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Updated: May 20, 2026

Computational Prediction of Amino Acid Preferences of Potentially Multispecific Peptide-Binding Domains Involved in Protein-Protein Interactions
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The preference for potential.

Zakary L Tormala1, Jayson S Jia, Michael I Norton

  • 1Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, 655 Knight Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ztormala@stanford.edu

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|July 11, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

People often prefer highlighting potential over actual achievement when trying to impress others. This research shows that emphasizing what someone *could* do garners more interest and leads to better evaluations than focusing on past successes.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Behavioral Economics

Background:

  • Individuals often emphasize personal achievements to impress others.
  • This strategy is intuitively appealing but may not be the most effective.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether people prefer potential over actual achievement when evaluating others.
  • To understand the psychological mechanisms driving this preference.

Main Methods:

  • Conducted laboratory and field experiments.
  • Utilized diverse targets including athletes, comedians, and job applicants.
  • Employed various measures like salary allocation, ad clicks, and admission decisions.

Main Results:

  • References to potential (e.g., "could win an award") generated greater interest and processing than references to achievement (e.g., "won an award").
  • This preference for potential led to more favorable reactions and evaluations.
  • The effect was observed across different domains and evaluation metrics.

Conclusions:

  • The potential to achieve can be more appealing than demonstrated achievement.
  • Highlighting future possibilities may be a more effective strategy for impression management than showcasing past successes.