The Influence of Implicit Math Anxiety on Math Achievement.

Previous work has noted that math anxiety may have a profound effect on math performance; however extant research has relied on measures that explicitly assess math anxiety. This study examined the effects of implicit math anxiety on the performance of a math achievement task. We hypothesized that combined measure of implicit anxiety and explicit anxiety would better predict math achievement than measures of explicit math anxiety alone.

Effects of Disease Threat and Attitude Similarity on Willingness to Help: The Mediating Role of Disgust.

The current research tested the hypothesis that an increase in perceived disease vulnerability would create more feelings of disgust and a reduced willingness to help persons with dissimilar attitudes. To test these hypotheses, two studies were performed. In the first study, 173 university undergraduates indicated their willingness to help a target person who held similar or dissimilar attitudes.

Disease Salience Effects on Desire for Affiliation With In-Group and Out-Group Members: Cognitive and Affective Mediators.

This study tested the hypothesis that threats related to infectious diseases would make persons less willing to affiliate with out-groups and that feelings of disgust and beliefs about the out-group members would mediate this effect. To test this hypothesis, American participants of European descent were presented with either a disease threat or control threat. Then they were shown a photograph of someone of the same race or different race.

Effects of Self-Esteem Threat on Physical Attractiveness Stereotypes.

Certainly one of the first things that we notice when meeting someone new is how physically attractive that they are. Although the vast majority of studies in the literature suggest favoritism for physically attractive humans, some research indicates that negative biases may occur as well. This discrepancy in the literature may simply indicate the failure of differing experimental methods to adequately tap the same construct; however, it is also a likely indicator of moderating factors at work.

The Influence of Physical Attractiveness on Belief in a Just World.

Previous work has consistently found that belief in a just world is strongly correlated with societal privilege. In the present study, we examined the influence of physical attractiveness on belief in a just world. We hypothesized that physically attractive individuals would be stronger endorsers of belief in a just world, whereas less attractive individuals would be less likely to endorse belief in a just world.

Effects of Instructor Attractiveness on Learning.

Although a considerable body of research has examined the impact of student attractiveness on instructors, little attention has been given to the influence of instructor attractiveness on students. This study tested the hypothesis that persons would perform significantly better on a learning task when they perceived their instructor to be high in physical attractiveness. To test the hypothesis, participants listened to an audio lecture while viewing a photograph of instructor.

The effects of material and experiential discretionary purchases on consumer happiness: moderators and mediators.

Experiential purchases are differentiated from material purchases in terms of objective; experiential purchases serve the purpose of acquiring a life experience, while material purchases serve the purpose of acquiring an object. Research has demonstrated that experiential purchases are associated with more happiness than material purchases. The current study investigated two explanations for this relationship that focused on the how the purchase influenced the self and how the purchase influenced interpersonal relationships.

Menstrual cycle changes in mate preferences for cues associated with genetic quality: the moderating role of mate value.

The purpose of the study was to explore the influence of mate value and fertility status on women's implicit and explicit preferences for male traits associated with genetic quality. It was hypothesized that a woman low in mate value would experience greater fluctuation across her menstrual cycle in her preferences for characteristics associated with genetic quality than a woman high in mate value. Specifically, a low mate value woman during the non-fertile part of the cycle would experience a reduction in a desire for traits associated with health and reproductive success.

Masculinity and intentions to perform health behaviors: the effectiveness of fear control arguments.

This study examined the impact of fear control and danger control messages on intentions to perform health behaviors. It was hypothesized that persons high in masculinity would be more influenced by messages that address fear than messages that exclusively focus on the efficacy of the behavior (danger control). To test this proposition, 172 participants were classified into high and low masculinity groups according to their scores on the Bem Sex Role Inventory, and randomly assigned fear reducing or danger control messages either encouraging detection behavior (skin cancer self-examination) or promotion behavior (sunscreen usage).

The effects of a parenting prime on sex differences in mate selection criteria.

This study tested an evolutionary hypothesis that the mere prospect of caring for a child will increase sex differences in human mate selection criteria. That is, women would adopt a stronger preference for socially dominant men when parenting had been primed and men would adopt a stronger preference for physically attractive women when parenting had been primed. Male and female university students were randomly assigned to be exposed to a parenting prime or a nonparenting prime.

Responses to messages about health behaviors: The influence of repressive coping.

This study examined the impact of messages that promoted health behaviors on repressors (persons who report low levels of anxiety and a high need to appear socially desirable), high anxiety participants (persons who report high levels of anxiety and a low need to appear socially desirable), and low anxiety participants (persons who report low anxiety and a low need to appear socially desirable). It was hypothesized that repressors would be more influenced by messages encouraging health promotion behaviors than messages encouraging disease detection behaviors. Also it was hypothesized that low anxiety participants and high anxiety participants would be equally influenced by messages about both types of behavior.

The effects of perceived stress on reactions to messages designed to increase health behaviors.

This study examined the impact of perceived stress on responses to messages that encouraged the performance of health promotion and disease detection behaviors. It was hypothesized that increases in perceived stress would be associated with decreased processing of messages encouraging disease detection behaviors, and that increases in perceived stress would not effect the processing of messages encouraging health promotion behaviors. To test these hypotheses participants completed a perceived stress measure and then read a message that encouraged the performance of either a health promotion or a disease detection behavior.

The effectiveness of the door-in-the-face compliance strategy on friends and strangers.

The author examined the impact of the door-in-the-face procedure on concerns about self-presentation and hypothesized that (a) when a friend made door-in-the-face requests, the procedure would increase the participant's concern about self-presentation more than would a single request and (b) when a stranger made door-in-the-face requests, the procedure would not increase the participant's concern about self-presentation more than would a single request. Either friends or strangers presented requests to the participants. Half the requests were in a door-in-the-face format, and the other half were single requests.