Multidimensional generality of an integration model for personality impression formation.

A primary concern of the present study was a quantitative test of the dimensional generality of the weighted-average model of personality impression formation. Japanese college students were asked to make both likableness and intellectual judgments of stimulus persons described by two or four equal-valued personality adjectives. The two kinds of judgment both showed a strong set-size effect, with larger sets yielding more extreme responses. The results of the set-size analysis indicate that the weight parameters were constant across set sizes within each of the two response dimensions, thereby providing evidence to support the generality of the model on a multidimensional basis. The results also give some support to the cross-cultural generality of the weighted-average model.