Creating Through Deviancy or Adjustment? The Link between Personality Profile Normativeness and Creativity

Does deviancy or adjustment predict creativity? To address this question, we tested the association between personality profile normativeness (similarity between one's personality profile and the average profile—a proxy for the deviancy–adjustment continuum) and creativity across four different samples (total N = 348 768). We used a wide range of creativity measures, including self‐reported, informant‐reported, behavioural, and occupational creativity, as well as several essential statistical controls (i.e., demographics, socio‐economic background, intelligence, and life satisfaction). Furthermore, we employed both cross‐sectional and longitudinal designs, including samples of college students and representative adult populations. We found that people who had more normative personality profiles were more creative. However, this association only held within modality (i.e. when both personality and creativity were either self‐reported or informant‐reported). We did not find robust associations between personality profile normativeness and laboratory‐based behavioural measures of creativity, occupational creativity, or creative achievements. We discuss alternative explanations for the observed adjustment–creativity link, specifically, implicit theories of creativity and person perception biases (halo effects). Notably, the findings did not support the idea that deviancy breeds creativity, suggesting that the famed ‘mad genius’ hypothesis might not hold among the general population. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Genetic and environmental influences on personality profile stability: unraveling the normativeness problem

The present study is the first to disentangle the genetic and environmental influences on personality profile stability. Spanning a period of 10 years, we analyzed the etiology of 3 aspects of profile stability (overall profile stability, distinctive profile stability, and profile normativeness) using self- and peer reports from 539 identical and 280 fraternal twins reared together. This 3-wave multirater twin design allowed us to estimate the genetic and environmental effects on latent true scores of the 3 aspects of profile stability while controlling for method effects and random error. Consistent biometric results were only found for profile normativeness, whereas overall and distinctive profile stability scores turned out to be biased. Over time, we found personality profile normativeness to be relatively stable. This stability was due to both stable genetic and nonshared environmental effects, whereas innovative variance was completely explained by nonshared environmental effects. Our findings emphasize the importance of distinguishing between the different aspects of profile stability, since overall and distinctive stability scores are likely biased due to the normativeness problem. Yet indicating a person's similarity to the average person, the normativeness of a personality profile itself has a psychological meaning beyond socially desirable responding.     

Effects of self‐enhancement on agreement on personality profiles

Effects of self‐enhancement and socially desirable responding (SDR) on rater agreement for personality profiles were studied in 304 students. Dyads of participants described themselves and their peer on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO‐PI‐R) that measures 30 facets of personality. In addition, participants filled in six scales measuring self‐enhancement or SDR. Data analyses focussed on moderator and suppressor effects of SDR on the similarity between self‐reported and other reported NEO‐PI‐R profiles. Three kinds of profile agreement were distinguished: (a) normative agreement; (b) distinctive agreement and (c) profile normativeness, that is, how strongly a self‐reported personality profile resembled the average profile of all participants. There were no moderator or suppressor effects on distinctive agreement, but SDR predicted profile normativeness quite strongly. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Right‐Wing Authoritarianism: Protective Factor Against or Risk Factor for Depression?

Because the authoritarian personality was introduced to explain the rise of fascism during World War II, research focused on its ability to predict prejudice, leaving its associations with well‐being largely unexplored. Studies that did examine these associations yielded inconsistent results, and some authors even argued that authoritarianism buffers against the negative effects of psychological vulnerability factors (i.e. D‐type personality) and negative life events on well‐being, especially among people in an authoritarian environment. Using a cross‐sectional community sample (N = 1010), Study 1 failed to support the idea that authoritarianism relates to depressive symptoms and buffers against the negative effects of D‐type personality on depressive symptoms. Using a longitudinal college student sample (N = 499), Study 2 showed that authoritarianism did not moderate the effects of life events either and even predicted over‐time increases in depressive symptoms. Using a longitudinal high school sample (N = 590), Study 3 showed that this effect emerged regardless of degree of fit with the social environment (i.e. with family and friends). Taken together, results suggest that authoritarianism constitutes a risk factor for rather than a protective factor against depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hypermaturity and Immaturity of Personality Profiles in Adolescents

Five‐year longitudinal data on a cohort of early to middle adolescents (N = 923) and a cohort of middle to late adolescents (N = 390) were used to examine the correlates of hypermaturity (i.e. 12‐year‐olds with a personality profile resembling the profile of an average 20‐year‐old) and immaturity (i.e. 20‐year‐olds with a personality profile resembling the profile of an average 12‐year‐old) of personality. Analyses revealed that girls with high levels of hypermaturity exhibited high levels of internalizing problem behaviour and conflict with parents, while hypermaturity in boys was only associated with internalizing problems. Immature girls had low levels of anxiety and high levels of minor delinquency, whereas immature boys reported low levels of anxiety and high levels of physical maturity. These findings suggest that off‐time personality development is an interesting concept deserving further exploration. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A framework for profile similarity: integrating similarity, normativeness, and distinctiveness

Many questions in personality psychology lend themselves to the analysis of profile similarity. A profile approach to issues such as personality judgment, personality similarity, behavioral consistency, developmental stability, and person-environment fit is intuitively appealing. However, it entails conceptual and statistical challenges arising from the overlap among profile similarity and normativeness, which presents potential confounds and potential opportunities. This article describes the normativeness problem, articulating the need to evaluate profile similarity alongside normativeness and distinctiveness. It presents conceptual and psychometric foundations of a framework differentiating these elements for pairs of profiles. It derives two models from this framework, and it discusses the application of their components to a variety of research domains. Finally, it presents recommendations and implications regarding the use of these components and profile similarity more generally. This approach can reveal and manage potential confounds, and it can provide theoretical insights that might otherwise be overlooked.     

Self‐Regulation and Personality Profiles: Empirical Development,Longitudinal Stability and Predictive Ability

We used Latent Profile and Latent Profile Transition Analysis to empirically develop and compare competing models of personality profiles (three‐ and four‐profile models). We do so using data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, a large longitudinal national probability sample of New Zealanders. Both three‐ and four‐profile solutions demonstrated good fit and longitudinal stability. Trait configurations and predictive outcomes of the four‐profile model were the most interpretable in terms of the theoretical literature, as this solution mirrored the theoretical foundation of self‐regulatory ego‐constructs. This supported the interpretation of a four‐profile model as providing a useful distinction over and above the three‐profile model. We conclude that, compared to the three‐profile model, the four‐profile solution provides a better foundation to serve as a complementary approach to variable‐centre research. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Investigating the interplay between adolescent personality,parental control,and externalizing problem behavior across adolescence

This study explored transactional associations among adolescent personality (i.e., conscientiousness, agreeableness), parental control (i.e., proactive, punitive, psychological control), and externalizing problem behavior (i.e., aggressive or rule-breaking behavior). A three-wave longitudinal study across a two-year time span provided questionnaire data from 1,116 adolescents (M_age Wave 1 = 13.79, 51% boys), 841 mothers, and 724 fathers that was used in random intercept cross-lagged panel models. At the between-person level, adolescent personality, parental control, and externalizing problem behavior were significantly associated. Concerning the within-person level, conscientiousness showed reciprocal associations with externalizing problem behavior (negative), with agreeableness (positive) and punitive control (negative). Our findings observed a reciprocity between adolescent personality and externalizing problem behavior, but also suggest a role for parental control in this interplay.     

Subjective Age and Personality Development: A 10‐Year Study

Personality theory and research typically focus on chronological age as a key indicator of personality development. This study examines whether the subjective experience of age is an alternative marker of the biomedical and psychosocial factors that contribute to individual differences in personality development. The present study uses data from the Midlife in the United States longitudinal survey (N = 3,617) to examine how subjective age is associated with stability and change in personality and the dynamic associations between subjective age and personality traits over a 10‐year period. Regression analyses indicated that a younger subjective age at baseline was associated with increases in Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness; correlated changes were also found. The rank‐order stability of Extraversion and Openness and overall profile consistency were higher among those with a younger subjective age at baseline and were also associated with the rate of subjective aging over time. The present study reveals that beyond chronological age, the age an individual feels is related to changes in characteristic ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving over time.     

Ability and Personality Predictors of Salary,Perceived Job Success,and Perceived Career Success in the Initial Career Stage

Using longitudinal data from a sample of recent college graduates, we examined the effects of ability (general mental ability and emotional intelligence) and personality (Big Five and proactive personality) on extrinsic (i.e., salary) and intrinsic (i.e., perceived job and career success) indicators of career success. Results from regression analyses indicated that gender, extroversion, and agreeableness were the strongest predictors of salary. Emotional stability and proactive personality predicted perceived job success, while extroversion was significantly related to perceived career success. Neither of the ability measures significantly predicted our indicators of extrinsic or intrinsic career success. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Individual differences and changes in personality during the COVID-19 pandemic

This article reports the results of an eleven-wave longitudinal study of personality change conducted between December 2019 and December 2022 with 1328 participants in Germany. Based on theories of personality change, we investigated trajectories of big five personality factors (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness) across the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we examined whether demographic characteristics (i.e., age, sex), self-reported health status (i.e., physical, mental), and socioeconomic status (i.e., education, income, industry) moderated these trajectories. There was evidence for increases in extraversion, conscientiousness, and emotional stability and decreases in openness across time. The magnitude of these effects suggests between d = 0.027 to 0.138 standard deviation changes in these personality characteristics across the 3-year timeframe of this study. Evidence for moderating effects of age, sex, health, and socioeconomic status was mixed, but indicates differential patterns of personality change for certain individuals. Overall, findings suggest that changes in big five personality factors across the COVID-19 were present, albeit on average relatively weak, but still higher than anticipated given the timeframe. Moreover, certain demographic and health variables were associated with differential trajectories of personality over time.     

A longitudinal study of personality change in young adulthood

The present research examined personality continuity and change in a sample of young men and women assessed at the beginning and end of college. Two-hundred seventy students completed measures of the Big Five personality traits when they first entered college and then 4 years later. Analyses indicate small- to medium-sized normative (i.e., mean-level) changes, large rank-order stability correlations, high levels of stability in personality structure, and moderate levels of ipsative (i.e. profile) stability. Overall, the findings are consistent with the perspective that personality traits exhibit considerable continuity over time, yet can change in systematic ways.     

Properties of persons and situations related to overall and distinctive personality-behavior congruence

Congruence is the degree to which one’s personality matches one’s behavior in a particular situation. On four separate occasions over several weeks, 202 undergraduate participants described a situation they encountered the previous day and their behavior. Analyses considered overall congruence as well as distinctive congruence, adjusted for the match of personality and behavior to the normative personality and behavior profile. Overall congruence was strongly associated with better psychological adjustment; distinctive congruence was not. Similarly, situation strength and affordances for autonomy, relatedness to others, and competence were strongly linked to overall congruence, but only weakly associated with distinctive congruence. Behaving in accordance with one’s true self is only related to positive psychological outcomes when it is accordance with normative standards.     

Antecedents,Consequences, and Mechanisms: On the Longitudinal Interplay Between Academic Self‐Enhancement and Psychological Adjustment

We investigated the reciprocal associations between academic self‐enhancement and key indicators of intra‐ and interpersonal adjustment as well as the role of self‐esteem as a mediator. This longitudinal study involved three assessments in a sample of 709 German children and adolescents (M_age = 11.83; 54% female) over the course of one academic year. We assessed self‐reported subjective well‐being as an indicator of intrapersonal adjustment and peer‐reported popularity as an indicator of interpersonal adjustment. We computed cross‐lagged and longitudinal mediational analyses. Academic self‐enhancement prospectively predicted high subsequent well‐being and popularity. Vice versa, well‐being and popularity prospectively predicted high subsequent levels of self‐enhancement. High self‐esteem mediated the longitudinal associations between self‐enhancement and well‐being in both directions, but not the links between self‐enhancement and popularity. Self‐enhancement and adjustment are bidirectionally linked: Self‐enhancement entails intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits; at the same time, adjustment in both domains fosters self‐enhancement. In terms of intrapersonal, but not interpersonal adjustment, self‐esteem seems to serve as a linchpin, accounting for all longitudinal associations. Furthermore, we present evidence indicating that self‐enhancement indicators that are based on difference scores (instead of residuals) are problematic and might have led to negatively biased results in the literature.     

UNDERSTANDING NEWCOMERS’ ADAPTABILITY AND WORK‐RELATED OUTCOMES: TESTING THE MEDIATING ROLES OF PERCEIVED P–E FIT VARIABLES

Using longitudinal data from a Chinese newcomer sample (N = 671), we investigated the predictive effects of adaptability on newcomers’ work‐related outcomes. Specifically, we tested 4 perceived P–E fit variables (i.e., P–O fit, needs–supplies fit, demands–abilities fit, and P–G fit) as mediators between adaptability variables and newcomers’ work‐related outcomes. Our results showed that after controlling for demographic effects and other personality variables (i.e., proactive personality and openness to experience), newcomers’ adaptability dimensions (i.e., cultural adaptability, work stress adaptability, interpersonal adaptability, and learning adaptability) were differentially associated with improvement in newcomers’ P–E fit perceptions over a 3‐month time period. In turn, the perceived P–E fit variables were related to the newcomers’ work‐related outcomes (i.e., job performance, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions), after controlling for the socialization process variables (i.e., institutionalized socialization experience, role clarity, and job‐related self‐efficacy). The mediating roles of perceived P–E fit variables were also confirmed. Both theoretical and practical implications in terms of adaptability, newcomer adaptation processes, and P‐E fit are discussed.     

