Psychological Importance of the "Big Five": Impression Formation and Context Effects

Abstract

In Study 1, university students rated the 300 items of the Adjective Check List for "psychological importance. " Adjectives representing the factors Extraversion (E) and Agreeableness (A) were judged more important than adjectives representing Emotional Stability (S), Conscientiousness (C), and Openness (0). In Study 2, graduate faculty members rated hypothetical applicants described with adjectives representing different combinations of the five factors. Contrary to predictions, applicants described with E and A adjectives were viewed less positively than applicants described with C and 0 adjectives, who were not viewed differently from applicants described by all five factors. In Study 3, university students rated the 300 adjectives for psychological importance in one of two contexts: working relationships or personal relationships. The results suggested that the unexpected results of Study 2 were obtained because the graduate faculty members viewed the applicants in the context of working rather than personal relationships.