Comparative validity of the Shedler and Westen Assessment Procedure-200

A predominant dimensional model of general personality structure is the five-factor model (FFM). Quite a number of alternative instruments have been developed to assess the domains of the FFM. The current study compares the validity of 2 alternative versions of the Shedler and Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP-200) FFM scales, 1 that was developed on the basis of items identified by J. Shedler and D. Westen (2004) and 1 that used items identified by R. R. McCrae, C. E. Lokenhoff, and P. T. Costa (2005). The comparative validity of both measures was examined in a sample of persons who evidenced personality-related problems in living (N = 94). The McCrae et al. Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Openness scales were superior to their respective Shedler and Westen scales. Both research teams developed comparably valid Extraversion and Conscientiousness scales. Implications of the results for future SWAP-200 research are discussed.     

Borderline personality disorder from the perspective of general personality functioning

The authors extended previous work on the hypothesis that borderline personality disorder (BPD) can be understood as a maladaptive variant of personality traits included within the 5-factor model (FFM) of personality. In each of 3 samples, an empirically derived prototypic FFM borderline profile was correlated with individuals' FFM profiles to yield a similarity score, an FFM borderline index. Results across all samples indicated that the FFM borderline index correlated as highly with existing borderline measures as they correlated with one another, and the FFM borderline index correlated as highly with measures of dysfunction, history of childhood abuse, and parental psychopathology as did traditional measures of BPD. Findings support the hypothesis that BPD is a maladaptive variant of FFM personality traits.     

The structure of situations from a personality perspective

A taxonomy of situations was constructed that categorizes situations by means of ratings of one's ability to deal with those situations. A principal components analysis of self‐ and other‐ratings yielded four components of situations: I, situations of pleasure; II, situations of individual adversity; III, situations of interpersonal conflict; and IV, situations of social demand. Ratings of being able to deal with a situation were related to ratings on a personality questionnaire. This resulted in a very clear set of situations for each of the Big Five factors of personality. The Big Five differed in kind and in number of situations for which they were able to distinguish the well handling from the less well handling persons. Especially, it turned out that the so‐called temperament‐factors, Extraversion, Emotional Stability, and also Autonomy, give rise to more situational differentiation than the so‐called character‐factors, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Comparing the present situation structure to that obtained in an earlier study, we found that using the same set of situations does not guarantee obtaining the same set of situation components. Different methods of classification yield differences in the resulting classifications. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Convergence of narcissism measures from the perspective of general personality functioning

The construct of narcissism has a lengthy history and has been operationalized and measured by a variety of instruments. In this study, five narcissism scales were compared in terms of alternative conceptualizations of narcissism offered by C. C. Morf and F. Rhodewalt (2001), D. L. Paulhus (2001), and S. Vazire and D. C. Funder (2006), using the domains and facets of the five-factor model as a common point of comparison. The findings provided little support for the conceptualizations of Morf and Rhodewalt or Vazire and Funder. Support was obtained for the conceptualization of Paulhus, particularly as assessed by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and, secondarily, the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III. Implications for the assessment and conceptualization of narcissism are discussed.     

人格差异性的进化心理学解释

进化心理学一直热衷于人格共同性的探讨,但一些研究者也认为应该关注人格差异性,因为共同性和差异性是人格必不可分的两面。对人格差异性的进化解释比较成熟的有三种：生活历史理论、基因多样性理论和代价信号理论。生活历史理论认为是不同的环境(稳定和不稳定),造成了不同的生活历史策略(K策略和R策略),人格特质差异是这些策略的进化产物。基因多样性理论主要从基因突变和平衡选择的角度来解释人格差异性。前者强调突变基因的不可避免性引发了个性差异的存在和发展;后者强调概率的调节作用,解释了不同人格特质之所以能够并行存在的原因。代价信号理论则认为是个体拥有的先天禀赋或者资源差距导致其传递信号的能力差异,从而选择了不同的行为策略。未来研究需要加大遗传学、神经科学等方面的力度,以及研究范式的创新。     

Social psychology of mental health: the social structure and personality perspective

Previous research has revealed a persistent association between social structure and mental health. However, most researchers have focused only on the psychological and psychosocial aspects of that relationship. The present paper indicates the need to include the social and structural bases of distress in our theoretical models. Starting from a general social and psychological model, our research considered the role of several social, environmental, and structural variables (social position, social stressors, and social integration), psychological factors (self-esteem), and psychosocial variables (perceived social support). The theoretical model was tested working with a group of Spanish participants (N = 401) that covered a range of social positions. The results obtained using structural equation modeling support our model, showing the relevant role played by psychosocial, psychological and social, and structural factors. Implications for theory and intervention are discussed.     

