Nice or smart? Task relevance of self-characteristics moderates interpersonal projection

Toma, Claudia; Yzerbyt, Vincent; Corneille, Olivier

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.10.013

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Nonetheless, one might argue that when anticipating cooperating with others, people project differentially as a function of what aspects of the self they deem relevant in a given situation. Indeed, this is what we found in a set of two studies in which we investigated the impact of trait relevance for a specific task on people's projection of their characteristics onto a cooperative partner (Toma, Yzerbyt, & Corneille, 2012). In cooperative situations, participants projected more on task-relevant traits than on task-irrelevant traits.…”

Section: Why Do People Project In Social Dilemmas?supporting

confidence: 64%

Motivational and Contextual Considerations Concerning the Social Projection Hypothesis

Toma

Woltin

2012

Psychological Inquiry

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Section: Why Do People Project In Social Dilemmas?supporting

confidence: 64%

Motivational and Contextual Considerations Concerning the Social Projection Hypothesis

Toma

Woltin

2012

Psychological Inquiry

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“…To control their self-perceived competence, all participants were told that they had scored slightly above the average (allegedlly calculated on a large population aged between 18 and 30 years). They were then asked to pick five prefered activities from a list of 20 (Toma, Yzerbyt, & Corneille, 2012). The purpose of these two tasks (Raven task and choice of activities) was to increase the credibility of the information provided to participants about the target in subsequent steps.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Of Nice and Mean: The Personal Relevance of Others’ Competence Drives Perceptions of Warmth

Carrier

Dompnier

Yzerbyt

2019

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

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Past research shows that when forming an impression of an interdependent person, perceivers are motivated to look for information relevant to their goals and interests. The present experiments examined what happens after this information-seeking stage and showed that the relevance of the target’s attributes for one’s goals and interests drives warmth impressions. Using both a scenario (Experiment 1) and realistic methodologies (Experiment 3), we showed that when the perceiver had to collaborate with a target, the more competent the target, the more perceivers anticipated success and the more the target came across as warm. By contrast, in a competition setting, the competence of the target negatively affected prospects of success and impressions of warmth. Experiment 2 further showed that the target’s competence drove warmth impressions only when perceivers attached a great value to the success of the task, suggesting that these inferences have a motivational underpinning.

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“…These traits became salient probably because low- and high-power people learn through experience that in some social interactions or for some specific tasks, some traits are more important than others. A study by Toma, Yzerbyt, and Corneille (2012) showed that people project more competence than warmth when the task requires intelligence, but more warmth than competence when the task requires sociability. Given that social projection is conceptualized as a cognitive tool (Krueger & Clement, 1994) but also as a motivational mechanism (Toma & Woltin, 2012), the salience of traits is not incompatible with a more motivational explanation for the effect of power on social projection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Power of Projection for Powerless and Powerful People

Toma

Yzerbyt

Corneille

et al. 2017

Social Psychological and Personality Science

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Previous research suggests competing hypotheses regarding the effect of power on social projection. The current research proposes that this effect depends on the characteristics to be projected, namely warmth and competence. In four studies, participants first rated themselves on a list of traits/preferences, they then performed a power manipulation task, and, finally, they rated a target person on the same list. Studies 1 and 2 found that high-power participants projected less than low-power participants on characteristics related to warmth. Studies 3 and 4 revealed an interaction between power and dimensions of judgment such that low-power participants projected less than high-power participants on competence whereas the reverse was found on warmth. The underlying cognitive and motivational mechanisms are discussed. Previous research suggests competing hypotheses regarding the effect of power on social projection. The current research proposes that this effect depends on the characteristics to be projected, namely warmth and competence. In four studies, participants first rated themselves on a list of traits/preferences, they then performed a power manipulation task, and, finally, they rated a target person on the same list. Studies 1 and 2 found that high-power participants projected less than low-power participants on characteristics related to warmth. Studies 3 and 4 revealed an interaction between power and dimensions of judgment such that low-power participants projected less than high-power participants on competence whereas the reverse was found on warmth. The underlying cognitive and motivational mechanisms are discussed.

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Nice or smart? Task relevance of self-characteristics moderates interpersonal projection

Cited by 9 publications

References 39 publications

Motivational and Contextual Considerations Concerning the Social Projection Hypothesis

Motivational and Contextual Considerations Concerning the Social Projection Hypothesis

Of Nice and Mean: The Personal Relevance of Others’ Competence Drives Perceptions of Warmth

The Power of Projection for Powerless and Powerful People

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