Perception of cross-situational consistency.

88 undergraduates rated the degree of relation in each of 21 pairs of items that described behavior in the domains of conscientiousness, friendliness, and extraversion. In these 3 domains, estimates of relations by the average S correlated, respectively, with actual empirical relations, .63, .58, and .40. Relations corresponding to correlations between .10 and .20 could be significantly distinguished by Ss from relations in the range of .00 to .10 in 2 of the 3 domains. The confidence that Ss placed in their perceptions varied directly with the accuracy of their judgments against the empirical criterion. In addition, Ss were more confident of what they perceived to be extreme relations in both directions than of intermediate relations, and they also tended to be more confident of their judgments of strong positive relations than of zero relations. They exhibited an intuitive awareness of the effect of aggregation over occasions and items of behavior on the magnitude of cross-situational relations and the demonstration of traits. They also reported using reasonable strategies in arriving at decisions. Far from being inveterate trait believers, as has been previously suggested, Ss' intuitions paralleled psychometric principles in several important respects when assessing relations between real-life behaviors. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Coherence and cross-situational generality in personality: A new analysis of old problems.

An analysis of personality constructs indicates that the research supporting these beliefs has failed to provide an adequate test of either coherence or cross-situational generality. Specifically, it is proposed that when personality constructs are measured by sampling the occurrence of multiple referents of the construct in multiple situations, both coherence and cross-situational generality can be demonstrated. To test this, 56 3–5 yr olds' dominance and dependency behaviors were observed in multiple situations. Results indicate that (a) multiple-referent sampling increased the coherence of both constructs, (b) dominance exhibited greater coherence than dependency, and (c) predictive accuracy across situations was enhanced by multiple-situation sampling for dominance but not for dependency. Data support the usefulness of appropriately measured personality constructs in predicting behavior. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the temporal stability of personality: Evidence for differential stability and the role of life experiences.

The authors investigated the stability of personality and trait affect in young adults. In Studies 1 and 2, young adults were retested on a Big Five personality measure and a trait affect inventory over a 2.5-year and a 2-month period, respectively. Results from Study 1 point to positive mean-level changes; participants scored higher on Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness at Time 2. Affectively, participants experienced less negative affect and more positive affect at Time 2. Results from both retests provide clear evidence of differential stability. Affective traits were consistently less stable than the Big Five. Other analyses suggest that life events influence the stability of affective traits more than the Big Five. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond déjà vu in the search for cross-situational consistency.

Recent efforts to resolve the debate regarding the consistency of social behavior are critically analyzed and reviewed in the light of new data from 63 college students. Even with reliable measures, based on multiple behavior observations aggregated over occasions, mean cross-situational consistency coefficients were of modest magnitude; in contrast, impressive temporal stability was found. Although aggregation of measures over occasions is a useful step in establishing reliability, aggregation of measures over situations bypasses rather than resolves the problem of cross-situational consistency. Congruent with a cognitive prototype approach, it is proposed and demonstrated that the judgment of trait consistency is strongly related to the temporal stability of highly prototypic behaviors. In contrast, the global impression of consistency may not be strongly related to highly generalized cross-situational consistency, even in prototypic behaviors. Thus, the perception and organization of personality consistencies seem to depend more on the temporal stability of key features than on the observation of cross-situational behavioral consistency, and the former may be easily interpreted as if it were the latter. (65 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing the temporal stability of self-report and interview assessed personality disorder.

Findings from several large-scale, longitudinal studies over the last decade have challenged the long-held assumption that personality disorders (PDs) are stable and enduring. However, the findings, including those from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study (CLPS; Gunderson et al., 2000), rely primarily on results from semistructured interviews. As a result, less is known about the stability of PD scores from self-report questionnaires, which differ from interviews in important ways (e.g., source of the ratings, item development, and instrument length) that might increase temporal stability. The current study directly compared the stability of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM–IV) PD constructs assessed via the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP–2; Clark, Simms, Wu, & Casillas, in press) with those from the Diagnostic Interview for DSM–IV Personality Disorders (Zanarini, Frankenburg, Sickel, & Yong, 1996) over 2 years in a sample of 529 CLPS participants. Specifically, we compared dimensional and categorical representations from both measures in terms of rank-order and mean-level stability. Results indicated that the dimensional scores from the self-report questionnaire had significantly greater rank-order (mean r = .69 vs. .59) and mean-level (mean d = 0.21 vs. 0.30) stability. In contrast, categorical diagnoses from the two measures evinced comparable rank-order (mean κ = .38 vs. .37) and mean-level stability (median prevalence rate decrease of 3.5% vs. 5.6%). These findings suggest the stability of PD constructs depends at least partially on the method of assessment and are discussed in the context of previous research and future conceptualizations of personality pathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors that influence the temporal stability of personality by questionnaire.

