The General Factor of Personality: A meta-analysis of Big Five intercorrelations and a criterion-related validity study

Who tends to be a perfectionistic adolescent? Distinguishing perfectionism from excellencism and investigating the links with the Big Five and self-esteem

Striving towards perfection is an important concept of study, given its heterogenous associations with both positive and negative outcomes. To address this matter, recent work has emphasized the need to differentiate between striving towards perfection (perfectionism) and excellence (excellencism). However, the applicability of this differentiation in adolescence remains largely unexplored, despite this life phase being particularly sensitive for the development of perfectionism. To better understand striving towards perfection in adolescence, we examined the psychometric properties of the German Scale of Perfectionism and Excellencism (SCOPE) and evaluated the nomological net with the Big Five and self-esteem in 788 German adolescents (Mage = 15.49 years; 50% female). The results underscored the distinctiveness of the different strivings in adolescents but pointed to mixed evidence regarding convergent and discriminant validities. Notably, striving towards perfection was related to lower levels of openness and self-esteem but higher levels of neuroticism, whereas striving towards excellence was related to higher levels of every trait except neuroticism. Finally, most results remained consistent across genders and school types. We discuss how the differentiation between perfectionism and excellencism deepens our understanding of adolescents' perfectionistic strivings and how it might inform future research across different psychological fields.

Using the multidimensional nominal response model to model faking in questionnaire data: The importance of item desirability characteristics

Faking in self-report personality questionnaires describes a deliberate response distortion aimed at presenting oneself in an overly favorable manner. Unless the influence of faking on item responses is taken into account, faking can harm multiple psychometric properties of a test. In the present article, we account for faking using an extension of the multidimensional nominal response model (MNRM), which is an item response theory (IRT) model that offers a flexible framework for modeling different kinds of response biases. Particularly, we investigated under which circumstances the MNRM can adequately adjust substantive trait scores and latent correlations for the influence of faking and examined the role of variation in the way item content is related to social desirability (i.e., item desirability characteristics) in facilitating the modeling of faking and counteracting its detrimental effects. Using a simulation, we found that the inclusion of a faking dimension in the model can overall improve the recovery of substantive trait person parameters and latent correlations between substantive traits, especially when the impact of faking in the data is high. Item desirability characteristics moderated the effect of modeling faking and were themselves associated with different levels of parameter recovery. In an empirical demonstration with N = 1070 test-takers, we also showed that the faking modeling approach in combination with different item desirability characteristics can prove successful in empirical questionnaire data. We end the article with a discussion of implications for psychological assessment.

Beyond metacognition: The dominant role of the general factor of personality in learning adaptation

The notions of metacognition and ego-resilienc seem to commonly represent an ability to adaptively adjust self-control to fit the requirements of environments. The latter presents a general mechanism of adaptive adjustment while the former presents a specific example of learning activity. As ego-resiliency was almost fully indicated by the General Factor of Personality (GFP) as the literature suggested, the present study tested the relationship between the GFP and metacognition and then compared their influences on learning adaptation. As found, the GFP highly overlapped with overall metacognition (r = 0.69). Within the three dimensions of metacognition, metacognitive skills correlated with the GFP much higher than metacognitive knowledge and experience, suggesting that the GFP is more linked with the application of metacognition in learning. By comparison, the GFP displayed much higher correlations with metacognitive skills and experience as well as learning adaptation than any Big Five traits, showing its incremental power in correlation with those variables. More importantly, in the mediation model, the GFP was found to be the root reason for the outcomes of learning adaptation and accounted for most of the impact of metacognition on learning adaptation. With these findings, the limitations of the present study and suggestions for future studies were discussed.

The happy personality revisited: Re-examining associations between Big Five personality traits and subjective well-being using meta-analytic structural equation modeling

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND

Using meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM), we examined the link between Big Five personality traits and subjective well-being (SWB), operationalized as three separate components and as a latent factor indicated by life satisfaction (LS), positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA). PA and NA were assessed based on frequency of a broad range of affective experiences, rather than intensity of high arousal affective experiences, thus excluding studies using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule.

METHOD

35 samples were included, encompassing 22,135 participants from 14 countries, in which all eight variables were assessed.

RESULTS

Correlations among personality traits were moderate, on average, and the latent SWB factor had strong loadings from all three components. Personality traits together explained substantial variance in LS, PA, and NA, and in the latent SWB factor, with unique predictive effects on the latent factor from each personality trait except openness. Associations between personality traits and SWB components were fully accounted for by a latent SWB factor, with one exception: A specific association was found between neuroticism and unique variance in NA.

CONCLUSIONS

The present findings provide new insights concerning the notion of a 'happy personality' in showing that Big Five personality traits have unique associations with an underlying sense of SWB.

Depression and Personality Traits Across Adolescence-Within-Person Analyses of a Birth Cohort

Depressive symptoms and personality traits covary in adolescents, but our understanding of the nature of this relation is limited. Whereas a predisposition explanation posits that specific personality traits increase the vulnerability for developing depression, a scar explanation proposes that depression may alter premorbid personality. Attempts to test these explanatory models have relied on analyses that conflate within-person changes and between-person differences, which limits the implications that can be drawn. Moreover, research on the early adolescent years is lacking. The present study therefore examined within-person associations between depressive symptoms and Big Five personality traits across ages 10 to 16. Children (n = 817; 49.9% boys) and parents from two birth cohorts in Trondheim, Norway, were assessed biennially with clinical interviews capturing symptoms of major depressive disorder and dysthymia, and self-reported Big Five personality traits. Analyses were conducted using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model, which accounts for all unmeasured time-invariant confounding effects. Increased Neuroticism predicted an increased number of depressive symptoms-and increased depressive symptoms predicted increased Neuroticism-across ages 10 to 14. Moreover, increased depressive symptoms forecast reduced Extraversion across ages 10 to 16, and reduced Conscientiousness from ages 12 to 14. Increases in Neuroticism may contribute to the development of depressive symptoms-in line with the predisposition model. As regards the scar model, depression may have an even wider impact on personality traits: increasing Neuroticism and reducing Extraversion and Conscientiousness. These effects may already be present in the earliest adolescent years.

Self- and informant-reported personality traits and vaccination against COVID-19

As COVID-19 vaccines' accessibility has grown, so has the role of personal choice in vaccination, and not everybody is willing to vaccinate. Exploring personality traits' associations with vaccination could highlight some person-level drivers of, and barriers to, vaccination. We used self- and informant-ratings of the Five-Factor Model domains and their subtraits (a) measured approximately at the time of vaccination with the 100 Nuances of Personality (100NP) item pool (N = 56,575) and (b) measured on average ten years before the pandemic with the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (NEO-PI-3; N = 3,168). We tested individual domains' and either items' (in the 100NP sample) or facets' (in the NEO-PI-3 sample) associations with vaccination, as well as their collective ability to predict vaccination using elastic net models trained and tested in independent sample partitions. Although the NEO-PI-3 domains and facets did not predict vaccination ten years later, the domains correlated with vaccination in the 100NP sample, with vaccinated people scoring slightly higher on neuroticism and agreeableness and lower on openness, controlling for age, sex, and education. Collectively, the five domains predicted vaccination with an accuracy of r = .08. Associations were stronger at the item level. Vaccinated people were, on average, more science-minded, politically liberal, respectful of rules and authority, and anxious but less spiritual, religious, and self-assured. The 100NP items collectively predicted vaccination with r = .31 accuracy. We conclude that unvaccinated people may be a psychologically heterogeneous group and highlight some potential areas for action in vaccination campaigns.

Comparing associations between personality and loneliness at midlife across three cultural groups

OBJECTIVE

Loneliness represents a public health threat given its central role in predicting adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Prior research has established four of the Big Five personality traits as consistent cross-sectional predictors of loneliness in largely western, White samples. However, it is not clear if the personality predictors of loneliness vary across cultures.

METHOD

The present study estimates associations between the Big Five traits and loneliness across distinct samples of White American, Black American, and Japanese adults (n = 6051 at T1). Confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling were used to examine measurement invariance properties of the Big Five and loneliness across these groups. The factor structures were then carried forward to estimate associations between personality and loneliness across two assessments waves using structural equation modeling.

RESULTS

While Neuroticism was a strong predictor across groups, low Extraversion was more predictive of loneliness in Japan than in the U.S., and low Conscientiousness was only a significant predictor in the U.S.

CONCLUSIONS

Previous literature offers a framework for interpreting these findings in that loneliness may be shaped comparatively more through interconnectedness in Japanese culture, while, in the U.S., individual goals and personal romantic expectations are more salient.

Online reading habits can reveal personality traits: towards detecting psychological microtargeting

Building on big data from Reddit, we generated two computational text models: (i) Predicting the personality of users from the text they have written and (ii) predicting the personality of users based on the text they have consumed. The second model is novel and without precedent in the literature. We recruited active Reddit users (N = 1 , 105 ) of fiction-writing communities. The participants completed a Big Five personality questionnaire and consented for their Reddit activity to be scraped and used to create a machine learning model. We trained an natural language processing model [Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT)], predicting personality from produced text (average performance: r = 0.33 ). We then applied this model to a new set of Reddit users (N = 10 , 050 ), predicted their personality based on their produced text, and trained a second BERT model to predict their predicted-personality scores based on consumed text (average performance: r = 0.13 ). By doing so, we provide the first glimpse into the linguistic markers of personality-congruent consumed content.

Five-Factor Model and DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorder Profile Construction: Associations with Cognitive Ability and Clinical Symptoms

Although numerous studies have explored latent profiles using the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of normative personality, no studies have investigated how broad personality traits (i.e., FFM) and pathological personality traits using the alternative model of personality disorder (AMPD) may combine for latent personality profiles. The present study recruited outpatients (N = 201) who completed the Big Five Aspects Scales (BFAS), Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I/P), gambling and alcohol use measures, and the Weschler Intelligence subtests. When FFM and AMPD measures were combined, latent profile analyses revealed four profiles, Internalizing-Thought disorder, Externalizing, Average-Detached, and Adaptive. Detachment and openness to experience were the most and least essential traits for profile distinction, respectively. No associations between group membership and cognitive ability measures were found. Internalizing-Thought disorder membership was linked with a current mood and anxiety disorder diagnosis. Externalizing profile membership was associated with younger age, problematic gambling, alcohol use, and a current substance use disorder diagnosis. The four FFM-AMPD profiles overlapped with the four FFM-only and three AMPD-only profiles. Overall, the FFM-AMPD profiles appeared to have better convergent and discriminant validity with DSM-relevant psychopathology.

The General Factor of Personality (GFP) is associated with higher salary, having a leadership position, and working in a social job

Previous studies have suggested that a general factor exists at the top of the hierarchal structure of personality. One interpretation of this General Factor of Personality (GFP) is that it reflects social effectiveness. Accordingly, in a large employee sample (N = 1267), we tested whether the GFP relates to several outcomes assumed to be linked with social effectiveness. Specifically, we examine whether the GFP is positively related to salary and to obtaining a leadership position. Additionally, we test whether high-GFP employees more often work in social occupations. Controlling for demographics and background variables, it was found that the GFP is indeed positively related to monthly (gross) salary. Moreover, employees occupying leadership positions in organizations scored higher on the GFP. GFP scores of employees in more social occupations (e.g., education, health care) were higher than of employees in other types of jobs (e.g., construction). GFP scores were also positively associated with the extent to which one has to relate to others in the job. Overall, the pattern of findings is in line with the notion of the GFP as relating to social effectiveness or adaptiveness, which are assumed to play a significant role in occupational outcomes.

Mouse movements reflect personality traits and task attentiveness in online experiments

OBJECTIVE

In this rapidly digitizing world, it is becoming ever more important to understand people's online behaviors in both scientific and consumer research settings. The current work tests the feasibility of inferring personality traits from mouse movement patterns as a cost-effective means of measuring individual characteristics.

METHOD

Mouse movement features (i.e., pauses, fixations, speed, and clicks) were collected while participants (N = 791) completed an online image choice task. We compare the results of standard univariate and three forms of multivariate partial least squares (PLS) analyses predicting Big Five traits from mouse movements. We also examine whether mouse movements can predict a proposed measure of task attentiveness (atypical responding), and how these might be related to personality traits.

RESULTS

Each of the PLS analyses showed significant associations between a linear combination of personality traits (high Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Openness, and low Neuroticism) and several mouse movements associated with slower, more deliberate responding (less unnecessary clicks and more fixations). Additionally, several click-related mouse features were associated with atypical responding on the task.

CONCLUSIONS

As the image choice task itself is not intended to assess personality in any way, our results validate the feasibility of using mouse movements to infer internal traits across experimental contexts.

Musicians and non-musicians show different preference profiles for single chords of varying harmonic complexity

The inverted U hypothesis in music predicts that listeners prefer intermediate levels of complexity. However, the shape of the liking response to harmonic complexity and the effect of musicianship remains unclear. Here, we tested whether the relationship between liking and harmonic complexity in single chords shows an inverted U shape and whether this U shape is different for musicians and non-musicians. We recorded these groups' liking ratings for four levels of harmonic complexity, indexed by their level of acoustic roughness, as well as several measures of inter-individual difference. Results showed that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between harmonic complexity and liking in both musicians and non-musicians, but that the shape of the U is different for the two groups. Non-musicians' U is more left-skewed, with peak liking for low harmonic complexity, while musicians' U is more right-skewed, with highest ratings for medium and low complexity. Furthermore, musicians who showed greater liking for medium compared to low complexity chords reported higher levels of active musical engagement and higher levels of openness to experience. This suggests that a combination of practical musical experience and personality is reflected in musicians' inverted U-shaped preference response to harmonic complexity in chords.

The location of emotional intelligence measured by EQ-i in the personality and cognitive space: Are there gender differences?

Introduction

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is first described by Salovey and Mayer as the ability to perceive and understand emotions and the ability to use them as supports for thoughts. Despite the great notoriety of EI, its definition remains not completely clear. An operative definition of EI can be achieved by studying its connection with other individual characteristics such as gender, personality traits, and fluid intelligence.

Methods

The sample was composed of 1,063 Italian subjects. A total of 330 participants were employed (31.0%; 57.9% men) and 702 were university students (66.0%; 38.7% men). The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i), one of the most used questionnaires in literature, was used to measure EI. The exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) was used to assess the role of personality traits (five-factor model of personality) and fluid intelligence in EI. Statistical analyses on differences between men and women means of total and subscale EQ-i scores were estimated to evaluate whether EI, measured by EQ-i, is influenced by gender. Furthermore, a Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted to assess measurement invariance in relation to gender groups.

Results

Emotional Intelligence, measured by EQ-i, is prevalently connected with personality traits rather than fluid intelligence. Furthermore, men outperformed women in the Intrapersonal and Stress Management EI factors, and women outperformed men in the Interpersonal EI factor. No difference in the means of the EI total score and EI latent general factor did not differ between gender groups.

Conclusion

Emotional Intelligence, measured by EQ-i, can be conceptually considered as a Trait EI. Furthermore, men are more capable to cope with negative events and to control impulses, while women are more able to distinguish, recognize, and comprehend others' emotions.

