Effect of perspective taking on the cognitive representation of persons: A merging of self and other

Author(s): Conklin, L., Smith, A., Luce, C.

Journal/Book: J Personal Soc Psychol. 1996; 70: 750 First St NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Amer Psychological Assoc. 713-726.

Abstract: Two experiments examined the possibility that perspective taking leads observers to create cognitive representations of others that substantially overlap with the observers' own self-representations. In Experiment 1 observers receiving role-taking instructions were more likely to ascribe traits to a novel target that they (observers) had earlier indicated were self-descriptive. This pattern was most pronounced, however, for positively valenced traits. In Experiment 2 some participants received role-taking instructions but were also given a distracting memory task. In the absence of this task, role taking again produced greater overlap-primarily for positive traits-between self- and target representations. In the presence of the memory task, the degree of self-target overlap was significantly reduced for all traits, regardless of valence. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.

Note: Article MH Davis, Eckerd Coll, Dept Behav Sci, St Petersburg, FL 33733 USA

Keyword(s): SOCIAL-PERCEPTION; EMPATHY; ACCESSIBILITY; ATTRIBUTION; HYPOTHESIS; ACTIVATION; JUDGMENTS; THINKING; BUSYNESS

Zurück | Weiter