The distinctiveness effect in social interaction: Creation of a self-fulfilling prophecy

The purpose of this study was to examine the consequences of the distinctiv eness effect for social interaction, using traits about which participants had no previous information. The perceived distinctiveness of novel traits was manipulated, and bogus information about an individual's distinctive an d nondistinctive characteristics provided conflicting expectations about th at individual The prediction that individuals would be judged based on the information provided about their supposed distinctive traits was supported In addition, observations made by independent raters demonstrated that thes e distinctiveness-based judgments about the individual initiated a self-ful filling prophecy process. Unexpectedly, the distinctiveness effect in this experiment was found only among female participants.