Do accurate personality impressions benefit early relationship development? The bidirectional associations between accuracy and liking

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Volumn 118, Issue 1, 2020, Pages 199-212

  Human, Lauren J ^a   Carlson, Erika N ^b   Geukes, Katharina ^c   Nestler, Steffen ^d   Back, Mitja D ^c  

^a MCGILL UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

^c UNIVERSITY OF MÜNSTER   (Germany)

^d UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG   (Germany)

Author keywords

Accuracy; Emerging relationships; Liking; Personality impressions

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ARTICLE; FEMALE; HUMAN; HUMAN EXPERIMENT; LONGITUDINAL STUDY; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; PERSONALITY; HUMAN RELATION; PERCEPTION; PERSONALITY TEST; PHYSIOLOGY; YOUNG ADULT;

ADULT; FEMALE; HUMANS; INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS; LONGITUDINAL STUDIES; MALE; PERSONALITY; PERSONALITY INVENTORY; SOCIAL PERCEPTION; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 85051925499     PISSN: 00223514     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/pspp0000214     Document Type: Article

References (89)

1. Allport, G. W. (1961). Patterns and growth in personality. New York, NY: Holt, Reinhart & Winston.
2. Back, M. D., & Nestler, S. (2016). Accuracy of judging personality. In J. A. Hall, M. Schmid Mast, & T. V. West (Eds.), The social psychology of perceiving others accurately (pp. 98-124). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316181959 .005.
3. Barranti, M., Carlson, E. N., & Côté, S. (2017). How to test questions about similarity in personality and social psychology research: Description and empirical demonstration of response surface analysis. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8, 465-475. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 1948550617698204.
4. Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2015). Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67, 1-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01.
5. Bernieri, F. J. (2001). Towards a taxonomy of interpersonal sensitivity. In J. A. Hall & F. J. Bernieri (Eds.), Interpersonal sensitivity: Theory and measurement (pp. 265-302). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
6. Biesanz, J. C. (2010). The social accuracy model of interpersonal perception: Assessing individual differences in perceptive and expressive accuracy. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 45, 853-885. http://dx.doi .org/10.1080/00273171.2010.519262.
7. Biesanz, J. C., & Human, L. J. (2010). The cost of forming more accurate impressions: Accuracy-motivated perceivers see the personality of others more distinctively but less normatively than perceivers without an explicit goal. Psychological Science, 21, 589-594. http://dx.doi.org/10 .1177/0956797610364121.
8. Biesanz, J. C., & Schrager, S. M. (2017). Sample size planning with effect size estimates. Unpublished manuscript.
9. Biesanz, J. C., & West, S. G. (2000). Personality coherence: Moderating self-other profile agreement and profile consensus. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 425-437. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ 0022-3514.79.3.425.
10. Biesanz, J. C., West, S. G., & Millevoi, A. (2007). What do you learn about someone over time? The relationship between length of acquaintance and consensus and self-other agreement in judgments of personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 119-135. http://dx .doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.119.
11. Blackman, M. C., & Funder, D. C. (1998). The effect of information on consensus and accuracy in personality judgment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 164-181. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jesp.1997 .1347.
12. Borkenau, P., & Leising, D. (2016). A more complete picture of personality: What analyses of trait profiles have told us about personality judgment-So far. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25, 228-232. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0963721416651960.
13. Borkenau, P., & Zaltauskas, K. (2009). Effects of self-enhancement on agreement on personality profiles. European Journal of Personality, 23, 107-123. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/per.707.
14. Brown, N. A., Blake, A. B., & Sherman, R. A. (2017). A snapshot of the life as lived: Wearable cameras in social and personality psychological science. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8, 592-600. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1948550617703170.
15. Brunswik, E. (1956). Perception and the representative design of psychological experiments (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
16. Campbell, L., Lackenbauer, S. D., & Muise, A. (2006). When is being known or adored by romantic partners most beneficial? Self-perceptions, relationship length, and responses to partner's verifying and enhancing appraisals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1283-1294. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167206290383.
17. Carlson, E. N. (2016). Meta-accuracy and relationship quality: Weighing the costs and benefits of knowing what people really think about you. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 111, 250-264. http://dx .doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000107.
18. Carlson, E. N., & DesJardins, N. M. (2015). Do mean guys always finish first or just say that they do? Narcissists' awareness of their social status and popularity over time. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41, 901-917. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167215581712.
