EFFECT OF CONTEXT AND INSTRUCTIONAL SET UPON EVALUATIONS OF PERSONALITY-TRAIT ADJECTIVES

STUDENTS WERE PRESENTED SETS OF 3 ADJECTIVES WHICH VARIED IN FAVORABLENESS AND WERE ASKED TO EVALUATE 1 (TEST) ADJECTIVE IN EACH SET UNDER A VARIETY OF INSTRUCTIONAL CONDITIONS. RESULTS INDICATE THAT WHEN SS WERE ASKED TO RATE THE 3 ADJECTIVES IN EACH SET AS A COLLECTIVE 1ST, SUBSEQUENT EVALUATIONS OF TEST ADJECTIVES INCREASED WITH THE FAVORABLENESS OF THE CONTEXT ADJECTIVES, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SS WERE TOLD THAT THEY DESCRIBED A SINGLE PERSON OR WHETHER THEY WERE RELATED IN ANY WAY OTHER THAN THROUGH THEIR PHYSICAL JUXTAPOSITION. IT WAS TENTATIVELY HYPOTHESIZED THAT WHEN SS ARE ASKED TO EVALUATE A GROUP OF STIMULI, THE RANGE OF STIMULI INCLUDED IN EACH CATEGORY ALONG THE SCALE USED IN MAKING JUDGMENTS INCREASES WITH THE DISPERSION OF STIMULI CONTAINED IN THE GROUP. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).