions may be moderated by yet another exception to the rule: culture.

This research investigates whether individual differences in uncertainty orientation affect classroom behavior for Chinese and Canadian children. Uncertainty orientation distinguishes between uncertainty-oriented individuals, or those who attempt to attain clarity by finding out for themselves, and certainty-oriented individuals, or those who attempt to maintain clarity by adhering to predictable environments. Although uncertainty orientation is considered an informational variable, uncertainty-oriented children in both countries had higher self-ratings, ratings by other students and ratings by their teachers than certainty-oriented children on a variety of social and achievement behaviours. These results suggest that encouraging a discovery learning style of uncertainty regulation in “UO-centric” cultures may be beneficial.

In a field study involving university students from Canada and Japan, we tested hypotheses from the theory of uncertainty orientation (Sorrentino and Roney in The uncertain mind: Individual differences in facing the unknown. Psychology Press, Philadelphia 2000). Consistent with previous research, those possessing an uncertainty orientation that matched their culture’s predominant style of uncertainty regulation perceived a better student-classroom fit than those who did not match their culture’s predominant style of uncertainty regulation. More importantly, we predicted and found that actual course grades varied as a function of the culture’s style of uncertainty regulation in interaction with the participant’s uncertainty orientation and achievement-related motives. Implications of these findings and applied relevance are discussed.

Previous research has suggested that implicit self-esteem might be universally positive. In the present study implicit self-esteem, as measured by the implicit association test (IAT), was found to be positive in both Japanese and Canadian participants. However, contrary to prior research, Japanese participants were found to have significantly lower implicit self-esteem than Canadians. Japanese participants also had lower scores on an exploratory measure of collective implicit self-esteem. In general, the results of the present study point to the complexities in the study of implicit self-esteem across cultures. Inconsistencies between the present and previous research might reflect divergent methodologies used in the IAT. The applicability of the IAT in a cross-cultural setting is discussed.

There is evidence that personal value priorities may influence prejudicial behaviors. In particular, it has been hypothesized that those who place a high priority on values such as equality, benevolence and social justice may be less likely to express any prejudicial personal attitudes in behavior. In the present study, we tested this hypothesis in the context of physical distance with reference to a person with schizophrenia. Self-transcendent value priorities and attitudes toward a young woman described as having schizophrenia were assessed in 95 university students. They were then led to anticipate meeting the person and the distance they sat from the expected location of the ill person was assessed.Women sat closer to the anticipated seat of the person with schizophrenia. In addition, there was a significant interaction between priority placed on self-transcendent values and attitude toward the person in predicting seating distance. There was a significant relationship between favorability of attitudes and sitting closer for those who were low in self-transcendent values, but attitudes did not predict physical proximity for those with high self-transcendent values.The impact of attitudes toward an individual with schizophrenia and subtle aspects of behavior such as physical proximity appear to be moderated by self-transcendent personal values. The role of implicit in comparison to explicit attitudes in explaining these results is worthy for further investigation.

Every day for two weeks, participants at four sites (2 in the US, 1 in Canada, and 1 in Japan) described their self-esteem and affect and they described the events that occurred each day. Multilevel random coefficient modeling analyses found that the self_esteem of Japanese participants changed more in reaction to daily social events (both positive and negative) than it did for North American participants. For positive social events, the Japanese were more reactive in terms of positive affect than North Americans. For negative social events, the Japanese were more reactive in terms of depressed mood (ND) and deactive positive affect (PD) than North Americans. In contrast, the Japanese were less reactive to negative achievement events than North Americans in terms of PA and anxious mood. The Japanese were more reactive than North Americans to positive achievement events in terms of PA and ND. The results highlight the greater sensitivity of the Japanese to social concerns compared to North Americans, and the greater affective sensitivity of North Americans to failure in achievement domains.

The purpose of this study was to examine uncertainty orientation and its relations with school and psychological adjustment in Chinese children. A sample of elementary school children in P.R. China, aged 10 to 12 years, participated in the study. Data concerning uncertainty orientation, academic performance and socio-emotional adjustment were obtained from multiple sources including projective assessments, teacher ratings and self-reports. It was found that children in grade 6 had higher scores on uncertainty orientation than those in grades 4 and 5. Uncertainty orientation was positively associated with school-related competence, academic achievement and self-perceptions of competence, and negatively associated with learning problems and loneliness. The results suggest that uncertainty orientation is an adaptive characteristic in Chinese children.

