Committee Chair

Rogers, Katherine H.

Committee Member

Black, Kristen Jennings, 1991-; Clark, Amanda J.

Department

Dept. of Psychology

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

This study assessed whether perspective-taking (considering another’s perspective, thoughts, and feelings; Davis, 1983) causes greater distinctive accuracy (judging another’s unique traits), normative accuracy (judging another as similar to the average person and positively), and distinctive assumed similarity (judging another’s personality as similar to one’s own personality) in first impressions of personality. College students (N = 429) received either perspective-taking instructions or no specific instructions before watching videos of seven individuals (targets) answering getting-to-know-you questions. Participants then rated each target’s personality. Taking the targets’ perspectives did not improve distinctive accuracy or distinctive assumed similarity. However, participants who reported actively trying or being able to take the targets’ perspectives rated those targets more positively (with greater normative accuracy). Thus, perspective-taking does not result in more accurate impressions or greater perceived similarity, but it may lead to more positive impressions for those who try or are able to take another’s perspective.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my family for their constant support and encouragement throughout this process. I would also like to thank Dr. Kate Rogers for serving as my thesis chair and providing invaluable guidance on this project and throughout my graduate studies. Thanks also to Dr. Amanda Clark and Dr. Kristen Black for serving as my committee members and providing advice that made this project the best it could be. Finally, I appreciate the support of the UTC Office of Research and Sponsored Programs for funding this research.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2019

Subject

Social perception; Empathy; Perception

Keyword

First impressions; Personality judgment accuracy; Perspective-taking

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

ix, 79 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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