Personality and Product Preferences

MAR 3503

March 27, 2012

What does a person’s stuff tell you?

• The big questions…

• What possessions, preferences, etc., tell you what a person is like?

• Do they tell you anything at all?• Why might they be useful?

People have beliefs about stuff

• …And what it can reveal about a person– People make judgments based on a person’s musical

tastes (Rentfrow & Gosling, 2009)– People believe that messy people are lower in A & C

but higher in O & N (Harris & Sachau, 2005)– People draw inferences from a person’s appearance

and clothing (Bardack & McAndrew, 1985)– People believe that dogs look like their owners (Roy &

Christenfeld, 2004)– And so on…

People have beliefs about stuff

Do dogs look like their owners?

• Yes! To some extent…• Participants were asked to try to pair up

pictures of dogs and their owners taken at dog parks

• Participants did better than chance…– When they judged purebreds– But not when they judged “mutts”

• People can choose dogs that look like them

Other look-alikes

Alpers et al, 2006

Look-alikes

• Researchers went to a rest stop, and took pictures of 60 drivers and their cars, separately

• Participants attempted to match pictures of cars with pictures of owners

• 68% of the cars were reliably paired with their owners

Implicit egotism

• People like to think positively themselves, and do so automatically

• These feelings influence them to think positively about things simply associated the self

• This happens at a very basic level…– The name letter effect: People like the letters that are

in their name more than the letters that are not (same goes for the numbers in their birthdays)

• …And for more complicated things, too

Implicit egotism

• Half P’s “partners” had a code # that was the P’s birthday

• How much do you look forward to getting to know the partner?

• How much do you think you would like this person?

Class data

Implicit egotism and brands

• People like products whose brand names start with their initials– Stage 1: Implicit egotism (the underlying motive to

self-enhance) endows the name letters with positive valence

– Stage 2: The positive valence gets endowed to the product attributes themselves

Apologizing for initials

Flavorology

Music preferences

• What music do you like to listen to?

• Let’s find out!

Music preferences

Music preferences

Music stereotypes

• Contemporary religious• Country• Classical• Jazz• Rock• Folk• Blues• Heavy metal• Electronic• Soundtracks• Alternative• Pop• Rap• Soul

Most accurate

Least accurate

Room with a cue

• People can make quite accurate inferences about a person’s personality by a brief examination of their personal spaces– Bedrooms• Best at revealing openness, neuroticism and

conscientiousness

– Offices• Best at revealing openness, not useful for judging

agreeableness

Cues that people use, whether or not they

work

When judging… People actually rely on… When they should rely on…

Openness Decorated & cluttered, distinctive, quantity & variety of books, quantity of music, variety of magazines

A space that is distinctive, with a variety of books, magazines, & music. Books on art & poetry, art supplies

Conscientiousness Cheerful & colorfulGood condition, clean, organized, neat, uncluttered, well lit, clothing put away, comfortable. Organized books, music, & stationery

A space that is well lit, uncluttered, organized, neat, & comfortable. Organized books, magazines, & music

Extraversion Decorated and cluttered

Agreeableness Cheerful & colorfulOrganized, neat, clean, clothing put away, good condition, comfortable, inviting

Neuroticism Stale air Inspirational posters

A Field Guide to Bedrooms

When judging… People actually rely on… When they should rely on…

Openness Decorated, cheerful, colorful, inviting, cluttered, full, distinctive, stylish, unconventional, varied books

Distinctive, stylish, unconventional, varied books

Conscientiousness Good condition, clean, organized, neat, uncluttered, comfortable. Inviting, large, conventional

Good condition, clean, organized, neat, uncluttered

Extraversion Decorated, cheerful, colorful, cluttered, full, inviting, distinctive, stylish, modern, unconventional

Decorated, cheerful, inviting

Agreeableness Inviting High-traffic location

Neuroticism Uninviting Decorated (in calming ways)

A Field Guide to Office Spaces

Online personality

• Three questions about websites (or any item that might convey personality):– 1. Do personal websites convey a coherent

message about the owner? (Consensus)– 2. Is the message conveyed by websites accurate?

(Accuracy)– 3. Is the message conveyed by websites overly

positive? (Impression management)

Vazire & Gosling, 2004

Online personality

• The answers to the questions are…– 1. Consensus: Yes! People do agree on the personality

of the owner of a website– 2. Accuracy: Yes! People can be quite accurate at

gauging personality from a website—even an individual person is often accurate• Openness is the easiest trait to distinguish• Not due to sex or age stereotypes

– 3. Impression management: Yes! People do emphasize more flattering aspects of their personality• Extraversion and agreeableness tend to be enhanced

Online personality

FFM = Big Five

Online personality

• Are Facebook profiles accurate? Or do they reflect an idealized self?

• They’re accurate!– Actual personality is a much better predictor of

profile content than ideal personality– Accuracy is highest for extraversion and openness,

lowest for neuroticism

Back et al., 2010

Where you live

Rentfrow et al., 2008

Where you live

Rentfrow et al., 2008

Where you live

• Why? Where do these regional differences stem from?

Rentfrow et al., 2008

Cat People and Dog People

Dog people 46%

Cat people 12%

Both 28%

Neither 15%

Dog people15% more extraverted

13% more agreeable

11% more conscientious

Cat people12% more neurotic

11% more open

What causes what?

• The data by nature is correlational– Do personalities cause certain preferences?– Do preferences lead to personalities?– Is there a third factor?– An intervening factor (a moderator)?

Can you spot a poseur?• Three categories of personality clues:

– Category 1: Easiest to manipulate. These are deliberate signals, where the signal is the goal of the clue. Ex. Bumper stickers

– Category 2: In the middle. These are deliberate modifications of your environment, but signaling is not the purpose. Ex. Creating a comfortable living space

– Category 3: Hardest to manipulate. These are inadvertent signals, byproducts of our behavior. Ex. Dirty dishes in the sink

Controllability of impressions

For more information…

Summary

• People have strong beliefs about what we can read about a person from the things they do and own

• Some of these things are actually highly predictive of a person’s true personality

• This arises for several reasons– Heritability, choice, etc.

Next time…

• What are some useful ways to segment a population?