Effects of Affect, Stereotype Consistency, and Valence of Behavior on Causal Attributions

Abstract

The authors examined 3 hypotheses about the effects of 2 positive and 2 negative affects on causal attributions. On the basis of cognitive appraisal theories of emotion, they predicted that the grateful and angry participants would attribute causality for like-valenced behaviors to the target more strongly than would the happy and sad participants, respectively. Following an affect-induction procedure, 229 Anglo-American participants read a description of an African American target whose behavior was stereotype consistent or stereotype inconsistent and positive or negative in valence. As predicted, when the behavior was negative, the angry participants attributed it more strongly to the target than did the sad participants. When the behavior was positive, the grateful participants attributed it more strongly to the target than did the happy participants. The importance of distinguishing among affects and considering their multidimensional nature in predicting effects on social judgments is emphasized.

Key Words:

• affect
• causal attributions
• stereotype consistency
• valence of behavior