This study examined whether people with the same self-regulatory style of coping with uncertainty differed in their affective experiences as a function of what may be the dominant coping style of their culture. Two hundred twenty men and women from universities in Japan and Canada described the extent to which they experienced various emotions. Consistent with their expectations, the authors found that participants whose uncertainty orientation matched that of their country (i.e., uncertainty-oriented students in Canada, certainty-oriented students in Japan) experienced more active emotions than mismatched participants (i.e., certainty-oriented students in Canada, uncertainty-oriented students in Japan), who experienced more passive emotions. Moreover, those who matched their country's coping style also reported experiencing more positive and fewer negative emotions than mismatched students. These results suggest that the theory of uncertainty orientation has important implications for research on affective experiences within and across cultures.

The present study investigated whether predictions made by optimal distinctiveness theory (Brewer, 1991) could be moderated by individual differences in uncertainty orientation, and whether optimal distinctiveness has implications for how people perceive their values relative to comparison groups. It was hypothesized that certainty-oriented persons, compared to uncertainty-oriented ones, should place greater importance on and see themselves as more similar in values to relevant comparison groups, when the need for assimilation is aroused but not necessarily when the need for differentiation is activated. One hundred five men and women, pre-assessed for their level of uncertainty orientation, were asked to describe two situations where they felt too immersed in or too apart from others around them. They then rated the importance of several reference groups and the importance of 10 value types for the self, their ethnic group, and other students at their university. The results supported the hypotheses.

The present research examined the impact of temporal framing on two forms of self–reflection: counterfactual thinking and temporal self–appraisal. The possible moderating role of individual difference variables on these processes was also investigated. Participants recalled either a positive or a negative event from their past, which was then temporally framed to seem either psychologically recent or distant. Thinking about a negative event was expected to produce more upward counterfactual thoughts and more derogation of the past self than thinking about a positive event, especially when the event was framed as recent. The results supported these predictions, but individual differences in uncertainty orientation and achievement motivation moderated the findings. Only uncertainty–oriented or failure–threatened participants exhibited heightened generation of upward counterfactual thoughts and greater derogation of the past self following a negative event framed as recent. The findings document the link bet...

The inhibition–confrontation model of coping asserts that by disclosing a traumatic event, inhibition is released, reducing the strain on the body and vulnerability to disease. This study questions the parameters of this model by testing whether individual differences in uncertainty orientation will lead to differential physiological reactions to confrontation of past traumatic events. Participants discussed a traumatic and neutral event while skin conductance and heart rate measures were obtained. For those who disclosed a high-intensity trauma, uncertainty-oriented persons exhibited less inhibition (lower skin conductance levels) and a greater increase in arousal (higher heart rate) relative to certainty-oriented persons. These differences were reversed for disclosers of low-intensity traumas. The results suggest that one's orientation to uncertainty is associated with trauma disclosure. They highlight the value of considering individual differences in the clinical setting.

The present study investigates whether Canadian and Japanese university students differ in how they deal with uncertainty. In addition to examining individual differences in uncertainty orientation, Weinstein's measure of unrealistic optimism and Hofstede’s measures of uncertainty avoidance and individualism-collectivism were examined. Participants were 535 Canadian and Japanese undergraduate men and women. In support of the main prediction, Canadian students were found to be more uncertainty oriented (UO) as compared to Japanese students, who were more certainty oriented(CO) ( p< .001). It is interesting to note that significant Uncertainty Orientation Country interactions on the additional measures were also found. Whereas COs showed high levels of unrealistic optimism and uncertainty avoidance and low levels of individualism in Canada, UOs showed this pattern in Japan. These differences are consistent with the theory of uncertainty orientation in terms of whether cultural orientations toward uncertainty match or do not match one’s self-regulatory style

In this paper, we present a mathematical formulation derived from the theory of uncertainty orientation (In R.M. Sorrehtino, & E.T. Higgins (Eds.), the handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of social behaviour, Vol. 1 (pp. 379-403). New York: The Guilford press; The uncertain mind: Individual differences in facing the unknown. London: Erlbaum (UK), Taylor & Francis). This formulation integrates affective and informational influences on thought and action. It is a model of self-regulation where the need to maintain clarity and the need to attain clarity are considered as two independent informational tendencies. These informational tendencies are influenced by the degree of self-relevance and the amount of perceived situational uncertainty. In addition, they are multiplicative with affective approach and avoidance tendencies, leading to accentuation or inhibition of behaviours expressed in action. It is further demonstrated that when the nondominant action tendency is instigated, secondary source of motivation are expressed. This model not only accounts for past data, but also permits exploration using computer simulation. In addition, many new and testable hypotheses, including those related to affect and dynamical decision theory, are generated.

