Personality Traits Beyond the Big Five: Are They Within the HEXACO Space?

Paunonen (2002) recently developed the Supernumerary Personality Inventory (SPI), a measure of 10 traits that have low loadings within the space of the Big Five personality factors. If the SPI personality traits are representative of the domain of non-Big Five personality traits, then the major source of the variance in the SPI traits would be expected to correlate strongly with the sixth factor of personality, Honesty-Humility. We tested this hypothesis using self-report measures (N = 200) of the SPI traits, of the Big Five, and of the new six-dimensional ("HEXACO") structure. Results indicated that the first unrotated factor underlying the 10 SPI traits was heavily saturated with variance from Honesty-Humility (r = .65). Nevertheless, the 10 SPI traits contained substantial amounts of unique variance not accounted for by the HEXACO or the Big Five variables, highlighting the importance of the facet-level assessment of personality traits.     

Breast Cancer Genetics Knowledge and Testing Intentions among Nigerian Professional Women

Genetic testing services for breast cancer are well established in developed countries compared to African populations that bear a disproportionate burden of breast cancer (BC). The objective of this study is to examine the knowledge of professional Nigerian women about BC genetics and their intentions to utilize genetic testing services when it is made available in Nigeria. In this study, 165 lecturers and 189 bankers were recruited and studied using a validated self-administered questionnaire. The respondents’ mean age was 34.9 years (SD?=?10.9), 6.5% had family history of BC, and 84.7% had limited knowledge of breast cancer genetics. The proportion of women with genetic testing intentions for breast cancer was 87.3%. Health care access (OR?=?2.35, 95% CI, 1.07–5.13), religion (OR?=?3.51, 95% CI, 1.03–11.92), and perceived personal risk if a close relative had breast cancer (OR?=?2.31, 95% CI, 1.05–5.08) independently predicted testing intentions. The genetic testing intentions for BC were high despite limited knowledge about breast cancer genetics. Promotion of BC genetics education as well as efforts to make BC genetic testing services available in Nigeria at reduced cost remains essential.     

Rater Personality and Performance Dimension Weighting in Making Overall Performance Judgments

Purpose  

The present study examined the effects of rater personality on the performance appraisal process. Specifically, we determined the relative weights that raters place on different performance dimensions when making overall performance evaluations, and examined whether rater personality influenced this weighting process. The literatures on social/political values and mate/friend selection were used as guiding frameworks in developing specific hypotheses.     

An Exploration of the Dishonest Side of Self‐Monitoring: Links to Moral Disengagement and Unethical Business Decision Making

The majority of research on self‐monitoring has focused on the positive aspects of this personality trait. The goal of the present research was to shed some light on the potential negative side of self‐monitoring and resulting consequences in two independent studies. Study 1 demonstrated that, in addition to being higher on Extraversion, high self‐monitors are also more likely to be low on Honesty‐Humility, which is characterized by a tendency to be dishonest and driven by self‐gain. Study 2 was designed to investigate the consequences of this dishonest side of self‐monitoring using two previously unexamined outcomes: moral disengagement and unethical business decision making. Results showed that high self‐monitors are more likely to engage in unethical business decision making and that this relationship is mediated by the propensity to engage in moral disengagement. In addition, these negative effects of self‐monitoring were found to be due to its low Honesty‐Humility aspect, rather than its high Extraversion side. Further investigation showed similar effects for the Other‐Directedness and Acting (but not Extraversion) self‐monitoring subscales. These findings provide valuable insight into previously unexamined negative consequences of self‐monitoring and suggest important directions for future research on self‐monitoring. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Psychoactive substance use among children in informal religious schools (Almajiris) in northern Nigeria

“Almajiri” is a term used to describe children in northern Nigeria who are sent to live with teachers of the Qur’an in order to receive religious instruction. Unable to cater for their needs, the teachers send the children to the streets to beg and do menial jobs. Drug use and other forms of high risk behaviour have not yet been studied among these children. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 340 Almajiris in northeast Nigeria, using an adapted version of the WHO Student Drug Use Questionnaire. The Almajiris were all males, with ages ranging from 5 to 16 years (mean = 11.2 years, SD = 3 years) who had left their parents between the ages of 3 and 12 years (mean = 6.6 years, SD = 2.1 years). The prevalence of drug use was 66.2% and the most frequently used drugs were stimulants (49.7%), volatile solvents (21.5%), cigarettes (19.1%) and cannabis (18.5%). This study provides the first evidence of a high prevalence of drug use among the Almajiris.     

A Longitudinal Study of the Antecedents and Consequences of Collective Personality

In this study, we explored the development and relevance of collective personality to group effectiveness. To this end, we followed a sample of 94 newly formed groups over a 4-month period. First, the results showed support for the emergence of a Big Five structure of collective personality over time. This factor structure appeared to be well developed sometime between 2 and 3 months after group formation. Second, many group personality composition variables were significant antecedents of corresponding collective traits over time. Third, collective Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability predicted group task performance, group social loafing, and group task conflict, after controlling for group personality composition and group ability composition. These findings highlight the potential usefulness of collective personality traits in understanding group outcomes.     

A study of the relationship between personality traits and theoretical orientation preferences

This study explored the relationship between personality and theoretical orientation preferences in two separate samples of psychotherapy practitioners and students. A total of 493 participants (274 practitioners and 219 students) completed a web‐based survey. Preference for theoretical orientation was assessed using a measure adapted from the Theoretical Orientation Profile Scale‐Revised, while personality was assessed with the HEXACO Personality Inventory. After controlling for the effects of gender, profession, and degree type, personality was found to predict preference for the humanistic/existential, cognitive‐behavioural, psychodynamic, and feminist theoretical orientations across both samples. Personality also predicted preference for the multicultural, family systems, and neuropsychological orientations, although these findings were applicable to only one sample. Implications for future research, psychotherapy training, and practice are discussed.