The effects of attitude familiarity on social interactions and stress

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Title The effects of attitude familiarity on social interactions and stress
Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Social & Behavioral Science
Department Psychology
Author Behrends, Arwen Alexandria J.
Date 2014
Description Previous correlational research suggests that familiarity with another's attitudes is beneficial for physical health and relationship outcomes. This study aimed to examine the causal effects of attitude familiarity on the stressfulness of interactions and individuals' perceptions of themselves, their partner, and the interaction. Participants were randomly assigned to an attitude familiarity, trait familiarity, or no familiarity condition and completed a discussion task with an assigned partner. Measures of cardiovascular reactivity and participant perception were obtained. In line with our predictions, systolic blood pressure reactivity was significantly lower during the discussion task in the familiarity conditions compared to the control condition. However, other significant main effects of condition on cardiovascular reactivity or self-report measures were found. Secondary analyses indicated that increases in attitude similarity and respect and liking for a partner's attitude or traits were associated with more favorable perceptions of the partner and interaction.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Attitudes; Cardiovascular reactivity; Social interaction; Social psychology
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Master of Science
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © Arwen Alexandria J. Behrends 2014
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 597,248 bytes
Identifier etd3/id/3149
ARK ark:/87278/s6z356w8
Setname ir_etd
ID 196716
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6z356w8
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