19. Carlson, E. N., Vazire, S., & Oltmanns, T. F. (2011). You probably think this paper's about you: Narcissists' perceptions of their personality and reputation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 185-201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023781.
20. Carney, D. R., Colvin, C. R., & Hall, J. A. (2007). A thin slice perspective on the accuracy of first impressions. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 1054-1072. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2007.01.004.
21. Collins, N. L., & Miller, L. C. (1994). Self-disclosure and liking: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 457-475. http://dx .doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.116.3.457.
22. Colvin, C. R. (1993a). Childhood antecedents of young-adult judgability. Journal of Personality, 61, 611-635. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1993.tb00784.x.
23. Colvin, C. R. (1993b). "Judgable" people: Personality, behavior, and competing explanations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 861-873. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.64.5.861.
24. Colvin, C. R., & Block, J. (1994). Do positive illusions foster mental health? An examination of the Taylor and Brown formulation. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 3-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.116.1.3.
25. Colvin, C. R., Block, J., & Funder, D. C. (1995). Overly positive selfevaluations and personality: Negative implications for mental health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 1152-1162. http://dx .doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.6.1152.
26. Cronbach, L. J. (1955). Processes affecting scores on understanding of others and assumed similarity. Psychological Bulletin, 52, 177-193. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0044919.
27. De La Ronde, C., & Swann, W. B., Jr. (1998). Partner verification: Restoring shattered images of our intimates. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 374-382. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514 .75.2.374.
28. Denissen, J., Geenen, R., Selfhout, M. H. W., & Van Aken, M. (2008). Single-item Big Five ratings in a social network design. European Journal of Personality, 22, 37-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/per.662.
29. Edwards, A. L. (1957). The social desirability variable in personality assessment and research. New York, NY: Dryden.
30. Fletcher, G. J. O., & Kerr, P. S. G. (2010). Through the eyes of love: Reality and illusion in intimate relationships. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 627-658. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0019792.
31. Funder, D. C. (1995). On the accuracy of personality judgment: A realistic approach. Psychological Review, 102, 652-670. http://dx.doi.org/10 .1037/0033-295X.102.4.652.
32. Funder, D. C. (2012). Accurate personality judgment. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 177-182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 0963721412445309.
33. Funder, D. C., & Colvin, C. R. (1997). Congruence of others' and selfjudgments of personality. In R. Hogan, J. Johnson, & S. Briggs (Eds.), Handbook of personality psychology (pp. 617-647). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-012134645-4/50025-1.
34. Furr, R. M. (2008). A framework for profile similarity: Integrating similarity, normativeness, and distinctiveness. Journal of Personality, 76, 1267-1316. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00521.x.
35. Gagné, F. M., & Lydon, J. E. (2004). Bias and accuracy in close relationships: An integrative review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8, 322-338. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0804_1
36. Gelman, A. (2008). Scaling regression inputs by dividing by two standard deviations. Statistics in Medicine, 27, 2865-2873. http://dx.doi.org/10 .1002/sim.3107.
37. Geukes, K., Nestler, S., Hutteman, R., Dufner, M., Küfner, A. C. P., Egloff, B., Back, M. D. (2017). Puffed-up but shaky selves: State self-esteem level and variability in narcissists. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 112, 769-786. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000093.
38. Geukes, K., Nestler, S., Hutteman, R., Küfner, A. C. P., & Back, M. D. (2017). Trait personality and state variability: Predicting individual differences in within-and cross-context fluctuations in affect, selfevaluations, and behavior in everyday life. Journal of Research in Personality, 69, 124-138. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jrp.2016.06.003.
39. Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J., & Swann, W. B., Jr. (2003). A very brief measure of the Big Five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 504-528. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(03) 00046-1.
40. Hall, J. A., Back, M. D., Nestler, S., Frauendorfer, D., Schmid Mast, M., & Ruben, M. A. (2018). How do different ways of measuring individual differences in zero-acquaintance personality judgment accuracy correlate with each other? Journal of Personality, 86, 220-232.
41. Haselton, M. G., & Funder, D. (2006). The evolution of accuracy and bias in social judgment. In M. Schaller, J. A. Simpson, & D. T. Kenrick (Eds.), Evolution and social psychology (pp. 15-37). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
42. Human, L. J., & Biesanz, J. C. (2011a). Through the looking glass clearly: Accuracy and assumed similarity in well-adjusted individuals' first impressions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 349-364. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0021850.
43. Human, L. J., & Biesanz, J. C. (2011b). Target adjustment and self-other agreement: Utilizing trait observability to disentangle judgeability and self-knowledge. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 202-216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023782.
