Personality Impressions Paper

Order Effects in Personality Impression Information

Abstract
This study deals with the idea that the tendency of our culture is to judge personality based on limited first impressions. Participants were presented with a list of adjectives that described a hypothetical person. They were to form impressions about that individuals personality based on that list. The presentation order was counterbalanced with favorable, unfavorable, and neutral descriptors. These lists would be the sole basis of the formation of their impressions. Measurements were based on participant response using a rating scale, brief written impressions, and descriptive adjective check list. The hypothesis pertinent to this experiment is that primacy has an affect on
There was a total of forty eight students assembled on a volunteer basis from Southern Oregon University, Psychology 201 classes. They were rewarded with extra credit points in their classes for being involved, and docked points if they signed up but did not appear at the assigned times. They were all treated in accordance with the "Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct" (American Psychological Association, 1992).
Materials
Three lists of descriptive adjectives were used to describe the hypothetical person. The three lists are favorable to unfavorable (FU), unfavorable to favorable (UF), and neutral (N). These lists are located in Table 1. The rating scale used by the participants to rank their impression of the hypothetical person is provided in Table 2. Table 3 contains the adjective check list, which the participants would be required to complete after forming their impression.
Design and
The lower ratings for the UF group showed that when subjects were exposed to unfavorable adjectives they rated the person lower, or unfavorable. The results of the analysis indicate a significant difference between groups (F = 6.93, df = 1,46 , p> .05). The adjective check list data was analyzed with a chi square test of independence for the three groups, Fig.2. The amount of adjectives varied from group to group, although the analysis showed that the data did not show a significant difference in the number of adjectives checked, and the number of them that were expected. The last important aspect of this experiment involved the experimenters forming impressions of the person described in the paragraphs written by the subjects. They used the same rating scale as was used earlier in the experiment, the purpose was to compare and contrast the experimenter rating results using a one way analysis of variance. The data showed that the ratings remained consistent, although not revealing the same level of significance as the subjects had shown in their data findings. There was a significant difference found in the analysis (F=3.62, df 3,2 , p.> .05).