Personality perception: A developmental study

We investigated the ability of adults and children to perceive the Big Five personality traits in others from “thin slices” of the behavioral stream. Targets were videotaped in five carefully crafted situations, each designed to maximally reveal a different trait domain. In addition, each target’s personality was assessed by close friends or parents, serving as the personality criterion. Judges’ agreement with the criterion improved generally with age, but different developmental trends were observed across traits.