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Relational versus structural goals prioritize different social information.

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People prioritize learning about others' warmth, but goals shape focus. Relational goals emphasize sociability, while structural goals highlight beliefs and competence in social perception.

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Area of Science:

  • Social Psychology
  • Social Cognition

Background:

  • People assess others on fundamental dimensions, with priorities influenced by current goals.
  • Competing social-evaluation models propose different dimensions for understanding social groups.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the dimensions perceivers spontaneously prioritize when evaluating unknown social groups.
  • To examine how relational versus structural goals moderate these dimensional priorities.

Main Methods:

  • Five studies involving 2,268 participants were conducted.
  • Participants' interest in various dimensions (Warmth, Competence, Beliefs) was assessed under different goal conditions.

Main Results:

  • Participants consistently prioritized learning about targets' Warmth.
  • Relational goals increased interest in Sociability (a facet of Warmth).
  • Structural goals increased interest in Beliefs and Competence-related facets.

Conclusions:

  • Social perception priorities are goal-dependent, reconciling discrepancies between social-evaluation models.
  • Understanding how goals shape information gathering is crucial for social cognition research.