The Effect of Response Style on Self-Reported Conscientiousness Across 20 Countries

Though Forced, Still Valid: Examining the Psychometric Performance of Forced-Choice Measurement of Personality in Children and Adolescents

Unveiling the roles personality plays during childhood and adolescence necessitates its accurate measurement, commonly using traditional Likert-type (LK) scales. However, this format is susceptible to various response biases, which can be particularly prevalent in children and adolescents, thus likely undermining measurement accuracy. Forced-choice (FC) scales appear to be a promising alternative because they are largely free from these biases by design. However, some argue that the FC format may not perform satisfactorily in children and adolescents due to its complexity. Little empirical evidence exists regarding the suitability of the FC format for children and adolescents. As such, the current study examined the psychometric performance of an FC measure of the Big Five personality factors in three children and adolescent samples: 5th to 6th graders (N = 428), 7th to 8th graders (N = 449), and 10th to 11th graders (N = 555). Across the three age groups, the FC scale demonstrated a better fit to the Big Five model and better discriminant validity in comparison to the LK counterpart. Personality scores from the FC scale also converged well with those from the LK scale and demonstrated high reliability as well as sizable criterion-related validity. Furthermore, the FC scale had more invariant statements than its LK counterpart across age groups. Overall, we found good evidence showing that FC measurement of personality is suitable for children and adolescents.

Experience and Reporting of Postnatal Depression Across Cultures: A Comparison Using Anchoring Vignettes of Mothers in the United Kingdom and India

Postnatal mental health is often assessed using self-assessment questionnaires in epidemiologic research. Differences in response style, influenced by language, culture, and experience, may mean that the same response may not have the same meaning in different settings. These differences need to be identified and accounted for in cross-cultural comparisons. Here we describe the development and application of anchoring vignettes to investigate the cross-cultural functioning of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in urban community samples in India (n = 549) and the United Kingdom (n = 828), alongside a UK calibration sample (n = 226). Participants completed the EPDS and anchoring vignettes when their children were 12-24 months old. In an unadjusted item-response theory model, UK mothers reported higher depressive symptoms than Indian mothers (d = 0.48, 95% confidence interval: 0.358, 0.599). Following adjustment for differences in response style, these positions were reversed (d = -0.25, 95% confidence interval: -0.391, -0.103). Response styles vary between India and the United Kingdom, indicating a need to take these differences into account when making cross-cultural comparisons. Anchoring vignettes offer a valid and feasible method for global data harmonization.

Peer relationships mediate the pathways from behavioral qualities to United States and Chinese children's loneliness

Loneliness is a perceived deficit in social relationships that is nested within broader cultural meaning systems. This longitudinal study examined predictors of loneliness in Chinese and U.S. children with the hypothesis that peer relationship parameters (number of friends, social preference, and popularity) mediate the associations between behavior qualities and loneliness differently across countries. Fifth-grade Chinese (n = 576, Mage  = 10.58 years) and U.S. (White, Black, Asian, n = 540; Mage  = 10.23 years) children completed two waves of assessment within an academic year. Shyness and athletic competence more strongly predicted loneliness for U.S. children, and academic ability, and aggression more strongly predicted loneliness for Chinese children. Popularity was a mediator for U.S. children but not Chinese children.

Ensuring cross-cultural data comparability by means of anchoring vignettes in heterogeneous refugee samples

BACKGROUND

Configural, metric, and scalar measurement invariance have been indicators of bias-free statistical cross-group comparisons, although they are difficult to verify in the data. Low comparability of translated questionnaires or the different understanding of response formats by respondents might lead to rejection of measurement invariance and point to comparability bias in multi-language surveys. Anchoring vignettes have been proposed as a method to control for the different understanding of response categories by respondents (the latter is referred to as differential item functioning related to response categories or rating scales: RC-DIF). We evaluate the question whether the cross-cultural comparability of data can be assured by means of anchoring vignettes or by considering socio-demographic heterogeneity as an alternative approach.

METHODS

We used the Health System Responsiveness (HSR) questionnaire and collected survey data in English (n = 183) and Arabic (n = 121) in a random sample of refugees in the third largest German federal state. We conducted multiple-group Confirmatory Factor Analyses (MGCFA) to analyse measurement invariance and compared the results when 1) using rescaled data on the basis of anchoring vignettes (non-parametric approach), 2) including information on RC-DIF from the analyses with anchoring vignettes as covariates (parametric approach) and 3) including socio-demographic covariates.

RESULTS

For the HSR, every level of measurement invariance between the Arabic and English languages was rejected. Implementing rescaling or modelling on the basis of anchoring vignettes provided superior results over the initial MGCFA analysis, since configural, metric and - for ordered categorical analyses-scalar invariance could not be rejected. A consideration of socio-demographic variables did not show such an improvement.

CONCLUSIONS

Surveys may consider anchoring vignettes as a method to assess cross-cultural comparability of data, whereas socio-demographic variables cannot be used to improve data comparability as a standalone method. More research on the efficient implementation of anchoring vignettes and further development of methods to incorporate them when modelling measurement invariance is needed.

Conceptual and methodological issues in the study of the personality-and-culture relationship

Culture-and-personality studies were central to social science in the early 20th century and have recently been revived (as personality-and-culture studies) by trait and cross-cultural psychologists. In this article we comment on conceptual issues, including the nature of traits and the nature of the personality-and-culture relationship, and we describe methodological challenges in understanding associations between features of culture and aspects of personality. We give an overview of research hypothesizing the shaping of personality traits by culture, reviewing studies of indigenous traits, acculturation and sojourner effects, birth cohorts, social role changes, and ideological interventions. We also consider the possibility that aggregate traits affect culture, through psychological means and gene flow. In all these cases we highlight alternative explanations and the need for designs and analyses that strengthen the interpretation of observations. We offer a set of testable hypotheses based on the premises that personality is adequately described by Five-Factor Theory, and that observed differences in aggregate personality traits across cultures are veridical. It is clear that culture has dramatic effects on the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors from which we infer traits, but it is not yet clear whether, how, and in what degree culture shapes traits themselves.

Awe in the workplace promotes prosocial behavior

In the existing literature on awe, many research findings indicate the positive impact of awe on prosocial behavior. However, very few studies have examined awe in organizational contexts, and researchers have neglected to investigate the effect of awe induced by workplace elicitors. In a between-subject experimental study (N = 264), we introduced awe elicited by work factors, and examined its effect on prosocial intention and behavior (as compared with the neutral emotion condition and pleasantness condition). The results showed significant differences between prosocial intention and prosocial behavior in the three conditions. Importantly, awe evoked by workplace elicitors has a significant positive effect on prosocial behavior, and prosocial intention mediates this relationship. This study is among the first to examine the impact of awe induced by workplace elicitors, the results of which suggest that managers should consider creating workplaces that inspire awe.

Personality traits and academic performance: Correcting self-assessed traits with vignettes

In this study, we investigate whether Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability and Risk Preference relate to student performance in higher education. We employ anchoring vignettes to correct for heterogeneous scale use in these non-cognitive skills. Our data are gathered among first-year students at a Dutch university. The results show that Conscientiousness is positively related to student performance, but the estimates are strongly biased upward if we use the uncorrected variables. We do not find significant relationships for Emotional Stability but find that the point estimates are larger when using the uncorrected variables. Measured Risk Preference is negatively related to student performance, yet this is fully explained by heterogeneous scale use. These results indicate the importance of using more objective measurements of personality traits.

The role of personality traits and online academic self-efficacy in acceptance, actual use and achievement in Moodle

Informed by the educational conditions shaped by the novel coronavirus pandemic and an increased reliance upon online learning solutions and technologies, this article examines the role of personality traits and online academic self-efficacy in acceptance, actual use and achievement in Moodle on a socially distanced asynchronous university course in Japan. With a sample of 149 students the study adopts SEM path-analysis model testing procedures and shows that agreeableness and conscientious have positive direct effects on online academic self-efficacy in addition to positive indirect effects on the acceptance of Moodle. Moreover agreeableness and conscientious had an indirect effect on course achievement while none of the five-factor model personality traits had an influence on actual Moodle use. An improved respecified model further affirmed the importance of agreeableness and conscientious and their role in online academic self-efficacy, the acceptance and actual use of Moodle and course achievement outcomes. Fourteen percent of the observed variance in course achievement was explainable through the respecified model. The discussion highlights the implications to be drawn from the data in relation to the current educational landscape from the perspective of the educator.

