Examining the consistency of the good target across contexts and domains of personality

Perceiving Others Through a Screen: Are First Impressions of Personality Accurate and Normative via Videoconferencing?

The use of videoconferencing platforms has globally risen to facilitate face-to-face communication since the onset of COVID-19. But how do our first impressions of people we meet on Zoom compare to in-person interactions? Specifically, do we view others' personalities as accurately (in line with their unique personality) and normatively (in line with the average, desirable personality) as in-person? Across two Zoom first-impression round-robin studies (exploratory study: N = 567, Dyads = 3,053; preregistered replication: N = 371, Dyads = 1,961), which we compared to an in-person round-robin study (N = 306; Dyads = 1,682), people viewed others' personalities as accurately and as normatively on Zoom as in-person. Moreover, people better liked interaction partners they viewed more accurately and normatively. However, in interactions of poorer audio-video quality, people viewed others less accurately, less normatively, and liked them less. Overall, through a screen, our impressions of others are as accurate and normative as face-to-face, but it depends on the quality of that screen.

The Extended Social Relations Model: Understanding Dissimilation and Dissensus in the Judgment of Others

The Social Relations Model (SRM), which has been an important tool for personality researchers, presumes the variabilities in the SRM components, perceiver, target, and relationship effects, are consistent across perceivers and targets. We introduce the extended SRM (eSRM) to examine individual differences in the variances of each component of the SRM. We explore the tendency for perceivers to see targets in different ways, Dissimilation, and the tendency for targets to be viewed in different ways, Dissensus. Furthermore, slopes are used to tap the extent to which perceivers agree with other perceivers, Sensitivity, and the extent to which target judgments depend on how perceivers generally see others, Prototypicality. Moreover, the correlation of a perceiver’s judgments with how the target is generally viewed measures Accuracy, and the correlation of judgments of a target with how the perceiver generally views others measures Amplification. Standard deviations assess how a perceiver uniquely views targets, Differentiation, and how a target is uniquely viewed by perceivers, Volatility. A study illustrates the utility of these elements to understand response styles, the accuracy of judgment, and the meaning of SRM effects. The eSRM is discussed in relation to Funder’s Realistic Accuracy Model and Biesanz’s Social Accuracy Model.

Just Be Yourself? Effects of an Authenticity Manipulation on Expressive Accuracy in First Impressions

Does the common advice to “be yourself” lead people to reveal who they truly are? And what broader personal and social implications might this advice bear? In an experimental first-impression study, we examined whether a manipulation instructing some people to be themselves (vs. no explicit instructions) led targets to have their unique personality profiles more accurately perceived, and carried personal and social benefits. Specifically, 204 targets participated in a video interview, with half the targets told to “be yourself” before the interview. Then, 373 observers watched subsets of target video interviews. Overall, the manipulation led targets to be seen with greater distinctive accuracy, especially on their more observable and evaluative self-aspects. However, the manipulation did not significantly influence impression normativity, target likability, nor target post-interview well-being. In sum, being told to be oneself elicits more accurate first-impression perceptions but may not bear immediate personal or social consequences.