The Stroop effect: its relation to personality

The Stroop Color-Word Procedure was administered on three separate occasions to a sample of 14-year-olds (52 females, 51 males). The several Stroop performances proved psychometrically to be highly reliable and, for reliability enhancement, were aggregated. A Resistance to Interference (RI) score, refined to control for verbal ability, was generated. Stroop RI was then related to independently evaluated personality characteristics, for the sexes separately. For girls, RI signified a well-functioning, psychologically complex, confident, and interpersonally satisfied individual, and, separately, was independently related to the theory-based construct of Ego-resiliency. In boys, RI signified a containment of impulses, submissiveness, and conservativeness, an anxious sense of vulnerability, and, separately, was related to the theory-based construct of Ego Over-control. The findings are briefly discussed.