The negativity effect and its implications for initial interaction

The negativity effect occurs in the formation of judgments when disproportionate weight is given to negative information in contrast to equidistantly valenced positive information. While multiple explanations for such an effect exist, the extremity hypothesis advanced by Fiske (1980) can be modified and expanded not only to provide a thorough understanding of the negativity effect, but to explain positivity effects (where disproportionate weight is given to positive information when forming a judgment) as well. These negativity and positivity effects, taken to be manifestations of informativeness effects, are examined in the areas of vocal productivity, disclosure, and initial interaction. Informativeness effects appear to be widespread phenomena affecting, guiding, and resulting from interpersonal interaction. Data reveal that both negativity and positivity effects are possible in social interaction due to skews in the underlying distributions of social actors’ expectations about themselves and others. Rather diverse lines of research can be integrated under the rubric of informativeness effects for which the modified extremity hypothesis provides an encompassing explanation.