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Barnum meets the computer: a critical test.

J Baillargeon¹, C Danis

¹Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada.

Journal of Personality Assessment

|August 1, 1984

Summary

This study found that people accepted favorable personality feedback more than unfavorable feedback, regardless of whether a computer or human delivered it. Favorable feedback was also seen as more personally relevant.

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Social Psychology
Cognitive Psychology

Background:

Understanding factors influencing personality feedback acceptance is crucial in psychology.
Previous research suggests assessment methods and feedback valence may impact user perception.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the influence of assessment device type (computer vs. human) on the acceptance of personality feedback.
To examine how feedback favorability (favorable vs. unfavorable) interacts with assessment device type.
To assess the perceived appropriateness of personality feedback for oneself versus others.

Main Methods:

Forty-four French-speaking participants completed a fictitious personality questionnaire.
Participants evaluated the appropriateness of provided personality feedback.
Feedback was delivered via computer or by a human assessor.

Main Results:

No significant interaction was found between assessment device type and feedback favorability.
Favorable personality feedback was consistently accepted more than unfavorable feedback across all conditions.
Participants rated favorable feedback as more personally appropriate than feedback for people in general.

Conclusions:

The valence of personality feedback (favorable vs. unfavorable) is a stronger determinant of acceptance than the assessment device used.
Individuals exhibit a positivity bias, readily accepting favorable self-descriptions.
This suggests a self-enhancement motive influences the interpretation of personality assessments.

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