A Model of Faking Likelihood in the Employment Interview

There has been surprisingly little research on faking in the employment interview, despite the fact that professional judgment would suggest that faking might occur in the interview. Based on a review of the literature on faking in personality tests and the literature on deception, we propose a model of faking during an employment interview and develop 19 testable propositions to guide future research. We argue that faking is a function of capacity, willingness, and opportunity to fake. Structured interviews provide less opportunity for intentional distortion; however, some components of structure may actually increase faking. Finally, job candidates distort their responses in job desirable ways.     

Lay conceptions of personality: Eliciting tiers of a scientific conception of personality

Two studies are reported which examine the availability of scientific propositions of personality in lay conceptions of personality. It is argued from a social constructivist perspective that models of personality must derive from and refer to lay conceptions of persons. Eysenck's trait-type model of introversion-extraversion, containing specific propositions about phenotypic and genotypic differences between extraverts and introverts, was utilized as the scientific model of personality and its availability in lay conceptions of personality was examined in two studies. In the first study, subjects were presented with a genotypic characterization of either an introvert or an extravert target person and asked to infer corresponding phenotypic differences. In the second study, the inference process was reversed with subjects being asked to infer genotypic characteristics of introverts versus extraverts on the basis of phenotypic target person desecrations of the two types. Results from both studies show a high degree of accuracy in subjects' inferences, suggesting that laypersons have well-formed conceptions about personality containing ‘higher-order’ psychogenetic propositions corresponding to Eysenck's trait-type model. The implications of the findings for theory construction are discussed.     

Self‐congruity effects: A critical review and an integrative model

This research conducts an extensive review study on the extant research on self‐congruity, and presents some recommendations and propositions for future research. It describes the differences between two constructs (i.e., self‐congruity and brand personality) regarding the symbolic benefits of a brand. It also suggests an integrative model to encompass important cognitive and motivational factors to moderate the relationship between self‐congruity and brand evaluation. Although there should be meaningful moderators of self‐congruity effects that are not addressed in the model, this research can be a starting point for future research in order to develop a better research model for analyzing self‐congruity effects.     

The Structured Employment Interview: Narrative and Quantitative Review of the Research Literature

In the 20 years since frameworks of employment interview structure have been developed, a considerable body of empirical research has accumulated. We summarize and critically examine this literature by focusing on the 8 main topics that have been the focus of attention: (a) the definition of structure; (b) reducing bias through structure; (c) impression management in structured interviews; (d) measuring personality via structured interviews; (e) comparing situational versus past‐behavior questions; (f) developing rating scales; (g) probing, follow‐up, prompting, and elaboration on questions; and (h) reactions to structure. For each topic, we review and critique research and identify promising directions for future research. When possible, we augment the traditional narrative review with meta‐analytic review and content analysis. We concluded that much is known about structured interviews, but there are still many unanswered questions. We provide 12 propositions and 19 research questions to stimulate further research on this important topic.     

No ground for doomsday

The ability of providing an adequate supervenience base for tensed truths may seem to be one of the main theoretical advantages of both the growing-block and the moving-spotlight theory of time over presentism. However, in this paper I will argue that some propositions appear to be as problematic for growing-block theorists as past-directed propositions are for presentists, namely propositions stating that nothing will be the case in the future. Furthermore, I will show that the moving-spotlight theory can adequately address all the main supervenience challenges that can be levelled against A-theories of time. I will, thus, conclude that, at least as far as the supervenience principle is concerned, the moving-spotlight theory should be preferred over both presentism and the growing-block theory.     

Extraversion and job performance: How context relevance and bandwidth specificity create a non-linear,positive, and asymptotic relationship

The personality factor of extraversion has been associated with performance in some occupations (e.g., sales), and it has been one of the most consistent personality predictors of leadership. Recent research indicates that extraversion could have a non-linear relation with performance. At the same time, many researchers have contended that scholars should utilize measures of personality narrower than factors and that the bandwidth and relevance of personality should fit both the criterion and the context of a study. We argue and find that by examining an aspect of extraversion (i.e., social potency) in a particular vocational context (i.e., enterprising job demands), non-linear, asymptotic (diminishing marginal benefits) effects will be demonstrated on a relevant type of performance (i.e., enterprising job performance). We review implications, limitations, and avenues for future research.     

The influence of individuals on situations: Implications for understanding the links between personality and social behavior

In an analysis of the nature and origins of predictability in social behavior, two propositions are considered: (1) There exist categories of individuals whose social behavior is readily predictable from measures of personal attributes such as attitudes, traits, and dispositions as well as categories of individuals whose social behavior is readily predictable from situational and interpersonal specifications of behavioral appropriateness; (2) underlying these differences in predictability are systematic choices to enter and to spend time in social settings and interpersonal contexts that promote and facilitate one or other of these characteristic behavioral orientations. The implications of these propositions for the study of personality and social behavior are considered in the specific case of the psychological construct of self-monitoring and in the general case of understanding the reciprocal influences of individuals and their social worlds.     

