The relationship between personality traits and social behavior

The present study was concerned with demonstrating a relationship between social behavior and personality traits. Bales* methods of Interaction Process Analysis was utilized to measure social behavior in a group problem-solving situation by observing and categorizing each act as it occurred. The twelve interaction categories of this method are concerned with the functional relationship of each act to the total on-going process. The Self-Concept Test was the instrument employed to obtain an index of five personality traits. This test uses a Q-sort technique which requires the individual subject to sort one-hundred cards into eight piles. The number 'eight' pile contains the six cards which are most characteristic of the subject and the number 'one' pile is composed of the six cards which ha considers least characteristic of himself. The remaining cards are placed in the other six piles in a graduating order so that they approximate a normal probability curve. The personality traits scored in this test are the factors of Social Adaptability, Emotional Control, Conformity, Inquiring Intellect, and Confident Self-Expression. Twenty-four University of Houston undergraduate students were divided into four groups. Each group was composed of six males and six females. There were two groups of six members of each sex. Each group was first placed into two social situations in which they were asked to solve a problem as a group. Two observers recorded the group interaction on special observation sheets. At the completion of the second social session, each subject was asked to sort the cards of the Self-Concept Test into the appropriate piles. An analysis of variance on the factors of Social Adaptability, Confident Self-Expression, and Inquiring Intellect of the Self- Concept Test and the Social Reactivity and Social Receptivity categories calculated from the interaction matrix indicated that individuals high in these personality traits tended to be significantly more active and receptive in a social situation. Subjects high in Conformity also showed more action and were receivers of more acts, but the differences were not statistically reliable. The factor of Emotional Control was not related to any social behavior analyzed by the Bales' method.