Accuracy of Self-Esteem Judgments at Zero Acquaintance.
Perceptions of strangers' self-esteem can have wide-ranging interpersonal consequences. Aiming to reconcile inconsistent results from previous research that had predominantly suggested that self-esteem is a trait that can hardly be accurately judged at zero acquaintance, we examined unaquainted others' accuracy in inferring individuals' actual self-esteem.



Ninety-nine target participants (77 female; Mage= 23.5 years) were videotaped in a self-introductory situation, and self-esteem self-reports and reports by well-known informants were obtained as separate accuracy criteria. Forty unacquainted observers judged targets' self-esteem on the basis of these short video sequences (M = 23s, SD = 7.7).



Results showed that both self-reported (r = .31, p = .002) and informant-reported self-esteem (r = .21, p = .040) of targets could be inferred by strangers. The degree of accuracy in self-esteem judgments could be explained with lens model analyses: Self- and informant-reported self-esteem predicted nonverbal and vocal friendliness, both of which predicted self-esteem judgments by observers. In addition, observers' accuracy in inferring informant-reported self-esteem was mediated by the utilization of targets' physical attractiveness. Besides using valid behavioral information to infer strangers' self-esteem, observers inappropriately relied on invalid behavioral information reflecting nonverbal, vocal, and verbal self-assuredness.



Our findings show that strangers can quite accurately detect individuals' self-reported and informant-reported self-esteem when targets are observed in a public self-presentational situation.
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
Sarah
0000-0002-6405-1160
S
Hirschmüller
University of Leipzig.
Stefan C
SC
Schmukle
University of Leipzig.
Sascha
S
Krause
University of Münster.
Mitja D
MD
Back
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
Boris
0000-0002-5736-9912
B
Egloff
D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D010465:Perception; D012649:Self Concept; D013334:Students; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult
Accuracy; lens model; personality judgments; self-esteem; zero acquaintance