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The effect of anxiety on impression formation: Affect‐congruent or stereotypic biases?
Author(s) -
Curtis Guy J.,
Locke Vance
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1348/014466604x23464
Subject(s) - psychology , affect (linguistics) , impression formation , anxiety , social psychology , cognition , impression management , developmental psychology , social perception , perception , communication , neuroscience , psychiatry
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.