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Temporal Stability and Cross-Situational Consistency of Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Responses

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Assessing Well-Being

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 39))

Abstract

Consistency and stability of feelings were examined in reports that were completed on 3,512 occasions randomly sampled from the lives of 42 subjects. The stability and consistency of responses depended on the situations, individuals, and responses involved. High degrees of consistency were unusual for single responses, although mean levels of responding tended to be both highly stable and consistent. The consistency and stability of variables covaried, suggesting a connection between the two. Persons who were more consistent across one pair of situations tended to be more consistent across other situational pairs. The results indicate that the question of whether personality consistency exists does not have a simple answer, and requires knowledge of the persons, situations, responses, and level of analysis involved.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820, USA

    Ed Diener

  2. Department of Psychology, Washington University, 63130, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

    Randy J. Larsen

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  1. Ed Diener
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  2. Randy J. Larsen
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Correspondence to Ed Diener .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Psychology, University of Illinois, 603 E. Daniel St, Champaign, IL 61820, USA

    Ed Diener

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Diener, E., Larsen, R.J. (2009). Temporal Stability and Cross-Situational Consistency of Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Responses. In: Diener, E. (eds) Assessing Well-Being. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 39. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2354-4_2

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