Most recent papers:

• Openness/Intellect and Susceptibility to Pseudo‐Profound Bullshit: A Replication and Extension.
  Timothy F. Bainbridge, Joshua A. Quinlan, Raymond A. Mar, Luke D. Smillie, Małgorzata Fajkowska.
  European Journal of Personality. October 10, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract ‘Pseudo‐profound bullshit’ (PPBS) is a class of meaningless statements designed to appear profound. Profundity ratings for PPBS have been found to be negatively related to analytical thinking and positively related to epistemically suspect beliefs (e.g. belief in the paranormal). Conceptually similar traits within the Openness/Intellect (O/I) domain form a simplex, whereby traits are arranged along a single dimension from intelligence to apophenia (i.e. observing patterns or causal connections were none exist). Across two studies (total N = 297), we attempted to replicate the O/I simplex and determine how it relates to perceiving PPBS as profound. Participants completed questionnaires measuring traits from the O/I simplex and provided profundity ratings for PPBS. Profundity ratings of PPBS tended to correlate negatively with intelligence and positively with apophenia. The association with intelligence generally reflected a greater ability to discriminate the profound from the pseudo‐profound, whereas the association with apophenia reflected poorer discrimination in Study 1, with less conclusive results in Study 2. In both studies, the O/I simplex was closely replicated. The results suggest a link between the O/I domain and perceiving PPBS as profound and tentatively support the theory that intelligence may protect against apophenia. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, EarlyView.
  

  October 10, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2176   open full text
• Stability and Change in Self‐control During the Transition to Parenthood.
  Manon A. Scheppingen, Jaap J.A. Denissen, Wiebke Bleidorn, Cornelia Wrzus.
  European Journal of Personality. September 26, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract Self‐control is associated with a variety of positive life outcomes, including relationship satisfaction, health, educational achievement, and avoiding criminal behaviour. A largely unanswered question concerns the extent to which self‐control changes across the lifespan and in response to major life events. The present research used prospective four‐wave data from 539 Dutch individuals to examine the self‐control trajectory of first‐time parents (n = 246) as compared with individuals who did not have children during the research period (n = 293). New parents (especially mothers) reported higher levels of self‐control before birth (i.e. during pregnancy) than did nonparents. New mothers showed significant non‐linear decreases in self‐control, which were especially strong from pregnancy until 6 months after childbirth. New fathers' self‐control remained largely stable. Furthermore, pregnancy‐related stress was associated with lower self‐control levels during pregnancy in both first‐time mothers and fathers. Higher levels of work–family conflict and family‐related stress were associated with lower self‐control after childbirth in new fathers, but not in new mothers. These results indicate that major life transitions may be linked to changes in adult self‐control. Discussion focuses on the implications of the results for theory and research on the development of self‐control in adulthood. © 2018 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, EarlyView.
  

  September 26, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2172   open full text
• Is Within‐Individual Variation in Personality Traits Associated with Changes in Health Behaviours? Analysis of Seven Longitudinal Cohort Studies.
  Markus Jokela, Jaakko Airaksinen, Mika Kivimäki, Christian Hakulinen, Mitja Back.
  European Journal of Personality. September 24, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract Personality traits are related to health behaviours, but it is unknown whether changes in personality would lead to changes in health behaviours. We examined whether naturally occurring, within‐individual variation in personality traits over time is associated with corresponding changes in smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and body mass index. Data were from seven longitudinal cohort studies with a total sample of 56 786 participants with two or three repeated measurements of the Five Factor Model personality traits assessed over 4 to 19 years. Repeated measurements were used to tease apart between‐individual and within‐individual associations. In the within‐individual analysis, all the personality traits were associated with physical activity, and extraversion was associated with risky alcohol consumption. There were no other within‐individual associations. In the between‐individual analysis, lower conscientiousness, emotional stability, agreeableness, and openness to experience, and higher extraversion, were associated with many risky health behaviours. Our findings suggest that health behaviours are related mostly to stable, between‐individual differences in personality traits, but changes in adult personality may have only limited association with changes in health behaviours. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, EarlyView.
  

