title: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Jon K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Maner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Douglas T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Kenrick
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: D Vaughn
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Theresa E
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8229-2323
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Neuberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Andrew W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Delton
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Butner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schaller
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D000786:Anger / Q000502:physiology; D018912:Arabs / Q000523:psychology; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D011287:Prejudice; D011385:Projection; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology