Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Knowing others through the self—Influence of self-perception on perception of others: A review

  • Articles
  • Published:
Current Psychological Research & Reviews Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The literature relating to the influence of self-perception on the perception of others is reviewed. Projective effects are shown to occur in judgments of a wide range of psychological characteristics. Cognitive and dissonance theories of the projective process are critically examined. Drawing on the developmental literature, a cognitive theory of the projective process is proposed in which projective phenomena are conceptualized as side effects of a basic mechanism involved in knowing others.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allport, G. (1961).Pattern and growth in personality. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bender, I.E., & Hastorf, A.H. (1950). The perception of persons: Forecasting another person’s responses on three personality scales.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 45, 556–561.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, D.H., & Holmes, D.S. (1975). Influence of denial (situation redefinition) and projection on anxiety associated with threat to self-esteem.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 915–921.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bieri, J. (1953). Changes in interpersonal perceptions following social interaction.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 48, 61–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bieri, J. (1955). Cognitive complexity-simplicity and predictive behaviour.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51, 263–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bramel, D. (1962). A dissonance theory approach to defensive projection.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 64, 121–129.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bramel, D. (1963). Selection of a target for defensive projection.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 318–324.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bromley, D.B. (1978). Natural language and the development of the self. In H.E. Howe & C.B. Keasey (Eds.),Nebraska symposium on motivation (vol. 25). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, pp. 117–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, C.E. (1982). A false consensus bias in 1980 presidential preferences.Journal of Social Psychology, 118, 137–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calvin, A., Hanley, C., Hoffman, F., & Clifford, L. (1959). An experimental investigation of the “pull” effect.Journal of Social Psychology, 49, 275–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, N., & Magaret, A. (1961).Behavior pathology. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cattell, R.B. (1944). Projection and the design of projective tests of personality.Character and Personality, 12, 177–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chalus, G.A. (1978). The mechanisms underlying attributive projection.Journal of Personality, 42, 362–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandler, M.J. (1977). Social Cognition: A selective review of current research. In W.F. Overton & J. McCarthy-Gallagher (Eds.),Knowledge and development, vol. 1: Advances in research and theory. New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, M. (1971).Interpersonal perception. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach, L.J. (1955). Processes affecting scores on “understanding others” and “assumed similarity.”Psychological Bulletin, 52, 177–193.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach L.J. (1958). Proposals leading to analytic treatment of social perception scores. In R. Tagiuri & L. Petrullo (Eds.),Person perception and interpersonal behavior. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubin, R., & Dubin, E.R. (1965). Children’s social perceptions: A review of research.Child Development, 36, 809–838.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton, W.D., & Von Bargen, E. (1981). Asynchronous development of gender understanding in preschool children.Child Development, 52, 1020–1027.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edlow, D.W., & Kiesler, C.A. (1966). Ease of denial and defensive projection.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2, 56–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eliot, J., & Dayton, C.M. (1976). Egocentric error and the concept of egocentrism.Journal of Genetic Psychology, 128, 275–289.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Elkind, D., & Bowen, R. (1979). Imaginary audience behavior in children and adolescents.Developmental Psychology, 15, 38–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enright, R.D., Shulka, D.G., & Lapsley, D.K. (1980). Adolescent egocentrism-sociocentrism and self-consciousness.Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 9, 101–116.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, P.D., & White, D.G. (1980). Sex differences in the development and projection of a simple fear.British Journal of Medical Psychology, 53, 151–153.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Exner, J.E. (1973). The self-focus sentence completion: A test of egocentricity.Journal of Personality Assessment, 37, 437–455.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fenigstein, A., Scheier, M.F., & Buss, A. (1975). Public and private self-consciousness: Assessment and theory.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 522–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fensterheim, H., & Tresselt, M.E. (1953). The influence of value systems on the perception of people.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 48, 93–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feshbach, S., & Singer, R.D. (1957). The effects of fear arousal and suppression of fear upon social perception.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 55, 283–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feshbach, S., Singer R.D., & Feshbach, N. (1963). Effects of anger arousal and similarity upon the attribution of hostility to pictorial stimuli.Journal of Consulting Psychology, 27, 248–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiedler, F.E. (1954). Assumed similarity measures as predictors of team effectiveness.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 49, 381–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fillenbaum, S. (1961a). How fat is fat?Journal of Psychology, 52, 133–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fillenbaum, S. (1961b). Own position in relation to estimates of average standing and desirability for more and less self-comparable objects.Journal of Personality, 29, 195–204.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fishbein, H.D., Lewis, S., & Keiffer, K. (1972). Children’s understanding of spatial relations.Developmental Psychology, 7, 21–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flavell, J.H. (1978). The development of knowledge about visual perception. In H.E. Howe & C.B. Keasey (Eds.),Nebraska symposium on motivation (vol. 25). Lincon: University of Nebraska Press, pp. 43–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flavell, J.H., Botkin, P.T., Fry, C.L., Wright, J.W., & Jarvis, P.E. (1968).The development of role-taking and communication skills in children. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fong, G.T., & Markus, H. (1982). Self-schemes and judgments about others.Social Cognition, 1, 191–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, M.E. (1979). The construct validity of egocentrism.Psychological Bulletin, 86, 1169–1188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freud, S. (1955).Totem and taboo and other works. London: Hogarth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldings, H.J. (1954). On the avowal and projection of happiness.Journal of Personality, 23, 30–47.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldmann, T.S. (1972). Rejection, paranoia and cognitive dissonance.Dissertation Abstracts International, 32, 6678B.

