Relationship Quality, Trait Similarity, and Self‐Other Agreement on Personality Ratings in College Roommates

Abstract

Previous research has shown that the level of self-other agreement for personality trait ratings increases with the length of acquaintanceship between the target and the informant. These findings emerge exclusively from studies of well-acquainted pairs in natural relationships and relative strangers interacting in laboratory and classroom settings. The present study examines self-other correlations for trait ratings using the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1992) with 103 pairs of previously unacquainted female college roommates. Assessments were obtained at approximately 2 weeks and again at approximately 15 weeks subsequent to the roommates' initial introduction. Self-other correlations increased for all five NEO-FFI scores and agreement correlations for Conscientiousness were significantly higher than for Extraversion at both occasions. Differences in relationship quality did not moderate self-other agreement for any of the traits. However, better relationship quality was associated with higher other-ratings of Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness and lower other-ratings of Neuroticism after controlling for self-ratings on the same trait. Higher similarity in self-ratings of Neuroticism and Openness was associated with higher self-other agreement for these ratings, and similarity in Conscientiousness was associated with higher relationship quality. These results are considered in light of existing theories of differential trait observability and the effects of unique contexts on trait perception.

Trust Development: Testing a New Model in Undergraduate Roommate Relationships

“…Interestingly, actual similarity is not required: in work by Kurtz and Sherker (2003), perceived similarity was a better predictor of relationship satisfaction than the researcher's measurement of actual similarity. This empirical work supports the links in the conceptual model between perceived similarity of the trustee to the self and both social exchange processes and trust.…”

“…Kurtz and colleagues suggest that roommate pairs are ideal for research into interpersonal relationships because they occur in a natural and unstructured setting, but allow experimental control when students are randomly assigned to rooms and ratings are collected at specific intervals following their acquaintance. These circumstances provide researchers with a unique opportunity to study newly formed same sex peer dyads interacting across situations and over time (Ansell et al, 2008;Kurtz & Sherker, 2003;Markey & Kurtz , 2006). In addition to the work on interpersonal relationships between roommates by Kurtz and Sherker, others have used roommate pairs to evaluate the relationship between trait ambiguity and self-peer agreement in personality judgment (i.e.…”

Gender Differences in Interpersonal Complementarity Within Roommate Dyads

“…The roommate relationship also surpasses the more controlled and time limited laboratory relationship in the variation of interaction experiences and potential implications of relationship outcomes. The uniqueness of this situation has offered a fertile ground for interpersonal research (Kurtz & Sherker, 2003;Markey & Kurtz, 2006). However, previous research tends to focus on only female dyads.…”

Why are moderators of self-other agreement difficult to establish?

“…Although acquaintance length increases accuracy in personality judgment, there is evidence that familiarity may also have a negative effect on self-other agreement (Kenny & West, 2010). The effect of length of acquaintance is neither very consistent nor large (Bernieri, Zuckerman, Koestner, & Rosenthal, 1994;Biesanz, West, & Millevoi, 2007;Gnambs, 2013;Kenny, 2004;Kurtz & Sherker, 2003;Story, 2003). This means that observing the target acting in hundreds or even thousands of similar situations improves judgement accuracy only marginally (Kenny, 2004).…”