The effect of anxiety on impression formation : affect-congruent or stereotypic biases?

Guy J. Curtis, Vance Locke

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    13 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Two classes of theories propose that anxious individuals will form either more affect congruent or more stereotypic impressions of others. These theories’ predictions are not mutually exclusive. Eighty-one participants were examined to determine if either class of theories was more descriptive of the effect of anxiety on impression formation or whether a theory combining elements of both was more appropriate. Anxious participants read behavioural descriptions about an Australian Aboriginal target that were stereotypic, non-stereotypic, threatening, and non-threatening, and rated the target on traits that corresponded to the behavioural descriptions. Anxious participants formed impressions that were more affect-congruent, but not more stereotypic, than those formed by control participants. This result was replicated in a field study with 61 participants who were waiting to see a dentist. Future studies should examine the cognitive mechanisms that influence and underlie anxious affect-congruent impression formation.
    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages20
    JournalBritish Journal of Social Psychology
    Publication statusPublished - 2005

    Keywords

    • anxiety
    • attitude (psychology)
    • human information processing
    • impression formation (psychology)
    • social psychology
    • stereotypes (social psychology)

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