Children's Understanding of Dispositional Characteristics of Others

RHOLES, WILLIAM S., and RUBLE, DIANE N. Children's Understanding of Dispositional Characteristics of Others. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1984, 55, 550-560. 2 studies are reported that concern children's use of personality traits and abilities to predict the behavior of other persons. In Study 1, subjects first observed vignettes that were designed to reveal an actor's abilities or personality traits. Then, they made predictions for the actor's behavior in other, related behavioral situations. In Study 2, subjects were told about 1 instance of an actor's behavior, and they were provided with covariation information that implied that the actor's behavior either was or was not caused by personal dispositions. Subjects then predicted the actor's behavior in related situations. In both studies the older subjects (9-10 years old and older) predicted that the actor's behaviors in new situations would be relatively consistent with the behavior that was observed or described, when the behavior was perceived to be a function of dispositional causal factors. Younger children (5-7 years old), on the other hand, did not predict that the actors' behaviors would be consistent across situations (regardless of their perceptions of the causes of the actors' behavior), even though they labeled the actors' behaviors with appropriate personality trait or ability terms (Study 1) and were able to use covariation information cues to infer dispositional causes (Study 2). These results suggest that younger children do not regard dispositional factors as stable, abiding characteristics of other persons.