Attribution Of Personality Traits Research Articles

Self-Polarization: Lionizing Those Who Agree and Demonizing Those Who Disagree

Numerous recent texts have explained societal polarization, emphasizing biased input through increased accessibility of extreme partisan information. We examined instead the possible role of biased output through biased attribution of personality traits to issue partisans. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that attributing personality traits to those who agree versus disagree with an attributor on controversial social issues might lead attributors to adopt more polarized impressions and behavioral intentions toward issue partisans, as well as to adopt more polarized attitudes toward the issue itself. These hypotheses were supported with two different social issues—abortion and kneeling during the national anthem. The results were interpreted as consistent with previous theory and research on both attributional bias and self-generated attitude polarization.

An Active Externalism about Personality

People display recognizably characteristic behavioral patterns across time and situations, with a given degree of regularity. These patterns may justify the attribution of personality traits. It is arguably the commonsense view that the proper explanation of these behavioral regularities is given by intrinsic properties of the agent’s psychology. In this paper, I argue for an externalistic view of the causal basis of personality-characteristic behaviors. According to the externalistic view, the relevant behavioral regularities are better understood as the result of a systematic interaction between features internal to the agent and environmental-situational factors. Moreover, if the premise is granted that people are typically able to exercise a certain degree of control over the environmental-situational conditions they find themselves in, the resulting picture is of active sort of externalism, as people may at times engage in selection and manipulation of environmental-situational conditions as a way of managing their own behavioral tendencies.

Are Sex Offending Allegations Viewed Differently? Exploring the Effect of Offense Type and Conviction Status on Criminal Stigmatization.

Attitudes towards individuals with sexual convictions play a major role in the formation of legislative action, including sentencing policies and registration and notification procedures. However, there is little research about stigmatization directed at those who are accused of such offenses prior to conviction. In this work we explored this gap by comparing stigmatization (e.g., a desire for social distance, and negative personality attributions) towards people accused of a range of crimes (sexual, violent, and acquisitive), and whether this was further impacted by whether or not allegations led to a conviction. We recruited 403 community-based participants for a between-subjects experimental survey. We found support for the conclusion that people accused of and convicted for sexual offenses are more heavily stigmatized than allegations related to other crime types, and especially so when allegations involved child victims. Stigmatization took the form of greater levels of support for police-initiated notifications about allegations before conviction, increased desires for social distance, and attributions of negative personality traits. We discuss the theoretical and applied implications of these findings in relation to stigma research and issues related to anonymity for those accused of sexual offenses.

Product interaction sounds influence product personality

We report an experiment designed to test the hypothesis that the sonic interaction between the type of sole used in high-heeled shoes (polypropylene vs. leather) and the type of flooring (ceramic vs. carpet) influences the attribution of personality traits to the product sound. Forty-eight women walked down a 'virtual runway' while listening to the modified interaction sounds of shoe heels contacting the floor. After being exposed to each sound, the participants filled in a questionnaire to measure product sound personality traits and the valence associated with each sound. The results revealed that different personality traits were assigned to distinct product sounds with the floor material influencing the attribution of such characteristics. These results promote awareness of the relevance of designing the environments where users interact with products to shape product sound personality.

Assessing the Big Five personality traits using real-life static facial images

There is ample evidence that morphological and social cues in a human face provide signals of human personality and behaviour. Previous studies have discovered associations between the features of artificial composite facial images and attributions of personality traits by human experts. We present new findings demonstrating the statistically significant prediction of a wider set of personality features (all the Big Five personality traits) for both men and women using real-life static facial images. Volunteer participants (N = 12,447) provided their face photographs (31,367 images) and completed a self-report measure of the Big Five traits. We trained a cascade of artificial neural networks (ANNs) on a large labelled dataset to predict self-reported Big Five scores. The highest correlations between observed and predicted personality scores were found for conscientiousness (0.360 for men and 0.335 for women) and the mean effect size was 0.243, exceeding the results obtained in prior studies using ‘selfies’. The findings strongly support the possibility of predicting multidimensional personality profiles from static facial images using ANNs trained on large labelled datasets. Future research could investigate the relative contribution of morphological features of the face and other characteristics of facial images to predicting personality.

