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Personalism and Interpersonal Attraction

Author(s):
Potter, David A.
Publication Year:
1973
Report Number:
RB-73-07
Source:
ETS Research Bulletin
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
23
Subject/Key Words:
National Institutes of General Medical Science, Attribution Theory, Interpersonal Relationship, Psychological Studies, Self Evaluation (Individuals), Sociometric Techniques

Abstract

Attribution theory predicts that actions seen as specifically directed toward a person have greater impact than those not so directed. It was hypothesized that agreement between self-evaluation and another's evaluation increases personalism of received evaluations, increasing both impact and tendency to reciprocate liking or disliking. In a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design, 66 subjects received a high or low score on two tests of social insight. Each subject then received evaluations, supposedly from another subject, indication (1) the partner estimated the subject's social insight as well above or below average, and (2) the partner liked the subject very much or disliked him or her moderately. Liking for the partner was the dependent variable. Results supported the experimental hypothesis: a significant (p.001) three-way interaction effect was observed. (Author) (23pp.)

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