Individual Differences In The Accuracy Of Personality Judgments

Personality judgments are an important part of everyday life, with the accuracy ofthese judgments having implications for both interpersonal and organizational effectiveness.This study examined individual differences in the accuracy of personality judgments.Firstly three group participants singly completed measures of general intelligence,personality, and emotional intelligence. Later, Participants reviewed videotaped segmentsof10individuals responding to interview questions, judged the personality of theinterviewees. Results indicated that general intelligence was related to the accuracy ofpersonality judgments(r=.672), Scores on measures of SPM is positively correlated withthe accuracy of personality judgments. Emotional intelligence was related to the accuracyof personality judgments(r=.383), Scores on measures of EIS is positively correlated withthe accuracy of personality judgments. Scores on Openness, Agreeableness, andConscientiousness are positively related to the accuracy of acquaintance personalityJudgments (r=.525, r=.551r=.500). The interpersonal judgments made by individualsvary considerably in the extent they are accurate and these differences can be explained bya combination of cognitive and personality factors. More accurate judges are higher incognitive ability and openness to experience, which appears to affect accuracy by way ofgeneral knowledge of how personality relates to behavior. Overall, judgments of peopleknown fairly well will be most accurate when this knowledge is possessed by individualswho are more conscientious and more agreeable. Taken together, this represents animportant step in using information on these predictors to improve decisions based oninterpersonal judgments.