Abstract thesis Andrea Labusga
This research focused on terms that affect self-other agreement in job-related personality tests. 71 subjects completed the job-related personality test START-P (Beauducel & Kersting, in press) and 71 close acquaintances of the subjects rated them on the basis of the same test in a differentiated way. Due to theoretical assumptions and recent research findings we reasoned four moderator variables that affect self-other agreement: (1) relatedness between target and judge, (2) the type of trait being judged, (3) the method of inquiry and (4) abilities of the judge. Considering the relatedness between target and judge we found the subjective intimacy rated by the judge as an important factor for self-other agreement. We could also approve an impact on self-other agreement regarding the type of trait that has to be judged. Traits that were classified as more easily observable in everyday life entail higher coefficients in self-other agreement. The rating by the close acquaintance was collected in a differentiated way: First the judge had to decide how he or she thinks the targets had answered the items for themselves and second how he or she assesses the target. A higher correlation between the first type of the judgement and the self-ratings was not confirmed. As affecting abilities of the judge we investigated verbal and social intelligence as well as empathy. Some influence regarding these abilities was obtained. Nevertheless further research is necessary to clarify the relationship between these abilities and self-other agreement.