Keep brushing on that blush and applying that lipstick ladies!Recent research reveals that facial make-up elicits positive implicit attitudes.
For some women, makeup is a form of creative expression, for others it is simply a product used to conceal under-eye circles after a late night.For generations, cosmetics have been utilized by soccer moms and supermodels alike for various purposes, including enhancing or maintaining one’s attractive appearance. Accordingly, it seems that facial cosmetic use must influence, to some extent, people’s impressions and opinions of others.
A few years ago, Juliette Richetin and Pascal Huguet (2004) conducted three experiments in an effort to determine the true correlation between makeup use and implicit attitudes.The participants included 98 undergraduate college students, consisting of 76 females and 22 males.The experimenters implemented three IATs that used photographs of females wearing and not wearing makeup.These images were combined with pleasant and unpleasant terms, positive and negative personality traits, and words related to high- and low-status professions.In this way, the participants’ implicit attitudes toward makeup could be determined.
After analyzing the results of the IATs, the experimenters realized that, overall, makeup use elicited positive implicit attitudes and responses.Participants more often attributed positive traits and qualities with the images of the women wearing makeup.This evidence, combined with results from previous studies, also reveals that the application of the makeup plays a significant role in resulting perceptions.For example, heavy make-up application often elicits negative reactions.Therefore, it is evident that variations in the amount and application of the makeup play a key role in the type of attitude generated.As the research reveals, facial makeup is yet another attribute that affects the non-conscious evaluative attitudes we form of others.
On a recent episode of Britain’s Got Talent, 47-year-old Susan Boyle shocked us all with her extraordinary rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream.”Her angelic voice reverberated through the concert hall and into homes across the world.In many ways, Boyle has become a sensation, with just one version of her infamous performance receiving nearly 50 million views on YouTube.Search “Susan Boyle” on Google and peruse the over 21.1 million related articles and fan sites available.The real question is: why has Boyle received so much attention and admiration?Is it simply due to the purity and beauty of her voice, or are more factors involved?
A variety of sources have described Boyle as the unemployed, “spinster cat lady,” from a poor village in Scotland.When she emerged on stage that fateful day, with her fizzy hair, dowdy appearance, and frumpy clothing, the audience was prepared and ready to criticize and judge.The video clip features various members of the studio audience rolling their eyes and laughing at Boyle, both for her appearance and awkward responses to the judges.The minute she opened her mouth to sing, however, the crowd and judges alike were in awe, gazing at Boyle with tears in their eyes and chins dragging on the floor.Why did she receive this reaction?Stereotypes.The second Boyle walked across the stage, people were expecting a comic relief, a good laugh.No one believed she would succeed, would emerge as the front-runner in the competition.How could a middle-aged woman with little savings, a drab appearance, and an awkward attitude possess a talent abounding with beauty and star-like qualities?As a CNN article reveals, “she was painfully ordinary, and everyone was prepared, looking forward even, to see her fail.”
Elizabeth C. Collins, Christian S. Crandall, and Monica Biernat, performed various studies that focused on stereotypes and implicit social comparisons.The data collected caused them to conclude that “people interpret ambiguous information such that their stereotypes hold true, but may fail to appreciate that it is the interpretation that allows them to be true.”In many ways, stereotypes serve as a tool to “fill-in-the-blanks” and formulate a belief about a person or object.The researchers also expressed that we may form stereotypes in an effort to “maintain an existing worldview” or they may simply be a “product of expectations that arise from knowledge of the pervasive cultural stereotypes.”Either way, stereotypes cause us to socially categorize people based on characteristics like race, age, religion, and in Susan Boyle’s case, appearance.
Susan Boyle’s story has touched so many because she challenged and conquered her “old maid” stereotype and realized and achieved her ultimate life-dream.Carole Somerville, in her article, “Susan Boyle, Social Psychology and Discrimination,” reveals that the audience’s emotional reaction to Boyle’s performance may have also been due embarrassment that their quick judgments were significantly flawed.She challenged our world-views and made us remember to always reach for the stars, no matter what others may think or say.Susan Boyle provided us with a wake-up call and reaffirmed the famous adage, “never judge a book by its cover.”