A defense of middle knowledge

Conclusion Adams has not demonstrated that conditionals of freedom are necessarily false, just as I have not demonstrated that they are possibly true. According to Adams, we have good reason to think that they are not possibly true because we do not know what it is for them to be true. This is basically the claim that we cannot explain conditionals of freedom without reference to what would happen in certain situations. I argued that similar considerations apply to propositions about future free choices. We cannot explain propositions about future free choices without reference to what will happen. Neither conditionals of freedom nor propositions about future free choices are true in virtue of corresponding to actual states of affairs or any states of affairs that are necessitated by certain other states of affairs. In both instances we must appeal to states of affairs that are not determined to be actual by either the present states of affairs or the antecedent of the counterfactual. I do not consider this difficulty with propositions about future free choices to be a sufficient reason to reject the possibility of them being true. They are true because they correspond to what will happen. But then I also do not believe that Adams' reasons are sufficient to reject the possibility of true conditionals of freedom. They are true because they correspond with what would happen in certain counterfactual situations. Hence it is no more difficult to understand what it is for conditionals of freedom to be true than it is to understand what it is for propositions about future free choices to be true. I conclude that, contrary to Adams, it is possible for God to have middle knowledge.     

Distancing the present self from the past and the future: Psychological distance in anxiety and depression

Humans show a systematic tendency to perceive the future as psychologically closer than the past. Based on the clinical hypothesis that anxiety would be associated more with future threat life events, whereas depression with past loss events, here we explored whether people with anxiety- and depression-related personality traits perceive differently the psychological distance of temporal events. Results showed that the common tendency to perceive the future as psychologically closer than the past is exaggerated in individuals with anxiety-related personality traits, whereas this asymmetry drastically shrinks in individuals with depression-related personality traits. Beyond substantiating the hypothesis that the past and the future are differently faced by people with depression- and anxiety-related personality traits, the present findings suggest that temporal orientation of one’s self may be greatly altered in anxiety and depression.     

Gender differences in the frequency of personality disorders in depressed outpatients

We examined gender differences in the frequency of DSM-III-R personality disorder diagnoses and symptomatology in a sample of 225 depressed outpatients. This research partially replicates and extends one of the first studies in this area by Golomb et al. (1995). Males were significantly more likely than females to meet diagnoses for schizotypal, paranoid, narcissistic, antisocial, obsessive compulsive, and borderline personality disorder. Compared to females, males were also significantly more likely to have schizoid, schizotypal, narcissistic, antisocial, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder symptomatology. Females did not predominate in any personality disorder symptomatology or diagnoses. A possible explanation for these findings is discussed. The results of this study challenge traditional assumptions about gender differences in the frequency of personality disorders, and confirm the need for future studies to investigate the relation between gender and personality disorders in specific Axis I samples.     

Personality self-concept affects processing of trait adjectives in the self-reference memory paradigm

We combined personality, social cognitive, and cognitive paradigms for researching the self. Specifically, we examined whether personality trait assessments are associated with variation in the cognitive processes that produce the self-reference effect in memory. We found that self-reported, but not indirectly assessed, trait orderliness (Study 1; N = 98) and openness (Study 2; N = 92) were associated with slower free recall when corresponding trait adjectives were self-referenced, but not when adjectives were encoded in control tasks. The slower recall showed mixed predictive validity. Results suggest that personality congruent adjectives elicit more elaborative processing in the form of propositions that arise during self-reference, which counter-intuitively slows recall in a manner consistent with random search memory models and cue overload theory.     

Integrating the most unintuitive empirical observations of 2007 in the domain of personality and social psychology into a unified framework

Two obstacles impede the development of productive theories in personality, social, and organizational psychology. First, the distinct frameworks are seldom integrated; the various theories sometimes yield incompatible implications. Second, because many findings in these fields seem intuitive, these observations do not augment the validity of these theories. To override these issues, this paper integrates the 70 most unintuitive findings of 2007 into a unified framework, derived from personality systems interaction theory. Specifically, 10 participants extracted the most unintuitive observations from 17 scholarly journals. These findings were reconciled within a single framework that generates 41 testable propositions. The framework assumes that an associative self system, underpinned by a vast network of schemas, governs behavior as well as enhances intuition, engagement, creativity, and cooperation. When individuals experience a threat, this system is inhibited, unless the requisite defense mechanisms to accommodate potential hazards have been developed. Furthermore, individuals attempt to distance themselves from unassailable threats, which activate an analytical system that formulates plans that could accommodate future contingencies. These plans are retained in memory or executed if individuals have acquired sufficient confidence.     

