Kenneth DeMarree | SUNY: University at Buffalo (original) (raw)
Papers by Kenneth DeMarree
International Journal of …, 2007
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2009
Recent research has demonstrated that primes can affect self-perceptions, and that subsequent beh... more Recent research has demonstrated that primes can affect self-perceptions, and that subsequent behavior is typically in line with these changed self-perceptions. However, a wide range of other priming effects have been documented, including changes in person perception, motivation, and so forth. The conditions under which a given prime affects the self as opposed to creating one of these other outcomes remains unclear. The present research seeks to offer insight into this question by examining attentional factors as one determinant of whether the self or another target will be biased by a prime. Across two studies, manipulating attention to the self (or an irrelevant target) immediately following a prime produced assimilation in behavior (Experiment 1) and self-perceptions (Experiment 2) when participants thought about themselves, but not an irrelevant target. In addition, when participants thought about an unrelated target, perceptions of this target, but not the self, were changed (Experiment 2).
Social and Personality …, 2009
Recent research has explored how the activation of social constructs via priming can affect behav... more Recent research has explored how the activation of social constructs via priming can affect behavior. Multiple mechanisms have received support, including direct activation of behavioral representations, goal activation, biases in person perception, biases in situation perception, and biases in self-perception. We review the evolving complexity of proposed prime-to-behavior mechanisms, discuss the predictions of each mechanism, and suggest some integrative principles that influence how and when primed constructs affect behavior. Psychological Bulletin. He is an associate professor of marketing at Stanford University. He holds a BA in psychology from the University of Northern Iowa and MA and PhD degrees in psychology from the Ohio State University.
Journal of Experimental Social …, 2008
This paper examines a novel means of increasing elaboration of persuasive messages. Whereas much ... more This paper examines a novel means of increasing elaboration of persuasive messages. Whereas much previous research has focused on ways to promote actual self-relevance of the message (e.g., by changing the message to match the recipient), the present research uses priming manipulations to change the recipient to match the message. Across two studies, participants were primed with traits (e.g., extraversion) and stereotypes (e.g., African-American) before reading strong or weak advertisements that matched or mismatched the primed constructs. Participants were more influenced by the quality of arguments in messages that matched (rather than mismatched) the primed constructs. In Experiment 2, these results were observed only among individuals low in the other-directedness subscale of self-monitoring (i.e., people whose behavior is driven by their internal states). Results are interpreted within the Active-Self account, which suggests that primed constructs can become integrated into the working self-concept and influence behavior as though they were self-descriptive.
Social and Personality …, 2007
Numerous parallels exist between the literatures on attitudes and the self, yet they are generall... more Numerous parallels exist between the literatures on attitudes and the self, yet they are generally considered in isolation. In this paper, we focus on some parallels with respect to the concept of self-strength -that is, aspects of self-esteem and the self-concept that impart the qualities of durability and impactfulness. Using research on attitude strength as our foundation, we first introduce some relevant strength variables such as accessibility, certainty, and ambivalence. Then, as a case study we review existing research on self-view accessibility. Our review is organized based on parallel findings on attitude accessibility in order to demonstrate the utility of this approach. By considering research on attitude strength, we are able to organize, and in some cases reinterpret, previous self-related findings, make new predictions regarding the self, and increase the precision of predictions. We believe that this approach can foster integration between the areas of attitudes and the self, advancing theory and research on both.
Personality and Social …, 2010
The present research examines the accessibility of one's self-esteem as a predictor of the "stren... more The present research examines the accessibility of one's self-esteem as a predictor of the "strength" (durability and impactfulness) of that self-esteem. Based on attitude accessibility research, the authors predicted that accessibility of self-esteem (i.e., a self-attitude) would be positively related to self-esteem's ability to resist change and guide information processing. In Study 1, accessibility of self-esteem was positively related to resistance to change in a paradigm where participants listed either positive or negative self-attributes. Self-esteem was also associated with biases in judgments of ambiguous personality feedback (Study 2) and in explanatory style and future event predictions (Study 3), but did so to a greater extent as self-esteem accessibility increased. In addition, these patterns were obtained after controlling for other variables, including general reaction time, evaluative extremity, self-concept clarity, and self-esteem certainty. Results are discussed in relation to past literature, self-strength, and applied implications.
