Interrelationships Among Name Desirability, Name Uniqueness, Emotion Characteristics Connoted by Names, and Temperament

Mehrabian, Albert

doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1992.tb00977.x

Cited by 38 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Results given in equation 5 corroborated findings by Mehrabian (1992) in a study of first names. Results given in equation 5 corroborated findings by Mehrabian (1992) in a study of first names.…”

Section: Generality Of the +P+a-d Pattern As An Indicator Of Attractisupporting

confidence: 84%

Physical appearance, attractiveness, and the mediating role of emotions

Mehrabian

Blum

1997

Curr Psychol

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Determinants of physical attractiveness were investigated in a study employing U.S. college students of both genders. Five factors were derived from a study of 37 stable and changeable physical features: Masculinity (strength, larger body and chest, broader chin), Femininity (longer hair, make-up, larger and rounder eyes), Self-care (overall grooming, shapely figure, flat stomach, erect posture, fitted clothes), Pleasantness (friendly, happy, babyish face), and Ethnicity. Factor analytic results did not support a priori (and nonstatistical) groupings of babyish facial features by investigators who use this concept. Self-care, Masculinity (Femininity), and Pleasantness were positive correlates of male (female) attractiveness. Attractiveness was described parsimoniously in terms of emotions: more attractive targets elicited more pleasure, more arousal, and less dominance (or more submissiveness) from others. Men and women reacted in essentially similar ways in rating others' attractiveness. Statistical tests showed that emotional reactions mediated relations of the independent variables (physical features) to the dependent variables (judgments of attractiveness).The present study was designed to investigate effects of most physical features previously shown to be determinants of physical attractiveness. Findings from studies conducted primarily with college students in the United States helped delineate the physical features to be explored.Physical correlates of attractiveness have been categorized as static (or stable) and fluctuating (or changeable) features (Brown, Cash, & Noles, 1986). "Static" features included relatively enduring physical characteristics such as height or eye color. "Fluctuating" or changeable features referred to characteristics that varied over time, such as hair style or facial pleasantness.Body shape has been found to be an important stable determinant of attractiveness. Shapeliness of physique related to ratings of attractiveness in men and women. Women preferred men exhibiting V-shaped bodies (Lavrakas, 1975). Also, upper body strength enhanced ratings of male attractiveness (Franzoi & Herzog, 1987). In comparison, men favored women with hourglass figures (Gitter et al., 1983).

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Section: Generality Of the +P+a-d Pattern As An Indicator Of Attractisupporting

confidence: 84%

Physical appearance, attractiveness, and the mediating role of emotions

Mehrabian

Blum

1997

Curr Psychol

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“…It also potentially provides a more parsimonious explanation of a variety of extant name-characteristic effects. Factors such as conventionality of spelling (Mehrabian & Piercy, 1993) and unusualness (Busse & Seraydarian, 1978;Mehrabian, 1992;West & Shults, 1976) have been shown to influence positivity ratings. To the extent that unconventionally-spelled and unusual names are also difficult to pronounce, these effects may be explained at least partially by pronunciation ease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…We controlled for name unusualness, as unusual names are often perceived as less desirable (Busse & Seraydarian, 1978;Mehrabian, 1992;West & Shults, 1976) and may, on average, be more difficult-to-pronounce. We also controlled for word length and orthographic regularity.…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

The name-pronunciation effect: Why people like Mr. Smith more than Mr. Colquhoun

Laham

Koval

Alter

2012

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

109

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“…Studies have found that unique names (unusual names or unusual spellings) imply less attractive characteristics than common names (Mehrabian, 2001) and are seen as less desirable (Mehrabian, 1992). However, these studies have not examined racial/ethnic perceptions about names.…”

Section: Research On Namesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whiteness of a name: is “white” the baseline?

Cotton

O'Neill

Griffin

2014

Journal of Managerial Psych

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the hypothesis that Whiteness is used as a normative standard when comparing a variety of first names. Design/methodology/approach -Respondents (full-and part-time business students) evaluated names that sounded common, African-American, Russian, and unusual. Findings -Results from two studies suggest that "common" or "neutral" names are perceived to be white, and to be more American than African-American, Russian or unusual-sounding names. Results also demonstrate that the common names have more positive attributes, including socio-economic class.Research limitations/implications -The study found that the basic comparison of American respondents will be to a white person. Second, the authors applied Critical Race Theory (CRT) to the research on names. Finally, the authors demonstrate that unless they are totally anonymous, virtual teams will still have the type of social categorization and stereotyping of team members found in ordinary teams. Practical implications -Organizations and managers need to recognize that a "colorblind" approach simply reinforces the expectation that any differences in American organizations will be compared against the Whiteness standard. This can be a problem in any organizational setting, especially given the proliferation of virtual teams. This may be addressed with attempts to increase common in-group identity and strategies for identifying bias. Originality/value -In this research the authors integrate concepts and theory from Virtual Teams, CRT and the Psychology of Names, providing both theoretical and practical implications.

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Interrelationships Among Name Desirability, Name Uniqueness, Emotion Characteristics Connoted by Names, and Temperament

Cited by 38 publications

References 19 publications

Physical appearance, attractiveness, and the mediating role of emotions

Physical appearance, attractiveness, and the mediating role of emotions

The name-pronunciation effect: Why people like Mr. Smith more than Mr. Colquhoun

Whiteness of a name: is “white” the baseline?

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