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In Western cultures, sexualized women are frequently viewed as if they were objects rather than people (i.e., dehumanized). Researchers have reported an inversion effect in which images of sexualiz...

Previous work suggests that being socially excluded can influence people’s regulatory focus motivations (i.e., promotion and prevention). In the current work, we extend past findings and further ex...

Theory and research demonstrate that women are frequently the targets of sexually objectifying behavior, viewed and treated by others as mere objects for pleasure and use. When sexually objectified, attention is principally focused on scrutinizing and valuing their physical features, whereas their internal attributes (e.g., thoughts, feelings, personhood) may be largely ignored (Bartky, 1990). Although the processes and negative effects associated with sexual objectification have been examined extensively, no work has examined the "ignoring" component of sexual objectification. We reasoned that sexually objectifying a woman by ignoring and devaluing some of her personal attributes or features is akin to partial ostracism. Although sexual objectification and partial ostracism may seem to comprise opposite characteristics (i.e., attention vs. ignoring), we posit that sexually objectifying a woman, much like partial ostracism, involves ignoring some of her internal attributes (e.g., thoughts, feelings, voice). Across 4 studies, we expected and found evidence that a sexual objectification experience (vs. control conditions) resulted in women feeling sexually objectified, which led to increased feelings of ostracism, which, in turn, threatened and lowered women's fundamental need satisfaction (i.e., belonging, control, self-esteem, and meaningful existence). Our findings suggest that not only do women suffer the adverse consequences of being sexually objectified, but when they are objectified, they can also experience the added negative effects associated with being partially ostracized, a novel finding that contributes to both the sexual objectification and ostracism literature. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

We reasoned that high self-monitors’ responses may be influenced by the characteristic traits and behaviors associated with social roles. Results across four studies confirmed expectations. The findings from Experiments 1, 2, and 3 demonstrated that exposure to a particular role (e.g., nurse) led high self-monitors to respond in a manner consistent with the relevant role. Results from Experiment 4 showed that the effect found in the first three experiments was attenuated when the behavioral guidance of the particular role was reduced. Low self-monitors’ responses were not influenced by exposure to the role. Showing that high self-monitors use information embedded in a social role to tailor their behavior provides a novel finding that has heretofore been absent from the literature.

The current studies examined the relationship between the penchant to daydream about helping others and prosocial traits and behaviour. We reasoned that fantasising about prosocial acts should be positively associated with a more prosocial disposition and real behaviour. Across both studies, the findings suggest that people who exhibit prosocial characteristics (e.g., empathic concern, fantasy/fictional empathy, moral reasoning) are more likely to fantasise about prosocial behaviour, and these characteristics are reliably associated with increased helping behaviours. From Study 1, the correlational results showed that people higher in agreeableness exhibited a stronger tendency to engage in prosocial fantasising, and empathy, in part, mediated the relationship. The experimental results from Study 2 conceptually support those from Study 1; when prompted to fantasise about prosocial behaviour, those higher in agreeableness and openness to experience engaged in more helping behaviour, whereas in a control condition, no helping differences emerged. Finding that empathic concern was most consistently related to daydreaming is consistent with the theory in that people are more intrinsically motivated to promote other's welfare at a personal cost when they feel empathy. Engaging in prosocial fantasising may increase empathy, which in turn, may enhance one's prosocial disposition and increase one's helping behaviour.

Women are sexually objectified when viewed and treated by others as mere objects. Abundant research has examined the negative consequences of being the target of sexual objectification; however, limited attention has focused on the person doing the objectification. Our focus is on the agent and how self-regulatory resources influence sexual objectification. Consistent with prior evidence, we reasoned that people have a well-learned automatic response to objectify sexualized women, and as such, we expected objectifying a sexualized (vs. personalized) woman would deplete fewer regulatory resources than not objectifying her. Findings across three studies confirmed our expectations, demonstrating the extent to which people objectify a sexualized woman or not is influenced by the availability of regulatory resources, a case that heretofore has been absent from the literature. These patterns are discussed in the context of the sexual objectification and self-regulation literature.

Abstract. In two studies, we examined how need to belong as a dispositional variable influences the relational interpretation of social cues and the subsequent effect on self-esteem. Across both studies, the results from a negative (vs. positive) social cue condition showed that individuals high in need to belong were more negatively affected by (i.e., lower self-esteem, social involvement, and relational value) than those low in need to belong. Results from Study 2 also showed that these negative effects can be attenuated when participants have the opportunity to engage in self-affirmation. In all, the findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating that need to belong at the trait level not only has cognitive effects, but also has important downstream relational effects that influence how people differentially interpret the cues in their social environment.

Abstract. Self-monitoring is a key element in interpersonal interactions, guiding how people monitor and adjust their social behavior. Compared to low self-monitors, high self-monitors are more sensitive to and use social cues to direct their self-presentations. However, little work has examined whether high self-monitors possess a heightened capacity to cognitively process self-presentation information. The goal of the current work is to address this question. After exposure to impression-related (vs. control) words, high (vs. low) self-monitors were faster to link positive (vs. neutral) traits to the self. The results show that high self-monitors have greater cognitive access to self-presentation information, a finding that has heretofore been absent from the literature.

One specific area of communication that has the potential to elicit a wide range of outcomes, such as enhancing a couple's feelings of intimacy, offending one or both partners causing conflict, improving the communication climate within the relationship, or embarrassing the partners involved, is the discussion of sex. The current project theorized how to initiate and maintain sexual coaching conversations, taught participants the components of skillful and unskillful messages in an online training program, and then evaluated the overall effectiveness of said program. Forty couples participated in an online sexual coaching training program and completed several pretest and posttest measures. Results reveal that participation in the training program led to an increase in sexual and relationship satisfaction, a decrease in sexual communication apprehension, and an increase in sexual coaching knowledge and skill. These results, along with the value of interventive research and the implications of this...

The current work examined whether self-presentational efforts are influenced differently when people hold a goal to establish, maintain or repair an interpersonal connection. Results supported the counterintuitive prediction that participants with a repair goal would convey a less favourably oriented persona (e.g. less friendly, less similar and less genuine) compared to those with an establish or maintain goal. The efforts of repair goal participants were also perceived as less effective. The analysis also showed that certain self-presentation dimensions (i.e. friendliness, genuineness and similarity) mediated the relationship between acceptance goals and perceived effectiveness. The findings extend and contribute to the self-presentation and belongingness literatures.

Evidence indicates that people are motivated to interpret environmental cues to belongingness, but doing so can be challenging. Prior evidence shows that the self's regulatory resources are consumed when interpreting complex facial displays; with this study, we examined how the depletion of such resources may impact the ability to interpret vocal tones. Results showed that depletion decreased accuracy in identifying complex (vs. simple) vocal cues, which extends prior work and offers a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between self-regulatory resources and the ability to effectively interpret one's social environment.

Individuals' self-concepts are inextricably entwined with their relationships [Reis, H. T., Collins, W. A., & Berscheid, E. (2000). Psychological Bulletin, 126, 844–872], and thus it stands to reason that information about close relationships will figure prominently in individuals' self-presentational efforts. Yet, little is known about how individuals present their relationship. We examined whether individuals present information about their relationship differently as a function of both the target audience and the individuals' attachment style. Findings revealed that when individuals expected to interact with a romantic couple (vs. two control conditions) those high in attachment anxiety engaged in greater self-presentational efforts. Implications for understanding how relationship information is self-presented, as well as the goals of individuals with different attachment styles are discussed.

