Opening Up Openness: A Theoretical Sort Following Critical Incidents Methodology and a Meta-Analytic Investigation of the Trait Family Measures

Existing taxonomies of Openness's facet structure have produced widely divergent results, and there is limited comprehensive empirical evidence about how Openness-related scales on existing personality inventories align within the 5-factor framework. In Study 1, we used a critical incidents sorting methodology to identify 11 categories of Openness measures; in Study 2, we meta-analyzed the relationships of these categories with global markers of the Big Five traits (utilizing data from 106 samples with a total sample size of N = 35,886). Our results identified 4 true facets of Openness: aestheticism, openness to sensations, nontraditionalism, and introspection. Measures of these facets were unadulterated by variance from other Big Five traits. Many traits frequently conceptualized as facets of Openness (e.g., innovation/creativity, variety-seeking, and tolerance) emerged as trait compounds that, although related to Openness, are also dependent on other Big Five traits. We discuss how Openness should be conceptualized, measured, and studied in light of the empirically based, refined taxonomy emerging from this research.     

Generativity,the Big Five,and Psychosocial Adaptation in Midlife Adults

ABSTRACT The study examines the extent to which 2 sets of personality variables—(1) dispositional traits (and their facets) within the Big Five taxonomy and (2) the adult developmental construct of generativity—are associated with psychosocial adaptation in midlife adults (N=128), conceived as the combination of individual well‐being and positive societal involvements. Generativity is conceived as an adult's concern for and commitment to promoting the well‐being of future generations. Multiple regression analyses showed that dispositional traits were more strongly associated with individual well‐being than was generativity, but generativity was much more strongly associated with positive societal engagement than were the traits. Correlations between dispositional traits and generativity revealed that highly generative adults were elevated on most of the facets of Extraversion and Openness. For the other 3 traits, generativity was positively related to facets of competence, achievement striving, dutifulness, altruism, and trust and negatively related to vulnerability, anxiety, depressiveness, and modesty.     

Personality,Religion, and Politics: An Investigation in 33 Countries

The relations of HEXACO personality factors and religiosity with political orientation were examined in responses collected online from participants in 33 countries (N = 141 492). Endorsement of a right‐wing political orientation was negatively associated with Honesty‐Humility and Openness to Experience and positively associated with religiosity. The strength of these associations varied widely across countries, such that the religiosity–politics correlations were stronger in more religious countries, whereas the personality–politics correlations were stronger in more developed countries. We also investigated the utility of the narrower traits (i.e. facets) that define the HEXACO factors. The Altruism facet (interstitially located between the Honesty‐Humility, Agreeableness, and Emotionality axes) was negatively associated with right‐wing political orientation, but religiosity was found to suppress this relationship, especially in religious countries. In addition to Altruism, the Greed Avoidance and Modesty facets of the Honesty‐Humility factor and the Unconventionality and Aesthetic Appreciation facets of the Openness to Experience factor were also negatively associated with right‐wing political orientation. We discuss the utility of examining facet‐level personality traits, along with religiosity, in research on the individual difference correlates of political orientation. Copyright © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Associations between Birth Order and Personality Traits: Evidence from Self-Reports and Observer Ratings

Sulloway (1996) proposed that personality traits developed in childhood mediate the association of birth order with scientific radicalism. Birth-order effects on traits within the five-factor model of personality were examined in three studies. Self-reports on brief measures of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness in a national sample (N= 9664) were unrelated to birth order. Self-reports on the 30 facet scales of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) in an adult sample (N= 612) showed only small effects for Altruism and Tender-Mindedness. Peer ratings (N= 166) supported the hypotheses that laterborn children would be higher in facets of Openness and Agreeableness, but spouse ratings (N= 88) did not replicate those findings. Birth order may have subtle effects on perceived personality, but it is unlikely that this effect mediates associations with scientific radicalism.     

Openness to Experience,Intellect, and Cognitive Ability

An instrument designed to separate 2 midlevel traits within each of the Big Five (the Big Five Aspect Scales [BFAS]) was used to clarify the relation of personality to cognitive ability. The BFAS measures Openness to Experience and Intellect as separate (although related) traits, and refers to the broader Big Five trait as Openness/Intellect. In 2 samples (N = 125 and 189), Intellect was independently associated with general intelligence (g) and with verbal and nonverbal intelligence about equally. Openness was independently associated only with verbal intelligence. Implications of these findings are discussed for the empirical and conceptual relations of intelligence to personality and for the mechanisms potentially underlying both Openness/Intellect and cognitive ability.     

Personality, acculturation, and psychosocial adjustment of Chinese international students in Germany

The effect of personality traits and acculturation variables on crosscultural adjustment were investigated in 139 Chinese students in Germany (52% girls; M age = 25.3 yr., SD = 2.9). Participants were surveyed by house visits to their dormitories. Several scales were administered: (a) Big Five Inventory; (b) Vancouver Index of Acculturation; (c) sociocultural adjustment, general and academic; and (d) psychological adjustment, i.e., depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Results showed that Neuroticism and Openness were two shared predictors of sociocultural adjustment. Agreeableness and mainstream acculturation were only related to general adjustment, while Conscientiousness was only related to academic adjustment. All facets of psychological adjustment were related to Neuroticism and Consciousness, while positive components (self-esteem and life satisfaction) were also related to Extraversion and Openness. No influence of heritage acculturation was found. The findings are discussed in light of measurement issues and the shared and unique individual predictors of the different facets of adjustment.     

Vocational interests and Big Five traits as predictors of job instability

Although empirical research on this topic is scarce, personality traits and vocational interests have repeatedly been named as potential individual level predictors of job change. Using a long-term cohort study (N = 291), we examined RIASEC interest profiles and Big Five personality scores at the beginning of the professional career as predictors of subsequent job changes, both internal as well as external, over the next 15 years. Overall, results provide additional evidence for an individual difference perspective on job instability, although our findings vary across instability variables. Consistent with previous research, external job changes in particular related to individual differences. Specifically, scores on Investigative, Artistic, Enterprising and Conventional scales showed to be the most important interest related predictors. With regard to Big Five personality traits, strongest associations were found with Agreeableness and Openness. In addition, facet level analyses proved to be useful to further clarify linkages between personality and job instability.     

The young and the restless: Examining the relationships between age,emerging adulthood variables,and the Dark Triad

The Dark Triad is a set of correlated personality variables (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) that are related to myriad behaviors. Myriad studies have been conducted to test the relations between the Dark Triad and other personality variables (e.g., the Big 5); however, the developmental correlates have been understudied. In the current study, we examined how markers of emerging adulthood and age predict the Dark Triad traits using a cross-sectional design. Participants (N = 442) of varying ages (M age = 32.99, range = 18–74) completed Dark Triad measures and a validated questionnaire used to assess the degree to which participants believe they have successfully navigated through various facets of emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood facets (e.g., negativity, other-focused, and feeling in-between) correlated with several Dark Triad traits. Additionally, several emerging adulthood facets mediated the relation between age and the Dark Triad traits; i.e., older participants were lower on the Dark Triad traits because of the successful transition through emerging adulthood. Results are discussed in terms of the Theory of Emerging Adulthood (Arnett, 2000).     

Individual values and well-being: The moderating role of personality traits

This study examined the role of values, traits and their interactions for the experience of eudaimonic and hedonic well-being. First wave studies on value and well-being relationships yielded inconsistent results suggesting that these relationships are moderated by other factors, possibly by personality traits. We asked a representative sample of adult Poles (N = 1161) to report on their personality traits (according to five-factor theory), values (conceptualised by Schwartz) and well-being (hedonic and eudaimonic). Results showed, that higher Extraversion, Emotional stability, Intellect, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were related to higher well-being, confirming and expanding claims from personality theory of subjective well-being: stable predispositions are related not only to subjective, but also to eudaimonic well-being. Values expressing Openness to change, Self-transcendence and Conservation were also positively correlated with well-being, while the role of Self-enhancement was unclear. This confirmed that growth needs expressed in Openness to change and Self-transcendence values promote well-being, but also that values expressing deficiency needs can be positively related to well-being, possibly in specific circumstances. Finally, the two levels of personality (traits and values) proved to have a joint relationship to well-being: higher Conscientiousness and Agreeableness enhanced positive relationships of Openness to change and Self-transcendence with some aspects of well-being.     

