Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Expectancies

Book excerpt: Do our expectancies about ourselves and about others have any effect on our actual experiences? Over fifty years of research studies suggest not only that this is the case, but also that our expectancies can shape other people’s experience in different contexts. In some cases they can help, but other times they can do harm instead. Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Expectancies provides a theory, a research review, and a summary of the current knowledge on intra- and interpersonal expectancy effects and related phenomena. Based on extensive study, and written by eminent experts from some of the world’s leading academic institutions, the book presents the most recent knowledge on social and psychological mechanisms of forming both intra- and interpersonal expectancies. It also considers how expectancies are sustained and what their consequences are, as well as discussing the latest theoretical concepts and the most up-to-date research on expectancy effects. This book represents the first review of the phenomenon of interpersonal expectancies in over 20 years, and the only publication presenting a complementary view of both intra- and interpersonal expectancies. It aims to open up a discussion between researchers and theoreticians from both perspectives, and to promote an integrative approach that incorporates both.