Editing Self-perception theory (section)

==Recent research==
Research incorporating self-perception theory has continued in recent years, appearing in conjunction with studies dealing with [[Motivation crowding theory|motivational "crowding out,"]] [[terrorism]], [[mindwandering]], and the inclusion of others in the self.

Guadagno and her fellow experimenters did a study in 2010 addressing the recruitment of new members by terrorist organization via the internet.<ref name="Guadagno">Guadagno, R. E., Lankford, A., Muscanell, N. L., Okdie, B. M., & McCallum, D. M. (2010). [https://www.cairn.info/revue-internationale-de-psychologie-sociale-2010-1-page-25.htm Social influence in the online recruitment of terrorists and terrorist sympathizers: Implications for social psychology research]. Revue Internationale De Psychologie Sociale, 23(1), 25-56.</ref> In addition to looking at how such an organization might influence its targets to support more [[Extremism|extreme ideologies]] (primarily through simple requests gradually increasing to larger commitments–an example of the [[foot-in-the-door technique]]), the authors looked at how "the new converts may form increasingly radical attitudes to be consistent with their increasingly radical behavior."<ref name="Guadagno" /> Self-perception theory, then, has strong ties to social identity and [[social influence]] in this scenario.

Also in 2010, Clayton Critcher and [[Thomas Gilovich]] performed four studies to test a connection between self-perception theory and mindwandering.<ref name="Critcher">Critcher, C. R., & Gilovich, T. (2010). Inferring attitudes from mindwandering. Personality And Social Psychology Bulletin, 36(9), 1255-1266.</ref> Self-perception theory posits that people determine their attitudes and preferences by interpreting the meaning of their own behavior. Critcher and Gilovich looked at whether people also rely on the unobservable behavior that is their mindwandering when making inferences about their attitudes and preferences. They found that "Having the mind wander to positive events, to concurrent as opposed to past activities, and to many events rather than just one tends to be attributed to boredom and therefore leads to perceived dissatisfaction with an ongoing task." Participants relied on the content of their wandering minds as a cue to their attitudes unless an alternative cause for their mindwandering was brought to their attention.<ref name="Critcher" />

Similarly, Goldstein and Cialdini published work related to self-perception theory in 2007.<ref name="Goldstein">Goldstein, N. J., & Cialdini, R. B. (2007). The spyglass self: A model of vicarious self-perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(3), 402-417.</ref> In an extension of self-perception theory, the authors hypothesized that people sometimes infer their own attributes or attitudes by "observing the freely chosen actions of others with whom they feel a sense of merged identity – almost as if they had observed themselves performing the acts."<ref name="Goldstein" /> Participants were made to feel a sense of merged identity with an actor through a perspective-taking task or feedback indicating overlapping brainwave patterns. Participants incorporated attributes relevant to the actor's behavior into their own [[self-concept]]s, leading participants to then change their own behaviors.<ref name="Goldstein" /> The study addresses the [[self-expansion model]]: close relationships can lead to an inclusion of another person in an individual's sense of self.