Showing papers on "Personality published in 2007"
Book•
01 Jan 2007TL;DR: McAdams as mentioned in this paper proposed a theory of personality for the first time in his book "Proposals for a Theory of Personality: Childhood Events and Variables of Personality" and made judgments of personality.
Abstract: Foreword by Dan P. McAdams 1. Introduction 2. Proposals for a Theory of Personality 3. Variables of Personality 4. Judgements of Personality 5. The Genetical Investigation of Personality: Childhood Events 6. Procedures 7. Case History: Case of Earnst 8. Conclusions
2,404 citations
TL;DR: The influence of personality traits on important life outcomes is demonstrated, the need to more routinely incorporate measures of personality into quality of life surveys is highlighted, and further research is encouraged about the developmental origins of personality trait and the processes by which these traits influence diverse life outcomes.
Abstract: The ability of personality traits to predict im- portant life outcomes has traditionally been questioned because of the putative small effects of personality. In this article, we compare the predictive validity of personality traits with that of socioeconomic status (SES) and cogni- tive ability to test the relative contribution of personality traits to predictions of three critical outcomes: mortality, divorce, andoccupationalattainment.Onlyevidence from prospective longitudinal studies was considered. In addi- tion, an attempt was made to limit the review to studies that controlled for important background factors. Results showed that the magnitude of the effects of personality traits on mortality, divorce, and occupational attainment wasindistinguishablefrom the effectsofSES and cognitive ability on these outcomes. These results demonstrate the influence of personality traits on important life outcomes, highlight the need to more routinely incorporate measures of personality into quality of life surveys, and encourage further research about the developmental origins of per- sonality traits and the processes by which these traits in- fluence diverse life outcomes.
1,854 citations
TL;DR: The HEXACO model accommodates several personality variables that are poorly assimilated within the B5/FFM, including the relations of personality factors with theoretical biologists' constructs of reciprocal and kin altruism and the patterns of sex differences in personality traits.
Abstract: The authors argue that a new six-dimensional framework for personality structure--the HEXACO model--constitutes a viable alternative to the well-known Big Five or five-factor model. The new model is consistent with the cross-culturally replicated finding of a common six-dimensional structure containing the factors Honesty-Humility (H), Emotionality (E), eExtraversion (X), Agreeableness (A), Conscientiousness (C), and Openness to Experience (O). Also, the HEXACO model predicts several personality phenomena that are not explained within the B5/FFM, including the relations of personality factors with theoretical biologists' constructs of reciprocal and kin altruism and the patterns of sex differences in personality traits. In addition, the HEXACO model accommodates several personality variables that are poorly assimilated within the B5/FFM.
1,431 citations
TL;DR: This article conducted a meta-analysis of personality traits and found that traits matched to the task of running a business produced higher effect sizes with business creation than traits that were not matched to running an enterprise.
Abstract: The role of personality traits in the decision to start a business and to maintain it successfully is discussed controversially in entrepreneurship research. Our meta-analysis builds upon and extends earlier meta-analyses by doing a full analysis of personality traits that includes a comparison of different traits from a theoretical perspective and by analysing a full set of personality predictors for both start-up activities as well as success. Theoretically, our article adds to the literature by matching traits to the tasks of entrepreneurs. The results indicate that traits matched to the task of running a business produced higher effect sizes with business creation than traits that were not matched to the task of running an enterprise, corrected r = .247, K = 47, N = 13,280, and corrected r = .124, K = 20, N = 3975, respectively. Moreover, traits matched to the task produced higher correlations with success, corrected r = .250, K = 42, N = 5607, than traits not matched to the task of running a business...
1,424 citations
TL;DR: The results showed that trait EI is a compound personality construct located at the lower levels of the two taxonomies, and the discussion addresses common questions about the operationalization of emotional intelligence as a personality trait.
Abstract: The construct of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI or trait emotional self-efficacy) provides a comprehensive operationalization of emotion-related self-perceptions and dispositions. In the first part of the present study (N=274, 92 males), we performed two joint factor analyses to determine the location of trait EI in Eysenckian and Big Five factor space. The results showed that trait EI is a compound personality construct located at the lower levels of the two taxonomies. In the second part of the study, we performed six two-step hierarchical regressions to investigate the incremental validity of trait EI in predicting, over and above the Giant Three and Big Five personality dimensions, six distinct criteria (life satisfaction, rumination, two adaptive and two maladaptive coping styles). Trait EI incrementally predicted four criteria over the Giant Three and five criteria over the Big Five. The discussion addresses common questions about the operationalization of emotional intelligence as a personality trait.
1,152 citations
TL;DR: This meta-analysis tested moderators of relations between Big Five personality traits and coping using 2,653 effect sizes drawn from 165 samples and 33,094 participants and found personality was weakly related to broad coping, but all 5 traits predicted specific strategies.
Abstract: Personality may directly facilitate or constrain coping, but relations of personality to coping have been inconsistent across studies, suggesting a need for greater attention to methods and samples. This meta-analysis tested moderators of relations between Big Five personality traits and coping using 2,653 effect sizes drawn from 165 samples and 33,094 participants. Personality was weakly related to broad coping (e.g., Engagement or Disengagement), but all 5 traits predicted specific strategies. Extraversion and Conscientiousness predicted more problem-solving and cognitive restructuring, Neuroticism less. Neuroticism predicted problematic strategies like wishful thinking, withdrawal, and emotion-focused coping but, like Extraversion, also predicted support seeking. Personality more strongly predicted coping in young samples, stressed samples, and samples reporting dispositional rather than situation-specific coping. Daily versus retrospective coping reports and self-selected versus researcher-selected stressors also moderated relations between personality and coping. Cross-cultural differences were present, and ethnically diverse samples showed more protective effects of personality. Richer understanding of the role of personality in the coping process requires assessment of personality facets and specific coping strategies, use of laboratory and daily report studies, and multivariate analyses.
1,115 citations
TL;DR: Strong Axis I comorbidity raises questions about the somewhat arbitrary separation of PDs from Axis I disorders in the DSM nomenclature, and the impairment findings suggest that the main public health significance ofPDs lies in their effects onAx I disorders rather than in their effect on functioning.
1,104 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce a general framework for product experience that applies to all affective responses that can be experienced in human-product interaction, including aesthetic experience, experience of meaning, and emotional experience.
Abstract: In this paper, we introduce a general framework for product experience that applies to all affective responses that can be experienced in human-product interaction. Three distinct components or levels of product experiences are discussed: aesthetic experience, experience of meaning, and emotional experience. All three components are distinguished in having their own lawful underlying process. The aesthetic level involves a product’s capacity to delight one or more of our sensory modalities. The meaning level involves our ability to assign personality or other expressive characteristics and to assess the personal or symbolic significance of products. The emotional level involves those experiences that are typically considered in emotion psychology and in everyday language about emotions, such as love and anger, which are elicited by the appraised relational meaning of products. The framework indicates patterns for the processes that underlie the different types of affective product experiences, which are used to explain the personal and layered nature of product experience
1,030 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relation of self-compassion to positive psychological health and the Wve factor model of personality and found that selfcompassion had a signi cant positive association with self-reported measures of happiness, optimism, positive aVect, wisdom, personal initiative, curiosity and exploration, agreeableness, extroversion, and conscientiousness.
996 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed the empirical literature on the relations between the Big Five personality dimensions and post-secondary academic achievement, and found some consistent results, such as Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, Extraversion, and Extraversion was sometimes negatively related to the same criterion, although the empirical evidence regarding these latter two dimensions was somewhat mixed.
920 citations
Book•
20 Mar 2007
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the development of the Manic-Depressive Spectrum, the Bipolar-Unipolar Distinction and the Development of the MANIAD spectrum.
Abstract: PART I CLINICAL DESCRIPTION AND DIAGNOSIS 1. Conceptualizing Manic-Depressive Illness: The Bipolar-Unipolar Distinction and the Development of the Manic-Depressive Spectrum 2. Clinical Description 3. Diagnosis PART II CLINICAL STUDIES 4. Course and Outcome 5. Epidemiology 6. Children and Adolescents 7. Comorbidity 8. Suicide PART III PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES 9. Neuropsychology 10. Personality, Personality Disorders, and Interpersonal Functioning 11. Assessment 12. Creativity PART IV PATHOPHYSIOLOGY 13. Genetics 14. Neurobiology 15. Neuroanatomy and Neuroimaging 16. Sleep and Circadian Rhythms PART V TREATMENT 17. Fundamentals of Treatment 18. Medical Treatment of Hypomania, Mania, and Mixed States 19. Medical Treatment of Depression 20. Maintenance Medical Treatment 21. Medication Adherence 22. Psychotherapy 23. Treatment of Children and Adolescents 24. Treatment of Comorbidity 25. Clinical Management of Suicide Risk
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: The psychological processes underlying an gence of self-reports with other methods of act of selfreporting are now understood to assessing personality as mentioned in this paper, and the role of motives in self-report is discussed.
Abstract: If you want to know what Waldo is like, why 20041, the effectiveness of introspection not just ask him? Such is the commonsense (Wilson, 2002), the degree of automaticity logic behind the self-report method of person(Mills & Hogan, 1978; Paulhus & Levitt, ality assessment. It remains the field's most 1986), and the meaning of nonresponding commonly used mode of assessment-by far (Tourangeau, 2004). (see Robins, Tracy, & Sherman, Chapter 37, The goal of this chapter is more limited: to this volume). Despite its popularity and demprovide a brief guide to nonexpert researchers onstrated utility, the self-report method has interested in using the self-report method to asbeen a frequent target of criticism from sess personality. We begin by delineating three the early days of psychological assessment categories of self-reports. We then review the (Allport, 1927) right up to the present advantages and the disadvantages of the self(Dunning, Heath, & Suls, 2005). report method. Next, we examine the converThe psychological processes underlying an gence of self-reports with other methods of act of self-reporting are now understood to assessing personality. Finally, we provide a be exceedingly complex (e.g., Hogan & practical guide to choosing a self-report instruNicholson, 1988; Johnson, 2004; Schwarz, ment. 1999; Tourangeau, Rips, & Rasinksi, 2001). Examination of these processes requires burrowing deep into the affective and cognitive 'I).pes of Self-Reports substrates of personality. Among the challenging issues are the role of motives in selfVariants of the self-report method are numerperception (Robins & John, 1997), the apous and could be organized in a number of plicability of performative models (Johnson, ways. We restrict ourselves to cases in which re-
TL;DR: Experimental results for recognition of all Big Five personality traits, in both conversation and text, utilising both self and observer ratings of personality are reported, confirming previous findings linking language and personality, while revealing many new linguistic markers.
Abstract: It is well known that utterances convey a great deal of information about the speaker in addition to their semantic content. One such type of information consists of cues to the speaker's personality traits, the most fundamental dimension of variation between humans. Recent work explores the automatic detection of other types of pragmatic variation in text and conversation, such as emotion, deception, speaker charisma, dominance, point of view, subjectivity, opinion and sentiment. Personality affects these other aspects of linguistic production, and thus personality recognition may be useful for these tasks, in addition to many other potential applications. However, to date, there is little work on the automatic recognition of personality traits. This article reports experimental results for recognition of all Big Five personality traits, in both conversation and text, utilising both self and observer ratings of personality. While other work reports classification results, we experiment with classification, regression and ranking models. For each model, we analyse the effect of different feature sets on accuracy. Results show that for some traits, any type of statistical model performs significantly better than the baseline, but ranking models perform best overall. We also present an experiment suggesting that ranking models are more accurate than multi-class classifiers for modelling personality. In addition, recognition models trained on observed personality perform better than models trained using self-reports, and the optimal feature set depends on the personality trait. A qualitative analysis of the learned models confirms previous findings linking language and personality, while revealing many new linguistic markers.
TL;DR: The authors examined relations between the Big Five personality traits and academic outcomes, specifically SAT scores and grade-point average (GPA), and found that Openness was the strongest predictor of SAT verbal scores and Conscientiousness predicted college GPA.
Abstract: The authors examined relations between the Big Five personality traits and academic outcomes, specifically SAT scores and grade-point average (GPA). Openness was the strongest predictor of SAT verbal scores, and Conscientiousness was the strongest predictor of both high school and college GPA. These relations replicated across 4 independent samples and across 4 different personality inventories. Further analyses showed that Conscientiousness predicted college GPA, even after controlling for high school GPA and SAT scores, and that the relation between Conscientiousness and college GPA was mediated, both concurrently and longitudinally, by increased academic effort and higher levels of perceived academic ability. The relation between Openness and SAT verbal scores was independent of academic achievement and was mediated, both concurrently and longitudinally, by perceived verbal intelligence. Together, these findings show that personality traits have independent and incremental effects on academic outcomes, even after controlling for traditional predictors of those outcomes.
Bradley University1, University of Tartu2, National Institutes of Health3, University of California4, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile5, University of Louisville6, University of Latvia7, Pennsylvania State University8, Slovak Academy of Sciences9, University of San Carlos10, University of Malta11, Ghent University12, Clemson University13, Laval University14, University of Buenos Aires15, Osaka University16, Illinois State University17, National Autonomous University of Mexico18, University of Brasília19, University of Western Australia20, University of Lima21, Boğaziçi University22, University of Kassel23, York University24, University of Queensland25, Åbo Akademi University26, Al Akhawayn University27, University of Hawaii at Manoa28, University of Catania29, University of Otago30, University of Dhaka31, Chemnitz University of Technology32, Knox College33, Comenius University in Bratislava34, University of Rijeka35, University of Malaya36, Vilnius University37, American University of Beirut38, Kwangju Health College39, University of Salzburg40, Utrecht University41, National Computerization Agency42, City University of Hong Kong43, University of Idaho44, University of Zimbabwe45, University of Lisbon46, University of Central Lancashire47, Loyola Marymount University48, University of KwaZulu-Natal49, University of Granada50, University of Botswana51, Babeș-Bolyai University52, University of Cyprus53, University of Belgrade54, KPMG55, University of Montpellier56, University of Zurich57, University of Alabama58, Baylor University59, Queen's University Belfast60, University of Ljubljana61, University of Haifa62, University of La Serena63, Florida Atlantic University64, University of California, Davis65, University of Dar es Salaam66, Ramapo College67, Cyprus College68, Middle East Technical University69, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń70, University of the South Pacific71, Vrije Universiteit Brussel72, University at Albany, SUNY73, University of the Aegean74, University of Lethbridge75, University of Vienna76, University of Hong Kong77, Yuan Ze University78, Charles University in Prague79, Chonnam National University80, Indian Institutes of Technology81
TL;DR: The Big Five Inventory (BFI) is a self-report measure designed to assess the high-order personality traits of Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The Big Five Inventory (BFI) is a self-report measure designed to assess the high-order personality traits of Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness. As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, the BFI was translated from English into 28 languages and administered to 17,837 individuals from 56 nations. The resulting cross-cultural data set was used to address three main questions: Does the factor structure of the English BFI fully replicate across cultures? How valid are the BFI trait profiles of individual nations? And how are personality traits distributed throughout the world? The five-dimensional structure was robust across major regions of the world. Trait levels were related in predictable ways to self-esteem, sociosexuality, and national personality profiles. People from the geographic regions of South America and East Asia were significantly different in openness from those inhabiting other world regions. The discussion focuses on limitations of t...
TL;DR: It may be time to consider a shift to a dimensional classification of personality disorder that would help address the failures of the existing diagnostic categories as well as contribute to an integration of the psychiatric diagnostic manual with psychology's research on general personality structure.
Abstract: The diagnostic categories of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders were developed in the spirit of a traditional medical model that considers mental disorders to be qualitatively distinct conditions (see, e.g., American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Work is now beginning on the fifth edition of this influential diagnostic manual. It is perhaps time to consider a fundamental shift in how psychopathology is conceptualized and diagnosed. More specifically, it may be time to consider a shift to a dimensional classification of personality disorder that would help address the failures of the existing diagnostic categories as well as contribute to an integration of the psychiatric diagnostic manual with psychology's research on general personality structure.
TL;DR: Results showed that both personality and work-related stressors were associated with burnout dimensions, and Neuroticism was a common predictor of all dimensions of burnout although in personal accomplishment had a different direction.
Abstract: Background. Teaching is considered a highly stressful occupation. Burnout is a negative affective response occurring as a result of chronic work stress. While the early theories of burnout focused exclusively on work-related stressors, recent research adopts a more integrative approach where both environmental and individual factors are studied. Nevertheless, such studies are scarce with teacher samples.
Aims. The present cross-sectional study sought to investigate the association between burnout, personality characteristics and job stressors in primary school teachers from Cyprus. The study also investigates the relative contribution of these variables on the three facets of burnout – emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment.
Sample. A representative sample of 447 primary school teachers participated in the study.
Method. Teachers completed measures of burnout, personality and job stressors along with demographic and professional data. Surveys were delivered by courier to schools, and were distributed at faculty meetings.
Results. Results showed that both personality and work-related stressors were associated with burnout dimensions. Neuroticism was a common predictor of all dimensions of burnout although in personal accomplishment had a different direction. Managing student misbehaviour and time constraints were found to systematically predict dimensions of burnout.
Conclusions. Teachers' individual characteristics as well as job related stressors should be taken into consideration when studying the burnout phenomenon. The fact that each dimension of the syndrome is predicted by different variables should not remain unnoticed especially when designing and implementing intervention programmes to reduce burnout in teachers.
Book•
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a method for assessing personality at different levels of analysis, using a set of personality scales, including the self-report scale, the ego scale, and the ego self-reported scale.
Abstract: Part 1. Designing a Personality Study. D.P. McAdams, J.L. Pals, The Role of Theory in Personality Assessment. M.B. Donnellan, R.D. Conger, Designing and Implementing Longitudinal Studies. W. Revelle, Experimental Approaches to the Study of Personality. R.F. Krueger, J.L. Tackett, Behavior Genetic Designs. T.S. Conner, L. Feldman Barrett, M.M. Tugade, H. Tennen, Idiographic Personality: The Theory and Practice of Experience Sampling. A.C. Elms, Psychobiography and Case Study Methods. P. Cramer, Mining Archival Data. R.C. Fraley, Using the Internet for Personality Research: What Can Be Done, How to Do It, and Some Concerns. R.C. Fraley, M.J. Marks, The Null Hypothesis Significance-Testing Debate and Its Implications for Personality Research. V. Benet-Martinez, Cross-Cultural Personality Research: Conceptual and Methodological Issues. S. Vazire, S.D. Gosling, A.S. Dickey, S.J. Schapiro, Measuring Personality in Nonhuman Animals. Part 2. Methods for Assessing Personality at Different Levels of Analysis. K.H. Craik, Taxonomies, Trends, and Integrations. D.L. Paulhus, S. Vazire, The Self-Report Method. L.J. Simms, D. Watson, The Construct Validation Approach to Personality Scale Construction. R.R. McCrae, A. Weiss, Observer Ratings of Personality. R.M. Furr, D.C. Funder, Behavior Observation. B.A. Woike, Content Coding of Open-Ended Responses. A.V. Song, D.K. Simonton, Personality Assessment at a Distance. O.C. Schultheiss, J.S. Pang, Measuring Implicit Motives. M.D. Robinson, Lives Lived in Milliseconds: Using Cognitive Methods in Personality Research. J.S. Beer, M.V. Lombardo, Patient and Neuroimaging Methodologies. L.M. Diamond, K. Otter-Henderson, Physiological Measures. R.P. Ebstein, R. Bachner-Melman, S. Israel, L. Nemanov, I. Gritsenko, The Human Genome Project and Personality: What We Can Learn about Our Inner and Outer Selves through Our Genes. Part 3. Analyzing and Interpreting Personality Data. J. Morizot, A.T. Ainsworth, S.P. Reise, Toward Modern Psychometrics: Application of Item Response Theory Models in Personality Research. K. Lee, M.C. Ashton, Factor Analysis in Personality Research. R.H. Hoyle, Applications of Structural Equation Modeling in Personality Research. O.P. John, C.J. Soto, The Importance of Being Valid: Reliability and the Process of Construct Validation. D.J. Ozer, Evaluating Effect Size in Personality Research. J.B. Nezlek, Multilevel Modeling in Personality Research. W. Fleeson, Studying Personality Processes: Explaining Change in Between-persons Longitudinal and Within-Person Multilevel Models. D.K. Mroczek, The Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Personality Research. J.W. Grice, Person-Centered Structural Analyses. S.G. West, L.S. Aiken, W. Wu, A.B. Taylor, Multiple Regression: Applications of the Basics and Beyond in Personality Research. W.F. Chaplin, Moderator and Mediator Models in Personality Research: A Basic Introduction. Y. Shoda, Computational Modeling of Personality as a Dynamical System. B.W. Roberts, N.R. Kuncel, W. Viechtbauer, T. Bogg, Meta-Analysis in Personality Psychology: A Primer. R.W. Robins, J.L. Tracy, J.W. Sherman, What Kinds of Methods Do Personality Psychologists Use? A Survey of Journal Editors and Editorial Board Members.
TL;DR: This article reviewed findings on the structure of temperament, its relation to the Big Five traits of personality, and its links to development and psychopathology, and discussed the relation of temperament to conscience, empathy, aggression, and the development of behavior problems.
Abstract: Understanding temperament is central to our understanding of development, and temperament constructs are linked to individual differences in both personality and underlying neural function. In this article, I review findings on the structure of temperament, its relation to the Big Five traits of personality, and its links to development and psychopathology. In addition, I discuss the relation of temperament to conscience, empathy, aggression, and the development of behavior problems, and describe the relation between effortful control and neural networks of executive attention. Finally, I present research on training executive attention.
TL;DR: The model and assessment instrument that emerged from the research shows how externalizing phenomena are organized hierarchically and cover a wide range of individual differences.
Abstract: Antisocial behavior, substance use, and impulsive and aggressive personality traits often co-occur, forming a coherent spectrum of personality and psychopathology. In the current research, the authors developed a novel quantitative model of this spectrum. Over 3 waves of iterative data collection, 1,787 adult participants selected to represent a range across the externalizing spectrum provided extensive data about specific externalizing behaviors. Statistical methods such as item response theory and semiparametric factor analysis were used to model these data. The model and assessment instrument that emerged from the research shows how externalizing phenomena are organized hierarchically and cover a wide range of individual differences. The authors discuss the utility of this model for framing research on the correlates and the etiology of externalizing phenomena.
TL;DR: In this article, a meta-analysis of 44 effect sizes based on the responses of 7898 participants found that higher emotional intelligence was associated with better health, with a weighted average association of r =.29 with mental health, r = 1.31 with psychosomatic health, and r = 0.22 with physical health.
TL;DR: This chapter reviews recent personality disorder research, focusing on three major domains: assessment, comorbidity, and stability, and finds a new model for assessing PD-and perhaps all psychopathology-emerges from integrating these interrelated reconceptualizations.
Abstract: This chapter reviews recent (2000–2005) personality disorder (PD) research, focusing on three major domains: assessment, comorbidity, and stability. (a) Substantial evidence has accrued favoring dimensional over categorical conceptualization of PD, and the five-factor model of personality is prominent as an integrating framework. Future directions include assessing dysfunction separately from traits and learning to utilize collateral information. (b) To address the pervasiveness and extent of comorbidity, researchers have begun to move beyond studying overlapping pairs or small sets of disorders and are developing broader, more integrated common-factor models that cross the Axis I–Axis II boundary. (c) Studies of PD stability have converged on the finding that PD features include both more acute, dysfunctional behaviors that resolve in relatively short periods, and maladaptive temperamental traits that are relatively more stable—similar to normal-range personality traits—with increasing stability ...
TL;DR: Good quality relationships across childhood, adolescence and adulthood appear especially important for adult psychological well being in the context of childhood abuse.
TL;DR: How the brain generates this pervasive optimism bias was related specifically to enhanced activation in the amygdala and in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex when imagining positive future events relative to negative ones, suggesting a key role for areas involved in monitoring emotional salience in mediating the optimism bias.
Abstract: The neural basis of depression — often characterized by a pessimism bias — has been widely studied. The neuroscience of optimism, however, is new. We are an incorrigibly optimistic species, expecting positive outcomes even when there is no basis for such expectations. For example, we expect to live longer and be healthier than average, and we underestimate our chances of being in a car accident and getting divorced. A combination of brain imaging and behavioural studies in healthy volunteers provides evidence for the neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. Interestingly, the activity of brain regions that are known to malfunction in depression also predict the optimism bias. Optimism for the future is a ubiquitous human trait. In an fMRI study, Phelps and colleagues link this tendency to activity in amygdala and rostral anterior cingulate -- brain areas whose function may be disrupted in depression. Activation in these areas is higher when subjects imagine positive rather than negative future events, and activity levels also correlate with individual personality tendencies towards optimism. Humans expect positive events in the future even when there is no evidence to support such expectations. For example, people expect to live longer and be healthier than average1, they underestimate their likelihood of getting a divorce1, and overestimate their prospects for success on the job market2. We examined how the brain generates this pervasive optimism bias. Here we report that this tendency was related specifically to enhanced activation in the amygdala and in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex when imagining positive future events relative to negative ones, suggesting a key role for areas involved in monitoring emotional salience in mediating the optimism bias. These are the same regions that show irregularities in depression3, which has been related to pessimism4. Across individuals, activity in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex was correlated with trait optimism. The current study highlights how the brain may generate the tendency to engage in the projection of positive future events, suggesting that the effective integration and regulation of emotional and autobiographical information supports the projection of positive future events in healthy individuals, and is related to optimism.
TL;DR: The use of personality tests in high-stakes selection environments was discussed in a panel discussion held at the 2004 SIOP conference as discussed by the authors, where five former journal editors from Personnel Psychology and the Journal of Applied Psychology (2 primary outlets for such research) came to the conclusion that faking on self-report personality tests cannot be avoided and perhaps is not the issue.
Abstract: Although long thought to be unrelated to job performance, research in the early 1990s provided evidence that personality can predict job performance. Accompanying this research was a resurgence of interest in the use of personality tests in high-stakes selection environments. Yet there are numerous potential problems associated with the current operational use of personality. As such, 5 former journal editors from Personnel Psychology and the Journal of Applied Psychology (2 primary outlets for such research), who have collectively reviewed over 7,000 manuscripts and who have no vested interest in personality testing, reconsider the research on the use of personality tests in environments where important selection decisions are made. Their comments are based on a panel discussion held at the 2004 SIOP conference. Collectively, they come to several conclusions. First, faking on self-report personality tests cannot be avoided and perhaps is not the issue; the issue is the very low validity of personality tests for predicting job performance. Second, as such, using published self-report personality tests in selection contexts should be reconsidered. Third, personality constructs may have value for employee selection, but future research should focus on finding alternatives to self-report personality measures.
TL;DR: Overall, prosocial motivation is linked to Agreeableness as a dimension of personality, proximal prosocial cognition and motives, and helping behavior across a range of situations and victims.
