Research has proposed that personality traits may be derived from emotions and that individuals tend to judge another's personality traits on the basis of observed emotional reactions. To examine the relationship between personality and emotional traits within ecologically valid settings, 22 college students (19 females, 3 males) rated their emotions in a wide variety of work, recreation, social, and alone situations, sampled over a 30-day period. They were also administered the Personality Research Form and the Eysenck Personality Inventory. An analysis of the results showed that, although theoretically predictable relationships between certain personality traits and specific emotions averaged across situations, the most meaningful results were obtained in distinguishing chosen from imposed situations. The need for affiliation correlated positively with feeling friendly in chosen-social situations, and negatively with feeling friendly in imposed-alone situations. Extraverts reported more joy in social situations of their own choosing compared to imposed-alone situations. Neuroticism correlated with reported feelings of unhappiness in imposed social situations; but neurotics were less unhappy when they choose to be alone. Need for achievement correlated significantly with productive feelings in chosen work situations, and negatively with productive feelings in imposed recreation situations. These findings support an interactional approach to the study of personality and emotions. (BL)