Identifying the situationally variable subject: Correspondence among different self-report formats

Abstract

The present study compared the results obtained from three different procedures for obtaining self-reports of behavioral consistency versus inconsistency : (1) the traditional bipolar rating scale; (2) the Nisbett, Caputo, Legant, and Maracek (1973) procedure whereby subjects check the term, its antonym or the phrase "it depends on the situation"; and (3) subject-generated lists of self-descriptive traits. Results showed a moderate association between self-reports of situational variability and central responses on the scaled format; however, omission of a term in self-generated lists was not strongly associated with either central responses on the scale format or situational responses on the inventory formulated according to Nisbett et al.