Julie Norem | Wellesley College (original) (raw)

Papers by Julie Norem

PsycEXTRA Dataset, Jan 28, 2006

A series of research studies conducted at Stanford University in the 1970s laid the foundation fo... more A series of research studies conducted at Stanford University in the 1970s laid the foundation for contemporary approaches to the psychology of shyness. The view of shyness that emerged was very negative, characterizing it as a personal problem that could be considered a social disease (e.g., Zimbardo, 1977). Other psychologists, however, objected that this view was too one-sided. The most radical alternative has been proposed recently by Avila (2002 book The Gift of Shyness) with a new, entirely positive definition of shyness which assumes that shy people are gifted with seven desirable personal attributes: sensitivity, loyalty, being a good listener, self-reflection, modesty, mysteriousness, and gentleness. Since Avila did not present any new research data to support his new definition of shyness, we conducted an initial empirical examination of his theoretical formulation by administering a survey to 213 college women which included the seven gifts of shyness, seven corresponding problems of shyness that had been identified in previous research, and the Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale. Compared to those who were not shy, shy participants rated themselves significantly higher on two of the seven gifts (modesty and mysteriousness), the same on three, and significantly lower on two. For the problems of shyness, the shy participants rated themselves significantly higher on all seven items. These results provide little support for Avila’s specific theory of the gift of shyness, but the findings for the positive attributes of modesty and mysteriousness suggest that future research might be able to develop a more balanced picture of shyness as a personality characteristic.
Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Palm Springs, CA. January 2006

This chapter reviews motivation research that integrates person and situation perspectives or has... more This chapter reviews motivation research that integrates person and situation perspectives or has the potential to do so. Personality and social psychologists pursue approaches to the study of human motivation that tend to be complementary, in part because they have had similar reactions to historical influences. Research tends to focus either on general motives or on specific goals and goal pursuit processes. Within each focus, one can distinguish between implicit and explicit motives and goals and approach and avoidance versions of motives and goal constructs. The chapter reviews fundamental motives theories, implicit motive theory, self-determination theory, reinforcement sensitivity theory, regulatory focus theory, research on goal structure, content, appraisal and pursuit, and recent research on implicit/explicit motive congruence.

This dissertation focuses on the processes by which individuals negotiate the transition from hig... more This dissertation focuses on the processes by which individuals negotiate the transition from high school to college by deploying their knowledge of themselves and their social world to control anxiety and motivate performance. Cognitive strategies are used as units of personality to capture coherent patterns of thoughts, feelings, action and reaction that characterize individual differences in the adaptation to novel situations over time. Of particular interest are the strategies of optimism and defensive pessimism. Defensive pessimism involves setting unrealistically low expectations prior to entering a situation, "playing through" or planning for negative contingencies in order to control anxiety, and expending considerable effort on performance. In contrast, the optimistic strategy begins with positive expectations, and involves "post hoc" attributions that are designed to protect or enhance self-esteem after performance. Questionnaires, an experience-sampling study, in-depth interviews, and a telephone survey on health outcomes were used over a three year period to study use of these strategies among Honors College students at the University of Michigan. Data from these various sources converge strongly with previous experimental data to indicate that academic defensive pessimism is a domain specific strategy (that does not necessarily indicate an overall pessimistic outlook), that can serve to facilitate academic success. Subjects using the strategy have significantly different self-conceptions and use their knowledge of situations significantly differently than optimistic subjects; the latter group tends to be debilitated by confronting negative information and shows less flexible problem-solving than the pessimists. Over time, however, defensive pessimist subjects pay a high cost for their "stress-engendering" strategy: by their third year in college they are more stressed and perform more poorly than the optimists.Ph.D.Personality psychologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/161699/1/8801384.pd

Schizophrenia Bulletin, 1985

Encyclopedia of Health and Behavior, Oct 5, 2012

American Psychological Association eBooks, 2003

Personality and Individual Differences, 2022

Abstract Hundreds of studies have documented anchoring, whereby people's numerical judgments ... more Abstract Hundreds of studies have documented anchoring, whereby people's numerical judgments assimilate to previously considered values. Much less is known, however, about individual differences in susceptibility to anchoring effects. In this study (N = 399), we found that people with stronger verbal reasoning skills and people higher in social autistic tendencies were less influenced by anchors, whereas people higher in narcissism were more influenced by anchors. Although relatively small, these relations contribute to the integration of the judgment and decision making literature on anchoring with personality and individual differences approaches to cognition.

