The effects of familiarity on the liking of forenames/ effects of familiarity on gender

differences in the liking of a unisex forename.

ABSTRACT
A liking and familiarity scale was used in a repeated measures design to test two research question using the 3
forenames; Glenn, Cedric and John. The first research question investigated the effects of familiarity on
participants mean liking ratings for the 3 forenames after reading a 19 th century book. The second research
question investigated the effects of gender differences on the mean liking ratings for the unisex forename Glenn.
Results showed that the 2 less familiar forenames Glenn and Cedric had a significant increase in mean liking
ratings, whereas the more popular forename John had non-significant results. In addition, there was a significant
difference between females than males in mean liking ratings for Glenn; females had a higher change in mean
liking ratings after reading the book than males, thus, supporting the Mere Exposure Hypotheses and Inverted-U
Hypotheses.

INTRODUCTION

Over the years a large number of research has been done to investigate the extent of the
relationship between liking and familiarity and several studies such as, Zajonc (1968) found
favourable evidence towards the Mere Exposure Hypotheses, which highlighted liking and
familiarity to be related in a monotonic fashion thus, mere exposure of a stimulus increases
positive attitudes towards that stimuli. Furthermore, other researcher’s present evidence
suggesting a non-monotonic relationship between liking and familiarity such as, Cantor and
Kubose (1969), who found that as children were exposed to a stimuli over a certain extent,
it resulted to a decline for liking of the familiar stimuli and enhanced liking towards the
unfamiliar stimuli - Inverted-U Hypotheses. In addition, a recent study by Little, DeBruine
and Jones (2014), however, highlighted potential sex differences affecting the relationship
between liking and familiarity. The study found that when females were exposed to a face
twice, their liking ratings on attractiveness increased on the second exposure, whereas the
males liking ratings on attractiveness decreased on the second exposure.

Schellenberg, Peretz and Vieilard (2008) study on the effects of exposure also supported the
Inverted-U shape in regards to liking of music, the study highlighted that as exposure
increased so did the liking for the specific music (focused form) being played, however over
exposure resulted to a decline. In addition the study also displayed how music being played
in an incidental form (background music) increased liking linearly, thus, supporting the Mere
Exposure Hypotheses. In addition, Sluckin, Colman and Hargreaves (1982), similarly
highlighted through the Role of Voluntary Control of Exposure, that there are two types of
stimuli which affect liking alongside familiarity. One type is an exposure to a stimuli which
can be voluntarily controlled and another is where stimuli exposure cannot be voluntarily
controlled; an example of this is shown in a study by Colman, Sluckin and Hargreaves (1981),
where forenames were the voluntarily controlled exposure and surnames were the
exposure not voluntarily controlled. Results showed that, the voluntarily controlled stimuli
such as forenames resulted in a monotonic relationship between liking and familiarity,
where as the involuntarily controlled stimuli – surnames, had a non-monotonic relationship
between liking and familiarity.

In light of this, this study will also be adopting a similar method in the first research question
using 3 forenames; Cedric a familiar name, Glenn which is relatively familiar and John which
is a popular name, as 3 different degrees of control in regards to familiarity. Thus, the study
will investigate the hypotheses that there will be an increase in the mean liking ratings for
the 2 forenames Glenn and Cedric (familiar forenames) after reading a book. In addition,
Sluckin, Colman & Hargreaves (1980) found that very common words are disliked as much
as uncommon words, therefore, we predict that the forename John will not have an
increase in mean liking ratings after reading a book. In addition, the study will also be
investigating a second research question on gender differences for the unisex name Glenn,
in light of the Mere Exposure Hypothesis (Zajonc, 1968) and Little et al. (2014) study on sex
differences. Thus, we hypothesise that there will be a difference between the males and
females mean liking ratings for the unisex name Glenn after reading a book.

METHOD

Participants

A group of 20 undergraduates studying English Literature aged 18-22 years (M =19.35 years,
SD =1.35 years) as shown in Appendix A. There were 10 female and 10 male participants
selected though opportunity sampling (see Appendix B).

Design

A repeated measures design was used; for the first research question the independent
variable was the three forenames: Glenn, Cedric and John and the dependent variable was
measuring the mean liking ratings for the 3 forenames before and after reading the book.
The second research question was a quasi-experiment measuring differences between
gender on the mean liking ratings for the unisex forename Glenn.

Materials

The Oxford Dictionary of English Names was used to the select the 9 random male
forenames alongside the 3 male forenames being studied. A 19 th century book with the 3
forenames being studied: Glenn, Cedric and John, was also used. A liking ratings scale of 0-
10 was used twice for the forenames, at the start of the semester and at the end, with 0
being ‘dislike strongly’ and 10 being ‘like strongly’. In addition, a familiarity ratings scale of
0-10 was also used twice for the male forenames, with 0 being ‘not at all familiar’ and 10
being ‘very familiar’.

Procedure

Participants were handed a form with instructions at the top of the page and list of 12
forenames. Participants were asked if they had any questions and were told not to fill in the
form if they did not wish to participate in the study. They were then asked to rate the
forenames and were given 5 minutes to complete both the liking and familiarity rating
scales. Participants were then assigned the 19 th century book to read over the period of the
semester and at the end of the semester were asked to fill in the liking and familiarity rating
scales again, after they had read the book.

Data Analysis

For the first research question a Paired Samples T-test was used to compare the liking of the
3 forenames: Glenn, Cedric and John before and after reading the book and data was
treated as interval. For the second research question a new variable called ‘GlennChange’
was coded using data scores from items Glenn2 and Glenn1, (Glenn2-Glenn1)>1, and a
Pearson’s Chi-squared Test of Independence was used to compare the change in mean liking
ratings for Glenn between males and females, the data was treated as nominal. All statistical
analyses were reported with two-tailed levels of significance and with alpha level set at .05.

RESULTS

A Paired Samples T-test found that the mean liking ratings for the forename Glenn
significantly increased from the start of term (M = 2.85, SD = 1.53) to the end of term (M =
5.10, SD = 2.10) after reading the book, as shown in Figure 1; t(18) = -3.94, p < .001 (see
Appendix C). A Paired Samples T-test also found that the mean liking ratings for the
forename Cedric significantly increased from the start of term (M = 2.75, SD = 1.55) to the
end of the term (M = 4.95, SD = 1.82) after reading the book, as shown in Figure 2; t(18) =
-4.26, p < .001 (see Appendix C). However, a paired samples t-test also found that the mean
liking ratings for the forename John did not significantly increase from the start of the term
(M = 9.05, SD = .69) to the end of the term (M = 9.15, SD = .81) after reading the book, as
shown in Figure 3; t(18) = -.438, p > .666 (see Appendix C). A Pearson’s Chi-squared test of
Independence found that there was a significant change in the mean liking ratings for the
unisex name Glenn; in females there was change in 8 mean liking ratings and no change in 2,
whereas in the males there was a change in 2 mean liking ratings and no change in 8, χ 2 (1,
N= 20) = 7.20, p < .007, thus females were more affected than males (see Appendix D).
Figure 1. Mean liking ratings for the forename Glenn at the start of the semester and at the end.

Figure 1. Mean liking

ratings for the forename Cedric at the start of the semester and at the end.
Figure 1. Mean liking ratings for the forename Cedric at the start of the semester and at the end.

DISSCUSION

For the first research question the study examined the mean liking ratings for the 3
forenames Glenn, Cedric and John, we hypothesised that the 2 forenames Glenn and Cedric
would have an increase in mean liking ratings whereas the forename John will not increase
in mean liking ratings. Results showed that the 2 forenames Glenn and Cedric had a
significant increase in the mean liking ratings, whereas, the forename John had no
significant increase in the mean liking ratings. Thus, we accept the 2 hypotheses for the 3
forenames, as the findings support the Inverted-U Hypotheses and suggests that because
Cedric and Glenn were a less familiar name initially than, John, it resulted in a monotonic
relationship between liking and familiarity for Glenn and Cedric, whereas, John which was
already a very popular forename had no significant increase in liking due to over familiarity
resulting in a non-monotonic relationship.

For the second research question the study examined gender differences in the mean liking
ratings for the unisex name, Glenn. We hypothesised that there would be a difference
between the males and females mean liking ratings for the unisex name Glenn after reading
a book. Results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean liking
ratings for the name Glenn in males and females; females showed a substantial increase in
mean liking ratings than males, thus we accept the hypotheses. In addition, the findings
support the Mere Exposure Hypothesis (Zajonc, 1968) and Little et al. (2014), as females
resulted in an increase in mean liking ratings after mere exposure to the forename Glenn,
whereas, males had a lack of change in mean liking ratings as there was a loss of appeal to
the novelty aspect of the unisex name once it was familiarized.

