The Juncture of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Knowledge: Self-Certainty and Interpersonal Congruence

Abstract

It is proposed that when targets are especially certain of their self-views, their interaction partners will be especially likely to develop impressions of them that are consistent with these self-views. Two studies supported this prediction by demonstrating that, for self-views about which targets were highly certain, targets received self-consistent interpersonal appraisals. In contrast, in areas in which the same targets were relatively uncertain of their self-views, the appraisals they received were only weakly related to their self-views. This difference held for judgments of both valenced and nonvalenced traits and for judgments made by both poorly and well-acquainted raters. Potential mediators of interpersonal congruence are discussed, along with the implications of these findings for the accuracy of social perception and for the role of belief investment in self-concept maintenance.