Blind at First Sight: The Role of Distinctively Accurate and Positive First Impressions in Romantic Interest

Do People Know How Their Romantic Partner Views Their Emotions? Evidence for Emotion Meta-Accuray and Links with Momentary Romantic Relationship Quality

Do people know how their romantic partner (i.e., the perceiver) views the self's (i.e., the metaperceiver's) emotions, displaying emotion meta-accuracy? Is it relevant to relationship quality? Using a sample of romantic couples (N_couples = 189), we found evidence for two types of emotion meta-accuracy across three different interactions: (a) normative emotion meta-accuracy, knowing perceivers' impressions of metaperceivers' emotions that are in line with how the average person may feel, and (b) distinctive emotion meta-accuracy, knowing perceivers' unique impression of metaperceivers' emotions. Furthermore, across interactions, normative emotion meta-accuracy was positively related to momentary relationship quality for metaperceivers and perceivers and this link was especially strong in the conflict interaction. Distinctive emotion meta-accuracy was negatively related to momentary relationship quality across interactions for perceivers and in the conflict interaction for metaperceivers. Overall, it may be adaptive for metaperceivers to accurately infer perceivers' normative impressions and to remain blissfully unaware of their unique impressions.

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.

Is what is beautiful good and still more accurately understood? A replication and extension of Lorenzo et al. (2010)

Is what is beautiful good and more accurately understood? Lorenzo et al. (2010) explored this question and found that more attractive targets (as per consensus) were judged more positively and accurately. Perceivers’ specific (idiosyncratic) ratings of targets’ attractiveness were also related to more positive and accurate impressions, but the latter was only true for highly consensually attractive targets. With a larger sample ( N = 547), employing a round-robin study design, we aimed to replicate and extend these findings by (1) using a more reliable accuracy criterion, (2) using a direct measure of positive personality impressions, and (3) exploring attention as a potential mechanism of these links. We found that targets’ consensual attractiveness was not significantly related to the positivity or the accuracy of impressions. Replicating the original findings, idiosyncratic attractiveness was related to more positive impressions. The association between idiosyncratic attractiveness and accuracy was again dependent on consensual attractiveness, but here, idiosyncratic attractiveness was associated with lower accuracy for less consensually attractive targets. Perceivers’ attention helped explain these associations. These results partially replicate the original findings while also providing new insight: What is beautiful to the beholder is good but is less accurately understood if the target is consensually less attractive.

Roles of P300 and Late Positive Potential in Initial Romantic Attraction

Initial romantic attraction (IRA) refers to a series of positive reactions to potential romantic partners at the initial encounter; it evolved to promote mate selection, allowing individuals to focus their mating efforts on their preferred potential mates. After decades of effort, we now have a deeper understanding of the evolutionary value and dominant factors of IRA; however, little is known regarding the brain mechanisms related to its generation and evaluation. In this study, we combined classic event-related potential analysis with dipole-source analysis to examine electroencephalogram (EEG) signals generated while participants assessed their romantic interest in potential partners. The EEG signals were categorized into IRA-engendered and unengendered conditions based on behavioral indicators. We found that the faces elicited multiple late positivities, including P300 over the occipital-parietal regions and late positive potentials (LPPs) over the anterior regions. When compared to faces that did not engender IRA, faces that did engender IRA elicited (1) enhanced P300 over the parietal regions and heightened neural activity in the insula and cingulate cortex and (2) larger LPPs over the anterior regions and heightened neural activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, frontal eye field, visual cortex, and insula. These results suggest IRA is generated and evaluated by an extensive brain network involved in emotion processing, attention control, and social evaluations. Furthermore, these findings indicate that P300 and LPP may represent different cognitive processes during IRA.

In person, online, and up close: the cross‐contextual consistency of expressive accuracy

People vary widely in their expressive accuracy, the tendency to be viewed in line with one’s unique traits. It is unclear, however, whether expressive accuracy is a stable individual difference that transcends social contexts or a more piecemeal, context‐specific characteristic. The current research therefore examined the consistency of expressive accuracy across three social contexts: face‐to‐face initial interactions, close relationships, and social media. There was clear evidence for cross‐contextual consistency, such that expressive accuracy in face‐to‐face first impressions, based on brief round‐robin interactions, was associated with expressive accuracy with close others (Sample 1; Ntargets = 514; Ndyads = 1656) and based on Facebook profiles (Samples 2 and 3: Ntargets = 126–132; Ndyads = 1170–1476). This was found on average across traits and for high and low observability traits. Further, unique predictors emerged for different types of expressive accuracy, with psychological adjustment and conscientiousness most consistently linked to overall expressive accuracy, extraversion most consistently linked to high observability expressive accuracy, and neuroticism most consistently linked to low observability expressive accuracy. In sum, expressive accuracy appears to emerge robustly and consistently across contexts, although its predictors may differ depending on the type of trait.