Validity of Three IRT Models for Measuring and Controlling Extreme and Midpoint Response Styles

Response styles, the general tendency to use certain categories of rating scales over others, are a threat to the reliability and validity of self-report measures. The mixed partial credit model, the multidimensional nominal response model, and the item response tree model are three widely used models for measuring extreme and midpoint response styles and correcting their effects. This research aimed to examine and compare their validity by fitting them to empirical data and correlating the content-related factors and the response style-related factors in these models to extraneous criteria. The results showed that the content factors yielded by these models were moderately related to the content criterion and not related to the response style criteria. The response style factors were moderately related to the response style criteria and weakly related to the content criterion. Simultaneous analysis of more than one scale could improve their validity for measuring response styles. These findings indicate that the three models could control and measure extreme and midpoint response styles, though the validity of the mPCM for measuring response styles was not good in some cases. Overall, the multidimensional nominal response model performed slightly better than the other two models.

Cross-Cultural Variations in Extreme Rejecting and Extreme Affirming Response Styles

Previous research has discussed cultural differences in moderacy vs extremity response styles. The present research found that cultural differences in response styles were more complex than previously speculated. We investigated cross-cultural variations in extreme rejecting versus affirming response biases. Although research has indicated that overall Chinese have less extreme responses than Westerners, the difference may be mainly driven by extreme rejecting responses because respondents consider answering survey questions as a way of interacting with researchers, and extreme rejecting responses may disrupt harmony in relationships, which is valued more in Chinese collectivistic culture than in Western individualistic cultures. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that Chinese had less extreme rejecting response style than did British, whereas they did not differ in extreme affirming response style. Study 2 further revealed that the cross-cultural asymmetry in extreme rejecting versus affirming response styles was partially accounted for by individualism orientation at the individual level. Consistently, Study 3 revealed that at the country level, individualism was positively associated with extreme rejecting response style, but was not associated with extreme affirming response style, suggesting that individualism accounted for the asymmetric cultural variation in extreme rejecting versus affirming response styles.

Modeling Response Style Using Vignettes and Person-Specific Item Response Theory

Responses to survey data are determined not only by item characteristics and respondents' trait standings but also by response styles. Recently, methods for modeling response style with personality and attitudinal data have turned toward the use of anchoring vignettes, which provide fixed rating targets. Although existing research is promising, a few outstanding questions remain. First, it is not known how many vignettes and vignette ratings are necessary to identify response style parameters. Second, the comparative accuracy of these models is largely unexplored. Third, it remains unclear whether correcting for response style improves criterion validity. Both simulated data and data observed from a population-representative sample responding to a measure of personality pathology (the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 [PID-5]) were modeled using an array of response style models. In simulations, most models estimating response styles outperformed the graded response model (GRM), and in observed data, all response style models were superior to the GRM. Correcting for response style had a small, but in some cases significant, effect on the prediction of self-reported social dysfunction.

The Effects of Vignette Scoring on Reliability and Validity of Self-Reports

The research presented in this article combines mathematical derivations and empirical results to investigate effects of the nonparametric anchoring vignette approach proposed by King, Murray, Salomon, and Tandon on the reliability and validity of rating data. The anchoring vignette approach aims to correct rating data for response styles to improve comparability across individuals and groups. Vignettes are used to adjust self-assessment responses on the respondent level but entail significant assumptions: They are supposed to be invariant across respondents, and the responses to vignette prompts are supposed to be without error and strictly ordered. This article shows that these assumptions are not always met and that the anchoring vignette approach leads to higher Cronbach's alpha values and increased correlations among adjusted variables regardless of whether the assumptions of the approach are met or violated. Results suggest that the underlying assumptions and effects of the anchoring vignette approach should be carefully examined as the increased correlations and reliability estimates can be observed even for response variables that are independent random draws and uncorrelated with any other variable.

Revealed Traits: A Novel Method for Estimating Cross-Cultural Similarities and Differences in Personality

Cross-cultural research on personality has often led to surprising and countertheoretical findings, which have led to concerns over the validity of country-level estimates of personality (e.g., Heine, Buchtel, & Norenzayan, 2008). The present study explores how cross-cultural differences can be indexed via revealed trait estimates, which index the personality traits of individuals or groups indirectly through their likelihood of responding in particular ways to particular situations. In two studies, we measure self-reports of personality, revealed traits, and revealed preferences for different expected effects (e.g., experiencing excitement) of two cultural groups (U.S. and Singaporean participants). We found typical East–West differences in personality using self-report scales, such as lower levels of Conscientiousness- and Extraversion-related characteristics among Singaporean participants relative to U.S. participants. We found evidence of scale use extremity differences in self-report personality scales but not in revealed trait estimates. Using revealed traits, we found evidence of strikingly high levels of similarity in terms of overall action endorsement, revealed trait estimates, and revealed preferences. However, this was qualified by consistent differences in revealed trait estimates of Extraversion-related characteristics and less consistent differences in revealed trait estimates of Conscientiousness-related characteristics. We also found consistent differences in preferences for different expected effects; for example, Singaporean participants reported lower likelihood of performing actions expected to result in experiencing stimulation or excitement than U.S. participants. Results suggest that similarities in action endorsements and revealed traits may be driven by common preferences for social inclusion and benevolence, and differences may be driven by differing preferences for expending effort, experiencing stimulation, and social attention.

