Abstract:People believe that group members’ behaviors display similarity, thereby fostering expectations of consistent behaviors among group members. Nonetheless, it is suggested that the behavior should be conceptualized as two dimensions with action goal (i.e., the directed goal) and action means (i.e., how to approach the goal). Despite previous investigations into the significant role of action goals in shaping expectations of consistent behaviors within groups, the contribution and mechanisms of action means remain elusive. To explore this question, this study simulated group actions through computer-animated events and measured the facilitation effect and late positive potential (LPP) indicating behavior expectations. Results showed that after observing two agents from the same group performing irrational action means to approach the goal, participants identified a new agent’s actions more quickly when this agent performed the consistent action means with group members than when this agent performed in an inconsistent manner as group members. Moreover, this facilitation effect disappeared when the new agent was from a different group, revealing means-based expectations for consistent behaviors among group members. The LPP amplitude during the action-expectation phase was greater for agents from the same group than for agents from a different group, suggesting that people generate clearer behavior expectations for group members than for other individuals. The LPP amplitude during the action-expectation phase was greater after observing irrational actions than after observing rational actions performed by two agents from the same group. Importantly, the expectation-related increase in LPP predicted the behavioral measurements of the facilitation effect in both experiments. Therefore, the current findings suggest that when individuals observe action goals being achieved with irrational action means (i.e., deviating from the principle of rationality), people rely on action means to expect group members to behave consistently.
周文莹,戴雨涵,徐梓恺,赵婷,尹军,段继鹏. 基于动作形式的群体行为一致性预期:来自行为和事件相关电位的证据[J]. 应用心理学, 0, (): 1-.
ZHOU Wen-ying,DAI Yu-han,XU Zi-kai,ZHAO Ting,YIN Jun,DUAN Ji-peng. People Rely on Action Means to Expect Group Members to Behave Consistently: Behavioral and Event-Related Potential Evidences. 应用心理学, 0, (): 1-.