Explicit Beliefs About Nonverbal Behavior and the Big Five Traits.

Introduction Everyday experience as well as the research literature on trait attributions suggest that people use nonverbal cues when judging the personality of a person. However, little research has reported on people's explicitly held beliefs about these associations.Methods Two hundred forty-five participants recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk rated how strongly they thought 20 nonverbal cues are related to each of the Big Five traits. Their beliefs were then compared to a previous meta-analysis to see how explicit beliefs compare to implicit beliefs measured in lens models (cue utilizations) and to actual links between the Big Five and nonverbal cues (cue validities).Results Participants' explicit beliefs formed coherent constellations for each trait. The explicit beliefs corresponded generally well with implicit beliefs as well as with cue validities.Conclusion The results support the validity of explicit beliefs about nonverbal cues and the Big Five, offering new opportunities for researchers interested in how beliefs affect interpersonal interactions.