Personality Impressions Research Articles

Exploring the role of packaging in the formation of brand images: a mixed methods investigation of consumer perspectives

Purpose This study aims to explore consumers’ perspectives on how packaging plays a role in their consumption experience and how it contributes to the formation of brand images. By adopting a consumer’s perspective, the authors identify the criteria that consumers apply to evaluate packaging and reveal how packaging relates to consumers’ overall brand associations. Design/methodology/approach Through a sequential exploratory mixed methods design, the authors explore brand packaging of chocolate bars as emotionally laden, well-known fast-moving consumer goods. First, the authors conduct a qualitative focus group study to explore how consumers perceive package design, and how it relates to their brand impressions. Second, the authors test the constructs and attributes with an independent sample through a quantitative survey. Findings The qualitative findings reveal the different roles of packaging and highlight how packaging provides value for consumer experiences not only at the point-of-sale but also during later consumption. More specifically, the authors identify 12 main criteria that consumers use to evaluate packaging. The authors unwrap how packaging is embedded in consumers’ brand image networks by mapping out its connections to other brand associations pertaining to product attributes, the brand itself and personality impressions. The quantitative findings confirm the importance of practical and symbolic packaging criteria and the brand image comparisons. Originality/value Taking a consumer’s perspective, this study contributes to a more holistic understanding of how packaging supports brand building as we reveal the various ways in which packaging relates to consumers’ overall brand image associations. This study further directs attention to the roles that consumers themselves assign to packaging and how they evaluate packaging based on its practical, symbolic and social value.

Being facially expressive is socially advantageous

Individuals vary in how they move their faces in everyday social interactions. In a first large-scale study, we measured variation in dynamic facial behaviour during social interaction and examined dyadic outcomes and impression formation. In Study 1, we recorded semi-structured video calls with 52 participants interacting with a confederate across various everyday contexts. Video clips were rated by 176 independent participants. In Study 2, we examined video calls of 1315 participants engaging in unstructured video-call interactions. Facial expressivity indices were extracted using automated Facial Action Coding Scheme analysis and measures of personality and partner impressions were obtained by self-report. Facial expressivity varied considerably across participants, but little across contexts, social partners or time. In Study 1, more facially expressive participants were more well-liked, agreeable, and successful at negotiating (if also more agreeable). Participants who were more facially competent, readable, and perceived as readable were also more well-liked. In Study 2, we replicated the findings that facial expressivity was associated with agreeableness and liking by their social partner, and additionally found it to be associated with extraversion and neuroticism. Findings suggest that facial behaviour is a stable individual difference that proffers social advantages, pointing towards an affiliative, adaptive function.

Personality perception in synthetic versus natural speech: The effects of voice quality and prosody

Synthetic speech technology, now approaching human-like naturalness due to advancements in deep learning, has turned to focusing on personality or persona design as a common practice in the industry. The present study aimed to identify speech characteristics affecting personality impressions in synthetic and natural speech. Thirty native Korean speakers participated in a personality rating experiment in which they evaluated natural Korean sentences and their synthetic counterparts in terms of the Big-Five personality model. Acoustic analyses were performed to examine voice quality and prosody, including Intonational Phrase (IP) boundary tones. The results revealed that scores of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability increased overall when the voices contained greater aperiodicity in the harmonics (i.e., were likely breathier) and were weaker in energy. The results also demonstrated that different prosodic features affected personality perception in synthetic and natural speech; synthetic speech with a wider F0 range received higher scores on extroversion, openness, and emotional stability. In contrast, the effect of IP boundary tones was most frequently found for female natural speech, which contained a wider range of tones, including multitonals (e.g., LHL%). Our findings suggest that intonation is one of the key factors which can be adjusted to generate synthetic speech with various personalities.

Small Sample Size and Group Homogeneity: A Crucial Ingredient to Inter-Group Bias.

