Self/observer agreement in personality assessment by observers’ relationship types

• Observer reports by close others (esp. partners) strongly correlate with self-reports. • Self-reports do not show self-enhancing tendencies relative to observer reports. • People view themselves as more open than observers do. • Parents view their children as more honest and less anxious than other observers do. • Siblings view each other as more quick-tempered than other observers do. We examined two forms of self/observer agreement (correlational and mean-level) in personality using a Dutch university student sample ( N =5,405) with self-reports and observer (informant) reports from parents, siblings, friends, and partners/spouses. Correlational self/observer agreement was strong across all HEXACO-PI-R scales and across relationship types ( r ¯ ≥ 0.59, but highest for partners). Regarding mean-level self/observer agreement, alleged positive bias in self-reports was not observed. Only Openness showed higher means for self-reports than for observer reports across all relationship types ( d = 0.37). Mean observer report scores varied by relationship: people perceived their children as more honest and less anxious and perceived their siblings as less agreeable than other observers did. Partner reports showed the closest mean-level agreement with self-reports.