Adults represent proper names (e.g. ‘Katharine Hepburn’) as referring to unique individuals (i.e. Katharine Hepburn), and studies of children’s proper name learning have been taken to show that children represent proper names in like manner. However, almost all of these studies leave open the possibility that children represent proper names as referring to restricted kinds of highly similar animals. We provide direct evidence against this possibility: both adults and 3-year-old children presented with a novel word for a toy animal (e.g. ‘daxy’) assumed that the animal continued to be referred to with the word, despite a change in the animal’s appearance and location, and despite the introduction at the old location of an animal identical in appearance to the original animal at the time the word was introduced. Participants presented with a simple artifact (e.g. a bottle) did not interpret the word as a proper name, consistent with previous work.

Two studies investigated the uncertainty orientation model of self-regulation as it relates to control motivation in moderate depressives and nondepressives. It was hypothesized that moderately depressed persons would be more likely than nondepressed persons to process information when control deprived, as opposed to nondeprived, only if they were uncertainty oriented. Certainty-oriented persons were expected to decrease information processing under these conditions. Participants differing in uncertainty orientation and depression level were assessed for information processing following control deprivation or no deprivation. In Study 1, desire for information about the deprivation task was assessed and participants were given a second performance task. In Study 2, information seeking was measured while reading about social outcomes. The expected three-factor interaction was found to be significant on measures of information seeking and performance in both studies. A model to represent these findings is proposed, as are implications for research on depression, coping, and control.

The present study investigated the relationship between the uncertainty orientation construct (Sorrentino & Short, 1986) and the Big Five personality structure. As predicted, uncertainty orientation was related to only the Openness to Experience factor and not to Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, or Neuroticism. Discriminant and convergent validity for the construct using the Six-Factor Personality Questionnaire (6FPQ; Jackson & Paunonen, in press) was demonstrated. Uncertainty orientation was also positively correlated with the NEO-PI-R Openness measure (Costa & McCrae, 1992). As predicted, both components of uncertainty orientation (need to master uncertainty and Authoritarianism) tapped distinct aspects of personality and provided unique variance in predicting Openness as measured by the 6FPQ. The implications for the nature of the uncertainty orientation construct are discussed.

The present study extends the theory of uncertainty orientation (Sorrentino & Short 1986) to the context of intelligence test performance. The theory assumes that Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test scores will vary as a function of personality and situational determinants. Following a previous assessment of individual differences in uncertainty orientation (an informational variable), and achievement-related motives (an affective variable), subjects (n = 156) were given a shortened version of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery intelligence test (Jackson 1984). The test was presented as an intelligence test (diagnostic condition) or as exploratory (nondiagnostic condition). Results supported the general hypothesis that IQ scores would differ significantly as a function of subjects' uncertainty orientation and achievement-related motives by interacting with task diagnosticity. Whereas some uncertainty orientation achievement-related motives combinations performed better where the task was perceived as diagnostic, others performed better where the task was perceived as nondiagnostic. Implications of this personality × situation interaction are discussed.

An individual difference dimension, uncertainty orientation, is discussed as it relates to self-evaluation (specifically, self-assessment and self-verification). Research is presented suggesting that uncertainty-oriented people are best described in terms of self assessment motives and that self-verification may be more important for certainty-oriented people. The impact of factors like personal relevance and amount of self-knowledge may also be moderated by the person's uncertainty orientation. Analysis of these motives from an individual differences perspective raises a number of questions about the nature of these self-evaluation motives and suggests that the "who" question is likely to be as important as the "when" question in addressing the relative importance of these different motives.

