Interpersonal accuracy

Different terms have been used in the literature in the past (e.g., interpersonal sensitivity,{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=Judith A. |last2=Bernieri |first2=Frank J. |title=Interpersonal Sensitivity: Theory and Measurement |date=June 2001 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-1-135-67188-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jy95AgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |language=en}} empathic accuracy,{{cite book |last1=Ickes |first1=William John |title=Empathic Accuracy |date=1997 |publisher=Guilford Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-57230-161-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7ob3yJdFqQC&q=Ickes,+W.+(1997).+Empathic+accuracy.+New+York:+The+Guilford+Press.&pg=PA1 |language=en}} mind reading,{{cite book |last1=Ickes |first1=William |title=Everyday mind reading : understanding what other people think and feel |date=2003 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, N.Y. |isbn=1-59102-119-7}} and judgmental accuracy,{{cite journal |last1=Vogt |first1=Dawne S. |last2=Colvin |first2=C. Randall |title=Interpersonal orientation and the accuracy of personality judgments |journal=Journal of Personality |date=2003 |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=267–295 |doi=10.1111/1467-6494.7102005|pmid=12693518 }} to describe the ability to make correct inferences about others. Also, emotion recognition ability (ERA){{cite journal |last1=Schlegel |first1=Katja |last2=Palese |first2=Tristan |last3=Mast |first3=Marianne Schmid |last4=Rammsayer |first4=Thomas H. |last5=Hall |first5=Judith A. |last6=Murphy |first6=Nora A. |title=A meta-analysis of the relationship between emotion recognition ability and intelligence |journal=Cognition and Emotion |date=17 February 2020 |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=329–351 |doi=10.1080/02699931.2019.1632801|pmid=31221021 |s2cid=195191825 }} or emotion perception ability{{cite journal |last1=Kohler |first1=Christian G. |last2=Walker |first2=Jeffrey B. |last3=Martin |first3=Elizabeth A. |last4=Healey |first4=Kristin M. |last5=Moberg |first5=Paul J. |title=Facial emotion perception in schizophrenia: A meta-analytic review |journal=Schizophrenia Bulletin |date=1 September 2010 |volume=36 |issue=5 |pages=1009–1019 |doi=10.1093/schbul/sbn192|pmid=19329561 |pmc=2930336 }} is part of IPA. But, IPA is much broader than just correctly assessing others' emotions. IPA encompasses the accurate assessment of others' traits (e.g., personality, intelligence, or sexual orientation) and states (e.g., thoughts, emotions, or motivations) and accurate assessment of interpersonal relationships (e.g., level of intimacy between two people or hierarchical status among two or more people) as well as social group characteristics (e.g., religion, political orientation, or psychopathology).

The correlations between these different IPA domains are positive but modest, suggesting that IPA is a multifaceted and heterogeneous construct.{{cite journal |last1=Schlegel |first1=Katja |last2=Boone |first2=R. Thomas |last3=Hall |first3=Judith A. |title=Individual differences in interpersonal accuracy: A multi-level meta-analysis to assess whether judging other people is one skill or many |journal=Journal of Nonverbal Behavior |date=1 June 2017 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=103–137 |doi=10.1007/s10919-017-0249-0|s2cid=151795700 |url=https://boris.unibe.ch/109978/7/SchlegelBooneHall_2017_IPA_meta_authorCopy.pdf }} In some domains, especially personality judgment, researchers measure behavioral and appearance cues to understand how accuracy is achieved and to identify cues that perceivers might miss or use inappropriately.

Sometimes, accurately remembering information about others (e.g., their nonverbal behavior or their appearance), called recall accuracy, and remembering one's own nonverbal behavior (nonverbal self-accuracy) is subsumed under the label of IPA.{{cite journal |last1=Murphy |first1=Nora A. |last2=Schmid Mast |first2=Marianne |last3=Hall |first3=Judith A. |title=Nonverbal self-accuracy: Individual differences in knowing one's own social interaction behavior |journal=Personality and Individual Differences |date=1 October 2016 |volume=101 |pages=30–34 |doi=10.1016/j.paid.2016.05.023}}{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=Judith A. |last2=Murphy |first2=Nora A. |last3=Mast |first3=Marianne Schmid |title=Recall of nonverbal cues: Exploring a new definition of interpersonal sensitivity |journal=Journal of Nonverbal Behavior |date=11 October 2006 |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=141–155 |doi=10.1007/s10919-006-0013-3|s2cid=143429158 |url=https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:101103 }}

