| Abstrakt: |
The present study was designed to extend the findings of Stotland, Zander, and Natsoulas regarding the generalization of interpersonal similarity. Twenty male and 20 female undergraduates rated themselves on four evaluative, four potency, and four activity scales. They then rated six photographs depicting persons similar or dissimilar to themselves in age, sex, and occupation. Results using Osgood's distance measure (D), as an index of perceived similarity, indicated that, for the evaluative dimension only, females perceived greater similarity to similar than to dissimilar others, males showed a nonsignificant trend in the opposite direction, and the male and female trends differed significantly from each other. However, a component analysis (Cronbach) showed that the evaluative D score results were largely due to differences in favorability of attitude. This finding, together with the lack of significant differences for the potency and activity dimensions, indicates that, with favorability controlled, initial similarity had no effect on subsequent perceived similarity. A reconsideration of the Stotland et al. procedures suggested that initial similarity and favorability may have been confounded in their study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
