Are observer ratings of applicants’ personality also faked? Yes,but less than self‐reports

Although self‐report personality tests are a comparatively cheap and easy‐to‐administer personnel selection tool, researchers have criticized them for not predicting enough criterion‐related variance. Researchers have suggested using observer‐ratings of personality (e.g., as part of a reference check from a supervisor) because observer‐ratings have been reported to be more predictive. However, it is theoretically and empirically unclear whether supervisors also engage in faking (the intentional distortion of responses). Study 1 explored faking among managers who were first asked to imagine that a subordinate had to leave his/her job for private reasons and then to rate the personality of the subordinate. A week later, managers rated their subordinates honestly. A repeated‐measures MANOVA indicated that managers did fake. Study 2 (among supervisors of working students) replicated the above findings but also showed that there is less faking in supervisor‐ratings than in self‐ratings. Furthermore, we found no evidence that the validity of personality scales for predicting academic performance depends on self‐ versus observer‐ratings or on an applicant versus an honest condition. These two studies thus show that practitioners should not equate personality ratings obtained from observers in a selection context with honest personality ratings.     

The Validity and Structure of Culture‐Level Personality Scores: Data From Ratings of Young Adolescents

ABSTRACT We examined properties of culture‐level personality traits in ratings of targets (N=5,109) ages 12 to 17 in 24 cultures. Aggregate scores were generalizable across gender, age, and relationship groups and showed convergence with culture‐level scores from previous studies of self‐reports and observer ratings of adults, but they were unrelated to national character stereotypes. Trait profiles also showed cross‐study agreement within most cultures, 8 of which had not previously been studied. Multidimensional scaling showed that Western and non‐Western cultures clustered along a dimension related to Extraversion. A culture‐level factor analysis replicated earlier findings of a broad Extraversion factor but generally resembled the factor structure found in individuals. Continued analysis of aggregate personality scores is warranted.     

An Investigation of Self‐Rated Cues Believed to Influence the Judgment of Intelligence in a Zero‐Acquaintance Context1

This study examined participants' perceptions of the cues they believed to be important when making intelligence judgments in zero‐acquaintance contexts. In total, 467 British participants rated 29 items for how important they were when making judgments of intelligence and completed scales measuring their personality, self‐assessed intelligence, and demographics. A factor analysis showed that the 29 intelligence cues could be reduced to 4 factors: Physical Cues, Nonphysical Cues, Adornments, and Knowledge. There were no gender differences in ratings of these factors, and Knowledge was rated as the most important factor, followed by Nonphysical Cues, Adornments, and Physical Cues. These factors were weakly associated with participants' personality scores and self‐assessed intelligence. Results are discussed in relation to the literature on intelligence judgments.     

Comparability of Self‐Reported Conscientiousness Across 21 Countries

In cross‐national studies, mean levels of self‐reported phenomena are often not congruent with more objective criteria. One prominent explanation for such findings is that people make self‐report judgements in relation to culture‐specific standards (often called the reference group effect), thereby undermining the cross‐cultural comparability of the judgements. We employed a simple method called anchoring vignettes in order to test whether people from 21 different countries have varying standards for Conscientiousness, a Big Five personality trait that has repeatedly shown unexpected nation‐level relationships with external criteria. Participants rated their own Conscientiousness and that of 30 hypothetical persons portrayed in short vignettes. The latter type of ratings was expected to reveal individual differences in standards of Conscientiousness. The vignettes were rated relatively similarly in all countries, suggesting no substantial culture‐related differences in standards for Conscientiousness. Controlling for the small differences in standards did not substantially change the rankings of countries on mean self‐ratings or the predictive validities of these rankings for objective criteria. These findings are not consistent with mean self‐rated Conscientiousness scores being influenced by culture‐specific standards. The technique of anchoring vignettes can be used in various types of studies to assess the potentially confounding effects of reference levels. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Five-factor personality traits and age trajectories of self-rated health: the role of question framing

