Biographical, trait, and behavioral-sampling predictions of performance in a stressful life setting

Biographical, trait, and behavioral-sampling predictors, when combined, yield a substantially and significantly larger prediction of performance, R = .72, in a natural setting than any of these approaches achieve separately (Rs, respectively, of .64, .44, and .42; all ps less than .01). A canonical correlational analysis designed to determine which predictors best predict which component of the multifaceted criterion suggests that traits best predict other traits, while specific past behaviors and learning experiences best predict specific future skilled performances. Personality assessment, which has been preoccupied with simple competitions between behavioral-sampling and trait approaches, might progress faster if it reformulated its task in a broader, more cooperative fashion.