Reducing discrepancies between performance and goals was predicted to motivate uncertainty-oriented people, but maintaining congruence was predicted to be more motivating for certainty-oriented people. Being motivated should lead to better performance when a person is focused on positive outcomes, or to worse performance if he or she is focused on negative outcomes (success-oriented vs. failure-threatened in Studies 1 and 2, ideal vs. ought discrepancy in Study 3). Three studies tested these hypotheses: an experiment that used bogus performance feedback, a field study of examination performance as a function of prior discrepancies from desired grades, and an experimental priming of standards associated with a discrepancy or with no discrepancy. All 3 studies revealed the predicted interaction, supporting the hypothesis that there are individual differences in motivation as a function of goal discrepancy or congruence

Because coping with uncertainty is an important aspect of close relationships and is critical to issues of trust, the authors expected individual differences in uncertainty orientation to play a central role in shaping people's representations of their relationships. For a 3-week period, 77 couples completed a series or questionnaires and kept diaries on their interactions. As expected, certainty-oriented persons'need for cognitive closure resulted in either high or low trust for their partners, whereas uncertainty-oriented persons typically attained only a moderate level of trust. Several other measures indicated that certainty-oriented partners round their relationships most aversive under moderate trust. Memory data indicated that certainty-oriented individuals, but not uncertainty-oriented individuals, used conclusions about trust as a heuristic for reconstructing the past in ways that maintained cognitive clarity. Uncertainty orientation also combined with gender in many interesting ways

The experiment was designed to determine the influence of uncertainty orientation (R. M. Sorrentino, J. C. Short, 1986) on compliance with a diagnostic health behavior. Ss (N=155) read 1 version of an education essay on a disease and diagnostic response. Threat and efficacy information were manipulated. Consistent with protection motivation theory (R. W. Rogers, 1983), uncertainty-oriented Ss sought more health-related information as threat and efficacy increased. Certainty-oriented Ss, however, sought more health-related information as threat or efficacy, but not both, increased. Individual differences were also found on adaptive measures and ineffective alternative responses

The use of modern brain imaging techniques could be useful to understand what brain areas are involved in the observation of video clips related to commercial advertising, as well as for the support of political campaigns, and also the areas of Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In this paper we describe the capability of tracking brain activity during the observation of commercials, political spots, and PSAs with advanced high-resolution EEG statistical techniques in time and frequency domains in a group of normal subjects. We analyzed the statistically significant cortical spectral power activity in different frequency bands during the observation of a commercial video clip related to the use of a beer in a group of 13 normal subjects. In addition, a TV speech of the Prime Minister of Italy was analyzed in two groups of swing and “supporter” voters. Results suggested that the cortical activity during the observation of commercial spots could vary consistently across the spot. This fact suggest the possibility to remove the parts of the spot that are not particularly attractive by using those cerebral indexes. The cortical activity during the observation of the political speech indicated a major cortical activity in the supporters group when compared to the swing voters. In this case, it is possible to conclude that the communication proposed has failed to raise attention or interest on swing voters. In conclusions, high-resolution EEG statistical techniques have been proved to able to generate useful insights about the particular fruition of TV messages, related to both commercial as well as political fields.

Three studies to pinpoint the underlying dynamics related to risk-taking in skilled and chance situations are presented. Study 1 is an attempt to demonstrate that cognitive and motivational theories of risk-taking must be combined to account for individual differences in skilled situations. Studies 2 and 3 show that the effect for uncertainty orientation generalizes to chance situations.

Four studies are presented with different samples of students (grade school, high school, university, teachers) from different cultures (Canadian, German, Iranian). Across these samples it was found that, when asked to state their learning preferences, all samples preferred cooperative learning to other types of learning. However, this preference was greater for uncertainty-oriented persons than certainty-oriented persons as predicted by the theory of uncertainty orientation (Sorrentino & Short 1986). Also as predicted, when actually placed in different learning situations, whereas uncertainty-oriented students had a greater preference and performed better in a cooperative situation (the Jigsaw) than a traditional expository situation, certainty-oriented students were more negative and performed worse in the cooperative than traditional learning situation. Student teachers showed similar preferences as a function of their uncertainty orientation. Implications for advocates of cooperative learning, as well as other forms that do not account for individual differences, are discussed.

The effect of uncertainty orientation on the processing of expectancy-relevant information was investigated. Uncertainty orientation concerns the extent to which people seek out and integrate information about themselves, others, and their environment. Uncertainty-oriented persons use this information to attain clarity and understanding, whereas certainty-oriented persons use such information to maintain preexisting belief systems. Consistent with previous findings, overall subjects recalled a higher proportion of expectancy-incongruent than expectancy-congruent information. However, the strength of this effect was a function of subjects' uncertainty orientation. As predicted, the advantage in recall for incongruent information occurred for uncertainty-oriented, but not certainty-oriented, people. Establishing a point of interface between the information-processing and individual difference perspectives, these results indicate that personality variables can reflect natural variation in cognitive processes that mediate social phenomena, thereby modifying effects assumed to be characteristic of people in general.