We examined the influence of personality traits on mean levels and age trends in 4 single‐item measures of self‐rated health: general rating, comparison to age peers, comparison to past health, and expectations for future health. Community‐dwelling participants (N = 1,683) completed 7,474 self‐rated health assessments over a period of up to 19 years. In hierarchical linear modeling analyses, age‐associated declines differed across the 4 health items. Across age groups, high Neuroticism and low Conscientiousness, low Extraversion, and low Openness were associated with worse health ratings, with notable differences across the 4 health items. Furthermore, high Neuroticism predicted steeper declines in health ratings involving temporal comparisons. We consider theoretical implications regarding the mechanisms behind associations among personality traits and self‐rated health.     

Personality characteristics of counselors rated as effective or ineffective

A study of 320 counselors in four states revealed substantial and significant correlations between tested personality characteristics and rated job performances. The Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) was used to discriminate counselors rated as highly effective, as average in effectiveness, or as ineffective on a 28-point Satisfaction with Performance Blank (SWPB). Effectiveness ratings were completed for each counselor by three supervisors. Rated counselor effectiveness was positively correlated with the Social and Artistic codes of the VPI and negatively correlated with Realistic and Conventional scores. A regression formula with a cross-validation procedure was used to explain the variance of the supervisory ratings. Employment level—elementary, middle, or high school—was not related to other factors studied. Sex, age, certification, and degree status were of no significance in predicting rated effectiveness. Highly rated counselors had a group Holland code of Social-Artistic-Investigative (SAI) whereas counselors rated as ineffective had a Realistic-Coventional-Enterprising (RCE) group code. Individual variations were uncommon.     

Self‐rated personality and intelligence: a multivariate genetic analysis

The present study investigated the phenotypic, genetic, and environmental correlations between personality factors and measured intelligence. Twin pairs (92 monozygotic and 50 same sex dizygotic) completed 20 sets of personality adjectives in self‐report form as well as a group administered intelligence test, measuring general intelligence and verbal and performance composite scales. The personality adjectives were found to fit a five factor model. Personality aggregates were also created based on multiple regression analyses and used to predict each intelligence dimension. Triangular decompositions were computed to estimate the degree to which the phenotypic personality and intelligence relations were attributable to common genetic and/or environmental factors. Results of these analyses found small to moderate genetic and environmental correlations between intelligence and the personality factors, and moderate to high genetic correlations between intelligence and the personality aggregates, suggesting that intelligence is related to some personality traits at both the phenotypic and the genetic level. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Accuracy and bias in newlywed spouses' perceptions of each other's personalities

This study investigated moderators of newlywed spouses' accuracy in judging each other's personality. Spouses in 154 predominantly Hispanic newlywed couples rated their own and their partners' personality traits. Full‐sample results showed significant associations between perceivers' and targets' personality ratings (“truth force”/“tracking accuracy”). Positive directional bias (perceivers' mean trait ratings of targets exceeding targets' self‐ratings) also was evident. Positive directional bias occurred when perceivers had little familiarity with their spouse prior to dating and when perceivers had high self‐esteem. Truth force/tracking accuracy increased with less time spent cohabiting and higher perceiver self‐esteem. Positive associations between perceivers' self‐esteem and ratings of partners on positively valenced traits were reduced when partners had had greater opportunities to observe one another's behaviors.     

‘Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder’: People who think they are drunk also think they are attractive

This research examines the role of alcohol consumption on self‐perceived attractiveness. Study 1, carried out in a barroom (N= 19), showed that the more alcoholic drinks customers consumed, the more attractive they thought they were. In Study 2, 94 non‐student participants in a bogus taste‐test study were given either an alcoholic beverage (target BAL [blood alcohol level]= 0.10 g/100 ml) or a non‐alcoholic beverage, with half of each group believing they had consumed alcohol and half believing they had not (balanced placebo design). After consuming beverages, they delivered a speech and rated how attractive, bright, original, and funny they thought they were. The speeches were videotaped and rated by 22 independent judges. Results showed that participants who thought they had consumed alcohol gave themselves more positive self‐evaluations. However, ratings from independent judges showed that this boost in self‐evaluation was unrelated to actual performance.     

Resilients,Overcontrollers, and Undercontrollers: The replicability of the three personality prototypes across informants

The study of patterns in personality structure reveals three replicable prototypes: Resilients, Overcontrollers, and Undercontrollers. The three prototypes were first identified in children using ratings based on the California Child Q‐set (see Block, 1971). Only recently, the three prototypes were replicated in self‐reports on questionnaires intended to assess the Big Five (see e.g. Asendorpf, Borkenau, Ostendorf, & van Aken, 2001). This paper addresses the question of whether the three prototypes are replicable across different data sources. Cluster structures in self‐, peer, and behaviour ratings, all based on the Big Five, were examined in a sample of 600 monozygotic and dizygotic twins ranging in age from 18 to 70 years. The three prototypes could be clearly identified in the self‐reports only, whereas in ratings by others only the Resilient prototype could be replicated. In both peer and behaviour ratings, the second and the third cluster reflected a Non‐desirable and an Average type. The analysis of cross‐data consistency revealed only moderate agreement in assignments of individual subjects to types. The findings suggest that personality types depend strongly on personality measures and informants. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Compatibility of Personality and Social Identity Processes: The Effect of Gender Identity on Neuroticism

In an experimental study (N = 186), we examined the effect of identity (gender versus personal) on participants' self‐rated neuroticism and estimates of mean neuroticism for men and women. Self‐rated neuroticism was measured before and after the identity salience manipulation. Following self‐categorization theory, we predicted that identity salience would affect levels of self‐rated neuroticism and the estimates (perceptions) of mean neuroticism for each sex. From a personality perspective, we expected substantial correlations between pre‐manipulation and post‐manipulation neuroticism scores in both identity conditions. The relation between participants' self‐rated neuroticism and their estimates of mean neuroticism for their own sex was also examined. The effect of identity salience was unclear with regard to self‐rated neuroticism levels, whereas the manipulation had apparent effects on estimated mean neuroticism levels for men and women. Also, self‐rated neuroticism was found to predict estimates of mean neuroticism for men and women in the gender, but not personal, identity condition. Finally, in line with a personality perspective, the relative positions in self‐rated neuroticism were highly stable in both conditions. The findings indicate a compatibility of self‐categorization theory and personality perspectives and suggest that both are valuable to understand the changeability and stability of the self. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reducing faking on personality tests: Testing a new faking‐mitigation procedure in a U.S. job applicant sample

Faking has remained a major concern for organizations using self‐report personality measures for selection. Scholars recenlty developed a new middle‐warning faking‐mitigation procedure. The present replication study was the first field test in the United States using 193 applicants for an entry‐level position in a New York‐based consulting firm. Results replicated most of Fan et al.'s findings including (a) the middle‐warning significantly lowered fakers' personality scores over retesting, whereas the control message had little influence on nonfakers; (b) the above warning effect carried over to personality scales that were not retested; and (c) the persistent tendency of potential fakers rising to the top of personality score distribution was weakened. In addition, applicants' perceptions were not being negatively affected by the warning.     

Age differences in personality traits across cultures: self‐report and observer perspectives

Using self‐report measures, longitudinal studies in the US and cross‐sectional studies from many cultures suggest that the broad factors of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness to Experience decline from adolescence to adulthood, whereas Agreeableness and Conscientiousness increase. Data are inconsistent on the rate of change during adulthood, and on the generalizability of self‐report findings to informant ratings. We analysed cross‐sectional data from self‐reports and informant ratings on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory in Czech (N = 705) and Russian (N = 800) samples. Some curvilinear effects were found, chiefly in the Czech sample; informant data generally replicated self‐reports, although the effects were weaker. Although many of the details are not yet clear, there appear to be pan‐cultural trends in personality development that are consistent with the hypothesis of intrinsic maturation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Method for the Measurement of the Self-Concept of Children in the Third Grade

Fifty-five males and 38 females were administered a self-rating scale which allowed self and typical-student estimates of intelligence, motivation, and achievement. Males and females gave similar self-estimates of intelligence, although compared to the males, the females rated their motivation and achievement higher. Both males and females regarded the typical female student as more intelligent, more motivated, and more academically successful than the typical male student. A sex difference was observed on self versus typical-student-of-the-same-sex ratings. On noncollege-related personality dimensions, both males and females continue to share an unfavorable female stereotype.     

Variability in Personality Expression Across Contexts: A Social Network Approach

The current research investigated how the contextual expression of personality differs across interpersonal relationships. Two related studies were conducted with college samples (Study 1: N = 52, 38 female; Study 2: N = 111, 72 female). Participants in each study completed a five‐factor measure of personality and constructed a social network detailing their 30 most important relationships. Participants used a brief Five‐Factor Model scale to rate their personality as they experience it when with each person in their social network. Multiple informants selected from each social network then rated the target participant's personality (Study 1: N = 227, Study 2: N = 777). Contextual personality ratings demonstrated incremental validity beyond standard global self‐report in predicting specific informants' perceptions. Variability in these contextualized personality ratings was predicted by the position of the other individuals within the social network. Across both studies, participants reported being more extraverted and neurotic, and less conscientious, with more central members of their social networks. Dyadic social network–based assessments of personality provide incremental validity in understanding personality, revealing dynamic patterns of personality variability unobservable with standard assessment techniques.     

Estimating one's own personality and intelligence scores

One hundred and eighty‐seven university students completed the full NEO‐PI‐R assessing the five super‐traits and 30 primary traits, and the Wonderlic Personnel Test of general intelligence. Two months later (before receiving feedback on their psychometric scores), they estimated their own scores on these variables. Results at the super‐factor level indicated that participants could significantly predict/estimate their own Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness scores. The correlation between estimated and psychometrically measured IQ was r=.30, showing that participants could, to some extent, accurately estimate their intelligence. In addition, there were a number of significant correlations between estimated intelligence and psychometrically assessed personality (particularly Neuroticism, Agreeableness and Extraversion). Disagreeable people tended to award themselves higher self‐estimated intelligence scores. Similarly, stable people tended to award themselves higher estimates of intelligence (even when other variables were controlled). Regressing both estimated and psychometric IQ scores onto estimated and psychometric personality scores indicated that the strongest significant effect was the relationship between trait scores and self‐estimated intelligence.     

Bias in Performance Ratings: Clarifying the Role of Positive Versus Negative Escalation

This study replicated and refined research on the effects of escalation of commitment in performance ratings. We utilized experimental manipulations in a laboratory setting to determine whether positive escalation or negative escalation (or both) could be responsible for the effect. In one session, participants (N = 210) were assigned to the perspective of the potential employee's supervisor and chose 1 of 2 candidates for a sales position. In a second session, participants rated the performance of (a) the individual they selected; (b) the individual they rejected; or (c) a third individual, whose preselection information they never viewed. Results replicated previous findings, such that ratings were biased upward when participants rated the performance of the salesperson they had originally selected. Results were not biased downward when individuals rated the performance of the salesperson they had rejected, however. Thus, our results suggest that positive escalation, and not negative escalation, was the cause of the bias.     

The role of self‐rated ability in the accuracy of confidence judgements in eyewitness memory and general knowledge

It is argued that confidence stems in part from self‐rated ability in a domain of knowledge and that in eyewitness memory such perceptions are erroneous. Two experiments tested these hypotheses. In both experiments participants rated their relative ability in the domains of eyewitness memory and general knowledge and subsequently took tests of each, giving confidence ratings for each item attempted. In both studies, self‐rated ability predicted performance for general knowledge, but not eyewitness memory. Across participants confidence ratings were significant predictors of accuracy for general knowledge, but not for eyewitness memory. In Experiment 1 self‐rated ability was predictive of confidence ratings for both domains, although this effect was weaker in Experiment 2. The argument that the accuracy of confidence judgements in eyewitness memory is undermined by a lack of insight into relative expertise is therefore supported. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.