Chapter 1 of Interpersonal Perception: The Foundation of Social Relationships . See especially pages 7-12.
Perhaps the lowest level of acquaintance is what has been called
zero
acquaintance. It is the condition in which a perceiver observes a target,
but the perceiver does not interact with the target. Zero acquaintance
provides a reasonable baseline to evaluate the effect of acquaintance on
person perception. The First Impressions page reports on studies at
zero acquaintance. Research has also focused on what is called thin slices, which has nothing to do with pizza. The idea of a thin slice is that a perceiver views a little bit of the target's behavior. This slice research was pioneered by the late Nalani Ambady. Interactions can be structured in one of two ways. Interactions are
either one-on-one versus group and in a controlled versus uncontrolled
setting. Interactions with others in the laboratory may be brief, lasting
a few minutes to a few hours. However, most studies of interpersonal perception
take place in relatively uncontrolled settings: classrooms and residential
settings. Some studies of interpersonal perception vary on how long the
perceivers have known the target. Extroversion: sociable, energetic,
active
In some formulations of the Big Five (see especially
the NEO of Costa and McCrae), the last factor is called Openness.
Although the Big Five provides a close approximation of personality in
non-Western cultures, there is evidence that additional factors are needed.
(To learn more
about the Big Five).
In some formulations of the Big Five (i.e., the NEO of Costa and McCrae), the last factor is called Openness to Experience.
As an example of the Big Five, how would you rate Homer
Simpson? On a 1 to 10 scale, here are my ratings:
Extroversion: 9 See Figure 1.1 on page 11 of my 2020 book for how Homer is actually rated.
Alternatively, there is what might be called the Big Two. There are many formulations of two-factor theories of personality, but the best know (especially in Canada!) is the Wiggins Circumplex. The two factors are Friendly-Hostile and Dominant-Submissive.
I have no strong commitment to the
Big Two or Big Five as the way to organize personality. I use them
because they provide a way for sorting personality traits into a manageable
number of categories.
Among applied psychologists and lay people, the Myers-Briggs scale
is very popular. Most personality psychologists believe that this scale is highly scientifically problematic. Here is how the Myers-Briggs lines up in terms of
the Big Five.
Extroversion: Extroversion vs. Introversion
Kenny, D. A., & Kenny, D. T. (2006). The personalities of The Simpsons. In A. Brown (Ed.), D’oh! The psychology of the Simpsons (pp. 187-200). Dallas TX: BenBella Books.
Norman, W. T. (1963). Toward an adequate taxonomy of personality attributes: Replicated factor structure in peer nomination personality ratings. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 574-583.
Wiggins, J. S. (1979). A psychological taxonomy of trait-descriptive terms: The interpersonal domain. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 395–412.
Acquaintance has both quantitative and qualitative
aspects. Spending more time with a person reflects the quantitative
aspect whereas feeling close to someone reflects the qualitative aspect.
The two aspects are highly correlated, but we know of instances in which
we spend a great deal of time with someone yet we do not feel acquainted.
In my research, I have primarily studied quantitative acquaintance.
Most research in interpersonal perception examines the perception
of personality as opposed to the judgments that are made of moods, opinions,
and beliefs, or the thoughts that others are having. When individuals are
asked to describe others, a bulk of their description can be viewed as
a trait judgments. So most studies of interpersonal perception focus on
trait ratings: For example, how intelligent, on a seven-point scale, is
Lady Gaga?
And Big Two
The Big Five is a convenient way for organizing personality
traits. The Big Five factors with examples are:
Agreeableness: warm, nice, pleasant
Conscientiousness: helpful, hard-working,
obedient
Emotional Stability: stable, relaxed,
independent
Culture: intelligent, imaginative,
polished
Agreeableness: 7
Conscientiousness: 2
Emotional Stability: 7
Culture: intelligent, -55 (OK,
1)
Agreeableness: Feeling vs. Thinking
Conscientiousness: Judging vs.
Perceiving
Emotional Stability: no scale
Culture: Sensing vs. Intuition
Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1995). Domains and facets: Hierarchical personality assessment using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 64, 21–50.
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