We examined whether relational perceptions (social involvement, relational value, interaction experience) differ depending on interaction acceptance goals (establish, maintain, or repair). Results indicated that relational perceptions were more positive in the maintain condition compared to the establish condition, which in turn was more positive than the repair condition. The data also supported a moderated mediation model: the indirect effects of social involvement and relational value on the relationship between acceptance goals and participant’s interaction experience were contingent on self-esteem. These findings identify boundary conditions that influence the impact of acceptance goals on how much people experience an interaction positively. The findings provide an integrated framework outlining the potential relationship between acceptance goals, relational perceptions, interaction experience, and self-esteem.

The evolution of a gauge to assess relational value as advanced by sociometer theory suggests the corresponding development of a process to guide the expression of one’s public self, typically referred to as self-presentation. A key function of self-presentation is to enhance one’s relational value in the eyes of others, which increases the likelihood that one will be included in desired groups and relationships (i.e., belongingness). Although a positive association between belongingness and subjective well-being (SWB) is well documented, the relationship between SWB and self-presentation remains unclear. In the current chapter, we outline factors (i.e., extraversion, self-monitoring, and self-disclosure) that include behaviors that resemble effective self-presentations in that some qualities associated with these factors involve characteristics that likely enhance social connections. Although self-presentation skills are not the only reason people higher on these factors become happier, we argue that being a more effective manager of one’s public self is an important pathway to greater SWB, primarily because it greases the wheels of social connections.

Previous work has shown that both an appearance-contingent self-worth (i.e., staking one's overall self-evaluation on one's physical appearance) and self-objectification are associated with higher appearance anxiety and lower self-esteem among women. Although prior evidence separately links both appearance-contingent self-worth and self-objectification to these negative outcomes, no work has examined the mediating processes that may underlie this relationship. With the current project, we examined the relationship between appearance-contingent self-worth and self-objectification, and the degree to which this relationship is associated with higher appearance anxiety and lower overall self-esteem. We hypothesized that appearance-contingent self-worth would be positively associated with self-objectification; in turn, we expected self-objectification to be related to higher appearance anxiety, and ultimately, lower self-esteem. Across two studies, one cross-sectional (N=208) and one short-term longitudinal (N=191), we found compelling support for this hypothesis. These findings have practical and theoretical significance for both the self-objectification and contingent self-worth literatures.

The current pair of studies are the first to empirically show that the proposed tactics/processes (i.e., accommodation, legitimation, intimidation, bureaucratic) of the anticipatory organizational impression management (OIM) model decrease initial challenges to an event and prevent the escalation of an already existing challenge. Moreover, our data showed that variables specified by the model mediated the relationship between the tactics and the respective dependent measures (i.e., initial challenges, escalation of challenges). Our results offer compelling evidence for the OIM model, an empirical case that has been heretofore absent from the literature.

The current work examined the self‐presentation–self‐regulation relationship utilizing a design in which participants disclosed self‐information during an actual interpersonal interaction. By comparison, prior work relied on assessing participants’ intention to disclose. Our findings showed that making self‐presentation disclosures during an interaction depleted participants’ self‐regulatory resources as a function of attachment style and intimacy level of disclosures. We discuss how using an interpersonal paradigm clarifies a self‐presentation rather than decision‐making interpretation of earlier work's results, how deciding what to disclose (i.e., intent) and actually making disclosures can be considered distinctly different acts, and how reversing the variable relationship (i.e., opposite to prior work) has theoretical importance because it examines the inverse question that is implied, but not tested or demonstrated in earlier work.

Results from two experiments demonstrated that people's pre-emptive self-presentations increased when faced with an upcoming evaluation. However, like compensatory self-presentations, these efforts were cautiously restricted to areas unrelated to the forthcoming evaluative dimension. The contributions to the literature are straightforward with the results building on and extending prior work. First, where previous research shows that people engage in self-presentations to compensate for an already unfavorable public image, the current data reveal that people also pre-emptively adjust their self-presentations prior to any direct evaluation or feedback. Moreover, the present findings are the first to show that pre-emptive efforts are prudently constrained in a manner similar to compensatory self-presentations.

