The Patterned Inconsistency of Traits: Mapping the Differential Effects of Social Roles on Self-Perceptions of the Big Five

Role-related differences in self-perceptions on the Big Five are evaluated for 262 participants who described their general self-image and several role identities on the Big Five Inventory (BFI). As expected, considerable Correlational consistency among the self-perceptions coexisted with normative mean-level differences between the general self-image and the role identities on all five BEI scales. Several normative differences in self-description were predicted from four broad features of roles: the number of interactants involved in a role, the ease with which role relationships may be terminated, the presence of a legitimized chain of authority, and the level of intimacy typically expressed in the role.