Automatic vigilance: The attention-grabbing power of approach- and avoidance-related social information

The automatic processing of information was investigated, varying valence ( positive vs. negative) and relevance (other-relevant traits [ORT] vs. posse ssor-relevant traits [PRT]; G. Peeters, 1983) of stimuli. ORTs denote uncon ditionally positive or negative consequences for persons in the social envi ronment of the holder of the trait (e.g., honest brutal) whereas PRTs denot e unconditionally positive or negative consequences for the trait holder (e .g., happy, depressive). In 2 experiments using the Stroop paradigm, larger interference effects were found for ORTs than PRTs. This is due to the beh avior-relatedness of ORTs. In a go/no-go lexical decision task (Experiment 3), participants either had to withdraw their finger from a pressed key (ie ., "avoid") or had to press a key (i.e., "approach") if a word was presente d. Responses to negative ORTs were relatively faster in the withdraw condit ion, whereas positive ORTs were relatively faster in the press condition.