Many mental health problems involve a failure to apprehend accurately the nature of the social world, including the psychological properties of oneself and others. Moreover, the accurate judgment of personality is important for clinical diagnosis and practice, and has other practical implications. This proposal describes the continuation of a research program on the circumstances that make accurate judgment of personality more and less likely. Criteria for accuracy include agreement between judges and, increasingly in the next phase of this research, the ability of judgments to predict behavior. Possible influences on these criteria include the nature of the trait being judged, the nature of the behavior being predicted, and individual differences among the judges and the persons they judge. The next phase of this research will begin with the analysis of relationships between personality judgments and behavior within the large data set gathered during the initial phase. Two further studies will examine the accuracy of personality judgment according to multiple criteria. The first will be a longitudinal study of the effects of greater acquaintanceship on interpersonal judgment. The second will examine the accuracy of personality judgment in relation to behavior observed in increasingly diverse and realistic contexts. The ultimate goals of this research are a better understanding of the factors that make persons' judgments of themselves and each other more and less accurate, and a contribution to techniques for improving accuracy.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH042427-07
Application #
3381553
Study Section
Cognition, Emotion, and Personality Research Review Committee (CEP)
Project Start
1986-07-01
Project End
1994-01-31
Budget Start
1992-02-01
Budget End
1993-01-31
Support Year
7
Fiscal Year
1992
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Riverside
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
Riverside
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92521
Kashdan, Todd B; Sherman, Ryne A; Yarbro, Jessica et al. (2013) How are curious people viewed and how do they behave in social situations? From the perspectives of self, friends, parents, and unacquainted observers. J Pers 81:142-54
Sherman, Ryne A; Figueredo, Aurelio José; Funder, David C (2013) The behavioral correlates of overall and distinctive life history strategy. J Pers Soc Psychol 105:873-88
Fast, Lisa A; Funder, David C (2010) Gender differences in the correlates of self-referent word use: authority, entitlement, and depressive symptoms. J Pers 78:313-38
Letzring, Tera D (2008) The Good Judge of Personality: Characteristics, Behaviors, and Observer Accuracy. J Res Pers 42:914-932
Nave, Christopher S; Sherman, Ryne A; Funder, David C (2008) Beyond Self-Report in the Study of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being: Correlations with Acquaintance Reports, Clinician Judgments and Directly Observed Social Behavior. J Res Pers 42:643-659
Fast, Lisa A; Funder, David C (2008) Personality as manifest in word use: correlations with self-report, acquaintance report, and behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol 94:334-46
Vazire, Simine; Funder, David C (2006) Impulsivity and the self-defeating behavior of narcissists. Pers Soc Psychol Rev 10:154-65
Letzring, Tera D; Wells, Shannon M; Funder, David C (2006) Information quantity and quality affect the realistic accuracy of personality judgment. J Pers Soc Psychol 91:111-23
Schimmack, Ulrich; Oishi, Shigehiro; Furr, R Michael et al. (2004) Personality and life satisfaction: a facet-level analysis. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 30:1062-75
Krueger, Joachim I; Funder, David C (2004) Towards a balanced social psychology: causes, consequences, and cures for the problem-seeking approach to social behavior and cognition. Behav Brain Sci 27:313-27; discussion 328-76

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