GUESSING PERSONALITY FROM A 
                 BRIEF SAMPLE OF BEHAVIOUR 
                
                                    
                          WENJIE WU, M.Ed. 
                                    
                                    
                                    
                                    
                
                
                                    
                
                 Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham 
                  (Malaysia Campus) for the degree of Doctor of 
                               Philosophy 
                              October 2014 
                
                
                
           
          Abstract  
             Mentalising as a process for explaining and predicting behaviour relates to 
          inferring  mental  states  and  traits  of  others.  Previous  research  of  mentalising  has 
          focused too heavily on mental states and insufficiently on personality traits. Given 
          this  context, the current thesis aimed to explore the phenomenon of forming first 
          impressions of personality based on a brief sample of behavior.  
             In the current research, after being filmed in diverse naturalistic scenarios, 
          targets filled in an “empathy quotient” (EQ) questionnaire and the NEO Five-Factor 
          Inventory-3 (NEO-FFI-3) for respectively measuring empathic traits and the Big-
          Five personality dimensions. Perceivers were asked to guess the results of target self-
          reported  EQ  or  the  Big  Five  traits  while  observing  the  target  in  the  context  of 
          minimal information presented in different types of way (e.g., videos, audios and 
          photographs). Findings from Studies 1 to 8 converge in revealing that perceivers are 
          surprisingly effective in accurately guessing targets who either had low or high EQ 
          and targets who were extreme in one or more personality dimensions, but not so 
          effective in identifying targets with average personality. These judgments were based 
          on the behaviour of the target and not merely on an image of the target. Studies 1 and 
          2 revealed that perceivers were biased to assume the targets were rather similar to 
          how  empathising  they  perceived  themselves,  but  perceivers’  confidence  did  not 
          predict  their  accuracy  in  judgments  of  target  empathy.  Study  6  demonstrated  a 
          relationship between perceivers’ ratings of targets’ expressivity and how perceivers 
          judged  target  EQ.  Additionally,  a  survey  was  created  to  examine  people’s 
          commonsense views about first impressions of personality.  
             Results of all studies were discussed with reference to the processes by which 
          people make first-impression personality judgments. The current research adds to the 
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          literature of mentalising in speaking about the breadth, versatility and sensitivity of 
          our mindreading abilities.   
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
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          Acknowledgments 
             First and foremost, I am very grateful to my family who always support me to 
          pursue my dreams. I especially thank my mother who has never stopped loving me; 
          without her support and encouragements, I would not have made this far. This thesis 
          is dedicated to my mother Ms Lan Chen.  
             I  would  like  to  thank  my  supervisors  Professor  Peter  Mitchell  and  Dr. 
          Elizabeth Sheppard for all their help, guide and support of my work. I would like to 
          thank Dr. Chuma Owuamalam for his helpful comments on my annual progression 
          reports.  
             Finally,  many  thanks  to  the  students  from  the  University  of  Nottingham 
          Malaysia Campus and the University of Monash Sunway Campus who volunteered 
          to take part in the research – Without their help, I would not be able to efficiently 
          complete the data collection.  
            
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
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