MAKING SOCIAL SUPPORT JUDGMENTS - THE ROLE OF SIMILARITY AND CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

Recent social support theory predicts that people derive initial socia l support judgments about others from global qualities, such as attitu des, values, and personality. This article presents three studies that test this hypothesis. In Study 1, participants described the personal qualities and supportiveness of an individual from their social netwo rks. Study 2 experimentally manipulated the personal characteristics o f targets by using a hypothetical other paradigm. In Study 3, stranger s participated in brief interactions, and then rated each other on sup portiveness and other personal characteristics. In each study, persons were seen as supportive insofar as they were perceived as similar to subjects, and as being conscientious. As predicted, these judgments co uld be made with very little information about targets, and with no in formation about the provision of supportive behaviors. Further, the sa me information used to make initial support judgments was used in thin king about well-established relationships as well.