Abstract
Seven studies exploring people's tendency to make observer-like attributions about their past and future selves are presented. Studies 1 and 2 showed temporal differences in trait assessments that paralleled the classic actor-observer difference. Study 3 provided evidence against a motivational account of these differences. Studies 4-7 explored underlying mechanisms involving differences in the focus of attention of the sort linked to the classic actor-observer difference. In Study 4, people perceived past and future selves from a more observer-like perspective than present selves. In Studies 5 and 6, manipulating attention to internal states (vs. observable behavior) of past and future selves led people to ascribe fewer traits to those selves. Study 7 showed an inverse relationship for past and present selves between observer-like visual focus and salience of internal information.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 197-209 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Journal of personality and social psychology |
Volume | 90 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2006 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Social Psychology
- Sociology and Political Science
Keywords
- Actor-observer
- Introspection
- Self-perception
- Temporal distance
- Visual perspective