Re-reading Anscombe on ‘I’

According to a ‘Straight’ reading of Elizabeth Anscombe’s (1975 Anscombe, E. 1975. “The First Person.” In her Mind and Language, edited by S. Guttenplan, 45–65. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]) ‘The First Person’, she holds a radically non-referring view of ‘I’. Specifically, ‘I’ is analogous to the expletive ‘it’ in ‘It’s raining’. I argue that this is not her conclusion. Her substantive view, rather is that if what you mean by ‘reference’ is a certain rich and recherché notion tracing to Frege, then ‘I’ is not a referring term. Her methodological point is that one shouldn’t be ‘bewitched by language’ into thinking that ‘I’, because of its syntax, must exhibit ‘reference’ in this sense.     

Confidence of social judgments is not just error: Individual differences in the structure,stability, and social functions of perceptual confidence

The present research uses a Social Relations Model approach to focus on individual differences in perceptual confidence – a person’s confidence in her or his impressions of others. Across two samples of group interactions, we found that the majority of variance in perceptual confidence was explained by individual differences in how people tended to perceive others (i.e., perceiver effects). A smaller percentage of variance was explained by differences in how people tended to be perceived by others (i.e., target effects). Both these individual differences were stable over time, were related to relevant personality measures, and group outcomes. Together, these results demonstrate that although perceptual confidence may not be substantially related to accuracy, it exists as a stable individual difference dimension that has important consequences for social interactions.     

Associations between young adult romantic relationship quality and problem behaviors: An examination of personality–environment interactions

This longitudinal study examined person–environment interplay by testing interaction effects between adolescent personality type (i.e., overcontrollers, undercontrollers, and resilients) and young adult romantic relationship quality on young adult delinquency and anxiety. The study employed six waves of longitudinal questionnaire data collected across 10 years from Dutch youths. Results showed that support from romantic partner was related to a relatively stronger decrease in anxiety in young adulthood for overcontrollers than for resilients. Moreover, higher negative interaction with romantic partner was related to a relative increase in delinquent behaviors for undercontrollers, while no such links emerged for overcontrollers and resilients. This study highlights the importance of considering the interplay between personality characteristics and environmental–relational factors when examining young adults’ developmental outcomes.     

A model of “substance” and “evaluation” in person judgments

For decades, person perception research has grappled with the distinction between the targets’ actual characteristics (“substance”) and how positively or negatively those characteristics are viewed by perceivers (“evaluation”); however, lack of an overarching theoretical framework makes it difficult to establish connections between related lines of research. We review the relevant literature, and present and test an algebraic model that incorporates the major insights from that literature. The model posits that all person judgments reflect substance and evaluation to different extents. The evaluation component reflects an interaction between the item’s evaluative tone and the perceiver’s evaluative attitude regarding the target person. The model may function as an integrative framework that helps improve conceptual clarity and cumulative progress in person perception research.     

What you see is what you want to get: Perceived abilities outperform objective test performance in predicting mate appeal in speed dating

Are intelligent, creative, and emotionally competent people more desirable? Evolution-based theories and studies on the ideal partner suggest that they are. We aimed to assess whether verbal, numerical, and spatial intelligence, creativity, and intra- and interpersonal emotional competence are associated with higher real-life mate appeal. In speed dates, 87 women and 88 men met up to 14 members of the opposite sex (2188 observations). While only one measured ability—women’s creativity—was significantly associated with mate appeal, ability perceptions by speed-dating partners could broadly predict mate appeal. Effects of perceived and measured abilities were substantially reduced after controlling for physical attractiveness. These results suggest that the investigated abilities play a lesser role in initial attraction than proposed in the past.