| Popis: |
The relationship between social cognition and impression formation was investigated through an examination of the immediate effects of newly presenting homosexually-cued behavior on recognition memory. Participants read an elaborate case history depicting the life of either a woman named Betty K. or a man named Bob K. Immediately after reading the case history, participants learned that the character they read about either pursued a heterosexual lifestyle or a homosexual lifestyle. The impact of this information on recognition memory was then assessed. Information regarding participants beliefs about sexual expression and the degree to which they adhered to homophobic beliefs was alsocollected as a means of grasping the effect of these variables on recognition memory for information considered stereotypic of homosexual men and women. The results indicated that mean effects for sexual orientation, participant gender, and character gender were not significant. However, an interaction between participant gender and character gender emerged such that male participants attributed more stereotypes to the female stimulus persona than to the male stimulus persona. Additionally, participants who were more conservative in their views regarding sexual practices made a significant number of memory errors when reflecting upon the stimulus persons about whom they read. |
