Eliciting facial affect, motivation, and expectancies in transference: Significant-other representations in social relations

Author(s): Reznik, I., Manzella, L. M.

Journal/Book: J Personal Soc Psychol. 1996; 71: 750 First St NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Amer Psychological Assoc. 1108-1129.

Abstract: Recent research has demonstrated transference in social perception, defined in terms of memory and schema-triggered evaluation in relation to a new person (S. M. Andersen & A. B. Baum, 1994; S. M. Andersen & S. W. Cole, 1990; S. M. Andersen, N. S. Glassman, S. Chen, & S. W. Cole, 1995). The authors examined schema-triggered facial affect in transference, along with motivations and expectancies. In a nomothetic experimental design, participants encountered stimulus descriptors of a new target person that were derived either from their own idiographic descriptions of a positively toned or a negatively toned significant other or from a yoked control participant's descriptors. Equal numbers of positive and negative target descriptors were presented, regardless of the overall tone of the representation. The results verified the memory effect and schema-triggered evaluation in transference, on the basis of significant-other resemblance in the target person. Of importance, participants' nonverbal expression of facial affect when learning about the target person (i.e., at encoding) reflected the overall tone of their significant-other representation under the condition of significant-other resemblance, providing strong support for schema-triggered affect in transference, through the use of this unobtrusive, nonverbal measure. Parallel effects on interpersonal closeness motivation and expectancies for acceptance/rejection in transference also emerged.

Note: Article Andersen SM, NYU, Dept Psychol, 6 Washington Pl, 4TH Floor, New York,NY 10003 USA

Keyword(s): THEORY RELATING SELF; CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS; CONSTRUCT ACCESSIBILITY; FEEDBACK HYPOTHESIS; PERSON MEMORY; EMOTION; INFORMATION; PERCEPTION; CATEGORIZATION; STEREOTYPES

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