Interpersonal Warmth Research Articles

An Interpersonal and Meta-analytic Approach to Parenting Behaviors and Adolescent Sleep.

Two dimensions of parenting behaviors-affiliative/non-affiliative and autonomy/control- are each consistently linked to adolescent sleep health. Parenting behaviors that facilitate good sleep likely involve affiliation (i.e., warmth) and some degree of parental guidance and appropriate autonomy-granting to the adolescent; however, these domains are often confounded in parenting assessments, which limits understanding and specificity of recommendations for providers and families on how to optimize adolescents' sleep. Thus, we categorized existing literature according to an interpersonal developmental framework to identify parenting behaviors most strongly linked to adolescent sleep health. Studies (k = 42) included 43,293 participants (M age = 14.84, SD age = 2.04). Structural analysis of social behavior (SASB)interpersonal coding was applied to define and operationalize parenting behaviors (independent variables). Dependent variables included measures of sleep health (i.e.,sleep regularity, duration, efficiency, latency, timing, quality, alertness/sleepiness) and sleep disturbance. The final effect size of interest for analysis was a correlation coefficient r. Optimal parenting behaviors (e.g., warm, autonomy-granting, moderately controlling) were associated with longer sleep duration, earlier bedtime, less daytime sleepiness, shorter sleep latency, and fewer sleep disturbances. Suboptimal parenting behaviors (e.g., hostile, controlling) were associated with more daytime sleepiness and more sleep disturbances. This is one of the first studies to specify that, when paired with affiliation, both moderate control and moderate autonomy-granting were associated with better adolescent sleep health. Findings indicate that the importance of parental interpersonal warmth extends into adolescence and further suggest that the interpersonal security necessary for good sleep includes appropriate use of control and autonomy-granting behaviors.

First impressions: Do faces with scars and palsies influence warmth, competence and humanization?

A glance is enough to assign psychological attributes to others. Attractiveness is associated with positive attributes ('beauty-is-good' stereotype). Here, we raise the question of a similar but negative bias. Are people with facial anomalies associated with negative personal characteristics? We hypothesized that biases against faces with anomalies arise because of negative stereotypes (less warmth and competence) and forms of dehumanization (animalistic and mechanistic). We enrolled 1493 mTurk participants (N = 1306 after exclusion) to assess 31 traits of photographed people using 60 pairs of photographs of the same person before and after plastic surgery. Half anomalous faces had a scar and the other half had a palsy. To calculate warmth and competence, we conducted a principal components analysis of the 31 attributes. Animalistic dehumanization was assessed by averaging reverse-scored ratings corresponding to moral sensibility and rationality/logic, and mechanistic dehumanization by averaging across reverse-scored ratings corresponding to emotional responsiveness and interpersonal warmth. We found that both kinds of anomalous faces were seen as less warm, competent and were dehumanized. Our findings suggest that an 'anomalous-is-bad' stereotype generalizes regardless of the aetiology of the anomaly. This effect may be related to a reverse halo effect, that is, the horn effect.

Approaches to modeling interpersonal complementarity in intensive longitudinal data

Contemporary integrative interpersonal theory (CIIT) posits that successful social interactions are characterized by complementarity: correspondence in interpersonal warmth and reciprocity in interpersonal dominance. Interactions with high complementarity evoke more positive affect and less negative affect. Modeling complementarity is challenging because it requires capturing the interpersonal behavior of individuals along the two dimensions of warmth and dominance. This study compares three approaches—statistical interaction, multilevel response surface analysis, and Euclidean distance—for modeling complementarity across four datasets. The approaches varied in the consistency of findings and proportion of variance explained. Findings suggest the Euclidean approach for parsimony and theoretical coherence, whereas multilevel response surface analysis is preferable for comprehensively modeling the interplay of self and other on the interpersonal dimensions.

Fighting the good fight: Relating warmth and dominance across romantic conflict to resolution

Research on romantic conflict has persuasively documented that the way partners communicate with one another during disagreements is a driving factor in predicting how they perceive the conflicts in their relationships. The current research added to this literature by differentiating couples who resolve conflicts more, versus less, successfully. Specifically, the current work examined how couples’ behavioral trajectories across the course of conflict related to their perceptions of conflict resolution. To this end, we coded warmth and dominance behaviors exhibited by 173 couple members (346 individuals) over the course of an eight-minute conflict discussion. We examined how participants’, and their partners’, perceptions of conflict resolution were related to their interpersonal behaviors. In line with predictions, less average interpersonal warmth was associated with worse perceptions of resolution, and declining warmth over time was also associated with worse perceptions of resolution. Dominance behaviors were not associated with conflict resolution perceptions.

