Situational construal is related to personality and gender

Using the Riverside Situational Q-Sort (RSQ), this study investigates the relationship between personality, gender and individual differences in perceptions (or construals) of four situations experienced by undergraduate participants (N = 205) in their daily lives. Results indicate that while people generally agree about the psychological characteristics of situations, they also have reliably distinctive perceptions that are related to personality and gender. Further, lay judges are fairly accurate in predicting the systematic ways in which personality and gender are related to distinctive perceptions, showing that these relationships align with prior theorizing and with common sense. The small but reliable individual differences in situational construal demonstrated by this research may accumulate into large and consequential effects over time.

► Individual differences in situation perception (construals) were measured. ► Construals were consistent within individuals across four situations. ► Personality and gender were related to construals.