7.2: Through the (Brunswikian) Looking Glass

According to the Brunswikian lens model, individuals form impressions of others from the behaviors and artifacts that they produce. We judge others' personalities through the "lens" of these cues. According to the model, cue validity occurs when a particular cue reflects a person's true personality. Cue utilization sets a distinction between those cues that we use to form impressions and those that we ignore. Ultimately, the model supposes that when we utilize valid cues to form impressions, functional achievement, or the development of accurate impressions, occurs.

For this assignment, I chose to use Facebook to form an impression of a random Cornell student that I had never met (hereafter referred to as John). According to research built upon the Brunswikian model by Gosling, Ko, Mannarelli, and Morris (2002), there are four types of links made between individuals and the environment that we are able to observe. First, self-directed identity claims are assertions people make about themselves for their own benefit. John's profile picture, which is a picture of Scar from The Lion King, is an example of a self-directed identity claim because it seems to be somewhat of an inside joke. It would be difficult to make any explicit judgments about John based on the picture, but it obviously has some sort of meaning for him. The second type of link is the other-directed identity claim, which is used by people to indicate how they would like to be regarded by others. On Facebook, the activities and interests that one lists fulfill these criteria. Most of John's profile is filled with information about his musical tastes and references to the fact that he likes to DJ and party. With this information, I came to the conclusion that John is very extroverted and open. Interestingly, this also emphasizes the ambiguity of self-directed identity claims. With my newfound information, the picture of Scar seemed to enhance my perception of John as outgoing and playful. But what if, say, the rest of his profile was different (perhaps not as descriptive)? I might then interpret the picture in a completely new way, maybe seeing John as sly and cunning.

The third cue is interior behavior residue - traces of one's behavior in his or her immediate environment (in this case, Facebook). On Facebook, the mini-feed perfectly illustrates this concept; it describes all the actions one has taken recently on the network. John's mini-feed is covered with notices of him being tagged in and commenting on photos, reinforcing my belief that he is very extraverted. The final link is exterior behavior residue, meaning traces of one's behavior that was performed outside of his or her immediate environment. Of course, the quintessential Facebook parallel to this concept is the sharing of photographs. John's photos mainly depict him at gatherings with his friends, once again supporting my opinion that he is extremely extraverted. In some, he is dressed in a suit, leading me to believe that he is conscientious to some degree.

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