Exploring the Effects of Sadness on Social Acuity

描述(由申请者提供)：这项研究将探索轻微的、短暂的悲伤如何影响形成有效社会判断的能力。这项研究提案的主要目标是检验为解决这一领域过去的不一致而提出的理论模型。这一模型假设，语言和非语言线索对判断任务的相对贡献对悲伤影响判断准确性的方式有重要的影响。具体地说，悲伤被认为会导致信息处理方式的转变，更多地强调语言提示，而不是更少地强调非语言提示。因此，当相关结构的诊断线索主要在语言通道中编码时，判断应该增强，而当诊断线索主要在非语言通道中编码时，判断应该减少。三项研究将检验这些假设。研究1测试了更仔细的推理和更强调语言暗示之间的联系。研究2检验了更多地强调言语暗示和对社会判断准确性的不对称影响之间的后续联系。最后，研究3通过诱发悲伤和使用假设的认知机制的间接测量来同时测试模型的所有阶段。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This research will explore the manner in which mild, transient sadness influences the ability to form valid social judgments. The major objective of this research proposal is to test a theoretical model put forth to resolve past inconsistencies in this area. This model posits that the relative contribution of verbal and nonverbal cues to the judgment task has important consequences for the way sadness impacts judgment accuracy. Specifically, sadness is hypothesized to produce a shift in information-processing style that places more emphasis on verbal cues and less emphasis on nonverbal cues. As a result, judgments should be enhanced when diagnostic cues to the relevant constructs are primarily encoded in the verbal channel and diminished when diagnostic cues are primarily encoded in the nonverbal channel. Three studies will test these hypotheses. Study 1 tests the link between more careful reasoning and greater emphasis on verbal cues. Study 2 tests the subsequent link between greater emphasis on verbal cues and asymmetric effects on social judgment accuracy. Finally, Study 3 tests all stages of the model concurrently by inducing sadness and using indirect measures of the hypothesized cognitive mechanisms.