The road to the unconscious self not taken: Discrepancies between self‐ and observer‐inferences about implicit dispositions from nonverbal behavioural cues

On the Road to the Unconscious Self: Understanding when People Gain Self–knowledge of Implicit Disgust Sensitivity from Behavioural Cues

On the basis of an integration of dual–process models of information processing and the lens model framework of person perception, we conducted two studies to investigate whether self–perceivers could detect their implicit disposition from video feedback of behavioural cues and whether these cues were used for explicit dispositional inferences under conditions that maximized the presumed self–perception process. Using an approach that differed from previous research, we used the following: (i) a more detailed and stepwise self–perception procedure; (ii) a specific explicit measure compared with a global explicit measure; and (iii) disgust sensitivity as a domain with clear, unambiguous cues and an assumed low self–presentation bias. The results from two studies (N = 117 and N = 130) on disgust sensitivity provide the first evidence for the assumed process with regard to bodily reaction cues but not with regard to facial expression cues. These novel findings suggest that people can get to know their unconscious selves better if supporting conditions are met and the right behavioural cues are attended to. Additional boundary conditions of this self–perception process were investigated using display rules and need for closure in Study 2. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Self–other agreement in personality development in romantic couples

A large body of evidence indicates that personality traits show high rank-order stability and substantial mean-level changes across the lifespan. However, the majority of longitudinal research on personality development has relied on repeated assessments of self-reports, providing a narrow empirical base from which to draw conclusions and develop theory. Here, we (1) tested whether self- and informant-reports provided by couples show similar patterns of rank-order stability and mean-level change and (2) assessed self–other agreement in personality development. We charted the Big Five personality trajectories of 255 couples ( N = 510; M age = 27.01 years) who provided both self- and partner-reports at four assessments across 1.5 years. Results indicated similar rank-order stabilities in self- and partner-report data. Latent growth curve models indicated no significant differences between self- and partner-reported personality trajectories, with exceptions to extraversion and agreeableness. We further found strong cross-sectional agreement across all Big Five traits and assessment waves as well as moderate self–other agreement in personality change in emotional stability and agreeableness. These findings highlight the relevance of multi-method assessments in personality development, while providing information about personality stability and change. Discussion focuses on the theoretical implications and future directions for multi-method assessments in longitudinal personality research.

Personality and lexical decision times for evaluative words

We studied personality influences on accessibility of pleasant and unpleasant stimuli in a sample of 129 students. Self‐reports and reports by knowledgeable informants on extraversion, neuroticism, approach temperament and avoidance temperament were combined with a go/no‐go lexical decision task that included pleasant, unpleasant and neutral words, and two response modes, manual and vocal. The data were analysed using multilevel modelling. Extraversion and approach temperament predicted faster identification of pleasant words than of neutral and of unpleasant words. Vocal responses took longer than manual responses, but mode of response did not interact with the valence of the words. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Trait-Unconsciousness, State-Unconsciousness, Preconsciousness, and Social Miscalibration in the Context of Implicit Evaluation

Implicit evaluations are often assumed to reflect “unconscious attitudes.” We review data from our lab to conclude that the truth of this statement depends on how one defines “unconscious.” A trait definition of unconscious according to which implicit evaluations reflect cognitions that are introspectively inaccessible at all times appears to be inaccurate. However, when unconscious is defined as a state which cognitions can be in at specific times, some data suggest that the cognitions reflected on implicit evaluations may sometimes unfold without direct awareness, in that people seem to rarely pay attention to them. Additionally, people appear to be miscalibrated in their reports in that they construe even conscious biases in self-serving ways. This analysis suggests that implicit evaluations do not reflect unconscious cognitions per se, but rather awareness-independent cognitions that are often preconscious and miscalibrated. Discussion centers on the meaning of this analysis for theory and application.

Integrating Personality Structure, Personality Process, and Personality Development

In this target article, we argue that personality processes, personality structure, and personality development have to be understood and investigated in integrated ways in order to provide comprehensive responses to the key questions of personality psychology. The psychological processes and mechanisms that explain concrete behaviour in concrete situations should provide explanation for patterns of variation across situations and individuals, for development over time as well as for structures observed in intra–individual and inter–individual differences. Personality structures, defined as patterns of covariation in behaviour, including thoughts and feelings, are results of those processes in transaction with situational affordances and regularities. It cannot be presupposed that processes are organized in ways that directly correspond to the observed structure. Rather, it is an empirical question whether shared sets of processes are uniquely involved in shaping correlated behaviours, but not uncorrelated behaviours (what we term ‘correspondence’ throughout this paper), or whether more complex interactions of processes give rise to population–level patterns of covariation (termed ‘emergence’). The paper is organized in three parts, with part I providing the main arguments, part II reviewing some of the past approaches at (partial) integration, and part III outlining conclusions of how future personality psychology should progress towards complete integration. Working definitions for the central terms are provided in the appendix. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

On the Validity of Idiographic and Generic Self–Concept Implicit Association Tests: A Core–Concept Model

We present a core–concept model (CCM) suggesting that stimulus centrality is an important factor in category representations in implicit measures. We tested the hypothesis that idiographic stimuli (first name, birthday) are more central and therefore assess self–concept in Implicit Association Tests (IATs) more validly than generic and nonspecific stimuli (me, you). Superior validity of the idiographic variant emerged across three different domains of self–concept. First, an idiographic self–esteem IAT displayed higher correlations than a generic IAT with self–assessments and observer–assessments of self–esteem. Second, an idiographic body scheme–IAT predicted subjective ratings of body image and objective body–mass index. Third, an idiographic aggressiveness–IAT had higher incremental validity for unprovoked aggression when interacting with explicit measures of aggressiveness. We conclude that idiographic stimuli focus participants’ attention on the core features of the self, hence, tapping into self–related associations to a stronger degree than generic stimuli. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Genetic Links Between the Big Five Personality Traits and General Interest Domains

This is the first genetically informative study in which multiple informants were used to quantify the genetic and environmental sources of individual differences in general interests as well as the phenotypic and genetic links between general interests and Big Five personality traits. Self-reports and two peer ratings from 844 individuals, including 225 monozygotic and 113 dizygotic complete twin pairs, were collected. Multiple-rater scores (composites) revealed that the averaged levels of genetic and environmental effects on seven broad interest domains were similar to those on personality traits. Multivariate analyses showed that about 35% of the genetic and 9% of the environmental variance in interests were explained by personality domains, in particular by Openness. The findings suggest that interests cannot easily be considered as a byproduct of the interactions between personality genotypes and the environmental influences but rather as an internal regulation of behavior with an own genetic basis.

Others Sometimes Know Us Better Than We Know Ourselves

Most people believe that they know themselves better than anyone else knows them. However, a complete picture of what a person is like requires both the person’s own perspective and the perspective of others who know him or her well. People’s perceptions of their own personalities, while largely accurate, contain important omissions. Some of these blind spots are likely due to a simple lack of information, whereas others are due to motivated distortions in our self-perceptions. Perhaps for these reasons, others can perceive some aspects of personality better than the self can. This is especially true for traits that are very desirable or undesirable, when motivational factors are most likely to distort self-perceptions. Therefore, much can be learned about a person’s personality from how he or she is seen by others. Future research should examine how people can tap into others' knowledge to improve self-knowledge.