Journal of Open Psychology Data

In The Gender and Psychology Reader, Blythe McVicker Clinchy and Julie K. Norem have culled throu... more In The Gender and Psychology Reader, Blythe McVicker Clinchy and Julie K. Norem have culled through a diverse group of readings to provide a wide-ranging exploration of both progress made and problems encountered as psychologists grapple with gender. The volume includes both classic and contemporary readings, drawn from all branches of psychology-- social, developmental, personality, cognitive, history, physiological/biological--as well as from other disciplines, including sociology, philosophy, and anthropology. The essays cover a gamut of subjects including epistemological issues, the study of difference, the embodiment of gender, autonomy and connection in relationships, and clinical implications. A concluding chapter by the editors considers themes that can be traced through the different sections, gaps in current perspectives, and future directions. The Gender and Psychology Reader includes contributions from an array of distinguished scholars from varying methodological and di...

Deep Blue (University of Michigan), Sep 1, 1991

Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2000

The Oxford Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology, 2012

This chapter reviews motivation research that integrates person and situation perspectives. Perso... more This chapter reviews motivation research that integrates person and situation perspectives. Personality and social psychologists pursue approaches to the study of human motivation that tend to be complementary and integrated, because they have had similar reactions to historical influences. Research tends to focus either on general motives, or on specific goals and goal pursuit processes. Within each focus, one can distinguish between implicit and explicit motives and goals, and approach and avoidance versions of motives and goal constructs. The chapter reviews implicit motive theory, self-determination theory, and research on goal structure, content, appraisal and pursuit. Implicit theories, life tasks, and self-regulation strategies (e.g., defensive pessimism) exemplify perspectives on motivation that integrate personal and situational factors using a functional approach. The chapter calls for further research on the relationship between implicit and explicit motivational variable...

Journal of Research in Personality, 2004

Abstract Results from two studies demonstrate that the effects of mood on performance depend on a... more Abstract Results from two studies demonstrate that the effects of mood on performance depend on an individual’s strategy. In Study 1, naturally occurring positive mood was negatively related to performance for defensive pessimists (DPs), while negative mood was unrelated. For strategic optimists (SOs), neither positive nor negative mood was related to performance. In Study 2, positive or negative mood was induced prior to a set of performance measures. As predicted, DPs performed significantly better after the negative mood induction. SOs’ performance did not differ across mood conditions. Cognitive strategies and the mood as input model help to explain these results.

Supplemental Material, spps_Cheek_supplementalmaterial for Are Big Five Traits and Facets Associa... more Supplemental Material, spps_Cheek_supplementalmaterial for Are Big Five Traits and Facets Associated With Anchoring Susceptibility? by Nathan N. Cheek and Julie K. Norem in Social Psychological and Personality Science

The relationships among IQ, neuro-logical signs, and minor physical anomalies—all measures of cen... more The relationships among IQ, neuro-logical signs, and minor physical anomalies—all measures of central nervous system status—were assessed in the index and control children of the study. The strongest correlation was found between neurological functioning and IQ; the relationship between anomalies and neurological functioning was less strong; and no relationship was found between anomalies and IQ. Consistently, the most poorly functioning children tended to be offspring of schizo-phrenic patients (index cases), although the same children did not always perform poorly on all tests. What emerges is a set of clusters of individuals with varying combina-tions of functional/developmental problems. With the emergence of standardized, reliable tests of neurological functioning, scientists have begun to explore the relationships between these tests and other instruments designed to assess different aspects of central nervous system (CNS) integrity. Two variables frequently reported to be rel...

Cognitive Therapy and Research, 2005

Elizabeth Altamaier Norbert Kerr John Andrus Peter Kilmann Mark Baldwin Ed Kirby R. Christopher B... more Elizabeth Altamaier Norbert Kerr John Andrus Peter Kilmann Mark Baldwin Ed Kirby R. Christopher Barden Robert Klepac John Bargh Dennis Klos Debbie Bell-Dolan Margaret Kriss Kelly Bemis Christopher Leone Robert Boice Sandra Levy Tom Borkovec Edward Lichtenstein Lauren Braswell Marsha Linehan Aaron Brower John Lochman Steve Brown Jeffrey Lohr Monroe Bruch Bonita Long Charles Carver Elizabeth MacCauley Edward Chaney John Marzillier John Chaves Kevin McCaul David Clark Gerald Metalsky Margaret Clark Ivan Miller Edward Deci Amy Monroe Jerry Deffenbacher Larry Morris Susan Fiske Peter Nathan William Fremouw Robert Neimeyer Dean Funabiki Julie Norem Reuven Gal Ray Perkins John Galassi Christopher Peterson Delores Galtagher Ovide Pomerleau Nancy Genero Michael Pressley Myles Genest William Redd Janet Grace William Sacco William Graziano Robert Schwartz David Haaga Zindel Segal Constance Hammen Franklin Shurtz Karen Harris Anne Simons Paul Heppner Timothy Smith Mary Dee Hicks Nicholas Spanos...