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Publication
From people to places: The role of perceived personality in forming impressions of tourist destinations
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Vasta investigação sobre perceção de pessoas mostra que, ao aprender e formar
impressões avaliativas sobre os outros, a informação recebida é codificada organizada de forma
não aleatória. Neste processo, a personalidade – sobre a qual partilhamos um conhecimento
implícito – funciona como um modelo ou princípio organizador. A investigação sobre atitudes,
incluindo as relativas a objetos não sociais, foca, por outro lado, o resultado da avaliação e as
circunstâncias em que esse resultado pode ser alterado. Este, e não a organização da informação,
tem sido o foco dos estudos sobre objetos que não pessoas, ou diretamente associados a pessoas.
No estudo de como percebemos outros objetos, tanto quanto sabemos, não existem esforços
significativos para compreender como a informação recebida sobre o mesmo, com objetivos
avaliativos, é estruturada ou organizada. Este projeto situa-se no meio destas perspetivas,
abordando, através de indicadores específicos, se e como estruturamos a informação sobre um
objeto não humano face ao qual estabelecemos uma atitude. A existir tal organização, esperamos
que esta seja gerida pela personalidade percebida desse objeto (caso esta seja comprovada).
Consequentemente, abordamos um objeto não-humano que é percecionado como tendo uma
personalidade semelhante à humana (isto é, ao qual atribuímos traços humanos): o destino
turístico. Em proximidade com a personalidade humana, também a personalidade do destino é
dimensional, variando no grau em que é considerada excitante, convivial, ou sincera.
Com vista aos nossos objetivos, foram desenvolvidos três conjuntos de estudos. O
primeiro expande a literatura sobre personalidade de destino turísticos, até agora baseada
exclusivamente em traços, ao avaliar e validar, em quatro estudos, quais as características de um
destino que estão associadas às suas três dimensões de personalidade.
Os estudos seguintes abordam o processo de formação de impressões de destinos
turísticos, recorrendo a teorias e paradigmas metodológicos de perceção de pessoas. Nestes,
utiliza-se a dimensão (traço) excitante, e abordam-se indicadores específicos de que esta
dimensão subjaz a organização mnésica de informação relativa ao objeto: os outputs de tarefas
de memória que podem sugerir a presença de efeitos de incongruência e de padrões de
probabilidades condicionais de recordações emparelhadas. Nestes estudos focam-se objetos de
diferente complexidade: um "destino" geral, no Estudo 1; um bairro, no Estudo 2, seguindo
literatura que demonstra que um objeto menos complexo e mais homogéneo favorece a
ocorrência do efeito de incongruência (por exemplo, alvos unitários, como pessoas, vs. múltiplos,
grupos). Os resultados dos ambos os estudos sugerem, porém, uma organização aparentemente
baseada não no traço, mas sim na valência da informação recebida – uma recordação preferencial
de informação pouco excitante que, coincidentemente, tem valência negativa (i.e., um efeito de
negatividade).
O terceiro e último conjunto de estudos procura perceber o papel da valência e conteúdo
do traço, distinguindo-os. Assim, os estudos replicam o paradigma experimental dos estudos
anteriores, eliminando variações percebidas na valência ao utilizar informação tanto excitante
como não excitante, que demonstrámos ser percebida como igualmente positiva. Sob valência
constante, a evidência empírica dá relevo ao traço; a personalidade percebida exerce um efeito ao
induzir uma preferência pela recordação (e subsequentes probabilidades condicionais de
recordação emparelhada) dos itens mais informativos do traço. Identificamos nestes resultados
um efeito de informatividade, já patente na literatura de formação de impressões. Em suma, os principais resultados dos estudos realizados indicam que a personalidade
percebida de um objeto, em conjunto com a valência de informação recebida, pode guiar a
organização da informação sobre um objeto não humano durante a formação de atitudes. As
semelhanças com a perceção de pessoas, bem como os pontos de divergência, são discutidos
detalhadamente ao longo do projeto, assim como as várias possibilidades para investigação
futura que poderá usar este trabalho como ponto de partida.
