Portraits in Misery

A Bottom-Up-to-Prototype Approach to Personality Assessment

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21352151
AutoresMichael D Robinson (0000-0003-1429-9069, North Dakota State University, autor de correspondencia), Roberta L Irvin (0000-0001-8771-4492, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine), Muhammad R Asad (0009-0007-4685-3067, North Dakota State University), Hamidreza Fereidouni (0000-0002-2032-7575, North Dakota State University), Lauren L Rahier (North Dakota State University), Pranika Vohra (0009-0003-2449-0198, North Dakota State University)
Año2026
Volumen108
Número4
Páginas561-573
Fecha de publicación2026-07-04
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Personality Assessment (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-3891 • E-ISSN: 1532-7752
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00223891.2025.2595280
PMID41359727
OpenAlexW4417130668
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas79

The present investigation endorses the premise that each person can be understood in terms of particular ways of responding to particular situations. In two studies (total N = 353), participants indicated how they would respond to a wide variety of mundane and consequential life situations. These person-in-situation units were used to understand variations in miserable functioning, defined in terms of degree of match to a miserable person prototype. Participants receiving higher behavioral tendencies of misery (BT-M) scores scored lower in flourishing and higher in psychopathological symptoms. In addition, misery, as quantified, was evident to peers (Study 1) and linked to deficiencies in goal pursuit and achievement in daily life (Study 2). The results provide insights into miserable functioning while also providing support for a new approach to personality assessment that can link person-specific bottom-up units to any number of constructs through the use of prototype scoring

Big Five personality traits · Flourishing · Personality · Portrait · Premise · Psychopathology · Variety (cybernetics) · Personality Disorders and Psychopathology · Personality Traits and Psychology · Psychological Testing and Assessment