Cross‐Sectional and Longitudinal Tests of the Personality and Role Identity Structural Model (PRISM)

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Abstract
A conceptual hierarchy termed the Personality and Role Identity Structural Model, or PRISM, is offered as a framework for incorporating situational information into trait models. PRISM assumes that personality is structured hierarchically with general dispositions subsuming context‐specific dispositions (role identities), which, in turn, subsume role‐based thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. At Wave 1 ( N =149), we found that general traits account for commonalities across traits measured within role identities and that role identities mediate the relationship between general traits and role criteria. In a longitudinal follow‐up of a subsample of the original participants (Wave 2; N =62), we found that general traits and role‐identity traits were more stable than role experiences over time. Also, changes in role experiences were related to changes in role‐identity traits, and, in turn, changes in role‐identity traits were related to changes in general traits. The potential of PRISM for use in understanding the development of personality traits is discussed.