Vast research in person perception has shown that, when learning about and forming evaluative impressions of others, incoming information is encoded and organized in non-random ways. In this process, personality – of which we share implicit knowledge – acts as a model or organizing principle. Research on attitudes, including those toward non-social objects, conversely focuses on the outcome of evaluation and the circumstances under which it may change. This outcome, rather than the organization of information, has been the primary focus in studies of objects that are neither people nor directly associated with people. In the study of how we perceive other objects, to our knowledge, there have been no significant efforts to understand how incoming information, when received with an evaluative goal, is structured or organized. This project sits in the middle of these perspectives, exploring, through specific indicators, whether and how we structure information about a non-human object towards which we establish an attitude. If such organization exists, we expect it to be guided by the object’s perceived personality (provided that such perception is demonstrated). Consequently, we examine a nonhuman object perceived as having a human-like personality (i.e., to which we attribute human traits): the tourist destination. Much like human personality, destination personality is dimensional, varying in the degree to which it is considered exciting, convivial, or sincere. In pursuit of our goals, three sets of studies were developed. The first expands the literature on destination personality, so far exclusively trait-based, by assessing and validating, across four studies, which characteristics of a destination are associated with its three personality dimensions. The subsequent studies address the process of impression formation for tourist destinations, applying theories and methodological paradigms from person perception. These studies focus on the exciting dimension (trait) and explore specific indicators that this dimension underlies the mnemonic organization of object-related information: recall outputs that may suggest the presence of incongruence effects and patterns of conditional recall probabilities for paired items. These studies examine objects of differing complexity: a general "destination" in Study 1, and a "neighborhood" in Study 2, following literature suggesting that less complex, more homogeneous objects favor the occurrence of an incongruence effect (e.g., unitary targets, such as individuals, vs. multiple entities, such as groups). However, results from both studies suggest an organization seemingly based not on the trait itself, but rather on the valence of the received information—specifically, a preferential recall for unexciting information, which, coincidentally, has negative valence (i.e., a negativity effect). The third and final set of studies seeks to disentangle the role of valence and trait content. These studies replicate the experimental paradigm of the previous ones while eliminating perceived valence variations by using both exciting and unexciting information that we demonstrate to be perceived as equally positive. Under constant valence, empirical evidence highlights the role of the trait; perceived personality exerts an effect by inducing a preference in recall (and subsequent conditional probabilities of paired recall) for the most informative items within the trait. We identify in these results an informativeness effect, previously documented in impression formation literature.In sum, our main findings indicate that an object’s perceived personality, in conjunction with the valence of incoming information, can guide the organization of information about a non-human object during attitude formation. Similarities to person perception, as well as points of divergence, are discussed in detail throughout the project, along with various possibilities for future research that may use this work as a starting point.
Vast research in person perception has shown that, when learning about and forming evaluative impressions of others, incoming information is encoded and organized in non-random ways. In this process, personality – of which we share implicit knowledge – acts as a model or organizing principle. Research on attitudes, including those toward non-social objects, conversely focuses on the outcome of evaluation and the circumstances under which it may change. This outcome, rather than the organization of information, has been the primary focus in studies of objects that are neither people nor directly associated with people. In the study of how we perceive other objects, to our knowledge, there have been no significant efforts to understand how incoming information, when received with an evaluative goal, is structured or organized. This project sits in the middle of these perspectives, exploring, through specific indicators, whether and how we structure information about a non-human object towards which we establish an attitude. If such organization exists, we expect it to be guided by the object’s perceived personality (provided that such perception is demonstrated). Consequently, we examine a nonhuman object perceived as having a human-like personality (i.e., to which we attribute human traits): the tourist destination. Much like human personality, destination personality is dimensional, varying in the degree to which it is considered exciting, convivial, or sincere. In pursuit of our goals, three sets of studies were developed. The first expands the literature on destination personality, so far exclusively trait-based, by assessing and validating, across four studies, which characteristics of a destination are associated with its three personality dimensions. The subsequent studies address the process of impression formation for tourist destinations, applying theories and methodological paradigms from person perception. These studies focus on the exciting dimension (trait) and explore specific indicators that this dimension underlies the mnemonic organization of object-related information: recall outputs that may suggest the presence of incongruence effects and patterns of conditional recall probabilities for paired items. These studies examine objects of differing complexity: a general "destination" in Study 1, and a "neighborhood" in Study 2, following literature suggesting that less complex, more homogeneous objects favor the occurrence of an incongruence effect (e.g., unitary targets, such as individuals, vs. multiple entities, such as groups). However, results from both studies suggest an organization seemingly based not on the trait itself, but rather on the valence of the received information—specifically, a preferential recall for unexciting information, which, coincidentally, has negative valence (i.e., a negativity effect). The third and final set of studies seeks to disentangle the role of valence and trait content. These studies replicate the experimental paradigm of the previous ones while eliminating perceived valence variations by using both exciting and unexciting information that we demonstrate to be perceived as equally positive. Under constant valence, empirical evidence highlights the role of the trait; perceived personality exerts an effect by inducing a preference in recall (and subsequent conditional probabilities of paired recall) for the most informative items within the trait. We identify in these results an informativeness effect, previously documented in impression formation literature.In sum, our main findings indicate that an object’s perceived personality, in conjunction with the valence of incoming information, can guide the organization of information about a non-human object during attitude formation. Similarities to person perception, as well as points of divergence, are discussed in detail throughout the project, along with various possibilities for future research that may use this work as a starting point.
Description
Tese apresentada no ISPA - Instituto Universitário para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Psicologia na área de especialização de Psicologia Social.
Keywords
Impression formation Attitudes Personality Memory Cognitive organization Destination personality Impression formation Attitudes Personality Memory Cognitive organization Destination personality