Abstract: Applying the evolutionary theory of personality, this study proposed and tested the hypotheses that each of the Big Five personality characteristics (Extroversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Openness or Intellect) predict two criteria of expatriate success: (a) desire to prematurely terminate the expatriate assignment, and (b) supervisor-rated performance on the expatriate assignment. The participants were 143 expatriate employees (and 94 supervisors) from a U.S.-based information technology company. Results from correlation and regression analyses suggest that Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability are negatively related to whether expatriates desire to terminate their assignment. Conscientiousness is positively related to the supervisor-rated performance on the expatriate assignment. Practical implications for expatriate management (e.g., self-selection) are given.

Abstract: Do personality traits predict the goals a person chooses to pursue in life? The present study examined the relation between personality traits and major life goals, which are broad, far-reaching agendas for important life domains (N = 672). The authors used both theoretical and empirical procedures to organize a set of life goals into thematic content clusters (economic, aesthetic, social, relationship, political, hedonistic, religious); the resulting goal clusters constitute a preliminary taxonomy of motive units based on the fundamental value domains identified in the literature. The authors examined gender differences on each goal cluster and related the goal clusters to individual differences in the Big Five and narcissism. High extraversion and low agreeableness (e.g., narcissism) was the most common profile associated with major life goals, and neuroticism was essentially unrelated to the importance of major life goals. Findings confirmed expectations derived from previous research and from Socioana...

Abstract: Although developmental theories and popular accounts suggest that midlife is a time of turmoil and change, longitudinal studies of personality traits have generally found stability of rank order and little or no change in mean levels. Using data from 2,274 men and women in their 40s retested after 6 to 9 years, the present study examined two hypotheses: (a) that retest correlations should be no higher than about .60 and (b) that there should be small decreases in Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness, and small increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. The study also explored the effects of recalled life events on subsequent personality scores. Results did not support the first hypothesis; uncorrected retest correlations uniformly exceeded .60. This was true for all personality traits, including facets of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness not previously included in longitudinal studies. The hypothesized decreases in Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness were found, but Conscientiousness showed a small decrease instead of the predicted increase. Life events in general showed very little influence on the levels of personality traits, although some effects were seen for changes in job and marital status that warrant further research.

Abstract: The serotonin transporter (5-HTT) regulates serotonergic neurotransmission and is thought to influence emotion. A 5-HTT-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) has two common variants, short (s) and long (l). We previously found population and within-family associations between the lower-expressing s allele and neuroticism, a trait related to anxiety, hostility, and depression, on a standard measure (the NEO Personality Inventory, Revised [NEO-PI-R]) in a primarily male population (n=505), and that the s allele was dominant. We investigated this association in a new sample (n=397, 84% female, primarily sib-pairs). The results robustly replicated the 5-HTTLPR neuroticism association, and the dominance of the s allele. Combined data from the two studies (n=902) showed a highly significant association between the s allele and higher NEO Neuroticism both across individuals and within families. Association between genotype and a related measure, Anxiety on the 16PF inventory, was replicated in the new population and within families in the combined sample. Association to another trait, estimated TPQ Harm Avoidance, was not replicated in the new sample but found only within the combined sibship group. Another association found in our original study, between the s allele and lower scores on NEO-PI-R Agreeableness, was also replicated and was more robust in the current and the combined samples. Associations between the functional 5-HTTLPR polymorphism were similar in women and men. These results help to define specific personality features reproducibly associated with 5-HTTLPR genotype. Such associations were strongest for traits defined by the NEO, enhancing the attractiveness of the five-factor personality model in genetic research on complex behavioral dimensions. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:202–216, 2000. Published 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Abstract: Three converging, multimethod studies examined personality and emotional processes. Study 1 (N = 321) examined links among sex, personality, and expectations for emotional events. In Study 2, participants (N = 468) described contents of emotionally evocative slides to a partner (either a friend or a stranger). Participants reported their emotional experience, efforts to control emotion, and the anticipated reactions of their partners. Structural modeling of self-report data and analyses of observational data indicated that Agreeableness and sex were significant predictors of emotional experience and of efforts to control emotion. Study 3 (N = 68) replicated and extended the two previous studies using psychophysiological methods to examine responses to positively and negatively charged emotional materials. Outcomes are discussed in terms of processes underlying the five-factor structural dimension of Agreeableness and links to emotional self-regulation.