Using Anchoring Vignettes to Adjust Self-Reported Personality: A Comparison Between Countries

Data from self-report tools cannot be readily compared between cultures due to culturally specific ways of using a response scale. As such, anchoring vignettes have been proposed as a suitable methodology for correcting against this difference. We developed anchoring vignettes for the Big Five Inventory-44 (BFI-44) to supplement its Likert-type response options. Based on two samples (Rwanda: n = 423; Philippines: n = 143), we evaluated the psychometric properties of the measure both before and after applying the anchoring vignette adjustment. Results show that adjusted scores had better measurement properties, including improved reliability and a more orthogonal correlational structure, relative to scores based on the original Likert scale. Correlations of the Big Five Personality Factors with life satisfaction were essentially unchanged after the vignette-adjustment while correlations with counterproductive were noticeably lower. Overall, these changed findings suggest that the use of anchoring vignette methodology improves the cross-cultural comparability of self-reported personality, a finding of potential interest to the field of global workforce research and development as well as educational policymakers.

Translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the Diabetes Attitudes Scale - third version into Brazilian Portuguese

OBJECTIVE

to perform the translation, adaptation and validation of the Diabetes Attitudes Scale - third version instrument into Brazilian Portuguese.

METHODS

methodological study carried out in six stages: initial translation, synthesis of the initial translation, back-translation, evaluation of the translated version by the Committee of Judges (27 Linguists and 29 health professionals), pre-test and validation. The pre-test and validation (test-retest) steps included 22 and 120 health professionals, respectively. The Content Validity Index, the analyses of internal consistency and reproducibility were performed using the R statistical program.

RESULTS

in the content validation, the instrument presented good acceptance among the Judges with a mean Content Validity Index of 0.94. The scale presented acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.60), while the correlation of the total score at the test and retest moments was considered high (Polychoric Correlation Coefficient = 0.86). The Intra-class Correlation Coefficient, for the total score, presented a value of 0.65.

CONCLUSION

the Brazilian version of the instrument (Escala de Atitudes dos Profissionais em relação ao Diabetes Mellitus) was considered valid and reliable for application by health professionals in Brazil.

Perceptual Sensitivity and Response to Strong Stimuli Are Related

To shed new light on the long-standing debate about the (in)dependence of sensitivity to weak stimuli and overreactivity to strong stimuli, we examined the relation between these tendencies within the neurobehavioral framework of the Predictive and Reactive Control Systems (PARCS) theory (Tops et al., 2010, 2014). Whereas previous studies only considered overreactivity in terms of the individual tendency to experience unpleasant affect (punishment reactivity) resulting from strong sensory stimulation, we also took the individual tendency to experience pleasant affect (reward reactivity) resulting from strong sensory stimulation into account. According to PARCS theory, these temperamental tendencies overlap in terms of high reactivity toward stimulation, but oppose each other in terms of the response orientation (approach or avoid). PARCS theory predicts that both types of reactivity to strong stimuli relate to sensitivity to weak stimuli, but that these relationships are suppressed due to the opposing relationship between reward and punishment reactivity. We measured punishment and reward reactivity to strong stimuli and sensitivity to weak stimuli using scales from the Adult Temperament Questionnaire (Evans and Rothbart, 2007). Sensitivity was also measured more objectively using the masked auditory threshold. We found that sensitivity to weak stimuli (both self-reported and objectively assessed) was positively associated with self-reported punishment and reward reactivity to strong stimuli, but only when these reactivity measures were controlled for each other, implicating a mutual suppression effect. These results are in line with PARCS theory and suggest that sensitivity to weak stimuli and overreactivity are dependent, but this dependency is likely to be obscured if punishment and reward reactivity are not both taken into account.

