Toward a periodic table of personality: Mapping personality scales between the five-factor model and the circumplex model

Daily Work Role Stressors and Dark Triad States

Abstract. Organizational research on the dark triad has, so far, focused on individual differences in employees’ stable tendencies to act in manipulative, grandiose, or callous ways (i.e., dark triad traits). Research on momentary expressions of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy (i.e., dark triad states) and the work situations that may trigger them is still in its infancy. Based on the conservation of resources theory, we hypothesized that daily role ambiguity and role conflict deplete employees’ daily self-control resources which, in turn, is related to the daily expression of dark triad states. To test our hypotheses, we conducted two daily diary studies across 5 and 10 workdays. Consistent with expectations, on days when employees experienced more role conflict than usual, they were more likely to express their darker side of personality. In contrast, hypotheses about the detrimental effects of daily role ambiguity and the mediating role of daily self-control depletion were not supported.

Locating the Dark Triad in a Multidimensional Personality Space

The Dark Triad traits of Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and Narcissism should be clearly recognizable within a multidimensional personality space. Two such personality spaces were investigated in this study: HEXACO (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience); and the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire (ZKA-PQ) space (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Activity, Sensation Seeking, and Aggressiveness). Our sample comprised 289 participants (137 males, 145 females, 7 unspecified) who completed these three questionnaires: HEXACO-60, ZKA-PQ/SF, and the SD3, assessing the Dark Triad. We reduced the dimensionality of each space to that of a 2D representation using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). Three research questions guided the data analysis: (a) Do the HEXACO and ZKA-PQ SSA spaces conform to the structure of a radex? (b) Will these spaces remain invariant following the entry of the Dark Triad traits into the analyses? (c) Where will the Dark Triad traits be located in each SSA space? For ZKA-PQ space, the structure was clearly indicative of a radex, both prior to entering the Dark Triad traits into the analysis, and subsequent to this. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism were in close proximity in the Aggressiveness region; Narcissism was positioned at the common origin. In contrast, HEXACO space did not conform to a radex; furthermore, the presence of the Dark Triad traits distorts this 2D SSA space.

Agreeableness and Its Consequences: A Quantitative Review of Meta-Analytic Findings

Agreeableness impacts people and real-world outcomes. In the most comprehensive quantitative review to date, we summarize results from 142 meta-analyses reporting effects for 275 variables, which represent N > 1.9 million participants from k > 3,900 studies. Arranging variables by their content and type, we use an organizational framework of 16 conceptual categories that presents a detailed account of Agreeableness’ external relations. Overall, the trait has effects in a desirable direction for 93% of variables (grand mean [Formula: see text]). We also review lower order trait evidence for 42 variables from 20 meta-analyses. Using these empirical findings, in tandem with existing theory, we synthesize eight general themes that describe Agreeableness’ characteristic functioning across variables: self-transcendence, contentment, relational investment, teamworking, work investment, lower results emphasis, social norm orientation, and social integration. We conclude by discussing potential boundary conditions of findings, contributions and limitations of our review, and future research directions.

A facet atlas: Visualizing networks that describe the blends, cores, and peripheries of personality structure

We created a facet atlas that maps the interrelations between facet scales from 13 hierarchical personality inventories to provide a practically useful, transtheoretical description of lower-level personality traits. We generated this atlas by estimating a series of network models that visualize the correlations among 268 facet scales administered to the Eugene-Springfield Community Sample (Ns = 571-948). As expected, most facets contained a blend of content from multiple Big Five domains and were part of multiple Big Five networks. We identified core and peripheral facets for each Big Five domain. Results from this study resolve some inconsistencies in facet placement across instruments and highlight the complexity of personality structure relative to the constraints of traditional hierarchical models that impose simple structure. This facet atlas (also available as an online point-and-click app at tedschwaba.shinyapps.io/appdata/) provides a guide for researchers who wish to measure a domain with a limited set of facets as well as information about the core and periphery of each personality domain. To illustrate the value of a facet atlas in applied and theoretical settings, we examined the network structure of scales measuring impulsivity and tested structural hypotheses from the Big Five Aspect Scales inventory.

