Showing papers by "Robert R. McCrae published in 1998"
TL;DR: The authors examined the heritability of residual specific variance in facet-level traits from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and found that additive genetic effects accounted for 25% to 65% of the reliable specific variance.
Abstract: The common variance among personality traits can be summarized in the factors of the five-factor model, which are known to be heritable. This study examined heritability of the residual specific variance in facet-level traits from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Analyses of raw and residual facet scales across Canadian (183 monozygotic [MZ] and 175 dizogotic [DZ] pairs) and German (435 MZ and 205 DZ pairs) twin samples showed genetic and environmental influences of the same type and magnitude across the 2 samples for most facets. Additive genetic effects accounted for 25% to 65% of the reliable specific variance. Results provide strong support for hierarchical models of personality that posit a large number of narrow traits in addition to a few broader trait factors or domains. Facet-level traits are not simply exemplars of the broad factors they define; they are discrete constructs with their own heritable and thus biological basis.
427 citations
TL;DR: The Revised NEO Personality Inventory, a questionnaire measure of the FFM, has recently been translated into a number of different languages, permitting tests of its cross-cultural replicability.
Abstract: The five-factor model (FFM) is a representation of the patterns of covariation of personality traits in terms of five broad factors. The Revised NEO Personality Inventory, a questionnaire measure of the FFM, has recently been translated into a number of different languages, permitting tests of its cross-cultural replicability. Data from Filipino and French translations are presented, showing clear and detailed replication of the American normative factor structure when targeted rotation is used. Results from these and other cross-cultural and behavior genetic studies suggest that the FFM is a biologically based human universal. Applications of trait psychology in clinical, educational, and organizational settings may prove generalizable across cultures, and cross-cultural psychologists can profitably explore the expression of the same personality traits in different cultural contexts.
382 citations
TL;DR: In this article, three different measures of the Big Five personality dimensions were developed from the battery of questionnaires used in the National Merit Twin Study: one from trait self-rating scales, one from personality inventory items, and one from an adjective check list.
330 citations
TL;DR: Study 1, with a sample of bilingual Hong Kong students, showed that prior findings were not due simply to the translation, and 2, with undergraduates of European and Chinese ancestry living in Canada suggested that more of the differences were cultural in origin.
Abstract: Prior research (R.R. McCrae, P.T. Costa, & M.S. Yik, 1996) using a Chinese translation of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory suggested substantial differences between Hong Kong and North American undergraduates. Study 1, with a sample of bilingual Hong Kong students (N = 162), showed that prior findings were not due simply to the translation. Study 2, with undergraduates of European and Chinese ancestry living in Canada (N = 633), suggested that more of the differences were cultural in origin. Study 3, which used peer ratings of Chinese students (N = 99), replicated most Study 2 results, suggesting that exposure to Canadian culture increased openness, cheerfulness, and prosocial behavior and attitudes. Differences in sense of competence and vulnerability to stress appeared to be due to different cultural standards for judging these traits. Together, the 3 studies illustrate an integrated approach to interpreting personality differences across cultures.
212 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss six approaches to understand facetlevel traits: rational analysis of item content; characterization of the low pole, the psychological opposite; interpretation of external correlates; examination of secondary and tertiary factor loadings; translation into the specialized languages of applied psychology; and case studies.
Abstract: Proponents of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality have argued for somewhat diAerent conceptualizations of the factors. Ultimately, the factors are best understood by a specification of the traits (or facets) that define them, and these facets in turn must be clearly conceptualized. Using as examples the Conscientiousness facet scales of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, we discuss six approaches to understanding facetlevel traits: (i) rational analysis of item content; (ii) characterization of the low pole, the psychological opposite; (iii) interpretation of external correlates; (iv) examination of secondary and tertiary factor loadings; (v) translation into the specialized languages of applied psychology; and (vi) case studies. #1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
152 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that attempts to improve the validity of self-reports and ratings may need to be refocused and the desirability of routinely obtaining multiple sources of information on personality is underscored.
Abstract: Self-reports and spouse ratings of personality traits typically show less-than-perfect agreement, but powerful moderators of agreement have not yet been identified. In Study 1, 47 married couples completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory to describe themselves and their spouses. Extent of agreement was not consistently moderated by response sets; the age, intelligence, or education of the respondent; or the length or quality of the relationship. In Study 2 these couples were interviewed about reasons for substantial disagreements, and an audiotape was content-analyzed. Sixteen reasons were reliably coded, including idiosyncratic understanding of items, reference to different time frames or roles, and unavailability of covert experience to the spouse. Faking good, assumed similarity, and other variables prominent in the psychometric literature were relatively unimportant. Findings (1) suggest that attempts to improve the validity of self-reports and ratings may need to be refocused and (2) underscore the desirability of routinely obtaining multiple sources of information on personality.
129 citations
TL;DR: Sulloway et al. as mentioned in this paper found that personality traits developed in childhood mediate the association of birth order with scientific radicalism, but it is unlikely that this effect mediates associations with scientificradicalism.
100 citations
01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: For decades, most personality psychologists opted for one or another of the major schools of psychology and attempted to understand human beings from its perspective as discussed by the authors, and although eclectic integrations were sometimes advanced (e.g., Murphy, 1947), most personality psychology regarded perspectives other than their own with scorn and hostility.
Abstract: For anyone who truly wishes to understand human personality, trait psychology is not an option. For decades, most personality psychologists opted for one or another of the major schools of psychology and attempted to understand human beings from its perspective. Psychoanalysts pondered free associations, behaviorists recorded behaviors, and self psychologists inventoried the self-concept. Although eclectic integrations were sometimes advanced (e.g., Murphy, 1947), most personality psychologists regarded perspectives other than their own with scorn and hostility. Dissension was the rule even within schools: Jun-gians and Freudians disputed the nature of the unconscious; Cattellians and Eysenckians argued about the true number of personality trait dimensions.
97 citations
TL;DR: The five-factor model (FFM) of personality is implicit in lay conceptions of personality; as discussed by the authors examined laypersons' explicit grasp of the model and found that most people can easily grasp the nature of the factors and their behavioral manifestations and can spontaneously recognize their grouping when provided with clear exemplars.
Abstract: The five-factor model (FFM) of personality is implicit in lay conceptions of personality; this research sought to examine laypersons' explicit grasp of the model. In one study, undergraduates (N = 233) were given definitions of the five factors and asked to identify adjectives known to be associated with each. In a second study, the rated diagnosticity of behaviors in three contexts was compared with their actual correlation with self-reported and acquaintance-rated personality factors. In the final study, undergraduates (N= 76) grouped 30 adjectives into clusters of traits. Results suggest that most laypersons can easily grasp the nature of the factors and their behavioral manifestations and can spontaneously recognize their grouping when provided with clear exemplars.
56 citations
TL;DR: An FFM Age-Relatedness Index based on American data accurately predicted CPI age correlations not only in the US but also in the PRC sample, consistent with the hypothesis that there are universal intrinsic maturational changes in personality.
Abstract: Life experiences for corresponding age cohorts in the United States (US) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) have been dramatically different. If cohort effects account for cross-sectional age differences in mean levels of personality traits, different patterns of age differences should be seen in samples from the US and the PRC. The present study examined scores on scales from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI; Gough, 1987) in US (N = 348, age = 19-92 years) and PRC (N = 2,093, age = 18-67 years) samples. Very similar patterns of age correlations were seen. To compare results to other cross-cultural studies, CPI scales were interpreted in terms of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality; an FFM Age-Relatedness Index based on American data accurately predicted CPI age correlations not only in the US but also in the PRC sample. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that there are universal intrinsic maturational changes in personality.
52 citations
TL;DR: Results indicated that the K-correction procedure commonly used with the M MPI and MMPI-2 did not result in higher correlations with external criteria in comparison to non-K-corrected scores, and protocols judged to be valid based on VRIN scale results generally produced lower correlations with patients self-reports and clinician ratings of psychopathology.
Abstract: Many clinicians have come to rely on the broad array of validity scales available- on the MMPI and the MMPI-2. In this study, we evaluated the utility of 2 MMPI-2 validity scales, the K scale and VRIN scale, in a sample of 692 psychiatric inpatients. Specifically, the effects of the K-correction procedure and the exclusion of protocols based on VRIN scale elevations were examined on the relation between MMPI-2 basic clinical scales and external criteria including both self-report and clinician ratings of psychopathology. Results indicated that the K-correction procedure commonly used with the MMPI and MMPI-2 did not result in higher correlations with external criteria in comparison to non-K-corrected scores. In contrast, MMPI-2 protocols that produced VRIN T-score values less than or equal to 80 generally produced lower correlations with patient self-reports and clinician ratings of psychopathology in comparison to protocols judged to be valid based on VRIN scale results.
TL;DR: In this paper, an empirically based alternative framework was proposed for alternative approaches to the alternative framework problem, which is based on an empirical-based alternative framework for the alternative paradigm.
Abstract: (1998). An Empirically Based Alternative Framework. Psychological Inquiry: Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 158-160.