Suchergebnisse

Several researchers have reported that people photographed wearing eyeglasses were perceived as being more intelligent and honest than people who were not wearing them. In this study, conducted in France, I tried to replicate this effect using a forced-choice situation. Participants
viewed a photograph of a male target wearing, or not wearing, eyeglasses and were instructed to estimate his socioprofessional group using a well-known French list. Results showed that, compared with the target without eyeglasses, the target wearing eyeglasses was more frequently associated
with a higher status socioprofessional group and less often with midstatus or low-status socioprofessional groups. These results confirmed that a common cue of facial appearance is sufficient to activate a stereotype of social group membership.

Nelson and Morrison (2005 , study 3) reported that men who feel hungry preferred heavier women. The present study replicates these results by using real photographs of women and examines the mediation effect of hunger scores. Men were solicited while entering or leaving a restaurant and asked to report their hunger on a 10-point scale. Afterwards, they were presented with three photographs of a woman in a bikini: One with a slim body type, one with a slender body type, and one with a slightly chubby body. The participants were asked to indicate their preference. Results showed that the participants entering the restaurant preferred the chubby body type more while satiated men preferred the thinner or slender body types. It was also found that the relation between experimental conditions and the choices of the body type was mediated by men's hunger scores.

The positive effect of tactile contact on compliance has been widely reported in the literature. However, the effect of touch on willingness to disclose confidential information has never been studied. Two days after European Parliamentary elections, people who were walking by in the
street were asked by an interviewer who was unknown to them, to reveal for which candidate they had voted. According to a random distribution, some of the people who were questioned were slightly touched on the forearm by the interviewer during the formulation of the request but the rest of
the participants were not touched. Results showed that, compared with the participants who were not touched, those who were touched were more likely to be willing to disclose their voting preference (88.6% of the touched group vs. 63.3% of the no-touch group), suggesting that touch is a facilitator
of self-revelation.

Although different types of handshakes have been shown to be related to an individual's personality and social perception of the recipient, the effect of handshaking on compliance with a request remains in question. In a door-to-door setting, homeowners were asked for money for a humanitarian
organization. Handshaking was performed or not by the solicitor before making the request in a random distribution. The results showed that more participants complied with the request in the handshaking condition (95.5%) than in the no handshaking control condition (53.3%). The difference
between the 2 conditions was statistically significant.

In this study, I examined the correlation between having a tattoo and/or body piercing and the time at which sexual activity began. Data were gathered from a convenience sample of 2,080 students, who were recruited by approaching them on the campuses of public universities in France.
Tattooed and/or pierced students reported earlier experiences of sexual intercourse than did nonpierced and nontattooed students. This effect was found with both males and females, and was reinforced when respondents had both piercings and tattoos.

Results of previous researchers' studies on the effect of blond hair color on helping behavior have been inconsistent. In addition, spontaneous helping behavior has not been examined. In this study, female confederates wearing blond, brown, or dark wigs accidentally dropped a glove
while walking in pedestrian streets and then walked away, apparently not aware of their loss. It was found that male and not female pedestrians helped the confederates wearing blond wigs more often. An explanation for these results is that a greater degree of youth and good health is associated
with women who have blond hair.

In this experiment, a confederate was asked to mimic the posture and movements of participants who, subsequently, completed the French version (Pelletier & Vallerand, 1990) of the Scheier and Carver (1985) Self-consciousness Scale. Results showed that mimicry was associated with
increased private and public self-consciousness and decreased social anxiety. Such data confirmed that mimicry is associated not only with changes in perception about a mimicker but also has an effect on self-perception of the person mimicked.

Previous research has indicated that a light tactile contact is associated with a positive response towards the person who is touching. The effect of touch on courtship was investigated in this experiment, which was conducted in a field setting. A female confederate either slightly
touched or did not touch a man in a bar when asking him for some help. It was found that men who were touched showed more interest toward the female confederate than when no touch occurred. It was also found that touch was associated with stronger courtship intentions by men. The importance
of women's nonverbal patterns in the courtship context and the trend of men to misinterpret women's intent are proposed to explain these results.

Previous studies have found that various nonverbal behaviors performed by women are associated with men approaching. A female confederate was instructed either to smile or to not smile at a man when entering a bar. It was found that those men who were smiled at approached the woman
and considered her more favorably. This effect is explained in accordance with studies that found smiling enhanced attractiveness and that a smile is interpreted to be a signal of a woman's interest towards a man.