  September 24, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2173   open full text
• Testing Similarity Effects with Dyadic Response Surface Analysis.
  Felix D. Schönbrodt, Sarah Humberg, Steffen Nestler, Erika Carlson.
  European Journal of Personality. September 12, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract Dyadic similarity effect hypotheses state that the (dis)similarity between dyad members (e.g. the similarity on a personality dimension) is related to a dyadic outcome variable (e.g. the relationship satisfaction of both partners). Typically, these hypotheses have been investigated by using difference scores or other profile similarity indices as predictors of the outcome variables. These approaches, however, have been vigorously criticized for their conceptual and statistical shortcomings. Here, we introduce a statistical method that is based on polynomial regression and addresses most of these shortcomings: dyadic response surface analysis. This model is tailored for similarity effect hypotheses and fully accounts for the dyadic nature of relationship data. Furthermore, we provide a tutorial with an illustrative example and reproducible R and Mplus scripts that should assist substantive researchers in precisely formulating, testing, and interpreting their dyadic similarity effect hypotheses. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, EarlyView.
  

  September 12, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2169   open full text
• Same Same, but Different? Relations Between Facets of Conscientiousness and Grit.
  Fabian T.C. Schmidt, Gabriel Nagy, Johanna Fleckenstein, Jens Möller, Jan Retelsdorf, Mitja Back.
  European Journal of Personality. September 07, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract The constructs grit and conscientiousness are closely connected. However, this relationship has not been analysed while accounting for the complex structure of conscientiousness and the multifaceted conception of grit (perseverance of effort; consistency of interest). In this study, we analysed the connection while considering the hierarchical structure of conscientiousness, differentiating between a superordinate factor, a first‐level common factor (industriousness), and lower level unique factors. Drawing on two samples (N = 413, Mage = 15.29, and N = 530, Mage = 31.75), we applied an extension procedure for confirmatory factor analysis that enables a simultaneous investigation of the relationships on all levels. The perseverance facet of grit was tightly aligned to the common factors (95% shared variance) and was strongly related to the industriousness factor. Consistency shared less variance with the common factors of conscientiousness (53%), but it was additionally correlated with the self‐discipline facet. The results for the global grit scale were most similar to the results for perseverance. Grit appears to be a construct that combines the superordinate and industrious aspects of conscientiousness and shares the unique aspect of the self‐discipline facet; this suggests that grit and its facets can be fully integrated into the hierarchical structure of conscientiousness. © 2018 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, EarlyView.
  

  September 07, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2171   open full text
• Mapping the Structure of Human Values through Conceptual Representations.
  Gabriel Lins de Holanda Coelho, Paul H.P. Hanel, Mark K. Johansen, Gregory R. Maio, Mitja Back.
  European Journal of Personality. August 30, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract The present research provides the first direct examination of human values through concept categorization tasks that entail judging the meaning of values. Seven studies containing data from nine samples (N = 1086) in two countries (the UK and Brazil) asked participants to compare the meaning of different values found within influential quasi‐circumplex model of values. Different methods were used across experiments, including direct similarity judgment tasks, pile sorting, and spatial arrangement. The results of these diverse conceptual assessments corresponded to spatial configurations that are broadly convergent with Schwartz's model, both between and within participants. © 2018 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, EarlyView.
  

  August 30, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2170   open full text
• Issue Information.
  
  European Journal of Personality. August 15, 2018
  --- - |2 No abstract is available for this article. - European Journal of Personality, Volume 32, Issue 4, Page 325-326, July/August 2018.
  

  August 15, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2124   open full text
• Self‐Compassion as a Facet of Neuroticism? A Reply to the Comments of Neff, Tóth‐Király, and Colosimo (2018).
  Mattis Geiger, Stefan Pfattheicher, Johanna Hartung, Selina Weiss, Simon Schindler, Oliver Wilhelm, Christian Kandler.
  European Journal of Personality. August 09, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract In this paper, we respond to comments by Neff et al. (2018) made about our finding that the negative dimensions of self‐compassion were redundant with facets of neuroticism (rs ≥ 0.85; Pfattheicher et al., 2017) and not incrementally valid. We first provide epistemological guidance for establishing psychological constructs, namely, three hurdles that new constructs must pass: theoretically and empirically sound measurement, discriminant validity, and incremental validity—and then apply these guidelines to the self‐compassion scale. We then outline that the critique of Neff et al. (2018) is contestable. We question their decisions concerning data‐analytic methods that help them to circumvent instead of passing the outlined hurdles. In a reanalysis of the data provided by Neff et al. (2018), we point to several conceptual and psychometric problems and conclude that self‐compassion does not overcome the outlined hurdles. Instead, we show that our initial critique of the self‐compassion scale holds and that its dimensions are best considered facets of neuroticism. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, Volume 32, Issue 4, Page 393-404, July/August 2018.
  

