The Relation Between Personality and Contextual Performance in "Strong" Versus "Weak" Situations

Both a laboratory and field study investigated the extent to which the strength of behavioral cues in simulated and actual job performance situations moderate the relation between measures of broad personality dimensions and contextual performance behaviors. Extending Mischel's (1977) conceptualization of strong and weak situations, it was hypothesized that personality and contextual performance behavior would be most strongly correlated when there were only weak cues, and less correlated when there were strong cues. Results indicated that personality-contextual performance correlations varied across situations with different expectations for performance.     

Trait anger,neuroticism, and the hostile reaction to provocation: examining the hierarchical organization of affective traits in context

It has been suggested that the broad trait of neuroticism may predict the tendency to become aggressive when provoked. Based on functionalist theories of emotion, however, we suspected that only the more specific trait of anger would predict such tendencies. To test these competing predictions, two laboratory studies and one daily diary study were conducted. Consistent with functionalist accounts, trait anger consistently predicted the angry emotional and aggressive behavioral response to provocation, even after controlling for neuroticism. This was true in relation to laboratory-based provocations and in provocations experienced in daily life. Neuroticism only predicted a more diverse negative emotional reaction. It is therefore proposed that trait anger clearly elicits an angry emotional response, which directly motivates aggressive behavior. By contrast, neuroticism may lead to a very diverse reaction which elicits different and even contradictory behavioral tendencies.     

The Separation And Evaluation Of Personal And Environmental Contributions To Behavior By The Person-Centered Model (PCER)

The person-centered environmental representation (PCER) model aims to bring extra-personality determiners of behavior measures (stimulus, response form, situation, observer) as known values into the behavioral equations. Illustration begins with the simplest 3-dimensional data box case -- person, test, situation -- in which the response score is a product of the characteristic trait score of the individual and the characteristic interaction of that trait with that kind of performance. In extending this to a particular kind of situation it is recognized that a test-situation interaction term must, realistically, be added.

The problem in experiment is to infer the magnitude of the contributors from the 3-sums in the cells of the empirically given data box frame. Three ways of attempting this are described and the third, judged most practical, is illustrated in a plasmode of data typical of experiment. It is shown that the discovery from the frame data of the factor structure, originally put into the contributory test and situation matrices is reasonably good, and it is pointed out that since this can be achieved with only 10 situations, 12 tests and 14 people, the smoothing effect of more typical large samples makes the method practicable.

If further research with real data confirms the speculation that the personality factors determining situation reaction are the same as those determining test reaction, a split loading model could be used permitting, as a by-product, assessment of relative variance contributions of differences among persons, stimuli, response forms, and observers.     

Accuracy of fear inventories and self-efficacy scales in predicting agoraphobic behavior

Self-rating fear inventories are widely used as primary dependent measures of therapeutic change in agoraphobia, but objective behavioral evidence of their validity has been largely unavailable. In contrast, self-efficacy scales are rarely used in agoraphobia research despite evidence that they correlate highly with agoraphobic behavior. In the present study, 37 agoraphobics completed the Marks and Mathews Fear Questionnaire, the Mobility Inventory for Agoraphobia, a set of agoraphobia-related self-efficacy scales, and a set of agoraphobia-related behavioral avoidance tests in the natural community environment. The Fear Questionnaire and Mobility Inventory items proved to be only modestly predictive of agoraphobic dysfunction, whereas the self-efficacy scales were highly predictive of agoraphobic dys-function. Although self-efficacy scales are not intended to be substitute measures of behavior, the findings indicate that they estimate agoraphobia much more accurately than do the standard fear inventories.     

Personality assessment in the Great Apes: Comparing ecologically valid behavior measures, behavior ratings, and adjective ratings

Three methods of personality assessment (behavior measures, behavior ratings, adjective ratings) were compared in 20 zoo-housed Great Apes: bonobos (Pan paniscus), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), and orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus abelii). To test a new bottom-up approach, the studied trait constructs were systematically generated from the species’ behavioral repertoires. The assessments were reliable, temporally stable, and showed substantial cross-method coherence. In most traits, behavior ratings mediated the relations between adjective ratings and behavior measures. Results suggest that high predictability of manifest behavior is best achieved by behavior ratings, not by adjectives. Empirical evidence for trait constructs beyond current personality models points to the necessity of broad and systematic approaches for valid inferences on a species’ personality structure.     

