Golden section relations in interpersonal judgement

Abstract

A model of the organization of interpersonal judgements, based on the hypothesis that people tend to organize their judgements in Golden Section ratios, was presented. A theory of the process of interpersonal judgement, based on the notion that people judge acquaintances using a Fibonacci-like decision rule, was then developed. A computer simulation of the theory yielded results consistent with the model. An experiment in which subjects judged a variety of sets of acquaintances also yielded results consistent with the model.The golden section ratio (#) is the proportion obtaining between two quantities a and b when a/b = b/(a+b). In order for this ratio to occur, a must be approximately 0-618 of 6. Many investigators have claimed that objects which display this ratio have a greater aesthetic value than those which do not (e

Age-related stigma and the golden section hypothesis

“…Findings suggest that ageism, organized in a reverse golden section ratio of negative to positive ratings, is indeed present in rating certain age-related identities. The present findings also confirmed Benjafield and Green's (1978) literature on "atypical" populations where stigmatized identities are evaluated in a manner consistent with a reverse golden section hypothesis. This was found in the present study and provides empirical evidence that elderly person and senior citizen are indeed stigmatized identities.…”

“…The golden section hypothesis has been found when rating acquaintances (Adams-Webber, 1977;Benjafield & Adams-Webber, 1976;Benjafield & Green, 1978), unfamiliar faces (Benjafield & Pomeroy, 1978;Pomeroy et al, 1981), and imaginary persons with nonsense names (Adams-Webber, 1978). The golden section hypothesis and the research affirming it suggest that the mind uses a consistent blueprint for organizing cognitive information.…”

“…The golden section hypothesis is extremely robust and has been documented in a number of studies (Adams-Webber, 1977, 1978Benjafield & Adams-Webber, 1976;Benjafield & Green, 1978;Benjafield & Pomeroy, 1978;Pomeroy, Benjafield, Rowntree, pattern in rating others is said to be an automatic and unconscious thought process (Crowley, 1991;Lefebvre, Lefebvre, & Adams-Webber, 1986). It has even been posited that the golden section hypothesis' repeated confirmation implies that the mind contains an "algebraic processor" for organizing information (Lefebvre et al, 1986).…”

“…They postulate that "typical" and "atypical" descriptions may in fact apply to the adjectives that people use to rate others. "Typical" populations are assigned ratings that parallel the golden section hypothesis (61.8% positive: 38.2% negative) while "atypical" populations are assigned ratings that parallel the reverse golden section hypothesis (38.2% positive: 61.8% negative; Benjafield & Green, 1978). Hence, what one perceives as "atypical" shifts from figure to ground.…”

“…In the present study, an effort was made to examine age-related identities utilizing the golden section hypothesis. Because the aging population is considered to be a stigmatized identity, it is deemed "atypical" as indicated by Benjafield and Green (1978). It might then be hypothesized that identities associated with old age are likely to elicit a reverse golden section hypothesis.…”