To look at the Brunswikian Lens model I decided to look at a friend’s profile to maximize functional achievement and therefore make accurate judgments. Knowing the target allowed me to assure cue validity (know that the cue is accurately representative of underlying personality characteristics) and cue utilization (use all possible cues because I was aware of the meaning and context of most all of them)
.
First looking at her information I noticed the self directed identity claim (symbolic statement made by occupants for their own benefit intended to reinforce their self views) of her relationship status. She is listed as being in an open relationship with another girl who I know to be just a friend, therefore this must be an inside joke between the two of them. This shows that she is agreeable according to the FFM. Her interests are a mix of self directed identity claims and other directed identity claims (symbols that have shared meanings to make statements to others about how occupants would like to be regarded). Her interest in volleyball is an other directed identity claim meant to show to others that she is athletic and enjoys playing the sport. Also in her interests are self directed identity claims that include inside jokes which are understandable only to her and to close friends. She also has her mini-feed on her page report when she has added a friend, written on some one’s wall, or joined a group etc. This is an example of interior behavioral residue or physical traces of activities conducted in the immediate environment, that environment being Facebook itself. Exterior behavioral residue (residue of behaviors performed by the individual entirely outside of those immediate surroundings) in her profile includes the pictures tagged of her documenting activities outside of Facebook as well as the “events invitations” that she plans to attend or has attended.
I was not able to asses her fully on all of the five factors: openness, agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, from just her profile. She seemed to rate high on extraversion based on the large amount of friends she has (over 300) and abundance of pictures showing her going out and having fun. Agreeableness was also high based on the amount and positive nature of her wall posts, many saying “I love you” or “I miss you”. She listed many interests, was in many groups and still has her mini-feed up showing everything she does on Facebook. This shows a high amount of openness. I did not, however, find many indicators to suggest contentiousness or neuroticism.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Colleen, I really enjoyed your post and your analysis of the Brunswikian Lens Model. I agree that for the purpose of this post it only made sense that you used a close friends profile in order to assess the validity of her identity claims. It would be interesting for a stranger to look at your friends profile and see if that person was able to pinpoint exactly what portions of her facebook profile were self-directed, other directed, and exterior behavioral residue. The exterior behavioral residue I'm sure would be very close to your results at is is fairly easy to find on anyones profile. It is also interesting that you noted a lower breadth when judging her characteristics on the 5 key personality traits as in consistent with Walther's research.
This was a very good assessment of your friend using the Brunswickian Lens Model. My only comment is that I am not sure whether the friend she lists in her relationship status really is just a self-directed identity claim. It's true taht tit is an inside joke that she uses to reinforce her identity. However, it's also something that she might be using to portray to other people about one of her friends. For example, say you didn't know this person and you happened to meet her. Then you see on her facebook profile that she's listed in a relationship with this friend of hers (ie. that they're really good friends). She might be wanting you to see that because somewhere along the road, she's going to introduce you to her friend or something like that. So is it really self-directed? Sure, it's there largely for bolstering her own identity. But also, it could be there to influence others as well.
This is a very interesting assessment of your friend's profile using the Brunswikian Lens Model. Helps show how versatile the model is since it was originally created before CMC was really prevalent in our society. I would be interested in seeing how valid you think the cues that you analyzed were. Also, I think it would be very interesting to see how a complete stranger might rate your same friend using the Brunswikian Model and seeing how it differs from your own assessment. Also, a quick note, the fourth factor In the five personality traits you mention is conscientiousness, not contentiousness. I wonder what it is about a facebook profile that makes it difficult to find enough indicators about conscientiousness and neuroticism to make an assessment.
Hey Colleen! I enjoyed your post and think you applied the Brunswikian Lens Model perfectly to your friend's profile. I liked that you addressed all of the aspects of the Lens Model, as well. I definitely agree that someone's facebook interests are a combination of self- and other-directed identity claims. They're just as important to showing others who you are as it is to remind yourself. Since she is your friend though, I'm sure this influenced your personality assessment. Do you think a stranger would analyze your friend differently?
Post a Comment