Subjective Career Success and Emotional Well-Being: Longitudinal Predictive Power of Selection, Optimization, and Compensation

In a 3-year longitudinal study, we found in a sample of young professionals (N=82; 44% male; age range: 28 to 39 years) that self-reported behaviors reflecting selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) predicted global and work-specific subjective well-being (multiple correlations ranged from R=.22 to R=.44). In addition to optimization (i.e., implementing goal-relevant means), it was especially the degree of compensation (i.e., investing goal-relevant means to counteract losses) that predicted how emotionally balanced individuals felt and how satisfied they were with their work situation 3 years later. These longitudinal predictions were quite robust when controlling for personality variables (NEO). Results are consistent with previous cross-sectional findings and demonstrate how the SOC framework might be successfully applied to the domain of vocational behavior.     

Beyond stability: Predicting inter-individual differences in intra-individual change

Demonstration of a high longitudinal stability of inter-individual diferences in behaviour has been one traditional goal of personality psychology. In recent years, impressively high longitudinal correlations have been reported for self-and other-ratings of behaviour in adulthood, indicating a high overall stability of personality differences in that period of development. However, even 5-year correlations around 0.70 do not exclude major deviations of some of the subjects from this overall stability (i.e. differential stability in the sample). Furthermore, the younger a sample is, the lower will be the longitudinal stability observed, and the less suficient is the explanation of inter-individual diferences by static traits. This article goes beyond the notion of stability at the sample level by asking from a developmental perspective (a) whether systematic inter-individual differences in intra-individual change exist, (b) how they can be assessed, and (c) whether these inter-individual differences can be explained by characteristics of the person or of the environment.     

Development of big five domains and facets in adulthood: mean-level age trends and broadly versus narrowly acting mechanisms

Data from a cross‐sectional sample (N = 601 men and women) and a longitudinal sample (N = 125 women) were used to test hypotheses about the development of Big Five domains and facets from early adulthood through middle age. Analyses of mean‐level age trends indicated that overall Agreeableness and Conscientiousness increased with age and that several facets showed distinctive trends that replicated across the samples. Cross‐sectional analyses of trait intercorrelations and covariances indicated that interrelations between the Big Five domains, and between their more specific facets, were quite similar at older versus younger ages. Finally, longitudinal analyses of individual‐level changes indicated that (a) different people's personalities changed in markedly different ways; (b) these changes were predominantly independent, rather than correlated, across Big Five domains; and (c) the pattern of change correlations between Big Five facets could be explained by the facets’ interrelations at the first assessment time. Taken together, these results suggest that a complete understanding of personality development requires consideration of facet‐level traits and that adult personality development is predominantly influenced by narrowly acting mechanisms that each affect a single Big Five domain, or a small cluster of related facets, rather than by broadly acting mechanisms that simultaneously affect previously independent traits.     

Profiles of Self-Esteem in Early Adolescence: Identification and Investigation of Adaptive Correlates

Investigated profiles of self-esteem during early adolescence and their adaptive correlates in two separate longitudinal studies. Using multidimensional ratings of self-esteem within a developmental-ecological framework, cluster analysis revealed five distinct profiles for each sample. The profiles found were characterized by differing patterns of self-evaluation across major contexts of development, including consistently positive or negative ratings for all domains as well as more variable patterns in which ratings for one or more domains (e.g., school) were elevated or diminished relative to those for other areas. Profiles, in turn, were found to be related to measures of youth adjustment both concurrently and longitudinally, independent of their associations with ratings of global self-esteem. Prospective analyses in each study further revealed that profile type predicted differential change in measures of youth adjustment over time, whereas this type of relationship was not found for global ratings of self-esteem. Implications for esteem-enhancement interventions with youth are discussed.     

The Relationship of Trait EI with Personality,IQ and Sex in a UK Sample of Employees

The relationships among trait emotional intelligence (EI), personality, IQ and sex were investigated in a sample of 585 employees (478 males, 107 females). Participants completed the Watson–Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, the Bar‐On Quotient Inventory (EQ‐i) and the Neuroticism–Extraversion–Openness Personality Inventory Revised. Bivariate correlations revealed significant associations between overall EQ‐i and Neuroticism (negative), Agreeableness, Extraversion, Openness and Conscientiousness (all positive). While there were no significant associations between overall EQ‐i and sex or IQ, significant correlations were observed when EI components were considered. Male participants scored significantly higher on Adaptability and females scored significantly higher on the Interpersonal facet. Moreover, IQ correlated with the Interpersonal composite in the male' sample. Results are discussed in the context of trait EI structure and its implications for interpretation of sex and IQ effects.