Using Facebook to Elicit Spontaneous Trait Inferences

Ryan Callozzo; Randy McCarthy; John Skowronski

Ryan Callozzo
Randy McCarthy
John Skowronski

Abstract

Even without conscious identity, observers can form impressions of individuals based on observing the individual’s behavior. Research has shown that people can form impressionsof others by viewing environmental information (Gosling, Ko, Mannarelli, & Morris, 2002).However, research has not examined whether non-behavioral, environmentally-cued impressions form spontaneously, as they do from behavior-cued impressions. One such non-behavioral source of information that observers may use to form impressions of others is a Facebook profile. In this study, college students viewed mock Facebook profiles that implied various personality traits. After viewing the profiles, participants completed filler tasks which degraded memory for specific details of the Facebook profiles. Participants then rated personality traits of each person whose photo accompanied each profile. Ratings were substantially increased on those traits implied by the information contained on the mock Facebook profiles. Moreover, because participants were not instructed to form impressions, these impressions emerged spontaneously. This supports the contention that perceivers often make spontaneous trait inferences about others and that such inferences can be prompted by non-behavioral information.

References

Back, M. D., Stopfer, J. M., Vazire, S., Gaddis, S., Schmulke, S. C., Egloff, B., & Gosling, S. D. (2010). Facebook profiles reflect actual personality, not self-idealization. Psychological Science, 21, 372-374. doi:10.1177/0956797609360756

Bassili, J. N. (1989). Traits as action categories versus traits as person attributes in social cognition. In J. N. Bassili (Ed.). On-line cognition in person perception (61-89). Hillsdale, N.J: Erlbaum.

Carlston, D. E., & Skowronski, J. J. (1994). Savings in the relearning of trait information as evidence for spontaneous inference generation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 840-856. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.66.5.840

Carlston, D. E., & Skowronski, J. J. (2005) Linking versus thinking: Evidence for the different associative and attributional bases of spontaneous trait transference and spontaneous trait inference. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 884-898. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.884

Chandler, D. (1998). Personal homepages and the construction of identities on the web. Retrieved March 10, 2010, from: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/webident.html

Crawford, M. T., Skowronski, J. J., Stiff, C., & Scherer, C. (2007). Interfering with inferential, but not associative, processes underlying spontaneous trait inference. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 677-690. doi: 10.1177/0146167206298567

Ellison, N., Heino, R., & Gibbs, J. (2006). Managing impressions online: Self-presentation processes in the online dating environment. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11, 415-441. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00020.x

Funder, D. C. (1995). On the accuracy of personality judgment: A realistic approach. Psychological Review, 102, 652-670. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.102.4.652

Funder, D. C. (1999). Personality judgment: A realistic approach to person perception. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.

Gosling, D., Ko, S. J., Mannarelli, T., & Morris, M. (2002). A room with a cue: Personality judgments based on offices and bedrooms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 379-398. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.82.3.379

Kluemper, D. H., & Rosen, P. (2009). Future employment selection methods: Evaluating social networking websites. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 24, 567–580. doi: 10.1108/02683940910974134

Kluemper, D. H., Rosen, P. A., & Mossholder, K. W. (2012). Social networking websites, personality ratings, and the organizational context: More than meets the eye? Journal of Applied Social Psychology. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00881.x

Krӓmer, N. C., & Winter, S. (2008). Impression management 2.0. Journal of Media Psychology, 20, 106-116.

Marcus, B., Machilek, F., & Schutz, A. (2006). Personality is cyberspace: Personal websites as media for personality expressions and impressions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 1014-1031. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.90.6.1014

McCarthy, R. J., & Skowronski, J. J. (2011a). The interplay of controlled and automatic processing in the expression of spontaneously inferred traits: A PDP analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 229-240. doi: 10.1037/a0021991

McCarthy, R. J., & Skowronski, J. J. (2011b). What will Phil do next? The influence of spontaneous trait inferences on behavior predictions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 321-332. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.10.015

Skowronski, J. J., Carlston, D. E., & Hartnett, J. L. (2008). Spontaneous impressions derived from observations of behavior: What a long, strange trip it’s been (and it’s not over yet). In N. Ambady & J. J. Skowronski (Eds.), First impressions (313-333). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Trope, Y. (1986). Identification and inference processes in dispositional attributions. Psychological Review, 93, 239-257. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.93.3.239

Uleman, J. S. (1989). The self-control of thoughts: A framework for thinking intentionally about unintended thoughts. In J. S. Uleman & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended thoughts (pp. 425-449). New York: Guilford Press.

Uleman, J. S., Newman, L. S., & Moskowitz, G. B. (1996). People as flexible interpreters: Evidence and issues from spontaneous trait inferences. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (211-279). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Uleman, J. S., Saribay, S. A., & Gonzalez, C. (2008). Spontaneous inferences, implicit impressions, and implicit theories. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 329-360. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093707

Wells, B. M., Skowronski, J. J., Crawford, M. T., Scherer, C. R., & Carlston, D. E. (2011). Inference making and linking both require thinking: Spontaneous trait inference and spontaneous trait transference both rely on working memory capacity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 1116-1126. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2011.05.013

Willis, J., & Todorov, A. (2006). First impressions: Making up your mind after 100 ms exposure to a face. Psychological Science, 17, 592-598. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01750.x

Vazire, S., & Gosling, D. (2004). e-Perceptions: Personality impressions based on personal websites. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 123-132. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.87.1.123