As people form impressions of others, they often look around for confirmation of their own beliefs. Indeed, individuals validate their perceptions of reality through the social verification from others, thereby reinforcing a sense of shared reality (Hardin & Higgins, 1996). However, the impact of social verification on the development of impressions through communication with a partner and its relationship to shared reality remains poorly understood. In two experiments (one was pre-registered), 541 participants worked with a fictitious online partner. They had to make choices from ambiguous photos and profiles of applicants with the goal of recruiting for a job. Their choices were verified or contradicted by the partner. To measure the influence of verification on impressions, we then developed a 2AFC task in which each candidate photo was presented with one positive and one negative job-related trait. Participants were asked to quickly select the trait that best described each candidate. We used signal detection theory to analyze this task’s results. We also measured the subjective sense of shared reality with the partner (SR-T, Schmalbach et al., 2019). We hypothesized that receiving verification (vs. no verification) should increase SR-T. In addition, receiving verification should increase the strength of impressions about the hired (vs. not hired) candidate relative to no verification. We found support for our hypotheses: verification increased both SR-T and the tendency to attribute positive traits to the hired (vs. not hired) candidate (i.e., .28 < discriminability d' < .31), whereas no verification increased ambiguity (.03 < d' < .13). Critically, discriminability increased with SR-T. Therefore, impressions of the candidates became less ambiguous when they were verified compared to when they were not verified, and this was related to the established shared reality. These results suggest that shared reality is created by social verification and that it shapes impressions
Masi, M., Echterhoff, G. (2024). The role of social verification in shaping social impressions. Intervento presentato a: XVIII Congresso Nazionale della Sezione di Psicologia Sociale dell’Associazione Italiana di Psicologia, Torino, Italia.
The role of social verification in shaping social impressions
Masi, M
Primo
;
2024
Abstract
As people form impressions of others, they often look around for confirmation of their own beliefs. Indeed, individuals validate their perceptions of reality through the social verification from others, thereby reinforcing a sense of shared reality (Hardin & Higgins, 1996). However, the impact of social verification on the development of impressions through communication with a partner and its relationship to shared reality remains poorly understood. In two experiments (one was pre-registered), 541 participants worked with a fictitious online partner. They had to make choices from ambiguous photos and profiles of applicants with the goal of recruiting for a job. Their choices were verified or contradicted by the partner. To measure the influence of verification on impressions, we then developed a 2AFC task in which each candidate photo was presented with one positive and one negative job-related trait. Participants were asked to quickly select the trait that best described each candidate. We used signal detection theory to analyze this task’s results. We also measured the subjective sense of shared reality with the partner (SR-T, Schmalbach et al., 2019). We hypothesized that receiving verification (vs. no verification) should increase SR-T. In addition, receiving verification should increase the strength of impressions about the hired (vs. not hired) candidate relative to no verification. We found support for our hypotheses: verification increased both SR-T and the tendency to attribute positive traits to the hired (vs. not hired) candidate (i.e., .28 < discriminability d' < .31), whereas no verification increased ambiguity (.03 < d' < .13). Critically, discriminability increased with SR-T. Therefore, impressions of the candidates became less ambiguous when they were verified compared to when they were not verified, and this was related to the established shared reality. These results suggest that shared reality is created by social verification and that it shapes impressions
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