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The consistency issue in personality psychology revisted--with special reference to aggression
The British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology
|November 1, 1980
Summary
Aggression research shows consistent individual differences in aggressive tendencies over time and across situations. This contradicts previous conclusions about personality consistency, suggesting stable aggressive traits exist.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Personality Science
Background:
- Previous reviews suggested low consistency in personality traits, including aggression.
- Mischel's influential work (1968, 1969) questioned the stability of behavioral tendencies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the empirical evidence for consistency in the motive area of aggression.
- To challenge Mischel's conclusions regarding personality consistency based on aggression data.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing empirical evidence on aggression.
- Conceptual analysis of data types in personality measurement.
Main Results:
- Substantial longitudinal and cross-situational consistency in aggression was found.
- Evidence contradicts claims of low consistency in aggressive behavior.
Conclusions:
- Stable, individual-differentiating aggressive reaction tendencies are supported by empirical data.
- Low correlations between self-report/rating data and objective behavior (T data) may stem from conceptual mismatches and psychometric limitations of T data.
- Findings have implications for personality measurement in laboratory settings.
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