Representations of Self and Personality

Besides dealing with individual behaviors and experiences, people also have to represent personality traits in themselves and others. These representations often come in cognitive structures called schemas, which connect inidividual elements (e.g., behaviors, feelings, thoughts) into meaningful units. I have studied the structure of psychopathological schemas (Horowitz & Malle, 1993), personality schemas (Neubauer & Malle, 1997), and the distinct nature of negative and positive self-schmeas (Malle & Horowitz, 1995). Recent research in my lab places the development and maintenance of self-schemas in a social context. In a longitudinal study on first-year college students, Melvin Pusateri, Gale Pearce, and I are examining the stability and change of self-schemas amidst changing relationships and life events. In another study, I have explored the tools and strategies people use when negotiating disagreements in their judgments of each other's personality. And Gale Pearce has begun a series of studies on social feedback on personality: the prevalence, nature, and response to comments about one's appearance and personality.

Neubauer, A.C., & Malle, B.F. (1997). Questionnaire response latencies: Implications for personality assessment and self-schema theory. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 13, 109-117.

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