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The Role of Personal Relevance in the Formation of Distinctiveness-Based Illusory Correlations

The conditions underlying the formation of distinctiveness-based illusory correlations and the impact of such illusory correlations on behavior were investigated. Subjects read statements describing the distinctive (undesirable) and nondistinctive (desirable) attributes of two brands of pens. Fewer statements described one of the two brands, making that brand more distinctive. The proportion of desirable to undesirable statements describing the two brands of pens, though, was equaL A distinctiveness-based illusory correlation—an overestimation of the relative degree of co-occurrence between the distinctive (less frequently described) brand of pen and the distinctive (undesirable) category of attributes—tended to beformed when the pen information had low personal relevance, but not high personal relevance, for subjects. Low personal relevance condition subjects were later more likely than high personal relevance condition subjects to take the nondistinctive pen as a gift, indicating that distinctiveness-based illusory correlations affect subsequent choice behavior. The study demonstrates how personal relevance may affect the likelihood of distinctiveness-based illusory correlation formation and the initial processing of information in general. Analyses indicate that target information may be organized into an impression during initial encoding when the information encountered is high, but not when it is low, in personal relevance.