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MENTAL MODEL · M5396

Correspondent Inference

Correspondent Inference
CultureHigh supportSociology
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Updated 2026-08-08

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

Correspondent inference is the everyday move from what a person did to what a person is: he did a good thing, so he is good. The inference is licensed only under conditions: the behavior was freely chosen, it went against social expectation, and it produced a distinctive consequence. A donation made in front of cameras under pressure tells you little about character, while a choice made unobserved, under no pressure, and against convention is a real projection of the person underneath. The practical use is a filter for reading people: weight the unwitnessed, costly, unconventional act over the performed, expected one. Qualification: the model specifies when trait inference is justified, and most everyday inference ignores it.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Freedom check: ask whether the act was chosen or coerced before reading anything from it. - Expectation check: weight the behavior that went against the grain, not the one that was performed. - Witness filter: the act nobody saw and nothing rewarded is the one that shows the person.

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Anchor fast decisions

Trait inference is licensed by the conditions under which the behavior occurred. Freely chosen acts cannot be blamed on coercion; socially unexpected acts cannot be explained by script; acts with distinctive consequences cannot be dismissed as routine. When all three hold, the behavior carries information about the actor, because the alternatives have been ruled out. Absent them, the act is attributable to the situation.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correspondent_inference_theoryZH · Explicit
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