Abstract

While we may know that what looks sophisticated or distinctive to one person may not to the next, the design literature has neglected to develop a detailed understanding of how individuals make design attributions, and why individual differences play such an important role in the changing dance between designer and client. We argue for a more robust application of social psychology in order to more fully understand the role of self-identity, personality and emotions in the cognitive formation of design attributions. Meshing the ever-blurring line between designer and client, design provides a context to uncover patterns of relating, nuances in current theory, and the exciting possibility of uncovering new ways in which self-identity, personality and emotion combine to influence design attributions.