Consensus and Self-Other Agreement for Trait Inferences from Minimal Information

ABSTRACT Following a general model of consensus in interpersonal perception (Kenny, 1991), we report evidence on four sources of consensus and self-other agreement: (a) meaning systems shared by observers, (b) extent of information on target behavior, (c) consistency of target behavior, and (d) non-behavioral information. We argue that these factors can be disentangled more precisely by analyzing ratings by strangers instead of ratings by acquaintances. We then focus on first impressions as a source of self-other agreement, and we report evidence that first impressions of actual persons are quite accurate for Extraversion and Conscientiousness.