ABSTRACT The impressions we form of other people affect our interactions with them. Previous research has suggested that people strive to form impressions of others that are uniform and consistent. It seems that our impressions of others tend to be black or white, and gray areas make us so uncomfortable that we work hard to reinterpret or ignore information that is contrary to our monochrome perception. However, when people rate the decriptiveness of traits for themselves and other, they make inconsistent trait attributions. The goal of this research is to understand the paradox that coherent impressions of personality nonetheless contain inconsistencies. These studies will establish how the use of different kinds of inconsistent traits is affected by familiarity and liking for the target, and by the domain of personality being described. Inconsistencies in self- descriptions will be compared with inconsistencies in descriptions of others. A series of principles of coherent impression formation will be tested for how perceivers retain inconsistent beliefs in coherent impressions of targets' personalities, including their own. The research will contribute to knowledge about impression formation, test basic theories of how social concepts are combined and examine differences between personality descriptions of the self and others. The research will result in a theory of impression formation that reflects the complex reality of the way we perceive ourselves and other people. This has implications for the effectiveness of interactions in the workplace, at school, and at home.
