Does the Motive Matter? The Role of Intended Effects in Characterizing Actions and Inferring Personality Traits
type: CreativeWork
description: A functional model is proposed to explain the process by which perceivers characterize an action as trait-relevant (e.g., that is a kind action), and infer a trait based on this action (e.g., that is a kind person). The primary purpose of this model is to explore the possibility that actions are characterized as trait-relevant based on the intended effects of the action, and that an action's intended effects influences trait-inferences drawn about the actor. The traits investigated in this study include those relevant to warmth, competence, and environmental effects. The results suggest that intended effects influence both action characterization and trait-inferences across all traits investigated, F(1, 113) = 189.79, p < .001, partial eta-squared = .627. The implications of these results are discussed in light of formative or descriptive models of personality and process-oriented models of personality.
abstract: A functional model is proposed to explain the process by which perceivers characterize an action as trait-relevant (e.g., that is a kind action), and infer a trait based on this action (e.g., that is a kind person). The primary purpose of this model is to explore the possibility that actions are characterized as trait-relevant based on the intended effects of the action, and that an action's intended effects influences trait-inferences drawn about the actor. The traits investigated in this study include those relevant to warmth, competence, and environmental effects. The results suggest that intended effects influence both action characterization and trait-inferences across all traits investigated, F(1, 113) = 189.79, p < .001, partial eta-squared = .627. The implications of these results are discussed in light of formative or descriptive models of personality and process-oriented models of personality.
author: Costello, Cory Kennedy
language: en
keywords: Action Judgments
date published: 2014
date modified: 2026-07-27T22:01:39Z
provider: Wake Forest University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Wake Forest University

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/10339/39273