On the several facets of personality assessment: The case of social acuity

The present research employs a variety of methods to examine social acuity, the ability and inclination to perceive the psychological state of others and act accordingly. Sources of data include three self-report inventories (Self-Monitoring, Attributional Complexity, and Empathy), a direct measure of perceptual performance (the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity), and comprehensive Q-sort descriptions of personality provided by subjects peers and by the subjects themselves. The four measures of social acuity were found to be coherently interrelated; Self-Monitoring and Empathy were related to each other particularly closely. Examination of the Q-sort correlates, from both self-reports and peers' judgments, yielded an improved conceptual understanding of social acuity and demonstrated the close relationship between these measure and interpersonal effectiveness. The results are discussed in terms of the construct validity of social acuity and the usefulness of multiple methods and approaches in assessing personality.