Assessing the Big Five Personality Traits Using Real-Life Static Facial Images

There is ample evidence that a human face provides signals of human personality and behavior. Previous studies have found associations between the features of artificial composite facial images and attributions of personality traits by human experts. We present new findings demonstrating the statistically significant prediction of a wider set of personality features (all the Big Five personality traits) for both men and women using real-life static facial images. Volunteer participants (N = 12,447) provided their face photographs (31,367 images) and completed a self-report measure of the Big Five traits. We trained a cascade of artificial neural networks (ANNs) on a large labelled data-set to predict self-reported Big Five scores. The highest correlations were found for conscientiousness (.360 for men and .335 for women), exceeding the results obtained in prior studies. The findings provide strong support for the hypothesis that it is possible to predict multidimensional personality profiles from static facial images using ANNs trained on large labelled data-sets.

A Cultural Comparison of the Facial Inference Process

The purpose of this study was to compare emotion and personality trait attributions to facial expression between American and Indian samples. Data were collected using Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Participants in this study were asked to correctly identify the emotion and make inferences from pictures of three different facial expressions (scowling, frowning, and smiling) of young white females and males in six photographs. Each picture was randomly presented for 10 seconds followed by four randomized questions about the individual in the picture. The first question asked participants to identify the emotion shown from a list of six emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise). The next three questions consisted of a) condensed sets of the Big Five personality traits, b) the three Self-Assessment Manikin dimensions (SAM), ands) various social perceptions. Smiling facial expressions were hypothesized to be inferred as happy and to have the following positive inferences in both cultures: attractive, not threatening, agreeable, extroverted, and pleasing to look at, positive, conscientious, and open-minded a “Halo Effect.” Scowling facial expressions were hypothesized to have the following attributions: anger, unattractive, threatening, excitable, close-minded, not pleasing to look at, bad, negative, dominant, disagreeable, and unconscientiously a “Horns Effect.” Frowning facial expressions were hypothesized to be perceived as: sad, unattractive, good, submissive, not threatening, not pleasing to look at, positive, and calm anin-between effect. Generally, results showed that both cultures attributed the hypothesized emotional and trait attributions to the six facial expressions for all four questions, except for the Indians on the scowling female facial expression across each of the four questions.

An Experimental Study on the Attribution of Personality Traits to Bullies and Targets in a Workplace Setting.

Previous studies on the personality of bullies and targets have exclusively been based on self-report. Against this backdrop we conducted a between group experimental vignette study with three conditions, describing a bully, a target and a control, respectively. Students (n = 242) were recruited as participants and rated the target on the observer rating version of the NEO Five Factor Inventory-Revised reflecting the personality dimensions Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness to experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. A MANOVA showed an overall significant effect of the experimental conditions. On Neuroticism significant differences between all conditions were found with targets rated highest and the control lowest. In terms of Extroversion the target was rated as lower than the control and the bully. No main effect was found for Openness. On Agreeableness the bully was rated as lower than both the target and the control. The bully was rated lower on Conscientiousness than the control. The significant differences reflected medium to large effect sizes. By and large the results are in agreement with comparable self-report data. The results are discussed in terms of practical implications and directions for future research are outlined.

