Student “Gullibility”: A Systematic Replication

Lattal, Kennon A.; Lattal, Alice D.

doi:10.1080/00223980.1967.10544935

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Lowery, 1977). Among them are the pro®le's desirability or favourability (Collins, Dmitruk and Ranney, 1977;Mosher, 1965;Snyder and Shenkel, 1976;Sundberg, 1955;Weisberg, 1970) and the vagueness or generality of the statements (Carrier, 1963;Gauquelin, 1969;Lattal and Lattal, 1967;Manning, 1968;Merrens and Richards, 1970;O'Dell, 1972;Snyder and Larson, 1972;Stagner, 1958;Sundberg, 1955). Important elements that should also be taken into account are attitude and self-perception changeability (Hovland and Janis, 1959) that appears to be related to uncertainty and low self-worth (Baumgardner, 1990;Gollob and Dittes, 1965;Swann, Pelham and Chidester, 1988).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-knowledge and social desirability of personality traits

Meleddu

Guicciardi

1998

Eur. J. Pers.

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Research into the self-concept has shown that self-knowledge is aected by factors such as trait desirability, trait vagueness, and self-variability. Among these, social desirability appears to play a prominent role. In a multidimensional view of the self, however, several studies indicate that in special conditions people show adequate selfknowledge in speci®c personality dimensions. The present study tests this with respect to extraversion and anxiety predisposition on a sample of 160 late adolescents. The main results con®rm the prominent in¯uence of social desirability, but they also provide support for the hypothesis of the speci®city of self-perception. Despite a common pattern, the eects of desirability appeared, to some extent, to be less strong for anxiety than for extraversion. Several possible interpretations of this ®nding are discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-knowledge and social desirability of personality traits

Meleddu

Guicciardi

1998

Eur. J. Pers.

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“…Though the Barnum effect has been related to many variables, including subject traits such as anxiety and introspection (Carrier, 1963;Primavera, Rochman & Reynolds, 1975), situational demand characteristics (Snyder, Shenkel & Lowery, 1977), and the impressively technical nature of psychological tests (Lattal & Lattal, 1967), we suggest that the phenomenon fundamentally involves the ubiquitous nature of human credulity and non-evidential thinking (e.g., Gray, 1986), rather than these more specific factors. It is significant that the subjects' satisfaction was equally high for a simple list (whether true or false) of their traits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Computer Assessment of Personality: A Demonstration of Gullibility

Standing¹,

Keays²

1986

soc behav pers

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Subjects (N = 64) were shown a list of 66 personality traits, and indicated whether or not they possessed each one. Three weeks later, they were shown their trait list, another subject's trait list, a computerized personality profile derived from their traits, or a profile derived from another subject's traits. In each case they rated how well their personality was described by the trait list or profile, on three seven point scales. It was found that the spurious personality descriptions (both traits and profiles) were rated as highly for accuracy as were the genuine descriptions. Interpretive personality profiles were rated no higher than simple lists of trait names. It is argued that these results should be attributed to general gullibility rather than, e.g., the impressiveness of psychological tests.

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“…Previous studies have tended to portray people as uncritically accepting of feedback based on invalid tests (Collins, Dmitruk, & Ranney, 1977;Delprato, 1975;Jackson, O'Dell, & Olson, 1982;Lattal & Lattal, 1967). It appears, however, that people who perceive themselves as relatively less sophisticated are sensitive to validity information when they evaluate their test results.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dana and Graham (1976) stated that research indicates that "college students are gullible" (p. 465) and easily deceived, perhaps because they "trust our motives" (p. 464). Lattal and Lattal (1967) suggested that college students are "awed" (p. 321) by the magical qualities of personality tests and, therefore, would take them (and the resulting interpretations) too seriously. The primary question is whether the naivete of these subjects with regard to tests and Barnum feedback provides a built-in bias in favor of acceptance.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effects of perceived sophistication and test validity on acceptance of generalized feedback

DiClementi

Handelsman

1987

J. Clin. Psychol.

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Forty‐eight undergraduate females completed a psychological test after they had received instructions that concerned the validity of the test and their sophistication as test takers. Subjects were told that the test was either valuable or worthless in assessing personalities. Subjects also were told that they were either experienced or naive with regard to tests and psychology. Subjects received identical Barnum interpretations, which they rated for accuracy. While the high sophistication subjects rated the interpretation as accurate across validity conditions, the low sophistication subjects rated the interpretation according to the validity instructions they received. These results run counter to previous assertions that validity and sophistication have little or no effect on acceptance of generalized personality feedback.

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Student “Gullibility”: A Systematic Replication

Cited by 17 publications

References 3 publications

Self-knowledge and social desirability of personality traits

Self-knowledge and social desirability of personality traits

Computer Assessment of Personality: A Demonstration of Gullibility

Effects of perceived sophistication and test validity on acceptance of generalized feedback

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