MAKING IMPLICIT PERSONALITY THEORIES EXPLICIT - A CLASSROOM DEMONSTRATION

I developed a 9-item implicit personality theory (IPT) scale to demons trate the naive, lay beliefs students have regarding the construct of personality. Students (N = 162) completed the IPT Scale during Week 1 and Week 16 in a Personality Theories course. Analysis of Week 1 respo nses showed definite student preferences for certain IPTs. Factor anal ysis of these data also revealed 4 relatively unique factors that acco unted for 65.2% of the variance. By Week 16, students' preference for a particular explicit theory of personality related to their responses on the IPT scale. Comparison of Week 1 and Week 16 scores indicated t hat individual IPTs were fairly resistant to change. Pedagogically, th ese results demonstrate the role of IPTs in the construction and valid ation of explicit personality theories. Also, class discussion on topi cs such as individual differences, attribution theory, self-serving bi as, and personal constructs are enhanced when students' IPTs are made explicit.