Does Writeing Rite Matter? Effects of Textual Errors on Personality Trait Attributions

Adult participants (n = 224), mostly undergraduates, were randomly assigned to three major conditions representing three levels of textual errors (none, few, many). They read a text requesting financial assistance, then rated the writer on the Big Five personality traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability), and on three personality domains (Social Evaluation, Intellectual Evaluation, Potency). Finally, they judged the likelihood that the writer’s request would be granted, and gave reasons for their decision. Generally, textual errors created an overall negative impression, which was mainly accounted for by Conscientiousness. However, textual errors did not affect the financial judgments, which were predicted mainly by Conscientiousness and Intellectual Evaluation. Participants who cited writing errors in their reasons for their financial judgment gave a lower rating for the likelihood that the request would be honoured. For those who were more accurate at detecting errors, textual errors created a negative impression on the Big Five traits, accounted for by Conscientiousness, and on the three personality domains, accounted for by Intellectual Evaluation. There was also a negative effect of textual errors on the financial judgment, which was mediated mainly by Intellectual Evaluation. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Facial attractiveness, weight status, and personality trait attribution: The role of attractiveness in weight stigma

The current study examined the influence of facial attractiveness and weight status on personality trait attributions (e.g., honest, friendly) among more and less facially attractive as well as thin and overweight models. Participants viewed pictures of one of four types of models (overweight/less attractive, overweight/more attractive, thin/less attractive, thin/more attractive) and rated their attractiveness (facial, body, overall) and personality on 15 traits. Facial attractiveness and weight status additively impacted personality trait ratings. In mediation analyses, the facial attractiveness condition was no longer associated with personality traits after controlling for perceived facial attractiveness in 12 personality traits. Conversely, the thin and overweight condition was no longer associated with personality traits after controlling for perceived body attractiveness in only 2 personality traits. Post hoc moderation analysis indicated that weight status differently influenced the association between body attractiveness and personality trait attribution. Findings bear implications for attractiveness bias, weight bias, and discrimination research.

Academic Colleges in the Galilee: Platforms for Inter-Group Relations

This study examines the changes that took place in intergroup relations between Jewish and Arab students in three Israeli colleges in the northern Galilee, as reflected in common traits and behaviors resulting from their shared undergraduate studies. The study investigated whether and how the joint study experience influenced learning and affected intergroup relations for 461 students at different stages of their undergraduate studies. The students answered a four-part questionnaire on cooperative behavior, personality, and demographic traits, and one open question on personal feelings in the college. Results showed that year of studies was a significant factor in creating social ties with other groups, particularly during the third year when students from all groups were more willing to collaborate on study-based activities. A significant effect of object of evaluation (the group evaluated) was found, but not for most other variables and respondents. We conclude that the changes in social relationships are mainly functional. However, change in the attribution of personality traits may be a long-term process and may not be achievable under one academic roof. Possibly this difficulty stems from the Jewish-Arab conflict that hovers in the background and hinders any significant change in perception of character traits.

Attractive Agents Are More Persuasive

Advances in more ubiquitous human–computer interface technologies have resulted in the increased use of virtual agents, thus highlighting the need to understand the impact these artificial entities have on the human user in terms of how the user both perceives and behaves toward these characters. We report the results of an experiment based on the Desert Survival task, where the effect of agent attractiveness on persuasion was tested. The results suggest that the attractive agent was significantly more persuasive in changing the participant's opinion than was the unattractive agent. Furthermore, greater behavioral change was observed when the participant interacted with the attractive agent, in terms of persuasiveness, including the attribution of more positive personality traits toward this agent (the attractiveness stereotype). These findings provide further evidence of the powerful influence of the agent's physical appearance on the human user in an interaction-based context. We conclude by pointing toward future research and potential within the area.

Instrument timbre and trait attribution.

