Do People Agree on How They and Others Are Acting? Examining the Degree of Target-Observer and Observer-Observer Agreement About Current Behavior as It Changes Across Situations

The purpose of the present research was to test the level of agreement between targets and observers both at any given moment and as the targets' current behavior (assessed as personality states) change across moments. Ninety-seven target participants participated in 22 different activities across 20 1-hour long sessions in a laboratory setting while reporting their current behavior, and their behavior was evaluated by 183 observers (total of 3,493 target self-reports, 2,973 of which had a corresponding observer report from at least one observer). Target-observer and observer-observer agreement was significant for all personality states (and was substantial for extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience), and was observed in different situations, across all situations, and after accounting for normative agreement. The findings from this study the first to examine within-person agreement on in-person behavioral states- provide evidence that people can accurately report their current behavior, that people agree on changes in behaviors across situations, and by extension that intensive assessment methodologies (such as experience-sampling methodology) have validity as assessments of momentary behavior.