Physical Continuity and Trait Inference: A Test of Mischel's Hypothesis
An experiment was conducted to test Mischel's (1968) hypo thesis that peoples' persistent beliefs in behavioral consistency and traits is facilitated by the fact of constancy in physical character istics. Sixty subjects were presented with a description about and photographs of a stimulus person. In one condition, the set of pic tures depicted physical continuity, and in a second condition, the pictures illustrated discontinuity in physical appearance. Results supported Mischel's hypothesis: Subjects viewing stability in appear ance rated the stimulus person as more consistent in his behavior and ascribed more traits to him than subjects in the discontinuity condi tion.