The Humbling Effect of Significant Relationships: A Field Experiment Examining the Effect of Significant-Other Activation on Leaders’ Expressed Humility

Recent research has consistently highlighted the benefits of leader humility within organizations. However, much less is known about how leader humility can be contextually promoted beyond individual predispositions. This paper draws from the social-cognitive model of transference to illuminate how the contextual activation of significant-other schemas can enhance a leader’s expressed humility in the workplace. Specifically, we propose that the activation of significant-other schemas can lead to increased interpersonal warmth and psychological safety among leaders, which in turn, promote humility in their interactions with followers. Furthermore, we posit that these effects are amplified in leaders who possess a strong relational identity. To test our hypotheses, we conducted a field experiment with 97 leaders and their 194 followers, where we randomly applied daily significant-other activation interventions to the leaders and surveyed the leaders and their corresponding followers across 10 consecutive workdays. Our findings provide support for the positive impact of significant-other schema activation on leader humility and confirm the moderating role of a leader’s relational identity. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings. Funding: This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 72022022 and 72332009] and the John Templeton Foundation [Grant 62265] entitled “Applied Research on Intellectual Humility.” Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.17377 .

Studying Daily Social Interaction Quantity and Quality in Relation to Depression Change: A Multi-Phase Experience Sampling Study.

Day-to-day social life and mental health are intertwined. Yet, no study to date has assessed how the quantity and quality of social interactions in daily life are associated with changes in depressive symptoms. This study examines these links using multiple-timescale data (iSHAIB data set; N = 133), where the level of depressive symptoms was measured before and after three 21-day periods of event-contingent experience sampling of individuals' interpersonal interactions (T = 64,112). We find weak between-person effects for interaction quantity and perceiving interpersonal warmth of others on changes in depressive symptoms over the 21-day period, but strong and robust evidence for overwarming-a novel construct representing the self-perceived difference between one's own and interaction partner's level of interpersonal warmth. The findings highlight the important role qualitative aspects of social interactions may play in the progression of individuals' depressive symptoms.

0116 A theory-driven, meta-analytical approach to evaluating optimal parenting behaviors and adolescent sleep

Abstract Introduction For adolescents, affiliative parenting behaviors (e.g., warm) are generally associated with better sleep and non-affiliative parenting behaviors (e.g., hostile) are associated with deficient sleep. However, specificity of interpersonal behaviors is unknown. We applied an interpersonal theoretical framework and conducted a meta-analysis to test and operationalize the theory that safety and security are necessary for good sleep. Methods Included in the meta-analysis were 41 studies on adolescent (10-19 years) sleep health and parenting behaviors. Studies included a total of 57,549, primarily female (52%), participants (Mage = 14.92, SDage = 2.00). Race/ethnicity was 76.7% White, 5.9% Black, 6.5% Hispanic, 1.5% Asian, and 9.4% Other. Structural analysis of social behavior (SASB) was applied to define and operationalize optimal (e.g., affiliative and autonomy granting/taking) and sub-optimal (e.g., non-affiliative and autonomy granting/taking) parenting behaviors (independent variable). Dependent variables were sleep regularity, duration, efficiency, latency, timing, quality, alertness/sleepiness, and disturbance. The final effect size of interest for analysis was a correlation efficient r. Results Optimal parenting behaviors were associated with longer sleep duration (r = 0.11, p = .02), decreased latency (r = -0.16, p < .001), less daytime sleepiness (r = -0.28, p < .001), and less sleep disturbances (r = -0.22, p < .001). Suboptimal parenting behaviors were associated with decreased sleep duration (r = -0.04, p = .05), increased latency (r = 0.12, p < .01), and more sleep disturbances (r = 0.38, p < .001). Conclusion This study applied interpersonal theory to define and operationalize parenting behaviors and their association with adolescent sleep. Findings support anthropological theory that parental interpersonal warmth is important for adolescent sleep and further indicate that security likely includes appropriate use of structure and autonomy granting behaviors. SASB analysis additionally revealed significant methodological issues that hamper understanding of the role of parental control (versus autonomy-granting) as separate from parental affiliation (versus hostility). This topic points the way to a crucial next step in developing an empirically grounded and comprehensive interpersonal model of sleep. Support (if any)