Supervised Construct Scoring to Reduce Personality Assessment Length: A Field Study and Introduction to the Short 10

Personality assessments help identify qualified job applicants when making hiring decisions and are used broadly in the organizational sciences. However, many existing personality measures are quite lengthy, and companies and researchers frequently seek ways to shorten personality scales. The current research investigated the effectiveness of a new scale-shortening method called supervised construct scoring (SCS), testing the efficacy of this method across two applied samples. Using a combination of machine learning with content validity considerations, we show that multidimensional personality scales can be significantly shortened while maintaining reliability and validity, and especially when compared to traditional shortening methods. In Study 1, we shortened a 100-item personality assessment of DeYoung et al.'s 10 facets, producing a scale 26% the original length. SCS scores exhibited strong evidence of reliability, convergence with full scale scores, and criterion-related validity. This measure, labeled the Short 10, is made freely available. In Study 2, we applied SCS to shorten an operational police personality assessment. By using SCS, we reduced test length to 25% of the original length while maintaining similar levels of reliability and criterion-related validity when predicting job performance ratings.

Investigating the Normativity of Trait Estimates from Multidimensional Forced-Choice Data

The Thurstonian item response model (Thurstonian IRT model) allows deriving normative trait estimates from multidimensional forced-choice (MFC) data. In the MFC format, persons must rank-order items that measure different attributes according to how well the items describe them. This study evaluated the normativity of Thurstonian IRT trait estimates both in a simulation and empirically. The simulation investigated normativity and compared Thurstonian IRT trait estimates to those using classical partially ipsative scoring, from dichotomous true-false (TF) data and rating scale data. The results showed that, with blocks of opposite keyed items, Thurstonian IRT trait estimates were normative in contrast to classical partially ipsative estimates. Unbalanced numbers of items per trait, few opposite keyed items, traits correlated positively or assessing fewer traits did not decrease measurement precision markedly. Measurement precision was lower than that of rating scale data. The empirical study investigated whether relative MFC responses provide a better differentiation of behaviors within persons than absolute TF responses. However, criterion validity was equal and construct validity (with constructs measured by rating scales) lower in MFC. Thus, Thurstonian IRT modeling of MFC data overcomes the drawbacks of classical scoring, but gains in validity may depend on eliminating common method biases from the comparison.

Comparing Phenotypic, Genetic, and Environmental Associations between Personality and Loneliness

As a strong risk factor for mortality, individual differences in loneliness are of clear public health significance. Four of the Big Five traits have emerged as cross-sectional correlates, but the etiology of these links is unclear, as are relations with more specific personality facets. Thus, we estimated phenotypic, genetic, and environmental associations between loneliness and both broader and narrower personality dimensions. Traits that indexed Negative Emotionality (e.g., Neuroticism, Stress Reactivity, Alienation) and low Positive Emotionality (e.g., low Extraversion, low Well-Being) had the strongest associations with loneliness, though low Conscientiousness, low Agreeableness, and high Aggression were also implicated. These associations were explained by both genetic (0.30<|rg|<0.80) and unique environmental (0.10<|re|<0.35) influences, consistent with an etiology of loneliness involving several personality domains.

The next 10 years of behavioural genomic research

Background

The explosion caused by the fusion of quantitative genetics and molecular genetics will transform behavioural genetic research in child and adolescent psychology and psychiatry.

Methods

Although the fallout has not yet settled, the goal of this paper is to predict the next 10 years of research in what could be called behavioural genomics.

Results

I focus on three research directions: the genetic architecture of psychopathology, causal modelling of gene-environment interplay, and the use of DNA as an early warning system.

Conclusion

Eventually, whole-genome sequencing will be available for all newborns, which means that behavioural genomics could potentially be applied ubiquitously in research and clinical practice.

Individual Differences in Judgment and Decision-Making: Novel Predictors of Counterproductive Work Behavior

The current paper proposed individual differences in judgment and decision-making (JDM)-namely, the skill associated with recognizing social norms, decision-making styles, and risk-benefit perceptions-as a novel set of predictors of counterproductive work behavior (CWB). We hypothesized that the skill associated with recognizing social norms, rational decision-making style, and perceived riskiness of unethical behavior would be related negatively to CWB, whereas the avoidant decision-making style, spontaneous decision-making style, and perceived benefits of unethical behavior would be related positively to CWB. Moreover, we hypothesized that JDM-focused individual differences would exhibit incremental validity above and beyond the traditional individual difference predictors of CWB (personality, trait affect, and cognitive ability). Results from three independent samples provided strong support for the hypotheses. The strongest predictor of CWB was individual differences in perceived benefits of unethical behavior (meta-analytic correlation across the three samples = .487). This result suggests a simple insight, yet one almost completely missing from the existing CWB literature: People who believe unethical behavior is likely to benefit them will tend to enact more CWB than those who do not. Additionally, across the three samples, the novel JDM-focused individual difference predictors performed well in comparison to the traditional individual difference predictors, suggesting their usefulness to research and practice. We therefore suggest several avenues for future research on JDM-focused individual differences as predictors of CWB. Additionally, vis-à-vis practical implications, we discuss the possibility of using JDM-focused individual differences in employee selection and organizational intervention contexts with the aim of reducing CWB.

Unraveling the Relation Between Personality and Well-Being in a Genetically Informative Design

In the current study, common and unique genetic and environmental influences on personality and a broad range of well-being measures were investigated. Data on the Big Five, life satisfaction, quality of life, self-rated health, loneliness, and depression from 14,253 twins and their siblings (age M: 31.82, SD: 14.41, range 16–97) from the Netherlands Twin Register were used in multivariate extended twin models. The best-fitting theoretical model indicated that genetic variance in personality and well-being traits can be decomposed into effects due to one general, common factor ( Mdn: 60%, range 15%–89%), due to personality-specific ( Mdn: 2%, range 0%–78%) and well-being-specific ( Mdn: 12%, range 4%–35%) factors, and trait-specific effects ( Mdn: 18%, range 0%–65%). Significant amounts of non-additive genetic influences on the traits’ (co)variances were found, while no evidence was found for quantitative or qualitative sex differences. Taken together, our study paints a fine-grained, complex picture of common and unique genetic and environmental effects on personality and well-being. Implications for the interpretation of shared variance, inflated phenotypic correlations between traits and future gene finding studies are discussed.

General Factor of Personality and Its Relationship with the Dark Triad and Social Intelligence in Slovenian Adolescents

The general factor of personality (GFP) represents the shared variance between personality traits that yield social adjustment and acts as a core personality disposition. In the present study, the existence of GFP in a sample of 249 Slovenian adolescents aged 15–19 years was investigated, and the relationship between GFP, the Dark Triad, and social intelligence was researched. The study used three self-report questionnaires to measure the Big Five, the Dark Triad, and three dimensions of social intelligence. It was found that, in adolescents, GFP exists (although in a somewhat different composition than in previous studies) and is negatively correlated with Machiavellianism and psychopathy and positively correlated with social skills and social awareness. GFP acts as a significant positive predictor of all social intelligence dimensions, and Machiavellianism acts as a significant positive predictor of social information processing and social skills. It can be concluded that GFP and, to a certain extent, perhaps some manipulative tendencies positively predict how an individual functions in society. With these findings, the study contributes to the understanding of the (hierarchical) structure of personality and its association with behavior in social interactions, which is one of the most important developmental tasks in adolescence.

What Makes Learners Overestimate Their Text Comprehension? The Impact of Learner Characteristics on Judgment Bias

It is frequently assumed that learner characteristics (e.g., reading skill, self-perceptions, optimism) account for overestimations of text comprehension, which threaten learning success. However, previous findings are heterogenous. To circumvent a key problem of previous research, we considered cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and personality characteristics of learners (N = 255) simultaneously with regard to their impact on the judgment biases in prediction and postdiction judgments about factual and inference questions. The main results for the factual questions showed that men, lower reading skill, working memory capacity, and topic knowledge, yet higher self-perceptions of cognitive and metacognitive capacities yielded stronger overestimations for prediction judgments. For inference questions, a lower reading skill, higher self-perceptions of metacognitive capacities, and a higher self-efficacy were related to stronger overestimations for prediction and postdiction judgments. A higher openness was a risk factor for stronger overestimations when making predictions for the inference questions. The findings demonstrate that learner characteristics are a relevant source of judgment bias, which should be incorporated explicitly in theories of judgment accuracy. At the same time, fewer learner characteristics were actually relevant than previous research suggests. Moreover, which learner characteristics impact judgment bias also depends on task requirements, such as factual versus inference questions.

Modeling Faking in the Multidimensional Forced-Choice Format: The Faking Mixture Model

The multidimensional forced-choice (MFC) format has been proposed to reduce faking because items within blocks can be matched on desirability. However, the desirability of individual items might not transfer to the item blocks. The aim of this paper is to propose a mixture item response theory model for faking in the MFC format that allows to estimate the fakability of MFC blocks, termed the Faking Mixture model. Given current computing capabilities, within-subject data from both high- and low-stakes contexts are needed to estimate the model. A simulation showed good parameter recovery under various conditions. An empirical validation showed that matching was necessary but not sufficient to create an MFC questionnaire that can reduce faking. The Faking Mixture model can be used to reduce fakability during test construction.

The General Factors of Personality Disorder, Psychopathology, and Personality

There is considerable interest in the study of the general factors of personality disorder (g-PD), psychopathology (p factor), and personality (GFP). One prominent interpretation of the g-PD is that it is defined by the self-interpersonal impairments of Criterion A of the DSM-5 Section III. However, no study has directly tested this hypothesis as no prior g-PD study has included a measure of Criterion A. The current study provides a direct test of this hypothesis, along with comparing g-PD with the general factors of psychopathology and personality. Also extracted was a common general factor across all three domains. Suggested herein is that the g-PD, the p factor, and the GFP reflect the impairments (e.g., social and occupational dysfunction) that are secondary to the traits and disorders rather than the traits and/or disorders themselves.

Put your feet up: The impact of personality traits, job pressure, and social support on the need for recovery after work

The need for recovery after work (NFR) is an important warning of work-related fatigue. NFR is linked to prolonged work-related efforts and depletion of resources, creating a need for temporary respite from work demands. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationships between NFR and the five-factor model (FFM), comprising the personality traits of emotional stability (ES), extraversion (E), agreeableness (A), conscientiousness (C), and openness to experience (O). Perceived job pressure and perceived social support were included as mediators. The study was conducted using structural equation modelling (SEM) on cross-sectional data from a sample of 681 participants from several work sectors (N females = 376, N males = 305; M age = 46.9 years; SD = 11.1). The results showed that NFR was affected both directly and indirectly by FFM traits. High ES and high O contributed directly to reduced and increased NFR, respectively. High perceived social support contributed to reduced NFR, while high perceived job pressure contributed to increased NFR. High ES contributed indirectly to reduced NFR through perceived job pressure and social support, high O contributed indirectly to increased NFR through perceived social support, and high E contributed indirectly to increased NFR through perceived job pressure. A and C were not related to NFR. The findings demonstrate that personality traits, especially ES, are firmly related to NFR and highlight the importance of incorporating personality factors into studies of work environmental factors on NFR.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-02950-1.

