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Interfering With Inferential, But Not Associative, Processes Underlying Spontaneous Trait InferenceUniversity of Bristol, M.Crawford{at}bristol.ac.uk
Northern Illinois University, jskowron{at}niu.edu
University of Bristol
Northern Illinois University Three studies explore mental processes underlying spontaneous trait inferences about self-informants and the spontaneous trait transference characterizing third-party informants. Process differences are suggested in that instructions prompting a nontrait inference (truth or lie?) reduce self-informant trait-savings effects and lower self-informant trait judgments. For third-party informants, such instructions have no effect on these outcome variables. Results of a third study are inconsistent with cognitive load as an explanation for these effects. Taken together, these results indicate that inferences, and not merely associations, spontaneously form when processing information about self-informants. The results also show that the inferences and judgments that occur in spontaneous trait transference are not caused by the misidentification of third-party informants as self-informants.
Key Words: impression formation spontaneous trait inferences associative processes traits social judgments
This version was published on May
1, 2007 Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 33, No. 5,
677-690 (2007) This article has been cited by other articles:
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