Facebook is debatably the most popular and most frequently accessed social networking site available on the internet today with over 175 million active users worldwide.With its scanty beginnings by a Harvard undergrad in 2004, no one could have predicted the sheer magnitude of the site’s subsequent success.Facebook provides users with the opportunity to connect with friends, join causes, share pictures, create events, and much more.The most salient feature of the site is its ease of use.With one click of the mouse, you can see what an old friend is up to or revise your profile.However, the question is: What is the underlying premise of Facebook?There is growing concern that despite the many advantageous aspects of social networking sites, they may “offer a gateway for self-promotion via self-descriptions, vanity via photos, and large numbers of shallow relationships (friends are counted—sometimes reaching the thousands—and in some cases ranked), each of which is potentially linked to trait narcissism” (Buffardi & Campbell 2008).
Narcissism describes a dimension of personality that is characterized by an inflated sense of self and egotistical tendencies.Narcissists are skilled at using their connections with others to promote an image of popularity and accomplishment.The relationships they form, however, do not exhibit high levels of intimacy and affection.Narcissists are also known to brag about their achievements and feed off of opportunities to obtain glory and admiration in the public sphere.How, then, do social networking sites cater to narcissistic ideals?Easy.First, they promote the formation of superficial and shallow “friendships,” as communication is grounded in “wall posts” and fleeting conversations on “chat.”Statuses serve a bragging function as members can embellish reality and let everyone know what they are doing.Additionally, users can create a profile and tag pictures that accentuate and exaggerate their positive qualities.
Laura E. Buffardi and W. Keith Campbell conducted a study to empirically test the extent to which narcissism is evident on Facebook.156 undergraduate college students participated in the study.They observed various Facebook profiles and rated them on 37 different personality dimensions.The 129 participants that allowed their profiles to be used in the study completed a Narcissistic Personality Inventory test so the data collected could be appropriately correlated.Results revealed that higher scores on the NPI predicted elevated levels of interaction on Facebook.They also were positively correlated with the amount of self-promoting quotes and the attractiveness of the profile photo.
Overall, the study revealed that narcissism is related to higher levels of Facebook activity as well as to the amount of self-promoting content included on the profile page.Correlating the NPI scores with participants’ profile evaluations revealed that they were accurate predictors of the actual level of narcissism the owner of the profile possessed. These conclusions support the idea that Facebook and other similar social networking sites are devices that effectively cater to narcissists and narcissistic tendencies.
Are you a narcissist?Not sure?Log onto Facebook and analyze your profile – it may reveal more about your personality than you previously thought!
Many times, when people think about the traditional college lifestyle, an image that commonly appears involves a keg or a shot glass. In many ways, this conception of college life is emphasized and exacerbated in popular culture. For example, Asher Roth recently released a chart-topping song titled, “I Love College.”The overwhelming themes of the song include alcohol, drugs, and sex.In the chorus of the song, Roth chants:
“That party last night was awfully crazy I wish we taped it,
I danced my ass off and had this one girl completely naked,
Drink my beer and smoke my weed but my good friends is all I need
Pass out at 3, wake up at 10, go out to eat then do it again
Man, I love college”
It is evident, from this song and from societal conceptions at large, that it is no secret that alcohol consumption, particularly binge drinking, is a common weekend (and sometimes even weekday) activity among college students.Recent statistics reveal that four out of five college students drink, with 18% of students having suffered from clinically-significant alcohol-related problems.Accordingly, 70% of students have admitted to engaging in sexual activity while under the influence of alcohol – activity that they reveal probably would not have occurred if they had been sober.
Legal problems associated with college alcohol consumption are also prevalent on college campuses.So much so that last summer, presidents from about 100 of the most well-known institutions, including Duke, Dartmouth, Syracuse, Tufts, and Ohio State, encouraged lawmakers to reduce the drinking age from 21 to 18, believing that it might decrease the pervasiveness of risky drinking behaviors on campus.
From these staggering statistics and legal strides, an essential question emerges:What exactly is the cause of and motivation for drinking in college, especially considering that most students are under the age of 21?Brian Borsari and Kate B. Carey attempted to answer this question in their literature review, “Peer Influences on College Drinking: A review of the research.”Their review reveals that interpersonal processes play a significant role in drinking among college students.Accordingly, they concluded that high-risk alcohol use is exacerbated due to the presence of direct peer influences, modeling, and perceived norms.
Peer influences include both direct and indirect dimensions.Peers might perform actions that explicitly focus on getting someone to drink, through overt verbal commands or actions, like buying a round of drinks, for example.Additionally, peers may offer implicit cues that reveal what types of behaviors are contextually appropriate and would lead to social acceptance.New students, due to their desire to make friends and adapt to college life, are especially susceptible to direct influences.The research revealed that social security and a certain level of maturity are positively correlated with possessing the confidence to refuse an offered drink.Additionally, research on modeling “indicates that participants exposed to heavy-drinking models consume more than students exposed to light-drinking models or no models at all.”
The literature also revealed that perceived drinking norms significantly influence the amount of alcohol consumed.Accordingly, the more a student perceives heavy drinking or support of heavy drinking among their peers, the higher their personal consumption will be.Interestingly, however, related research revealed that “students commonly overestimate the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption of those around them” and indicate that close friends and other college students drink more than themselves.The discrepancies evident between perceived norms and actual norms can be explained with the theories of pluralistic ignorance and attribution theory.First, individuals misperceive their peers’ attitudes towards drinking and believe that their own behavior does not correlate with the norm.In addition, because most students possess an incomplete knowledge of their peers’ true beliefs and behaviors, observing them drinking heavily causes assumptions to be made and norms to be inflated.
It is evident that peer influence and perceived social norms play a significant role in personal alcohol consumption among college students.The research provides insight on the psychology of drinking and helps begin to explain the prevalence of drinking in college.
It is hard to forget the massacre that occurred on Virginia Tech’s campus on April 16, 2007.Cho Seung-Hui, a senior English major, killed 32 people and injured many others before ultimately taking his own life.He began his day that fateful morning sending a package to NBC studios that included a written statement and 28 video clips that featured Cho expressing his intense anger and motivations for killing.He expressed: "You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today.But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off.”
Following the massacre, much information about Cho’s life, personality, and tendencies were revealed.For the most part, his attack came as a surprise to many of his classmates and family members who described him as quiet and reserved.His roommate, Joseph Aust, told BBC news that Cho “was a very anti-social sort who was very quiet and never talked at all.”Many revealed that they always believed that he was lonely because he did not associate with people and sometimes didn’t even respond to friendly greetings from others.
A fellow student revealed that on the first day of literature class in 2006, Cho wrote a question mark on the attendance sheet instead of signing his name.The students came to know him as “question mark kid.”Cho experienced similar ridicule in high school as well.Chris Davids, a high school and college peer of Cho’s, revealed that once in English class, the teacher asked students read aloud.Cho initially refused, but after being threatened with a failing participation grade, he began to read in a strange, deep, and spooky voice.Davids expressed, “As soon as he started reading, the whole class started laughing and pointing and saying, ‘Go back to China.’” Along with these instances of ridicule and expressions of loneliness and social isolation, Cho possessed a history of deviance, from reportedly stalking two females in 2005 to starting a fire in a campus dormitory.
This evidence reveals that Cho was clearly a troubled boy.But, were his feelings of social rejection, loneliness, and anger enough to motivate him to execute the deadliest school shooting in history?Recent research says yes.Lowell Gaertner, Jonathan Iuzzini, and Erin M. O’Mara, in their article, “When Rejection by One Fosters Aggression Against Many: Multiple-Victim Aggression as a Consequence of Social Rejection and Perceived Groupness,” hypothesized that that rejection and perceived groupness function together to promote multiple-victim incidents of aggression.They performed two experiments to test their proposition.The first experiment revealed that rejection by one or a few persons can precipitate aggression toward many.In other words, the rejectee often associates rejection with the group the rejecter(s) belong to and therefore retaliates against the entire group.
The authors reveal that rejection may lead to aggression as rejection threatens self-esteem, reduces self-control, decreases the ability to control antisocial urges, and may perpetuate the use of aggression to gain respect and avoid future rejection.Also, rejected persons may act aggressively as a revenge tactic and as an attempt to gain retribution.For example, Cho expressed in his manifesto: “Oh the happiness I could have had mingling among you hedonists, being counted as one of you, only if you didn’t fuck the living shit out of me…Ask yourself what you did to me to have made me clean the slate.”This statement portrays the idea that due to rejection he experienced from his peers, he was forced to perform violent actions to “clean the slate” and gain vengeance.
Research reveals that the social rejection Cho experienced throughout his academic career may have played a significant factor in his decision to carry out the Virginia Tech massacre.His isolated and withdrawn nature further exacerbated his feelings of loneliness and exemplified his perception of being a social rejected and underappreciated member of the Virginia Tech community and society at large.The video clips that he left in his wake reveal the true underpinnings of his psyche and his deep desire to deliver the ultimate “payback.”Despite the social psychological analysis’s that could be formulated to determine Cho’s motivations, his shameful actions will never be fully understood or forgotten.