Personality traits associate with behavioral problems in pet dogs

Personality traits, especially neuroticism, strongly predict psychopathology. The domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris Linnaeus, 1758) is used as a natural model for psychiatric disorders, but the similarity between dog and human personality and the association between dog personality and unwanted behavioral traits, such as fearfulness, aggressiveness, and impulsivity/inattention, remain unknown. This study utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) with survey data of 11,360 dogs to examine the associations and correlations between seven personality and ten unwanted behavioral traits. Personality traits included insecurity, energy, training focus, aggressiveness/dominance, human sociability, dog sociability, and perseverance. Unwanted behavioral traits included fearfulness, noise sensitivity, fear of surfaces/heights, separation anxiety, barking, stranger-directed aggression, owner-directed aggression, dog-directed aggression, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and inattention. We first fitted confirmatory factor models for the unwanted behavioral traits and the best model grouped unwanted behaviors into four latent traits: fear-related behavior, fear-aggression, aggression, and impulsivity/inattention and used this structure in the subsequent SEM model. Especially, insecurity, which resembles the human neuroticism trait, was strongly associated with unwanted behavior, paralleling the association between neuroticism and psychopathology. Similarly, training focus, resembling conscientiousness, was negatively related to impulsivity/inattention, and aggressiveness/dominance was associated with aggressive behaviors, resembling associations of conscientiousness and agreeableness with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and aggression-related psychopathology, respectively. These results indicate that dog personality traits resemble human personality traits, suggesting that their neurological and genetic basis may also be similar and making the dog a suitable animal model for human behavior and psychiatric disorders.

Resting-State Functional Connectivity Associated With Extraversion and Agreeableness in Adolescence

Although adolescence is a period in which developmental changes occur in brain connectivity, personality formation, and peer interaction, few studies have examined the neural correlates of personality dimensions related to social behavior within adolescent samples. The current study aims to investigate whether adolescents’ brain functional connectivity is associated with extraversion and agreeableness, personality dimensions linked to peer acceptance, social network size, and friendship quality. Considering sex-variant neural maturation in adolescence, we also examined sex-specific associations between personality and functional connectivity. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from a community sample of 70 adolescents aged 12–15, we examined associations between self-reported extraversion and agreeableness and seed-to-whole brain connectivity with the amygdala as a seed region of interest. Then, using 415 brain regions that correspond to 8 major brain networks and subcortex, we explored neural connectivity within brain networks and across the whole-brain. We conducted group-level multiple regression analyses with the regressors of extraversion, agreeableness, and their interactions with sex. Results demonstrated that amygdala connectivity with the postcentral gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and the temporal pole is positively associated with extraversion in girls and negatively associated with extraversion in boys. Agreeableness was positively associated with amygdala connectivity with the middle occipital cortex and superior parietal cortex, in the same direction for boys and girls. Results of the whole-brain connectivity analysis revealed that the connectivity of the postcentral gyrus, located in the dorsal attention network, with regions in default mode network (DMN), salience/ventral attention network, and control network (CON) was associated with extraversion, with most connections showing positive associations in girls and negative associations in boys. For agreeableness, results of the within-network connectivity analysis showed that connections within the limbic network were positively associated with agreeableness in boys while negatively associated with or not associated with agreeableness in girls. Results suggest that intrinsic functional connectivity may contribute to adolescents’ individual differences in extraversion and agreeableness and highlights sex-specific neural connectivity patterns associated with the two personality dimensions. This study deepens our understanding of the neurobiological correlates of adolescent personality that may lead to different developmental trajectories of social experience.

Genetic and Environmental Architecture of Five Factor Model and Super-Factors: An Italian Twin Study

No previous research explored the genetic and environmental structure of Big Five dimensions of personality and higher-order factors in a single twin study, except, in part, for just one study. We used the twin design to estimate the effects of genes and environment on both Five Factor model and related second- and third-order factors (i.e., Alpha [stability], Beta [plasticity], and GFP [general factor of personality]). We analyzed data from 314 adult twins (157 pairs: 83 monozygotic, 74 dizygotic; mean age: 52 years) enrolled in the Italian Twin Register. Participants underwent clinical and instrumental evaluations, and completed a 25-adjective list drawn from the Short Adjectives Checklist to Measure Big Five (SACBIF). We applied quantitative genetic models to unravel the sources of variation and covariation for the Big Five and higher-order factors. We found a similar etiological architecture across the different levels of analysis, with moderate to substantial non-additive genetic and unique environmental influences on all the personality traits, and no shared environmental contribution for any of them. We also detected significant genetic correlations for the Big Five dimensions and the Alpha and Beta super-factors. With some limitations, our results suggest that the etiological architecture of personality may be invariant to the factor level of analysis.

The effect of height on earnings: Is stature just a proxy for cognitive and non-cognitive skills?

