How a feeling of incompleteness affects interpersonal evaluations

Abstract

A feeling of incompleteness in interpersonal relationships is known to hinder the formation and maintenance of firm relationships, which in turn leads to negative evaluations. However, the mechanism by which the feeling of incompleteness affects interpersonal evaluations is unclear. In this study, we investigated the possibility that incompleteness caused by a lack of information may affect later interpersonal evaluations through misattribution of attention and emotions. In Study 1, participants who read an incomplete story reported greater interest in the author, compared to participants who read a complete story. In Study 2, participants who read a negative incomplete story evaluated face photos unrelated to the story more negatively, compared to participants who read a neutral incomplete story or a negative complete story. These results suggest that incompleteness not only raises interest in others, but also show different effects on interpersonal evaluations, depending on the valence attached to the feeling of incompleteness.