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Preattributional and attributional determinants of emotions and expectations
Author(s) -
Overwalle Frank Van,
Heylighen Francis,
Casaer Sarah,
Daniëls Marleen
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.2420220402
Subject(s) - optimal distinctiveness theory , psychology , attribution , globality , social psychology , consistency (knowledge bases) , event (particle physics) , locus of control , misattribution of memory , cognition , control (management) , cognitive psychology , market economy , physics , geometry , mathematics , management , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , economics , globalization
Explores how preattributional variables describing an event (i.e. consensus, consistency, distinctiveness, and effectuality) as well as dimensions of attributions given to explain the event (i.e. locus, stability, globality, and control) determine subsequent emotions and expectations. In a first pilot study, subjects described actual emotion‐evoking incidents. The results indicated that these free descriptions included preattributional variables more often (43 per cent) than attributional appraisals (13 per cent), and that the hypothesized preattributional cues were used to describe the emotions. In a second experimental study, preattributional or attributional information about an event was presented, and subjects were asked to judge an actor's emotions or expectations. The time needed to make this judgment was recorded. Judgments and response times were not significantly different after preattributional or attributional information, but were different for distinct emotions and expectations in accordance with the hypotheses. The data were interpreted as suggesting that people possess cognitive schemas about the preattributional and attributional determinants of emotions, and that these schemas speed up the processing of diagnostic inputs that shape emotions.