Components Of Implicit Personality Theory

1173 Words5 Pages
1. What is implicit personality theory? This theory is a set of assumptions that a person makes, often unconsciously, about the correlations between personality traits, including such widespread expectations of impression positively correlated with generosity, so that a person who is cold is perceived as being likely to be serious. Some implicit personality theories also include correlations between psychological and dimensions of impressions. Additionally, specific patterns and biases an individual uses when forming impressions based on a limited amount of initial information about an unfamiliar person. While on the other hand, there are parts of the impression formation process that are context dependent, individuals also tend to exhibit certain tendencies in forming impressions variety of situations. There is not one single implicit personality theory used, but different approaches the task of impression formation in his or her own unique way. Moreover, there are some components of implicit personality theories that are consistent across individuals, or within groups of similar individuals. These components are of particular interest to social psychologists because they have the potential to give insight into what impression one person will form of another (Millon, 2003). 2. Explain how a person would use this theory in order to enhance his or her impression management. An individual can use the implicit theory for both impression management and impression formation