If you follow college hockey, you know that one of the most enduring and intense rivalries exists between BostonCollege and BostonUniversity.In many ways, the fans are just as involved in the competition as the players.The stands are filled with a sea of gold Superfan shirts and masses of red and white jerseys.As fights ensue on the ice, BC and BU fans exchange choice words and gestures and rarely exchange friendly glances.These feisty attitudes have characterized BU vs. BC hockey games for decades.This begs the question, what are the true causes and origins of passionate fandom?
Much research has been conducted related to team affiliation and allegiance, and social identify.Beth Jackobsen, in her literature review, “The Social Psychology of the Creation of a Sports Fan Identity: A Theoretical Review of the Literature,” correlates a multitude of research to provide insight on the culture of fandom.She reveals that fan identity promotes a sense of community and belonging.Accordingly, she sites social identity theory which posits that people will associate themselves with individuals that are similar to themselves.The theory also focuses on the ways people categorize themselves based on social and personal identities.In addition, research indicates that fan formation is influenced by interpersonal and symbolic elements, including family and friends’ socialization effect via team-related clothing, toys, and outdoor play.Research has also revealed a positive association between team victory and college students’ affiliation with university sports.Geographical location is a yet another attribute that has a significant impact on team-affiliations.
Jamie Schlabach, in his article, “In-group, Out-group Bias,” emphasizes how social identify theory and in-group, out-group bias provide an explanation for “in-team” favoritism.In the BC vs. BU rivalry, each side believes their team to be better and, therefore, superior.BC fans chant, “Safety school, safety school!” and "GO EAGLES!" while BU responds with snide remarks regarding BC’s Catholic identity and "GO TERRIERS!" It is undeniable that BC and BU fans alike feel a personal affiliation and sense of belongingness with their teams that will last a lifetime.
Do you find yourself reaching for the gallon-sized container of cookie dough ice cream when your stress level is at a maximum or you feel board and unoccupied?You are not alone!The Mayo-Clinic reveals that many people turn to food for comfort as a way to reduce negative emotions such as anxiety, loneliness, and anger.
Nancy Hellmich, in her article, “Successful dieters distinguish hunger from emotions,” addresses the relationship between emotions and food consumption.She shares the story of Pamela Langford, a fifty-year-old woman who used food as a way to cope with overwhelming feelings of loneliness due to the death of her husband in 1996.She expressed:“I worked all day and came home to an empty house.When you are all alone and the telephone does not ring, what do you do? You reach for anything that is there. I would reach into the refrigerator and keep eating and eating. I would eat until I went to bed at night.”When she reached 286 pounds, she realized that the momentary bliss she experienced while eating was not worth the long-term health problems her emotional eating was causing.
Various studies have addressed the role emotions play in food consumption.One study (Algras & Telch, 1998) specifically addressed whether emotions or true hunger play a more significant role in eating.The participants included 60 obese women, half of which were told to fast for 14 hours.All of the women were induced to possess a negative or neural mood and then were presented with a buffet of food.The researchers found that the amount of food consumed correlated with mood and not hunger level.Results revealed that the women that had a negative mood ate more and seemed happier as a result.It wasn’t long before their moods transformed from pleasure to embarrassment for consuming excessive amounts of food.
So, the next time you mix up a batch of cookies with the intent to consume the entire bowl of raw dough, ask yourself: “Am I really hungry or are my emotions tempting me to eat?”
“HeadOn, applied directly to the forehead.HeadOn, applied directly to the forehead.HeadOn, applied directly to the forehead.”Does this sound familiar?I thought so.Most everyone is familiar with the HeadOn commercial that advertises a topical treatment for headaches.Despite its popularity, the overwhelming reaction to the advertisement is annoyance.Why?It features a woman applying the product and a voice repeating the statement: “HeadOn, applied directly to the forehead.”It is hard to deny, however, the enduring effect this repetitious message has on viewers’ memories.In many ways, the HeadOn commercial has become a pop culture phenomenon.It has been the focus of parodies on YouTube, lyrics in a Lil Jon rap song, and is even available as a cell phone ringtone.Television viewers are constantly exposed to the hypnotic advertisement as it appears during syndicated shows like Seinfeld, Jeopardy!, and Regis and Kelly.Vice president of sales and marketing for HeadOn revealed that sales increased 50% within a five month period of airing the commercial.This statistic seems to indicate that frequent exposure to repetitious messages has an enduring effect on viewer’s attitudes.
