Domain specific effects of central traits in impression formation

In a procedure similar to that used in Asch's classic studies in 1946, 125 college students (54 men and 71 women, Mage=20.9 yr., SD=4.8) rated their impression of a hypothetical man or woman who was described by seven stimulus traits. This list included one of four central traits which appeared in the middle of the list: warm, cold, serious, or foolish. The dependent measures were factor scores derived from participants' ratings of 20 traits on social desirability and intellectual desirability. As hypothesized, warm and cold, prototypes of social desirability and undesirability, were associated with judgments of social but not intellectual desirability, and serious and foolish, prototypes of intellectual desirability and undesirability, were associated with judgments of intellectual but not social desirability. In addition, there was evidence of a subtle sex bias: ratings of "foolish" women were higher on social desirability than ratings of "foolish" men.     

Between-theory and within-theory conflict in explaining context effects in impression formation

Research on context effects in impression formation has taken the form of testing competing predictions from the averaging model and the meaning shift model. This between-theory conflict has been unprofitable because neither theory has yet acquired the degree of specificity necessary to generate unequivocal predictions in this area. The research has been useful, however, in identifying each theory's capacity to generate self-contradictory predictions. Future research on this topic can most profitably be addressed to resolving these within-theory conflicts.     

How the adoption of impression management goals alters impression formation

Five experiments (N = 390) tested the hypothesis that adopting an impression management goal leads the impression manager to view an interaction partner as having less of the trait he or she is attempting to express. This hypothesis was confirmed for the impression management goals of appearing introverted, extraverted, smart, confident, and happy. Experiment 2 shows that adoption of the impression goal could alter judgments even when participants could not act on the goal. Experiment 3 provides evidence that adopting an impression management goal prompted a comparison mind-set and that this comparison mind-set activation mediated target judgments. Experiment 4 rules out a potential alternative explanation and provides more direct evidence that comparison of the impression manager's self-concept mediates the impression of the target. Experiment 5 eliminates a potential confound and extends the effect to another impression goal. These experiments highlight the dynamic interplay between impression management and impression formation.     

Automatic activation of Yellow Peril Asian American stereotypes: effects on social impression formation

The authors randomly assigned 69 undergraduates to 1 of 2 perceptual priming conditions involving 80-ms flash words presented on a computer screen to activate information processing outside of conscious awareness. In the high-prime condition, the authors exposed participants to stereotype words associated with the Yellow Peril view of Asian Americans. The authors exposed participants in a low-prime condition to neutral words. All participants then read a vignette and evaluated its protagonist on several social dimensions. Results indicated that the priming procedure effectively biased participant evaluation of the vignette target, but only on items closely linked to Asian Americans. Contrary to predictions, however, participants in the high-prime group rated the target less Asian than did their low-prime group counterparts, an apparent reversal of the expected priming effect. The authors discussed theoretical implications.     

Three weighting criteria in impression formation

When several items of information are combined to give an overall judgement, it is usually found that some kinds of item are given greater weight than others. This study examines the relations between three criteria which judges may use in deciding how to apportion these weights. The criteria of evaluative direction and extremity have of ten been studied within impression formation, while demonstrations of the influence of ambiguity have produced unclear findings. Simple models of the combination of these three criteria are shown to be inadequate and a more complex account is suggested. A study is reported in which divergence between the criteria of extremity and ambiguity results in a generally greater bias to negative. This effect is related to other studies of the influence of inconsistency, and range adjustment model of the judgement process is extended to take it into account.     

An adding result in impression formation

Ss were presented with a highly polarized piece of information, followed by a same-signed moderately polarized piece of information, and were asked whether the second piece of information led them to like the person describedmore, less, or just the same. The obtained percentage ofadding responses was 65%; that is, most of the responses indicated that Ss impression of the person described became more polarized following addition of moderately polarized information (p <.001). More adding was obtained for negatively than for positively evaluated adjectives (p <.05).     

The effects of physical and vocal attractiveness on impression formation of politicians

In order to investigate the nature of the combination of varying levels of vocal and physical attractiveness on the perception of hypothetical political candidates, 90 adults rated photographs of target politicians on scales for the dimensions of competency, trustworthiness, qualification, and leadership ability. It was hypothesized and confirmed that the halo effect (higher ratings for highly attractive targets) elicited by physical attractiveness is stronger and more robust than the halo effect elicited by vocal attractiveness; however vocal attractiveness did impact the perception of the candidates by lowering the ratings associated with candidates that were presented as highly attractive but possessing an unattractive voice. This work was sponsored by the Jean D. Smith Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. We are grateful to Donald Bucolo for helpful comments.     

The effects of physical and vocal attractiveness on impression formation of politicians

In order to investigate the nature of the combination of varying levels of vocal and physical attractiveness on the perception of hypothetical political candidates, 90 adults rated photographs of target politicians on scales for the dimensions of competency, trustworthiness, qualification, and leadership ability. It was hypothesized and confirmed that the halo effect (higher ratings for highly attractive targets) elicited by physical attractiveness is stronger and more robust than the halo effect elicited by vocal attractiveness; however vocal attractiveness did impact the perception of the candidates by lowering the ratings associated with candidates that were presented as highly attractive but possessing an unattractive voice. This work was sponsored by the Jean D. Smith Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. We are grateful to Donald Bucolo for helpful comments.     

Interviews with ethnic interviewees: Non-verbal communication errors in impression formation

Two studies are described concerning ethnic interviewees in interviews. The first study (a style of presentation study) revealed several differences in non-verbal behaviour displayed by Dutch and ethnic interviewees in interviews. The second study showed that interviewees with an ‘ethnic style’ of non-verbal presentation were assessed more negatively than interviewees with a ‘Dutch style’ of non-verbal presentation by a Dutch selection board. Finally, some implications of the results are discussed.