Evidence for extending the circumplex model of personality trait language to self-reported moods.

Publication/Presentation Date

7-1-1985

Abstract

We show that self-ratings by 141 undergraduates on 17 items form a circumplex that closely agrees with Conte and Plutchik's (1981) circumplex of personality traits. The order of items on a circumplex, generated by self-ratings following a here-and-now instruction set, scarcely differs from that of a circumplex representing the same ratings averaged over a 2-week period. The configuration becomes more elliptical as one moves from the state-like measures (here-and-now ratings) to pure trait measures (averages), but measurement bias is shown to be the most probable cause of the distortion. Allowing for the limitations of small samples of items and raters, the findings show that the circumplex model represents a valid theoretical construct and does not arise from measurement error or from an illusory implicit personality theory.

Volume

49

Issue

1

First Page

233

Last Page

242

ISSN

0022-3514

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

4020616

Department(s)

Department of Medicine

Document Type

Article

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