Attributions of personality based on physical appearance, speech, and handwriting

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6205084
AutoresRebecca M Warner (Durham University), David B Sugarman, David Sugarman
Año1986
Volumen50
Número4
Páginas792-799
Fecha de publicación1986-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315
EditorialAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/0022-3514.50.4.792
OpenAlexW1980112203
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas20
Referencias citadas18

The effect of facial appearance, speech style, and handwriting on personality attributions was examined. The source consistency hypothesis predicted that an actor will receive consistent attributions across all three types of information. The differential information hypothesis predicted that different personality dimensions are used to differentiate the actors within each type of information. In a 3 X 6 multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) design, each judge rated a single actor/information combination on scales of social evaluation, intellectual evaluation, activity, potency, emotionality, and sociability. Photographs of actors were differentiated primarily in terms of positive social and intellectual evaluation; the speech of actors was differentiated primarily along an activity dimension; and the writing of the actors was differentiated primarily along a potency dimension. This study supported the differential information hypothesis and suggested that these three types of information about an actor may lead judges to use different personality dimensions. Person perception studies have shown that observers readily make attributions about the personality traits, abilities, and emotions of other persons based on limited information. Three types of information have been extensively studied: facial appearance, expressive noncontent characteristics of speech (such as pitch, tone, and tempo), and handwriting. Numerous studies have reported that facial features and expression influence attributions about the attractiveness, pleasantness, intellectual and social skills, and mental health of the target person (Adams, 1977

Attribution · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Handwriting · Linguistics · Perception · Personality · Social perception · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Psychology · Social Psychology