This study used a medium such as forenames which can easily result in predetermined
preferences in participants due to past pre-exposures to the name (a friend having the same
forename) in which case, there would be a lack of control in the degree of familiarity for the
forenames from the initial stage, which could be the reason for an increase in mean liking
ratings as they are affected by participants past pre-exposures. Therefore, future studies
such as Schellenberg et al. (2008), should try to implement mediums which can be
abstractions, such as art or music, reducing the likelihood of past pre-exposures and
predetermined preferences. In addition, the participants used in this study were English
literature students, thus they obtained a much more insightful view of names (the
meanings, or connotations attached to the name) altering their perception or likability of
the name more than a student that did mathematics. Thus, future studies should use
participants which do not have any form of insight or expertise into the stimuli being
manipulated. Furthermore, a 19th century book as a means for exposure over the semester
is not a method that can be completely controlled as participants could have decided not to
read the book at all, thus, affecting the degree of familiarity they were exposed to in
comparison to the participants who did read the book. In addition, the study also did not
include a form of measurement to account for whether the book was read, therefore, future
studies should include methods which can verify that, for example asking participants to
answer or fill out a few questions on the events that took place in the book.

References

Cantor, N, G., & Kubose, K, S. (1969). Preschool children's ratings of familiarized and nonfamiliarized
visual stimuli. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 8, 74-81.

Colman, A. M., Sluckin, W., & Hargreaves, D. J. (1981). The effect of familiarity on preference for
surnames. British Journal of Psychology, 72, 363-369.

Little, A. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (2014). Sex differences in attraction to familiar and
unfamiliar opposite-sex faces: men prefer novelty and women prefer familiarity. Archives of
Sexual Behavior, 43, 973-981.
Schellenberg, E. G., Peretz, I., & Vieilard, S. (2008). Liking for happy- and sad-sounding music: Effects
of exposure. Cognition and Emotion, 22, 218-237.

Sluckin, W., Colman A. M., & Hargreaves D. J. (1980). Liking words as a function of the experienced
frequency of their occurrence. British Journal of Psychology, 71, 163-169.

Sluckin, W., Colman, A. M., & Hargreaves, D. J. (1982). Some experimental studies of familiarity and
liking. Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 35, 189-194.

Zajonc, R. B. (1968). Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology Monograph Supplement, 9, 1-27.

Appendix

Appendix A: Descriptive Statistics

Minimum, Maximum, Mean and Standard Deviation of Participant Age

Descriptive Statistics

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

age 20 18 22 19.35 1.348

Valid N (listwise) 20

Appendix B: Frequency
Frequency of Female and Male Participants in the Experiment
 gender

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent

Valid male 10 50.0 50.0 50.0

female 10 50.0 50.0 100.0

Total 20 100.0 100.0

Appendix C: Inferential Statistics

Paired Sample T-test for the forename Glenn, Cedric and John.

Paired Samples Statistics

Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Pair 1 Glenn1 2.85 20 1.531 .342

Glenn2 5.10 20 2.100 .470

Pair 2 Cedric1 2.75 20 1.552 .347
Cedric2 4.95 20 1.820 .407
Pair 3 John1 9.05 20 .686 .153

John2 9.15 20 .813 .182

Paired Samples Correlations

N Correlation Sig.

Pair 1 Glenn1 & Glenn2 20 .038 .875

Pair 2 Cedric1 & Cedric2 20 .070 .770
Pair 3 John1 & John2 20 .080 .737

Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences

95% Confidence
Interval of the Sig. (2-

Std. Std. Error Difference t df tailed)

Mean Deviation Mean Lower Upper

Pair Glenn1 -
-2.250 2.552 .571 -3.444 -1.056 -3.943 19 .001
1 Glenn2
Pair Cedric1 -
-2.200 2.308 .516 -3.280 -1.120 -4.263 19 .000
2 Cedric2
Pair John1 -
-.100 1.021 .228 -.578 .378 -.438 19 .666
3 John2
Appendix D: Inferential Statistics
Pearson’s Chi-squared Test of Independence for gender and the forename Glenn

Case Processing Summary

Cases

Valid Missing Total

N Percent N Percent N Percent

GlennChange * gender 20 100.0% 0 0.0% 20 100.0%

GlennChange * gender Crosstabulation

Count

gender

male female Total

GlennChange NoChange 8 2 10

Change 2 8 10
Total 10 10 20

Chi-Square Tests

Asymp. Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (2- Exact Sig. (1-

Value df sided) sided) sided)
a
Pearson Chi-Square 7.200 1 .007
b
Continuity Correction 5.000 1 .025
Likelihood Ratio 7.710 1 .005
Fisher's Exact Test .023 .012
Linear-by-Linear Association 6.840 1 .009
N of Valid Cases 20

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 5.00.
b. Computed only for a 2x2 table