Forming Impressions of Personality: A Replication and Review of Asch's (1946) Evidence for a Primacy-of-Warmth Effect in Impression Formation

Asch's seminal research on "Forming Impressions of Personality" (1946) has widely been cited as providing evidence for a primacy-of-warmth effect, suggesting that warmth-related judgments have a stronger influence on impressions of personality than competence-related judgments (e.g.,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social psychology (Göttingen, Germany) Germany), 2014-01, Vol.45 (3), p.153-163
Main Authors: Nauts, Sanne, Langner, Oliver, Huijsmans, Inge, Vonk, Roos, Wigboldus, Daniël H. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beurteilung
Competence
Eindruck
Experiment
Experimental Replication
Experimentelle Forschung
Human
Impression Formation
Personality
Persönlichkeit
Persönlichkeitsmerkmal
Psychologie
Replikation
Stimulation (Psy)
Vorbereitung
Wissenschaftsgeschichte
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Summary:Asch's seminal research on "Forming Impressions of Personality" (1946) has widely been cited as providing evidence for a primacy-of-warmth effect, suggesting that warmth-related judgments have a stronger influence on impressions of personality than competence-related judgments (e.g., Fiske, Cuddy, & Glick, 2007; Wojciszke, 2005). Because this effect does not fit with Asch's Gestalt-view on impression formation and does not readily follow from the data presented in his original paper, the goal of the present study was to critically examine and replicate the studies of Asch's paper that are most relevant to the primacy-of-warmth effect. We found no evidence for a primacy-of-warmth effect. Instead, the role of warmth was highly context-dependent, and competence was at least as important in shaping impressions as warmth.
ISSN:1864-9335
2151-2590
DOI:10.1027/1864-9335/a000179