In the social perception field, IPA is mostly conceptualized as a skill as it increases during childhood and adolescence, continues to change across adulthood, and can be trained.{{cite journal |last1=Blanch-Hartigan |first1=Danielle |last2=Andrzejewski |first2=Susan A. |last3=Hill |first3=Krista M. |title=The effectiveness of training to improve person perception accuracy: A meta-analysis |journal=Basic and Applied Social Psychology |date=1 November 2012 |volume=34 |issue=6 |pages=483–498 |doi=10.1080/01973533.2012.728122|s2cid=145591226 }}{{cite book |last1=Isaacowitz |first1=Derek M. |last2=Vicaria |first2=Ishabel M. |last3=Murry |first3=Matthew W. E. |editor1-last=Hall |editor1-first=Judith |editor2-last=Schmid Mast |editor2-first=Marianne |editor3-last=West |editor3-first=Tessa |title=The Social Psychology of Perceiving Others Accurately |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-49907-2 |pages=206–229 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/social-psychology-of-perceiving-others-accurately/lifespan-developmental-perspective-on-interpersonal-accuracy/71785B45097DDD192C095232EF1AD6AC |chapter=A lifespan developmental perspective on interpersonal accuracy|year=2016 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781316181959.010 }}{{cite journal |last1=Castro |first1=Vanessa |last2=Isaacowitz |first2=Derek |title=The same with age: Evidence for age-related similarities in interpersonal accuracy |journal= Journal of Experimental Psychology: General|date=2019 |volume=148 |issue=9 |pages=1517–1537 |doi=10.1037/xge0000540|pmid=30550339 |pmc=6682457 }} When averaged across people, group comparisons can be made (e.g., gender differences or cultural comparisons).

Research has shown that people who are high in IPA tend to have more socially desirable personality traits (e.g., empathy, extraversion, or tolerance) and fewer socially undesirable personality traits (e.g., neuroticism or shyness){{cite book |last1=Griffiths |first1=Phillip |last2=Ashwin |first2=Christopher |editor1-last=Hall |editor1-first=Judith |editor2-last=Schmid Mast |editor2-first=Marianne |editor3-last=West |editor3-first=Tessa |title=The social psychology of perceiving others accurately |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=9781107101517 |pages=185–205 |url=https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/publications/accuracy-in-perceiving-facial-expressions-of-emotion-in-psychopat |language=English |chapter=Accuracy in perceiving facial expressions of emotion in psychopathology}}{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=Judith A. |last2=Mast |first2=Marianne Schmid |last3=West |first3=Tessa V. |editor1-last=Hall |editor1-first=Judith A. |editor2-last=Schmid Mast |editor2-first=Marianne |editor3-last=West |editor3-first=Tessa V. |title=The Social Psychology of Perceiving Others Accurately |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=978-1-107-49907-2 |pages=3–22 |chapter=Accurate interpersonal perception|doi=10.1017/CBO9781316181959.001 }} and are generally more mentally healthy. In addition, people who demonstrate IPA are perceived as more cooperative and more likable.{{cite journal |last1=Schlegel |first1=Katja |last2=Mehu |first2=Marc |last3=van Peer |first3=Jacobien M. |last4=Scherer |first4=Klaus R. |title=Sense and sensibility: The role of cognitive and emotional intelligence in negotiation |journal=Journal of Research in Personality |date=2018 |volume=74 |pages=6–15 |doi=10.1016/j.jrp.2017.12.003|s2cid=148652852 |url=https://boris.unibe.ch/109974/7/Schlegel%202018%20negotiation%20accepted%20Manuscript.pdf }} People who are high in IPA, therefore, seem better equipped for social interactions than the ones who are low in IPA. Indeed, IPA is linked to positive outcomes in various contexts such as clinical settings (e.g., physicians who are higher in IPA have more satisfied patients), education (e.g., IPA is related to positive learning outcomes on both the teacher and the learner side), or the workplace (e.g., IPA is positively related to work performance) —contexts in which social interactions are omnipresent.{{cite journal |last1=Byron |first1=Kristin |last2=Terranova |first2=Sophia |last3=Nowicki |first3=Stephen |title=Nonverbal emotion recognition and salespersons: Linking ability to perceived and actual success |journal=Journal of Applied Social Psychology |date=2007 |volume=37 |issue=11 |pages=2600–2619 |doi=10.1111/j.1559-1816.2007.00272.x}}{{cite book |last1=Palese |first1=Tristan |last2=Mast |first2=Marianne Schmid |editor1-last=Sternberg |editor1-first=R. |editor2-last=Kostić |editor2-first=A. |title=Social Intelligence and Nonverbal Communication |date=2020 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, Cham |isbn=978-3-030-34964-6 |pages=305–331 |language=en |chapter=Interpersonal accuracy and interaction outcomes: Why and how reading others correctly has adaptive advantages in social interactions}}{{cite journal |last1=Livingston |first1=Samuel A. |title=Nonverbal communication tests as predictors of success in psychology and counseling |journal=Applied Psychological Measurement |date=1981 |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=325–331 |doi=10.1177/014662168100500305|s2cid=145496285 |url=http://purl.umn.edu/100404 }}{{cite journal |last1=Bernieri |first1=Frank J. |title=Interpersonal sensitivity in teaching interactions. |journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |date=1991 |volume=17 |pages=98–103 |doi=10.1177/0146167291171015|s2cid=143785196 }}{{cite journal |last1=Puccinelli |first1=Nancy M. |last2=Andrzejewski |first2=Susan A. |last3=Markos |first3=Ereni |last4=Noga |first4=Tracy |last5=Motyka |first5=Scott |title=The value of knowing what customers really want: The impact of salesperson ability to read non-verbal cues of affect on service quality |journal=Journal of Marketing Management |date=2013 |volume=29 |issue=3–4 |pages=356–373 |doi=10.1080/0267257X.2013.766631|s2cid=144792814 }}

