Temporal stability and cross-situational consistency of affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses.

Examined consistency and stability of feelings in reports that were completed on 3,512 occasions randomly sampled from the lives of 42 undergraduates. Over a 6-wk period, Ss completed a mood inventory at times indicated by an alarm watch. The stability and consistency of responses depended on the situations, individuals, and responses involved. High degrees of consistency were unusual for single responses, although mean levels of responding tended to be both highly stable and consistent. The consistency and stability of variables covaried, suggesting a connection between the two. Ss who were more consistent across one pair of situations tended to be more consistent across other situational pairs. Results indicate that the question of whether personality consistency exists does not have a simple answer and requires knowledge of the persons, situations, responses, and level of analysis involved. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intraindividual stability in the organization and patterning of behavior: Incorporating psychological situations into the idiographic analysis of personality.

In nomothetic analyses, the cross-situational consistency of individual differences in social behavior, assessed in vivo in a camp setting, depended on the similarity in the psychological features of situations. As predicted by the social-cognitive theory of personality, idiographic analyses revealed that individuals were characterized by stable profiles of if… then…, situation–behavior relationships that formed "behavioral signatures" of personality (e.g., he aggresses when warned by adults but complies when threatened by peers). Thus, the intraindividual organization of behavior variation across situations was enduring but discriminatively patterned, visible as distinctive profiles of situation–behavior relationships. Implications were examined for an idiographic reconceptualization of personality coherence and its behavioral expressions in relation to the psychological ingredients of situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating dispositions, signatures, and the interpersonal domain.

A person's behavior across situations can be characterized in terms of a mean level (disposition), a dispersion within the person around that mean level, and a stable organization to the pattern of dispersion (signature). The authors' goals were to examine the structure and stability of behavior, both at the level of behavioral dispositions and at the level of behavioral signatures. Participants completed event-contingent records of their social interactions over a 20-day period. Participants recorded their own social behavior (dominant, agreeable, submissive, quarrelsome) in 4 situations defined by the perceived social behavior of their primary interaction partners (agreeable-dominant, agreeable-submissive, quarrelsome- submissive, quarrelsome-dominant). Findings suggest that (a) once the normative influences of situations on behavior are removed, the remaining behavioral variation reflects both consistent cross-situational differences between individuals (dispositions) and consistent situational differences within individuals (signatures); (b) both dispositions and signatures display a 2-dimensional structure in adherence to the interpersonal circle; and (c) both dispositions and signatures constitute stable aspects of personality functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resolving the person–situation debate: Invitation to an interdisciplinary dialogue.

Advocates opening interdisciplinary communication between personality psychologists and behavioral geneticists. Linkages between behavioral genetics (BG) and the person-situation controversy are examined. Among the parallels are that both approaches partition behavioral variation to latent causes and that both are concerned with cross-situational change. Data on situational consistency, situational change, longitudinal stability, and longitudinal change are reviewed, leading to the conclusion that genotypes exert a pervasive effect on behavioral variation. BG methods show clearly that behavioral change can sometimes be falsely imputed to situational influences. BG methods, however, also permit estimation of situational influences, removing possibly confounding hereditary ones. Behavioral geneticists and personality scientists have much to learn from one another. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Situation selection as a moderator of response consistency and stability.

Addressed the viability of introducing into the moderator variable literature a distinction between chosen and imposed situations in 2 studies with 62 undergraduates. In Study 1, the relation between recreational activity choices and selected personality traits and the stability of these choices over time was examined. In Study 2, the cross-situational consistency of affective and behavioral responses within self-rated chosen and imposed situations in Ss' everyday lives was examined. Situational choices were found to be relatively stable over a period of 9 mo and to be related in predictable ways to personality dispositions. Distinguishing between chosen and imposed situations produced differences in average cross-situational consistency coefficients, and differences between affective and behavioral responses were also found. Behavior was found to be more consistent within imposed situations. It is concluded that there is support for the claim that self-selection of individuals to situations moderates response consistency and stability. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further Validity Evidence for the Teacher Version of the Child Symptom lnventory-4.

The reliability and validity of the teacher version of the Child Symptom Inventory-4 (CSI-4) was examined in 248 boys referred for evaluation of behavioral and emotional problems. The CSI-4 is a behavior rating scale whose items correspond to the symptoms of DSM-IV-defined disorders. The results indicated satisfactory internal consistency reliabilities for most symptom categories, and CSI-4 scores converged and diverged in a theoretically consistent manner with respective scales of the Teacher's Report Form (Achenbach, 1991), the IOWA Conners Teacher's Rating Scale (Loney & Milich, 1982), and the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents-Revised Parent Version (DICA-P; Reich, Shayka, & Taibleson, 1991). Correlations between teacher and parent CSI-4 ratings were low to moderate, whereas all correlations between teacher ratings and child self report were very low (rs     

Persons versus situations in the real-life functioning of chronically institutionalized mental patients.

