Knowing how you see me: Exploring meta‐accuracy of personality, emotions and values and their links with relationship well‐being among young adults

Abstract

People often wonder about how they are seen by others, and these beliefs, referred to as metaperceptions, guide our interactions with others. For example, if Meghan, the metaperceiver, believes her partner, Harry, the perceiver, sees her as being highly outgoing, but Meghan is actually quite reserved, then she might adjust her behavior (e.g., show the more reserved and less outgoing side of her) during her interactions with Harry to convey her desired impression. As such, metaperceptions can shape people's behavior, attitude and social interactions in

“Zooming” in on positive and accurate metaperceptions in first impressions: Examining the links with social anxiety and liking in online video interactions.

“…Therefore, people appeared to be displaying almost identical levels of meta-positivity and meta-accuracy in videoconferencing contexts as in in-person contexts. Of note, in both contexts, distinctive meta-accuracy levels were descriptively low and meta-positivity levels were high, which is consistent with the general trend in the field (e.g., Carlson, 2016aCarlson, , 2016bElsaadawy et al, 2021;Tissera et al, 2021;Tissera & Lydon, 2022) and with the idea that distinctive meta-accuracy is difficult to achieve. We also note that a considerable portion of the sample falls below the 0-point, indicating that many people are simply inaccurate about others' unique impressions of them, further supporting the idea that achieving distinctive meta-accuracy is difficult.…”

“…This is because it captures the more idiosyncratic impressions that could be negative or even more positive than the desirable profile. This is consistent with the positive correlates of distinctive meta-accuracy observed in the literature, such as greater liking in first impressions (Carlson, 2016b; Tissera et al, 2021) and greater romantic relationship quality (Tissera et al, 2022; Tissera & Lydon, 2022). Given distinctive meta-accuracy is our indicator of meta-accuracy, these terms are used interchangeably in the remaining sections.…”

“…Having higher distinctive meta-accuracy does not seem to contribute to the metaperceivers' liking of perceivers, as past research has consistently observed null associations between distinctive meta-accuracy and metaperceivers' interpersonal experience (Carlson, 2016b;Tissera et al, 2021Tissera & Lydon, 2022). Therefore, knowing others' unique impressions may not relate to how much metaperceivers like perceivers, both in videoconferencing and in-person contexts.…”

“…Distinctive meta-accuracy also appears to be related to positive interpersonal outcomes in in-person interactions but from the perceivers’ perspective . Specifically, perceivers tend to better like metaperceivers who know the unique impression they have made on perceivers, both concurrently (Tissera et al, 2021; Tissera & Lydon, 2022) and in the long-term (Carlson, 2016b). This may be because knowing others’ unique impressions of the self could inform metaperceivers of how to adjust their behavior to form a desired impression, and therefore, greater distinctive meta-accuracy may help with more successful impression management and smoother interactions, which could enhance the positivity of perceivers’ interpersonal experience.…”

“…This idea is supported by empirical evidence. That is, more positive and accurate metaperceptions have both been associated with important social experiences both in first impressions contexts (Carlson, 2016b; Tissera et al, 2021) and within established relationships (Carlson & Oltmanns, 2018; Ohtsubo et al, 2009; Tissera & Lydon, 2022). Beyond the social implications, positive and accurate metaperceptions are also associated with greater personal well-being (Carlson, 2016a; Carlson et al, 2011, 2017; Moritz & Roberts, 2018; Mosch & Borkenau, 2016; Tissera et al, 2021).…”