Analyzed test–retest reliability data gathered from 106 sources (89 independent samples), using a multiple-regression method in an attempt to estimate the effects of several factors on questionnaire stability. We examined 8 self-report inventories: the High School Personality Questionnaire, the 16PF, the MMPI, the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator, the CPI, the Guilford–Zimmerman Temperament Survey, the EPPS, and the OPI. Samples ranged in size and encompassed a wide range of Ss divergent on status and age. We found S's age and status, number of test items, test interitem correlation, and test–retest interval to be significant predictors of reliability. Variables representing general adjustment were found to be less predictable than extraversion variables, and short-term reliability was more predictable than long-term reliability. S's sex and specific questionnaires were not found to have a significant effect on reliability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moderators of self–other agreement: Reconsidering temporal stability in personality.

Accurate prediction requires information not only about central tendencies but also about variability. In personality prediction, however, most research has focused on trait-level central tendencies. Previously proposed moderators of personality prediction are all conceptually similar in comparing an individual's central tendency in response patterns with that of the normative person. This article proposes an alternative: Trait-level prediction is enhanced by measuring the temporal stability of response patterns within persons. Across 2 studies, individuals with temporally stable response patterns had higher self–other agreement on conscientiousness and extraversion than did individuals with less temporally stable patterns. By comparison, normatively based variables (interitem variability, scalability, or construct similarity) did not moderate self–other agreement. The implications for personality structure, assessment, and prediction are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental and cross-situational stability in infant pigtailed macaque temperament.

We assessed developmental stability and context generalizability of temperament in pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) from the University of Washington Infant Primate Research Lab. A principal components analysis condensed 6 behavioral measures into 2 components, interpreted as reactivity and boldness. Changes in these measures over the 1st 10 months of development showed a trend toward calmer and bolder behavior with age, with significant individual variation in the pattern of change. Boldness showed a quadratic pattern of change, whereas reactivity decreased linearly. We also studied the relationship between temperament and response to a novelty probe. The magnitude of the response to the novelty probe decreased slightly over time, and boldness and reactivity in a familiar setting did not predict these changes in response to novelty. In a 2nd principal components analysis, reactivity to novelty represented a distinct aspect of temperament. Our results demonstrate developmental changes and context dependency in macaque behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A failure to replicate the Bem and Allen study of individual differences in cross-situational consistency.

D. J. Bem and A. Allen (see record 1975-04252-001) purportedly found evidence that, by using self-report measures of cross-situational consistency as moderator variables, it was possible to substantially increase the size of correlation coefficients computed among measures of each of 2 personality traits. In the present study, 112 undergraduates were divided into high- and low-consistent groups using 3 methods. Within each group correlations were computed among and between 6 self-report measures, for each of 8 traits (e.g., friendliness, emotional stability). In general, none of the methods of consistency classification replicated the Bem and Allen finding. In cases where the high-consistent group had a larger average correlation among the measures than their low-consistent counterparts, the size of that difference was negligible. Moreover, there were about as many instances in which the low-consistent group actually had larger average correlations. There was essentially no agreement among the various consistency classification methods in dividing Ss into high- and low-consistent subsamples. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Car-driving consistency and measures of personality.

Three groups of Ss—10 skilled police driving instructors, 10 skilled car club drivers, and 6 drivers of lesser skill—were studied to determine the relationship of driving consistency to neuroticism and to introversion-extroversion. The driving consistency measures (based on vehicle acceleration and deceleration) were found to be negatively related to the two personality measures for the skilled police drivers and the lesser-skilled drivers, but not for the skilled car club drivers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal and cross-situational stability of children's social and play behavior.

Assessed the stability of behavior over 8 3-day periods of 34 preschoolers 31–58 mo old, who were observed using the Parten-Smilansky categories. Cross-situational coefficients were significant at the .01 level for all behaviors. Temporal coefficients were also high when sufficiently long time periods were sampled. Results indicate that under some conditions the Parten-Smilansky instrument will satisfy the requirements of classical psychometric theory. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further déjà vu in the search for cross-situational consistency: A response to Mischel and Peake.

W. Mischel and P. Peake (see record 1983-05642-001) criticized recent proposals for addressing the issue of cross-situational variability in behavior. The present author argues that Mischel and Peake misrepresent the links between the empirical studies they discuss and the methodological or conceptual strategies they criticize. In particular, they distorted the raison d'être of the author and D. C. Funder's (see record 1979-28632-001) template-matching technique and misapprehended the author and A. Allen's (see record 1975-04252-001) argument for an idiographic, or person-centered, approach to personality. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does the assessment center scoring method affect the cross-situational consistency of ratings?