We examined the disclosure of sexual attitudes in self-presentational contexts across different levels of accountability. The results indicated that in a self-presentation situation participants expressed more reserved sexual attitudes in a low-accountability (i.e., stranger) compared to a high-accountability (i.e., friend) condition. Conversely, in a non-self-presentation situation sexual attitudes did not differ as a function of accountability conditions. Moreover, participants expressed greater accountability concerns with friends compared to strangers, a finding that heretofore has been absent from the literature. In fact, perceived accountability mediated the interactive effect of self-presentation and accountability on sexual attitudes, again a finding that has yet to be demonstrated in prior work. These findings are the first to illustrate how people convey their sexual attitudes for self-presentational purposes, and they provide a more nuanced and complete view of people's self-presentations.

This article focuses on the communication of compensatory self-presentations (CSP) (i.e., self presentations that people engage in after publicly receiving unfavorable feedback), with prior work showing that people prudently constrain CSP to areas unrelated (vs. related) to the initial feedback. With the current project we examine the influence that upward comparisons (i.e., a better-performing other is privy to the unfavorable feedback) have on the communication of CSP. Results across three experiments provide the first evidence that upward comparisons increase CSP. However, importantly, people did not cautiously restrain the communication of CSP to unrelated areas; rather, CSP was broadened to equally included areas both related and unrelated to the initial comparative topic. This differs sharply from and significantly extends prior CSP work.

Five studies examined a self-presentation explanation for comparative optimism. Experiments 1 and 2 laid the foundation for such an account by first showing that people associate a favorable identity-image with the conveyance of an optimistic outlook and that people recognize that an individual may be perceived in a negative light if his or her optimistic estimates are disconfirmed, hence raising the issue of potential accountability demands. Following the issue of accountability, the results across Experiments 3, 4, and 5 provided consistent evidence that people employ comparative optimism in their self-presentation efforts but only if the circumstances involve little risk of being held potentially accountable. Specifically, when self-presentational situations involved greater accountability demands, comparative optimism decreased (less optimistic), whereas, when these situations involved reduced accountability demands, comparative optimism increased (more optimistic). In short, the current experiments present compelling evidence demonstrating that comparative optimism may reflect an individual's goal to self-present a favorable identity-image, with the provision that such efforts are constrained by accountability pressures.

The authors investigate the earliest stage of the job-screening process—the resume, which represents an applicant’s initial self-presentation efforts, and examine whether women are evaluated more negatively on hiring-related decisions when their resume communicates an identity that violates gender stereotypic prescriptions. This question is important because resumes determine whether an applicant is interviewed and because, in general, women suffer negative sanctions when their behavior violates stereotypic prescriptions.The results show that when women’s resumes violated these prescriptions, men evaluated them more negatively, with women’s perceived social skills mediating the applicant gender—evaluation relationship. These findings provide the first evidence showing that gender biases emerge at the earliest phase of the job-seeking process, that is, when a woman’s resume projects an identity-image that violates gender stereotypes.

Three experiments investigated people's motivation to conserve the self's limited regulatory resource after it is depleted by initial self-control exertion. Across the experiments, the results supported the idea of a conservation process. In Experiment 1, depleted participants' subsequent performance decreased when expecting to engage in a future self-regulation task compared to engaging in no task at all. In Experiments 2 and 3 we employed the “end-effect” pattern found in past vigilance research to further examine conservation. In Experiment 2, depleted and nondepleted participants who knew the study ran for 30 min performed similarly following 20 min of self-regulation, whereas 3 min or 10 min of self-regulation produced typical depletion effects. Likewise, the findings from Experiment 3 revealed this same conservation pattern using a shortened 6-min initial task. Specifically, when depleted participants believed the study was finished their task performance was better compared to those who believed th...