  August 09, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2168   open full text
• Stability and Change in Domain‐specific Self‐esteem and Global Self‐esteem.
  Katrin Rentzsch, Michela Schröder‐Abé, Cornelia Wrzus.
  European Journal of Personality. August 07, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract A notable uptick of interest in the stability of self‐esteem has been observed over the past few years. Most researchers, however, have focused on unidimensional rather than multidimensional conceptualizations of self‐esteem. The paucity of empirical research is surprising given conflicting theoretical perspectives on the stability of self‐esteem. The goal of the present study was to thoroughly disentangle different conceptualizations of self‐esteem and test opposing classical theories on (i) the stability and (ii) the direction of mutual influence of these different forms of self‐esteem. We analysed two‐year longitudinal data from participants (N = 644 at T1, N = 241 at T2) with an average age of 47.0 years (SD = 12.4). Analyses using a latent variable approach revealed that the domains of self‐esteem were relatively stable in terms of rank order and mean levels. In fact, the size of the stability coefficients was comparable to that of other trait measures that have been reported in the literature and paralleled the stability observed for global self‐esteem. Results did not provide support for either top‐down or bottom‐up effects between domain‐specific and global self‐esteem. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications regarding the stability and development of self‐esteem in adulthood and advance the understanding of self‐esteem in personality theory. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, Volume 32, Issue 4, Page 353-370, July/August 2018.
  

  August 07, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2167   open full text
• Similar to and/or Better than Oneself? Singles' Ideal Partner Personality Descriptions.
  Jie Liu, Steven Ludeke, Julia Haubrich, Matthias Gondan‐Rochon, Ingo Zettler, Cornelia Wrzus.
  European Journal of Personality. July 20, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract Using the HEXACO Model of Personality, we explored two kinds of ideal partner preferences regarding personality traits, namely, to what extent people prefer partners similar to themselves (similarity preference) and to what extent people prefer partners with more desirable trait levels than themselves (aspirational assortative preference). We conducted five studies (overall N > 900) across four countries (China, Denmark, Germany, and the USA), looking at both HEXACO factors and facets, using both self‐report questionnaires and real‐life data (personal profiles from a dating website), and comprising both student and more heterogeneous samples. The results provided support for both kinds of ideal partner preferences, with important differences across traits. Specifically, similarity preference was supported by all studies concerning all HEXACO traits, and aspirational assortative preference was supported by all four self‐report studies (though not the dating website study) concerning all HEXACO traits except for Openness to Experience. Concerning differences in preferences among the HEXACO traits, similarity preference was particularly pronounced for Honesty–Humility and Openness to Experience, moderate for Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, and less pronounced for Emotionality and Extraversion. Aspirational assortative preference, by contrast, was particularly pronounced for Emotionality, Extraversion, and Agreeableness, moderate for Honesty–Humility, and inconsistent for Conscientiousness. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, Volume 32, Issue 4, Page 443-458, July/August 2018.
  

  July 20, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2159   open full text
• Personality and Integrative Negotiations: A HEXACO Investigation of Actor, Partner, and Actor–Partner Interaction Effects on Objective and Subjective Outcomes.
  Clark Amistad, Patrick D. Dunlop, Ryan Ng, Jeromy Anglim, Ray Fells, Mitja Back.
  European Journal of Personality. July 19, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract The present study sought to expand the literature on the relations of major dimensions of personality with integrative negotiation outcomes by introducing the HEXACO model, investigating both effects of the negotiators' and their counterparts' personality traits on objective and subjective negotiation outcomes, and investigating two interactions between the negotiators' and counterparts' personalities. One hundred forty‐eight participants completed the HEXACO‐100 measure of personality. Participants then engaged in a dyadic negotiation task that contained a mix of distributive and integrative elements (74 dyads). Measures of subjective experience and objective economic value were obtained, and actor–partner interdependence models were estimated. Personality was generally a better predictor of subjective experience than objective economic value. In particular, partner honesty‐humility, extraversion, and openness predicted more positive negotiation experiences. An actor–partner interaction effect was found for actor‐agreeableness by partner‐honesty‐humility on economic outcomes; agreeable actors achieved worse (better) economic outcomes when negotiating with partners that were low (high) on honesty‐humility. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, Volume 32, Issue 4, Page 427-442, July/August 2018.
  