While taller workers are regularly observed to earn more, there is debate concerning the independent contribution of stature to labor earnings. This study investigates the degree to which the association of height and earnings in Pakistan is independent of other cognitive and socio-emotional skills. Next, the relationship between height and earnings is explored when measures of cognitive ability and an index of socio-emotional capacity are included separately. The paper finds only a modest attenuation in the contribution of height to earnings after controlling for additional dimensions of human capital, suggesting that height provides independent information on labor productivity. This result is robust to treating height as endogenous. The paper also examines non-linearities in the relationship between height and earnings. In contrast to results from relatively few other contributions to research on this non-linear relationship, height is associated with earnings only when an individual is taller than the median height. This lends some support to the role of status and confidence in the yet unresolved question as to the relative contribution of direct and indirect influence of height on earnings.

The General Factor of Personality as Ego-Resiliency

It was originally hypothesized by Block that what has come to be known as the General Factor of Personality (GFP) reflects ego-resiliency. We test Block's hypothesis in two studies. In Study 1 a meta-analysis (N = 15,609) examining the relationship between the GFP and ego-resiliency/resilience was conducted. In Study 2 (N = 157) archival data from Block and Block was used to examine the association between rater judged ego-resiliency across childhood, adolescence, and into early adulthood and the GFP based on self-report in early adulthood. Using structural equation modeling for the meta-analytic data, the correlation between the GFP and ego-resiliency/resilience was estimated at r = 0.93. Using a trait-state occasion model to test the hypothesis in Study 2, the correlation between the GFP and rated ego-resiliency was estimated at r = 0.85. The results of the two studies offer substantial support for Block's original hypothesis. Given the strength of the associations between the GFP and ego-resiliency/resilience one may conclude that the two constructs largely reflect the same underlying phenomenon.

Overlap between general factors of psychopathology and personality: They share associations with daily life functioning and communication style

Previous studies have shown that specific personality dimensions, -e.g., the Big Five-, consistently intercorrelate, such that they form a general factor of personality (GFP). It has been hypothesized that the GFP reflects social effectiveness. Similarly, in the clinical domain, overlap between various psychopathological symptoms has also been reported, leading to a general factor of Psychopathology, or p factor. The aim of this study was to test the overlap between the higher-order factors in personality and psychopathology, and how they relate to daily life functioning and communication style. We tested a sample of 165 outpatients of a psychological therapy institute, using a multi-source approach that included self-reports and other ratings. The outpatients’ self-reports of personality, general psychological problems, and interpersonal problems were available. Psychotherapists rated the outpatients’ functioning in daily life with the well-known Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. A spouse or friend also rated the impact of the patient’s communication/social behavior. Patients with lower GFP scores and higher scores on general psychopathology, displayed more distress and daily functioning deficits (i.e., lower GAF scores) and, in terms of communication styles, were also rated as being less dominant, less in control socially, and more submissive and aggressive. We proposed that part of the overlap between the general factors (GFP, psychopathology factors) may relate to a lower general life functioning and less social effectiveness.

Does Machiavellianism meaningfully differ from psychopathy? It depends

Machiavellianism is a personality construct characterized by cynicism, callousness, and skillful manipulation of others to achieve personal gains. We review the Machiavellianism literature with a particular focus on its measurement alongside narcissism and psychopathy in the so-called "Dark Triad" (DT). We discuss criticisms of Machiavellianism on the grounds of insufficient construct validity as well as its virtual indistinguishability from psychopathy when assessed by commonly used instruments. As a response to these criticisms, we offer the super-short form of the Five Factor Machiavellianism Inventory (FFMI-SSF) as an alternative. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the FFMI-SSF in relation to psychopathy and basic personality traits (i.e., the Five Factor Model) and to compare it to widely used measures of the DT and psychopathy in a large undergraduate sample (n = 1004).

Do Early Life Experiences Predict Variation in the General Factor of Personality (GFP)?

Objective

The controversial General Factor of Personality (GFP) has been proposed as an indicator of social effectiveness and a slower life history strategy. An alternative hypothesis holds that only meta-trait alpha, comprising agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability, is a slow life history indicator. This study tested whether the GFP and/or alpha emerges from both self- and stranger-ratings, and whether either is predicted by indicators of harsh childhood ecologies.

Methods

U.S. undergraduate participants (N = 366) completed a Big Five instrument, a measure of socially desirable response bias, and brief (thin slice) videotaped interviews. Raters scored the interviews using the same Big Five instrument.

Results

Structural equation modeling of the self-report data yielded a well-fitting GFP, which was positively associated with father closeness. Meta-trait alpha, based on self-report, was associated with both father closeness and neighborhood stress, but showed positive loadings only for agreeableness and emotional stability. Stranger-rating data failed to yield either a well-fitting GFP or metatrait alpha.

Conclusions

Our findings are equivocal regarding the usefulness of the GFP specifically, and higher-order personality factors generally, in evolutionary personality science.

Big Five personality traits and academic performance: A meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE AND METHOD

This meta-analysis reports the most comprehensive assessment to date of the strength of the relationships between the Big Five personality traits and academic performance by synthesizing 267 independent samples (N = 413,074) in 228 unique studies. It also examined the incremental validity of personality traits above and beyond cognitive ability in predicting academic performance.

