Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


osu1308080401.pdf (631.08 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Reflections on the Self and Others: The Influence of Clarity on Interpersonal Judgments

Guerrettaz, Jean
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1308080401

Abstract Details

2011, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Psychology.
Research on fluency in judgments (specifically, “ease of retrieval effects”) shows that subjective experiences of difficulty during recall can override or swamp the actual objective content of the information, yielding surprising and counterintuitive judgments. When examples come readily and easily to mind, they are perceived as more available; consequently, people judge the related event or construct as more likely, frequent, or compelling. By contrast, when examples do not come readily to mind – are difficult to retrieve – they are experienced as less available and the related event or construct is judged as less likely, frequent, or compelling. To date, little research has been centered on the potential moderating impact of individual differences. The present research addresses this gap, exploring how clarity about the self (or a relationship) affects the information one attends to during a retrieval task. The term Self-concept Clarity refers to the degree to which a person’s various self-images are clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable (Campbell, Trapnell, Heine, Katz, Lavallee, & Lehman, 1996). More bluntly, self-concept clarity is the degree to which a person believes he or she knows and understands the self. In the present work, clarity concerning another is operationalized as 1) the length of a romantic relationship and 2) the degree of psychological inclusion of the other in the self (i.e., self-other overlap; Aron, Aron, & Smollan, 1992). Three studies were designed to test how these moderating variables play a role in guiding a person in elaborating on the self or a romantic partner. Specifically, the studies were designed to examine how self-concept clarity, relationship duration, and self-other overlap influence whether people attend to the subjective experience more or less than the objective content of information about one’s self or about another. Findings support the notion that ease of retrieval effects are determined not just by the circumstances of the task, but also by the unique characteristics of the person.
Robert Arkin, PhD (Advisor)
Lisa Libby, PhD (Committee Member)
Jennifer Crocker, PhD (Committee Member)
69 p.
Behavioral Sciences; Personal Relationships; Personality Psychology; Psychology; Social Psychology
self; self-concept clarity; self-esteem; relationships

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Guerrettaz, J. (2011). Reflections on the Self and Others: The Influence of Clarity on Interpersonal Judgments [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1308080401

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Guerrettaz, Jean. Reflections on the Self and Others: The Influence of Clarity on Interpersonal Judgments. 2011. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1308080401.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Guerrettaz, Jean. "Reflections on the Self and Others: The Influence of Clarity on Interpersonal Judgments." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1308080401

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1308080401
1,570
© 2011, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.