Impact of Ingratiation on Judgments and Evaluations: A Meta-Analytic Investigation

A computer search was conducted to examine empirical research on the relationship between various ingratiation tactics and the judgments and evaluations of targets and observers. The data revealed a small positive effect for ingratiation on performance evaluations and a significantly stronger positive effect for ingratiation on judgments of interpersonal attraction (i.e., liking). However, these effects were qualified by a number of categorical and continuous moderator variables, including the specific ingratiation tactic used, the perceived transparency of the ingratiation, the direction of the influence attempt (upward, downward, or lateral), whether perceivers were targets of the influence attempt or simply observed the ingratiator, the gender of the perceiver, and the setting in which the data were collected. The implications of these findings for future research on the impact of various forms of ingratiation are discussed.