PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF THE BIG-5 - IMPRESSION-FORMATION AND CONTEXT EFFECTS

In Study 1, university students rated the 300 items of the Adjective C heck List for ''psychological importance.'' Adjectives representing th e factors Extraversion (E) and Agreeableness (A) were judged more impo rtant than adjectives representing Emotional Stability (S), Conscienti ousness (C), and Openness (O). In Study 2, graduate faculty members ra ted hypothetical applicants described with adjectives representing dif ferent combinations of the five factors. Contrary to predictions, appl icants described with E and A adjectives were viewed less positively t han applicants described with C and O adjectives, who were not viewed differently from applicants described by all five factors. In Study 3, university students rated the 300 adjectives for psychological import ance in one of two contexts: working relationships or personal relatio nships. The results suggested that the unexpected results of Study 2 w ere obtained because the graduate faculty members viewed the applicant s in the context of working rather than personal relationships.