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Social dimensions of judgments of integrity in public figures
Author(s) -
Sparks Paul,
Farsides Tom
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1348/014466610x520140
Subject(s) - sincerity , psychology , social psychology , epithet , perception , social perception , relation (database) , linguistics , neuroscience , philosophy , database , computer science
The notion of ‘integrity’ remains relatively unexplored in the social psychological literature, despite it being central to some important theoretical perspectives (notably, self‐affirmation theory). It is an eminently positive – and well‐used – epithet in descriptions of public figures. The two studies reported here addressed laypeople's conceptions of integrity. The findings indicate that in relation to eight public figures, the best general predictor of judgments of integrity was perceptions of ‘sincerity’ (characterized by attributes such as genuine and honest ). For three of the public figures strongly linked to civil rights issues, judgments of integrity were also predicted by perceptions of ‘standing for something’. The findings suggest that the social character of integrity merits further psychological research attention.