It was hypothesized that monitoring the social environment for relational value (RV) cues both consumes and depletes self-regulatory resources. Consistent with predictions, the results suggest that regulatory resources are depleted when people monitor for relational cues (Experiments 1 and 2), that the capacity to monitor for complex (vs. simple) forms of relational cues is negatively impacted by prior depletion of the self’s resources (Experiment 3), and that insofar as the self’s resources are depleted by recent acts of self-regulation, people are less effective at monitoring for relational cues (Experiment 4). These findings suggest an integrative relationship between regulatory resources and people’s capacity to accurately monitor the social environment for cues that communicate their RV.

Two experiments investigated how people replenish the self's limited regulatory resource after it is depleted by self-control exertion. Specifically, in Experiment 1, when depleted participants received a 10-minute period between regulatory tasks, their subsequent performance equaled non-depleted participants. In Experiment 2, inducing participants to relax between self-regulation tasks reduced the typical depletion effects. Thus, these findings suggest that replenishment of the self's depleted resources occurs given the occurrence of favorable conditions.

This paper explores the effects of emotional suppression toward a stereotyped target as a function of the perceivers' prejudice. Heterosexual male participants watched a video of a gay couple with emotional suppression instructions or no instructions. Similar to the emotional regulation literature, low prejudice participants reported less positive emotion under emotional suppression compared to the control group. However, high prejudice participants reported more positive emotion under emotional suppression compared to the control group. These results suggest that high prejudice people were overcompensating in their emotional regulation attempts because of lesser regulation experience. Emotional suppression was also found to increase the desire for intergroup contact for those who were high in prejudice; positive emotion mediated this relationship. Possible benefits versus costs of emotional suppression toward stereotyped targets are discussed.

We designed a classroom activity to foster students' understanding of what schemas are and how they function. We used a video of the instructor as an infant to illustrate how schemas influence gender stereotyping. Before the video, we told students that the baby was either a boy or a girl. After the video, students rated whether the baby would grow up to possess stereotypically male or female traits. Students in the video condition displayed a greater increase in schema knowledge than a control group that did not watch the video. Students also evaluated the activity favorably. We suggest other possible variations of this activity.

Although it is relatively well–accepted that excuses provide benefits, less is known in regard to their negative consequences. The current studies illustrate conditions under which an excuse produces positive or negative effects. Results indicate that the strength among responsibility linkages afford judgment–makers a basis to attribute responsibility, form evaluations, and deliver negative repercussions to excuse–makers. Excuses disengaged people from problematic events by weakening the strength of these linkages. However, whether an excuse while weakening these links produced positive or negative outcomes depended on the validity of the conditions under which the excuse was given. Specifically, when excuses weakened responsibility linkages but the conditions lacked believability, future correction, and respect for others, excuses resulted in detrimental consequences, whereas if the excuse maintained these conditions it produced positive outcomes. In short, excuses weakened responsibility links ...

This study investigated the extent to which women disregard inadmissible evidence in a simulated rape case as a function of when they receive a judge's global legal instructions concerning presumption of innocence, burden of proof, reasonable doubt, and inadmissible evidence. We hypothesized that participants would be more likely to disregard incriminating inadmissible evidence when the instructions were given before rather than after the trial. Participants listened to audiotaped excerpts from a rape trial. They were given pretrial, predeliberation, or both sets of instructions; and received admissible or inadmissible avidence or no prior rape testimony, after which they made judgments. The results supported hypothesis that pretrial instructions are more effective than predeliberation instructions in allowing participants to disregard inadmissible evidence. One cannot unring a bell; after the thrust of a saber, it is difficult to say forget the wound; and finally, if you throw a skunk into the jury box, you can't instruct the jury not to smell it (Dunn v. United States, 1962, p. 886).

Self-presentation is a social influence tactic in which people engage in communicative efforts to influence the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of others as related to the self-presenter. Despite theoretical arguments that such efforts comprise an automatic component, the majority of research continues to characterize self-presentation as primarily involving controlled and strategic efforts. This focus is theoretically challenging and empirically problematic; it fosters an exclusionary perspective, leading to a scarcity of research concerning automatic self-presentations. With the current chapter, we examine whether self-presentation involves an automatic cognitive mechanism in which such efforts spontaneously emerge, nonconsciously triggered by cues in the social environment.

