Attributions of Personality Based on Physical Appearance, Speech, and Handwriting

The effect of facial appearance, speech style, and handwriting on personality attributions was examined. The source consistency hypothesis predicted that an actor will receive consistent attributions across all three types of information. The differential information hypothesis predicted that different personality dimensions are used to differentiate the actors within each type of information. In a 3 X 6 multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) design, each judge rated a single actor/information combination on scales of social evaluation, intellectual evaluation, activity, potency, emotionality, and sociability. Photographs of actors were differentiated primarily in terms of positive social and intellectual evaluation; the speech of actors was differentiated primarily along an activity dimension; and the writing of the actors was differentiated primarily along a potency dimension. This study supported the differential information hypothesis and suggested that these three types of information about an actor may lead judges to use different personality dimensions. Person perception studies have shown that observers readily make attributions about the personality traits, abilities, and emotions of other persons based on limited information. Three types of information have been extensively studied: facial appearance, expressive noncontent characteristics of speech (such as pitch, tone, and tempo), and handwriting. Numerous studies have reported that facial features and expression influence attributions about the attractiveness, pleasantness, intellectual and social skills, and mental health of the target person (Adams, 1977; Berscheid & Walster, 1974; Bull & Stevens, 1979; Dion, Ber