  July 19, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2166   open full text
• Behavioural Consistency Within the Prisoner's Dilemma Game: The Role of Personality and Situation.
  Tessa Haesevoets, Chris Reinders Folmer, Dries H. Bostyn, Alain Van Hiel.
  European Journal of Personality. July 18, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract Mixed‐motive games represent situations that confront people with a conflict between cooperative and non‐cooperative alternatives. Despite this common basis, recent research has shown that the consistency of people's choices across different mixed‐motive games is rather low. The present research examined behavioural consistency within the same mixed‐motive game, by presenting participants with a series of one‐shot Prisoner's Dilemma Games. Across this set of games, payoffs were manipulated in order to intensify or weaken the conflict between self and the other party while maintaining the game's underlying structure. Our findings indicate that significant differences in choice behaviour are observed as a function of both situational (i.e. manipulations of the Prisoner's Dilemma Game's payoff structure) and personality differences (i.e. individual differences in personality and motivational traits). Moreover, our included situational variables and personality features did not interact with each other and were about equally impactful in shaping cooperation. Crucially, however, despite the significant behavioural differences across game variants, considerable consistency in choices was found as well, which suggests that the game's motivational basis reliably impacts choice behaviour in spite of situational and personality variations. We discuss implications for theorizing on mixed‐motive situations and elaborate on the question how cooperation can be promoted. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, Volume 32, Issue 4, Page 405-426, July/August 2018.
  

  July 18, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2158   open full text
• Remotely Close Associations: Openness to Experience and Semantic Memory Structure.
  Alexander P. Christensen, Yoed N. Kenett, Katherine N. Cotter, Roger E. Beaty, Paul J. Silvia, René Mõttus.
  European Journal of Personality. July 18, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract Openness to experience—the enjoyment of novel experiences and ideas—has many connections to cognitive processes. People high in openness to experience, for example, tend to be more creative and have broader general knowledge than people low in openness to experience. In the current study, we use a network science approach to examine if the organization of semantic memory differs between high and low groups of openness to experience. A sample of 516 adults completed measures of openness to experience (from the NEO Five‐Factor Inventory‐3 and Big Five Aspect Scales) and a semantic verbal fluency task. Next, the sample was split into half to form high (n = 258) and low (n = 258) openness to experience groups. Semantic networks were then constructed on the basis of their verbal fluency responses. Our results revealed that the high openness to experience group's network was more interconnected, flexible, and had better local organization of associations than the low openness to experience group. We also found that the high openness to experience group generated more responses on average and provided more unique responses than the low openness to experience group. Taken together, our results indicate that openness to experience is related to semantic memory structure. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, Volume 32, Issue 4, Page 480-492, July/August 2018.
  

  July 18, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2157   open full text
• The Role of Child Personality in Effects of Psychologically Controlling Parenting: An Examination at the Level of Daily Fluctuations.
  Elien Mabbe, Maarten Vansteenkiste, Jolene Van der Kaap‐Deeder, Lisa Dieleman, Athanasios Mouratidis, Bart Soenens, Cornelia Wrzus.
  European Journal of Personality. July 18, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract Research increasingly demonstrates the detrimental effects of psychologically controlling parenting on children's adjustment. An important and practically relevant question is whether some children are more vulnerable for the effects of psychologically controlling parenting. In the current diary study, we investigated whether daily psychologically controlling parenting relates to children's daily externalizing and internalizing problems and whether these associations depend on child personality. A total of 206 children (M age = 9.93 years; 46.6% female) along with their mothers and fathers (M age = 40.30 and 42.40 years) participated in this multi‐informant diary study. All three family members filled out a diary each day for seven days. Multilevel analyses indicated that daily maternal and paternal psychological control were positively related to daily externalizing and internalizing problems, a pattern that was fairly consistent across informants. Out of the 35 interactions tested, only three turned out to be significant. Overall, the limited number of interactions suggests that psychologically controlling parenting is generally detrimental to children's daily functioning. Still, children differ somewhat in their susceptibility to the effect of psychologically controlling parenting. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, Volume 32, Issue 4, Page 459-479, July/August 2018.
  

  July 18, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2156   open full text
• Self‐compassion Is Best Measured as a Global Construct and Is Overlapping with but Distinct from Neuroticism: A Response to Pfattheicher, Geiger, Hartung, Weiss, and Schindler (2017).
  Kristin D. Neff, István Tóth‐Király, Ken Colosimo, Christian Kandler.
  European Journal of Personality. July 04, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract Pfattheicher and colleagues recently published an article entitled ‘Old Wine in New Bottles? The Case of Self‐compassion and Neuroticism’ that argues the negative items of the Self‐compassion Scale (SCS), which represent reduced uncompassionate self‐responding, are redundant with neuroticism (especially its depression and anxiety facets) and do not evidence incremental validity in predicting life satisfaction. Using potentially problematic methods to examine the factor structure of the SCS (higher‐order confirmatory factor analysis), they suggest a total self‐compassion score should not be used and negative items should be dropped. In Study 1, we present a reanalysis of their data using what we argue are more theoretically appropriate methods (bifactor exploratory structural equation modelling) that support use of a global self‐compassion factor (explaining 94% of item variance) over separate factors representing compassionate and reduced uncompassionate self‐responding. While self‐compassion evidenced a large correlation with neuroticism and depression and a small correlation with anxiety, it explained meaningful incremental validity in life satisfaction compared with neuroticism, depression, and anxiety. Findings were replicated in Study 2, which examined emotion regulation. Study 3 established the incremental validity of negative items with multiple well‐being outcomes. We conclude that although self‐compassion overlaps with neuroticism, the two constructs are distinct. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, Volume 32, Issue 4, Page 371-392, July/August 2018.
  

  July 04, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2148   open full text
• Interpersonal Dynamics in Personality and Personality Disorders.
  Christopher J. Hopwood, Mitja Back.
  European Journal of Personality. June 28, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract Clinical and basic personality psychologists interact less than they should, given their similar interests. In clinical personality psychology, available evidence supports a transition from the current categorical system to a hierarchical trait scheme for diagnosing the stable features of personality disorder. However, trait models do not capture the dynamic aspects of personality disorders as they have been described in the clinical literature, and thus miss a clinically critical feature of personality pathology. In contrast, basic personality psychologists have coalesced around a consensual structure of individual differences and become increasingly interested in the dynamic processes that underlie and contextualize traits. But trait psychology models are not sufficiently specific to characterize dynamic personality processes. In this paper, I filter clinical descriptions of personality disorders through the lens of interpersonal theory to specify a recursive within‐situation interpersonal pattern of motives, affects, behaviours, and perceptions that could contribute to the stable between‐situation patterns of maladaptive behaviour of historical interest to both basic and clinical personality psychologists. I suggest that this interpersonal model adds specificity to recent proposals regarding processes in the basic personality literature and has significant potential to advance research on personality dynamics. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, EarlyView.
  

  June 28, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2155   open full text
• Translating Dispositional Resistance to Change to the Culture Level: Developing a Cultural Framework of Change Orientations.
  Shaul Oreg, Noga Sverdlik, Mitja Back.
  European Journal of Personality. May 22, 2018
  --- - |2 Abstract A fundamental societal challenge is to balance the desire for growth, development, and progress on the one hand and the need for stability and maintenance of the status quo on the other. To better understand how societies deal with this challenge we employ the personality trait of dispositional resistance to change to conceptualize and empirically establish the concept of cultural change orientation. With data from individuals in 27 countries (N = 6487), we identify three culture‐level change orientation dimensions (routine seeking, affective reactance, and cultural rigidity) and interpret their meaning through their relationships with established cultural frameworks (e.g. GLOBE, Hofstede, Inglehart, and Schwartz). We thus propose a new culture‐level framework and test hypotheses about relationships between change orientation dimensions and national indexes of economic, technological, social, and environmental change. Our findings demonstrate meaningful differential relationships between the three change orientation dimensions and these societal outcomes. Copyright © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology - European Journal of Personality, Volume 32, Issue 4, Page 327-352, July/August 2018.
  

