Context effects in impression formation.

Performed 3 studies to investigate the effects of several variables upon the tendency for evaluations of personality-trait adjectives to be displaced toward the likableness of the adjectives accompanying them (their context). Ss were 80 undergraduates. The variables were suggested by 3 theoretical interpretations of context effects, including N. H. Anderson and A. K. Lampel's (see 40:3) weighted average formulation; R. S. Wyer and M. Dermer's (see 42:7) hypothesis that the dispersion of adjectives affects the size of units along the scale used in making judgments, and therefore the degree of polarization of subsequent ratings of individual adjectives along this scale; and a hypothesis that the displacement of an adjective toward its context is the result of a shift in its meaning produced by associating with the context adjectives. Results of the 3 studies were most consistent with a meaning shift interpretation of context effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).