Limiting the spread of spontaneous trait transference

Spontaneous trait transference (STT) occurs when individuals describing others are perceived to possess the very qualities implied by those descriptions. The current research proposed that the formation of such informant-trait associations would be disrupted by the presence of the target of the description. That is, the target would capture attention, lowering the likelihood of an informant-trait linkage being formed at behavioral encoding. Two studies demonstrated that when participants’ attention was focused on the subject of trait-implicative descriptions, associations were not reliably formed between others present at the time of encoding and the implied traits (Study 1); nor were those individuals more likely to be seen as possessing that trait (Study 2). Results are discussed in terms of the processes underlying STT as well as the impression-management limitations of such a technique.