A Big Five model of disposition and situation interaction: Why a "helpful" person may not always behave helpfully

Brady Reynolds, Katherine Karraker

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

A "bottom-up" Big Five disposition-situation interaction model is introduced that highlights the interactive relation between an individual's behavioral trait tendencies and the different facets of a situation to which he or she may respond. In the proposed model, personality traits are considered markers for how an individual might interpret and respond to different facets of a situation. Given a complex situation with multiple response options, a person will respond to the part of the situation most salient to him or her at that time. The presented model illustrates how interactions between the trait dimensions of the Big Five model with the different facets of a situational context, as well as the intra-individual interactions between the different trait dimensions themselves, determine which facet of a situation will be salient. The model is expected to improve prediction of specific behaviors in specific situations using personality traits. Results from an illustrative study are presented.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-13
Number of pages13
JournalNew Ideas in Psychology
Volume21
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2003

Keywords

  • Behavior prediction
  • Big Five model
  • Five-factor model
  • Helping behavior
  • Personality traits

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychology (miscellaneous)
  • General Psychology

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