It’s the journey, not just the destination: Conveying interpersonal warmth in written introductions

Professionals are often required to introduce themselves and engage in self-promotion in writing. Text-based self-promotion allows people to reach a wide audience but can make it difficult to convey warmth. Across seven studies (N = 2,533), we show that people conveyed greater warmth in written introductions when they emphasized their journey (i.e., the path taken to achieve their accomplishments) along with their outcomes (i.e., the accomplishments). In Studies 1a-1d, we used a real-world context and found that more journey-oriented LinkedIn introductions increased warmth perceptions, partly because these introducers were perceived as humbler. These results extended beyond naïve evaluators to human resources specialists. Studies 2–4 experimentally replicated these effects, additionally examining how information regarding the difficulty of outcomes affected perceptions and identifying communication medium as a boundary condition: journey information increased perceived warmth in text, but not video introductions. Adding journey information to written introductions conveys warmth and creates more favorable impressions.

Prevalence, age of decision, and interpersonal warmth judgements of childfree adults: Replication and extensions.

Childfree individuals, who are also described as 'childless by choice' or 'voluntarily childless', have decided they do not want biological or adopted children. This is an important population to understand because its members have unique reproductive health and end-of-life needs, and they encounter challenges managing work-life balance and with stereotypes. Prior estimates of childfree adults' prevalence in the United States, their age of decision, and interpersonal warmth judgements have varied widely over time and by study design. To clarify these characteristics of the contemporary childfree population, we conduct a pre-registered direct replication of a recent population-representative study. All estimates concerning childfree adults replicate, boosting confidence in earlier conclusions that childfree people are numerous and decide early in life, and that parents exhibit strong in-group favoritism while childfree adults do not.

Using classification trees to identify psychotherapy patients at risk for poor treatment adherence

Objective To determine the relative importance of a wide variety of personality and psychopathology variables in influencing patients’ adherence to psychotherapy treatment. Method Two classification trees were trained to predict patients’ (1) treatment utilization (i.e., their likelihood of missing a given appointment) and (2) termination status (i.e., their likelihood of dropping out of therapy prematurely). Each tree was then validated in an external dataset to examine performance accuracy. Results Patients’ social detachment was most influential in predicting their treatment utilization, followed by affective instability and activity/energy levels. Patients’ interpersonal warmth was most influential in predicting their termination status, followed by levels of disordered thought and resentment. The overall accuracy rating for the tree for termination status was 71.4%, while the tree for treatment utilization had a 38.7% accuracy rating. Conclusion Classification trees are a practical tool for clinicians to determine patients at risk of premature termination. More research is needed to develop trees that predict treatment utilization with high accuracy across different types of patients and settings.

Not such a complainer anymore: Confrontation that signals a growth mindset can attenuate backlash.

We report the first investigation of whether observers draw information about mindsets from behavior, specifically prejudice confrontation. We tested two questions across 10 studies (N = 3,168). First, would people who observe someone confront a biased comment (vs. remain silent) see them as endorsing more growth (vs. fixed) mindsets about prejudice and bias? If so, would the growth mindset perceptions that arise from confrontation (vs. remaining silent) attenuate the backlash that observers exhibit against confronters? We investigated these questions using scenarios (Studies 1, 2a-b, 4, 5a-d), naturalistic confrontations of national, race, and gender stereotypes reported retrospectively (Study 3), and an in-person laboratory experiment of actual confrontations of racial bias (Study 6). Correlational and experimental methods yielded support for our core hypotheses: People spontaneously imbue someone who confronts a biased comment with more growth mindset beliefs about prejudice and bias (Studies 1, 2a-b, 4, 6), regardless of whether participants observe the confrontation (Studies 1, 2a-b, 5a-d) or are being confronted themselves (Studies 2a-4, 6). The growth mindset perceptions arising from these confrontations suppress backlash, assessed by classic interpersonal perceptions (Studies 4-5) and judgments of interpersonal warmth and willingness to interact again in the future (Study 6), both when the confronter was a target of the biased behavior (Studies 1-5), and when they were an ally (Study 6), in both correlational studies (Study 3-4) and when growth mindset (about personality, Study 5; about prejudice, Study 6) was manipulated, confirming causality. We discuss implications for the study of mindsets, confrontation, and intergroup relations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Predicting Clinical Personality Patterns Based on Personality Traits in Clients of Counseling Centers

