Related Experiment Videos
Inferences about the authentic self: when do actions say more than mental states?
Joel T Johnson1, Michael D Robinson, Emilie B Mitchell
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA. jtjohnson@ucdavis.edu
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|November 13, 2004
Summary
People believe actions reveal the true self more than mental states when information is limited. However, with more knowledge of chronic tendencies, mental states become more diagnostic of the true self.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Person Perception
Background:
- Understanding the 'true self' is central to social cognition.
- Research has explored how individuals infer personality traits from behavior and internal states.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether observable actions or internal mental states are perceived as more diagnostic of a person's true self.
- To examine how the amount of information available about a target influences these perceptions.
Main Methods:
- Three studies were conducted with 478 undergraduate participants.
- Participants evaluated the diagnosticity of actions versus mental states in revealing the true self under varying information conditions.
Main Results:
- When information was limited, actions were deemed more indicative of the true self than mental states.
- When participants knew about chronic dispositional tendencies, mental states were considered more diagnostic than actions.
- Perceived diagnosticity was partly mediated by beliefs about the stability of actions versus states.
Conclusions:
- People view the true self as private but believe actions of unknown individuals offer key insights.
- The diagnosticity of actions versus mental states in revealing the true self depends on the extent of prior knowledge about the target individual.