Mean Profiles of the NEO Personality Inventory

The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and its latest version, the NEO-PI-3, were designed to measure 30 distinctive personality traits, which are grouped into Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness domains. The mean self-rated NEO-PI-R scores for 30 subscales have been reported for 36 countries or cultures in 2002. As a follow-up, this study reports the mean scores of the NEO-PI-R/3 for 71,870 participants from 76 samples and 62 different countries or cultures and 37 different languages. Mean differences in personality traits across countries and cultures were about 8.5 times smaller than differences between any two individuals randomly selected from these samples. Nevertheless, a multidimensional scaling of similarities and differences in the mean profile shape showed a clear clustering into distinctive groups of countries or cultures. This study provides further evidence that country/culture mean scores in personality are replicable and can provide reliable information about personality dispositions.

Effects of Anchoring Vignettes on Comparability and Predictive Validity of Student Self-Reports in 64 Cultures

Anchoring vignettes are item batteries especially designed for correcting responses that might be affected by incomparability. This article investigates the effects of anchoring vignettes on the validity of student self-report data in 64 cultures. Using secondary data analysis from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), we checked the validity of ratings on vignette questions, and investigated how rescaled item responses of two student scales, Teacher Support and Classroom Management, enhanced comparability and predictive validity. The main findings include that (a) responses to vignette questions represent valid individual and cultural differences; in particular, violations in these responses (i.e., misorderings) are related to low socioeconomic status and low cognitive sophistication; (b) the rescaled responses tend to show higher levels of comparability; and (c) the associations of rescaled Teacher Support and Classroom Management with math achievement, Student-Oriented Instruction, and Teacher-Directed Instruction are slightly different from raw scores of the two target constructs, and the associations with rescaled scores seem to be more in line with the literature. Namely, the associations among all self-report Likert-type scales are weaker with rescaled scores, presumably reducing common method variance, and both rescaled scale scores are more positively related to math achievement. The country ranking also changes substantially; in particular, Asian cultures top the ranking on Teacher Support after rescaling. However, anchoring vignettes are not a cure-all in solving measurement bias in cross-cultural surveys; we discuss the technicality and directions for further research on this technique.

Development and Validation of the Chinese Triarchic Psychopathy Measure

The nature of psychopathy is not well understood in East Asian cultures, partially due to a lack of an established measurement of this important construct. This study developed and validated a Chinese-language version of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) based on Patrick et al.'s (2009) triarchic model of psychopathy. Study 1 described the translation of the Chinese TriPM and demonstrated that the Chinese version of the TriPM is equivalent to the original English version in linguistic meaning. Study 2 examined the construct validity of the Chinese TriPM in a Chinese student sample. The TriPM evinced acceptable reliability and promising validity. Moreover, cross-cultural equivalence was examined by relative associations for the TriPM with the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale across the Chinese sample and a comparable United States student sample. Results revealed that the test bias in the strength of associations, regression intercepts, and slopes was mostly absent across the two samples.

Subjective cognitive impairment of older adults: a comparison between the US and China

Subjective assessment may be incomparable across countries due to differences in reporting styles. Based on two nationally representative surveys from the US and China, this study used data from three anchoring vignettes to estimate to what extent the US and Chinese older adults aged 50 and above differed in their reporting styles of subjective cognitive impairment. Cross country differences of subjective cognitive impairment were then estimated, both before and after adjusting for reporting heterogeneity. Directly assessed word recall test scores were analyzed to evaluate whether findings based on subjective cognitive impairment was consistent with objective performance. The results revealed a discrepancy between self-reported subjective cognitive impairment and directly assessed memory function among older adults: while Chinese respondents reported lower severity levels of subjective cognitive impairment, the US respondents demonstrated better performance in immediate word recall tests. By accounting for differences in reporting styles using anchoring vignettes data, Chinese older adults showed higher levels of subjective cognitive impairment than the US older adults, which was consistent with results from direct assessment of memory function. Non-negligible differences are present in reporting styles of subjective cognitive impairment. Cross country comparison needs to take into account such reporting heterogeneity.