Abstract: The first € price and the £ and $ price are net prices, subject to local VAT. Prices indicated with * include VAT for books; the €(D) includes 7% for Germany, the €(A) includes 10% for Austria. Prices indicated with ** include VAT for electronic products; 19% for Germany, 20% for Austria. All prices exclusive of carriage charges. Prices and other details are subject to change without notice. All errors and omissions excepted. J. Mowen The 3M Model of Motivation and Personality

Abstract: Costa and McCrae maintain that personality is basically stable after age 30. Other researchers, however, find that personality tends to change over time and that personality stability depends on the stability of the social environment and the instruments used to test personality stability and change. A meta-analysis of 206 personality stability coefficients reported in the literature fails to support personality stability theory. Personality tends to be less stable if the retest interval is large, if age at first measurement is low or over 50, and if a change in individual aspects of personality rather than overall personality is measured. Moreover, studies assessing any of the big five NEO personality traits and studies by Costa, McCrae, and colleagues tend to find higher personality stability coefficients. It is suggested that personality stability and change cannot be studied meaningfully without simultaneously examining stability and change in the social environment.

Abstract: The structure of trait anger was tested in a study of 24 self-report scales. Exploratory factor analyses in an undergraduate sample (N= 457) yielded a two-factor model (comprising cynicism and aggression) and a three-factor model (representing angry emotions, aggressive behaviors, and cynicism). Subsequent evaluations, including confirmatory factor analyses, indicated that the three-factor model provided the best characterization of the trait anger domain. The three-factor solution was consistent with an ‘ABC’ conceptualization of trait anger, consisting of the dimensions of affect, behavior, and cognition. The three factors showed strikingly different associations with the Big Five personality traits. Angry Affect was most strongly related to Neuroticism, whereas Behavioral Aggression was associated with low Agreeableness. Cynical Cognition represented a blend of neurotic and disagreeable characteristics. Modest mean-level differences were observed between the genders for each factor.

Abstract: Meta-analysis was used to cumulate reliabilities of personality scale scores. A total of 848 coefficients of stability and 1,359 internal consistency reliabilities across the Big Five factors of personality were examined. The frequency-weighted mean coefficients of stability were .75 (SD = .10, K = 221), .76 (SD = .12, K = 176), .71 (SD = .13, K = 139), .69 (SD = .14, K = 119), and .72 (SD = .13, K = 193) for Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, respectively. The corresponding internal consistency reliabilities were .78 (SD = .11, K = 370), .78 (SD = .09, K = 307), .73 (SD = .12, K = 251), .75 (SD = .11, K = 123), and .78 (SD = .10, K = 307). Sample-size-weighted means also were computed. The dimension of personality being rated does not appear to strongly moderate either the internal consistency or the testretest reliabilities. Implications for personality assessment are discussed.

Abstract: A. Eliasz, S.E. Hampson, B. de Raad, Editors Preface. M. W. Eysenck, Cognitive Approaches to Trait Anxiety. J. Strealau, B. Zawadzki, The Functional Significance of Temperament Empirically Tested: Data Based on Hypotheses Derived from the Regulative Theory of Temperament. J. Hettama, Personality and Information Processing: Biological Foundations of Thought and Action. B. Szymura, E. Necka, Three Superfactors of Personality and Three Aspects of Attention. P.L. Ackerman, Personality, Trait Complexes, and Adult Intelligence. N. Brody, Phenotypes and Genotypes of Personality and Intelligence: Similarities and Differences. Timothy Church, Marcia S. Katigbak, Personality Structure Across Cultures: Indigenous and Cross-cultural Perspectives, B. de Raad, Situations that Matter to Personality.

Abstract: Four personality traits--Mastery Motivation, Academic Conscientiousness, Surgent Engagement, and Agreeableness--were measured in a community sample of 205 children (ages 8-12), who were followed up 10 years later. Childhood personality was examined in relation to concurrent and longitudinal adaptation in 3 domains--academic achievement, rule-abiding versus antisocial conduct, and peer social competence. The childhood personality traits evidenced robust, conceptually coherent relationships with adaptation, both concurrently and across time. Childhood personality added to the prediction of later adaptation, beyond childhood IQ and earlier adaptation in the same domain. Few sex differences were obtained in the relationships between childhood personality and adaptation. The present results document both continuity and discontinuity in the links between childhood personality and adaptation across childhood into late adolescence.

Abstract: Personality and culture studies have largely disappeared since the 1960s, but progress in trait psychology makes their revival feasible. A review of evidence on the consensual validity, longitudinal stability, heritability, and structure of personality traits suggests new approaches to old issues. At the transcultural level, claims of universality are addressed. At the intercultural level, associations are sought between mean levels of personality traits and corresponding culture-level variables; cultural institutions may be either causes or effects of personality. At the intracultural level, culture-specific manifestations of universal traits are documented. The new discipline of personality traits and culture draws on multiple methodologies to understand human nature in social context.

Abstract: The suitability of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) to assess adolescents' personality traits was investigated in an unselected heterogeneous sample of 469 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. They were further administered the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC) to allow an examination of convergent and discriminant validity. The adult NEO PI-R factor structure proved to be highly replicable in the sample of adolescents, with all facet scales primarily loading on the expected factors, independent of the age group. Domain and facet internal consistency coefficients were comparable to those obtained in adult samples, with less than 12% of the items showing corrected item-facet correlations below absolute value .20. Although, in general, adolescents reported few difficulties with the comprehensibility of the items, they tend to report more problems with the Openness to Ideas (05) and Openness to Values (06) items. Correlations between NEO PI-R and HiPIC scales underscored the convergent and discriminant validity of the NEO facets and HiPIC scales. It was concluded that the NEO PI-R in its present form is useful for assessing adolescents' traits at the primary level, but additional research is necessary to infer the most appropriate facet level structure.

Abstract: Human personality and behavior genetic studies have resulted in a growing consensus that five heritable factors account for most variance in human personality. Prior research showed that chimpanzee personality is composed of a dominance-related factor and five human-like factors—Surgency, Dependability, Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, and Openness. Genetic, shared zoo, and nonshared environmental variance components of the six factors were estimated by regressing squared phenotypic differences of all possible pairs of chimpanzees onto 1 − Rij, where Rij equals the degree of relationship and a variable indicating whether the pair was housed in the same zoo. Dominance showed significant narrow-sense heritability. Shared zoo effects accounted for only a negligible proportion of the variance for all factors.

Abstract: The NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) was given to 1025 British subjects as part of three independent research studies. Data from these studies were pooled and subjected to item-level analyses. Using standard scoring criteria from the measure provisional British norms were produced which were broadly equivalent to those obtained in the USA. The individual subscales showed good internal consistency. However, the item-level principal components analysis using varimax and oblique rotation and confirmatory factor analysis revealed that only the Neuroticism, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness traits were coherently represented in the main factors derived by the analysis. Openness and Extraversion factors did not show such stability or consistency. It is argued that as a result of these difficulties, thoughtlessly embracing the NEO-FFI as a quick and efficient instrument for measuring the ‘Big Five’ personality traits is perhaps premature, as the instrument requires modification and improvement before it can truly be regarded as measuring five independent personality traits.

Abstract: Female dyads were videotaped while they took part in an initial social interaction. Participants subsequently evaluated their encounter along several qualitative dimensions. Independent observers also rated the interactions, and a variety of behaviors were coded from the videotapes. Dyad-level analyses revealed that agreeableness, openness, and extraversion predicted observers’ evaluations of interaction quality. Individual-level analyses further indicated that agreeableness and extraversion predicted participants’ perceptions of interaction quality. Links between personality and social behavior were revealed as well. Variations in visual attention and body position accounted for the relations found between dyads’ levels of agreeableness and independent observers’ evaluations of interaction quality. Visual attention further mediated the relation revealed between openness and observers’ ratings of quality. This work reveals that self-reports of personality can reliably predict the course of social interact...

Abstract: Since Lesch and colleagues reported an association between anxiety-related traits (Neuroticism) and a functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene regulatory region (5-HTTLPR), there have been several reports on 5-HTTLPR and personality traits with both positive and negative results. The present study was a further attempt to replicate the original findings of Lesch et al. in a population of well-defined normal healthy subjects. In addition, a variable number tandem repeat polymorphism in the second intron was included in this study because it has recently been shown to act as a transcriptional regulator. Personality traits were evaluated in 186 unrelated normal subjects by the NEO Five Factor Inventory. The most important and novel finding of this study was a significant association of mean Neuroticism scores with the short allele of 5-HTTLPR in male subjects (t = 2.4, P = 0.018). We were thus able to replicate the finding of Lesch et al. of an association between serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) and Neuroticism, but only in a male population. We also found a significant effect of gender on mean scores of Neuroticism [F = 3.9, degrees of freedom (df) = 1, 180, P = 0.05] and Agreeableness (F = 6.8, df = 1, 180, P = 0.01), but no significant effect of 5-HTTLPR genotype on Neuroticism (F = 0.87, df= 2, 180, P = 0.42) or Agreeableness (F = 0.35, df = 2, 180, P = 0.7). These findings suggest that gender differences exist in contribution of genetic factors to behavioural phenotypes. They may also explain the inconsistencies in previous reports on association of Neuroticism with 5-HTTLPR from studies using different proportions of male and female subjects.

Abstract: While I/0 psychologists have traditionally viewed personality testing as contributing little to the prediction of job performance, recent development of the `big five' personality constructs has shown that personality tests can be valid predictors of performance and may add significant incremental validity to tests of cognitive ability. The generality of these higher-order traits, however, may limit their usefulness in a selection setting. Correlational data is presented from a sample of police recruits (n=284) who completed the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised early in their basic training. Both higher- and middle-order traits were found to be linked to both broad and narrow performance outcomes. Conscientiousness added incremental validity to cognitive testing. The assessment of higher-order and middle-order personality traits for personnel selection is discussed. During the past three decades the view that personality is a poor predictor of job performance has become established among many occupational psychologists in New Zealand. Early reviews (Ghiselli & Barthol, 1953; Guion & Gottier, 1965; and Mischel, 1968) that helped shape this gloomy evaluation may have been overly pessimistic in their conclusions. Many criticisms raised by early personality test reviews (eg. Mischel, 1968) have been addressed and shown to be less significant than previously thought, or have resulted in improved methodology (Hogan & Nicholson, 1988). One such improvement is the development of personality inventories designed to measure qualities among typical individuals instead of psychopathology among the deviant or mentally disordered. Guion and Gottier (1965) found that tests developed for specific purposes were more predictive of performance than tests scored with standardised algorithms. Personality tests designed to measure "normal" behavioural traits are likely to improve the development of logical links between job requirements, personality measurement, and performance (Rosse, Miller, & Barnes, 1991). During the last decade two developments have lead some researchers to re-evaluate the potential validity of personality tests when selecting personnel. First, there is increasing agreement among personality theorists and researchers alike that personality can be organised and classified within a `big five' structural framework, also labelled the five-factor model (Norman, 1963). This has provided a useful taxonomy in which to identify consistent and meaningful relationships between personality traits and performance criteria for different occupations. Secondly, the techniques of meta-analysis, which Barrett (1992) coined the first wonder of personnel psychology, have recently been applied to new reviews of personality and job performance. The five-factor model of personality is based upon peer ratings using ordinary trait vocabulary (Digman, 1990; Norman, 1963). While a number of researchers have claimed to successfully identify a larger number of major personality traits, these five traits or dimensions have proved to be replicable over different theoretical frameworks, using different instruments, and with ratings obtained from different sources, a variety of samples, and with a high degree of generality (Barrick & Mount, 1991; Conn & Ramanaiah, 1990; Costa & McCrae, 1990; Goldberg, 1990). These `big five' have traditionally been labelled Neuroticism (vs. emotional stability), Extraversion (or surgency), Openness to experience (alternatively viewed as culture or intellect), Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness (or dependability). In brief, Neuroticism is the inclination towards expressing anxiety, anger, depression, and other negative affects. Extraversion is marked by sociability, energy, and a buoyant frame of mind. Openness is characterised by objectivity, need for variety, and curiosity. Agreeableness is a tendency towards altruism, trust, and sympathy, and Conscientiousness is characterised by self-discipline, order, reliability, and foresight. …

Abstract: In this article, we examine universal and culture-specific aspects of the Five-Factor Model measured with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. First, our purpose was to test the replicability of the original (North American) factor structure in the Estonian-speaking population. The translation was administered to 711 Estonian men and women aged 18 to 82. When the 30 facet scales were factored, parallel analysis suggested that five components should be retained. In the interpersonal plane defined by Extraversion and Agreeableness factors, Estonian facets formed a semicircular array that resembled the American pattern at a distance of about 21°. After these axes were aligned by Procrustes rotation, all five factor congruences exceeded 0.96, providing further evidence that the underlying five-factor structure of the personality instrument is replicable in languages and cultures which differ substantially from those in which it was originally identified. Second, we tested the hypothesis that the orientation of varimax axes in the interpersonal plane is associated with the culture's degree of individualism–collectivism. We calculated the angular degree of difference between E and A factors in the American sample and in 21 other available samples, correlated it with individualism ratings, and found mixed support for the hypothesis, suggesting that continued research on this issue is merited. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract: The current study had two goals. The first goal was to test the mediational role of young adult personality in the relation between parental alcoholism and young adult alcoholism. The second was to examine the associations between personality and alcohol use motives and reasons to limit drinking in order to explore possible mechanisms by which personality may influence alcohol abuse/dependence. Multilevel modeling techniques were used to analyze data obtained from a community sample of young adult children of alcoholics and demographically matched controls. Results revealed that young adult neuroticism and agreeableness each, in part, mediated the effect of parental alcoholism on young adult alcoholism. Moreover, individuals high in neuroticism reported stronger coping motives to use alcohol, individuals low in agreeableness reported stronger coping motives and weaker upbringing reasons to limit drinking, and individuals low in conscientiousness reported stronger coping and enhancement motives to use alcohol, and weaker performance reasons to limit drinking.

Abstract: Studies in the United States and Europe have investigated the relationship of the Five- Factor Model of personality to effectiveness for domestic managers. This article reports on the relationship of the Five-Factor Model of personality to job performance for a group of Middle Eastern expatriate managers. Job performance ratings from the expatriate’s host- and home-country bosses indicate that agreeableness and conscientiousness were related to home-country ratings of job performance, but not host-country ratings.

Abstract: Meta-analysis of studies assessing the relation between interpersonal dependency test scores and five-factor model (FFM) domain scores revealed that dependency scores are positively correlated with FFM Neuroticism and Agreeableness scores and negatively correlated with FFM Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness scores. The magnitudes of these correlations were all in the small-to-moderate range, and comparable score intercorrelations were obtained when participants' dependency levels were assessed by means of a trait dependency questionnaire, dependent personality disorder questionnaire, or dependent personality disorder interview. These findings have implications for researchers' efforts to deconstruct dependency into its basic trait elements and for the dimensional approaches to personality disorders being considered for future versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.