The relationship between self-knowledge accessibility and the predictive utility of personality scale responses

grantor: University of TorontoThe main goal of the present thesis is to examine the relationship between the accessibility of self-knowledge in a personality domain as indexed by response latency to items contained in the relevant personality scale and the predictive utility of such responses. Assuming that self-knowledge is represented in an associative network and that the accessibility of the relevant self-knowledge increases as a function of its use, it is hypothesized that those who are schematic in the domain (i.e., fast responders) show more category-consistent behavior than those who are aschematic in the domain (i.e., slow responders). The first two studies are a correlational exploration of the relationship between response latency to items tapping the relevant self-knowledge in the self-monitoring and in the need for cognition domain, and the predictive utility of these responses. Study Three constitutes an experimental induction of self-knowledge accessibility in the self-monitoring domain and explores its effect on response latency to items contained in the Self-Monitoring Scale and their predictive utility. In all three studies, the relevant outcome measures are those on which individuals who fall at opposite ends of each of these two scales were found to differ in the past. Individuals who quickly answered questions about their self-monitoring tendencies (i.e., schematic low and high self-monitors) showed trends of behavior more consistent with the tenets of the self-monitoring construct than individuals who answered the questions more slowly (i.e., aschematic low and high self-monitors). Individuals who answered the Need for Cognition Scale questions quickly (i.e., schematic low and high need for cognition individuals) showed trends of behavior more consistent with the tenets of the need for cognition construct than individuals who answered the questions more slowly (i.e., aschematic low and high need for cognition individuals). Experimentally induced self-monitoring self-knowledge accessibility led to faster responses to the Self-Monitoring Scale items, but its effect on their predictive utility remained equivocal. The findings suggest that response latency to personality scale items may be a useful additional tool to fine-tune personality assessment and to obtain insight into the cognitive dynamics underlying the self-inference process and the relationship between personality and behavior.Ph.D