Comment on Anderson and Ones (2008)

The ‘erratum and addendum’ by Anderson and Ones ( 2008 ) does not state unambiguously that participants' Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) scale scores were incorrectly matched with their scores on the other inventories' scales, nor does it mention the existence of other errors in the scoring of the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ) and Business Personality Indicator (BPI) scales. We demonstrate these errors and we recommend the retraction of the articles by Anderson and Ones ( 2003 ) and Ones and Anderson ( 2002 ). Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The construct validity of three entry level personality inventories used in the UK: a cautionary case study

We report an error in “The Construct Validity of Three Entry Level Personality Inventories Used in the UK: A Cautionary Case Study” by Neil Anderson and Deniz S. Ones (European Journal of Personality, 2003, Vol. 17, S39–S66). We also alert the reader to a potential data shift of one data row in the dataset reported on in Anderson and Ones (2003) and provide an alternate table. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fear of Death and Supernatural Beliefs: Developing a New Supernatural Belief Scale to Test the Relationship

Fear of death features in both historical and contemporary theories of religion, but the relationship between death anxiety and religious belief is still ambiguous, largely due to the use of inappropriate or imprecise measures. The current studies therefore aimed to develop a valid, targeted measure of respondents' tendency towards religious belief, the ‘Supernatural Belief Scale’ (SBS), and to use the SBS to examine the relation between death anxiety and religious belief. Results indicate that the SBS shows high reliability and convergent validity and that its relation to death anxiety depends on participants' religious identification: ‘religious’ participants fear death less the stronger their religious beliefs, whereas ‘non‐religious’ participants are more inclined towards religious belief the more they fear death. These studies contribute a new measurement tool for research on religious belief and provide a starting point for an experimental integration of discrepant research findings. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology     

The personality basis of justice: The five‐factor model as an integrative model of personality and procedural fairness effects on cooperation

Building upon the self‐based model of cooperation (De Cremer & Tyler, 2005 ), the present study investigates the relationship between the five‐factor model (FFM) and cooperation. Study 1 (N = 56), an experiment conducted in the laboratory, and Study 2 (N = 116), a field study conducted in an organisational context, yielded a moderator effect between neuroticism and procedural fairness in explaining cooperation. Study 3 (N = 177) showed that this moderator effect was mediated by the self‐uncertainty and relational variables proposed by the self‐based model of cooperation. It is concluded that the FFM is useful in explaining cooperation and contributes to a better understanding of (procedural) fairness effects. Moreover, the necessity to build integrative, multi‐level models that combine core and surface aspects of personality to explain the effects of fairness on cooperation is elaborated upon. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality and prejudice: Extension to the HEXACO personality model

We modelled the associations between the HEXACO dimensions of personality, Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), Right‐Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and prejudice towards dangerous, derogated and dissident groups (N = 454 undergraduates). Consistent with a Big‐Five model, low Openness to Experience predicted RWA and therefore dangerous and dissident group prejudice. As predicted, low Emotionality (and Openness) rather than Agreeableness predicted SDO and therefore derogated and dissident group prejudice. Comparison with meta‐analytic averages of Big‐Five data supported expected similarities and differences in the association of Big‐Five and HEXACO models of personality with ideology. Finally, Honesty‐Humility simultaneously predicted increases in RWA but decreases in SDO, and thus opposing effects on prejudice. These opposing effects have gone unidentified in research employing Big‐Five models of personality structure. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality Trait Change Across Late Childhood to Young Adulthood: Evidence for Nonlinearity and Sex Differences in Change

We explored patterns of self‐reported personality trait change across late childhood through young adulthood in a sample assessed up to four times on the lower order facets of Positive Emotionality, Negative Emotionality (NEM), and Constraint (CON). Multilevel modelling analyses were used to describe both group‐ and individual‐level change trajectories across this time span. There was evidence for nonlinear age‐related change in most traits, and substantial individual differences in change for all traits. Gender differences were detected in the change trajectories for several facets of NEM and CON. Findings add to the literature on personality development by demonstrating robust nonlinear change in several traits across late childhood to young adulthood, as well as deviations from normative patterns of maturation at the earliest ages. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Affect,Behaviour, Cognition and Desire in the Big Five: An Analysis of Item Content and Structure

Personality psychology is concerned with affect (A), behaviour (B), cognition (C) and desire (D), and personality traits have been defined conceptually as abstractions used to either explain or summarise coherent ABC (and sometimes D) patterns over time and space. However, this conceptual definition of traits has not been reflected in their operationalisation, possibly resulting in theoretical and practical limitations to current trait inventories. Thus, the goal of this project was to determine the affective, behavioural, cognitive and desire (ABCD) components of Big‐Five personality traits. The first study assessed the ABCD content of items measuring Big‐Five traits in order to determine the ABCD composition of traits and identify items measuring relatively high amounts of only one ABCD content. The second study examined the correlational structure of scales constructed from items assessing ABCD content via a large, web‐based study. An assessment of Big‐Five traits that delineates ABCD components of each trait is presented, and the discussion focuses on how this assessment builds upon current approaches of assessing personality. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Authoritarianism is good for you: Right‐wing authoritarianism as a buffering factor for mental distress

Although common knowledge seems to agree that authoritarianism is ‘bad to the self’, previous studies yielded inconclusive results with respect to the relationship between authoritarianism and mental distress. The present research explores whether the impact of facilitators of mental distress on actual mental distress depends on the level of authoritarianism. Study 1 includes a sample of 132 adults and demonstrated less negative consequences of D‐type personality on depression for individuals with high rather than low levels of authoritarianism. Study 2 conducted in a sample of 109 elderly revealed that the effects of negative stressful life events on mental distress were curbed by higher levels of authoritarianism. It is concluded that while previous studies have amply shown that authoritarianism has adverse consequences for other people, these negative effects do not appear to be particularly present for the self. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Core of Darkness: Uncovering the Heart of the Dark Triad

The Dark Triad consists of three overlapping but distinct personality variables: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. To date, however, no research has empirically identified what leads these three variables to overlap or whether other variables share the same core. The present research addresses why and how dark personalities overlap. Drawing from classic work in psychopathy, Hare's Factor 1 or manipulation and callousness were found to be the common antagonistic core. A series of latent variable procedures, including Multisample Structural Equation Models, revealed that for both samples, manipulation and callousness, completely accounted for the associations among the facet scores of the psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism scales. Sample 2 also included Social Dominance Orientation, and results further confirmed that Social Dominance Orientation has the same common core as the Dark Triad. In sum, Hare's Factor 1—manipulation–callousness—emerged as common dark core that accounts for the overlap among antagonistic traits. Copyright © 2012 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Emotional Stability and Affective Self‐regulatory Efficacy Beliefs: Proofs of Integration between Trait Theory and Social Cognitive Theory

The present study aimed to investigate the development and interplay of emotional stability and affective self‐regulatory efficacy beliefs through adolescence to young adulthood. A latent growth curve approach was used to investigate level and stability of emotional stability and self‐efficacy in managing negative emotions and in expressing positive emotions. We found that initial levels of emotional stability and self‐efficacy beliefs are highly correlated. In accordance with the posited hypothesis, the growth rate of perceived self‐efficacy in managing negative emotions predicted the growth rate of emotional stability, whereas the opposite path was not significant. The growth rates of perceived self‐efficacy in expressing positive emotions and emotional stability were not related to each other. Taken together, these findings point to self‐efficacy beliefs as instrumental to the change of traits. Practical implications of results are discussed, highlighting the role of social cognitive theory in supplying the proper strategies to design effective interventions to enable people to make the best use of their potentials. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting academic success with the Big 5 rated from different points of view: Self‐rated,other rated and faked

Self‐ratings of personality predict academic success above general intelligence. The present study replicated these findings and investigated the increment of other‐ratings or intentionally distorted self‐ratings. Participants (N = 145) had to compile a personality questionnaire twice. First they were given neutral instructions. The second time they were asked to imagine a specific applicant setting. Furthermore, two peers rated each participant. Additionally, verbal, numerical and figural reasoning scores were obtained. Grades on a statistics exam obtained 2 months later served as the criterion. Results replicated prior findings and showed incremental validity for self‐ and other‐rated personality, which was stable after controlling for intelligence. Faking had no impact on the domain‐score level, but results on the facet‐score level were less encouraging. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shyness and Psychosocial Functioning in South Korean Children

The purpose of this study was to examine whether anxious shyness and regulated shyness, initially identified in the Chinese culture, is found in South Korean children, and to explore whether these two forms of shyness were differentially related to children's psychosocial functioning. Participants were 544 fourth to sixth grade children (251 girls, M age = 11.38 years old) who were recruited from an elementary school in Bucheon City, South Korea. Children's anxious and regulated shyness were measured using peers' nominations and teachers' ratings, whereas their social preference and social impact were assessed using peers' nominations. Parents rated their children's temperamental shyness and effortful control, and children self‐reported their loneliness and interpersonal concerns. The results of confirmatory factor analysis replicated the two factor model of shyness found in previous studies of Chinese children. Anxious shyness and regulated shyness were positively associated and were similarly related to temperamental shyness. Anxious shyness was negatively related to effortful control and social preference, and positively associated with self‐reported loneliness and interpersonal concerns, whereas regulated shyness was positively related to effortful control and social preference and negatively associated with loneliness and social impact. These results were generally consistent with prior Chinese findings and provided preliminary support for the construct validity of anxious and regulated shyness in another Asian culture that emphasizes interdependence and modesty. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

German lexical personality factors: relations with the HEXACO model

We correlated the scales of the HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO‐PI) with adjective scale markers of factors previously obtained in indigenous lexical studies of personality structure in the German language. Self‐ratings obtained from a sample of 323 German participants showed a pattern of strong convergent and weak discriminant correlations, supporting the content‐based interpretation of the German lexical factors in terms of the HEXACO dimensions. Notably, convergent correlations were strong for both the broader and the narrower variants of the Honesty‐Humility factor as observed in German lexical studies. Also, convergent correlations for HEXACO Openness to Experience were, as expected, stronger for German adjectives describing a creative and intellectual orientation than for German adjectives describing intellectual ability. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the validity of culture‐level personality and stereotype scores

In response to comments by Perugini and Richetin and by Ashton, we discuss the reference‐group effect as a potential source of distortion in cross‐cultural comparisons and suggest some research designs to test its nature and importance. We argue that laboratory studies of personality are of limited utility in understanding personality questionnaire responses in real life. We summarise evidence in favour of the validity of aggregate personality traits and suggest that more scepticism is needed with regard to the accuracy of national character stereotypes. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Psychometric Network Perspective on the Validity and Validation of Personality Trait Questionnaires

This article reviews the causal implications of latent variable and psychometric network models for the validation of personality trait questionnaires. These models imply different data generating mechanisms that have important consequences for the validity and validation of questionnaires. From this review, we formalize a framework for assessing the evidence for the validity of questionnaires from the psychometric network perspective. We focus specifically on the structural phase of validation, where items are assessed for redundancy, dimensionality, and internal structure. In this discussion, we underline the importance of identifying unique personality components (i.e. an item or set of items that share a unique common cause) and representing the breadth of each trait's domain in personality networks. After, we argue that psychometric network models have measures that are statistically equivalent to factor models but we suggest that their substantive interpretations differ. Finally, we provide a novel measure of structural consistency, which provides complementary information to internal consistency measures. We close with future directions for how external validation can be executed using psychometric network models. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology