Proportion of positive adjectives and personal relevance of adjectival descriptions as determinants of attraction

When research paradigms converge: Confrontation or integration?

“…A first step almost certainly would consist of the establishment of a series of empirical links such that the stimuli of A are manipulated in conjunction with a measurement of the responses of B, and vice versa. We have seen several examples of this kind of research with attempts at the linkage of work on attraction with the rather diverse areas of aggression (Baron, 1971;Hendrick & Taylor, 1971;Pigg & Geen, 1971;Sachs, 1972), sequential learning theory (Lamberth, 1971), Hull-Spence behavior theory (Lott, Aponte, Lott, & McGinley, 1969;Lott, Bright, Weinstein, & Lott, 1970;Lott, Lott, & Walsh, 1970), and even impression formation (Griffitt, Byrne, & Bond, 1971;Rosenblood, 1970;Singh & Byrne, 1971). Second, similarities in the findings across paradigms lead to unifying conceptualizations, and differences lead to efforts to devise explanations of the divergencies.…”

In-Group–Out-Group Similar Information as a Determinant of Attraction toward Members of Minority Groups

“…Hence, written materials that are intended to elicit favorable attitudes toward different ethnic groups should include mostly ingroup-out-group similar information, whenever possible. However, additional factors, such as a person's disposition (Kaplan, 1971) or type (e.g., "race rejectors," Goldstein & Davis, 1972), the relevance of the information (Griffitt et al, 1971;Simons et aI., 1970), and the perceived credibility of the source of information (Simons et al, 1970), can also influence attraction.…”

“…Thus, the presence or absence of significant information is central to the way a person is perceived (Griffitt, Byrne, & Bond, 1971;Kaplan & Anderson, 1973;Pratto & Bargh, 1991). Stereotypes can influence people's judgments about others (Gardner & Taylor, 1968;Locksley, Hepburn, & Ortiz, 1982;Pratto & Bargh), but trait and behavioral information can influence such judgments even more (Gardner & Taylor, 1968;Locksley, Borgida, Brekke, & Hepburn, 1980;Locksley et al, 1982;Wilder, 1978), A minimal amount of individuating information seems sufficient to substantially reduce or eliminate the effects of stereotypic beliefs on people's judgments about a target, thus reducing intergroup discrimination (Wilder).…”

Impression order effects as a function of the personal relevance of the object of description

“…The influence of different target stimuli on impression order effects in the context of a single type of stimulus material suggests that the object of description may partially account for the pattern of order effects obtained in previous investigations. The present experimental design, along with a similar approach introduced by Griffitt et al (1971), represents a useful extension of the adjective trait paradigm which has typically been restricted to descriptions of hypothetical strangers.…”

“…The present experiment attacked this methodological difficulty by observing the influence of various descriptive objects on order effects in responses to a single type of stimulus material. Griffitt, Byrne, and Bond (1971) manipulated the personal relevance of an impression formation task by varying the stimulus person to whom an adjective description referred. Consistent with this approach, sets of personality trait adjectives in the present experiment *This research was supported in part by Research Grant GS-2752 from the National Science Foundation to Donn Byrne, Principal Investigator.…”