Week 4 - Persons, Situations and Judgement

Communion

A personality orientation focused on being social and caring about maintaining relationships. People high in communion tend to be warmer and more relationship‑focused.

Personality judgment accuracy

How well someone can correctly assess another person’s personality traits.

Dark triad traits

A cluster of negative personality traits (e.g., psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism). Lower levels are linked to better personality judgment.

Dispositional (general) intelligence

Cognitive ability related to understanding people and personalities; higher intelligence is linked to more accurate judgments of others.

Personality–behavior consistency

The extent to which a person’s behavior reliably reflects their personality traits. When consistency is high, people are easier to judge accurately.

Good targets

People whose personalities are easier to judge because their traits clearly show up in their behavior.

Observable traits

Personality traits that are easier to see and assess (e.g., extraversion). Some traits are harder to observe and judge accurately.

Acquaintance effect

Personality judgments become more accurate when the judge has known the target person for a long time.

Informant data

Personality information provided by people who know the target well (e.g., friends, family), often more accurate than first impressions.

Strong situations

Situations with clear rules and expectations (e.g., an elevator). They limit personality expression and make judging personality harder.

Weak situations

Situations with few rules or constraints (e.g., a house party). They allow personality traits to show more clearly.

Trait‑relevant situations

Situations that naturally bring out a specific personality trait, making that trait easier to judge accurately.

Situational constraint

The degree to which a situation restricts behavior; higher constraint reduces visible personality differences.

Limitation of observing behavior

Simply watching someone’s behavior does not reveal their underlying motivations, so it gives limited insight into true personality.

Judgment validity

The degree to which a personality judgment reflects the person’s true personality.