Sex differences in memory for human faces is reviewed. It is found that research evidence to date is not conclusive, but where differences exist they favor female superiority over males in facial memory. In particular, evidence is cited to suggest that females are reliably superior to males in their recognition memory for other females. This is…

Contradictory predictions concerning control over negative events exist in Walster's self-protective attribution theory which maintains that on-lookers in negative situations are apt to seek control by convincing themselves that such a situation couldn't happen to them, while Shaver's defensive attribution theory suggests that in a comparable…

An experimental design, the impact of the marital status, physical attractiveness, amount of victim resistance, and immediate reaction of the victim as well as sex of observer on attributions of fault to hypothetical rape victims were investigated. Participants were 440 undergraduate students at the University of Wyoming. Each participant was…

This report presents the results of two experimental studies undertaken to investigate some of the differences in success and failure attributions made by actors and observers in an achievement situation. Causal attributions of a person actually experiencing a success or failure (the actor) and someone who read about the situation (the observer)…

Undergraduates in an economics course reported prior grade averages and their final exam predictions. Students rated the influence that ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck had on performance and completed an achievement motivation scale. Regression analyses provided support for the attribution model of achievement expectations. Sex…

Possible discrepancies between client and counselor assessment of clients' problems were examined. Attribution theory suggests that counselors perceive clients' problems to lie with the clients as persons, whereas clients perceive their problems to be a result of situational pressures. Both groups perceived client problems as relatively personal.…

This study tested the prediction that a satiation effect would be observed only for noncontingent social stimuli, and not for groups presented with contingent stimuli. (Author/SB)

Male and female students from grades 1, 3, 6, 8, and college watched a videotaped scene of a young female actress breaking a chair. Subjects were then asked to make attributions of causality and "naughtiness" to the chair breaker. Results were consistent with predictions based on Heider's theory of social attribution. (Author/JMB)

Attribution theory holds that perceived arousal may cause a person to draw an inference about his emotions and base his subsequent behavior on that inference. Recent research suggests, however, that this account does not entirely explain the influence of false arousal feedback on simultaneously occurring avoidance behavior. Proposes a behavior…

Evidence from four studies demonstrates that social observers tend to perceive a "false consensus" with respect to the relative commonness of their own responses. Implications of these findings for our understanding of social perception phenomena and for the analysis of the divergent perceptions of actors and observers are discussed. (Editor/RK)

Three hypotheses on children's social attributions were tested using children from elementary grades as subjects. The results indicated that children attributed their positive outcomes more to ability, effort, and luck than they did their negative outcomes. This effect did not depend on the person to whom they made attributions. (Author/LMO)

In a secondary analysis of citizenship acquisition among legal Mexican immigrants many individual characteristics which were significant in previous studies did not correlate with an interest in naturalization. Positive correlations were found in these areas: (1) roots in the United States; (2) residential patterns; and (3) barriers and attitudes…

Discusses adaptive cognitive changes in adulthood from perspectives of adult cognitive development and social cognition theory. Proposes interface between the two disciplines. Applies post-formal literature on cognitive development to area of attributional processes. Discusses implications changes in attributional processes may have for cognitive…

Self-concept and attributions made about academic successes and failures were compared in 46 students with learning disabilities and 47 normally achieving students (mean age 12 years). Attributions regarding internal versus external causes for successes and failures and stable (ability) versus unstable (effort) causes for failures did not…

A survey of faculty, students, and staff at a large southern university identified sex differences in definitions of harassment, in attitudes toward causes, and in attitudes toward university policy. Sex differences reflect respondent's own self-interests within the university and the organizational environment. (KH)