An instrument's timbre is one of the determining factors in the decision to play it. Previous studies have shown gender stereotypes of certain instruments, and personality differences among musicians playing specific instruments. The present study was conducted with 2 aims: first, to examine whether nonmusicians hold the same stereotypes of instrumentalists as musicians; second, to examine whether hearing a melody in different instrumental timbres influences trait attribution to the assumed performers. To examine the first question, 26 nonmusicians and 22 musicians (control groups) rated flautists, trumpet players, and violinists on a list of 10 personality traits. Nonmusicians rated trumpet players as less introverted and sensitive than flautists and violinists. Musicians rated trumpet players as tougher than flautists and violinists, and violinists were rated as more egocentric than trumpet players or flautists. In the second phase, 80 participants (experimental groups) rated fictional musicians after hearing the same melody played in the 3 timbres, presented in different orders. Results show that trumpet timbre led to significantly different attributions from flute or violin. Trumpet players were generally rated more extraverted, friendly, tough, and assertive, and less introverted, anxious, sensitive, and shy. Finally, comparisons between control and experimental groups showed significant differences in ratings. Results demonstrate the strong effect of hearing instruments' timbre on trait attribution. However, these effects were different for the different instruments. Whereas nonmusicians do not hold the same stereotypes of instrumentalists as musicians, hearing a melody in the 3 different timbres led to ratings in the direction of gender stereotypes.Keywords: timbre, personality, musical instrument, nonmusiciansTimbre is the attribute of sound that allows the perceptual distinction between different instruments playing the same pitch at the same loudness level. Studies on timbre perception have mostly concentrated on the physical parameters of sound, such as the number and intensity of overtones, or attack and decay, for the recognition of musical instruments (Handel & Erickson, 2004; Iverson, 1995; Iverson & Krumhansl, 1993; Lakatos, 2000; Schel- lenberg, Iverson, & McKinnon, 1999). The present study sought to examine another effect of timbre: its association with personality traits. Previous studies have shown that voice timbre influences likability ratings and is related to personality traits (Spasova, 2011; Weiss & Burkhardt, 2010). The aim of the study was to examine a similar effect with musical instruments. Would the same melody, played in different instrument timbres, influence the attribution of personality traits to the performing musicians in nonmusicians?Sensitivity to timbre is evident from infancy, and children as young as 2 months are able to distinguish between various instru- ments (McDonald & Simons, 1989; Trehub, Endman, & Thorpe, 1990). As children grow older, the sound and feel of different instruments become an important aspect in determining their at- traction to specific musical instruments, and to some degree pre- dicts future involvement with the same instrument (Abeles, 2009; Conway, 2000; Cutietta & Mercadoocasio, 2003; Delzell & Lep- pla, 1992; Fortney, Boyle, & DeCarbo, 1993; Gordon, 1991).The connotations evoked by different instruments' sound qual- ities lead to the endowing of personality traits to the instrument, or the person playing it (Kemp, 1996). The association between an instrument's sound and gender is one important aspect of this phenomenon. Certain instruments, such as drums, bass, tuba, sax- ophone, trumpet, or guitar, are considered more masculine, while others, such as harp, flute, violin, and piano, are seen as more feminine (Abeles, 2009; Cramer, Million, & Perrault, 2002; Gris- wold & Chroback, 1981; S. …

Do apes read minds?: toward a new folk psychology

An argument that as folk psychologists humans (and perhaps other animals) don't so much read minds as see one another as persons with traits, emotions, and social relations. By adulthood, most of us have become experts in human behavior, able to make sense of the myriad behaviors we find in environments ranging from the family home to the local mall and beyond. In philosophy of mind, our understanding of others has been largely explained in terms of knowing others' beliefs and desires; describing others' behavior in these terms is the core of what is known as folk psychology. In Do Apes Read Minds? Kristin Andrews challenges this view of folk psychology, arguing that we don't consider others' beliefs and desires when predicting most quotidian behavior, and that our explanations in these terms are often inaccurate or unhelpful. Rather than mindreading, or understanding others as receptacles for propositional attitudes, Andrews claims that folk psychologists see others first as whole persons with traits, emotions, and social relations. Drawing on research in developmental psychology, social psychology, and animal cognition, Andrews argues for a pluralistic folk psychology that employs different kinds of practices (including prediction, explanation, and justification) and different kinds of cognitive tools (including personality trait attribution, stereotype activation, inductive reasoning about past behavior, and generalization from self) that are involved in our folk psychological practices. According to this understanding of folk psychology-which does not require the sophisticated cognitive machinery of second-order metacognition associated with having a theory of mind-animals (including the other great apes) may be folk psychologists, too.

