Parent–Teacher Agreement on 7–Year–Old Children's Personality

Agreement between multiple informants on child personality has received limited attention. Focusing on factor structure, gender differences and the influence of socially desirable responding (SDR), we compared parent and teacher Big Five personality ratings of around 600 7–year olds. Although parent ratings were more desirable than teacher ratings, differential agreement was generally similar to that found for adults, and especially high for ratings of boys. The more evaluative the personality item, the larger the mean–level difference between parents and teachers on that item. However, undesirable items showed the highest levels of differential agreement. In parent ratings, the two poles of Agreeableness formed separate factors. To view Pro–sociality as independent of Antagonism could enable parents to view their child more positively. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.