Names can play an important role in forming first impressions. While much of the literature has demonstrated how alphabet-based names influence impression formation, little is known about how character-based names (e.g., Chinese names) affect interpersonal trust. Across six studies, we demonstrated that a difficult-to-recognise Chinese name with less frequently used characters activated masculine perception, which in turn decreased trust in the name holder. The masculine inferences from difficult names were replicated across within-subjects (Study 1a and 1b) and between-subjects judgements and maintained irrespective of normative knowledge about difficult names as male names (Study 1c). The mediation of gender stereotypicality was manifested in both measured spontaneous gender inference (Study 2a and Study 2b) and manipulated gender information (Study 2c). The effects of recognisability on masculine and trust perceptions were independent of pronunciationability (Study 2b). This research extends previous research by revealing the implications of character-based names and pictographic language on the feeling-as-information theory, also in terms of interpersonal contexts.

中文翻译：

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难名，冷男：中文名，性别刻板，守信

名字在形成第一印象方面可以发挥重要作用。虽然大部分文献已经证明了基于字母的名称如何影响印象形成，但对于基于字符的名称（例如中文名称）如何影响人际信任知之甚少。在六项研究中，我们证明了一个难以识别、使用频率较低的中文名字会激活男性化的感知，从而降低对名字持有者的信任。来自难名的男性推论在被试内（研究 1a 和 1b）和被试间的判断中被复制，并且不管关于难名作为男性名字的规范知识（研究 1c）都保持不变。性别刻板印象的中介表现在测量的自发性别推断（研究 2a 和研究 2b）和操纵的性别信息（研究 2c）中。可识别性对男性化和信任感的影响与发音性无关（研究 2b）。这项研究通过揭示基于字符的名称和象形语言对感觉作为信息理论的影响，以及在人际关系方面的影响，扩展了先前的研究。