Calibration Effects in Person Perception: How Presentation Order Affects Variability, Consensus, and Accuracy in Inferences From Behavior Observations

Serial judgments of different target persons in a given situation can depend on the target's position in the series: Perceivers may initially withhold extreme judgments to avoid violating their judgment algorithm's consistency in case of more extreme observations later on. With subsequent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Collabra. Psychology 2024-11, Vol.10 (1)
Main Authors: Wiedenroth, Anne, Unkelbach, Christian, Wessels, Nele M, Leising, Daniel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Judgment
Perception
Personality
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Serial judgments of different target persons in a given situation can depend on the target's position in the series: Perceivers may initially withhold extreme judgments to avoid violating their judgment algorithm's consistency in case of more extreme observations later on. With subsequent observations, perceivers may better calibrate their judgment scale. We extend this theoretical reasoning on calibration effects to personality inferences: Between-target rating variability, consensus, and accuracy may be diminished in initial judgments if perceivers prefer moderate judgments regardless of the target. We tested and cross-validated these preregistered expectations using a sample of 3,963 perceivers who judged 200 targets regarding their personalities in 20 different situations. Whereas rating variability and consensus increased across the judgment series, accuracy did not. However, initial judgments were not always more moderate (e.g., higher Agreeableness) suggesting that perceivers reference trait-specific default values. This may be beneficial or detrimental for targets, depending on how their actual characteristics compare.
ISSN:2474-7394
2474-7394
DOI:10.1525/collabra.124478