Ability self-estimates (SEs) exhibit strong correlations with personality traits; in most domains, personality explains more variance in SEs than abilities do

Self-estimates of abilities are a better reflection of individuals’ personality traits than of their abilities and are also strong predictors of professional interests. Aljoscha C. Neubauer, Gabriela Hofer. Personality and Individual Differences, February 24 2020, 109850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.109850

Highlights
• Ability self-estimates (SEs) exhibit strong correlations with personality traits.
• Personality predicts SEs independently of measured abilities and grades.
• In most domains, personality explains more variance in SEs than abilities do.
• Interests are mostly a function of self-estimated and not true abilities.

Abstract: In several meta-analyses, self-estimates of abilities have been shown to correlate surprisingly low with individuals’ real (i.e., psychometrically assessed) abilities. We recently confirmed this in a study where we investigated the accuracy of self- and peer-estimates of six central abilities (verbal, numerical, spatial intelligence, interpersonal and intrapersonal competence, creative/divergent thinking). Here, we describe two studies: In study 1, we first investigated, to which extent self-estimates of adolescents’ central abilities can be predicted from three sources: relevant school grades, the pertinent psychometric ability itself, and personality (big five traits and narcissism). We found that self-estimates are a stronger reflection of the individuals’ personality than their abilities per se. Second, we wanted to assess to what degree (professional) interests, which might guide career decisions in adolescents/young adults, are predicted by self-estimated and psychometrically assessed abilities. We found that professional interests are mostly a function of self-estimates and not of ‘true’ abilities, a finding that we replicated in study 2 with young adults. Given the strong associations between self-estimates and personality and past findings showing that abilities are better predictors of professional success than personality traits are, this might be non-optimal.

Keywords: IntelligenceEmotional intelligenceCreativitySelf-estimatesGradesInterestsAdolescents