Attraction depending on the level of abstraction of the character descriptions

With the recent expansion of social networking platforms, we are increasingly presented with opportunities to evaluate others by reading their profiles without direct interaction. Uncertainty reduction theory (URT) posits that as an individual’s uncertainty diminishes, they are evaluated as more attractive. While past studies have predominantly examined the relationship between uncertainty and attraction by focusing on the amount of accessible information, little attention has been paid to qualitative aspects of information (i.e., how information is described). In light of this, the present study investigates the effect of expression abstractness in profiles on attraction to the target individual. Given that concrete expressions convey richer information than abstract ones, we hypothesized that (1) a person described in more (positive) concrete terms would be perceived as more attractive, and (2) the level of uncertainty would mediate this effect. To test these hypotheses, we conducted an online experiment with 1,003 native adult Japanese speakers. Participants were assigned to either a concrete or abstract condition and rated ten target individuals, each described in a profile consisting of five sentences; two of the five sentences were subject to the abstractness manipulation. Consistent with our prediction, the results demonstrated that participants in the concrete condition evaluated target individuals more favorably than those in the abstract condition. In addition, mediation analysis showed that this effect was mediated by attributional confidence (i.e., perceived uncertainty) regarding the target individual. These findings indicate that uncertainty reduction enhances interpersonal attraction even in online unilateral browsing situations, and that manipulating the abstractness of character descriptions can serve as an effective method of altering perceived uncertainty. This study is a registered report, recommended by PCI Registered Reports (https://rr.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec?id=321).