The Ambiguity of Covariation: A Conceptual Note

Three dimensions of propositions, the factual, the epistemic and the modal, and their relationships, are described. The five factor model of personality is based on correlations between ordinary language items. The terms of this language are fuzzy and context-dependent in meaning, and, therefore, unsuitable for epistemic/modal analysis. Hence, one cannot decide to what extent FFM is a priori versus empirical. Only a scientific language, with explicitly stated primitives, axioms, and definitions will permit such a decision.     

Incorporating narrative identity into structural approaches to personality and psychopathology

Structural models that connect personality and psychopathology have tended to adopt a somewhat narrow view of personality, focused on dispositional traits. In this paper, we lay the groundwork for incorporating narrative identity into future research on the structure of personality and psychopathology. Narrative identity is a well-mapped domain of personality, one with demonstrated incremental validity in the association with and prediction of psychological well-being. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the construct of narrative identity, situate it within the broader endeavor of integrating basic personality science with the science of psychopathology, particularly involving personality pathology, and describe an agenda for future research on this vital and largely overlooked topic.     

A Theory of the Temporal Asymmetry of Deliberation

Contemporary theories of the temporal asymmetry of deliberation seek the origins of the asymmetry either in the physics of the early universe or in the epistemic orientation of agents. An attempt is made in the following lines to consolidate the rival thesis that the temporal asymmetry of deliberation is rooted in an ontological divide between the past and the future. I argue that agents can deliberate about the future but not the past because while the past is in a sense real, the future is nothing at all. The argument for the thesis includes striking a connection between deliberation and truth on the one hand and truth and being on the other. The argument thus proceeds, via a modal principle, from the asymmetry of deliberation into the semantics of propositions about the past, the present, and the future and from there to the ontology of the past, the present, and the future. The ‘ticket’ for transition in the argument from semantics to ontology is a truth‐making principle, according to which propositions are true or false in virtue of an existing reality.     

The relational self revealed: integrative conceptualization and implications for interpersonal life

The authors offer a new, integrative conceptualization of the relational self based on a synthesis of recent approaches to the self and significant others. This conceptualization provides a sharper and fuller definition of the relational self than does any existing approach alone and a common framework to interpret findings from separate literatures. The authors then present 5 propositions and evidence to support the thesis that relational selves exert a pervasive influence on interpersonal life. Specifically, relational selves (a) shape a wide range of psychological processes and outcomes, (b) exert their influence automatically, (c) serve basic orientation and meaning functions, (d) provide continuity and context-specific variability in personality, and (e) carry implications for psychological well-being. Discussion focuses on remaining issues and implications for future research.     

Short horizons and tempting situations: Lack of continuity to our future selves leads to unethical decision making and behavior

People who feel continuity with their future selves are more likely to behave in ethically responsible ways as compared to people who lack continuity with their future selves. We find that individual differences in perceived similarity to one’s future self predicts tolerance of unethical business decisions (Studies 1a and 1b), and that the consideration of future consequences mediates the extent to which people regard inappropriate negotiation strategies as unethical (Study 2). We reveal that low future self-continuity predicts unethical behavior in the form of lies, false promises, and cheating (Studies 3 and 4), and that these relationships hold when controlling for general personality dimensions and trait levels of self-control (Study 4). Finally, we establish a causal relationship between future self-continuity and ethical judgments by showing that when people are prompted to focus on their future self (as opposed to the future), they express more disapproval of unethical behavior (Study 5).     

A Multifactorial Approach to the Study of Gender Characteristics

ABSTRACT The present article reviews some of the central conceptual issues confronted by gender researchers as they have tried to forge a theory of gender identity that can account for the complexity and diversity of gender-related characteristics displayed by women and men. An emerging consensus suggests that gender is incorporated into an individual's self-concept in multiple and loosely connected ways. We review one example of this emerging multiplicity perspective, Spence's (1993) multifactorial gender identity theory, and describe three recent studies testing its usefulness. We also discuss ways in which multiplicity models of gender could benefit from considering parallel developments in the general personality literature regarding the problem of levels or domains. In particular, it is argued that Me Adams's (this issue) integrative three-level model of the structure of personality offers a helpful framework for guiding future test construction and theory development in gender research.     

The network of conscientiousness

According to the network perspective, the coalescence of several personality characteristics into major personality dimensions results from a pattern of complex interactions that can be modeled as a network. We focused on one personality dimension, conscientiousness, and on its main facets. We administered a large battery of questionnaires to two samples (N = 210 and N = 230) and analyzed them by means of network analysis. The results showed that some elements of the network, such as general self-control and orientation toward the future, characterized all facets. These “shared” elements could be responsible for the facets to clump into one major dimension. Other elements of the network uniquely characterized different facets. These “unique” elements could underlie the main differences among conscientiousness facets.