Impression Formation and Impression Management: Motives, Traits, and Likeability Inferred from Self-Promoting and Self-Deprecating Behavior

Abstract

Two scenario studies examined the effects of a person's statement about own abilities and the possibility that the statement could be publicly verified by a subsequent test. Inferences of competence, likeability, and self-presentational motives were assessed. As predicted, a low-ability claim was perceived as more strongly driven by self-presentational motives (being modest or creating a defence against failure) when the ability was going to be tested than when it was not; a high-ability claim was perceived as more strongly driven by self-presentation (impressing others and bragging) when the claim could not be verified. These inferences of motives appeared to mediate trait inferences (judgments of the actor's true competence). In addition, cognitive load affected likeability ratings, but not trait inferences, suggesting that traits were inferred with greater efficiency and that likeability ratings were derived indirectly from inferences of traits and motives. The results illustrate the interplay between trait inferences and lay theories of self-presentational behavior, as well as the relationships between inferences of motives, traits, and likeability.