Typicality of Interpersonal Situations: The Role of Affect in Determining Contextual Variations in Typicality Norms
Abstract
Studied the relationship between affect and cognition. This relationship is conceptualized in the terms of G. H. Bower and P. R. Cohen's (1982) model. 200 early adolescents (aged 12 or 14 yrs) were asked to imagine themselves as the actor in an interpersonal situation. The situation was intimate or nonintimate and the hypothetical partner was a boy or a girl. Ss' task was to produce a series of sentences expressing the behaviors considered representative of each situation. Results indicate (1) the existence of a typicality hierarchy and (2) variations in this hierarchy according to the affective tone of the situation (intimate or nonintimate). The study explains how the cultural, interpersonal situation norms acquired by adolescents can account for these variations. Findings show that variations in typicality are not random.