  May 22, 2018   doi: 10.1002/per.2152   open full text
• A Three‐Domain Personality Analysis of a Mentally Tough Athlete.
  Tristan J. Coulter, Clifford J. Mallett, Jefferson A. Singer.
  European Journal of Personality. October 11, 2017
  The current study adopted McAdams' multilayer framework as the basis to develop a psychological portrait of an elite athlete who was identified as being particularly ‘mentally tough’. The aim was to use this single case as an exemplar to demonstrate the utility of McAdams' framework for understanding the complexity of sport performers across three domains of personality: dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations, and narrative identity. We operationalised these domains through the development of specific research questions and, subsequently, the collection and integration of the participant's Big Five traits, personal strivings, coping strategies, and response to a life story interview. The results offered a comprehensive insight into the nature of one athlete's personality that, in turn, informed conceptual perspectives of mental toughness in sport psychology literature and qualitatively supported emerging evidence of the validity of a three‐layer framework in personality psychology. Specifically, the study's design showed how a holistic approach to personality analysis can lead to a more complete psychological representation of competitors in sport, and people generally. It demonstrated how motivational, sociocultural, and meaning‐making aspects of personality can complement a trait profile to achieving a satisfying assessment of the whole person. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 11, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2129   open full text
• Genetic and Environmental Pathways Underlying Personality Traits and Perceived Stress: Concurrent and Longitudinal Twin Studies.
  Jing Luo, Jaime Derringer, Daniel A. Briley, Brent W. Roberts.
  European Journal of Personality. October 03, 2017
  The present study examined the genetic and environmental etiology underlying the Big Five personality traits and perceived stress, concurrently and longitudinally. In study 1, we used the twin sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health IV) data. The results indicated that about 70% of the association between the Big Five personality traits and perceived stress was due to genetic influences. In study 2, we used the twin sample from the Midlife in the United States Survey (MIDUS I and II) to examine the genetic and environmental influences underlying the longitudinal relations between the Big Five personality traits and perceived stress. The results suggested that continuity in perceived stress was primarily accounted for by genetic influences, and changes in perceived stress were mainly due to nonshared environmental influences. The continuity in the association between the five personality traits and perceived stress was largely accounted for by genetic factors, and nonshared environmental factors made greater contributions to changes in the association between personality traits and perceived stress. Among the Big Five personality traits, the genetic components in conscientiousness and neuroticism made substantial contributions to the genetic link between personality traits and perceived stress across both studies. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 03, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2127   open full text
• Comparing Job Applicants to Non‐applicants Using an Item‐level Bifactor Model on the HEXACO Personality Inventory.
  Jeromy Anglim, Gavin Morse, Reinout E. De Vries, Carolyn MacCann, Andrew Marty.
  European Journal of Personality. September 25, 2017
  The present study evaluated the ability of item‐level bifactor models (a) to provide an alternative explanation to current theories of higher order factors of personality and (b) to explain socially desirable responding in both job applicant and non‐applicant contexts. Participants (46% male; mean age = 42 years, SD = 11) completed the 200‐item HEXACO Personality Inventory‐Revised either as part of a job application (n = 1613) or as part of low‐stakes research (n = 1613). A comprehensive set of invariance tests were performed. Applicants scored higher than non‐applicants on honesty‐humility (d = 0.86), extraversion (d = 0.73), agreeableness (d = 1.06), and conscientiousness (d = 0.77). The bifactor model provided improved model fit relative to a standard correlated factor model, and loadings on the evaluative factor of the bifactor model were highly correlated with other indicators of item social desirability. The bifactor model explained approximately two‐thirds of the differences between applicants and non‐applicants. Results suggest that rather than being a higher order construct, the general factor of personality may be caused by an item‐level evaluative process. Results highlight the importance of modelling data at the item‐level. Implications for conceptualizing social desirability, higher order structures in personality, test development, and job applicant faking are discussed. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  September 25, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2120   open full text
• Mediated Disposition–Environment Transactions: The DAE Model.
  Jens B. Asendorpf, Frosso Motti‐Stefanidi.
  European Journal of Personality. August 31, 2017
