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The effect of anxiety on impression formation: Affect-congruent or stereotypic biases?
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The effect of anxiety on impression formation: Affect-congruent or stereotypic biases?

G.J. Curtis and V. Locke
British Journal of Social Psychology, Vol.44(1), pp.65-83
2005
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1348/014466604X23464
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Abstract

Two classes of theories propose that anxious individuals will form either more affect congruent or more stereotypic impressions of others. These theories’ predictions are not mutually exclusive. Eighty-one participants were examined to determine if either class of theories was more descriptive of the effect of anxiety on impression formation or whether a theory combining elements of both was more appropriate. Anxious participants read behavioural descriptions about an Australian Aboriginal target that were stereotypic, non-stereotypic, threatening, and non-threatening, and rated the target on traits that corresponded to the behavioural descriptions. Anxious participants formed impressions that were more affect-congruent, but not more stereotypic, than those formed by control participants. This result was replicated in a field study with 61 participants who were waiting to see a dentist. Future studies should examine the cognitive mechanisms that influence and underlie anxious affect-congruent impression formation.

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12 Record Views
12 Times Cited - Web of Science

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Citation topics
6 Social Sciences
6.73 Social Psychology
6.73.130 Cognitive Biases
Web Of Science research areas
Psychology, Social
ESI research areas
Psychiatry/Psychology
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