Purpose: The relationship between personality traits and clinical personality patterns is crucial in understanding and improving therapeutic interventions in counseling settings. This study aims to explore how personality traits predict clinical personality patterns among clients attending counseling centers in Shahroud, thereby informing more effective and personalized counseling strategies. Methodology: This descriptive-correlational study involved 107 clients from public and private counseling centers in Shahroud. Participants, aged between 18 and 50, completed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) and the Big Five Personality Traits questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise regression analysis to identify significant predictors among the personality traits for various clinical personality disorders. Findings: Neuroticism was found to be a significant predictor of Schizoid, Avoidant, Borderline, Paranoid, and Schizotypal Personality Disorders. Conversely, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness emerged as protective factors, inversely related to Narcissistic and Histrionic Personality Disorders. These results suggest that emotional dysregulation associated with high Neuroticism predisposes individuals to a range of personality disorders, while interpersonal warmth and self-discipline mitigate the risk. Conclusion: The study highlights the significant impact of personality traits on clinical personality patterns, emphasizing the importance of incorporating personality assessments into counseling practice. By understanding these relationships, counselors can tailor interventions to clients' unique personality profiles, enhancing therapeutic outcomes and promoting better mental health. Future research should aim to replicate these findings in diverse populations and explore longitudinal impacts and other personality frameworks.

Prevalence, age of decision, and interpersonal warmth judgements of childfree adults

Childfree adults do not want to have children, making them distinct from parents and other adults without children. However, they are difficult to study because they cannot be identified using conventional data on fertility. We use data from a representative sample in the United States to examine the prevalence, age of decision, and interpersonal warmth judgments by and about childfree adults. Our prevalence estimates suggest that childfree adults are quite common, comprising over one-fifth (21.64%) of the population. Our analysis of age-to-decision suggests that most childfree adults reported that they decided they did not want children early in life. Finally, our analysis of interpersonal warmth suggests asymmetric affective polarization among parents and childfree adults driven primarily by parent’s ingroup favoritism. We discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of childfree adults and for future research on this historically overlooked segment of the population.

Robots are judging me: Perceived fairness of algorithmic recruitment tools.

Recent years have seen rapid advancements in selection assessments, shifting away from human and toward algorithmic judgments of candidates. Indeed, algorithmic recruitment tools have been created to screen candidates’ resumes, assess psychometric characteristics through game-based assessments, and judge asynchronous video interviews, among other applications. While research into candidate reactions to these technologies is still in its infancy, early research in this regard has explored user experiences and fairness perceptions. In this article, we review applicants’ perceptions of the procedural fairness of algorithmic recruitment tools based on key findings from seven key studies, sampling over 1,300 participants between them. We focus on the sub-facets of behavioral control, the extent to which individuals feel their behavior can influence an outcome, and social presence, whether there is the perceived opportunity for a social connection and empathy. While perceptions of overall procedural fairness are mixed, we find that fairness perceptions concerning behavioral control and social presence are mostly negative. Participants feel less confident that they are able to influence the outcome of algorithmic assessments compared to human assessments because they are more objective and less susceptible to manipulation. Participants also feel that the human element is lost when these tools are used since there is a lack of perceived empathy and interpersonal warmth. Since this field of research is relatively under-explored, we end by proposing a research agenda, recommending that future studies could examine the role of individual differences, demographics, and neurodiversity in influencing fairness perceptions of algorithmic recruitment.

Indulgent Consumption Signals Interpersonal Warmth

People who engage in indulgent consumption often are viewed as having poor self-control. In this research, however, eight studies provide converging support that indulgent consumption can have a positive effect: signaling interpersonal warmth. Specifically, consumers who post indulgent (vs. healthy) consumption content on social media are perceived as warmer (Study 1). The effect occurs because consumers believe that indulgent consumption is what people genuinely prefer, so indulgent (vs. healthy) consumption seems more authentic, and authenticity mediates the effect of indulgent consumption on perceived warmth (Studies 2a and 2b). Providing additional support for the authenticity mechanism, the authors show that the positive effect of indulgent (vs. healthy) consumption on perceived warmth is attenuated when the indulgent content is sponsored, which casts doubt on its authenticity (Study 3). Further, sharing sharing indulgent consumption can increase the appeal of a service provider among consumers who are seeking a warm service provider, but this occurs only when the content is not sponsored (Studies 4a and 4b). Finally, the effect of sharing indulgent (vs. healthy) consumption has downstream consequences for audience engagement on Instagram (Studies 5a and 5b). This research sheds light on how to cultivate interpersonal warmth in marketing communication and personal branding.

