Twice-told tales

Self-repetition decreases observer assessments of performer authenticity

Bibliographic Data

ID6206885
AuthorsRachel Gershon (0000-0002-3632-8732, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering), Rosanna K Smith (0000-0002-5975-3168), Rosanna Smith (0000-0001-5276-9733)
Year2020
Volume118
Issue2
Pages307-324
Publication date2020-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/pspi0000183
PMID30896197
OpenAlexW2924532416
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited42

People often engage in self-repetition-repeating the same story, joke, or presentation across different audiences. While behaving consistently has generally been found to enhance perceptions of authenticity, 10 studies demonstrate that performers who are revealed to be self-repeating are perceived as less authentic. We find convergent evidence that this effect is driven by observers' implicit assumption that social interactions are unique. Self-repetitions violate this assumption, leading observers to judge performers as inauthentic because they are thought to be falsely presenting their performance as unique when it is not. We demonstrate this effect across multiple contexts (politics, entrepreneurship, tour guiding, and comedy), finding that observer awareness of self-repetition decreases perceived authenticity even in situations in which it is normative to repeat a performance and in which repetition is required. The decrease in authenticity is eliminated only when performers overtly acknowledge self-repetition, as performers are no longer viewed as falsely presenting themselves. Moreover, performers who fail to acknowledge their self-repetition are penalized similarly to those who explicitly lie that the performance is unique-an unacknowledged self-repetition is thus seen as a lie by omission. Finally, we recorded repeated job interview responses and found that observers who were unaware of the self-repetition could not discern tangible differences between unrepeated and repeated responses. However, when observers believed that they were viewing a self-repetition, they judged the interviewees as less authentic. Together, our findings provide insight into how people assess the authenticity of self-presentational behaviors and the implicit assumptions that influence social judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Art · Cognitive psychology · Linguistics · Observer (physics) · Performing arts · Repetition (rhetorical device) · Self-disclosure · Visual arts · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Media Influence and Health · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

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