The bigger one of the “Big Two”? Preferential processing of communal information

Abstract

An important aim of person perception is to guide people in their actions towards others and an especially important question in this regard is whether to approach a target or not. A target's traits can be differentiated into the "Big Two" fundamental content dimensions of agency and communion. Four studies test the hypothesis that relative to agentic traits communal traits -which can also be conceptualized as "otherprofitable" traits -are processed preferentially because they convey more information relevant for approach vs. avoidance decisions. Across four studies, we found consistent support for this preferential processing hypothesis. Communal trait words were recognized faster (Study 1) and categorized faster with regard to valence than agentic trait words (Study 2); communal traits were inferred faster from behavior descriptions than agentic traits (Study 3); and finally, communal traits were mentioned prior to agentic ones in spontaneous descriptions of another person (Study 4). Throughout these studies the stimuli's valence (positive or negative words or behaviors) did not moderate this processing speed advantage of communal information. Participants' responses in Study 4, however, were more valence-driven for the communion dimension than for the agency dimension.

Whether you are smart or kind depends on how I feel: The influence of positive and negative mood on agency and communion perception

“…The analysis yielded a main effect of ascribed traits, F(2, 76) = 7.05, p < .005, η²p = .47, indicating that participants ascribed more communal traits to a target person (M = 6.73, SD = 3.08) comparing to both agentic (M = 4.98, SD = 2.77; p < .05) and neutral traits (M = 4.38, SD = 2.76; p < .005). This effect is in line with numerous studies which have found that the communal dimension is more important than the agency dimension in perception of others Wojciszke, Bazinska, & Jaworski, 1998;Ybarra, Chan, & Park, 2001;Abele & Bruckmüller, 2011). The expected interaction of induced mood and ascribed traits did not reach significance, F(2, 76) = 2.16, p = .123, η²p = .06.…”

“…As this effect is apparent at every stage of impression formation it can be argued that focusing on communal content is the default strategy in perceiving others -the information about a target's honesty or trustworthiness is more important as it tells us more about potential benefits or harms than any information about the target's agency. Apparently, it is evident in empirical investigations: people show higher chronic accessibility of communal than agentic traits in the process of person perception (Wojciszke, Bazinska, & Jaworski, 1998;Ybarra, Chan, & Park, 2001), process the communal information faster than agentic one (Abele & Bruckmüller, 2011) and are able to make more reliable communal than agentic judgments of others even after very short exposures (Willis & Todorov, 2006). Therefore, in accordance to the feelings-as-information theory, positive moods should enhance this default strategy in perception of others, while negative moods should hamper this tendency by lowering the importance of communal traits.…”

Competent Men and Warm Women

“…Cuddy and colleagues [9] explain that, regardless of the traits that study participants use to describe others, two underlying dimensions consistently emerge: warmth (also known as "communion") and competence (also called "agency"). Just as personality researchers have developed a "Big Five," the existence of a "Big Two" is now well accepted amongst researchers of social perception [2].…”

Communion-over-Agency Effects on Advertising Effectiveness

“…For example, women in stereotypical and men in counter-stereotypical gender roles (e.g., being a care-giver) are perceived as highly communal, whereas women in counter-stereotypical and men in stereotypical roles (e.g., being a businessperson) are perceived as highly agentic. Importantly, social cognitive researchers have revealed that communion has a more profound influence on impression formation and evaluations of other people, which is sometimes referred to as the 'communion over agency' effect (e.g., Abele and Bruckm€ uller 2011;Brambilla et al 2011;Wojciszke, Bazinska, and Jaworski 1998). As such, communal characteristics ascribed to a person have more influence on the likeability of that person than agentic ones (Wojciszke, Abele, and Baryla 2009;Wojciszke, Bazinska, and Jaworski 1998).…”