Consistencies And Inconsistencies In Personality Ratings Among Knowledgeable Other Reporters

ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Megan E. Gillespie (Creator)
Institution
Appalachian State University (ASU )
Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/
Advisor
Rose Mary Webb

Abstract: Most personality assessments rely on self-report, but the Realistic Accuracy Model (RAM) proposes that personality may be accurately perceived by others. The strongest reporters of a target's personality besides the target themselves are knowledgeable others. Research supports that spouses exhibit the strongest correspondence between self-reports and other-reports, followed by family members, then friends. This study uses a sample of 197 targets, 197 friends, and 151 family members to examine the consistencies and inconsistencies of personality ratings across nine traits. Based on the literature, I hypothesized that self-family reports and self-friend reports would be positively correlated, and that there would be stronger correlations between self-family reports than between self-friend reports. I also hypothesized that there would be a positivity bias for family reports of the target’s personality, and no significant bias among friend reports the target’s personality, relative to the self-reports. Both sets of knowledgeable others (friend-reporters and family-reporters) were consistent with their personality judgments of the target, with similar average correlations. Parents tended to be positively biased, relative to self-reports, for the traits Extraversion, Agreeableness, Self-Esteem, and Integrity. Friends tended to be negatively biased, relative to self-reports, for the traits Openness to Experience and Intellect.

Additional Information

Publication
Honors Project
Gillespie, M. (2017). "Consistencies And Inconsistencies In Personality Ratings Among Knowledgeable Other Reporters." Unpublished Honors Thesis. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.
Language: English
Date: 2017
Keywords
Bias, Consistencies, Knowledgeable Other, Personality, Personality Perception

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