Self-knowledge and social inference: II. The diagnosticity of cognitive/affective and behavioral data

Explored the social perceptions of 60 undergraduate observers exposed to tape-recorded interviews in which 20 undergraduate speakers described themselves, either emphasizing past thoughts and feelings, past behaviors, or whatever mix of these speakers perceived as appropriate. Observers' subsequent impressions of speakers were measured using Q-sort ratings and various affective and behavioral predictions, which both speakers and speakers' close friends (n = 20) had previously completed. It was found that the cognitive/affective interviews produced more accurate social impressions, or at least impressions that were more in accord with speakers' self-assessments prior to the interviews and with the assessments made by their close friends, than did the behavioral or the mixed interviews. This greater congruence was shown to result both from real and from stereotyped accuracy. The relevance of these findings to theory and research on self-perception is discussed. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).