Less is more
The lure of ambiguity, or why familiarity breeds contempt
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6198973 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael I Norton (Harvard University), Jeana H Frost, Jeana Frost, Dan Ariely (0000-0002-6175-4151) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 92 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 97-105 |
| Publication date | 2007-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.97 |
| PMID | 17201545 |
| OpenAlex | W2156555424 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 59 |
| References cited | 50 |
The present research shows that although people believe that learning more about others leads to greater liking, more information about others leads, on average, to less liking. Thus, ambiguity--lacking information about another--leads to liking, whereas familiarity--acquiring more information--can breed contempt. This "less is more" effect is due to the cascading nature of dissimilarity: Once evidence of dissimilarity is encountered, subsequent information is more likely to be interpreted as further evidence of dissimilarity, leading to decreased liking. The authors document the negative relationship between knowledge and liking in laboratory studies and with pre- and postdate data from online daters, while showing the mediating role of dissimilarity
Ambiguity · Contempt · Developmental psychology · Impression formation · Linguistics · Perception · Social perception · Cultural Differences and Values · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology
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| Unique citing works | 59 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,28 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2026 (19) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 53 |