Before you begin

Survey information sheet for participants
Study title: How do people react to personality feedback by others?
Principal Investigator: René Mõttus
Researcher collecting data: Faith Robinson, Johanna Eidissen, Vi Thuy Vo, Jackson Paulsen

What is this document? This document explains what kind of study we're doing, what your rights are, and what will be done with your data. You should keep this page for your records. After you read this, continue to the next page.

Nature of the study. You are about to participate in a study which involves understanding how people react to personality feedback. You will complete an online personality questionnaire and be asked to invite people who know you well, such as friends or family members, to complete a short questionnaire about your personality or behaviour. You will then receive personalised feedback based on both your own responses and theirs, and you will be asked to record your reactions to this feedback. Your session should last for 20–30 minutes for the survey, with follow-up interviews lasting up to 45 minutes. You will be given full instructions shortly and will be able to ask any questions you may have.

Follow-up interview. Some participants may be invited to take part in a follow-up interview to discuss their reactions to the feedback in more depth. If you are interested, you will have the option to opt in at the end of the survey. Please note that interview slots are limited, and not everyone who opts in will be selected. If selected, you will receive a separate information sheet about the interview.

Compensation. There is no payment for completing the survey. Participants selected for a follow-up interview will receive £20 as compensation (see the Interview Information Sheet for details).

Risks and benefits. There are no known risks to participation in this study. There are no tangible benefits to you, however you will be contributing to our knowledge about personality feedback and individual differences.

Confidentiality and use of data. All the information we collect during the course of the research will be processed in accordance with Data Protection Law. In order to safeguard your privacy, we will never share personal information (like names or dates of birth) with anyone outside the research team; if you agree and want to be contacted for future studies, we will add your contact details to our secure participant database. Your data will be referred to by a unique participant number rather than by name. We will store any personal data (e.g., interview transcripts, consent forms) using the University of Edinburgh's secure encrypted storage service or in a locked filing cabinet at the University of Edinburgh. The anonymised data collected during this study will be used for research purposes. Self-report data may be combined with friends and family ratings for analysis, but individual responses will not be shared with them unless you explicitly choose to do so and provide consent. Interview recordings will be transcribed using ELM, a University of Edinburgh-approved AI transcription service. No identifiable data will be entered into any external AI system. Interview recordings will only be used for research purposes and will not be shared publicly. Once interview recordings have been transcribed, they will be deleted.

Friends and family ratings. Your friends or family members will complete a short questionnaire about you. Their individual responses will not be shared with you unless they explicitly choose to share them. By agreeing to take part, you also consent to your friends and family sharing their ratings with the research team so that personalised feedback can be generated for you.

What are my data protection rights? The University of Edinburgh is a Data Controller for the information you provide. You have the right to access information held about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance Data Protection Law. You also have other rights including rights of correction, erasure and objection. For more details, including the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office, please visit http://www.ico.org.uk. Questions, comments and requests about your personal data can also be sent to the University Data Protection Officer at dpo@ed.ac.uk.

Voluntary participation and right to withdraw. Your participation is voluntary, and you may withdraw from the study for any reason. Following your completion of the questionnaire, you will be able to withdraw from the study for up to two weeks. If you withdraw from the study before or during data gathering, or during this two-week period, please email us at UoEPersonalityFeedbackReviewer@gmail.com. After this period, data will be anonymized, meaning your data will not be identifiable for removal. If you withdraw from the study during or after data gathering, we will delete your data and there is no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

If you have any questions about what you've just read, please feel free to ask, or contact us later. You can contact us by email at UoEPersonalityFeedbackReviewer@gmail.com. This project has been approved by the PPLS Research Ethics Committee. If you have questions or comments regarding your rights as a participant, please contact the School Research Ethics Convenor at ppls.rec@ed.ac.uk.

By clicking “I agree”, you consent to the following:

• I agree to participate in this study.
• I confirm that I have read and understood how my data will be stored and used.
• I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I may withdraw my data within two weeks of completing the study by emailing UoEPersonalityFeedbackReviewer@gmail.com.
• I consent to friends or family members I invite completing a questionnaire about me, and to those ratings being used to generate my personalised feedback.