Personality within individuals:
estimating individual differences in
endogenous and exogenous
affective responses
or
Measuring the dynamics of personality
William Revelle1, Eshkol Rafaeli2, Jon Adler1
1Northwestern University 2Barnard College, Columbia University
International Society for the Study of Individual Differences,
Graz, Austria, July, 2003http://www.personality-project.org http://pmc.psych.nwu.edu
Measuring the dynamics of personality
• We can recognize a person by his or her pattern of affect,behavior and cognition just as we recognize a musicaltune that has a coherent pattern over time, even thoughplayed with different instruments in a different key, in adifferent tempo.
• Personality is the coherent temporal pattern of Affect,Behavior, Cognition and Desire.
• “Personality is a self-tunable system of the temporalpatterning of the interplay between affect, motivation,cognition, and behavior.” (Ortony, Norman, & Revelle, in press,Effective Functioning: A Three Level Model of Affect, Motivation, Cognition,and Behavior. To appear in J. M. Fellous & M. A. Arbib (Eds.), Who Needs
Emotions? The Brain Meets the Machine. New York: Oxford University Press.)
Measuring the dynamics of personality
• Personality is the coherent temporalpattern of Affect, Behavior, Cognitionand Desire
• Focus today will be on dynamics ofAffect within subjects and the feedbackeffect of Behavior upon current andsubsequent affect.
Measuring the dynamics of personality
• Structure of affect across individuals
• Structure of affect within individuals
• Sources of within subject variation
Measuring the dynamics of personality
• Structure of affect across individuals
– Positive Affect (PA) and Energetic Arousal (EA)
– Negative Affect (NA) and Tense Arousal (TA)
• Structure of affect within individuals
– Large variation in correlation of PA and NA
– Not due to artifact of sampling
• Sources of within subject variation
– Endogenous rhythm of EA/PA
– Exogenous “shocks” and NA/TA
Multiple formulations of the
measurement of affect• Two dimensional models
– Affective Valence and Arousal (Russell et al.)
– Positive and Negative Affect (Tellegen, Watson & Clark)
– Energetic and Tense Arousal (Thayer)
• Multidimensional models
– Pleasantness-unpleasantness, rest-activation, relaxation-attention(Wundt)
– Energetic Arousal, Tense Arousal, and Hedonic Tone (Matthews)
– Hierarchical models (Watson and Tellegen)
Between subject structure of affect
• Motivational State Questionnaire (MSQ)administered to ! 3500 subjects (datacollected over ! 10 years for many differentexperiments)
• Items from Thayer, Watson, Larsen & Diener
• 68-72 items administered at various times ofday and under various conditions.
• 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 factor solutions
2 Dimensions of Affect
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0-0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
ENERGETI
ELATEDACTIVE
EXCITEDSTRONG VIGOROUSAROUSED
INSPIRED
DETERMIN
INTENSE
NERVOUS
SCAREDFEARFUL
AFRAID
TENSECLUTCHED
SORRY
DISTRESS
ANGRY
FRUSTRATUPSET
SADBLUE
UNHAPPYDEPRESSED
IRRITABL
GLOOMY
GROUCHY
CONTENT
SATISFIE
CONFIDENHAPPY
WARMHEARPLEASED
SOCIABLECHEERFUL
DELIGHTEWAKEFUL
INTEREST
ATTENTIVWIDEAWAK
ENTHUSIAPROUD
FULL_OF_
LIVELY
ALERT
ANXIOUS
AT_EASE
ASHAMEDHOSTILE
RELAXED
SLUGGISH
LONELY
GUILTY
TIRED
DULL
SLEEPY
JITTERY
DROWSY
INACTIVE
ASTONISH
AT_REST
CALM
SURPRISE
SERENETRANQUIL
BORED
QUIET
IDLE
STILL
PLACID
QUIESCEN
Energetic Arousal/Positive AffectEnergetic Arousal/Positive Affect
Ten
se A
rousa
l/N
egat
ive
Aff
ect
2 Dimensions of Affect Positive x Negative Affect
R = .04 N !3,200
Neg
ativ
e A
ffec
t
Positive Affect0 1 0 2 0 3 0
0
1 0
2 0
3 0
Measuring the dynamics of personality
• Structure of affect across individuals
– Positive Affect (PA) and Energetic Arousal (EA)
– Negative Affect (NA) and Tense Arousal (TA)
• Structure of affect within individuals
– Large variation in correlation of PA and NA
– Not due to artifact of sampling
• Sources of within subject variation
– Endogenous rhythm of EA/PA
– Exogenous “shocks” and NA/TA
Studies of within subject affect
• Previously reported data from:
– Rogers (diary study over two weeks)
– Rafaeli (diary/PDA study over two weeks)
– Demonstrated stable individual difference insynchrony/asynchrony of affect
• Current focus will be on dynamic patterningacross time and over situations
Basic Method
• Subjects: Northwestern undergraduates
• 8-16 affect items given every 3 hours duringwaking day for 1 week, 1-2 week delay, and thenmeasured again for another week.
• Visual analog scales used by Rogers (N!80)
• Visual analog scales and Personal DigitalAssistants (Palm Pilots) used by Rafaeli (N!80)
• Will present data from the PDA portion ofRafaeli’s studies
Results: The correlation between
positive and negative affect
• Between subjects (all data points) r = -.04
• Between subjects (aggregated within subjects)
r = -.14
• Within subjects (all data points)
– -.5 < r < .7 (observed sd r = .27, expected= .14)
• Within subjects (aggregated by situations)
– -.8 < r < .9 (observed sd r =.43, expected = .33)
Positive and Negative Affect for all
subjects over all observations r= -.04Positive and Negative Affect (all observations)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Positive Affect
Neg
ati
ve A
ffect
Mean Positive x Negative Affect
Aggregated within subjects r = -.14Postive and Negative Affect (subject averages)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Positive Affect
Neg
ati
ve A
ffect
Large variation in within subject
correlation of positive and negative
affect (sd r =.27, expected =.14)
0 . 0 5
0 . 1 0
0 . 1 5
0 . 2 0
5
1 0
1 5
- 0 . 6 - 0 . 3 0 . 0 0 . 3 0 . 6 0 . 9
Within subject correlation
Fre
quen
cy
Positive and Negative Affect
(within subject correlation = -.51)F17 (r = -.51)
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
Positive and Negative Affect
(within subject correlation = -.43)F03 (r = -.43)
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
Positive and Negative Affect
(within subject correlation = -.09)E06 (r = -.09)
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
Positive and Negative Affect
(within subject correlation =.11)G12 (r = .11)
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
Positive and Negative Affect
(within subject correlation =.43)G08 (r = .43)
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
Positive and Negative Affect
(within subject correlation =.55)D03 (r = .55)
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
Positive and Negative Affect
(within subject correlation =.59)D05 (r = .59)
0
20
40
60
80
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
PA
NA
Large variation in within subject
correlation of positive and negative
affect (sd r =.27, expected =.14)
0 . 0 5
0 . 1 0
0 . 1 5
0 . 2 0
5
1 0
1 5
- 0 . 6 - 0 . 3 0 . 0 0 . 3 0 . 6 0 . 9
Within subject correlation
Fre
quen
cy
Measuring the dynamics of
personality
• Measurements taken every 3 hours during waking
day
• We can observe within subject change in positive
and negative affect over a day, replicated each day
• Note that while people differ in their pattern,
within each person, the pattern is consistent
Within subject dynamics (r = -.51) Within subject dynamics (r = -.43)
Within subject dynamics (r = -.05) Within subject dynamics (r = .55)
Within subject dynamics (r=.59)Measuring the dynamics of personality
• Structure of affect across individuals
– Positive Affect (PA) and Energetic Arousal (EA)
– Negative Affect (NA) and Tense Arousal (TA)
• Structure of affect within individuals
– Large variation in correlation of PA and NA
– Not due to artifact of sampling
• Sources of within subject variation
– Endogenous rhythm of EA/PA
– Exogenous “shocks” and NA/TA
Endogenous rhythms of affect
• Possible to fit each person’s daily data with
cosine of time of day to estimate any
diurnal pattern.
• Positive affect and energetic arousal show
strong diurnal rhythm
• Negative affect and tense arousal show very
weak diurnal rhythm
Fitting affect within subjects
Fitting affect within subjects Fitting affect within subjects
Fitting affect within subjects Fitting affect within subjects
Fitting affect within subjectsMeasuring the dynamics of personality
• Structure of affect across individuals
– Positive Affect (PA) and Energetic Arousal (EA)
– Negative Affect (NA) and Tense Arousal (TA)
• Structure of affect within individuals
– Large variation in correlation of PA and NA
– Not due to artifact of sampling
• Sources of within subject variation
– Endogenous rhythm of EA/PA
– Exogenous “shocks” and NA/TA
Affect varies by situation
• A small effect of situation on affect, but a
much larger individual difference in
experience of affect by situation
• Is the affect a function of the situation, or is
the situation a function of prior affect?
• Individuals differ in their choice of situation,
as well as the affect they experience in the
situation
Individual affect depends upon
person in the situation
• Situations were defined using Dan Ozer’s
categorization of typical student activities
• Aggregate the affect ratings by situations to
examine the effect of situation on
individuals.
• Note the variation between subject in the
effect of situations
A small effect of situations on
positive and negative affect
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
80.00
0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 80.00
sleep relax
exerciseromantic
friends
work
classstudy
r = .695D03 Across Activities
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
sleep relax
groom
motion
study
class
workexercisefriends
familyrecreateeatchores
D18 Across Activities
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
motion
recreate
exercise
class
friendseat
study
groomwork
sleeprelax
chores
r = .571E16 Across Activities
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
romantic
motion
exercise
work
class
groom
friends
eat
studyrelax
choressleep
r = .530
r = .505D11 Across Activities
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
sleepexercise
romantic
rather not say
groomfamily
errandfriends
motion
relaxeat
studyclassrecreate
D19 Across Activities
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA work
errand
exercisechores
motion friends
classgroom
eatstudy
relaxsleep
r = .441
D20 Across Activities
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
motion
classerrandexercise
eat friendswork
romanticrecreation
groomsleep
studyrelax
other
r = .191 r = -.433E19 Across Activities
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
exercisework
groom
errandrelax
sleep
family
study eat
friendsclassother
r = -.539D01 Across Activities
0
20
40
60
80
0 20 40 60 80
PA
NA
motion
friends
errand
eatrelax
study
sleepwork
class
groom recreate
Measuring the dynamics of personality
• Structure of affect across individuals
– Positive Affect (PA) and Energetic Arousal (EA)
– Negative Affect (NA) and Tense Arousal (TA)
• Structure of affect within individuals
– Large variation in correlation of PA and NA
– Not due to artifact of sampling
• Sources of within subject variation
– Endogenous rhythm of EA/PA
– Exogenous “shocks” and NA/TA
Measuring the dynamics of personality
If personality reflects stability in the changingpattern of Affect, Behavior, and Cognition acrosstime, then we need to focus on measuring Affect,Behavior, and Cognition within subjects acrossshort and long temporal intervals.
With the ability to use new data collectiontechniques (e.g. PDAs) and new analytictechniques (e.g., HLM) we can measure thedynamics of personality within individuals as wellas between individuals.