How power and personality trait of others affect impression: Evidence from event-related potentials

It is well known that the personality traits and power associated with peoples' impressions are represented in the memory system. However, there is scant evidence that these two types of personal information have an interaction effect on face impression, and in which processing stage it happens. The purpose of this study was to provide evidence for the temporal processing of personality traits and power in the retrieval of face impressions. We recorded event-related potentials when participants recognized faces. Compared to the low-power condition a clear positive-going ERP response for the high-power condition was found in the faces with positive traits, but the pattern reversed in the faces with negative traits in the time windows of 100-200 ms (N170), 250-350 ms (EPN), and 350-450 ms (N400). These findings illustrate for the first time the effect of personality traits in the encoding and recognition of personal faces could be moderated by power, directly suggesting negative traits for the powerless while positive traits for the powerful.