The current work examined whether self-presentational efforts are influenced differently when people hold a goal to establish, maintain or repair an interpersonal connection. Results supported the counterintuitive prediction that participants with a repair goal would convey a less favourably oriented persona (e.g. less friendly, less similar and less genuine) compared to those with an establish or maintain goal. The efforts of repair goal participants were also perceived as less effective. The analysis also showed that certain self-presentation dimensions (i.e. friendliness, genuineness and similarity) mediated the relationship between acceptance goals and perceived effectiveness. The findings extend and contribute to the self-presentation and belongingness literatures.

We hypothesized that frequency and quality of deception influences how people perceive those who lie to them and that people subsequently increase deceptive behavior as a consequence of being lied to. In Study 1, participants were covertly videotaped conversing with a partner. Following the conversation, participants evaluated partners, and partners reviewed the videotape, identifying deceptions that they told. Findings indicated that partner’s frequency of deception was inversely related to likeability. In Study 2, participants watched a videotape of a confederate who appeared to produce one or four exaggerated or minimized lies, and then evaluated the confederate. Participants and confederates subsequently engaged in a conversation. When participants witnessed either one exaggerated lie, one or four minimal lies, or no lies they trusted and liked the confederate more than when witnessing four exaggerated lies. Moreover, participants increased their own use of deception as a function of the severity and quantity of confederate’s lies.

Theory and research indicate upward comparisons can negatively influence self-evaluation and that people actively employ various protective strategies to mitigate the effect of such comparisons. This study examined whether people experiencing threatening comparisons dissemble personal information as a self-presentation strategy to portray a positive outward image. It was hypothesized that upward comparisons influence participants' self-image and consequently the frequency of untruthful statements they employ as part of their self-presentation efforts. Specifically, participants received feedback that they did better (or worse) than another individual and were led to believe this individual would evaluate them based on questionnaire responses. In support of the hypotheses, results indicated that the frequency of deceptions significantly increased and self-esteem and mood decreased when participants encountered threatening comparison information. Findings also showed that the relationship between upward com...

The present study hypothesized that gender and expectation of future interaction affects the frequency and nature of lying. Male and female participants (208 undergraduates) were randomly assigned to same- or opposite-gender partners and given the expectation they either would not meet again or would meet 3 additional times. Participants engaged in a 10-min conversation that was videotaped covertly. Later, target participants evaluated the videotape identifying lies they told. During the conversation, 78% of participants lied, with females lying significantly more than males. Females, but not males, lied more when expecting future interaction than when expecting no future interaction. The nature of lies also varied between women and men. Findings suggest women and men differentially use deception as a self-presentational tactic.

The present study hypothesized that situational importance and social interaction goals influence people's self-presentation efforts and consequently their use and recall of dissembled information. Participants in an initial experimental phase were covertly videotaped conversing with a partner. During a second phase, participants completed questionnaires, created from verbatim transcripts of the interaction, which listed every statement participants made during their initial conversation. The questionnaires required participants to first indicate whether they did or did not make each statement and then to indicate the veracity of each statement. Results supported the hypothesis that self-presentation efforts (untruthful statements) and the number of unrecalled untruthful statements significantly increased during high-importance situations when the goal to make a competent impression was salient.

This study tested the hypothesis that people with accurate beliefs about the cues that predict deception are better at detecting deception only when those beliefs are cognitively available and activated. To test the hypothesis, participants viewed video fragments of people who were being either honest or dishonest. A questionnaire assessed participants' beliefs about the cues involved in deception, and activation of participants' belief cues was accomplished by manipulating suspicion. The results provided support for the hypothesis, where participants whose beliefs were activated and had accurate beliefs were better at detecting deception compared to other participants. Gender differences were also found, where lies communicated by women were more accurately detected than were lies communicated by men.

