Abstract
Research on the English and the Japanese languages has shown that impression formation and attribution processes can be modeled as stemming from a desire to maximize affective coherence in linguistic representations of social events. This article describes a replication in the German language, simultaneously uncovering subtle cultural distinctions. Subjects (N = 1,905) rated 376 nouns, 393 verbs, 331 adjectives, 128 combinations of nouns and adjectives, and 100 short descriptions of social interaction on the three dimensions of the semantic differential (evaluation, potency, and activity). The data were used to estimate a set of regression equations that can be used to model impression formation and attribution. Sample applications of the model demonstrate its ability to predict the outcome of textbook classics in experimental social psychology.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