44. Human, L. J., & Biesanz, J. C. (2012). Accuracy and assumed similarity in first impressions of personality: Differing associations at different levels of analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 46, 106-110. http://dx .doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2011.10.002.
45. Human, L. J., Biesanz, J. C., Finseth, S. M., Pierce, B., & Le, M. (2014). To thine own self be true: Psychological adjustment promotes judgeability via personality-behavior congruence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106, 286-303. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0034860.
46. Human, L. J., Biesanz, J. C., Parisotto, K. L., & Dunn, E. W. (2012). Your best self helps reveal your true self: Trying to make a good impression results in more accurate impressions. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3, 23-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1948550611407689.
47. Human, L. J., Jackson, J. J., & Biesanz, J. C. (January, 2008). How do impressions change over time? Length of exposure and changes in differential and stereotype accuracy. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Albuquerque, NM.
48. Human, L. J., Sandstrom, G. M., Biesanz, J. C., & Dunn, E. W. (2013). Accurate first impressions leave a lasting impression: The long-term effects of accuracy on relationship development. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4, 395-402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 1948550612463735.
49. Humberg, S., Dufner, M., Schönbrodt, F. D., Geukes, K., Hutteman, R., van Zalk, M. H. W., Back, M. D. (2018). Enhanced versus simply positive: A new condition-based regression analysis to disentangle effects of self-enhancement from effects of positivity of self-view. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114, 303-322.
50. Humberg, S., Nestler, S., & Back, M. D. (2018). Response Surface Analysis in personality and social psychology: Checklist and clarifications for the case of congruence hypotheses. Social Psychological & Personality Science. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 1948550618757600.
51. Kenny, D. A. (1994). Interpersonal perception: A social relations analysis. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
52. Kenny, D. A., & DePaulo, B. M. (1993). Do people know how others view them? An empirical and theoretical account. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 145-161. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.114.1.145.
53. Kenny, D., & Winquist, L. (2001). The measurement of interpersonal sensitivity: Consideration of design, components, and unit of analysis. In J. Hall & F. Bernieri (Eds.), Interpersonal sensitivity: Theory and measurement (pp. 265-302). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
54. Kwang, T., & Swann, W. B., Jr. (2010). Do people embrace praise even when they feel unworthy? A review of critical tests of self-enhancement versus self-verification. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 263-280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1088868310365876.
55. Lackenbauer, S., Campbell, L., Rubin, H., Fletcher, G. J. O., & Troister, T. (2010). The unique and combined benefits of accuracy and positive bias in relationships. Personal Relationships, 17, 475-493. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2010.01282.x.
56. Langlois, J. H., & Roggman, L. A. (1990). Attractive faces are only average. Psychological Science, 1, 115-121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j .1467-9280.1990.tb00079.x.
57. Leckelt, M., Küfner, A. C. P., Nestler, S., & Back, M. D. (2015). Behavioral processes underlying the decline of narcissists' popularity over time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109, 856-871. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000057.
58. Leising, D., Erbs, J., & Fritz, U. (2010). The letter of recommendation effect in informant ratings of personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 668-682. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0018771.
59. Leising, D., Locke, K. D., Kurzius, E., & Zimmermann, J. (2016). Quantifying the association of self-enhancement bias with self-ratings of personality and life satisfaction. Assessment, 23, 588-602. http://dx.doi .org/10.1177/1073191115590852.
60. Letzring, T. D. (2008). The good judge of personality: Characteristics, behaviors, and observer accuracy. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 914-932. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2007.12.003.
61. Letzring, T. D., & Noftle, E. E. (2010). Predicting relationship quality from self-verification of broad personality traits among romantic couples. Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 353-362. http://dx.doi.org/10 .1016/j.jrp.2010.03.008.
62. Letzring, T. D., Wells, S. M., & Funder, D. C. (2006). Information quantity and quality affect the realistic accuracy of personality judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 111-123. http://dx.doi.org/10 .1037/0022-3514.91.1.111.
63. Lorenzo, G. L., Biesanz, J. C., & Human, L. J. (2010). What is beautiful is good and more accurately understood. Physical attractiveness and accuracy in first impressions of personality. Psychological Science, 21, 1777-1782. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797610388048.
64. Luo, S., & Snider, A. G. (2009). Accuracy and biases in newlyweds' perceptions of each other: Not mutually exclusive but mutually beneficial. Psychological Science, 20, 1332-1339. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j .1467-9280.2009.02449.x.
65. McArthur, L. Z., & Baron, R. M. (1983). Toward an ecological theory of social perception. Psychological Review, 90, 215-238. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1037/0033-295X.90.3.215.
66. McShane, B. B., & Böckenholt, U. (2016). Planning sample sizes when effect sizes are uncertain: The power-calibrated effect size approach.