The genetics and evolution of the general factor of personality

Three studies tested the hypothesis that a general factor of personality (GFP) underlies diverse individual differences including altruism, the Big Five factors of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability, and the EAS temperament traits of Emotional Stability, Activity, and Sociability. In Study 1, 214 university students completed 36 personality scales. In Study 2, 322 pairs of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins completed 29 5-point rating scales plus questionnaires. In Study 3, 575 pairs of 2- to 9-year-old Korean twins were rated by their mothers on 25 temperament scales. Factor analyses revealed a hierarchical organization with GFP at the apex and the Big Five and/or EAS temperament scales intermediate. The twin data show GFP has an early age of onset with 50% of the variance attributable to non-additive (dominance) genetic influence and 50% to unique, non-shared environmental influence. We discuss a life history matrix encompassing brain size, maturational speed, and longevity, plus emotional intelligence and the personality disorders, and suggest natural selection acted directionally to endow people with more cooperative and less contentious personalities than their archaic ancestors, or nearest living relatives, the chimpanzees.     

Anger and hostility from the perspective of the Big Five personality model

Sanz, J., García‐Vera, M. P. & Magán, I. (2010). Anger and hostility from the perspective of the Big Five personality model. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 262–270. This study was aimed at examining the relationships of the personality dimensions of the five‐factor model or Big Five with trait anger and with two specific traits of hostility (mistrust and confrontational attitude), and identifying the similarities and differences between trait anger and hostility in the framework of the Big Five. In a sample of 353 male and female adults, the Big Five explained a significant percentage of individual differences in trait anger and hostility after controlling the effects due to the relationship between both constructs and content overlapping across scales. In addition, trait anger was primarily associated with neuroticism, whereas mistrust and confrontational attitude were principally related to low agreeableness. These findings are discussed in the context of the anger‐hostility‐aggression syndrome and the capability of the Big Five for organizing and clarifying related personality constructs.     

The general factor of personality and humor styles

The present study examined the phenotypic, genetic, and environmental correlations between a general factor of personality (GFP) and four humor styles: affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating. Participants were 571 same-sex adult twin pairs. Individuals completed the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) and a short form of the NEO personality scale (from which the GFP was extracted). The GFP was found to be heritable with an estimated value of .31. At the phenotypic level, the GFP was found to correlate significantly with the HSQ scales; positively with affiliative and self-enhancing, and negatively with aggressive and self-defeating. Three of the four phenotypic correlations were found to be attributable to correlated genetic factors, suggesting that these dimensions of humor styles and the GFP may have a common genetic factor.     

Approaching psychotherapy of the personality disorders from the Millon perspective.

Millon's integrative model for a clinical science begins with a theory that is consistent with current knowledge, establishes a taxonomy for classification, develops a coordinated assessment system, and develops and implements interventions with the guidance of the preceding elements of the model. In recent years, work on the last step of the model, clinical interventions, has accelerated rapidly, and the model now permits the therapist to directly extrapolate specific treatment goals, objective, and techniques to the practice of therapy with the individual patient. This article summarizes how treatment planning and implementation flows logically from the Millon model.     

The general factor of personality: Questions and elaborations

Predictions from Rushton’s theory that a general factor of personality (GFP) has evolved based on effective social participation were examined in two large samples of adult Australian twins (5834 and 3672 individuals) and their relatives (8303 and 2677). General factors based on items and scales were compared to each other, across two different questionnaires, and between adults and adolescents. Behavior-genetic analyses based on the twin samples tested predictions comparing GFPs to scales with the GFP partialled out. Some support was found for Rushton’s theory, but the GFP was only marginally more heritable than the GFP-free scales and was not especially marked by the expected non-additivity of its genetic variance; moreover, the adult and adolescent GFPs showed substantial differences.     

The general factor of personality and general intelligence: Evidence for substantial association

Despite theoretical assertions derived from life history theory, research on the relationship between the general factor of personality and general intelligence has shown that there is little overlap between the two higher-order constructs. It is argued that the association between these general factors is largely attenuated by measurement error in assessing the general factor of personality. A substantial association between the general factors at multiple points in time was found when the general factor of personality was derived from rater Q-sorts. The results have important implications for the study of individual differences.     

Factorial structure of traits delineating personality disorders in clinical and general population samples.

Categorical and dimensional models for classifying personality disorders were evaluated by comparing the structure of personality pathology in a clinical sample (n = 158) with the structure in a general population sample (n = 274). Subjects completed 100 personality scales. Separate factor analyses revealed similar structures in the 2 samples. An underlying structure in a combined sample showed limited agreement with the concepts of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1987). Fifteen factors were retained: Generalized Distress, Rejection, Restricted Expression, Compulsivity, Stimulus Seeking, Insecure Attachment, Diffidence, Intimacy Problems, Oppositionality, Interpersonal Disesteem, Conduct Problems, Cognitive Dysfunction, Affective Reactivity, Narcissism, and Social Apprehensiveness. The results are consistent with a dimensional representation of personality disorder.     

Universal features of personality traits from the observer's perspective: data from 50 cultures

To test hypotheses about the universality of personality traits, college students in 50 cultures identified an adult or college-aged man or woman whom they knew well and rated the 11,985 targets using the 3rd-person version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Factor analyses within cultures showed that the normative American self-report structure was clearly replicated in most cultures and was recognizable in all. Sex differences replicated earlier self-report results, with the most pronounced differences in Western cultures. Cross-sectional age differences for 3 factors followed the pattern identified in self-reports, with moderate rates of change during college age and slower changes after age 40. With a few exceptions, these data support the hypothesis that features of personality traits are common to all human groups.