  • Gouze, K.R., & Nadelman, L. (1980). Consistency of gender identity for self and others in children between the ages of three and seven.Child Development, 51, 275–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffitt, W. (1973). Response to erotica and the projection of response to erotica in the opposite sex.Journal of Experimental Research in Personality, 6, 330–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, S.P. (1936). The predictive ability of voters.Journal of Social Psychology, 7, 183–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heider, F. (1958).The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E.T., Feldman, N.S., & Ruble, D.N. (1980). Accuracy and differentiation in social prediction: A developmental perspective.Journal of Personality, 48, 520–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E.T., King, G.A., & Mavin, G.H. (1982). Individual construct accessibility and subjective impressions and recall.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 35–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, E.T., Rholes, W.S., & Jones, C.R. (1977). Category accessibility and impression formation.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 141–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, D.S. (1968). Dimensions of projection.Psychological Bulletin, 69, 248–268.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, D.S., & Houston, B.K. (1971). The defensive function of projection.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 20, 208–213.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holyoak, K.J., & Gordon, P.C. (1983). Social reference points.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 881–887.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Honess, T. (1980). Self-reference in children’s descriptions of peers: Egocentricity or collaboration?Child Development, 51, 476–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houssiadas, L. (1965). Co-ordination of perspectives in children.Archiv Fuer Die Gesamte Psychologie, 117, 319–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R., Tingle, B.A., & Sawin, D.B. (1981). Development of empathic understanding in children.Child Development, 52, 122–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1973). On the psychology of prediction.Psychological Review, 80, 237–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H.B. (1975).Self attitudes and deviant behavior. Pacific Palisades: Goodyear Publishing Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, D., & Allport, F. (1931).Students’ attitudes. Syracuse: Craftman’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keasey, C.B. (1977). Young children’s attribution of intentionality to themselves and others.Child Development, 48, 261–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laurendeau, M., & Pinard, A. (1970).The development of the concept of space in the child. New York: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemon, N., & Warren, N. (1974). Salience, centrality and self-relevance of traits in construing others.British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 13, 119–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal, J. (1957). Cognitive processes and interpersonal predictions.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 55, 176–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, M., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1979).Social cognition and the acquisition of the self. New York: Plenum Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lundy, R.M. (1956). Assimilative projection and accuracy of prediction in interpersonal perception.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 52, 33–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mandler, J., & Mandler, G. (1974). Good guys versus bad guys: The subject-object dichotomy.Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 14, 63–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, D.E. & Overton, W.F. (1978). The development of cognitive gender constancy and sex role preferences.Child Development, 49, 434–444.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marks, E. (1943). Skin color judgments of negro college students.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 38, 370–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mill, J.S. (1865).An examination of Sir William Hamilton’s philosophy. London: Longmans Green.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mintz, E. (1956). An example of assimilative projection.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 52, 279–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murstein, B.I. (1957). Studies in projection: A critique.Journal of Projective Techniques, 21, 129–136.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murstein, B.I., & Pryer, R.S. (1959). The concept of projection: A review.Psychological Bulletin, 56, 353–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1956).The child’s conception of space. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pufall, P.B., & Shaw, R.E. (1973). Analysis of the development of children’s spatial reference systems.Cognitive Psychology, 5, 151–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rabinowitz, N. (1956). A note on the social perceptions of authoritarians and non-authoritarians.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 53, 384–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, L. (1977). The intuitive psychologist and his shortcomings: Distortions in the attribution process. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.),Advances in experimental social psychology (vol. 10). New York: Academic Press, pp. 174–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, L., Greene, D., & House, P. (1977). The “false consensus” effect: An egocentric bias in social perception and attribution processes.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 279–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rotenberg, K.J. (1982). Development of the moral judgment of self and other in children.Developmental Psychology, 105, 281–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salatas, H., & Flavell, J. H. (1976). Perspective taking: The development of two components of knowledge.Child Development, 47, 103–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarbin, T.R., Taft, R., & Bailey, D.E. (1960).Clinical inference and cognitive theory. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiffenbauer, A. (1974). Effect of observer’s emotional state on judgments of the emotional state of others.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30, 31–35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scodel, A., & Mussen, P. (1953). Social perceptions of authoritarians and non-authoritarians.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 48, 181–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Secord, P.F., & Backman, C.W. (1964).Social psychology. New York: McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Secord, P.F., Backman, C.W., & Eachus, H.T. (1964). Effects of inbalance in the self concept on the perception of persons.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 68, 442–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shantz, C.U. (1975). The development of social cognition. In E.M. Hetherington (Ed.),Review of child development research, (vol. 5). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 257–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherwood, C.G. (1979). Classical and attributive projection: Some new evidence.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, 635–640.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shrauger, J.S., & Patterson, M.B. (1974). Self evaluation and the selection of dimensions for evaluating others.Journal of Personality, 42, 569–585.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simmons, R.G., Rosenberg, F., & Rosenberg, M. (1973). Disturbance in the self-image at adolescence.American Sociological Review, 38, 553–568.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, R., & Feshbach, S. (1962). Effects of anxiety arousal in psychotics and normals upon the perception of anxiety in others.Journal of Personality, 30, 574–587.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, M.R. (1974). The self monitoring of expressive behavior.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30, 526–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Srull, T.K., & Wyer, R.S. (1980). Category accessibility and social perception: Some implications for the study of person memory.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 841–856.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stotland, E. (1969). Exploratory investigations of empathy. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.),Advances in experimental social psychology (vol. 4). New York: Academic Press, pp. 271–313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tabnachnik, N., Crocker, J., & Alloy, L.B. (1983). Depression, social comparison and the false consensus effect.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 688–699.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomsen, A. (1941). Psychological projection and the election: A simple class experiment.Journal of Psychology, 11, 115–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Travers, R.M.W. (1941). A study in judging the opinions of groups.Archives of Psychology, no. 266.

  • Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases.Science, 185, 1124–1131.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vallacher, R.R. (1978). Objective self-awareness and the perception of others.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 4, 63–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vernon, P.E. (1964).Personality assessment: A critical survey. London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallen, R. (1943). Individuals’ estimates of group opinion.Journal of Social Psychology, 17, 269–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weingarten, E.M. (1949). A study of selective perception in clinical judgment.Journal of Personality, 17, 369–396.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, B. (1942). Altruism in children and the perceived conduct of others.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 37, 218–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Dublin, Ireland

    John F. O’Mahony

  2. Psychology Department, St. Patrick’s Hospital, James’s Street, Dublin 8, Ireland

    John F. O’Mahony

Authors
  1. John F. O’Mahony
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

O’Mahony, J.F. Knowing others through the self—Influence of self-perception on perception of others: A review. Current Psychology 3, 48–62 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686558

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686558

Keywords

Search

Navigation