Applying a recently developed framework for the study of sample-based person impressions to the level of group impressions resulted in convergent evidence for a highly robust judgment process. How stimulus traits mapped on the resulting group impressions was subject to two distinct moderators, diagnosticity of traits, and the amplifying impact of early sample truncation. Three indices of diagnosticity-negative valence, extremity, and distance to other traits in a density framework-determined participants' decision to truncate trait sampling early and hence the final group judgments. When trait samples were negative and extreme and when the distance between high-density traits was small, early truncation of the trait samples fostered high group homogeneity and polarized impressions. Granting that mental representations of in-groups and out-groups rely on systematically different samples, our sampling approach can account for various inter-group biases: out-group homogeneity, out-group polarization and (because negative traits are more diagnostic) out-group derogation.

Does Mud Really Stick? No Evidence for Continued Influence of Misinformation on Newly Formed Person Impressions

Despite robust evidence that misinformation continues to influence event-related reasoning after a clear retraction, evidence for the continued influence of misinformation on person impressions is mixed. Across four experiments, we investigated the impact of person-related misinformation and its correction on dynamic (moment-to-moment) impression formation. Participants formed an impression of a protagonist, “John”, based on a series of behaviour descriptions, including misinformation that was later retracted. Person impressions were recorded after the presentation of each behaviour description. As predicted, we found a strong effect of information valence on person impressions: negative misinformation had a greater impact on person impressions than positive misinformation (Experiments 1 and 2). Furthermore, in each experiment participants fully discounted the misinformation once retracted, regardless of whether the misinformation was negative or positive. This was true even when the other behaviour descriptions were congruent with (Experiment 2) or causally related to the retracted misinformation (Experiments 3 and 4). To test for generalisation, Experiment 4 used a different misinformation statement; it again showed no evidence for the continued influence of retracted misinformation on person impressions. Our findings indicate that person-related misinformation can be effectively discounted following a clear retraction.

Testing perceivers’ accuracy and accuracy awareness when forming personality impressions from faces

People spontaneously judge others’ personality based on their facial appearance and these impressions guide many important decisions. Although the consequences of personality impressions are well documented, studies on the accuracy of personality impressions have yielded mixed results. Moreover, relatively little is known about people’s accuracy awareness (i.e., whether they are aware of their judgment accuracy). Even if accuracy is generally low, awareness of accuracy would allow people to rely on their impressions in the right situations. In two studies (one preregistered), we estimated perceivers’ accuracy and accuracy awareness when forming personality impressions based on facial photographs. Our studies have three crucial advantages as compared to previous studies (a) by incentivizing accuracy and accuracy awareness, (b) by relying on substantially larger samples of raters ( n Study 1 = 223, n Study 2 = 423) and targets ( k Study 1 = 140, k Study 2 = 1,260 unique pairs with 280 unique targets), and (c) by conducting Bayesian analyses to also quantify evidence for the null hypothesis. Our findings suggest that face-based personality impressions are not accurate, that perceivers lack insight into their (in)accuracy, and that most people overestimate their accuracy.

Impressions from Faces, Personality Judgment, and Relevant Factors

The phrase "facial impression" describes how someone's first impression of another person's personality, state of mind, attitude, and other traits are dependent on how others express themselves facially. One's facial impression is mostly determined by the visual cues of one's emotions, such as the eyes, grin, and other facial features. Personality judgment is the in-depth assessment of a person's personality using indications from their behavior and social interactions, as well as visual cues from their face and other relevant aspects. Personality evaluation requires more complex cognitive and information processing that carefully considers all other non-facial variables in addition to analyzing face impressions. The relationship between facial impressions and personality evaluations is reciprocal. There is evidence that a person's personality qualities may be inferred from their facial features, however the precision of this association varies depending on the context. Previous research also discovered that face characteristics have an impact on people's social cognition and conduct. Therefore, face characteristics are crucial in creating initial impressions and assessing personality. People routinely assess the emotions and personality traits of others by analyzing their facial expressions, which is an essential part of human social interaction. This review can provide some guidance to prevention and intervention programs that aim to reduce social bias and discrimination.

