Abstract
The current study aimed to test the perceivers’ ratings of likability and their willingness to become friends with targets who have different ratios of warmth to competence. In Study 1, we recruited 106 females and 61 males. The results of Study 1 showed that perceivers were reluctant to become friends with targets that had extreme ratios of warmth to competence (0:5 or 5:0). In Study 2, we recruited 137 males and 164 females. The results of Study 2 showed that male perceivers were willing to become friends with a female target whose ratio of warmth to competence was 5:0 and unwilling to become friends with a male target whose ratio was 0:5. Female perceivers were unwilling to become friends with a female target whose ratio was 0:5. Moreover, participants were unwilling to choose targets with a ratio of 5:0 as partners in a competition context. These results could help researchers understand how the process of impression formation works when considering different ratios of warmth to competence.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by grants from Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), a guided program grant (DXS20180027), and the Young Scientists Fund (31800941) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
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This project was funded by Young Scientists Fund (31800941) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
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SJJ designed and wrote the manuscript, and LYF and LJN collected and analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript.
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Jingjing, S., Yanfen, L. & Junnan, L. What Ratio of Warmth to Competence Is Ideal for Likable Friends?. Arch Sex Behav 52, 1141–1152 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02487-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02487-1