Consistency as a Moderating Factor in Self- and Observational Assessments of Personality

Abstract

The consistency of responses to a disguised form of self-assessment, originally a check measure, was thought to serve a moderating role affecting the congruence between different forms and sources of assessment. It was predicted that scorers of high consistency would show greater congruence than scorers of low consistency between their self-assessments on two procedures, a disguised vs an undisguised. The same pattern was predicted for congruencies between disguised self-assessments and undisguised supervisors' assessments. A disguised and an undisguised version of an assessment inventory addressing Extroversion, Emotionality, and Self-reliance, were administered to 414 male executives. The undisguised version was also completed by their supervisors. The results supported the predictions except for the congruency with the supervisors' evaluation of Self-reliance. These findings, the meaning of consistency, and its moderating function are discussed.