Final answer:
Inferring that Jenny is intelligent and cheerful based on her being honest, helpful, and outgoing is an illustration of an implicit personality theory. This psychological concept describes how we fill in the blanks about someone's character traits based on a few observed qualities.
Step-by-step explanation:
The inference that Jenny is intelligent and cheerful based on her being honest, helpful, and outgoing is an example of an implicit personality theory. Trait theorists suggest that personality consists of various traits which can be categorized as cardinal, central, or secondary. Implicit personality theory relates to the idea that we use a cluster of traits we see in a person to infer or predict other characteristics about them, even without direct evidence of those traits. This is often subconscious and is based on the assumption that certain traits typically occur together.
In the given question, Jenny's observed traits, such as being honest, helpful, and outgoing, have led to the inference of her being intelligent and cheerful without direct evidence of these traits. This is not a self-fulfilling prophecy, because there is no indication that the observer's expectations are affecting Jenny's behavior. It is also not a central trait or a person schema, as those are part of a person's personality and not the observer's inference process about someone else's characteristics. The halo effect can sometimes be related to implicit personality theory, as it involves letting one known trait influence opinions about other traits, but this phenomenon specifically revolves around the influence of a positive impression on one's perception of another's attributes.