Objectives:To investigate the relation of responses to the Schwartz Value Scale to preferred social distance to a person with either schizophrenia or depression. The influence of personal value priorities on discrimination has been investigated in several contexts, but seldom with reference to social distance towards those with mental illness.Method:University students ( n = 200) completed the Schwartz Value Scale, as well as a measure of beliefs about mental illness and preferred social distance with reference to a vignette describing a person with either schizophrenia or depression.Results:Consistent with past findings, respondents indicated a preference for greater social distance for schizophrenia than depression, and beliefs about likelihood of socially inappropriate behaviour and danger were correlated with social distance. Self-transcendence value orientation was a significant independent predictor of preference for less social distance. These findings were not influenced by a social desirability bias.Conclusions:Value orientation makes a significant contribution to the prediction of social distance towards those with mental illness. Evaluation of value-based interventions to reduce such discrimination appears warranted.

Publisher Summary Uncertainty orientation may be a critical individual difference variable that has important implications for examining differences between and within cultures. Within cultures, people whose predominant style of coping with uncertainty matches that of their society have a better sense of self, perceive more freedom and less anxiety in work situations, and are more realistic about what their future holds than those whose coping style does not match their society's values or beliefs. Matched individuals also are more actively involved and have greater flow and anti-flow emotional experiences than their mismatched counterparts. This chapter examines informational and affective measures such as uncertainty orientation and achievement-related motives at the individual level, contributing to an understanding of how culture may influence the motivation, persistence, performance, and affective experiences of its members. Although controversy currently rages regarding whether individualism and collectivism truly distinguish Eastern and Western societies, or whether they may be more meaningful to speak of an independent versus interdependent self, or whether people have or do not have self-esteem, a plausible major distinction may be that most East–West differences are a function of how these societies cope with uncertainty and how this shapes the behavior of its constituent members. So- called differences in emotional responding and self-esteem may be a function of underlying individual differences in achievement-related motives and whether the individual's means of handling uncertainty are consistent with his or her culture's method of resolving uncertainty.

Past research on stigmatization of the mentally ill has emphasized the importance of beliefs about mental illness in determining preferred social distance to those with such illnesses. In the current paper we examine the importance of perceived social norms in improving the prediction of social distance preferences. Two hundred university students completed scales measuring their beliefs about either depression or schizophrenia; their perception of relevant social norms and their preferred level of social distance to someone with schizophrenia or depression. Measures of social desirability bias were also completed. The proportion of variance in preferred social distance was approximately doubled when perceived norms were added to beliefs about illness in a regression equation. Perceived norms were the most important predictor of social distance to an individual with either illness. A general preference for social distance towards a control, non-ill person was also an independent predictor of behavioral intentions toward someone with either schizophrenia or depression. Perceived social norms are an important contributor to an individual’s social distance to those with mental illness. Messages designed to influence perceived social norms may help reduce stigmatization of the mentally ill.

Based on the empirical evidence from our own past research, we have presented what we believe to be the first synergistic model of motivation and cognition that links individual differences in information processing to individual differences in motivation. This model takes into account not only the informational aspects of situations, such as attaining or maintaining clarity, but the affective components, such as feeling good or bad about the self. Although the empirical data set is primarily in the domain of achievement behavior, we believe it can be extended to most areas of behavior where the role of the self and self-regulation are important. This formulation translates the conceptual meaning of “flow” into specific informational and affective components, and introduces the term “anti-flow” to incorporate the negative state one may go through in matched situations or situations important to the individual. It also suggests when and where the full range of affective consequences of undertaking an activity should occur. Future research testing the model should lead to some exciting discoveries on how and when one thinks, acts, and feels.