Age Differences in the Variance of Personality Characteristics

In contrast to mean–level comparisons, age group differences in personality trait variance have received only passing research interest. This may seem surprising because individual differences in personality characteristics are exactly what most of personality psychology is about. Because different proposed mechanisms of personality development may entail either increases or decreases in variance over time, the current study is exploratory in nature. Age differences in variance were tested by comparing the standard deviations of the five–factor model domain and facet scales across two age groups (20 to 30 years old versus 50 to 60 years old). Samples from three cultures (Estonia, the Czech Republic and Russia) were employed, and two methods (self–reports and informant–reports) were used. The results showed modest convergence across samples and methods. Age group differences were significant for 11 of 150 facet–level comparisons but never consistently for the same facets. No significant age group differences were observed for the five–factor model domain variance. Therefore, there is little evidence for individual differences in personality characteristics being systematically smaller or larger in older as opposed to younger people. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding personality development. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

Anchoring Vignettes

Abstract. Individuals differ in the way they use rating scales to describe themselves, and these differences are particularly pronounced in children and early adolescents. One promising remedy is to correct (or “anchor”) an individual’s responses according to the way they use the scale when they rate an anchoring vignette (a set of hypothetical targets differing on the attribute of interest). Studying adolescents’ self-reports of their socio-emotional attributes, we compared traditional self-report scores with vignette-corrected scores in terms of reliability (internal consistency), discriminant validity (scale intercorrelations), and criterion validity (predicting achievement test scores in language and math). A large and representative sample of 12th grade Brazilian students (N = 8,582, 62% female, mean age 18.2) were administered a Portuguese-language self-report inventory assessing social-emotional skills related to the Big Five personality dimensions. Correcting scores according to vignette ratings led to increases in the reliability of scales measuring Conscientiousness and Openness, but discriminant validity and criterion validity increased only when each scale was corrected using its own corresponding vignette set. Moreover, accuracy in rating the vignettes was correlated with language achievement test scores, suggesting that verbal factors play a role in providing both normative vignette ratings of others and self-reports that are reliable and valid.

Personality traits across cultures

Current questions in the study of personality traits across cultures include (a) the universality versus cultural uniqueness of trait structure, (b) cultural differences in trait levels, (c) the consistency and validity of traits and their measures across cultures, and (d) the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural contexts of personality. Although the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality continues to find cross-cultural support, new research suggests that the model may be difficult to replicate in less educated or preliterate groups and that indigenous social-relational concepts may be distinguishable from the FFM in some cultures. In lexical studies, two or three broad dimensions may replicate better across cultures than alternative models. Substantial evidence suggests that mean trait profiles of cultures may be reasonably accurate. Nonetheless, research on response styles and measurement invariance raises questions about cross-cultural trait comparisons. Findings regarding cultural differences in trait-related consistency and validity are mixed. Researchers are offering innovative theory and research on the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural contexts of personality.

Substance and Artifact in Interest Self-Reports

Abstract. Although self-reports are often distorted by response biases, nearly all knowledge about interests rely on self-reports. This multiple-rater twin study investigated the degree to which interest self-reports reflect substance. Specifically, we examined whether genetic variance in interest self-reports reflect substance in terms of genetically based motivational attributes or artifact in terms of genetically influenced self-rater biases. We compared normative and ipsatized self- and peer reports on interests from 844 individuals (incl. 225 monozygotic and 113 dizygotic twin pairs) regarding psychometric qualities and further regarding the estimates of genetic and environmental components in self-other agreement and self-rater specificity. Ipsatized interest scores showed lower internal consistency but higher consensus and self-other agreement. Self-other agreement showed a large genetic component, whereas variance specific to self-reports was not significantly attributable to genetic influences. The results provide strong support that genetic variance in interest self-reports reflect substance rather than artifact.

The Conscientiousness Paradox: Cultural Mindset Shapes Competence Perception

Studies comparing personality across cultures have found inconsistencies between self–reports and measures of national character or behaviour, especially on evaluative traits such as Conscientiousness. We demonstrate that self–perceptions and other–perceptions of personality vary with cultural mindset, thereby accounting for some of this inconsistency. Three studies used multiple methods to examine perceptions of Conscientiousness and especially its facet Competence that most characterizes performance evaluations. In Study 1, Mainland Chinese reported lower levels of self–efficacy than did Canadians, with the country effect partially mediated by Canadian participants’ higher level of independent self–construal. In Study 2, language as a cultural prime induced similar effects on Hong Kong bilinguals, who rated themselves as more competent and conscientious when responding in English than in Chinese. Study 3 demonstrated these same effects on ratings of both self–perceived and observer–perceived competence and conscientiousness, with participants changing both their competence–communicating behaviours and self–evaluations in response to the cultural primes of spoken language and ethnicity of an interviewer. These results converge to show that self–perceptions and self–presentations change to fit the social contexts shaped by language and culture. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology

A mixed-binomial model for Likert-type personality measures

Personality measurement is based on the idea that values on an unobservable latent variable determine the distribution of answers on a manifest response scale. Typically, it is assumed in the Item Response Theory (IRT) that latent variables are related to the observed responses through continuous normal or logistic functions, determining the probability with which one of the ordered response alternatives on a Likert-scale item is chosen. Based on an analysis of 1731 self- and other-rated responses on the 240 NEO PI-3 questionnaire items, it was proposed that a viable alternative is a finite number of latent events which are related to manifest responses through a binomial function which has only one parameter—the probability with which a given statement is approved. For the majority of items, the best fit was obtained with a mixed-binomial distribution, which assumes two different subpopulations who endorse items with two different probabilities. It was shown that the fit of the binomial IRT model can be improved by assuming that about 10% of random noise is contained in the answers and by taking into account response biases toward one of the response categories. It was concluded that the binomial response model for the measurement of personality traits may be a workable alternative to the more habitual normal and logistic IRT models.

Response Styles and Personality Traits

In two studies, we examined the shared and unique meaning of acquiescent, extreme, midpoint, and socially desirable responding in association with the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32), a forced-choice format personality measure designed to be less affected by these response styles, compared with personality inventories with Likert-type scales. Country-level response style indexes were derived from six waves of the International Social Survey Programme and from a meta-analysis of a social desirability scale. In the country-level correlational analysis, the four response styles formed a general response style (GRS) factor which was positively associated with (a) dominance (vs. submission) in interpersonal relationships, (b) competitive (vs. modest and democratic) feelings and emotions, and (c) data rational thinking. In a multilevel analysis, age showed a positive and education a negative effect on the individual-level GRS. Negative effects of country-level socioeconomic development and individualism and positive effects of competitiveness and data rational thinking on the individual-level response style were found. We conclude that country-level response styles are systematically associated with country personality measured by the OPQ32, suggesting that they can be viewed as having substantive meaning (i.e., culturally influenced response amplification vs. moderation). Implications are discussed.

Measurement Invariance, Response Styles, and Rural–Urban Measurement Comparability

This article investigates the effect of response styles (RSs) on rural–urban measurement comparability in Guyana. It uses the representative indicators response styles means and covariance structure (RIRSMACS) model and finds that traditional measurement invariance (MI) tests provide inadequate assurance of the absence of rural–urban measurement bias when RSs are not controlled. Even when MI is achieved, RSs can still differentially affect measurements and substantive results between rural and urban regions. In addition, a lack of MI may be at least partially due to RSs bias, but MI may also be due to RSs. Therefore, adjustments for RSs are necessary and researchers should be cautious about pooling data across rural and urban areas without controlling RSs.

The Inaccuracy of National Character Stereotypes

Consensual stereotypes of some groups are relatively accurate, whereas others are not. Previous work suggesting that national character stereotypes are inaccurate has been criticized on several grounds. In this article we (a) provide arguments for the validity of assessed national mean trait levels as criteria for evaluating stereotype accuracy; and (b) report new data on national character in 26 cultures from descriptions (N=3,323) of the typical male or female adolescent, adult, or old person in each. The average ratings were internally consistent and converged with independent stereotypes of the typical culture member, but were weakly related to objective assessments of personality. We argue that this conclusion is consistent with the broader literature on the inaccuracy of national character stereotypes.

Acculturation of Personality: A Three-Culture Study of Japanese, Japanese Americans, and European Americans

The present study tests the hypothesis that involvement with a new culture instigates changes in personality of immigrants that result in (a) better fit with the norms of the culture of destination and (b) reduced fit with the norms of the culture of origin. Participants were 40 Japanese first-generation immigrants to the United States, 57 Japanese monoculturals, and 60 U.S. monoculturals. All participants completed the Jackson Personality Inventory (JPI) as a measure of the Big Five; immigrants completed the Japanese American Acculturation Scale. Immigrants' fits with the cultures of destination and origin were calculated by correlating Japanese American mothers' patterns of ratings on the Big Five with the average patterns of ratings of European Americans and Japanese on the same personality dimensions. Japanese Americans became more "American" and less "Japanese" in their personality as they reported higher participation in the U.S. culture. The results support the view that personality can be subject to cultural influence.