67. Mehl, M. R., Pennebaker, J. W., Crow, D. M., Dabbs, J., & Price, J. H. (2001). The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR): A device for sampling naturalistic daily activities and conversations. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 33, 517-523. http://dx.doi .org/10.3758/BF03195410.
68. Murphy, N. A. (2007). Appearing smart: The impression management of intelligence, person perception accuracy, and behavior in social interaction. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 325-339. http://dx .doi.org/10.1177/0146167206294871.
69. Murray, S. L., & Holmes, J. G. (1997). A leap of faith? Positive illusions in romantic relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 586-604. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167297236003.
70. Murray, S. L., Holmes, J. G., & Griffin, D. W. (1996). The benefits of positive illusions: Idealization and the construction of satisfaction in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 79-98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.1.79.
71. Neff, L. A., & Karney, B. R. (2005). To know you is to love you: The implications of global adoration and specific accuracy for marital relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 480-497. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.88.3.480.
72. Nestler, S., & Back, M. D. (2013). Applications and extensions of the lens model to understand interpersonal judgments at zero acquaintance. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 374-379. http://dx.doi .org/10.1177/0963721413486148.
73. Norton, M. I., Frost, J. H., & Ariely, D. (2007). Less is more: The lure of ambiguity, or why familiarity breeds contempt. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 97-105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.97.
74. Paulhus, D. L., & Bruce, M. N. (1992). The effect of acquaintanceship on the validity of personality impressions: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 816-824. http://dx.doi.org/10 .1037/0022-3514.63.5.816
75. R Development Core Team. (2016). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL: https://www.R-project.org
76. Reber, R., Schwarz, N., & Winkielman, P. (2004). Processing fluency and aesthetic pleasure: Is beauty in the perceiver's processing experience? Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8, 364-382. http://dx.doi .org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0804_3
77. Reis, H. T., Maniaci, M. R., Caprariello, P. A., Eastwick, P. W., & Finkel, E. J. (2011). Familiarity does indeed promote attraction in live interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 557-570. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0022885.
78. Rogers, K. H., & Biesanz, J. C. (2015). Knowing versus liking: Separating normative knowledge from social desirability in first impressions of personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109, 1105-1116. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039587.
79. Sedikides, C., & Strube, M. J. (1995). The multiply motivated self. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 1330-1335. http://dx.doi .org/10.1177/01461672952112010.
80. Simpson, J. A., Orina, M. M., & Ickes, W. (2003). When accuracy hurts, and when it helps: A test of the empathic accuracy model in marital interactions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 881-893. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.881.
81. Swann, W. B., Jr. (1987). Identity negotiation: Where two roads meet. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1038-1051. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.53.6.1038.
82. Swann, W. B., Jr. (2012). Self-verification theory. In P. Van Lange, A. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.) Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 23-42). London, UK: Sage. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/ 9781446249222.n27.
83. Swann, W. B., Jr., De la Ronde, C., & Hixon, J. G. (1994). Authenticity and positivity strivings in marriage and courtship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 857-869. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.66.5.857.
84. Swann, W. B., Jr., & Pelham, B. W. (2002). Who wants out when the going gets good? Psychological investment and preference for self-verifying college roommates. Journal of Self and Identity, 1, 219-233. http://dx .doi.org/10.1080/152988602760124856.
85. Swann, W. B., Jr., Stein-Seroussi, A., & Giesler, R. B. (1992). Why people self-verify. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 392-401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.62.3.392.
86. Vazire, S. (2010). Who knows what about a person? The self-other knowledge asymmetry (SOKA) model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 281-300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0017908.
87. Wiggins, J. S. (1991). Agency and communion as conceptual coordinates for the understanding and measurement of interpersonal behavior. In D. Cicchetti & W. M. Grove (Eds.), Thinking clearly about psychology: Essays in honor of Paul E. Meehl, Vol. 1: Matters of public interest; Vol. 2: Personality and psychopathology (pp. 89-113). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
88. Wood, D., & Furr, R. M. (2016). The correlates of similarity estimates are often misleadingly positive: The nature and scope of the problem, and some solutions. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 20, 79-99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1088868315581119.
89. Zimmermann, J., Schindler, S., Klaus, G., & Leising, D. (2018). The effect of dislike on accuracy and bias in person perception. Social Psychological & Personality Science, 9, 80-88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 1948550617703167