Taking personality selection bias seriously in animal cognition research: a case study in capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella)

In most experimental work on animal cognition, researchers attempt to control for multiple interacting variables by training subjects prior to testing, allowing subjects to participate voluntarily, and providing subjects with food rewards. However, do such methods encourage selection bias from subjects’ personalities? In this study, we trained eighteen zoo-housed capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) for two experiments, under conditions of positive reinforcement (i.e. food rewards) and free-choice participation. Using a combination of behavioral and rater-based methods, we identified and validated five personality dimensions in these capuchins (Assertiveness, Openness, Neuroticism, Sociability, and Attentiveness). Scores on Openness were positively related to individual differences in monkey task participation, reflecting previous work showing that such individuals are often more active, curious, and willing to engage in testing. We also found a negative relationship between scores on Assertiveness and performance on tasks, which may reflect the trade-offs between speed and accuracy in these animals’ decision-making. Highly Assertive individuals (the most sociable within monkey groups) may also prioritize social interactions over engaging in research. Lastly, monkeys that consistently participated and performed well on both tasks showed significantly higher Openness and lower Assertiveness compared to others, mirroring relationships found between personality, participation, and performance among all participants. Participation and performance during training was clearly biased toward individuals with particular personalities (i.e. high Openness, low Assertiveness). Results are discussed in light of the need for careful interpretation of comparative data on animal cognition and the need for researchers to take personality selection bias more seriously.     

Exploring the Capacity of NEO PI‐R Facets to Predict Job Performance in Two French‐Canadian Samples

The capacity of personality facets to predict contextual performance (i.e., interpersonal facilitation and job dedication), task performance, and global performance was explored by means of two predictive validity field studies. In a preliminary way, Study 1 demonstrated that four personality facets – Self‐Consciousness, Excitement Seeking, Trust, and Competence – were related to at least one job performance dimension in a well‐structured occupation sample. Study 2 revealed that eight personality facets were linked to specific job performance dimensions in a professional occupation sample. Results indicate that a combination of facets is useful for predicting job performance.     

Openness to Experience: Its Lower Level Structure,Measurement, and Cross-Cultural Equivalence

Openness to Experience is an important but relatively poorly understood personality construct. Advances in openness research require further construct clarification as well as establishment of a common framework for conceptualizing and measuring the lower level structure of the construct. In this article, we present data from 3 studies to address this research need. In Study 1, we identify 6 facets of Openness to Experience—intellectual efficiency, ingenuity, curiosity, aesthetics, tolerance, and depth—based on a factor analysis of 36 existing Openness-related scales. In Study 2, we present further validity evidence for the 6-facet structure based on a newly developed measure of Openness. Data from this study also suggest the presence of 2 intermediate-level factors (i.e., aspects) of Openness: intellect and culture. In Study 3, we present a short form of the newly developed measure, retaining items that showed the highest internal consistency and measurement invariance across 3 samples: U.S. undergraduates, Chinese MBA students, and Chinese undergraduates. Together these 3 studies offer a more nuanced understanding of the multifaceted nature of the Openness construct.     

Personality traits,learning stratigies,and performance

The objective of this research is to analyse the relationships between personality traits, learning strategies, and performance. Two multivariate studies (N=139 and N=92) were conducted. In both studies factor analyses of the learning strategies yielded two factors. One factor, labelled, ‘learning discipline’, correlated highly with the Conscientiousness scale and the other factor, labelled, ‘elaboration’, correlated with the Openness of Experience scale. In Study 1, about 17 per cent of the variance in college grades was accounted for by personality scales and learning strategies. In Study 2, learning strategies accounted for about 31 per cent of the variance in college grades. Path analyses showed that the relations between basic personality traits and grades were mediated by the learning strategies.     

Narrow personality traits and organizational attraction: Evidence for the complementary hypothesis

Although the interactionist perspective has been widely studied in organizational attractiveness, there is no research comparing the explanatory power of the complementary and supplementary hypotheses in predicting attraction. The authors test these perspectives in the context of the instrumental-symbolic framework. The authors also examine whether the use of narrow personality facets, such as Trust (under the Big Five trait Agreeableness), Assertiveness (under Extraversion), and Imagination (under Openness to Experience) enhances the prediction of attraction. Job seekers (N = 220) provided self-ratings of personality, ratings of organizational traits, and their level of attraction to a potential future employer. Results supported predictions based on complementarity, suggesting that organizations adopting a recruiting strategy based on similarity in personality may not succeed in attracting their most preferred candidates. The findings also suggested that narrow facets are useful in predicting attraction, providing further evidence for the predictive benefits of narrow personality traits.     

Untangling Intelligence,Psychopathy, Antisocial Personality Disorder,and Conduct Problems: A Meta‐analytic Review

Substantial research has investigated the association between intelligence and psychopathic traits. The findings to date have been inconsistent and have not always considered the multidimensional nature of psychopathic traits. Moreover, there has been a tendency to confuse psychopathy with other closely related, clinically significant disorders. The current study represents a meta‐analysis conducted to evaluate the direction and magnitude of the association of intelligence with global psychopathy, as well as its factors and facets, and related disorders (i.e. antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder). Our analyses revealed a small, significant, negative relationship between intelligence and total psychopathy (r = ?.07, p = .001). Analysis of factors and facets found differential associations, including both significant positive (e.g. interpersonal facet) and negative (e.g. affective facet) associations, further affirming that psychopathy is a multidimensional construct. Additionally, intelligence was negatively associated with antisocial personality disorder (r = ?.13, p = .001) and conduct disorder (r = ?.13, p = .001) but positively with oppositional defiant disorder (r = .06, p = .001). There was significant heterogeneity across studies for most effects, but the results of moderator analyses were inconsistent. Finally, bias analyses did not find significant evidence for publication bias or outsized effects of outliers. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

What Is Engagement? Proactivity as the Missing Link in the HEXACO Model of Personality

We tested the hypothesis that proactivity represents the engagement vector in the HEXACO model of personality. Questionnaire data were obtained in five studies, three of which consisted (mostly) of students: Study 1 (N = 188, M_age = 20.0, 89.4% women), Study 3 (N = 315, M_age = 20.4, 80.6% women), and Study 4 (N = 309 self‐ratings, M_age = 20.0, 78.3% women; N = 307 other‐ratings, M_age = 24.5, 62.2% women). Participants in the other two studies came from an ISO‐certified representative community panel: Study 2 (N = 525, M_age = 51.2, 52.0% women) and Study 5 (N = 736, M_age = 42.2, 48.0% women). Proactive Personality and Proactivity were positively related to Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience, but only weakly related or unrelated to Honesty‐Humility, Emotionality, and Agreeableness, supporting the alignment of Proactive Personality/Proactivity with the hypothesized HEXACO engagement vector. Additionally, Proactivity explained incremental variance in self‐rated job performance on top of the HEXACO facets that were most closely associated with Proactive Personality/Proactivity, that is, Social Boldness (an Extraversion facet), Diligence (a Conscientiousness facet), and Creativity (an Openness to Experience facet), but not in entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. Proactivity is the missing engagement link in the HEXACO model of personality. The results are discussed in light of higher‐order factors (e.g., general factor of personality and Alpha and Beta) of personality and bandwidth‐fidelity controversies.     

