Typical vs. maximal measures of personological variables

Recent research has focused on various ways in which self-report personality measures might be improved. The present investigation continues this line of research by studying the effects of typical-maximal ratings, trait-consistency, familiarity, and interpersonal liking on self-reports of four personological variables behavior aggression, trait-aggression, trait-dominance, and trait-friendliness. The results revealed that maximal ratings were clearly superior to typical ratings. Furthermore, maximal ratings attenuated the effects of the moderator variable of trait-consistency. Subject-peer familiarity and interpersonal liking also demonstrated significant effects. Implications for personality assessment are discussed.