The origins of IPA are not well understood, as little prospective research has been done and most evidence is correlational (i.e., based on cross-sectional data). Research suggests that formative experiences{{cite journal|last1=Hall|first1=Judith A.|last2=Andrzejewski|first2=Susan A.|last3=Yopchick|first3=Jennelle E.|date=1 September 2009|title=Psychosocial correlates of interpersonal sensitivity: A meta-analysis|journal=Journal of Nonverbal Behavior|volume=33|issue=3|pages=149–180|doi=10.1007/s10919-009-0070-5|s2cid=145537716}} including family environment and attachment{{cite journal |last1=Simpson |first1=Jeffry A. |last2=Kim |first2=John S. |last3=Fillo |first3=Jennifer |last4=Ickes |first4=William |last5=Rholes |first5=W. Steven |last6=Oriña |first6=M. Minda |last7=Winterheld |first7=Heike A. |title=Attachment and the Management of Empathic Accuracy in Relationship-Threatening Situations |journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |date=2011 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=242–54 |doi=10.1177/0146167210394368|pmid=21239597 |pmc=6022365 }} could play a role. For instance, dysfunctional parenting is associated with children who have higher IPA.{{cite journal |last1=Otani |first1=Koichi |last2=Suzuki |first2=Akihito |last3=Shibuya |first3=Naoshi |last4=Matsumoto |first4=Yoshihiko |last5=Kamata |first5=Mitsuhiro |title=Dysfunctional parenting styles increase interpersonal sensitivity in healthy subjects |journal=The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease |date=2009 |volume=197 |issue=12 |pages=938–941 |doi=10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181c29a4c|pmid=20010031 |s2cid=27345027 }} Motivational factors,{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=Judith A. |last2=Blanch |first2=Danielle C. |last3=Horgan |first3=Terrence G. |last4=Murphy |first4=Nora A. |last5=Rosip |first5=Janelle C. |last6=Schmid Mast |first6=Marianne |title=Motivation and interpersonal sensitivity: Does it matter how hard you try? |journal=Motivation and Emotion |date=2009 |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=291–302 |doi=10.1007/s11031-009-9128-2|s2cid=145556088 }}{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Jessi |last2=Ickes |first2=William |last3=Hall |first3=Judith |last4=Hodges |first4=Sara |title=Managing interpersonal sensitivity : knowing when--and when not--to understand others |date=2011 |publisher=Nova Science Publisher's |location=New York, N.Y. |isbn=978-1-61728-691-9}} either short-term or long-term, as well as various requirements of work and social life also play a part. Although IPA shows modest correlations with cognitive intelligence, it is not merely the product of higher overall intelligence.

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Category:Interpersonal communication