| Popis: |
When we are first introduced to a new person, we use what little information we are offered about them to draw broader inferences. Without knowledge of someone’s physical appearance, would the inferences we make extend to their looks? Across four studies, we examine how physical traits may be inferred from information about an individual’s personality and behavior conveyed through a narrative. In Study 1, participants learned about a character in a narrative whose moral behavior varied between conditions. Participants’ mental representations of the character, visually estimated using reverse correlation image classification, were reflective of the character’s personality traits evinced in the story. Study 2 sought to replicate and extend these findings by examining how previously held stereotypes might also act as cues to appearance when no physical information is presented. The results of Study 2 replicate some of the personality trait effects of Study 1, but show no evidence of an effect on inferred race. Study 3 examines whether group-status threat would exacerbate the use of stereotypical information to draw inferences of physical appearance; here we find that threatened participants imagine a more stereotypical-looking individual than do unthreatened participants. Study 4 extends the results of Study 3 to examine whether threat could influence the memory of what a previously seen person looks like. The results of Study 4 show no effect of threat on reconstruction of physical appearance. This research suggests that in the absence of physical information about an individual, we may use what we know of their personality and behavior to form a mental image of them; these effects may also be exacerbated when our sense of self is threatened. |
