The effect of changes in interpersonal closeness on person perception

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in person perception due to changes in interpersonal closeness. Immediately after beginning the first semester, four female university freshmen belonging to a student club were asked: 1) to tell what they thought of or knew about three fellow club members (stimulus persons; SPs); and 2) to indicate liking for SPs, and rate them in terms of factors related to interpersonal attraction. The interviews, with the same interviewees and SPs, were repeated seven more times during the following six months. Content of their statements for each SP was analyzed, and results indicated: 1) Liking for SPs was positively correlated with the frequency of statements concerning SPs' disposition, but negatively with that of SP's objective information; 2) the more distant the subject-SP relationship became after initial closeness, the more the frequency of statements about SP's objective information, and the less that of SPs' disposition. It was suggested that self other relationship had an effect on person perception.