The authors hypothesized that reactions to performance feedback depend on whether one's lay theory of intelligence is supported or violated. In Study 1, following improvement feedback, all participants generally exhibited positive affect, but entity theorists (who believe that intelligence is fixed) displayed more anxiety and more effort to restore prediction confidence than did incremental theorists (who believe that intelligence is malleable). Similarly, when performance declined, entity theorists displayed more anxiety and compensatory effort than incremental theorists. However, when performance remained rigidly static despite a learning opportunity, incremental theorists evinced more anxiety and compensatory effort than entity theorists. In Study 2, this pattern was replicated when the entity and incremental theories were experimentally manipulated. Study 3 demonstrated that for both groups, theory violation impairs subsequent task performance. Taken together, these studies provide evidence that lay theory violation and damaged prediction confidence have significant and measurable effects on emotion and motivation. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for the literature on achievement success and failure.

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People form consistent impressions of others given surprisingly little information. With the advent of social networks, impressions now may form online rather than in a face-to-face context. This research explores aspects of online impression formation and discusses the crucial role of user profiles in this process. By examining users' decisions in an experimentally controlled social network, we show that users need only a thin slice of profile information in order to form impressions of others online. Additionally, specific profile attributes are evaluated for their perceived utility (how much do users choose to view these attributes), predictiveness (how well they serve as a proxy for a full profile), and diagnosticity (their ability to help users choose between online profiles). Findings provide design suggestions for better profile displays when space is restricted.

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