Publications [#188041] of Patrick Gallagher

Journal Articles

1. P. Gallagher, C.I. Voils (2011). The percentage of people's behaviors that reflects their personality traits. Under review.
   (last updated on 2011/03/04)

   Abstract:
   Behavior can be highly variable across situations and can reflect many different levels of personality traits. Despite this variability, personality traits predict many different patterns of behavior and life outcomes. The purpose of the current research was to quantify how traits are related to behavior by measuring the percentage of behaviors that reflect trait standing. Participants completed standard Big-Five quesionnaires to assess trait standing and then reported the degree to which behaviors manifested personality trait content (personality states) several times per day for a week. Across Big-Five domains, 44% of behaviors were within one standard deviation of trait standing. The percentage of trait-reflective behaviors differed according to trait standing in three domains and according to intraindividual variability in the other two domains. These findings are the first to estimate the probability that any single behavior will reflect the actor’s trait standing, and have implications for behavior prediction and personality inference.