Task 1 - Measurements

Question 1

Self-Report

Answer 1

most preferred and most used
best combined with other method
assumption: people know themselves and are willing to report
good for analysing big 5
PRO:
practical, effecient, inexpensive, easy
CON:
socially desirable resoinding, extreme responding, people arent always self-aware

Question 2

Observer Report / Informant report

Answer 2

ask someone else for an individuals personality, ideally who knows him well
best compared with self-report to see if results are congruent
PRO:
personality judged more objectively, rich source of info, practical & inexpensive, principle of aggreation (multiple rater lead to more reliability); no social desirability bias
CON:
reponse biases (enhancement/diminishing), fundamental attribution error, observers will never has as much information as target individual about thoughts & feelings

Question 3

Behavioral Methods

Answer 3

seeing how person acts; very rare; need external judges; assumes behaviors for a given trait are known
PRO: directly examine behavior (no retrospection); get situation specific info, fewer response biases; maybe use EAR
lab setting: assesses situation specific traits;
naturalistic setting: real life observation
CON:
less practical/convinient
ethical concerns
complex coding
expensive time/money
limited observed data

Question 4

Biodata

Answer 4

obtain records of persons life which are relevant to personality (e.g.: cell phone bill –> sociability)
PRO:
objective indicators of behavior
CON:
might not be representative as other traits have an influence

Question 5

Multiple Method Approaches

Answer 5

Using more than one method to get balanced description
PRO:
improved construct validity and accuracy; can answer more research questions, rich data
CON:
more effort, time & money
should not be assumed that aggregating results indicates validity

Question 6

New model of mechanisms behind personal environment and personality inferences

Answer 6

SELF-DIRECTED IDENTITY CLAIMS: room decoration tells a lot about personality, could have general meanings or be personal artefacts reinforcing self-view
OTHER-DIRECTED IDENTITY CLAIMS: displaying things to make statements about one would like to be seen (values); might reflect who person truly is or too seem differently from what they’re really like (deception)
INTERIOR BEHAVIORAL RESIDUE: behavioral residue - traces of activities conducted in environment –> you can judge thoughts from past/future from how room looks like (e.g.: organized person –> organized room)
EXTERIOR BEHAVIORAL RESIDUE: things planned inside but performed outside (e.g.: snowboard on wall)

Question 7

Multiple method approaches

Answer 7

focuses on collecting, analysing and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data in sungle study or series of study
PURPOSE:
gain more insight about research problem and obtain different but complementary data
–> suffor from similar limitations as Multiple method approach