TY - JOUR
T1 - Let me read your mind
T2 - Personality judgments based on a person's natural stream of thought
AU - Holleran, Shannon E.
AU - Mehl, Matthias R.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grants MH64527-01A1, MH 52391, and National Science Foundation Grant 0422924. We thank Sam Gosling his suggestions on a previous draft.
PY - 2008/6
Y1 - 2008/6
N2 - Past research on the accuracy of personality judgments has largely focused on person perception scenarios that are public in nature (e.g., face-to-face interactions, personal websites). This study investigated the accuracy of personality judgments on the basis of highly private information: a person's natural stream of thought. Nine naïve judges rated the personality of 90 targets on the basis of their 20-min stream-of-consciousness essays. Judges' level of accuracy was significant and substantial for all Big Five dimensions. The substantial and relatively uniform accuracy across all Big Five dimensions suggests that a person's moment-to-moment thoughts provide good information for the accurate judgment of personality in general rather than specific diagnostic information for the accurate judgment of private traits such as Neuroticism.
AB - Past research on the accuracy of personality judgments has largely focused on person perception scenarios that are public in nature (e.g., face-to-face interactions, personal websites). This study investigated the accuracy of personality judgments on the basis of highly private information: a person's natural stream of thought. Nine naïve judges rated the personality of 90 targets on the basis of their 20-min stream-of-consciousness essays. Judges' level of accuracy was significant and substantial for all Big Five dimensions. The substantial and relatively uniform accuracy across all Big Five dimensions suggests that a person's moment-to-moment thoughts provide good information for the accurate judgment of personality in general rather than specific diagnostic information for the accurate judgment of private traits such as Neuroticism.
KW - Person perception
KW - Personality judgment
KW - Stream of consciousness
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jrp.2007.07.011
DO - 10.1016/j.jrp.2007.07.011
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:43249088541
SN - 0092-6566
VL - 42
SP - 747
EP - 754
JO - Journal of Research in Personality
JF - Journal of Research in Personality
IS - 3
ER -