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Item does not contain fulltext, Previous work has shown that self-generating arguments is more persuasive than reading arguments provided by others, particularly if self-generation feels easy. The present study replicates and extends these findings by providing evidence for fluency effects on behavioural intention in the realm of helping. In two studies, participants were instructed to either self-generate or read two versus ten arguments about why it is good to help. Subsequently, a confederate asked them for help. Results show that self-generating few arguments is more effective than generating many arguments. While this pattern reverses for reading arguments, easy self-generation is the most effective strategy compared to all other conditions. These results have important implications for fostering behavioural change in all areas of life.

Contains fulltext : 116482.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access), Research shows that we spontaneously imitate people. Moreover, empathy predicts the degree of this non-conscious imitation. Little is known, however, if or how this expression of empathy is influenced by stable physical characteristics of our interaction-partners. In two studies, we tested whether attractiveness of others moderated the relation between empathy and imitation. While seeing a woman performing joystick movements, participants either imitated, or non-imitated these movements. Results showed that the higher participants empathy score, the faster they imitated an attractive person. The level of empathy did not predict the degree of imitation of unattractive targets. The findings demonstrate that the expression of empathy through imitation can be moderated by attractiveness, thereby introducing a new dimension to the conditionality of empathy.

Item does not contain fulltext, Offences committed by pedophiles are crimes that evoke serious public concern and outrage. Although recent research using implicit measures has shown promise in detecting deviant sexual associations, the discriminatory and predictive quality of implicit tasks has not yet surpassed traditional assessment methods such as questionnaires and phallometry. The current research extended previous findings by examining whether a combination of two implicit tasks, the Implicit Association Task (IAT) and the Picture Association Task (PAT), was capable of differentiating pedophiles from non-pedophiles, and whether the PAT, which allows separate analysis for male, female, boy and girl stimulus categories, was more sensitive to specific sexual associations in pedophiles than the IAT. A total of 20 male self-reported pedophiles (10 offender and 10 non-offenders) and 20 male self-reported heterosexual controls completed the two implicit measures. Results indicated that the combination of both tasks produced the strongest results to date in detecting implicit pedophilic preferences (AUC = .97). Additionally, the PAT showed promise in decomposing the sexual associations in pedophiles. Interestingly, as there was an equal distribution of offenders and non-offenders in the pedophile group, it was possible to test for implicit association differences between these groups. This comparison showed no clear link between having these implicit sexual associations and actual offending.

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Item does not contain fulltext, Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is the most common sexual problem in women. From an incentive motivation perspective, HSDD may be the result of a weak association between sexual stimuli and rewarding experiences. As a consequence, these stimuli may either lose or fail to acquire a positive meaning, resulting in a limited number of incentives that have the capacity to elicit a sexual response. According to current information processing models of sexual arousal, sexual stimuli automatically activate meanings and if these are not predominantly positive, processes relevant to the activation of sexual arousal and desire may be interrupted. Premenopausal U.S. and Dutch women with acquired HSDD (n = 42) and a control group of sexually functional women (n = 42) completed a single target Implicit Association Task and a Picture Association Task assessing automatic affective associations with sexual stimuli and a dot detection task measuring attentional capture by sexual stimuli. Results showed that women with acquired HSDD displayed less positive (but not more negative) automatic associations with sexual stimuli than sexually functional women. The same pattern was found for self-reported affective sex-related associations. Participants were slower to detect targets in the dot detection task that replaced sexual images, irrespective of sexual function status. As such, the findings point to the relevance of affective processing of sexual stimuli in women with HSDD, and imply that the treatment of HSDD might benefit from a stronger emphasis on the strengthening of the association between sexual stimuli and positive meaning and sexual reward.

Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 24 september 2010, Promotores : Dijksterhuis, A.J., Baaren, R.B. van, Contains fulltext : 90270.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)

Contains fulltext : 90269.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access), Mimicry and prosocial feelings are generally thought to be positively related. However, the conditions under which mimicry and liking are related largely remain unspecified. We advance this specification by examining the relationship between mimicry and liking more thoroughly. In two experiments, we manipulated an individual's a priori liking for another and investigated whether it influenced mimicry of that person. Our experiments demonstrate that in the presence of a reason to like a target, automatic mimicry is increased. However, mimicry did not decrease when disliking a target. These studies provide further evidence of a link between mimicry and liking and extend previous research by showing that a certain level of mimicry even occurs when mimicry behavior is inconsistent with one's goals or motivations.

Contains fulltext : 77049.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access), If perceptual and bodily states are closely linked and if perceiving action automatically leads to corresponding activations in one's own motor system, then why do not we imitate all the time? There is evidence suggesting that executive functioning (EF) may play a moderating role in inhibiting overt imitation [e.g. Luria, A. R. (1966). Higher cortical functions in man. New York: Basic Books]. In an experiment we tested this idea. 48 participants received either a high or low working memory (WM) load and were instructed to respond to either a finger cue or spatial cue with a finger movement. Results indicate that occupying WM facilitates reaction times to finger cues while responses to simple spatial cues are unchanged. The findings suggest that imitation is indeed a dominant response and EF is needed to inhibit the spontaneous tendency to imitate.

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Contains fulltext : 77225.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access), People judge, evaluate, and treat attractive people better than moderately attractive or unattractive people [Langlois, J. H., Kalakanis, L., Rubenstein, A. J., Larson, A., Hallam, M., & Smoot, M. (2000). Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 390-423]. The fact that individuals like attractive people combined with the finding that individuals imitate the ones they like, suggests that they may be more prone to imitate attractive people. The present research extends previous work on attractiveness and imitation by examining this hypothesis. Using a novel coloring procedure, we show that attractive females are imitated more than unattractive females (Experiment 1) and that attractive males are imitated more than unattractive males (Experiment 2). Importantly, this imitation occurs without any direct or anticipated contact with the target individual and without awareness of the influence of attractiveness on imitation behavior.

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