First impressions: Gait cues drive reliable trait judgements

Personality trait attribution can underpin important social decisions and yet requires little effort; even a brief exposure to a photograph can generate lasting impressions. Body movement is a channel readily available to observers and allows judgements to be made when facial and body appearances are less visible; e.g., from great distances. Across three studies, we assessed the reliability of trait judgements of point-light walkers and identified motion-related visual cues driving observers’ judgements. The findings confirm that observers make reliable, albeit inaccurate, trait judgements, and these were linked to a small number of motion components derived from a Principal Component Analysis of the motion data. Parametric manipulation of the motion components linearly affected trait ratings, providing strong evidence that the visual cues captured by these components drive observers’ trait judgements. Subsequent analyses suggest that reliability of trait ratings was driven by impressions of emotion, attractiveness and masculinity.

The influence of male voice pitch on women's perceptions of relationship investment

The degree to which men invest financial resources, time, and effort into pursuing and maintaining relationships may be perceived by women as a cue to that man's suitability as father and a mate. Women's mate preferences are also influenced by cues to underlying heritable mate quality, such as an attractive, masculine voice. Relatively more masculine men may be able to provide heritable benefits to offspring, but masculinity is associated with decreased investment in relationships and offspring. Both individual differences in women's preferences for masculine voices and women's attributions of negative personality traits to masculine men suggests that women may be somewhat aware of the negative associations between men's physical masculinity and relationship/parental investment. In the current study, we found that in general, women per- ceived feminized men's voices as significantly more likely to invest time and effort, and be finan- cially generous with romantic partners. We also found that women's preferences for masculine voice pitch in a long-term, but not short-term relationship context, were positively related to per- ceptions of male financial generosity and investment of time and effort in romantic relationships. These perceptions may represent an adaptive heuristic that aids women in selecting long-term mates that are likely to invest in relationships and offspring.

Evaluation of aesthetics and attribution of personality traits before and after orthognathic surgery

Purpose: Processing and interpreting the face is generally very important in daily life. Interpretation and attribution of traits is significant, particularly when assessing persons who do not conform to social norms. In addition to the aesthetic aspect, attributions made on the basis of “implicit personality theories” are worthy of mention.

Dissociation between emotion and personality judgments: Convergent evidence from functional neuroimaging

Cognitive neuroscientists widely agree on the importance of providing convergent evidence from neuroimaging and lesion studies to establish structure–function relationships. However, such convergent evidence is, in practice, rarely provided. A previous lesion study found a striking double dissociation between two superficially similar social judgment processes, emotion recognition and personality attribution, based on the same body movement stimuli (point-light walkers). Damage to left frontal opercular (LFO) cortices was associated with impairments in personality trait attribution, whereas damage to right postcentral/supramarginal cortices was associated with impairments in emotional state attribution. Here, we present convergent evidence from fMRI in support of this double dissociation, with regions of interest (ROIs) defined by the regions of maximal lesion overlap from the previous study. Subjects learned four emotion words and four trait words, then watched a series of short point-light walker body movement stimuli. After each stimulus, subjects saw either an emotion word or a trait word and rated how well the word described the stimulus. The LFO ROI exhibited greater activity during personality judgments than during emotion judgments. In contrast, the right postcentral/supramarginal ROI exhibited greater activity during emotion judgments than during personality judgments. Follow-up experiments ruled out the possibility that the LFO activation difference was due to word frequency differences. Additionally, we found greater activity in a region of the medial prefrontal cortex previously associated with “theory of mind” tasks when subjects made personality, as compared to emotion judgments.

