Abstract
A second uniqueness attribute to be considered in this section is one’s name, which may be the “most important anchorage of our self identity” (Allport, 1961, p. 117). The special psychological significance of a person’s name is revealed by the dismay and anger that are frequently evoked when someone forgets, misspells, or mispronounces it. The reader can perform a very reliable “field” experiment to check out this phenomenon. When introduced to a new person, just mispronounce the person’s name. Typically, and with some impatience, the person will correct you. If you mispronounce the name a second time, the person will become even more annoyed. (It is usually best to stop this experiment at this point!)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Allen, L., Brown, V., Dickinson, L., & Pratt, K. C. The relations of first name preferences to their frequency in the culture. Journal of Social Psychology, 1941, 14, 279–293.
Allport, G. W. Pattern and growth in personality. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1961.
Arms and the mail. Time, January 27,1975,71.
Beadle, M. The name of the game. New York Times Magazine, October 21, 1974, 38.
Bugental, J. F., & Zelen, S. L. Investigations into the “self-concept”: The W-A-Y technique. Journal of Personality, 1950, 18, 483–498.
Ellis, A., & Beechley, R. M. Emotional disturbances in children with peculiar given names. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 1954, 85, 337–339.
Fisher, F. The search for Anna Fisher. Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publishers, 1974.
Fromm, E. Escape from freedom. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1941.
Harari, H., & McDavid, J. W. Name stereotypes and teachers’ expectations. Journal of Educational Psychology, 1973, 65, 222–225.
Hartman, A. A., Nicolay, R. C., & Hurley, J. Unique personal names as a social adjustment factor. Journal of Social Psychology, 1968, 75, 107–110.
Houston, T. J., & Sumner, F. C. Measurement of neurotic tendency in women with uncommon given names. Journal of General Psychology, 1948, 39, 289–292.
Kurlansky, M., Naar, J., & Mailer, N. The faith of graffiti. New York: Praeger, 1974.
MacDougall, P. R. Married women’s common law right to their own surnames. Women’s Rights Law Reporter, 1973–1974 (Fall-Winter).
Rich, R. Letter writing: The return winds will keep you flying. In M. S. Yee (Ed.), The great escape. New York: Bantam, 1974, p. 32.
Savage, B. M., & Wells, F. L. A note on singularity in given names. Journal of Social Psychology, 1948, 27, 271–272.
Schonberg, W., & Murphy, D. M. The relationship between the uniqueness of a given name and personality. Journal of Social Psychology, 1974, 93, 147–148.
Snyder, C. R., & Fromkin, H. L. Abnormality as a positive characteristic. The development and validation of a scale measuring need for uniqueness. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1977, 86, 518–527.
Snyder, C. R., Omens, A. E., & Bloom, L. J. Signature size and personality: Some truth in graphology? Paper presented at the Southwestern Psychological Association, Fort Worth, Texas, 1977.
Stannard, U. Lucy Stone et al. Ms. Magazine, 1973, 11(6), 100. (a)
Stannard, IJ. Married women v. husbands’ names: The case for wives who keep their own names. San Francisco: Germainbooks, 1973. (b)
Unsealing the records. Time, June 24, 1974, 81.
West, S. G., & Shults, T. Liking for common and uncommon first names. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1976, 2, 299–302.
Zweigenhaft, R. L. Signature size: A key to status awareness. Journal of Social Psychology, 1970, 81, 49–54.
Zweigenhaft, R. L. The other side of unusual first names. Journal of Social Psychology, 1977, 103, 291–302.
Zweigenhaft, R. L., Hayes, K. N., & Haagen, C. H. The psychological impact of names: Another look. Unpublished manuscript. Wesleyan University, 1978.
Zweigenhaft, R. L., & Marlowe, D. Signature size: Studies in expressive movement. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1973, 40, 469–473.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1980 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Snyder, C.R., Fromkin, H.L. (1980). Names as Uniqueness Attributes. In: Uniqueness. Perspectives in Social Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3659-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3659-4_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-3661-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-3659-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive