How do people think about understanding personality—And what do such thoughts reflect?. (August 2021) - Mayer, John D.
Abstract: We examined the dimensions people use when estimating their ability to understand personality—an ability we refer to as personal intelligence . In the first two studies ( Ns = 434 and 393), a four-factor model fit people's self-estimates reasonably, with scales of the "Explained Self", "Self-Understanding", "Understanding Others, " and "Goals and Planning". In Study 2 and in Study 3 ( N = 482) we examined whether any of the specific self-estimated abilities more accurately indexed actual ability-based personal intelligence relative to overall estimates, and if not, what other personality traits they correlated with. To find out, the four factor-based scales of self-estimated abilities were correlated with the objective Test of Personal Intelligence and traits of the Big Five. None of the specific, self-estimated abilities correlated with actual ability any higher than earlier-used experimenter-provided global self-estimated scales; the participants' self-estimates were determined chiefly by dimensions of the Big Five relative to ability, at a ratio of "variance explained" of six to one. The studies provide new insights into how people view their skills at understanding personality, and the possible origins of such beliefs. Highlights: Explores people's perceptions of what they know about personalities People perceive their ability to understand personality along multiple dimensions. Some types of self-estimated knowledge predict actual ability better. No type of self-estimated knowledge predicts actual ability well.