Self-other disagreement in personality assessment: significance and prognostic value.
The feasibility of the use of multiple informant reports in clinical practice was examined in a sample of 105 psychiatric outpatients who provided self-ratings and (2-3) informants' reports on the Five Factor Personality Inventory. The response rate was 97%. The patients assessed themselves as less extraverted and more emotionally stable than their proxies did. In addition, the significance of self-other disagreement was investigated. Our first hypothesis, stating that self-other disagreement would correlate with (personality) pathology, was confirmed: self-other disagreement predominantly occurred in introverted, shy, hostile and depressed persons who tended to have more personality problems and co-morbidity. We found no support for our second hypothesis, stating that self-other disagreement would predict a diminished therapy effect. An important finding, however, was that self-other disagreement proved to be a strong predictor of dropout. Furthermore, a decrease in depression, hostility and shyness was positively correlated with a decrease in self-other disagreement.
Psychologenpraktijk Elf, Bloemendalstraat 5, Zwolle, the Netherlands. i.mosterman@psychologenpraktijkelf.nl
R M
RM
Mosterman
A A Jolijn
AA
Hendriks
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult