Three studies examined observers' attributions and reactions to negative emotional displays, as well as expressers' expectations about others' reactions. Study I found that one's own negative emotions were attributed to situations more than to dispositions, but others' emotions were attributed equally to situations and dispositions. Study 2 revealed that the observers' affective reactions, assignment of responsibility, and intent to support and reject the other, as well as expressers' expectations of these variables, were more negative when emotions were attributed to the expressers' dispositions than when attributed to the situation. Study 3 investigated the discrepancy between expressers' expectations and observers' reactions, and found that observers directed more intense reactions, both positive and negative, than expressers expected. Discussion considers methodological issues and the implications for social support and distressful interpersonal processes.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alicke, M. D. (1985). Global self-evaluation as determined by the desirability and controllability of trait adjectives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1621-1630.
2.
Andersen, S. M. , & Ross, L. (1984). Self-knowledge and social inference: 1. The impact of cognitive/affective and behavioral data. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 280-293.
3.
Averill, J. R. (1982). Anger and aggression. New York: Springer-Verlag.
4.
Bradbury, T. N. , & Fincham, F. D. (1990). Attributions in marriage: Review and critique. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 3-33.
5.
Brown, J. D. (1986). Evaluations of self and others: Self-enhancement biases in social judgments. Social Cognition, 4, 353-376.
6.
Conway, M. A. , & Bekerian, D. A. (1987). Situational knowledge and emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 1, 145-191.
7.
Coyne, J. C. (1976). Depression and the responses of others. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85, 186-193.
8.
Ellsworth, P. C. , & Smith, C. A. (1988). From appraisal to emotion: Differences among unpleasant feelings. Motivation and Emotion, 12, 271-302.
9.
Gurtman, M. B. (1986). Depression and the response of others: Reevaluating the reevaluation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95, 99-101.
10.
Herbert, T. B. , & Dunkel-Schetter, C. (1992). Negative social reactions to victims: An overview of responses and their determinants. In L. Montada, S. H. Filipp, & M. J. Lerner (Eds.), Life crises and experiences of loss in adulthood (pp. 497-518). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
11.
Izard, C. E. , & Buechler, S. (1980). Aspects of consciousness and personality in terms of differential emotions theory. In R. Plutchik & H. Kellerman (Eds.), Emotion: Theory, research and experience (Vol. 1, pp. 165-187). New York: Academic Press.
12.
Johnson, J. T. (1987). The heart on the sleeve and the secret self: Estimates of hidden emotion in self and acquaintances. Journal of Personality, 55, 563-582.
13.
Jones, E. E. , & Nisbett, R. E. (1972). The actor and the observer: Divergent perceptions of the causes of behavior. In E. E. Jones, D. E. Kanouse, H. H. Kelley, R. E. Nisbett, S. Valins, & B. Weiner (Eds.), Attribution: Perceiving the causes of behavior (pp. 79-94). Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press.
14.
Liu, J. , Karasawa, K., & Weiner, B. (1992). Inferences about the causes of positive and negative emotions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 603-615.
15.
Locke, K. D. , & Horowitz, L. M. (1990). Satisfaction in interpersonal interactions as a function of similarity in level of dysphoria. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 823-831.
16.
Meyer, J. P. , & Mulherin, A. (1980). From attribution to helping: An analysis of the mediating affects of affect on expectancy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 201-210.
17.
Miller, D. T. , & McFarland, C. (1987). Pluralistic ignorance: When similarity is interpreted as dissimilarity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 298-305.
18.
Peeters, G. , & Czapinski, J. (1990). Positive-negative asymmetry in evaluations: The distinction between affective and informational effects. In W. Strobe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology, (Vol. 1, pp. 33-60). Chichester, England: Wiley.
19.
Plutchik, R. (1980). A general psychoevolutionary theory of emotion. In R. Plutchik & H. Kellerman (Eds.), Emotion: Theory, research and experience (Vol. 1, pp. 3-33). New York: Academic Press.
20.
Roseman, I. J. (1984). Cognitive determinants of emotion: A structural theory. In P. Shaver (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology: Vol. 5. Emotions, relationships, and health (pp. 11-36). Beverly Hills, CA. Sage.
21.
Sacco, W. P. , & Dunn, V. K. (1990). Effect of actor depression on observer attributions: Existence and impact of negative attributions toward the depressed. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 517-524.
22.
Schwarzer, R. (1986). Self-related cognitions in anxiety and motivation: An introduction. In R. Schwarzer (Ed.), Self-elated cognitions in anxiety (pp. 1-18). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
23.
Skowronski, J. J. , & Carlston, D. E. (1987). Social judgment and social memory: The role of cue diagnosticity in negativity, positivity, and extremity biases. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5Z, 689-699.
24.
Skowronski, J. J. , & Carlston, D. E. (1989). Negativity and extremity biases in impression formation: A review of explanations. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 131-142.
25.
Smith, C. A. , & Ellsworth, P. C. (1985). Patterns of cognitive appraisal in emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 813-838.
26.
Weiner, B. (1980). A cognitive (attribution)-emotion-action model of motivated behavior: An analysis of judgments of help-giving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 186-200.
27.
Wenzlaff, R. M. , & Prohaska, M. L. (1989). When misery prefers company: Depression, attributions, and responses to others' moods. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 220-233.
28.
Winer, D. L. , Bonner, T. O., Blaney, P. H., & Murray, E. J. (1981). Depression and social attraction. Motivation and Emotion, 5, 153-166.
29.
Zuckerman, M. , & Feldman, L. S. (1984). Actions and occurrences in attribution theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 541-550.