Abstract: This research program explored links among prosocial motives, empathy, and helping behavior. Preliminary work found significant relations among components of self-reported empathy and personality (N = 223). In Study 1, the authors examined the generality of prosocial behavior across situations and group memberships of victims (N = 622). In Study 2, empathic focus and the victim's outgroup status were experimentally manipulated (N = 87). Study 3 (N = 245) replicated and extended Study 2 by collecting measures of prosocial emotions before helping. In Study 4 (N = 244), empathic focus and cost of helping as predictors of helping behavior were experimentally manipulated. Overall, prosocial motivation is linked to (a) Agreeableness as a dimension of personality, (b) proximal prosocial cognition and motives, and (c) helping behavior across a range of situations and victims. In persons low in prosocial motivation, when costs of helping are high, efforts to induce empathy situationally can undermine prosocial behavior.
TL;DR: In this article, a comprehensive theoretical model of personality structure was proposed with the Big One at the highest level of the hierarchy. But, the model was based on a five-factor model.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors comprehensively summarize previously published meta-analyses on (a) the optimal and unit-weighted multiple correlations between the Big Five personality dimensions and behaviors in organizations, including job performance; (b) generalizable bivariate relationships of Conscientiousness and its facets (e.g., achievement orientation, dependability, cautiousness) with job performance constructs; (c) the validity of compound personality measures; and (d) incremental validity of personality measures over cognitive ability.
Abstract: Personality constructs have been demonstrated to be useful for explaining and predicting attitudes, behaviors, performance, and outcomes in organizational settings. Many professionally developed measures of personality constructs display useful levels of criterion-related validity for job performance and its facets. In this response to Morgeson et al. (2007), we comprehensively summarize previously published meta-analyses on (a) the optimal and unit-weighted multiple correlations between the Big Five personality dimensions and behaviors in organizations, including job performance; (b) generalizable bivariate relationships of Conscientiousness and its facets (e.g., achievement orientation, dependability, cautiousness) with job performance constructs; (c) the validity of compound personality measures; and (d) the incremental validity of personality measures over cognitive ability. Hundreds of primary studies and dozens of meta-analyses conducted and published since the mid 1980s indicate strong support for using personality measures in staffing decisions. Moreover, there is little evidence that response distortion among job applicants ruins the psychometric properties, including criterion-related validity, of personality measures. We also provide a brief evaluation of the merits of alternatives that have been offered in place of traditional self-report personality measures for organizational decision making. Given the cumulative data, writing off the whole domain of individual differences in personality or all self-report measures of personality from personnel selection and organizational decision making is counterproductive for the science and practice of I-O psychology.
TL;DR: A general model of heritable personality differences is proposed that conceptualises intelligence as fitness components and personality traits as individual reaction norms of genotypes across environments, with different fitness consequences in different environmental niches.
Abstract: Genetic influences on personality differences are ubiquitous, but their nature is not well understood. A theoretical framework might help, and can be provided by evolutionary genetics. We assess three evolutionary genetic mechanisms that could explain genetic variance in personality differences: selective neutrality, mutation-selection balance, and balancing selection. Based on evolutionary genetic theory and empirical results from behaviour genetics and personality psychology, we conclude that selective neutrality is largely irrelevant, that mutation-selection balance seems best at explaining genetic variance in intelligence, and that balancing selection by environmental heterogeneity seems best at explaining genetic variance in personality traits. We propose a general model of heritable personality differences that conceptualises intelligence as fitness components and personality traits as individual reaction norms of genotypes across environments, with different fitness consequences in different environmental niches. We also discuss the place of mental health in the model. This evolutionary genetic framework highlights the role of gene-environment interactions in the study of personality, yields new insight into the person-situation-debate and the structure of personality, and has practical implications for both quantitative and molecular genetic studies of personality. Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TL;DR: Analysis revealed that personality traits had the expected impact on user perceptions, and Surprisingly, Innovativeness was negatively related to usefulness.