Examined the "person vs situation" controversy regarding the contribution to variance of behavior in real-life environments of 34 severely disabled psychiatric patients, using reliable and valid observational assessment of both patient behavior and dimensions of situations. Components-of-variance analyses were performed on data for 2 different behavior domains (cognitive dysfunction and social interaction) across 2 dimensions of situations (physical settings and psychological demand) on 2 occasions within 2 differing treatment environments. The relation of level of functioning to behavioral consistency was investigated by correlational analyses. Results indicate that behavioral consistency was a complex function of behavior domains assessed, differing psychological demand within situations, and the overall situational characteristics of the treatment environments in which the patients lived. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Note on Bem and Funder's scheme for scoring Q sorts.

A correlational procedure reported by D. J. Bem and D. L. Funder (see record 1979-28632-001) for using situational information when predicting behavior from personality Q sorts is shown to be essentially equivalent to standard questionnaire methodology. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The case for person-situation interactions.

Discusses the important and complex personality issue of cross-situational consistency (stability) vs situational specificity (change). Personologists and clinicians have assumed that personality traits are the major source of behavioral variance, while social psychologists and sociologists have assumed that situations are the major source. There is little empirical evidence to support either the claim of the trait theorists or that of the situationists. It is pointed out that not enough attention has been paid to assessing the psychological significance of various types of situations, and the person-situation issue has been inappropriately phrased. Various research strategies are discussed, and the advantages of the interactionist approach, and supporting empirical data, are presented. A person-situation interaction model for anxiety is proposed. (77 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responses to stress in adolescence: Measurement of coping and involuntary stress responses.

The development of a measure of coping and involuntary stress responses in adolescence is described. The Responses to Stress Questionnaire (RSQ) reflects a conceptual model that includes volitional coping efforts and involuntary responses to specific stressful events or specified domains of stress. The psychometric characteristics of the RSQ were examined across 4 domains of stress in 3 samples of adolescents and parent reports obtained in 2 samples. The factor structure of the RSQ was tested and replicated with an adequate degree of fit using confirmatory factor analysis across 3 stressors in -2 samples. Internal consistency and retest reliability for the 5 factors were adequate to excellent. Concurrent validity was established through correlations with another measure of coping, heart rate reactivity, and correlations of self- and parent-reports. Significant correlations with both adolescents' and parents' reports of internalizing and externalizing symptoms were consistent with hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Construct validity and the predictability of behavior.

Recurring assessment problems in personality research related to the cross-situational consistency and predictability of behavior are evaluated in light of modern construct-oriented measurement theory. A recent study of the domain of conscientiousness behaviors (Mischel & Peake, 1982) is used to illustrate the consequences of not applying well-established strategies for the development and validation of psychological measures. It is argued that a careful specification of the behavioral exemplars of a trait domain and their interrelations is an essential precondition for the construct validity of a measure and for evidence of behavioral consistency. A reanalysis of the observational data of Mischel and Peake revealed conceptually and empirically identifiable facets of the domain of conscientiousness and, when behaviors were properly aggregated, substantial evidence of their construct validity and cross-situational generality. This finding is contrary to interpretations of Mischel and Peake and occurred despite several definitional and measurement problems identified in their study. Conditions contributing to the prediction of behavior across situations are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

More on determinants of delay of gratification.

Comments on D. C. Funder and M. J. Harris's (see record 1986-21971-001) reanalysis of W. Mischel's (see record 1985-06679-001) data relating to the comparative strength of dispositional and situational determinants of delayed gratification by suggesting that Funder and Harris may have underestimated the strength of situational effects and overestimated the strength of dispositional effects obtained in Mischel's experiments and by noting other discrepancies in Funder and Harris's reanalysis. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Situational judgment tests in high-stakes settings: Issues and strategies with generating alternate forms.

This study used principles underlying item generation theory to posit competing perspectives about which features of situational judgment tests might enhance or impede consistent measurement across repeat test administrations. This led to 3 alternate-form development approaches (random assignment, incident isomorphism, and item isomorphism). The effects of these approaches on alternate-form consistency, mean score changes, and criterion-related validity were examined in a high-stakes context (N = 3,361). Generally, results revealed that even small changes in the context of the situations presented resulted in significantly lower alternate-form consistency. Conversely, placing more constraints on the alternate-form development process proved beneficial. The contributions, implications, and limitations of these results for the development of situational judgment tests and high-stakes testing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)