Effects of communication, information overlap, and behavioral consistency on consensus in social perception.
Three experiments (N = 69, 162, and 201, respectively) were conducted to test the mathematically derived predictions of the Weighted Average Model (D. A. Kenny, 1991) of consensus in interpersonal perception. Study 1 estimated the effect of perceiver communication. Study 2 estimated the effects of communication and stimulus overlap, and Study 3 estimated the effects of communication, overlap, and target consistency on consensus. The strongest consensus was found when perceivers communicated about highly overlapping information about targets who were cross-situationally consistent. Conversely, the lowest level of consensus was observed when perceivers did not communicate and had nonoverlapping information about targets who were cross-situationally inconsistent. Both stimulus variables (overlap and consistency) and an interpersonal variable (communication) affected consensus as predicted by the Weighted Average Model.
Malloy
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Department of Psychology, Rhode Island College, Providence 02908, USA. tmalloy@grog.ric.edu
Agatstein
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Yarlas
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Albright
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology