The role of context in information seeking and impression formation

Abstract

This study investigated the amount and type of information sought during impression formation. Under conditions of either ambiguous or specific context, each subject interacted with a confederate whose background was either congruent or incongruent with the specific context. Analyses revealed de finite contextual eßects. More information, especially demographic or role information, was requested in the ambiguous context than in the specific context. Specific evaluations reflected the differences between the confederates’ background while overall evaluations did not discriminate as well. These results are interpreted as supporting a dvelopmental theory of acquaintanceship in which information seeking is integral to uncertainty reduction in interpersonal interaction.