Research on minimal groups demonstrates that arbitrarily creating 2 groups leads to the development of in-group favoritism. Experiments using the minimal groups paradigm show students how easily in-group biases can be created simply by categorizing others. This article describes an in-class activity that demonstrates the power of categorization. Students completed a minimal groups experiment either before or after viewing the video A Class Divided. Regardless of when they viewed the video, students rated their arbitrarily assigned in-group more positively and less negatively than their out-group. These findings spurred lively discussion about the possible relation among categorization, discrimination, and prejudice. Students enjoyed the activity and indicated that it was a valuable technique for demonstrating in-group bias.

Evidence indicates that people are motivated to interpret environmental cues to belongingness, but doing so can be challenging. Prior evidence shows that the self's regulatory resources are consumed when interpreting complex facial displays; with this study, we examined how the depletion of such resources may impact the ability to interpret vocal tones. Results showed that depletion decreased accuracy in identifying complex (vs. simple) vocal cues, which extends prior work and offers a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between self-regulatory resources and the ability to effectively interpret one's social environment.

Many students have beliefs about interpersonal relationships that are inconsistent with empirical research. For example, some students report that attractiveness is less important than personality when choosing romantic partners; however, evidence suggests the opposite (Sprecher & Regan, 2002). Our activity in which students wrote personal ads and anonymously exchanged them examined and challenged students' relationship beliefs. Students read ads aloud and discussed how the ads related to important issues in interpersonal research (e.g., how men and women respond differently when reporting sexual partner preferences, but not long-term dating or marriage preferences). Pre-and postactivity knowledge measures indicated that the activity increased students' knowledge of interpersonal relationship research. In addition, students evaluated the activity as a fun, valuable, and interesting learning experience.

We examined whether high self-monitors cognitively process self-presentation-related information and concepts more readily than low self-monitors. Results across three studies indicate that compared to low self-monitors, high self-monitors have greater cognitive access to self-presentation-related information and concepts. High self-monitors produced more words related to self-presentation in a shorter amount of time (Study 1) and in a cognitive load condition (Study 2). In both studies, the number of words did not differ when participants took longer to create their list and when they were in a no cognitive load condition. In Study 3, high (vs. low) self-monitors showed faster reaction time to self-presentation-related concepts. In contrast, reaction time to non-self-presentation items did not differ. The findings contribute to both the theory and knowledge of self-monitoring by demonstrating that information processing related to self-presentational concepts is an important component of self-monitoring, in that such information is more cognitively accessible to high self-monitors.

In the past decade, we have witnessed an explosive growth of the Web, online communities, and social media. This has led to a substantial increase in the range and scope of electronic communication and distributed collaboration. In distributed teams, social communication is thought to be critical for creating and sustaining relationships, but there is often limited opportunity for team members to build interpersonal connections through face to face interactions. Although social science research has examined some relational aspects of distributed teams, this work has only recently begun to explore the potentially complex relationship between communication, interpersonal relationship formation, and the effectiveness of distributed teams. In this work, we analyze data from an experimental study comparing distributed and co-located teams of undergraduates working to solve logic problems. We use a combined set of tools, including statistical analysis, social network analysis, and machine learning, to analyze the influence of interpersonal communication on the effectiveness of distributed and co-located teams. Our results indicate there are significant differences in participants' self- and group perceptions with respect to: (i) distributed vs. co-located settings, and (ii) communication structures within the team.

Three studies utilized priming techniques to examine whether self-presentations can be activated without conscious awareness. The results across all experiments consistently demonstrated nonconscious self-presentation effects, in that people were unaware that their self-presentations were triggered automatically and that their self-presentations were comparable to participants who were explicitly instructed to self-present. The findings are novel because they are the first to demonstrate that self-presentations can be triggered without conscious awareness in a manner similar to self-presentations that are strategically selected. In addition, the results help undermine the common misconception that self-presentation typically involves conscious deliberation, pretense, or outright deception.