Abstract
The influence of different target stimuli on impression order effects was tested. Sixty Ss evaluated bivalent sets of personality trait adjectives which purportedly described a hypothetical stranger, the E, or the Ss themselves. Under unwarned recall conditions, variations in the object of description significantly influenced impression order effects (p < .01). It was suggested that this effect may have been a function of attention decrements and implicit evaluations associated with various levels of personal relevance of the impression formation task. Analyses of adjective recall supported the verbal memory hypothesis of impression formation for only the LH sets in the forewarned recall condition. Recall analyses, however, suggested the importance of recall measurement criteria used in tests of the verbal memory hypothesis.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Anderson, N. H. Primacy effects in personality impression formation using a generalized order effect paradigm. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 1965,2, 1–9.
Anderson, N. H. Likeableness ratings of 555 personality-trait words. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 1968a,9, 272–279.
Anderson, N. H. A simple model for information integration. In R. P. Abelson, E. Aronson, W. J. McGuire, T. M. Newcomb, M. J. Rosenberg, and P. H. Tannenbaum (Eds.),Theories of cognitive consistency: A source-book, Chicago: Rand-McNally, 1968b. Pp. 731–743.
Anderson, N. H., & Barrios, H. H. Primacy effects in personality impression formation. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 1961,63, 346–350.
Anderson, N. H., & Hovland, C. I. The representation of order effects in communication research. In C. I. Hovland (Ed.),The order of presentation in persuasion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957.
Anderson, N. H., & Hubert, S. Effects of concomitant verbal recall on order effects in personality impression formation. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 1963,2, 379–391.
Anderson, N. H., & Norman, H. Order effects in impression formation in four classes of stimuli. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 1964,69, 467–471.
Aronson, E., & Linder, D. Gain and loss of esteem as determinants of interpersonal attractiveness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1965,1,156–171.
Asch, S. Forming impressions of personality. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 1946,41, 268–290.
Byrne, D., Lamberth, J., Palmer, J., & London, O. Sequential effects as a function of explicit and implicit interpolated attraction responses. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 1969,13, 70–78.
Bryne, D., & London, O. Primacy-recency and the sequential presentation of attitudinal stimuli. Psychonomic Science, 1966,6, 193–194.
Chalmers, D. K. Meanings, impressions, and attitudes: A model of the evaluation process. Psychological Review, 1969,76, 450–460.
Chalmers, D. K. Repetition and order effects in attitude formation. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 1971,17, 219–228.
Greenwald, A. G. Cognitive learning, cognitive response to persuasion, and attitude change. In A. G. Greenwald, T. C. Brock, and T. M. Ostrom (Eds.),Psychological foundations of attitudes. New York: Academic Press, 1968.
Griffitt, W., Byrne, D., & Bond, M. H. Proportion of positive adjectives and personal relevance of adjectival descriptions as determinants of attraction. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1971,7, 111–121.
Insko, C. A. Primacy versus recency in persuasion as a function of the timing of arguments and measures. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 1964,69, 381–391.
Jones, E. E., & Goethals, G. R.Order effects in impression formation: Attribution context and the nature of the entity. Morristown, N.J: General Learning Press, 1971.
Jones, E. E., Rock, L., Shaver, K. G., Goethals, G. R., & Ward, L. M. Pattern of performance and ability attribution: An unexpected primacy effect. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 1968,10, 317–340.
Jones, E. E., & Wein, G. A. Attitude similarity, expectancy violation, and attraction. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1972,8, 222–235.
Miller, N., & Campbell, D. T. Recency and primacy in persuasion as a function of the timing of speeches and measurements. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 1959,59, 1–9.
Stewart, R. Effect of continuous responding on the order effect in personality impression formation. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 1965,1, 161–165.
Tesser, A. Differential weighting and directed meaning as explanations of primacy in impression formation. Psychonomic Science, 1968,11, 299–300.
Tognoli, J., & Keisner, R. Gain and loss of esteem as determinants of interpersonal attraction: A replication and extension. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 1972,23, 201–204.
Watts, W., & McGuire, W. Persistence of induced opinion change and retention of the inducing message contents. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 1964,68, 233–241.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported in part by Research Grant GS-2752 from the National Science Foundation to Donn Byrne, Principal Investigator.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brink, J.H. Impression order effects as a function of the personal relevance of the object of description. Memory & Cognition 2, 561–565 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196921
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196921