In Search of the Catbird Seat: Evaluating the Predictive Validity of Personality Trait Judgments Using a Naturalistic Behavioral Criterion

To examine manifestations of personality in the course of natural daily life, we tracked 87 participants over a two-day period using the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR). Coded variables included moods, amount of talking under various conditions (e.g., with one other person, with a group, with a friend, etc.), locations, and a behavioral measurement model of the Five-Factor Model (FFM). The collection of self-, informant-, and stranger-ratings on markers of the FFM allowed for a unique test of the Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetry (SOKA) model. Although effect sizes were typically modest, there was evidence for the validity of both self- and informant-ratings across most major trait dimensions. Stranger ratings only showed evidence of validity in the domain of Extraversion.