Showing papers on "Big Five personality traits published in 2012"

The Theory of Purposeful Work Behavior: The Role of Personality, Higher-Order Goals, and Job Characteristics

Abstract: The theory of purposeful work behavior integrates higher-order implicit goals with principles derived from the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality and the expanded job characteristics model to explain how traits and job characteristics jointly and interactively influence work outcomes. The core principle of the theory is that personality traits initiate purposeful goal strivings, and when the motivational forces associated with job characteristics act in concert with these purposeful motivational strivings, individuals experience the psychological state of experienced meaningfulness. In turn, experienced meaningfulness triggers task-specific motivation processes that influence the attainment of work outcomes. We describe testable propositions derived from the theory and discuss directions for future research.

Regulatory focus and work-related outcomes: a review and meta-analysis.

Abstract: Regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997) has received growing attention in organizational psychology,necessitating a quantitative review that synthesizes its effects on important criteria. In addition, there isneed for theoretical integration of regulatory focus theory with personality research. Theoretical integrationis particularly relevant, since personality traits and dispositions are distal factors that are unlikelyto have direct effects on work behaviors, yet they may have indirect effects via regulatory focus. Thecurrent meta-analysis introduces an integrative framework in which the effects of personality on workbehaviors are best understood when considered in conjunction with more proximal motivational processessuch as regulatory focus. Using a distal–proximal approach, we identify personality antecedentsand work-related consequences of regulatory foci in a framework that considers both general andwork-specific regulatory foci as proximal motivational processes. We present meta-analytic results forrelations of regulatory focus with its antecedents (approach and avoid temperaments, conscientiousness,openness to experience, agreeableness, self-esteem, and self-efficacy) and its consequences (workbehaviors and attitudes). In addition to estimates of bivariate relationships, we support a meta-analyticpath model in which distal personality traits relate to work behaviors via the mediating effects of generaland work-specific regulatory focus. Results from tests of incremental and relative validity indicated thatregulatory foci predict unique variance in work behaviors after controlling for established personality,motivation, and attitudinal predictors. Consistent with regulatory focus theory and our integrativetheoretical framework, regulatory focus has meaningful relations with work outcomes and is notredundant with other individual difference variables.

An evaluation of the consequences of using short measures of the Big Five personality traits.

Abstract: Researchers often use very abbreviated (e.g., 1-item, 2-item) measures of personality traits due to their convenience and ease of use as well as the belief that such measures can adequately capture an individual’s personality. Using data from 2 samples (N = 437 employees, N = 355 college students), we show that this practice, particularly the use of single-item measures, can lead researchers to substantially underestimate the role that personality traits play in influencing important behaviors and thereby over estimate the role played by new constructs. That is, the use of very short measures of personality may substantially increase both the Type 1 and Type 2 error rates. We argue that even slightly longer measures can substantially increase the validity of research findings without significant inconvenience to the researcher or research participants.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for personality

Abstract: Personality can be thought of as a set of characteristics that influence people's thoughts, feelings and behavior across a variety of settings. Variation in personality is predictive of many outcomes in life, including mental health. Here we report on a meta-analysis of genome-wide association (GWA) data for personality in 10 discovery samples (17 375 adults) and five in silico replication samples (3294 adults). All participants were of European ancestry. Personality scores for Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were based on the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. Genotype data of similar to 2.4M single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; directly typed and imputed using HapMap data) were available. In the discovery samples, classical association analyses were performed under an additive model followed by meta-analysis using the weighted inverse variance method. Results showed genome-wide significance for Openness to Experience near the RASA1 gene on 5q14.3 (rs1477268 and rs2032794, P = 2.8 x 10(-8) and 3.1 x 10(-8)) and for Conscientiousness in the brain-expressed KATNAL2 gene on 18q21.1 (rs2576037, P = 4.9 x 10(-8)). We further conducted a gene-based test that confirmed the association of KATNAL2 to Conscientiousness. In silico replication did not, however, show significant associations of the top SNPs with Openness and Conscientiousness, although the direction of effect of the KATNAL2 SNP on Conscientiousness was consistent in all replication samples. Larger scale GWA studies and alternative approaches are required for confirmation of KATNAL2 as a novel gene affecting Conscientiousness. Molecular Psychiatry (2012) 17, 337-349; doi: 10.1038/mp.2010.128; published online 21 December 2010

Personality and patterns of Facebook usage

Abstract: We show how users' activity on Facebook relates to their personality, as measured by the standard Five Factor Model. Our dataset consists of the personality profiles and Facebook profile data of 180,000 users. We examine correlations between users' personality and the properties of their Facebook profiles such as the size and density of their friendship network, number uploaded photos, number of events attended, number of group memberships, and number of times user has been tagged in photos. Our results show significant relationships between personality traits and various features of Facebook profiles. We then show how multivariate regression allows prediction of the personality traits of an individual user given their Facebook profile. The best accuracy of such predictions is achieved for Extraversion and Neuroticism, the lowest accuracy is obtained for Agreeableness, with Openness and Conscientiousness lying in the middle.

Personalized Persuasion Tailoring Persuasive Appeals to Recipients’ Personality Traits

Abstract: Persuasive messages are more effective when they are custom-tailored to reflect the interests and concerns of the intended audience. Much of the message-framing literature has focused on the advantages of using either gain or loss frames, depending on the motivational orientation of the target group. In the current study, we extended this research to examine whether a persuasive appeal's effectiveness can be increased by aligning the message framing with the recipient's personality profile. For a single product, we constructed five advertisements, each designed to target one of the five major trait domains of human personality. In a sample of 324 survey respondents, advertisements were evaluated more positively the more they cohered with participants' dispositional motives. These results suggest that adapting persuasive messages to the personality traits of the target audience can be an effective way of increasing the messages' impact, and highlight the potential value of personality-based communication strategies.

DSM-5 personality traits and DSM-IV personality disorders

Abstract: Two issues pertinent to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) proposal for personality pathology, the recovery of DSM-IV personality disorders (PDs) by proposed DSM-5 traits and the validity of the proposed DSM-5 hybrid model, which incorporates both personality pathology symptoms and maladaptive traits, were evaluated in a large undergraduate sample (N = 808). Proposed DSM-5 traits as assessed with the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 explained a substantial proportion of variance in DSM-IV PDs as assessed with the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+, and trait indicators of the 6 proposed DSM-5 PDs were mostly specific to those disorders with some exceptions. Regression analyses support the DSM-5 hybrid model in that pathological traits, and an indicator of general personality pathology severity provided incremental information about PDs. Findings are discussed in the context of broader issues around the proposed DSM-5 model of personality disorders.

The five-factor narcissism inventory: a five-factor measure of narcissistic personality traits.

Abstract: This study provides convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity data for a new measure of narcissistic personality traits created from the perspective of the Five-factor model (FFM) of general personality structure. Fifteen scales were constructed as maladaptive variants of respective facets of the FFM (e.g., Reactive Anger as a narcissistic variant of angry hostility), with item selection made on the basis of a criterion-keying approach using results from 167 undergraduates. On the basis of data from 166 additional undergraduates, the convergent validity of these 15 scales was tested with respect to 8 established measures of narcissism (including measures of both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism) and the respective facets of the FFM. Discriminant validity was tested with respect to facets from other FFM domains. Incremental validity was tested with respect to the ability of the FFM narcissism trait scales to account for variance in 2 alternative measures of narcissism, after variance accounted ...

Accurate Personality Judgment

Abstract: Personality traits are patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior that are relatively consistent over time and across situations. Judging the traits of others and of oneself is a ubiquitous and consequential activity of daily life, which raises two important questions. First, how does accurate personality judgment happen? According to the Realistic Accuracy Model (RAM), accuracy in such judgments is achieved when relevant behavioral information is available to and detected by a judge who then utilizes that information correctly. Second, when are personality judgments accurate? The RAM identifies four principal moderators of accurate personality judgment, which are properties of the target of judgment, the trait that is judged, the information upon which the judgment is based (i.e., its quantity and quality), and the individual making the judgment. People usually manage to make personality judgments that are accurate enough for navigation of the complex social world; research on accuracy seeks to understan...

Predicting Dark Triad Personality Traits from Twitter Usage and a Linguistic Analysis of Tweets

Abstract: Social media sites are now the most popular destination for Internet users, providing social scientists with a great opportunity to understand online behaviour. There are a growing number of research papers related to social media, a small number of which focus on personality prediction. To date, studies have typically focused on the Big Five traits of personality, but one area which is relatively unexplored is that of the anti-social traits of narcissism, Machiavellians and psychopathy, commonly referred to as the Dark Triad. This study explored the extent to which it is possible to determine anti-social personality traits based on Twitter use. This was performed by comparing the Dark Triad and Big Five personality traits of 2,927 Twitter users with their profile attributes and use of language. Analysis shows that there are some statistically significant relationships between these variables. Through the use of crowd sourced machine learning algorithms, we show that machine learning provides useful prediction rates, but is imperfect in predicting an individual's Dark Triad traits from Twitter activity. While predictive models may be unsuitable for predicting an individual's personality, they may still be of practical importance when models are applied to large groups of people, such as gaining the ability to see whether anti-social traits are increasing or decreasing over a population. Our results raise important questions related to the unregulated use of social media analysis for screening purposes. It is important that the practical and ethical implications of drawing conclusions about personal information embedded in social media sites are better understood.

Effects of leader intelligence, personality and emotional intelligence on transformational leadership and managerial performance

Abstract: This study investigates the effects of intelligence, personality traits and emotional intelligence on transformational leadership and the effective performance of leaders in the organizational context Data were collected from 134 midlevel managers from a large Brazilian company that operates in the energy sector Our findings suggest that leadership effectiveness, as measured by the achievement of organizational outcomes, is a direct function of a leader's transformational behaviors, and is an indirect function of individual differences (experience, intelligence and conscientiousness) that work through transformational behaviors A negative effect of neuroticism on leadership effectiveness was also observed In addition, while emotional intelligence seemed to be statistically related to transformational leadership if considered in isolation, when ability and personality were controlled for, the effect became non-significant We discuss implications for theory, research and practice

Profiling the "pro-environmental individual": a personality perspective.

Abstract: There is considerable scientific interest in the psychological correlates of pro-environmental behaviors. Much research has focused on demographic and social-psychological characteristics of individuals who consistently perform such actions. Here, we report the results of two studies in which we explored relations between broad personality traits and pro-environmental actions. Using a wide variety of behavior and personality measures, we consistently found moderate positive relations between Openness to Experience and pro-environmental activities in both a community sample (Study 1: N = 778) and an undergraduate student sample (Study 2: N = 115). In Study 2 we showed that the effect of Openness on pro-environmental behaviors was fully mediated by individuals’ environmental attitudes and connection to nature. Our findings suggest that high levels of aesthetic appreciation, creativity, and inquisitiveness, but not personality traits associated with altruism, may have motivated the performance of pro-environmental actions among our respondents. Implications for intervention development are discussed.

Military Training and Personality Trait Development Does the Military Make the Man, or Does the Man Make the Military?

Abstract: Military experience is an important turning point in a person's life and, consequently, is associated with important life outcomes. Using a large longitudinal sample of German males, we examined whether personality traits played a role during this period. Results indicated that personality traits prospectively predicted the decision to enter the military. People lower in agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness to experience during high school were more likely to enter the military after graduation. In addition, military training was associated with changes in personality. Compared with a control group, military recruits had lower levels of agreeableness after training. These levels persisted 5 years after training, even after participants entered college or the labor market. This study is one of the first to identify life experiences associated with changes in personality traits. Moreover, our results suggest that military experiences may have a long-lasting influence on individual-level characteristics.

