Four studies addressed the hypothesis, based on correspondence bias, that low- relative to high-status individuals are perceived as more communal and less agentic. Study 1 instantiated status in terms of occupations, and findings were as expected. The findings of Study 2 reconciled those of Study 1 and of A.H. Eagly and V.J. Steffen (1984) in that they demonstrated that high-status occupations are differentially construed in terms of their interpersonal communal demands. The hypothesis received clear support in Studies 3 and 4, in which a general instantiation of status independent of occupations, social roles, and gender was adopted. The findings are discussed in terms of gender stereotypes and social role theory of gender (A.H. Eagly, 1987) as well as in terms of other stereotypes.

The Rumination on Sadness Scale (RSS), an individual-difference measure of rumination on sadness, was developed as an alternative to the Ruminative Responses scale of the Response Styles Questionnaire (RRRSQ; Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991). Research has shown the RRRSQ to consist of multiple, not highly intercorrelated factors; only I factor explicitly addresses rumination. In Study 1, a 1-factor solution to a principal components analysis was shown to hold for responses to the RSS. The RSS was also shown to be reliable. In Study 2, convergent and discriminant validity of the RSS were assessed. In Study 3, individuals with high RSS scores exhibited more distress regarding current concerns with the introduction of a delay period (to allow them to ruminate) after a sad mood induction.

Previous research demonstrates that people recall their past in ways that exaggerate its consistency with their current condition. We argue that whether people perceive stability or change in themselves depends, in part, on the theory they invoke to reconstruct their past. The current studies address the impact of a potentially invalid theory of change on the recall of personal histories. In both experiments, some subjects participated in a study skills improvement program that promised more than it delivered. Subjects initially evaluated their study skills and then were randomly assigned either to a waiting list control condition or to the study skills program. Three weeks later, all subjects were asked to recall as accurately as possible their initial skills evaluation. Program participants recalled their evaluations as being worse than they had actually reported; waiting list subjects exhibited no systematic bias in recall. Program participants also reported greater improvement in study skills and expected better final exam grades than did waiting list subjects. Actual grades did not differ in either study. Nonetheless, 6 months later program participants overestimated their academic performance for the term during which the program was conducted (Study 1). The results are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that people can claim support for invalid theories of change by reconstructing their pasts.Previous social psychological research tends to portray people as cognitive conservatives who bias their memories so as to deny changes and maintain consistency. For example, in a number of experiments, subjects have been induced to alter their opinions and then asked to report their past attitudes. Subjects recall attitudes that are virtually identical to their new opinions and thus effectively deny that any change has occurred (Bern & McConnell, 1970;Goethals & Reckman, 1973; Ross & Shulman, 1973). Moreover, they revise their memories of past behaviors to bring them in line with their new attitudes (Olson & Cal,

This study compares affective and motivational components of academic life for traditional and nontraditional university undergraduates. Traditional students are defined as those aged 21 and younger, who are most likely to have followed an unbroken linear path through the education system, whereas nontraditional students are defined as those aged 28 and older, for whom the undergraduate experience is not necessarily age normative. A total of 300 undergraduates ranging in age from 18 to 60 years were assessed on measures of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to learn, interest, and positive affect. Nontraditional students reported higher levels of intrinsic motivation for learning than did traditional students. Intrinsic motivation correlated with positive affect more strongly for nontraditional than for traditional students. For all students, interest and age emerged as significant predictors of intrinsic motivation to learn, and both interest and intrinsic motivation significantly predicted positive affect.

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