Research article summary (published 28 Feb 2008):

Integrating dispositions, signatures, and the interpersonal domain.

Full Abstract

A person's behavior across situations can be characterized in terms of a mean level (disposition), a dispersion within the person around that mean level, and a stable organization to the pattern of dispersion (signature). The authors' goals were to examine the structure and stability of behavior, both at the level of behavioral dispositions and at the level of behavioral signatures. Participants completed event-contingent records of their social interactions over a 20-day period. Participants recorded their own social behavior (dominant, agreeable, submissive, quarrelsome) in 4 situations defined by the perceived social behavior of their primary interaction partners (agreeable-dominant, agreeable-submissive, quarrelsome- submissive, quarrelsome-dominant). Findings suggest that (a) once the normative influences of situations on behavior are removed, the remaining behavioral variation reflects both consistent cross-situational differences between individuals (dispositions) and consistent situational differences within individuals (signatures); (b) both dispositions and signatures display a 2-dimensional structure in adherence to the interpersonal circle; and (c) both dispositions and signatures constitute stable aspects of personality functioning.

Author information

Author/s: Fournier, Marc A (MA); Moskowitz, D S (DS); Zuroff, David C (DC);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada. fournier(-atsign-)utsc.utoronto.ca

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of personality and social psychology (J Pers Soc Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Mar; vol 94 (issue 3) : pp 531-45

Dates: Created 2008/02/20; Completed 2008/05/13;

PMID: 18284296, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MeSH Headings (categories) shown below.

Adult Affect - physiology Aged Female Humans Interpersonal Relations

Male Middle Aged Personality - physiology Self Disclosure Social Behavior Social Perception

Note: Bold headings indicate primary MeSH headings or qualifiers.

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