Personality and Social …, 2011
Advances in Consumer …, 2006
Consumers are often motivated to resist changing. Resistance to persuasion is influenced by many ... more Consumers are often motivated to resist changing. Resistance to persuasion is influenced by many individual and situational factors related to both the ability and the motivation of consumers. For example, although much is known about characteristics of attitudes that make them resistant to change (e.g., , less is known about factors that influence individuals' motivation to resist persuasion (e.g., Briñol, Rucker, .
Social Metacognition, 2012
Addictive Behaviors, 2012
Journal of Economic Psychology, 2012
The present research distinguishes between primary (cognitive) and secondary (metacognitive) proc... more The present research distinguishes between primary (cognitive) and secondary (metacognitive) processes in the domain of power. Power is a central construct in economic decision making, influencing people's thoughts and behavior in organizational, political, consumer, and interpersonal contexts. Whereas most research has discussed ways that power can influence primary cognition (e.g., increased self-focused thoughts, heuristic processing), we examine how power can influence secondary cognition (i.e., thinking about thinking). We argue that high (relative to low) power can increase reliance on one's current thoughts, magnifying their influence on judgment. If thoughts are antisocial (prosocial), increased power will produce antisocial (prosocial) judgments and behavior. We activated prosocial or antisocial concepts through priming before activating powerfulness or powerlessness. As predicted, primes impacted people's self-perceptions of cooperation (Experiment 1) and the extent to which they were willing to help others (Experiment 2) when induced to feel powerful, but not when led to feel powerless.
Social Metacognition, 2012
myweb.ttu.edu
Recent research has demonstrated the malleability of self-views to subtle situational influence b... more Recent research has demonstrated the malleability of self-views to subtle situational influence but has not uncovered features of the self-concept representation that make it susceptible to such change. Using research on attitude ambivalence as a foundation, we predicted that the self would be most likely to respond to a subtle change induction when the targeted self-beliefs were objectively ambivalent (e.g., possessed both positive and negative features). Using self-esteem conditioning (Experiment 1) and out-group stereotype priming (Experiment 2), we found that people were more susceptible to subtle change inductions as objective self-ambivalence increased. Notably, the consistency between dominant self-views (positive or negative) and the change induction did not influence these results. These effects held for objective ambivalence, but not subjective ambivalence, and only when the objective ambivalence measure was relevant to the change induction. Mechanisms of the observed moderation and the implications of self-ambivalence for understanding self-change are discussed.
International Journal of …, 2007
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2009
Recent research has demonstrated that primes can affect self-perceptions, and that subsequent beh... more Recent research has demonstrated that primes can affect self-perceptions, and that subsequent behavior is typically in line with these changed self-perceptions. However, a wide range of other priming effects have been documented, including changes in person perception, motivation, and so forth. The conditions under which a given prime affects the self as opposed to creating one of these other outcomes remains unclear. The present research seeks to offer insight into this question by examining attentional factors as one determinant of whether the self or another target will be biased by a prime. Across two studies, manipulating attention to the self (or an irrelevant target) immediately following a prime produced assimilation in behavior (Experiment 1) and self-perceptions (Experiment 2) when participants thought about themselves, but not an irrelevant target. In addition, when participants thought about an unrelated target, perceptions of this target, but not the self, were changed (Experiment 2).
Social and Personality …, 2009
Recent research has explored how the activation of social constructs via priming can affect behav... more Recent research has explored how the activation of social constructs via priming can affect behavior. Multiple mechanisms have received support, including direct activation of behavioral representations, goal activation, biases in person perception, biases in situation perception, and biases in self-perception. We review the evolving complexity of proposed prime-to-behavior mechanisms, discuss the predictions of each mechanism, and suggest some integrative principles that influence how and when primed constructs affect behavior. Psychological Bulletin. He is an associate professor of marketing at Stanford University. He holds a BA in psychology from the University of Northern Iowa and MA and PhD degrees in psychology from the Ohio State University.
Journal of Experimental Social …, 2008
This paper examines a novel means of increasing elaboration of persuasive messages. Whereas much ... more This paper examines a novel means of increasing elaboration of persuasive messages. Whereas much previous research has focused on ways to promote actual self-relevance of the message (e.g., by changing the message to match the recipient), the present research uses priming manipulations to change the recipient to match the message. Across two studies, participants were primed with traits (e.g., extraversion) and stereotypes (e.g., African-American) before reading strong or weak advertisements that matched or mismatched the primed constructs. Participants were more influenced by the quality of arguments in messages that matched (rather than mismatched) the primed constructs. In Experiment 2, these results were observed only among individuals low in the other-directedness subscale of self-monitoring (i.e., people whose behavior is driven by their internal states). Results are interpreted within the Active-Self account, which suggests that primed constructs can become integrated into the working self-concept and influence behavior as though they were self-descriptive.
Social and Personality …, 2007
Numerous parallels exist between the literatures on attitudes and the self, yet they are generall... more Numerous parallels exist between the literatures on attitudes and the self, yet they are generally considered in isolation. In this paper, we focus on some parallels with respect to the concept of self-strength -that is, aspects of self-esteem and the self-concept that impart the qualities of durability and impactfulness. Using research on attitude strength as our foundation, we first introduce some relevant strength variables such as accessibility, certainty, and ambivalence. Then, as a case study we review existing research on self-view accessibility. Our review is organized based on parallel findings on attitude accessibility in order to demonstrate the utility of this approach. By considering research on attitude strength, we are able to organize, and in some cases reinterpret, previous self-related findings, make new predictions regarding the self, and increase the precision of predictions. We believe that this approach can foster integration between the areas of attitudes and the self, advancing theory and research on both.
Personality and Social …, 2010
The present research examines the accessibility of one's self-esteem as a predictor of the "stren... more The present research examines the accessibility of one's self-esteem as a predictor of the "strength" (durability and impactfulness) of that self-esteem. Based on attitude accessibility research, the authors predicted that accessibility of self-esteem (i.e., a self-attitude) would be positively related to self-esteem's ability to resist change and guide information processing. In Study 1, accessibility of self-esteem was positively related to resistance to change in a paradigm where participants listed either positive or negative self-attributes. Self-esteem was also associated with biases in judgments of ambiguous personality feedback (Study 2) and in explanatory style and future event predictions (Study 3), but did so to a greater extent as self-esteem accessibility increased. In addition, these patterns were obtained after controlling for other variables, including general reaction time, evaluative extremity, self-concept clarity, and self-esteem certainty. Results are discussed in relation to past literature, self-strength, and applied implications.
Personality and Social …, 2011
Advances in Consumer …, 2006
Consumers are often motivated to resist changing. Resistance to persuasion is influenced by many ... more Consumers are often motivated to resist changing. Resistance to persuasion is influenced by many individual and situational factors related to both the ability and the motivation of consumers. For example, although much is known about characteristics of attitudes that make them resistant to change (e.g., , less is known about factors that influence individuals' motivation to resist persuasion (e.g., Briñol, Rucker, .
Social Metacognition, 2012
Addictive Behaviors, 2012
Journal of Economic Psychology, 2012
The present research distinguishes between primary (cognitive) and secondary (metacognitive) proc... more The present research distinguishes between primary (cognitive) and secondary (metacognitive) processes in the domain of power. Power is a central construct in economic decision making, influencing people's thoughts and behavior in organizational, political, consumer, and interpersonal contexts. Whereas most research has discussed ways that power can influence primary cognition (e.g., increased self-focused thoughts, heuristic processing), we examine how power can influence secondary cognition (i.e., thinking about thinking). We argue that high (relative to low) power can increase reliance on one's current thoughts, magnifying their influence on judgment. If thoughts are antisocial (prosocial), increased power will produce antisocial (prosocial) judgments and behavior. We activated prosocial or antisocial concepts through priming before activating powerfulness or powerlessness. As predicted, primes impacted people's self-perceptions of cooperation (Experiment 1) and the extent to which they were willing to help others (Experiment 2) when induced to feel powerful, but not when led to feel powerless.
Social Metacognition, 2012
myweb.ttu.edu
Recent research has demonstrated the malleability of self-views to subtle situational influence b... more Recent research has demonstrated the malleability of self-views to subtle situational influence but has not uncovered features of the self-concept representation that make it susceptible to such change. Using research on attitude ambivalence as a foundation, we predicted that the self would be most likely to respond to a subtle change induction when the targeted self-beliefs were objectively ambivalent (e.g., possessed both positive and negative features). Using self-esteem conditioning (Experiment 1) and out-group stereotype priming (Experiment 2), we found that people were more susceptible to subtle change inductions as objective self-ambivalence increased. Notably, the consistency between dominant self-views (positive or negative) and the change induction did not influence these results. These effects held for objective ambivalence, but not subjective ambivalence, and only when the objective ambivalence measure was relevant to the change induction. Mechanisms of the observed moderation and the implications of self-ambivalence for understanding self-change are discussed.