Personality Trait Level and Change as Predictors of Health Outcomes: Findings From a National Study of Americans (MIDUS)

Abstract: PERSONALITY traits have emerged in recent years as predictors of important health outcomes (Hampson & Friedman, 2008). For example, high neuroticism and low conscientiousness are each associated with earlier mortality (Friedman et al., 1993; Wilson, Mendes de Leon, Bienas, Evans, & Bennett, 2004). However, a small number of recent studies demonstrated that not only does personality level predict key health outcomes but so does personality change (Roberts & Mroczek, 2008). Prior studies highlight the importance of considering both trait level and change to predict outcomes as diverse as substance abuse (Hampson, Tildesley, Andrews, Luckyx, & Mroczek, 2010), obesity (Siegler et al., 2003), and mortality (Mroczek & Spiro, 2007). No study, however, has used a large national sample with a wide age range to examine whether both personality level and change predict health outcomes. In the present study, we extend the findings of these prior investigations using the Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS) survey, a large national longitudinal sample of adult Americans to determine whether personality trait level and change independently predict three distinct self-reported health outcomes.

Developmental Pathways to Conduct Disorder: Implications for Future Directions in Research, Assessment, and Treatment.

Abstract: Research has indicated that there are several common pathways through which children and adolescents develop conduct disorder, each with different risk factors and each with different underlying developmental mechanisms leading to the child's aggressive and antisocial behavior. The current article briefly summarizes research on these pathways, including one that onsets in adolescence and seems to be an exaggeration of normal adolescent rebellion against authority. The other two pathways typically involve conduct problems that onset early in childhood but differ on whether the child shows significant levels of callous-unemotional traits or whether the child shows significant problems in emotional and behavioral regulation. Important directions for future research on these pathways are highlighted, as well as implications of these pathways for assessing and diagnosing children and adolescents with conduct disorder. In particular, diagnostic criteria should recognize the importance of callous-unemotional traits for distinguishing a distinct subgroup of youths with the disorder. Finally, implications for the prevention and treatment of conduct disorder are discussed, especially the need for interventions that are comprehensive and individualized to the characteristics of children and adolescents in the various developmental pathways.

Fearless dominance and the U.S. presidency: implications of psychopathic personality traits for successful and unsuccessful political leadership.

Abstract: Although psychopathic personality (psychopathy) is marked largely by maladaptive traits (e.g., poor impulse control, lack of guilt), some authors have conjectured that some features of this condition (e.g., fearlessness, interpersonal dominance) are adaptive in certain occupations, including leadership positions. We tested this hypothesis in the 42 U.S. presidents up to and including George W. Bush using (a) psychopathy trait estimates derived from personality data completed by historical experts on each president, (b) independent historical surveys of presidential leadership, and (c) largely or entirely objective indicators of presidential performance. Fearless Dominance, which reflects the boldness associated with psychopathy, was associated with better rated presidential performance, leadership, persuasiveness, crisis management, Congressional relations, and allied variables; it was also associated with several largely or entirely objective indicators of presidential performance, such as initiating new projects and being viewed as a world figure. Most of these associations survived statistical control for covariates, including intellectual brilliance, five factor model personality traits, and need for power. In contrast, Impulsive Antisociality and related traits of psychopathy were generally unassociated with rated presidential performance, although they were linked to some largely or entirely objective indicators of negative job performance, including Congressional impeachment resolutions, tolerating unethical behavior in subordinates, and negative character. These findings indicate that the boldness associated with psychopathy is an important but heretofore neglected predictor of presidential performance, and suggest that certain features of psychopathy are tied to successful interpersonal behavior.