Distinguishing simple and residual consistencies in functionally equivalent and non-equivalent situations: Evidence from experimental and observational longitudinal data

The current work examines consistencies of personality state scores across functionally equivalent and non-equivalent situations. We argue that simple consistency, defined as the correlation between state scores without taking people’s straits into account, needs to be distinguished from residual consistency that does account for traits. The existence of residual consistency reflects systematic interindividual differences in how people respond to situations, above and beyond what is expected from their traits. We examine the level and individual differences in all of these forms of consistency. In four micro-longitudinal studies (total N = 671), participants first provided trait self-ratings and then state ratings, either in response to two situation vignettes presented at separate testing occasions (Studies 1 and 2) or during experience sampling in daily life (Studies 3 and 4). In all studies, simple consistency was substantial, and the level of residual consistency varied with the level of functional equivalence of the situations. Further, individual differences in both simple and residual consistencies were only weakly correlated, suggesting no underlying general factor but only trait-specific consistencies. We conclude that there are consistent individual differences in how people respond to equivalent situations, even when their personality trait scores have been taken into account.Peer Reviewe

Modeling dynamic personality theories in a continuous‐time framework: An illustration

Objective Personality psychology has traditionally focused on stable between-person differences. Yet, recent theoretical developments and empirical insights have led to a new conceptualization of personality as a dynamic system (e.g., Cybernetic Big Five Theory). Such dynamic systems comprise several components that need to be conceptually distinguished and mapped to a statistical model for estimation. Method In the current work, we illustrate how common components from these new dynamic personality theories may be implemented in a continuous time-modeling framework. Results As an empirical example, we reanalyze experience sampling data with N = 180 persons (with on average T = 40 [SD = 8] measurement occasions) to investigate four different effects between momentary happiness, momentary extraverted behavior, and the perception of a situation as social: (1) between-person effects, (2) contemporaneous effects, (3) autoregressive effects, and (4) cross-lagged effects. Conclusion We highlight that these four effects must not necessarily point in the same direction, which is in line with assumptions from dynamic personality theories.Peer Reviewe

Personality\u27s Relationship to Instagram Photo Characteristics and Themes

This study examined the relationship of personality, narcissism, and academic achievement to social media usage among 210 participants (35% Male, 65% Female). Findings demonstrate several relationships between person characteristics and the self- and other-rated behavioral and situational characteristics of posts on Instagram. Overall, personality predicts social media usage and content

Assessing Persons, Situations and Behavior: Implications for Consistency, Congruence and Construal

Situations have important implications for behavior. Recognition of this obvious fact, coupled with the Person-Situation Debate, led to a surge of research on situations during the 1970s, but this research did not yield a useful technique for assessing or comparing the psychological properties of situations. After a hiatus in the 1980s and 1990s, research on situations has been recently reinvigorated (Reis, 2008; Wagerman & Funder, 2009), including the development of the Riverside Situational Q-Sort (RSQ: Wagerman & Funder, 2009). This dissertation puts the RSQ to the test in three different studies. In Study 1 the RSQ is used to assess psychological properties of situations participants experienced in their daily lives and to compute the degree to which those situations are similar to one another. The results indicate that participants behaved more consistently across those situations to the degree to which their situations were more similar. In Study 2 the RSQ is used to assess the properties of situations that promote congruence between one's personality and one's behavior. The results indicate that when a person is in psychological "weak" situations (Mischel, 1977; Snyder & Ickes, 1985) or in situations that promote autonomy, competence, and relatedness to others (Deci & Ryan, 1987), one is more likely to behave in accordance with his or her personality. In Study 3 the RSQ is used to investigate the relationship between personality and unique perceptions of psychological properties of situations. The results indicate that people who are high in well-being tend to view situations they encounter in their daily lives as more positive than people who are low on well-being, or high in negative trait affectivity. Extraverts tend to believe that they are center of attention more so than introverts do. Open people tend to see aesthetic beauty, intellectual stimuli, and lifestyle and political concerns where less open people may not. And narcissists tend to see their situations as opportunities to show off and control others more often than less narcissistic persons do. Taken together, these studies demonstrate the usefulness of the RSQ for assessing psychologically meaningful properties of situations and for testing psychological theory

Situation Change: Stability and Change of Situation Variables between and within Persons

Rauthmann J, Sherman RA. Situation Change: Stability and Change of Situation Variables between and within Persons. Frontiers in Psychology. 2016;6: 1938.When, how, and why situations flow into one another is important for understanding dynamic personality processes, but the topic of situation change has traditionally been a thorny issue in personality/social psychology. We explore conceptual and methodological issues in research on situation change: (1) What is situation change, which variables could we measure, and how can situation change be methodologically captured and analyzed (at between- and within-person levels)? (2) Which person-situation transaction mechanisms (situation management strategies) could entail stability and change of situations in daily life? (3) How do single or repeated instances of situation change impact short-, middle-, and long-term outcomes (e.g., intra- and interpersonal adjustment)? Besides laying out a research program for situation change, we present preliminary data from participants who wore mini-video cameras recording their situations so that they could be rated later in the lab. We demonstrate rater consensus on when situations change, mean-level changes of situation characteristics across situations, similarity of situation characteristics across adjacent situations, and inter-individual differences in intra-individual situation change in change networks

Do Self-Reported Traits and Aggregated States Capture the Same Thing? A Nomological Perspective on Trait-State Homomorphy

Convergent correlations between traits and state aggregates from experience sampling cannot fully establish trait-state homomorphy (the extent to which the same constructs are measured). With a nomological vector correlation and lens model approach, we test how similar nomological networks of traits and state aggregates are to each other: A trait and state-aggregate capture the same construct when both show highly similar nomological associations to a common set of correlates. In large experience sampling (N = 209) and life-logging studies (N = 298), Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness tended to show more and Openness, Honesty/Humility, and Neuroticism/Emotionality tended to show less trait-state homomorphy. However, these general findings differed somewhat at the aspect level, with Neuroticism and Extraversion aspects tending to show more versus Openness and Honesty/Humility aspects tending to show less homomorphy. The proposed nomological approaches can be flexibly applied to other traits, states, and correlates.Peer Reviewe

The Situation of Situation Research: Knowns and Unknowns

Rauthmann J, Sherman RA. The Situation of Situation Research: Knowns and Unknowns. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 2020;29(5):473-480.Over the past 15 years, research on the assessment of psychological situations has flourished. As a result, many basic questions about psychological situations have been answered. We discuss the theoretical and empirical studies that answered these questions, including what situations are; how they can be characterized, taxonomized, and measured; how they relate to person variables; and how persons navigate situations. We first summarize the "knowns" of psychological situation research and then proceed to chart the "unknowns" that have yet to be examined. We conclude with an agenda for future situation research