Effective interim leadership and management: development of a cyclical model of interim assignments

Purpose

This paper reviews literature on interim leadership and management through the lens of effective interim performance. The purpose of this review is to advance understanding of interim assignment performance and the antecedent individual psychological characteristics of effective interim leaders and managers, to improve the practice of managing interim leaders from a human resources (HR) perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reports a targeted review of the literature on interim leadership and management.

Findings

The main proposition from this review is that the influence of individual factors on interim performance operates within the stages and contexts of assignments. Accordingly, the authors propose a framework of the demands on interim assignments (the interim assignment cycle), comprising stages of preparation, entry, delivery and exit. The paper subsequently reviews evidence of the potential individual characteristics (focussing on individual differences in personality, leadership approach, motivation and competencies) of effective preparation and entry to an assignment, actions and performance during an assignment and exit/disengagement.

Practical implications

The findings of the review have implications for the selection and placement of interims into organizations and their management once appointed.

Originality/value

The main original contribution of the paper is to provide a framework around which interim assignments can be modelled and better understood. The paper discusses implications for future research, theory and human resource management practice and calls for a renewed research effort in this critical area of management and leadership.

My Mind is Working Overtime-Towards an Integrative Perspective of Psychological Detachment, Work-Related Rumination, and Work Reflection

In the literature on occupational stress and recovery from work, several facets of thinking about work during off-job time have been conceptualized. However, research on the focal concepts is currently rather diffuse. In this study we take a closer look at the five most well-established concepts: (1) psychological detachment, (2) affective rumination, (3) problem-solving pondering, (4) positive work reflection, and (5) negative work reflection. More specifically, we scrutinized (1) whether the five facets of work-related rumination are empirically distinct, (2) whether they yield differential associations with different facets of employee well-being (burnout, work engagement, thriving, satisfaction with life, and flourishing), and (3) to what extent the five facets can be distinguished from and relate to conceptually similar constructs, such as irritation, worry, and neuroticism. We applied structural equation modeling techniques to cross-sectional survey data from 474 employees. Our results provide evidence for (1) five correlated, yet empirically distinct facets of work-related rumination. (2) Each facet yields a unique pattern of association with the eight aspects of employee well-being. For instance, detachment is strongly linked to satisfaction with life and flourishing. Affective rumination is linked particularly to burnout. Problem-solving pondering and positive work reflection yield the strongest links to work engagement. (3) The five facets of work-related rumination are distinct from related concepts, although there is a high overlap between (lower levels of) psychological detachment and cognitive irritation. Our study contributes to clarifying the structure of work-related rumination and extends the nomological network around different types of thinking about work during off-job time and employee well-being.

Personality and Intelligence

Abstract. In this study, we examine the associations of the scales of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI; a measure of personality traits) with intelligence measured by four cognitive ability tests, completed by a sample of 4,876 working adults. We framed our analyses of the correlations around the investment perspective on the personality-intelligence relationship that proposes traits are associated with investment in intellectual activity, which develops cognitive abilities over time. In particular, we report associations between investment-related scales (Intellectual Efficiency, Flexibility, Achievement via Independence, Psychological-mindedness, and Tolerance) and a higher-order personality factor (Originality) of the CPI with intelligence measured at broad and narrow levels of abstraction. We found positive associations between investment-related scales, and Originality with observed ability test scores and factor g extracted from test scores. We found positive associations of traits with unique variance in verbal ability measures, but negative with measures of quantitative and visuospatial abilities. Our study extends the literature on investment theories of intelligence-personality relations, is the first study to examine the associations of multiple scales of the CPI with intelligence measures, and adds much needed data to the literature from a working adult sample.

