Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Pratfall Effect, 2

There appear to be some male-female differences in terms of the pratfall effect. This from studies by K. Deaux: “To err is humanizing: But sex makes a difference” Representative Research in Social Psychology, p 3, 20-28, 1972). 
In general:

  • The effects of pratfall are most directly applicable to males
  • Females tend to prefer the non-blunderer regardless of gender
  • Neither males nor females preferred the mediocre blunderer
Aronson studied a person's relative attractiveness as related to his or her making a blunder. His research found that a perceived 'able' individual's attractiveness increased after a blunder in comparison to the control group; while attractiveness decreased in a person perceived as less 'able.' (Attractiveness was defined as a combination of liking and respect.)

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