THE FACTOR STRUCTURE OF TRAIT RATINGS DEPENDS ON THE EXTENT OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO THE JUDGES

Evidence concerning the factor structure of trait ratings is reported from two studies that collected self-ratings, ratings by close acquain tances, and ratings by strangers. Target persons were videotaped, and the extent of information available to the judges was systematically v aried by exposing them to either (a) a sound film, (b) a silent film, (c) a still picture, or (d) an audiotape of the targets. The judges ra ted the targets on 20 adjective scales, four of them refering to each of the Big Five. A direct relation between extent of available informa tion and complexity of factor structure was obtained. The discussion f ocuses on whether correlations among trait ratings reflect semantic re lations among the trait terms or co-occurrences among behaviors.