Journal Report Essay Research Paper Journal Report

Journal Report Essay, Research Paper

Journal Report: Personality, Nonverbal Behavior, and Interaction Quality in Female Dyads

This article discusses a study that was conducted to determine whether self-reports of personality are reliable in predicting the course of social interaction. It examined the relations between dimensions of the five-factor model and the quality of social encounters that took place among women who were unacquainted with one another. The questions that this study was intended to address are interesting: “What are the social differences in personality?” and “Do people’s dispositional qualities manifest themselves in ways that influence their social experiences and the experiences of those around them?” (Berry and Hansen, 2000). These are complex questions and a comprehensive understanding and consideration of contextual variables was neccessary.

It was revealed through the results of the study that extraversion and agreeableness were positively related to evaluations of the quality of these interactions. Also, there was a parallel between extraversion and agreeableness and quality evaluations from independent observers. These findings suggest that people who score high in agreeableness or extraversion inteeract with others in a way that causes social encounters to be objectively more positive than those experienced by others.

It was also identified that variations in body openess and visual attention explained why observers perceived dyads high in agreeableness to have higher-quality interactions. Research has shown that the manner in which people use language within their social interactions is predictive of how they are evaluated by independent observers. It is not clear, however, whether it is verbal or nonverbal behaviors produce relations between personality and the quality of social interaction.

According to this article, many studies have looked at the links between primary dimensions of personality and other aspects of self-view. However, not so much attention has been focused on the relations between personality and objective measures of social behavior and interactions. This study, on the other hand, attempts to contribute meaningful data to the growing literature focused on the relationship between the areas of social perception and interaction and traditional approaches to the study of personality. It also demonstrates; through the relations found between social interaction, behavior, and the Big Five model of personality; the important influence that personality may have in directing people’s social experiences.

References

Berry, D. S. & Hansen, J. S. (2000). Personality, Nonverbal Behavior, and Interaction Quality in Female Dyads. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(3), 278-292.