Choosing Partners and Activities: The Social Perceiver Decides to Mix It Up

Abstract

Social perceivers take an active part in shaping their own outcomes by deciding which other persons to interact with, and which situations to enter. To examine the cognitive processes that mediate these choices of interaction partner and activity, we offered students a choice among various partner–activity combinations. Of six potential partners, one was described as similar in personality to the prototype of the person best suited for each of three potential activities, and one was described as equally likable but dissimilar to the prototype. Subjects displayed a marked sensitivity to partner prototypicality, distinguishing in their preferences between the prototypical and unprototypical partners, but only when matched with the specific activity for which these prospective partners were well and poorly suited. In addition, subjects who felt relatively less comfortable across a variety of everyday situations were more likely to draw distinctions between prototypical and unprototypical partners, as were subjects who were themselves well matched to the personality prototypical for a specific activity. These results, in concert with previous research, imply that social perceivers (1) have an excellent grasp of the personality traits that are likely or unlikely to confer success in different activities; (2) use these “activity prototypes” to control their own social interactions; and (3) integrate this information with self-knowledge in a way that suggests considerable cognitive competence.