Physical Constancy and Trait Attribution: Attenuation of the Primacy Effect
Seventy-two high school students viewed videotapes in which a confederate's behavior appeared to change markedly over a nominal six-month period. Half the students also saw the confederate's physical appearance (clothes, hairstyle) change significantly. Students observing physical change described the confederate's personality in a manner congruent with the behavior changes observed; students in the physical constancy condition, however, were significantly less likely to revise their trait ascriptions. This finding is discussed in terms of Mischel's suggestion that physical constancy contributes to the persistence of trait attribution processes.