The Personality Analyst  How Personality and Personal
Intelligence Shape Our Lives  Person Perception and the
Scientific Judgment of Personality  Are professional judgments
about a person more generally applicable?  I have been examining
the differences between psychological judgments made by
professionals and everyday lay judgments of personality.  I
began by distinguishing thoughtful judgments by early
psychologists and other insightful people, on the one hand, from
more superficial observations by others (see here for
background).  This week, I turn to the work of William B. Swann
of the University of Texas, Austin, who offered a different
perspective on professional judgment of personality in an
influential article in 1984.  His article in the journal
Psychological Review characterized the research in the field of
"Person Perception" -- how people perceive one another -- up to
that time. To understand Swann's perspective, it helps to follow
his description of the research viewpoints of the time. 
Accordin