The authors examined the effects of uncertainty orientation on processing persuasive messages from minority sources versus majority sources. The authors gave participants a proattitudinal or counterattitudinal message that either a numerical majority or a numerical minority endorsed and that contained strong or weak arguments. In support of the hypothesis that was related to message scrutiny, uncertainty-oriented individuals engaged in greater message scrutiny when the Source-Position (i.e., minority/majority-pro/con) pairing was imbalanced (in majority-con, minority-pro conditions) than when it was balanced (in majority-pro, minority-con conditions). Certainty-oriented participants showed the opposite pattern, scrutinizing the message more when the situation was balanced than when the situation was imbalanced. Support for the hypothesis that was related to nonsystematic processing was less clear because the majority appeared to have played a greater role in accounting for the aforementioned interaction than did the minority. Additional analyses supported this interpretation. However, in all cases, individual differences in uncertainty orientation moderated strength and direction of information processing.

Persuasive messages often originate from in-group or out-group sources. Theoretically, in-group categories could facilitate heuristic-based message processing (because of the attractiveness of in-groups and their social reality cues) or systematic-based processing (because of high personal relevance of the message). The authors expected individual differences in uncertainty orientation and socially based expectancy congruence to be important variables in understanding these processes. Participants were exposed to strong or weak, in-group or out-group messages that were either expectancy congruent (in-group agreement, out-group disagreement) or expectancy incongruent (in-group disagreement, out-group agreement). As predicted, uncertainty-oriented participants increased systematic information processing under incongruent conditions relative to congruent (i.e., relatively certain) conditions; certainty-oriented individuals processed systematically only under congruent conditions. These findings suggest that uncertainty that has been created through social-categorization conflicts is treated differently by people of different personality styles.

Preface A. Efklides, R.M. Sorrentino. List of Contributors. Part One: Achievement and task-related motivation. 1. Delimiting and integrating achievement motive and goal constructs T.M. Thrash, A.J. Elliot. 2. How to combine intrinsic task-motivation with the motivational effects of the instrumentality of present tasks for future goals W. Lens. 3. The role of perceived instrumentality in student motivation H. Creten, et al. 4. Experimentally induced effects of goal distance in time on the relations between achievement motives, future time orientation and indications of performance in sports T.O. Thomassen, et al. 5. Motivation, performance and satisfaction at school: The significance of the achievement motives - autonomy interaction D. Cock, H. Halvari. 6. Teaching and parenting styles related to children's achievement motivation and learning outcomes W. van Werkhoven, et al. 7. Mapping the domain of autonomy support: Five important ways to enhance or undermine students' experience of autonomy in learning A. Assor, H. Kaplan. 8. A model of motivational change in transition contexts J. MacCallum. 9. Learning in basic electricity: How do motivation, cognitive factors, and classroom climate influence achievement in physics? Ch. von Rhoneck, et al. 10. Goal orientations and action-control beliefs: A cross-cultural comparison among Croatian, Finnish, and Japanese students M. Niemivirta, et al. Part Two: Motivation, cognition, and self-regulation. 11. A theory of uncertainty orientation: The interplay of motivation, cognition, and affect R.M. Sorrentino,et al. 12. Overcoming defensive feedback seeking: The role of perceived ability and perceived control over assessed attributes Y. Trope, et al. 13. Changes in task orientation and self-evaluation across phases of a transition T.L. Chartrand, et al. 14. A functional approach to motivation: The role of goal-enactment and self-regulation in current research on approach and avoidance J. Kuhl. 15. Motivation, information processing and performance: Effects of goal setting on basic cognitive processes J. Wegge. 16. Metacognitive experiences in problem solving: Metacognition, motivation, and self-regulation A. Efklides. 17. The effects of general success-related beliefs and specific metacognitive experiences on causal attributions P. Metallidou, A. Efklides. 18. Optimism as a moderator of the effect of state orientation on the evaluation of negative life events B. Bossong. 19. Genetic vs. environmental determinants of traits, motives, self-referential cognitions, and volitional control in old age: First results from the Munich Twin Study (GOLD) U. Geppert, F. Halisch. 20. Motives, personal goals, and life satisfaction in old age: First results from the Munich Twin Study (GOLD) F. Halisch, U. Geppert. Subject Index.

It is with great pleasure and some pride that I write this final chapter for the present volume. Back in the early 1980s, Tory Higgins and I realized that our respective fields, social cognition and social motivation, had a great deal to offer one another. Yet, people in those fields were hardly speaking to each other, let alone trying to incorporate one another’s ideas (see Sorrentino & Higgins, 1986a). We realized that a renewal of the relationship between the two fields was long overdue. Early on, motivation and cognition were believed to go hand in hand, from Lewin’s field theory in the ’30s and ’40s, to Bruner’s “New Look” in the ’50s. Then, with the rise of cognition as a major force in psychology, coupled with scathing criticism of the “New Look,” the two fields went their separate ways. Although this “really wasn’t wasted time” (The Eagles), since much was learned, clearly the field was ready for reacquaintance. All it needed was a little push or a little prime.

