Does Emotional Stability Form the Core of Self-Evaluations? A Multi-Rater Cross-Lagged Panel Study

Several personality models suggest that emotional stability represents a rather core trait that is more basic than self-esteem, self-efficacy, and locus of control proposed as more particularized characteristics within the personality system. Simultaneously, a common core construct underlying these four aspects of self-evaluations has been hypothesized. In this study, we investigated whether emotional stability qualifies as more basic construct accounting for (common) variance in the other three characteristics rather than the reverse. Applying crosslagged panel models to data from 3068 self-ratings and 2184 informant-ratings across three measurement occasions, we found emotional stability to display higher cross-time stability and dominance regarding predictive effects. Nonetheless, it did not qualify as sole source of substantial links between self-esteem, self-efficacy, and locus of control.