The relationships between child and forensic interviewer behaviours and individual differences in interviews about a medical examination

This study examined the interviewing process between professional forensic interviewers and their “mock” child witness. Fifty-eight preschool children participated in a medical examination, and were later interviewed by an experienced forensic interviewer (n = 15) about this event. Interviews were coded with mutually exclusive and exhaustive coding schemes that captured interviewers and child behaviours in a temporally organized manner. To evaluate the relationship between interviewers' and children's individual differences measured prior to the interview and the interview outcomes (i.e., questions asked, child interview behaviour), all child participants were tested with relevant cognitive and behavioural measures, and all adult interviewers were tested with personality measures. Results showed that leading questions were more often followed by simple assents and denial than expected. Interviewers did not remain consistent from question to subsequent question, but children's response type was predictable from response to subsequent response. Children's and adults' individual differences measured prior to the interview predicted some of the adults' interviewing behaviours and some of children's own response behaviours during the interview. Mediation modelling evinced that more self-controlled interviewers posed more recommended questions and elicited more assents with details from the children. We discuss the results in relation to established views of recommended interview practice and to theories of suggestibility.     

The Relative Importance of Personality,Financial Satisfaction,and Autonomy for Different Subjective Well-Being Facets

Abstract

Using a nationally representative sample (N?=?507) from Singapore, this study examined whether personality, financial satisfaction, and autonomy were important to subjective well-being (SWB), and how the importance of these predictors varied across different SWB facets—life satisfaction, happiness, positive feelings, and negative feelings. The findings indicated that neuroticism, financial satisfaction, and autonomy, were important predictors of happiness. Personality was most important for affective well-being (i.e., positive and negative feelings), whereas financial satisfaction was most important for life satisfaction. Specifically, neuroticism accounted for substantial variance in positive and negative feelings, and was the strongest correlate among the Big Five traits. In contrast, financial satisfaction explained most of the variance in life satisfaction. This highlights that the importance of well-being predictors depended on the facet of well-being examined. The findings suggest that residents in an affluent nation like Singapore do not emphasize only postmaterialist values (e.g., autonomy) and disregard materialist concerns (e.g., financial satisfaction). Though certain SWB facets (positive and negative affect) are largely influenced by dispositional factors, other facets (life satisfaction and happiness) are closely related to factors (e.g., financial satisfaction, autonomy) that may be affected by social policies. Policymakers can thus target those aspects to enhance people’s SWB.     

Depression and Openness to Experience

The relation between depression and Openness to Experience was examined. Self-report measures of personality traits (Revised NEO Personality inventory; Costa & McCrae, 1992a) and depression (Beck Depression Inventory; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; and Inventory to Diagnose Depression; Zimmerman, 1994) were administered to 143 undergraduate participants from the following 3 groups: current depression (n = 46), past depression (n = 50), and never-depressed controls (n = 47). Depressed participants exhibited significantly higher scores than nondepressed controls on two facets of Openness (Aesthetics and Feelings). Openness to Experience was also found to account for a significant proportion of the variance in depression scores, beyond the variance accounted for by Neuroticism and Extraversion. The facet of Openness to Aesthetics appeared to be most strongly related to depression scores, and the facet of Openness to Fantasy was implicated as a moderator of the relation between Extraversion and depression.     

Five-Factor Model Personality Traits, Spirituality/Religiousness, and Mental Health Among People Living With HIV

ABSTRACT We examined the association between five-factor personality domains and facets and spirituality/religiousness as well as their joint association with mental health in a diverse sample of people living with HIV ( n =112, age range 18–66). Spirituality/religiousness showed stronger associations with Conscientiousness, Openness, and Agreeableness than with Neuroticism and Extraversion. Both personality traits and spirituality/religiousness were significantly linked to mental health, even after controlling for individual differences in demographic measures and disease status. Personality traits explained unique variance in mental health above spirituality and religiousness. Further, aspects of spirituality and religiousness were found to mediate some of the links between personality and mental health in this patient sample. These findings suggest that underlying personality traits contribute to the beneficial effects of spirituality/religiousness among vulnerable populations.