Gaze-triggered orienting as a tool of the belongingness self-regulation system.
Social-psychological theories of belongingness self-regulation suggest that when one's need for interpersonal relationships is not being met, one begins to monitor the social environment more closely. Presumably, this serves to increase awareness of the likelihood of social acceptance versus rejection and to inform later social decision- making processes. The current investigation tested whether low belongingness increases a particular form of social monitoring that has recently been documented in the cognitive literature: gaze-triggered orienting. Low belongingness was operationalized either in terms of low trait self-esteem(Studies 1a and 1b) or in terms of the priming of rejection-related thoughts (Study 2). Across the studies, the normal tendency to orient attention in accordance with another individual's eye gaze was augmented under conditions of low belongingness. However, belongingness had no influence on a nonsocial form of orienting. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for theories of belongingness self-regulation and social attention.
Wilkowski
Benjamin M
BM
University of Wyoming, Department of Psychology, Department 3415, 1000 East University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA. bwilkows@uwyo.edu
Robinson
Michael D
MD
Friesen
Chris Kelland
CK
D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D012649:Self Concept; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D012931:Social Environment; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult