Asymmetric Self-Other Similarity Judgments Depend on Priming of Self-Knowledge

Abstract

The asymmetry effect in self-other similarity judgments refers to a tendency for similarity judgments to be higher when self is used as a reference point in the comparison (“How similar is (Person X) to you?” questions) than when the self is used as a subject (“How similar are you to (Person X)?” questions). Two experiments were conducted to examine the impact of priming of self-knowledge on the asymmetry effect. As predicted from the Tversky's (1977) contrast model, there was a significant interaction between priming of self-knowledge and the direction of the comparison. Higher similarity judgments for “How similar is (Person X) to you?” questions as compared to “How similar are you to (Person X)?” questions were found in the Self-Primed condition but not in the Control condition or in the Other-Primed condition. Theoretical implications in terms of the organization of self-knowledge in memory and in terms of general processes underlying asymmetric similarity judgments are discussed.