Effects of anxiety and stress on accuracy of interpersonal perception.

Abstract

Metaperspective (MP) refers to a person's perception of another person's perception of him. It was hypothesized that: (a) high anxiety (HA) Ss would be less accurate in MP than low anxiety (LA) Ss; (b) LA Ss would be more accurate in MP than HA Ss in a stress situation; (c) there would be no sex differences in accuracy of MP; and (d) in like-sexed dyads, there would be more accurate MP than in opposite-sexed dyads. 8 groups were formed, each including 2 HA males, 2 HA females, 2 LA males, and 2 LA females. After having completed a self-concept scale 4 groups were assigned to a non-stress condition and 4 to a stress condition. All Ss then completed a stress questionnaire and scales measuring their perception of each S and their perception of each S's perception of them. None of the hypotheses were accepted.