Date of Award

Spring 5-15-2015

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Author's Department

Psychology

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Type

Dissertation

Abstract

It is possible that people, especially those who are well-acquainted, have information about others that goes beyond their own impressions. While previous studies primarily focus on the accuracy of a perceiver's own impressions of a target, they may miss information about the perceiver's knowledge of a target's identity and reputation. The present study is based on the notion that there may be more to knowing a person than having an accurate perception of his/her personality in the traditional sense. From a practical standpoint, it might also be important to know when others' impressions of a close other, such as a friend or co-worker, differ from one's own impressions and to understand the nature of such perceptual discrepancies.

In the current study, two constructs that reflect a relatively novel type of other-knowledge were investigated: knowledge of identity and knowledge of reputation. Specifically, the knowledge of others' perceptions (KOP) model is introduced and used to examine the extent to which well-acquainted friends achieve such knowledge. First, identity accuracy and reputation accuracy were examined (i.e., accurate perceptions of a target's self-views and of how others view the target, respectively). Second, identity insight and reputation insight were examined (i.e., accurate perceptions of a target's self-views and of how others view the target, above and beyond a perceiver's own impressions of the target). Finally, characteristics of the target, perceiver, and dyad were tested as potential moderators to shed light on the circumstances under which knowledge of identity and reputation are likely to occur.

Language

English (en)

Chair and Committee

Joshua J Jackson

Committee Members

Heike Winterheld, Cynthia Cryder, Joseph Goodman

Comments

Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K71G0JFT

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