Functional projection: How fundamental social motives can bias interpersonal perception.

Abstract

Results from 2 experimental studies suggest that self-protection and mate-search goals lead to the perception of functionally relevant emotional expressions in goal-relevant social targets. Activating a self-protection goal led participants to perceive greater anger in Black male faces (Study 1) and Arab faces (Study 2), both out-groups heuristically associated with physical threat. In Study 2, participants' level of implicit Arab-threat associations moderated this bias. Activating a mate-search goal led male, but not female, participants to perceive more sexual arousal in attractive opposite-sex targets (Study 1). Activating these goals did not influence perceptions of goal-irrelevant targets. Additionally, participants with chronic self-protective and mate-search goals exhibited similar biases. Findings are consistent with a functionalist, motivation-based account of interpersonal perception.

Microbes, mating, and morality: Individual differences in three functional domains of disgust.

“…This theoretical framework has proven useful in a variety of research areas, including mate choice (Bleske-Reshek & Buss, 2006;Gangestad, Garver-Apgar, Simpson, & Cousins, 2007), aggression (Griskevicius, Tybur, Gangestad, Perea, Shapiro, & Kenrick, in press), person perception (Becker, Kenrick, Neuberg, Blackwell, & Smith, 2007;Cottrell, Neuberg, & Li, 2007), kin-directed behaviors such as altruism and sexual avoidance (Ackerman, Kenrick, & Schaller, 2007;Burnstein, Crandall, & Kitayama, 1994;Lieberman, Tooby, & Cosmides, 2003, perceptual biases (Haselton & Funder, 2006;Maner et al, 2005), social stigma (Kurzban & Leary, 2001; Three domains of disgust 9…”

What have we been priming all these years? On the development, mechanisms, and ecology of nonconscious social behavior

“…Although research in this area is just starting, one would expect that selective attention would serve to reduce the number of potential priming influences at any given moment, with priming influences more likely to occur among selected than nonselected information. And it appears that not only one's temporary, current goal can have this influence on attention: Neuberg, Maner, and their colleagues (Maner et al, 2005;Neuberg, Kenrick, Maner, & Schaller, 2004) have extended Bruner's (1957) original insight from current goals to chronic, evolved motives (e.g., avoid germs and disease, sexual attraction); in an innovative and important line of research, they are showing that these fundamental, evolved motivations do drive selective attention and thus likely reduce for the individual the set of potential priming influences. (For other recent analyses of fundamental social motivations, see Fiske, 2004;Haidt, 2001;Tetlock, 2002).…”

Are Multiple Minimal Outgroup Males Readily Associated with Threat?

“…For social perception, a bias for false alarms 17 might result in perceiving the emotion of anger in actually expressionless faces of outgroup targets associated with threat (Maner et al, 2005).…”

“…There is a substantial amount of psychological research suggesting that outgroup males are often perceived as threatening (Fessler & Holbrook, 2013;Maner et al, 2005;Miller, Zielaskowski, & Plant, 2012;Navarrete et al, 2009Navarrete et al, , 2012Olsson, Ebert, Banaji, & Phelps, 2005;Payne, 2001). A collective of multiple outgroup males may be particularly threatening.…”