Gaze-Triggered Orienting as a Tool of the Belongingness Self-Regulation System

• Published in: Psychological science Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 495 - 501
• Main Authors: Wilkowski, Benjamin M., Robinson, Michael D., Friesen, Chris Kelland
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA Wiley Periodicals 01.04.2009; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Attention; Behavioural psychology; Belonging; Cognition; Decision making; Eye fixation; Female; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; Interpersonal relations; Male; Mind; Personal relationships; Personality psychology; Personality traits; Priming; Reaction Time; Self; Self Concept; Self esteem; Sight; Social acceptance; Social Control, Informal; Social Environment; Social psychology; Social reflexivity; Social rejection; Visual fixation; Visual Perception; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0956-7976; 1467-9280
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02321.x

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 la 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.