Date of Award

Summer 1976

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Program/Concentration

Psychology

Committee Director

Thomas F. Cash

Committee Member

Barry Gillen

Committee Member

Frederick G. Freeman

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.P65W45

Abstract

The impressions formed by male and female subjects of a female target were investigated as a function of her physical attractiveness, warmth, and behavior. Experimental sessions consisted of subjects viewing a videotape depicting one of the factorial conditions, and then responding to an impression questionnaire. Multivariate analysis revealed, as predicted, that subjects' trait ratings of the target were significantly more positive when she was attractive compared to unattractive, warm compared to cold, and behaved neutrally compared to deviantly. No effect on the subjects' degree of confidence in their ratings was observed. Two causal attribution measures were obtained: responses of subjects to a question designed to elicit explanation of the deviant behavior, and composite scores, extracted from statements on the likely causal and consequential nature of the target's actions. It was hypothesized that attributed motivations for deviancy would be more situationally oriented when the target was warm and attractive compared to when she was cold or unattractive. Results indicated, however, that moderately deviant behavior by a cold, attractive target was most often attributed, especially by the female subjects, to dispositional nature. At more extreme levels of deviancy, attractiveness did not affect attributed causality, although the degree of dispositional ratings did increase when the target was cold relative to warm.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/w5hx-2m24

Download

Share

COinS