Investigating the Bouba-Kiki Phenomenon in Impression Formation
Abstract
Humans associate sounds and symbols in non-arbitrary ways. One example of this phenomenon is the Bouba/Kiki effect: the nonword “Bouba” is associated with rounder shapes, whereas “Kiki” is associated with sharper shapes. Although many studies have been done on the Bouba-Kiki effect, it has not been studied in the context of personality judgments and impression formation. Study 1 used a between-subjects design to test the Bouba/Kiki effect in this domain. A person named “Bouba” was rated as more moral than a person named “Kiki”, whereas “Kiki” was rated as more sociable, however no significant difference was found for competence ratings. Study 2 used a within-subjects design to test if this effect replicated using common American names. There were no significant differences in ratings of round- and sharp-sounding names, suggesting that personality inferences made based on real names are dependent on more than just phonics. Lastly, Study 3 used a within-subjects design to test if the Bouba/Kiki effect observed in Study 1 would replicate with other nonwords similar to “Bouba” and “Kiki”. However, there were no significant differences in ratings between round- and sharp-sounding names. This research is the first to examine the effects of the phonics of names on impression formation, and suggests that a Bouba/Kiki effect in this domain can happen, but is restricted to the stimuli used in Study 1. This raises questions about the generalizability of prior research, which has generally only used “Bouba” and “Kiki” as stimuli, rather than a variety round- and sharp-sounding nonwords.
Faculty Sponsors
Justin Landy
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-6-2022 12:00 PM
End Date
4-7-2022 5:00 PM
Investigating the Bouba-Kiki Phenomenon in Impression Formation
Alvin Sherman Library
Humans associate sounds and symbols in non-arbitrary ways. One example of this phenomenon is the Bouba/Kiki effect: the nonword “Bouba” is associated with rounder shapes, whereas “Kiki” is associated with sharper shapes. Although many studies have been done on the Bouba-Kiki effect, it has not been studied in the context of personality judgments and impression formation. Study 1 used a between-subjects design to test the Bouba/Kiki effect in this domain. A person named “Bouba” was rated as more moral than a person named “Kiki”, whereas “Kiki” was rated as more sociable, however no significant difference was found for competence ratings. Study 2 used a within-subjects design to test if this effect replicated using common American names. There were no significant differences in ratings of round- and sharp-sounding names, suggesting that personality inferences made based on real names are dependent on more than just phonics. Lastly, Study 3 used a within-subjects design to test if the Bouba/Kiki effect observed in Study 1 would replicate with other nonwords similar to “Bouba” and “Kiki”. However, there were no significant differences in ratings between round- and sharp-sounding names. This research is the first to examine the effects of the phonics of names on impression formation, and suggests that a Bouba/Kiki effect in this domain can happen, but is restricted to the stimuli used in Study 1. This raises questions about the generalizability of prior research, which has generally only used “Bouba” and “Kiki” as stimuli, rather than a variety round- and sharp-sounding nonwords.