Unrestricted factor analysis of multidimensional test items based on an objectively refined target matrix

A common difficulty in the factor analysis of items designed to measure psychological constructs is that the factor structures obtained using exploratory factor analysis tend to be rejected if they are tested statistically with a confirmatory factor model. An alternative to confirmatory factor analysis is unrestricted factor analysis based on Procrustes rotation, which minimizes the distance from a target matrix proposed by the researcher. In the present article, we focus on the situation in which researchers propose a partially specified target matrix but are prepared to allow their initial target to be refined. Here we discuss RETAM as a new procedure for objectively refining target matrices. To date, it has been recommended that this kind of refinement be guided by human judgment. However, our approach is objective, because the threshold value is computed automatically (not decided on by the researcher) and there is no need to manually compute a number of factor rotations every time. The new procedure was tested in an extensive simulation study, and the results suggest that it may be a useful procedure in factor analysis applications based on incomplete measurement theory. Its feasibility in practice is illustrated with an empirical example from the personality domain. Finally, RETAM is implemented in a well-known noncommercial program for performing unrestricted factor analysis.

Development of a Short Form of the Abridged Big Five-Dimensional Circumplex Model to Aid with the Organization of Personality Traits

Although there has been widespread consensus on the use of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of general personality functioning in personality research, there are various, diverse models of the lower order traits of the FFM domains. Given the usefulness of these finer grained traits, it is imperative to integrate facets proposed across a variety of models and eventually reach consensus on the lower level traits of the FFM. Due to its depth and coverage, the Abridged Big Five-Dimensional Circumplex (AB5C) model potentially provides a useful framework for organizing various faceted models due to its conceptual organization and inclusiveness. The only measure of this model-the IPIP-AB5C-has shown promise, but is limited by its length (i.e., 485 items). This study developed an abbreviated version of the IPIP-AB5C using an iterative process including item response theory methods. The shorter version maintained key features of the long form including a factor structure that matched the full form as well as facets that correlated in expected ways with other FFM measures. Building on this support, the short form was used to contextualize and organize the facets from 2 commonly used measures.

A classification scheme for literary characters

There is no established classification scheme for literary characters in narrative theory short of generic categories like protagonist vs. antagonist or round vs. flat. This is so despite the ubiquity of stock characters that recur across media, cultures, and historical time periods. We present here a proposal of a systematic psychological scheme for classifying characters from the literary and dramatic fields based on a modification of the Thomas-Kilmann (TK) Conflict Mode Instrument used in applied studies of personality. The TK scheme classifies personality along the two orthogonal dimensions of assertiveness and cooperativeness. To examine the validity of a modified version of this scheme, we had 142 participants provide personality ratings for 40 characters using two of the Big Five personality traits as well as assertiveness and cooperativeness from the TK scheme. The results showed that assertiveness and cooperativeness were orthogonal dimensions, thereby supporting the validity of using a modified version of TK’s two-dimensional scheme for classifying characters.

Personality and occupational specialty

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the role of personality in occupational specialty choice, to better understand how and in what ways personality traits might influence vocational development after a person has chosen a career.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study tested hypotheses in a sample of UK medical students, each of whom had chosen their specialty pathway, and completed a measure of the Big Five personality traits. Associations of the junior doctor’s Big Five personality traits with the Holland’s realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, conventional (RIASEC) profiles of their medical specialty selections (derived from the O*NET database) were examined.

Findings

– Findings provided good support for the hypotheses. Junior doctors’ agreeableness (with social) and neuroticism (with realistic, artistic and enterprising) were the main predictors of the RIASEC profiles of their specialty selections.

Research limitations/implications

– The findings suggest that personality traits influence specialty selection in predictable ways, and differently compared to occupational choice. The paper discusses findings within a theoretical framework that explains how and why trait influences on within occupational specialty selection differ from influences on occupational interest and choice more broadly. The potential mechanisms underlying these associations are explored in the context of motivational aspects of agreeableness and neuroticism.

Practical implications

– Within-occupation specialties should feature in career guidance discussions and interventions more explicitly to enable people to decide whether occupational specialties are available that appeal to their individual differences.

Originality/value

– This is the first study to examine the relations of personality and occupational specialty through the lens of the RIASEC model, and the first to propose cross-occupation theoretical pathways from personality to specialty choice. The data from the field of medicine enable us to test the propositions in a suitably diverse set of occupational specialties.