(In)consistency in the eye of the beholder: The roles of warmth, competence, and valence in lay perceptions of inconsistency

Although perceived inconsistencies play a central role in how people understand the world, research on impression formation has largely neglected lay perceptions of inconsistency. The current research seeks to address this gap by investigating perceived inconsistencies between positive and negative information along the dimensions of warmth and competence. Using a memory-based measure of surprise, three studies found an expectancy-violation effect for behaviors that were incongruent with the valence of prior information. This effect generalized across warmth and competence, indicating that prior information along one dimension led to valence-congruent expectations along the other dimension. There was no evidence for valence asymmetries in expectancy-violations regardless of whether the impression dimension involved warmth or competence. A fourth study replicated these findings using a self-report measure of perceived inconsistency. Implications for research on person perception, attitudes, and cognitive consistency are discussed.