Citation

Strachman A, Gable SL. Person. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2006; 32(11): 1446-1458.

Affiliation

Psychology Department, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. astrach@ucla.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0146167206291007

PMID

17030887

Abstract

Two studies examined the influence of approach and avoidance social goals on memory for and evaluation of ambiguous social information. Study 1 found that individual differences in avoidance social goals were associated with greater memory of negative information, negatively biased interpretation of ambiguous social cues, and a more pessimistic evaluation of social actors. Study 2 experimentally manipulated social goals and found that individuals high in avoidance social motivation remembered more negative information and expressed more dislike for a stranger in the avoidance condition than in the approach condition. Results suggest that avoidance social goals are associated with emphasizing potential threats when making sense of the social environment.

Language: en