Interpersonal engagement in social perception: the consequences of getting into the action

This study examined the effects on person perception of varying levels of observer-actor engagement. Subjects observed a male actor (confederate) responding to interview questions on a prerecorded videotape under three conditions of interpersonal engagement. Subjects in a detachment condition knew that they were simply observing a tape; subjects in an anticipated interaction condition knew that they were observing a tape but expected to interact subsequently with the actor; subjects in an actual interaction condition thought that they were interacting with the actor over a video hook-up. Half of the subjects in these conditions observed the actor preface his responses with a positive comment regarding the interviewer's question (positive actor); the other half observed the actor preface his responses with a negative comment (negative actor). It was predicted that anticipated interaction observers would demonstrate hopefulness by attributing the positive actor's behavior dispositionally and the negative actor's behavior situationally but that actual interaction observers would show the opposite causal attribution pattern in an attempt to protect or enhance their own self-esteem. Results confirmed these predictions.