COGNITIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF POWER IN CAREGIVING RELATIONSHIPS - BIASING EFFECTS ON INTERPERSONAL INTERACTION AND INFORMATION-PROCESSING

Relationship schemas were explored as organizers of responses to chall enging encounters with children. Adults who see themselves as lacking power as caregivers were predicted to show increased ''defensive'' act ivity and reduced processing capacity when primed for thoughts of care giving challenge. In Study 1, 160 mothers engaged in experimentally ma nipulated interactions with unrelated children who appeared to be resp onsive or unresponsive to them. Mothers with low perceived power manif ested ''defensive'' activity (i.e., appeasement smiles) and difficulty recalling their thoughts after challenging interactions. In Study 2, 150 unmarried women carried out a cognitively demanding task after act ivation of thoughts of easy or challenging interactions with children. Women with low perceived power showed cognitive interference effects after they had been primed to think about challenging interactions. Ac tivation of low power schemas was interpreted as leading to reduced co gnitive capacity.