Browsing by Subject "Affiliation"
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Item The benefits of advertising status : what conspicuous consumption buys women(2012-05) Cloud, Jaime Marie; Buss, David M.; Loving, Timothy J.; Meston, Cindy M.; Raghunathan, Raj; Tucker-Drob, Elliot M.The primary objectives of the current research were to (1) test the effectiveness of conspicuous consumption as a status-enhancement tactic and (2) examine access to material resources as an interpersonal benefit that incentivizes status striving behavior. The studies that follow investigated the status striving motivations of both men and women; however, this research endeavor was primarily designed to address the paucity of research on female status. In Study 1, a nation-wide sample of participants perceived target women to be higher status when they were depicted conspicuously consuming than when not. Several individual difference variables that predict conspicuous consumption were also identified, many of which related to the attainment of high status. In Studies 2 and 3, conspicuous consumption was shown to increase perceptions of status in face-to-face interactions, further supporting the status signaling function of conspicuous consumption. Study 3 utilized a Dictator Game methodology to test the prediction that participants would share more of a monetary allotment with confederates who were conspicuously consuming than with those who were not. Results indicated that conspicuous consumption did not increase generosity except in male participants who shared more of a monetary allotment with conspicuous consumers, particularly those of the same sex. This sex-specific result is discussed in light of the possibility that conspicuous consumption signals a type of status that is particularly relevant to men (i.e., economic status). In conclusion, I consider the different pathways by which high status individuals receive increased access to resources.Item Individual differences in stress physiology : understanding person by situation influences(2011-05) Evans, Jacqueline Josephine; Josephs, Robert A.; Delville, Yvon; Beevers, Christopher G.; Loving, Timothy J.Do person by situation effects influence physiological stress response? Despite being relatively uncontested since being theorized nearly 80 years ago, the fight-or-flight model of stress response has suffered criticism for its one-size-fits-all approach in light of the historical gender bias in the literature. In contrast, the tend-and-befriend model of stress response argues that females are driven to care for their offspring (tend) and band together with others (befriend) in response to stress. Despite evidence suggesting the importance individual differences in the effect of affiliation and social support on stress, past research has generally overlooked markers of individual difference and personality. The major aim of this dissertation was to identify and examine potential person by situation effects on stress physiology, illuminating under what conditions and for whom affiliation and social support may buffer against the stress response and aid recovery in the wake of a stressor. Two studies were conducted to evaluate the role of individual difference factors of gender and personality (i.e., person effects) and the availability of affiliation with a similar other (study 1) or a trusted friend (study 2) compared with no available affiliation (i.e., social situation effects) on stress response and recovery. Study 1 revealed that availability of affiliation with a similar other did not have a protective influence on stress physiology in general. However, personality (openness to experience) and gender together, along with availability of affiliation, were important predictors of stress physiology over time. Study 2 indicated that the availability of affiliation with a trusted friend had a protective effect on stress physiology across each time point. Further, extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience each appear to be important predictors of the influence of availability of affiliation with a close friend on stress physiology over time. In sum, this dissertation found evidence of person by situation effects on stress physiology across two studies. In both studies, the effect of the availability of affiliation differed based on individual difference factors of personality, not on gender. As such, tend-and-befriend may be better conceptualized not as a uniquely female response, but rather a stress response that depends on individual difference characteristics of personality. Further, future stress response models and research should consider personality as an important marker of individual difference in physiological stress response.