Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2024 Dec;50(12):1725-1736. doi: 10.1177/01461672231180150. Epub 2023 Jul 6.
People tend to evaluate themselves as better than they actually are. Such enhanced positive evaluation occurs not only for the self but also for close others. We extend the exploration of enhanced evaluation of close others to that of strangers. We predict that when individuals consider becoming friends with a stranger, their preference for a pleasant physical experience will drive an enhanced evaluation of that person. In two experiments, participants who considered friendship with a stranger evaluated the stranger as looking, sounding, and smelling better than how control participants evaluated them. The amount of time participants expected to spend with the stranger predicted their evaluation (Studies 1-2). In a large-scale third study, using various target stimuli, we found that when participants have an interest in a friendship but then are unable to physically spend time together, the enhanced-evaluation effect is weaker compared with when they could spend time together.
人们往往会高估自己，这种自我美化的倾向不仅存在于自身评价中，也存在于对亲近他人的评价中。我们将对亲近他人的美化评价延伸到了对陌生人的评价。我们预测，当个体考虑与陌生人成为朋友时，他们对愉快身体体验的偏好会促使他们对这个人产生更高的评价。在两个实验中，考虑与陌生人交朋友的参与者会认为这个陌生人看起来、听起来和闻起来都比对照组的参与者更好。参与者预计与陌生人共度的时间长短可以预测他们的评价（研究 1-2）。在一项大规模的第三项研究中，我们使用了各种目标刺激，发现当参与者对友谊感兴趣但无法进行实际的相处时，与能够实际相处相比，这种增强的评价效应会减弱。
