<P> Predictability can also be influenced depending on what is being measured, and some behaviors may be more consistent than others . For example, the amount a person gestures or the volume of a person's voice are more likely to be consistent across situations than goal - directed behaviors, such as when a person is trying to impress another person . </P> <P> It may also be that on average, individuals act consistently, and therefore personality research may be more telling as general behavioral trends than specific instances . This is evident in when people are interested in personalities of others, they are more interested in how others will generally act, not one specific behavior at a specific time . </P> <P> A correlation of . 40 is not that small of a correlation and can explain more variance than most people think . Correlation coefficients of the effects found in studies of personality variables cannot be comparable with effects found in studies of situational variables because the two styles of research do not employ a common metric . After converting the statistics that social psychologists use in analyzing situation variables and behavior into correlations used by personality psychologists in analyzing trait variables and behavior, Funder and Daniel J. Ozer found that the correlations between situations and behaviors are also around the . 30 --. 40 range . After conversion, it was found that even well - respected studies, like the one conducted by Stanley Milgram on obedience that used fake electric shocks to study how people react to being asked to cause harm to others (Milgram Experiment), found correlations of situations and behaviors to be around . 40 . Moreover, survey studies that compare the effects of situational variables on behavior show that the correlation between situation and behavior are also around the . 30 --. 40 range . Seymour Epstein found that if the behaviors were aggregated over time, the cross situational consistency of behaviors is much higher . Even in highly controlled studies, cross-situational consistency is around the . 40 range . </P> <P> Personality traits are important because personality traits exist . The field of personality psychology gained attention when Allport had his assistant, Henry Odbert, count how many different words in the English dictionary could be used to describe differences in personality . Odbert reported 17, 953 . With such a large number of words that are related to personality trait differences, Allport and Odbert proposed the Lexical hypothesis, or the theory that traits are obviously an important part of how people think and talk about each other, or else it would not be a part of the language . Words that make people more sensitive to individual differences are continuing to be created and formed today . </P>

Walter mischel and his 1968 book personality and assessment are noteworthy because this work