M. Carlson et Sa. Mulaik, TRAIT RATINGS FROM DESCRIPTIONS OF BEHAVIOR AS MEDIATED BY COMPONENTSOF MEANING, Multivariate behavioral research, 28(1), 1993, pp. 111-159
Citations number
69
Categorie Soggetti
Social Sciences, Mathematical Methods","Psychologym Experimental","Statistic & Probability","Mathematical, Methods, Social Sciences
This study examined the role language plays in mediating the influence
of verbal descriptions of persons on trait ratings of those persons.
Subjects were given written descriptions of the behavior of fictitious
persons in a work situation and were asked to rate them on fifteen tr
ait-adjective scales. In one condition of the experiment, specific inf
ormation about certain traits was withheld, forcing subjects to rate p
ersons on traits for which they had no direct behavioral clues. In the
other two conditions, the specific information was provided. Providin
g specific information about a trait directly influenced ratings on th
at trait even when sufficient general information on that trait was gi
ven. In one condition, the influence on the ratings of the additional
behavioral clues was such that a new latent variable representing an a
dditional component of meaning was called for in the structural equati
on model.