It's a guy thing: Sex as a moderator of the relationship between social anxiety and perception of interpersonal warmth in initial heterosexual interactions

Social anxiety or the fear of being evaluated by others in social settings has been shown to contribute to impairments in interpersonal functioning. One way in which such impairments may arise is through biased perceptions of others during social interactions. The present study examined how social anxiety relates to the perception of interpersonal warmth from others within a relationship initiation context, and whether this relationship differs in men and women. Participants were 69 men and 69 women, aged 20.62 years on average (SD = 1.97), who identified as heterosexual. After completing a questionnaire pack online, participants engaged in a laboratory‐based interaction with a previously unacquainted participant of the other sex. After the interaction, participants reported their perception of their partner's warmth. Results revealed a negative association between men's degree of social anxiety and their perception of their partner's warmth. This association was not found in women. The moderation of sex on the role of social anxiety in interpersonal perceptions may reflect sex differences in social cognitive abilities.

Boring People: Stereotype Characteristics, Interpersonal Attributions, and Social Reactions.

Unfortunately, some people are perceived as boring. Despite the potential relevance that these perceptions might have in everyday life, the underlying psychological processes and consequences of perceiving a person as "boring" have been largely unexplored. We examined the stereotypical features of boring others by having people generate (Study 1) and then rate (Study 2) these. We focused on occupations (e.g., data analytics, taxation, and accounting), hobbies (e.g., sleeping, religion, and watching TV), and personal characteristics (e.g., lacking humor and opinions, being negative) that people ascribed to stereotypically boring others. Experiments then showed that those who were ascribed boring characteristics were seen as lacking interpersonal warmth and competence (Study 3), were socially avoided (Study 4), and enduring their company required compensation (Study 5). These results suggest that being stereotyped as a bore may come with substantially negative interpersonal consequences.

Leading When the Boss is Present: How Leadership Structure Schemas Affect Leadership Behavior

We examine how leadership structure schemas (LSS) – mental models of how leadership is most effectively structured in groups – interact with formal authority to influence individuals’ leadership behavior and perceptions of others who lead. Across two experiments and a field study, we find that for individuals without formal authority, holding a more shared LSS (relative to a more hierarchical LSS) is positively associated with leadership behavior. However, this effect reverses for individuals in authority positions. Additionally, individuals who engage in leadership behavior are seen as higher in interpersonal warmth by observers who hold a more shared rather than a more hierarchical LSS.

Testing cognitive and interpersonal asymmetry vs. symmetry among voters in the 2020 Presidential primaries

During the 2020 U.S. Presidential primary season, we measured candidate support and cognitive and interpersonal variables associated with political ideology among 831 U.S. participants. Cognitive style variables included openness to experience, active open-minded thinking, dogmatism, and preference for one right answer. Interpersonal variables were compassion and empathy. We modeled candidate support across the political spectrum, ranging from the most conservative to the most liberal (Trump, Bloomberg, Biden, Warren, Sanders), testing competing pre-registered predictions informed by the symmetry and asymmetry perspectives on political ideology. Specifically, we tested whether mean levels on the variables of interest across candidate supporters conformed to patterns consistent with symmetry (i.e., a curvilinear pattern with supporters of relatively extreme candidates being similar to each other relative to supporters of moderate candidates) vs. asymmetry (e.g., linear differences across supporters of liberal vs. conservative candidates). Results broadly supported the asymmetry perspective: Supporters of liberal candidates were generally lower on cognitive rigidity and higher on interpersonal warmth than supporters of conservative candidates. Results and implications are discussed.

Women pay a steeper price for arrogance: Examining presentation style, gender, and humility

ABSTRACT We report a preregistered experiment in which we examine the way that men and women are perceived on various interpersonal measures when exhibiting differing presentation styles. We also examined the possible moderating effect of participant gender and benevolent sexism. Participants (N = 337) were randomly assigned to read a scenario in which a target individual was depicted with an inflated, neutral, or deflated presentation style. We found that female participants tended to view inflated female targets as more humble. We also found that male participants rated inflated male targets as significantly more humble than female participants did. Further analysis indicated that greater humility was indirectly associated with greater interpersonal warmth, less perceived dominance, and less perceived threat of being controlled. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of presentation in perception and suggest that women end up paying a steeper price than men do for inflating their ideas or accomplishments.