Situational Determinants of Personal Validation of General Personality Interpretations

Groups of Ss were matched with respect to their pre-experimental opinions regarding the value of psychological tests used by trained professionals to describe personality. Ss were then given either the Rorschach, TAT, FIRO-B, or Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale and were later given identical general personality interpretations supposedly based on the test results. An analysis of variance of Ss ratings of the accuracy of the personality interpretation indicated that neither the type of test S took nor whether the personality interpretation was presented as being derived “for you specifically” or “for people in general” had differential effects on Ss' acceptance of the interpretation; all groups rated the interpretation as being between “good” and “excellent.”