Spontaneous Trait Inferences From Behavior: A Systematic Meta-Analysis
Research suggests that people spontaneously infer traits from behavioral information, thus forming impressions of actors’ personalities. Such spontaneous trait inferences (STI) have been examined in a wide range of studies in the last four decades. Here, we provide the first systematic meta-analysis...
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Published in | Personality & social psychology bulletin Vol. 50; no. 1; pp. 78 - 102 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Los Angeles, CA
SAGE Publications
01.01.2024
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Research suggests that people spontaneously infer traits from behavioral information, thus forming impressions of actors’ personalities. Such spontaneous trait inferences (STI) have been examined in a wide range of studies in the last four decades. Here, we provide the first systematic meta-analysis of this vast literature. We included data from k = 86 publications, with overall N = 13,630 participants. The average STI effect was moderate to large (dz = 0.59) and showed substantial heterogeneity. The type of experimental paradigm significantly moderated the STI effect size, with larger effects in long-term memory–based paradigms compared with working memory–based paradigms. Generally, STI effects were robust to various methodological variations and also to potential concerns of publication bias. Contrary to expectations, cultural background (independent vs. interdependent) did not emerge as a significant moderator of STI effects. We discuss these findings with respect to their theoretical relevance and derive implications for future research and theorizing. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0146-1672 1552-7433 |
DOI: | 10.1177/01461672221100336 |