The apparent success of cognitive principles in accounting for several behaviors has led social psychologists to question the need for motivations and other "hot" dispositional constructs. In their place, they postulate nonmotivational "cold" cognitions. Behavioral variations between individuals are thus reduced to differences in information processing abilities, while biases and other apparently motivated behaviors are explained on the "faulty computer" model. However, as many cognitive psychologists now acknowledge this mechanistic theory fails to tie the processing of information to the performance of actions. In a creative attempt to bridge this gap, the editors and investigators have begun to challenge the prevailing hot/cold, either/or dichotomy. Instead, they propose the "warm look" - a synergistic approach to the roles of "hot" motivations and "cold" cognitions in the production of behavior. In their view, neither one alone is sufficient to explain social phenomena. In fact, outside of theory, the two are inseparable. This comprehensive handbook attempts an integration of contrasting approaches to behavior discusses the dual contributions of cognition and motivation to affective states, the development and evaluation of the self, and the setting and attainment of goals. Central themes include the notion of different public and private selves forming distinct influences on motivational behavior; the key role of affect in mediating social information processing; and the differences between informational and affective value, or between behavior geared to finding out versus behavior prompted by a desire to feel good. While much remains to be learned about the complex interplay of motivation and cognition, these studies demonstrate that the two can no longer be treated as separate, unrelated factors. Subjective states and goals clearly influence information processing, while the acquisition of information alters affect and behavior. An ambitious and original attempt to bridge the gap between thought and action, the Handbook is an indispensable reference for all social cognitive and developmental psychologists, investigators of personality and motivation, and advanced students in these areas.

Individual differences in the structure of subjects' person categories were investigated in relation to ”uncertainty orientation”—a variable that is related to people's relative interest in either maximizing information gain (uncertainty-oriented people) or maintaining clarity (certainty-oriented people). Two tasks, based on research by Cantor and Mischel (1979), were completed by 133 subjects. In one, the subjects were to classify specific person categories under four general ”superordinate” person category headings, and in the other, they were asked to list trait adjectives describing members of each of four specific person categories. The results extend Cantor and Mischel's research by demonstrating a ”trade-off” between differentiation of categories and the richness of categories at the individual level. In addition, both studies yielded support for specific hypotheses. In the first task, certainty-oriented subjects listed fewer person categories under the higher-order superordinate category headings ...

Two studies are reported in which observers witnessed a peer (learner) receiving electric shock and where they did or did not play a role in her suffering (Involved vs Noninvolved conditions). It was found in both studies that while High authoritarians were more likely than Low authoritarians to derogate the learner in Involved conditions, the reverse was true in Noninvolved conditions. These significant interactions (p

Previous results indicate that people conform more to group judgments when they have received unanimous group support for their opinions than when they have received no support. The present study tested the hypothesis that these differences would be attenuated when future interaction with the group members was anticipated. The 70 male subjects were tested in a Crutchfield-type conformity situation, where prior group support (100 vs 0%) and anticipation of future interaction (alone vs group) were manipulated. Predictions were based on an examination of conformity incentives that considered normative and informational sources of social influence, as well as Hollander's model of idiosyncracy credit. Consistent with predictions, conformity in the 0% prior support condition was greater when subjects anticipated future group interaction than when they did not, whereas the reverse was true in the 100% prior support condition. In addition, conformity was correlated negatively with both confidence in task ability and feelings of group acceptance when future interaction with the group was anticipated. These data suggest that when future group activity is expected, the tendency to reciprocate past treatment from the group is reduced.

The present study was designed to test hypotheses derived from Horner's theory concerning the effect of the sex-role orientation of the performance situation on the arousal of the motive to avoid success in women. The study compared the performance of women high and low in the motive to avoid success in a male-oriented and a female-oriented situation. It was found that women performed significantly better (p < .01) in the male-oriented than in the female-oriented situation, with this difference between conditions being greater for those women scoring high rather than low in the motive to avoid success (p < .05). These results are inconsistent with an inhibitory anxiety explanation of motive to avoid success. The possibility that the measure of this motive may in part be a measure of ability is discussed.