Acoustic correlates of perceived personality from Korean utterances in a formal communicative setting.

The aim of the present study was to find acoustic correlates of perceived personality from the speech produced in a formal communicative setting-that of Korean customer service employees in particular. This work extended previous research on voice personality impressions to a different sociocultural and linguistic context in which speakers are expected to speak politely in a formal register. To use naturally produced speech rather than read speech, we devised a new method that successfully elicited spontaneous speech from speakers who were role-playing as customer service employees, while controlling for the words and sentence structures they used. We then examined a wide range of acoustic properties in the utterances, including voice quality and global acoustic and segmental properties using Principal Component Analysis. Subjects of the personality rating task listened to the utterances and rated perceived personality in terms of the Big-Five personality traits. While replicating some previous findings, we discovered several acoustic variables that exclusively accounted for the personality judgments of female speakers; a more modal voice quality increased perceived conscientiousness and neuroticism, and less dispersed formants reflecting a larger body size increased the perceived levels of extraversion and openness. These biases in personality perception likely reflect gender and occupation-related stereotypes that exist in South Korea. Our findings can also serve as a basis for developing and evaluating synthetic speech for Voice Assistant applications in future studies.

Analysis of the Relationship among Recruitment Evaluations and Personality Impressions using Video Interviews

Analysis of the Relationship among Recruitment Evaluations and Personality Impressions using Video Interviews

Judgements of a customer service agent's personality based on acoustic properties of their speech

People frequently interact with customer service agents, whether they are a real person or an AI, and quickly form personality impressions from it. The present study aimed to investigate how acoustic characteristics of speech of human agents affect their personality impressions. To this end, spontaneous speech was elicited from 30 native Korean speakers while they played a role of an agent assisting a customer on the phone. We then conducted a personality rating experiment in which 30 native speakers of Korean rated the perceived degree of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness (the “Big Five” personality traits) on the recordings on a 5-point scale. Various acoustic features were extracted from the stimuli, which were converted into two principal components using a Principal Component Analysis. The results of correlation analyses demonstrated that some of the acoustic variables such as measures of voice quality (H1-H2, Harmonic-to-Noise Ratio), the mean f0, and articulation rate were significantly correlated with the personality ratings, with the acoustic correlates different for male and female speakers. This helps discover characteristics of a more likable voice and speaking style for a customer service agent and has important implications for generating more likable synthetic speech for similar services.

Impressions of self-esteem influence impressions of close others and predictions for hypothetical events

ABSTRACT Individuals with low self-esteem (LSE) may be devalued, whereas individuals with high self-esteem (HSE) are typically praised in Western society. People readily infer traits based on impressions of self-esteem. Across two studies, we address whether impressions of a hypothetical target person’s self-esteem influence judgments beyond the target’s personality. Results revealed that the target’s self-esteem influenced impressions of personality not only of the target, but of their mother and best friend. Moreover, when the target was portrayed as having LSE compared to HSE, participants made more pessimistic estimates of imagined future experiences with the target, even when the controllability of events varied. Overall, impressions of a target’s self-esteem spread beyond the target, influencing perceptions of their close associates and future events.

A replication study of “Forming impression of personality” (Asch, 1946)

A replication study of “Forming impression of personality” (Asch, 1946)

Does accuracy matter? A review of the consequences of accurate personality impressions as a function of context and content

AbstractWhat are the implications of seeing others as they see themselves? That is, does viewing others accurately have consequences, positive or negative, to relationship evaluations (e.g., liking)? To address this, the current article provides a comprehensive review of the personality accuracy literature and discusses related work from the self‐verification and empathic accuracy domains. We specifically explore whether the consequences of accurate perceptions could be influenced by two key categories of moderators: the context of the impression (e.g., high vs. low stakes) and content of the impression (e.g., desirability of traits). Lastly, we discuss future directions to aid our understanding of this question.

Faster responders are perceived as more extraverted.

Personality inferences are fundamental to human social interactions and have far-reaching effects on various social decisions. Fourteen experiments (13 preregistered; total N = 5,160; using audio, video, and text stimuli) involving British, U.S. American, Singaporean, and Australian participants show that people responding to a question immediately (vs. after a slight pause) are seen as more extraverted. This is because response delays are believed to signal nervousness and passivity, and hence introversion. This effect was consistently observed across a range of scenarios from everyday small talk to mock job interviews and for various types of response formats, including face-to-face, phone, and online conversations. We found that the effect was not influenced by apparent relationship closeness between the responder and questioner but that it was influenced by whether observers believed that the responder was mentally occupied during the interaction. Importantly, our results also suggest that the effect of response timing on extraversion perceptions influences hiring decisions-job applicants are more likely to be hired by mock employers for job types congruent with their level of extraversion as exuded from their response timing. Finally, we found that observers typically expect that introverted individuals would pause for longer before responding to questions, as compared to extraverted individuals. Theoretical implications for the understanding of personality impression formation and response timing and practical implications for hiring and other interpersonal situations are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Need for Power, Personality Traits, and Organizational Work-Related Behaviors among Employees

An individual’s desire to influence others is known as the need for power (nPower). In the available literature, the construct of the need for power has been conceptualized as two distinct desires for powers i.e., personalized and socialized. The personalized nPower defines as the desire of an individual to influence others for one’s ends, whereas, the socialized nPower is the desire for power to help other people. However, it is unclear how the power needs relate to employees’ personality traits and work-related behaviors in the workplace. Therefore, the existing research was intended (i) to confirm the factor structure of the Need for Power Scale and HEXACO Personality Inventory on the employees’ sample through confirmatory factor analysis, and (ii) to investigate the association, how the employees’ scores on the personalized-socialized need for power scale relate to their personality traits (HEXACO), impression management (self-promotion, intimidation, ingratiation), and counterproductive work behavior. Furthermore, the study also explores the gender difference among the employees in terms of the personalized and socialized need for power. The study used an organizational employee sample (N=225) collected from different cities in Pakistan through a purposive sampling strategy. The factor structure (through confirmatory factor analysis) of the Need for Power scale identified the 2-factors solution and the HEXACO Personality Inventory supported the 6-factors with well-fitted model fit indices. Furthermore, personalized and socialized need for power is differently associated with employees' personality traits and their work-related behaviors. The study provides researchers with established psychometric properties of the Need for Power scale and HEXACO Personality Inventory on the employees’ sample along with the established factor structure. It helps the researchers to expand their understanding of these important constructs (i.e., personality traits and organizational work-related behaviors) at the workplace. The research study seeks to help many employees/employers to comprehend the nature and the distinct sides of power in the workplace, further its association with unique personality traits, and work-related behaviors at the workplace.

The role of personality beliefs and "small talk" in strategic behaviour.

Humans are predisposed to forming “first impressions” about the people we encounter including impressions about their personality traits. While the relationship between personality and strategic decision-making has been widely explored, we examine the role of personality impressions in predicting strategic behaviour and devising behavioural responses. In a laboratory setting, after only 4-minutes of “small talk”, subjects developed a sense of the personality of their partners, particularly extraversion, which consequently changed their behaviour in future interactions. Subjects cooperated more in public goods games when they believed their partner to be extraverted and found it more difficult to out-guess opponents they perceived as similar to themselves in a level-k reasoning task, having engaged in conversation with them. We trace how language can generate these effects using text analysis, showing that talking more makes individuals appear extraverted and pro-social which in turn engenders pro-social behaviour in others.

English Live Caption in a Javanese Shadow Puppet Theatre: Systemic Functional Linguistics for Appraising the Beauty of Sagopi

In the field of simultaneous translation, live captioning has not been sufficiently touched by research. There have been shifts in translating characterization due to this being done in real-time and on the spot. It is critical that target readers or viewers get the same impression of a character's personality as portrayed in the original work. Consequently, translations of literary plays must be thoroughly checked for fidelity. The objective of the study is to undertake an in-depth analysis of the live captioning provided in "The Life Struggle of Sagopi" puppet theater. It compares the character portrayal of the protagonist, Sagopi, in the original play and the translation. Employing a content analysis technique, all of the utterances describing Sagopi's beauty were collected. As a method for analyzing the data, the theory of Appraisal was utilized. When the described Appraisal elements are identical to those in the original, the characterization would be considered equivalent. The analysis reveals that the live captions do not fully represent the portrayal of Sagopi. While the description of Sagopi's beauty in the shadow puppet performance is detailed, the English live caption does not reflect this. In the target language, deletions and shifts of appraisals indicate the changes. The lack of culturally relevant terminologies and the time lag between the puppeteer's oral utterances and the translator's typing speed during live captioning are the main causes of the problem. Furthermore, live captioning is time and space-constrained. Almost always, it is a condensed version of the oral source text. This demonstrates how difficult it is to achieve the same level of appraisal as the original. This is not to suggest that viewers have no right to a high-quality translation. Despite its shortcomings, the written text in the form of a live caption is regarded as the finest way for foreigners to enjoy a puppet show.

Personality impressions predict intergroup trust behaviour of Southern Chinese.

This research aimed to investigate whether the personality impressions Southern Chinese formed on people who were from South China or North China predicted intergroup trust. Study 1 adopted the one-shot trust game to measure intergroup trust, in which the participant decided the amounts of money they would like to invest with the members of the ingroup and the members of the outgroup. After that, they assessed the personality traits of the two groups with a set of trait words. Results suggested that participants invested more average amounts of money with the outgroup than with the ingroup, and the investment in the northerners was significantly correlated with the trait impressions of the northerners. Study 2 conducted a survey to specify the positive and negative aspects of personality impressions made on the two groups. Results revealed that some untrustworthy and dislike traits were regarded as the negative traits in the ingroup rather than in the outgroup, though participants distinguished the positive personality traits between the two groups. The complexity-extremity theory was applied to explain the results of preferring to trust the outgroup over the ingroup in relation to the representation of personality impressions of the two groups.

On the use of gender categories and emotion categories in threat‐based person impressions

AbstractPeople often form impressions of others in contexts where both relatively static demographic cues (e.g., age, race, gender) and situationally flexible, dynamic cues (e.g., emotion expressions) are available. We examined whether and how attending to gender (male, female) versus emotion expression (neutral, smiling) affects threat‐based person impressions. In three experiments, we heightened the salience of either gender categories or emotion categories in a sequential priming task. Category salience consistently moderated the use of both categories in threat impressions. The effect of gender (emotion) categories was stronger when attention was directed to gender (emotion) than when attention was directed to emotion (gender); however, category salience did not eliminate the use of either category. Implications for models of person construal and bias in person impressions are discussed.

Is what is beautiful good and still more accurately understood? A replication and extension of Lorenzo et al. (2010)

Is what is beautiful good and more accurately understood? Lorenzo et al. (2010) explored this question and found that more attractive targets (as per consensus) were judged more positively and accurately. Perceivers’ specific (idiosyncratic) ratings of targets’ attractiveness were also related to more positive and accurate impressions, but the latter was only true for highly consensually attractive targets. With a larger sample ( N = 547), employing a round-robin study design, we aimed to replicate and extend these findings by (1) using a more reliable accuracy criterion, (2) using a direct measure of positive personality impressions, and (3) exploring attention as a potential mechanism of these links. We found that targets’ consensual attractiveness was not significantly related to the positivity or the accuracy of impressions. Replicating the original findings, idiosyncratic attractiveness was related to more positive impressions. The association between idiosyncratic attractiveness and accuracy was again dependent on consensual attractiveness, but here, idiosyncratic attractiveness was associated with lower accuracy for less consensually attractive targets. Perceivers’ attention helped explain these associations. These results partially replicate the original findings while also providing new insight: What is beautiful to the beholder is good but is less accurately understood if the target is consensually less attractive.