RESULTS

The combined effect of cognitive ability and personality traits explained 27.8% of the variance in academic performance. Cognitive ability was the most important predictor with a relative importance of 64%. Conscientiousness emerged as a strong and robust predictor of performance, even when controlling for cognitive ability, and accounted for 28% of the explained variance in academic performance. A significant moderating effect of education level was observed. The relationship of academic performance with openness, extraversion, and agreeableness demonstrated significantly larger effect sizes at the elementary/middle school level compared to the subsequent levels. Openness, despite its weak overall relative importance, was found to be an important determinant of student performance in the early years of school.

CONCLUSION

These findings reaffirm the critical role of personality traits in explaining academic performance through the most comprehensive assessment yet of these relationships.

The finer details? The predictability of life outcomes from Big Five domains, facets, and nuances

Associations between personality traits and life outcomes are usually studied using the Big Five domains and, occasionally, their facets. But recent research suggests these associations may be driven by the items (reflecting personality nuances) chosen to measure these traits. Using a large dataset (N = 6126), we examined associations with 53 self-reported outcomes using domains, facets and items (markers for nuances), training and validating models in different sample partitions. Facets better predicted outcomes than domains (on average, 18.0% versus 16.6% of variance explained), but items provided the most accurate predictions (on average 20.9%). Removing domain and facet variance from items had no effect on their predictive validity, suggesting that outcome-related information was often in items' unique variances (i.e., nuance-specific). Item-based prediction also showed the highest discriminant validity. These observations, replicating previous findings, suggest that personality traits' valid associations with outcomes are often driven by narrow personality nuances.

On the Comparability of Basic Personality Models: Meta-Analytic Correspondence, Scope, and Orthogonality of the Big Five and HEXACO Dimensions

Models of basic personality structure are among the most widely used frameworks in psychology and beyond, and they have considerably advanced the understanding of individual differences in a plethora of consequential outcomes. Over the past decades, two such models have become most widely used: the Five Factor Model (FFM) or Big Five, respectively, and the HEXACO Model of Personality. However, there is no large-scale empirical evidence on the general comparability of these models. Here, we provide the first comprehensive meta-analysis on (a) the correspondence of the FFM/Big Five and HEXACO dimensions, (b) the scope of trait content the models cover, and (c) the orthogonality (i.e., degree of independence) of dimensions within the models. Results based on 152 (published and unpublished) samples and 6,828 unique effects showed that the HEXACO dimensions incorporate notable conceptual differences compared to the FFM/Big Five dimensions, resulting in a broader coverage of the personality space and less redundancy between dimensions. Moreover, moderator analyses revealed substantial differences between operationalizations of the FFM/Big Five. Taken together, these findings have important theoretical and practical implications for the understanding of basic personality dimensions and their assessment.

A less evaluative measure of Big Five personality: Comparison of structure and criterion validity

Researchers and practitioners have long been concerned about detrimental effects of socially desirable responding on the structure and criterion validity of personality assessments. The current research examined the effect of reducing evaluative item content of a Big Five personality assessment on test structure and criterion validity. We developed a new public domain measure of the Big Five called the Less Evaluative Five Factor Inventory (LEFFI), adapted from the standard 50-item IPIP NEO, and intended to be less evaluative. Participants ( n = 3164) then completed standard (IPIP) and neutralized (LEFFI) measures of personality. Criteria were also collected, including academic grades, age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, protesting, religious worship, music preferences, dental hygiene, blood donation, other-rated communication styles, other-rated HEXACO personality, and cognitive ability (ICAR). Evaluativeness of items was reduced in the neutralized measure. Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability were maintained. Correlations between the Big Five were reduced in the neutralized measure and criterion validity was similar or slightly reduced in the neutralized measure. The large sample size and use of objective criteria extend past research. The study also contributes to debates about whether the general factor of personality and agreement with socially desirable content reflect substance or bias.

Extracting Agency and Communion From the Big Five: A Four-Way Competition

Agency and communion are the two fundamental content dimensions in psychology. The two dimensions figure prominently in many psychological realms (personality, social, self, motivational, cross-cultural, etc.). In contemporary research, however, personality is most commonly measured within the Big Five framework. We developed novel agency and communion scales based on the items from the most popular nonpropriety measure of the Big Five-the Big Five Inventory. We compared four alternative scale-construction methods: expert rating, target scale, ant colony, and brute force. Across three samples (N_total = 942), all methods yielded reliable and valid agency and communion scales. Our research provides two main contributions. For psychometric theory, it extends knowledge on the four scale-construction methods and their relative convergence. For psychometric practice, it enables researchers to examine agency and communion hypotheses with extant Big Five Inventory data sets, including those collected in their own labs as well as openly accessible, large-scale data sets.

Virtue Theory for Moral Enhancement

Our present moral traits are unable to provide the level of large-scale co-operation necessary to deal with risks such as nuclear proliferation, drastic climate change and pandemics. In order to survive in an environment with powerful and easily available technologies, some authors claim that we need to improve our moral traits with moral enhancement. But this is prone to produce paradoxical effects, be self-reinforcing and harm personal identity. The risks of moral enhancement require the use of a safety framework; such a framework should guarantee practical robustness to moral uncertainty, empirical adequacy, correct balance between dispositions, preservation of identity, and be sensitive to practical considerations such as emergent social effects. A virtue theory can meet all these desiderata. Possible frameworks incorporate them to variable degrees. The social value orientations framework is one of the most promising candidates.