  We propose a new model of personality development, the disposition–adaptation–environment (DAE) model. It is based on the assumption that two types of individual characteristics can be distinguished: Dispositions make up the relatively stable core of personality at a particular age, and adaptations are the joint outcome of effects of dispositions and environmental characteristics and mediate transactions between dispositions and environments. Whereas distinctions between dispositions and adaptations have been drawn before, the DAE model is unique in that it (i) entails testable hypotheses whether individual characteristics are adaptations or dispositions, (ii) is based on quasi‐causal cross‐lagged effects, (iii) assigns adaptations a functional role as longitudinal mediators of disposition–environment transaction, and (iv) is developmentally sensitive. We illustrate application of the DAE model with a three‐wave longitudinal study of 1118 adolescents who were observed from the first to the third year in middle school, using the Big Five as dispositions, conduct and self‐esteem with peers as adaptations, and peer acceptance and rejection as the environmental measures. Hypotheses‐driven and exploratory analyses were combined to yield both safe conclusions and novel hypotheses. We compare the model with other models of personality development and discuss extensions that include stable genetic and socio‐economic effects. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 31, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2118   open full text
• Judging Personality from a Brief Sample of Behaviour: Detecting where Others Stand on Trait Continua.
  Wenjie Wu, Elizabeth Sheppard, Peter Mitchell.
  European Journal of Personality. August 23, 2017
  Trait inferences occur routinely and rapidly during social interaction, sometimes based on scant or fleeting information. In this research, participants (perceivers) made inferences of targets' big‐five traits after briefly watching or listening to an unfamiliar target (a third party) performing various mundane activities (telling a scripted joke or answering questions about him/herself or reading aloud a paragraph of promotional material). Across three studies, when perceivers judged targets to be either low or high in one or more dimensions of the big‐five traits, they tended to be correct, but they did not tend to be correct when they judged targets as average. Such inferences seemed to vary in effectiveness across different trait dimensions and depending on whether the target's behaviour was presented either in a video with audio, a silent video, or just in an audio track—perceivers generally were less often correct when they judged targets as average in each of the big‐five traits across various information channels (videos with audio, silent videos, and audios). Study 3 replicated these findings in a different culture. We conclude with discussion of the scope and the adaptive value of this trait inferential ability. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 23, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2116   open full text
• A Parsimonious Explanation of the Resilient, Undercontrolled, and Overcontrolled Personality Types.
  Tom Rosenström, Markus Jokela.
  European Journal of Personality. August 23, 2017
  Researchers applying clustering methods have found that the five most commonly studied personality traits (the ‘Big Five’) appear to form three prototypes, known as resilient, undercontrolled, and overcontrolled (RUO) personality types. The analysis has been replicated cross‐nationally, and the results have been reasonably robust. However, these findings do not necessarily imply discontinuities or non‐linearities in the Big Five data. We study whether the RUO types can arise from typical Big Five intercorrelations alone. We used data from a previous meta‐analysis of inter‐trait correlations (N = 144 117 participants) and simulated normally distributed observations with this correlation structure. Applying three different clustering algorithms (k‐means, hierarchical agglomerative, and model based) with three‐cluster solutions to the simulated data, we examined whether the known correlations alone can give rise to the RUO typology. The simulated results were compared with previous empirical findings. A simple multivariate normal distribution with the Big Five correlation structure was sufficient to generate the RUO typology in three‐cluster solutions for all the three clustering methods. Contrary to the RUO typology ‘carving personality description at its joints’, linear correlations typical for correlations among Big Five traits can create RUO types even in the absence of any points of discontinuity. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 23, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2117   open full text
• Seeing is Knowing: On the Predictive Accuracy of Self‐ and Informant Reports for Prosocial and Moral Behaviours.
  Isabel Thielmann, Johannes Zimmermann, Daniel Leising, Benjamin E. Hilbig.
  European Journal of Personality. August 04, 2017
