WHOS OPINION IS THIS ANYWAY - SELF-INFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF REPRESENTING ONES SOCIAL GROUP

This study explored the self-inferential effects of representing one's social group. Female subjects audiotaped their opinions about 4 campu s issues while believing they represented either female or sophomore s tudents to their eventual audience. The groups did not differ in their expressed opinions on any issue. However, sophomore representatives l ater increased their private endorsement of the stereotypic ''women's point of view'' on an issue about which they had been privately undeci ded, whereas the female representatives decreased their endorsement of it. Supplementary analyses suggest attributional principles may have mediated the effects. The results speak to some possible consequences of representing others on issues about which one is personally uncerta in. More generally, the study illustrates how the same self-generated behavior can take on different meanings-and therefore have different s elf-perceptual effects-depending on the social context in which it is expressed.