Task Effects on Trait Inference: Distinguishing Categorization from Characterization

This study examined whether spontaneously generated trait concepts represent categorization of behavior or characterization of the actor. In the first experiment, subjects read four sentence passages in which the last sentence described a behavior that primed a particular trait. The first sentence described a behavior that had a neutral, consistent, or inconsistent relationship to the last sentence. Subjects read to answer either factual, inferential (general elaborative), or impression formation questions. In the inferential and impression conditions, reading time for the fourth sentence was faster after a consistent lead sentence, in comparison to the neutral lead case. Only in the impression condition were reading times for the fourth sentence slowed by an inconsistent lead sentence. The data from the inferential condition were replicated in the second experiment when the first and last sentences described the behavior of different actors. The results suggest that traits activated spontaneously when subjects are not deliberately forming impressions represent categorizations of behavior.