The HeadOn commercials help promote brand familiarity.Marketing research has revealed that “the effectiveness of advertising is a function of its content (the message), execution (how the ad conveys the message), and frequency (how often a consumer sees the ad).”The HeadOn advertising team should not perceive the increase in sales as an opportunity to stop improving and modifying the commercial, however.The theory of advertisement wear-out reveals that if an audience encounters the same commercial too many times, inattention and intense irritation may result.In order to maintain the sales increase, HeadOn must vary their advertising to present viewers with novel stimuli that attracts their attention and impacts their memory recall.
Turn on the TV and count the number of times you witness objects or acts of violence, from images of weapons to physical altercations between individuals. It’s almost too many to count!Research reveals that children’s programming averages 20 to 25 acts of violence per hour.Additionally, the average child in the U.S. consumes media for about 40 hours a week.Various statistical analyses indicate that by the time the average child leaves elementary school, they have witnessed nearly 100,000 acts of violence on TV alone.These extremely concerning statistics beg the question: Does this constant exposure to violence influence children’s attitudes and levels of aggression?
A CNN article published in 2002 reviews a study that concluded that “adolescents who watch more than three hours of TV daily are more likely to engage in aggressive behavior as adults.”Accordingly, a 15-year longitudinal study revealed that “children’s TV-violence viewing between ages 6 and 9, children’s identification with aggressive same-sex TV characters, and children’s perceptions that TV violence is realistic [are] significantly correlated with their adult aggression.”In this way, children tend to identify with various TV characters and begin to adopt and model their destructive behaviors.This study also revealed that first and third graders who watch a significant amount of violent TV shows are three times more likely to be convicted of criminal behavior in their 20s.
Interestingly, media violence was found to have long-term effects on only children, not adults.This fact emphasizes how violence must be reduced in children’s programming in order to diminish the amount of aggressive and deviant behaviors exhibited later in life.Children must be provided with a strong and positive attitudinal and behavioral foundation.
Reflect on your career as a student.Did you ever compare yourself to your higher-achieving classmates?If so, was the extent to which you compared yourself consistent across all grades?Research reveals that upward social comparison increases as level of education increases.Upward social comparison involves comparing yourself to people that are “better” than you in some way.In the school setting, social comparisons relate to academic achievement and grades.Research has revealed that, oftentimes, making upward social comparisons inspires people to perform better in order to match or exceed others’ achievement.
Florence Dumas et al. attempted to identify the extent of upward social comparisons among elementary school students. The researchers found that elementary school students do not compare themselves upwardly with their peers.They do make social comparisons but they do not realize their position in an academic hierarchy.Upward social comparisons became more prevalent in middle school, and in ninth grade, students made upward comparisons in each subject area.The upward comparisons, however, did not make students feel less capable because the purpose of the assessment was self-improvement.
Researchers also found that students were more likely to make upward social comparisons as they began to understand the values of their teacher and the school system.Students constantly receive and interpret a multitude of explicit and implicit messages and learn, for example, that good performance is characterized by high achievement.This realization, along with the emergence of an achievement hierarchy in older grades, is a main cause of upward social comparisons
In that past few weeks, swine flu has become a national concern.Yesterday, Mexico’s president told citizens to stay home as the World Health Organization raised its alert level, indicating the impending onset of a swine flu pandemic.A large majority of American citizens are fearful that swine flu will spread and cause a similar nationwide health disaster.
A recent Associated Press article indicates that in New York, people are reacting to the virus in various ways.There are some that have become obsessive over germ control while others have been keeping it cool.One woman, who lives a few miles from the University of Delaware where 10 cases of swine flu were reported, revealed: “Yes, my life has changed.I am stocking up on food supplies. I just purchased more fever medicine. I remind my kids every morning to wash their hands at school. This morning, we spoke about trying not to touch our faces.”Conversely, a woman that lives in Washington expressed: “For now, the plan is to sit tight and watch especially since swine flu has not been detected in the state of Washington.”Most Americans are taking the less extreme route and are waiting for more information to be released about the flu.In many ways, it is evident that the proximity and “closeness to home” of the outbreak clearly influences peoples’ attitudes.
In many ways, the attitudes exhibited by most Americans reveals the effects of group conformity.The majority of Americans are staying calm and waiting for more information to emerge.In many ways, it is more socially acceptable to exhibit the attitudes of the majority, and this case is no exception.The reality and proximity of the flu combined with mainstream attitudes have significantly influenced the group norm.
