Abstract
Are personality trait concepts merely descriptive of behaviors or do they describe causes? Social psychologists have differing views. Thus we looked at lexical decision response times (RTs) in a list context paradigm, which presents prime-target pairs embedded in lists of different contexts. In lists of associated pairs, traits did not affect RTs to related behaviors. But in lists of causally related pairs, traits primed RTs to behavioral words. Causality was never mentioned, and RTs were short enough to suggest automatic processing. This is consistent with other research on priming thematic relations. It also indicates that traits are implicit causes rather than mere descriptions of behavior, at least among Western participants. This challenges some current formulations in the social psychology of impression formation.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 51-54 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |
| Volume | 57 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2015 |
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Keywords
- Attribution
- Automatic
- Causality
- Lexical decision
- Priming
- Trait
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Sociology and Political Science
Cite this
The causality implicit in traits. / Kressel, Laura M.; Uleman, James.
In: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 57, 01.03.2015, p. 51-54.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The causality implicit in traits
AU - Kressel, Laura M.
AU - Uleman, James
PY - 2015/3/1
Y1 - 2015/3/1
N2 - Are personality trait concepts merely descriptive of behaviors or do they describe causes? Social psychologists have differing views. Thus we looked at lexical decision response times (RTs) in a list context paradigm, which presents prime-target pairs embedded in lists of different contexts. In lists of associated pairs, traits did not affect RTs to related behaviors. But in lists of causally related pairs, traits primed RTs to behavioral words. Causality was never mentioned, and RTs were short enough to suggest automatic processing. This is consistent with other research on priming thematic relations. It also indicates that traits are implicit causes rather than mere descriptions of behavior, at least among Western participants. This challenges some current formulations in the social psychology of impression formation.
AB - Are personality trait concepts merely descriptive of behaviors or do they describe causes? Social psychologists have differing views. Thus we looked at lexical decision response times (RTs) in a list context paradigm, which presents prime-target pairs embedded in lists of different contexts. In lists of associated pairs, traits did not affect RTs to related behaviors. But in lists of causally related pairs, traits primed RTs to behavioral words. Causality was never mentioned, and RTs were short enough to suggest automatic processing. This is consistent with other research on priming thematic relations. It also indicates that traits are implicit causes rather than mere descriptions of behavior, at least among Western participants. This challenges some current formulations in the social psychology of impression formation.
KW - Attribution
KW - Automatic
KW - Causality
KW - Lexical decision
KW - Priming
KW - Trait
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84917706470&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jesp.2014.11.005
DO - 10.1016/j.jesp.2014.11.005
M3 - Article
VL - 57
SP - 51
EP - 54
JO - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
JF - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
SN - 0022-1031
ER -