To eat or not to eat: implications of the attentional myopia model for restrained eaters

The attentional myopia model of behavioral control was tested in a study of food consumption by chronic dieters. According to the model, when individuals' attentional capacity is limited, their behavior will be disproportionately influenced by highly salient internal and external cues to the exclusion of more distal stimuli. In situations that normally feature conflicting behavioral pressures, such a state of narrowed attention is likely to result in abnormally disinhibited behavior when cues promoting action are more salient and to result in abnormally restrained behavior when inhibiting cues are more salient. In addition to supporting the predictions of the model, this study provided the first evidence for enhanced behavioral control under conditions of limited attention. Participants' responses to a thought-reporting measure also provided evidence for the role played by attentional myopia in the control of eating. Implications for a broad array of regulatory successes and failures are discussed.     

Japanese children's trait and state worry and emotionality in a high-stakes testing environment

Our previous research using both Japanese Children's Trait and State Worry and Emotionality Scales indicated that there were several issues that needed resolution in a high-stakes testing environment. High-stakes testing environments are those in which there are serious consequences to the individual of how well he or she scores on a particular test. In this study, the high-stakes environment was characterized by higher state worry and emotionality but not higher trait worry and emotionality scores than in the previous study. A clear two-factor solution was found for the state measures but not for the trait measures. Males performed better on the achievement tests than females. The relationship of state anxiety to performance was non-linear. State worry was more highly predictive of poor performance than state emotionality.     

Fully contextualized,frequency-based personality measurement: A replication and extension

We compared the predictive validity of two types of Frame-of-Reference personality measures to each other and to a baseline generic measure. Each version of the measures used a unique response-format referred to as frequency-based estimation that allowed the behavioral consistency of responses to be gauged. Generic personality scales, tagged scales with “at school”, and completely modified scales were compared in their prediction of academic performance, counterproductive academic behavior, and participant reactions. Results showed that completely contextualized measures were the most predictively valid and, contrary to our expectations, behavioral consistency did not moderate the relationships. Face validity and to a lesser extent perceived predictive validity improved with increasing contextualization. We discuss the implications of our results for personality assessment in applied settings.     

Relationship of core self-evaluations to goal setting, motivation, and performance.

A newly developed personality taxonomy suggests that self-esteem, locus of control, generalized self-efficacy, and neuroticism form a broad personality trait termed core self-evaluations. The authors hypothesized that this broad trait is related to motivation and performance. To test this hypothesis, 3 studies were conducted. Study 1 showed that the 4 dispositions loaded on 1 higher order factor. Study 2 demonstrated that the higher order trait was related to task motivation and performance in a laboratory setting. Study 3 showed that the core trait was related to task activity, productivity as measured by sales volume, and the rated performance of insurance agents. Results also revealed that the core self-evaluations trait was related to goal-setting behavior. In addition, when the 4 core traits were investigated as 1 nomological network, they proved to be more consistent predictors of job behaviors than when used in isolation.     

Situational effects in trait assessment: The FPI,NEOFFI, and EPI questionnaires

While most researchers do agree now that situations may have an effect in the assessment of traits, the consequences have been neglected, so far: if situations affect the assessment of traits we have to take this fact into account in studies on reliability and validity of measurement instruments and their application. In the theoretical part of this article we provide a more formal exposition of this point, introducing the basic concepts of latent state–trait (LST) theory. LST theory and the associated models allow for the estimation of the situational impact on trait measures in non-experimental, correlational studies. In the empirical part, LST theory is applied to three well known trait questionnaires: the Freiburg Personality Inventory, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory and the Eysenck Personality Inventory. It is shown that significant proportions of the variances of the scales of these questionnaires are due to situational effects. The following consequences of this finding are discussed, (i) Instead of the reliability coefficient, the proportion of variance due to the latent trait, the consistency coefficient, should be used for the estimation of confidence intervals for trait scores, (ii) To reduce the situational effects on trait estimates it may be useful to base such an estimate on several occasions, i.e., to aggregate data across occasions. (iii) Reliability and validity studies should not only be based on a sample of persons representative of those to whom the test will be applied; they should also be conducted in situational contexts representative of the intended applications.     

Unobtrusive measures in behavioral assessment

A major distinguishing characteristic of behavioral assessment is the direct assessment of overt behavior. Direct assessment is assumed to provide a sample of behavior that reflects client performance in the situation in which behavior is assessed, even if the assessment procedures were not implemented. Yet, in the majority of investigations, behavioral assessment procedures are obtrusive, i.e., subjects are aware that their behavior is being assessed. The potential problem with obtrusive assessment is that it may be reactive, i.e., affect how subjects perform. Recent research has demonstrated that obtrusive observations often are reactive and that behaviors assessed under obtrusive and unobtrusive conditions bear little relation. From methodological and applied perspectives, additional attention needs to be given to unobtrusive measures of behavior change. The present paper illustrates unobtrusive measures in behavior modification including direct observations, archival records, and physical traces of performance. In addition, validation and assessment problems, questions about the obtrusiveness of the measures, and ethical issues are discussed.     

Efficacy of self-instructional training for reducing children''s anxiety in an evaluative situation

Fifty-six fourth-grade children were categorized as either high or low in trait anxiety and then assigned to a self-instruction treatment, minimal-treatment, or no-treatment control condition. At both pretest and posttest, the subjects recited a memorized poem while being videotaped with the expectation that they would be judged on their performance. State anxiety measures, a behavior rating of anxiety, a measure of performance accuracy and the time involved in reciting a poem were obtained at both pretest and posttest. Contrary to expectation, the self-instructional training resulted in subjects' exhibiting greater signs of behavioral anxiety, subjects' hurrying through the task (taking less time to recite the poem) and high trait-anxiety subjects' reporting more state anxiety while anticipating reciting the poem. Correlational analyses indicated that trait anxiety was significantly related to the measures of state anxiety and the behavior rating of anxiety but not to performance accuracy.     

A process dissociation approach to objective-projective test score interrelationships

Even when self-report and projective measures of a given trait or motive both predict theoretically related features of behavior, scores on the 2 tests correlate modestly with each other. This article describes a process dissociation framework for personality assessment, derived from research on implicit memory and learning, which can resolve these ostensibly conflicting results. Research on interpersonal dependency is used to illustrate 3 key steps in the process dissociation approach: (a) converging behavioral predictions, (b) modest test score intercorrelations, and (c) delineation of variables that differentially affect self-report and projective test scores. Implications of the process dissociation framework for personality assessment and test development are discussed.     

Bimodal assessment in a stressful social encounter: Individual differences,lead-lag relationships,and response styles

Analogue social-stress situations have assumed an important role in the assessment of social anxiety. However, psychophysiological assessment of social anxiety in these laboratory situations has produced inconsistent results. Notably, the empirical relationship between autonomic reactivity and behavioral indices of social anxiety has fluctuated widely. The present study examined the relationship between heart rate and behavioral ratings of social anxiety in a normal college-student sample utilizing a methodology which (a) addressed individual differences, (b) utilized a relatively unobtrusive heart-rate monitoring system, and (c) assessed time-lag relationships between the two measures. Cross-lagged correlations for the full sample of 25 subjects and a subset of heart-rate reactives showed large intersubject variability between the measures. The results support the lack of convergence between the two modes of measurement when subjects are considered as an aggregate.     

Individual differences in achieving tendency: Review of evidence bearing on a questionnaire measure

The Mehrabian Achieving Tendency Scale (MATS) provides a broad-scoped assessment of individual characteristics associated with achievement. The MATS is highly reliable and reasonably free of response bias. It correlated negatively with various measures of general (trait) anxiety and fear of success. The MATS successfully predicted performance in situations approximating real-life tests of work and school performance and academic attitudes (e.g., level of aspiration, interest and satisfaction, leadership and initiative). The MATS also predicted occupational choice and occupational/organizational commitment and attractive/appropriate self-presentation. Within a general model of personality and temperament, the MATS was shown to consist primarily of trait dominance and secondarily of trait pleasure. The model successfully predicted relationships of the MATS with a variety of personality measures.     

PERSONALITY TESTS AT THE CROSSROADS: A RESPONSE TO MORGESON, CAMPION, DIPBOYE, HOLLENBECK, MURPHY, AND SCHMITT (2007)

Despite widespread and growing acceptance that published personality tests are valid predictors of job performance, Morgeson et al. (2007) propose they be abandoned in personnel selection because average validity estimates are low. Our review of the literature shows that Morgeson et al.'s skepticism is unfounded. Meta-analyses have demonstrated that published personality tests, in fact, yield useful validity estimates when validation is based on confirmatory research using job analysis and taking into account the bidirectionality of trait–performance linkages. Further gains are likely by use of narrow over broad measures, multivariate prediction, and theory attuned to the complexities of trait expression and evaluation at work. Morgeson et al. also suggest that faking has little, if any, impact on personality test validity and that it may even contribute positively to job performance. Job applicant research suggests that faking under true hiring conditions attenuates personality test validity but that validity is still sufficiently strong to warrant personality test use in hiring. Contrary to Morgeson et al., we argue that the full value of published personality tests in organizations has yet to be realized, calling for programmatic theory-driven research.     

人才甄选中的人格测验作假研究的深入与拓展

企业人才甄选情境下求职者很容易在人格测验中作假。至今有关作假的研究已包含作假的内涵、来源和识别等多个方面,也诞生了多种心理模型尝试解释作假产生的心理机制,如作假动机与作假能力交互作用理论、作假计划行为理论、作假整合模型、一般作假行为模型以及作假的VIE模型,为后续理论研究点明方向。此外,作假应用领域中新兴的网络人格测验作假受到关注,在此介绍网络与纸笔测验两种形式下,人格测验作假行为、作假意向的不同。     

The layman's use of trait and behavioral information to predict behavior

This study investigated conditions that determine subjects' preferences for information about another person's traits versus his specific past behavior in order to predict his future behavior. The similarity-dissimilarity between the situation for which past behavior was available and the one to which predictions had to be made strongly influenced the choice of specific behavioral information versus more general trait information. As expected, behavioral information was preferred most when the situation to which behavior had to be predicted was highly similar to the one for which the past behavioral data were available. On the other hand, more general trait information was preferred in predicting to situations that were not directly similar to those for which past behavioral information was available. The effect of the temporal span covered by available information was also explored.     

State anxiety reduces procrastinating behavior

Three experiments conducted in China and the US investigated the impact of state anxiety on behavioral procrastination. Participants were induced into a high- or a low-anxiety state and then given a period of 12 min either to practice for an upcoming test or entertain themselves (e.g., watch videos). The results showed that participants in a high-anxiety state spent more time practicing for the upcoming test than participants in a low-anxiety state. Impulsivity and trait procrastination were also measured. Impulsivity was found to be positively correlated with both trait procrastination and dilatory behavior. Overall the findings support a self-regulatory theory account such that the negative emotion associated with anxiety motivates people to increase the effort towards reaching a goal and take proactive measures for the most important task, thus reducing procrastination.     

Test-induced anxiety with children.

Thirty-five elementary school children received the WISC, Rorschach, CAT, and Sentence Completion Test in counterbalanced order with a test-test interval of approximately 24 hours. State and trait anxiety measures were assessed immediately prior to and immediately following each test administration. Results indicated that state anxiety measures increased significantly following administration of the more ambigious and school related assessment tests, namely the Rorschach and WISC. In contrast, the more structured, less amorphous CAT and Sentence Completion Test, did not induce any significant changes in state anxiety. In all cases, trait anxiety measures remained relatively stable. Implications for assessment techniques with children were discussed.