Examined the effect of 2 different assessment center scoring methods on the cross-situational consistency of assessor ratings. A scoring method that focused on dimensions yielded similar heterotrait-nonmethod and monotrait-heteromethod correlations compared with the more typical within-exercise procedure. As in previous research, dimension ratings correlated higher with different dimensions in the same exercise than with ratings of the same dimensions in other exercises. In light of this as well as other studies, the authors concluded that different changes appear necessary to increase convergent validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Continuity and change: Assortative marriage and the consistency of personality in adulthood.

How is personality stability possible amid the myriad of social changes and transformations that characterize a human life? We argue that by choosing situations that are compatible with their dispositions and by affiliating with similar others, individuals may set in motion processes of social interchange that sustain their dispositions across time and circumstance. To test this proposition we examined mate selection, using data on married couples from two ongoing longitudinal studies at the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley. Consistent with other research, the results point to homogamy as a basic norm in marriage. More important, the results show that marriage to a similar other promotes consistency in the intraindividual organization of personality attributes across middle adulthood. We offer some speculations for a more relational approach to the problem of individual continuity and change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Taking the theorizing in personality theories seriously: Comment.

Comments on "A tale of two visions: Can a new view of personality help integrate psychology?" by J. D. Mayer (see record 2005-05480-001). Mayer's attempt to find ways to use personality emphases as integrative tendencies in psychology is welcome. Certainly, it would help if the research and practice efforts of psychologists were coordinated more clearly than they are now. The comment author finds Mayer's rather ambiguous and scattered suggestions to be disconcerting. The comment author proposes alternatives he hopes will further Mayer's goals. He believes that emphasizing core, developmental, and peripheral statements is important in envisioning the personality system. The comment author does not agree with Mayer's (2005) assertion that emphasizing existing personality theories is necessarily damaging because of their specific content disagreements. There are, of course, many personality theories, but their diversity can be reduced to a more manageable level by inducing from them the basic models of personality theorizing. When the comment author engages in this process, what emerges is the conflict, fulfillment, and consistency models, each with two subtypes. Psychologists need to collaborate with each other in formulating comparative analytic research that can resolve the fundamental issues arising from the differences between these three models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Faking specific disorders and temporal response consistency on the MMPI-2.

The ability of persons faking posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or closed-head injury (CHI) to respond consistently across serial testings on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—2 (MMPI-2; J. Butcher, W. Dahlstrom, J. Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989) was investigated. Results showed that individuals faking PTSD obtained 2-week test–retest reliability scores comparable to individuals completing the MMPI-2 with standard instructions; individuals faking CHI obtained reliability coefficients significantly lower than individuals faking PTSD. A 3?×?2 (Response Style?×?Time) analysis of variance indicated that individuals faking a disorder obtained significantly elevated scores on validity scales sensitive to overreporting; no main effect for time was found. Results suggest that test-takers faking specific disorders can describe symptoms consistently on repeated testing and that type of disorder may affect temporal response consistency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the interface of cognition and personality: Beyond the person–situation debate.

Discusses 3 aspects of the interface between cognition and personality. First, recent findings from the study of cognitive social psychology, judgmental heuristics, and person prototypes help to clarify some of the "cognitive economics" that influence how people (including psychologists) categorize each other naturally. It is shown that categorizations of people at different levels of inclusiveness have distinctive advantages and disadvantages and are therefore useful for different purposes. The 2nd topic explored is the development of children's understanding of psychological principles about social behavior generally, and the growth of their knowledge of effective rules for self-regulation in particular. Finally, studies showing surprising realism in depressed people raise questions about the nature and mechanisms of normal affect. These diverse lines of research share and represent a common theme: the increasing integration of cognitive and personological constructs in the study of persons. (69 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychometric properties of eating disorder instruments in Black and White young women: Internal consistency, temporal stability, and validity.

Most of the major instruments in the eating disorder field have documented psychometric support only in predominantly White samples. The current study examined the internal consistency, temporal stability, and convergent and discriminant validity of a variety of eating disorder measures in Black (n = 97) and White (n = 179) female undergraduates. Internal consistency coefficients were good (>.76) for all measures for both groups. Temporal stability across 5 months was also adequate in both groups, but with evidence for dietary restraint and subjective binge eating being less stable in Black women (e.g., for the Restraint subscale of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire [TFEQ], r = .63 for Black women and r = .82 for White women). Scores on the bulimic symptoms and dietary restraint instruments converged and diverged in a theoretically consistent pattern. Findings suggest these eating disorder measures are reliable (internally consistent; temporally stable over 5 months) and that the bulimic symptom measures of the Bulimia Test-Revised, the Bulimia subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory, and the dietary restraint measures from the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire and TFEQ demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity in Black college women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)