The personality traits of observers and the acquaintanceship as factors of assessment of others

Typological approach to the dimensions of evaluating others

This study examined the latent structure of interpersonal evaluation space from both dimensional and typological points of view, considering typological approach to be a complement of the dimensional. The Interpersonal Evaluation Questionnaire (containing 72 items, with 5-degree Likert scales, measuring the desirability of behaviour and personal characteristics of other people) was administered to the sample of 398 respondents of both sexes, aged 15 - 61. According to the Scree criterion, 8 principal components were extracted, which were interpreted as communicativeness, good manners, aggressiveness, self - love, leadership, kindness, reserve and intrusiveness. Second-order analysis singled out two factors, the first one representing the evaluation of the characteristics usually perceived as positive in social interaction, and the second one representing the evaluation of characteristics which make communication between equals difficult. Although the dimensions of interpersonal evaluation do not fit the circumplex structure, their content is similar to the content of Wiggins' dimensions. Using Ward's method of hierarchical cluster analysis, assuming that the evaluation of others reflects both basic personality structure and the characteristic pattern of personality processes, three prototypical personality organizations were identified: the group oriented towards power, the group oriented towards affiliation and the hostile group. The differences between the results of this study and the results obtained by self - estimation were determined by the evaluative nature of the process of estimating others.