The Nature of Cause, the Role of Antecedent Conditions in Children's Attribution, and Emotional Behavior

The idea proposed by Dweck, Chiu, and Hong is both elegant and simple: They maintain that individual differences in implicit theories about the world affect people's judgments and reactions. It also should affect their emotional reactions (Lewis, 1992; Weiner, 1986). Dweck et al.'s claim fits well into Steven Pepper's (1942) World Hypotheses, the idea that certain overarching beliefs are used to explain more specific theories. In the developmental and personality literature, such notable theorists as Hayne Reese, Willis Overton, Richard Lerner, and Kenneth Gergen, among others, have maintained that in order to understand both experimental methodology and the interpretation of empirical findings, it is necessary to understand the world view from which they come. I can find no objection to that claim. The idea that world view may be equally applicable to how individuals operate in their worlds is parsimonious with this belief. In more specific terms, the problem that Dweck et al. set out to address is one that has influenced social psychology and personality theorists for some time. A review of the attributional theories is unnecessary because any interested reader can readily come upon them. The distinction that Dweck et al. draws-incremental versus entity world views account for a wide and diverse set of judgments and reactionsadds another dimension to attribution theory. They present convincing evidence for the association between two different types of attributions and between helpless versus mastery-oriented responses to personal setbacks as well as evidence on the retribution versus education perspective. I first briefly consider methodological issues. My concern is more on the issue of causality, and this receives most of my attention. Dweck et al. concede that individuals do not have one attribution or another, but their attributions are situationally determined. Thus, a subject might have incremental view in one context with entity view for another. Now this is interesting problem. Is it possible that incremental versus entity view for a particular domain is determined by the way attributions are measured? Is it possible, for example, that a subject might have both entity and incremental view in the same domain if we measured them in some other way? The authors' argument that there are, within domains, stable individual characteristics is not yet convincing. But of a bit more concern, especially from a logical point of view, is the fact that Dweck et al. appear to be arguing that there is a trait-like attribution in people, even in people who do not have a trait-like attribution. Is it not true that a person who has incremental view for a particular domain could be said to have a trait-like attribution? They attempt to get around this problem when they write that these findings suggest that it is more appropriate to view implicit theories and their allied judgment and reaction patterns as relatively stable but malleable personality qualities, rather than as fixed dispositions. This statement suggests-although under some protestation-that Dweck et al., in fact, are entity theorists even though the entity that they are talking about is the likelihood of being incremental theorist. This distinction between individual's attribution and the consistency of that attribution needs resolution, and I hope that this problem can be dealt with. My major concern, however, is with a more general problem: the issue of whether earlier behaviors affect later ones. Specifically, I wish to attend to the problem of causality. In several parts of the target article, Dweck et al. make clear that the attributional style of individuals determines their judgments and reactions. For example, Dweck et al. say that an entity theory of personality and moral characterfosters trait judgments and trait attributions, whereas incremental theory promotes a focus on more specific mediational processes. Moreover, they state that these studies suggest that not only does entity versus incremental theory of character predict a greater tendency to make trait judgments or attributions, it also predicts a preference for retribution versus education or remediation [italics added]. These statements reflect causal connections between the attribution and subsequent judgments and reactions. As far as I can determine, the attributional literature in general makes this same causal relationship. This being so, this criticism from Dweck et al. applies equally well to all of us interested in attributions. To what degree can we say that

Physical Appearance and Leadership: Exploring The Role of Appearance‐Based Attribution in Leader Emergence

A study was performed to investigate the role of attribution processes in leader emergence. Photographs of the male and female leaders and nonleaders in a high school senior class were found to elicit different and appropriate attributions of leadership status and related personality traits from naive observers. In addition, separate groups of subjects rated the leaders as more attractive and more maturefaced than the nonleaders. These findings were taken as indicative of the potential importance of schema‐based attributions in leader emergence and of the role of appearance cues in the attribution process. The findings have implications for leadership theory, for practical efforts to enhance leader effectiveness, and for research on the identification of personality traits from appearance.