  Under certain circumstances, well‐known others (so‐called informants) may possess unique insights into targets' personality traits beyond the targets' self‐views. Specifically, as proposed by the self–other knowledge asymmetry model, an incremental predictive ability of informants is most likely for traits and corresponding behaviours that are clearly visible to others and highly evaluative in nature. In two studies, we provide an empirical test of this proposition and extend prior research to one of the most important domains of interpersonal interaction: prosocial and moral behaviours. Specifically, we investigate the unique predictive power of informant reports in trait Honesty–Humility for fairness in the dictator game and dishonesty in a cheating paradigm. Importantly, while both these classes of behaviour are highly evaluative in nature, only fairness is clearly visible to others. Correspondingly, in line with the self–other knowledge asymmetry model, our results reveal unique predictive accuracy of informant reports for fairness. For dishonesty, by contrast, there was no conclusive evidence for incremental predictive power of informant reports. This implies that informants may indeed provide valuable information beyond targets' self‐reports on trait aspects driving fair behaviour, but that targets themselves are their own best experts when it comes to judging trait aspects driving dishonest behaviour. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 04, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2112   open full text
• On Self‐Love and Outgroup Hate: Opposite Effects of Narcissism on Prejudice via Social Dominance Orientation and Right‐Wing Authoritarianism.
  Aleksandra Cichocka, Kristof Dhont, Arti P. Makwana.
  European Journal of Personality. August 04, 2017
  Previous research has obtained mixed findings as to whether feelings of self‐worth are positively or negatively related to right‐wing ideological beliefs and prejudice. We propose to clarify the link between self‐worth and ideology by distinguishing between narcissistic and non‐narcissistic self‐evaluations as well as between different dimensions of ideological attitudes. Four studies, conducted in three different socio‐political contexts: the UK (Study 1, N = 422), the US (Studies 2 and 3, Ns = 471 and 289, respectively), and Poland (Study 4, N = 775), investigated the associations between narcissistic and non‐narcissistic self‐evaluations, social dominance orientation (SDO), right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), and ethnic prejudice. Confirming our hypotheses, the results consistently showed that after controlling for self‐esteem, narcissistic self‐evaluation was positively associated with SDO (accounting for RWA), yet negatively associated with RWA (accounting for SDO). These associations were similar after controlling for psychopathy and Machiavellianism (Study 3) as well as collective narcissism and Big Five personality characteristics (Study 4). Studies 2–4 additionally demonstrated that narcissistic self‐evaluation was indirectly positively associated with prejudice through higher SDO (free of RWA) but indirectly negatively associated with prejudice through lower RWA (free of SDO). Implications for understanding the role of self‐evaluation in right‐wing ideological attitudes and prejudice are discussed. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 04, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2114   open full text
• Personality Traits Predict Smartphone Usage.
  Clemens Stachl, Sven Hilbert, Jiew‐Quay Au, Daniel Buschek, Alexander De Luca, Bernd Bischl, Heinrich Hussmann, Markus Bühner.
  European Journal of Personality. August 02, 2017
  The present study investigates to what degree individual differences can predict frequency and duration of actual behaviour, manifested in mobile application (app) usage on smartphones. In particular, this work focuses on the identification of stable associations between personality on the factor and facet level, fluid intelligence, demography and app usage in 16 distinct categories. A total of 137 subjects (87 women and 50 men), with an average age of 24 (SD = 4.72), participated in a 90‐min psychometric lab session as well as in a subsequent 60‐day data logging study in the field. Our data suggest that personality traits predict mobile application usage in several specific categories such as communication, photography, gaming, transportation and entertainment. Extraversion, conscientiousness and agreeableness are better predictors of mobile application usage than basic demographic variables in several distinct categories. Furthermore, predictive performance is slightly higher for single factor—in comparison with facet‐level personality scores. Fluid intelligence and demographics additionally show stable associations with categorical app usage. In sum, this study demonstrates how individual differences can be effectively related to actual behaviour and how this can assist in understanding the behavioural underpinnings of personality. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 02, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2113   open full text
• Are All Kids Alike? The Magnitude of Individual Differences in Personality Characteristics Tends to Increase from Early Childhood to Early Adolescence.
  René Mõttus, Christopher J. Soto, Helena R. Slobodskaya.
  European Journal of Personality. July 04, 2017
  Do individual differences in personality traits become more or less pronounced over childhood and adolescence? The present research examined age differences in the variance of a range of personality traits, using parent reports of two large samples of children from predominantly the USA and Russia, respectively. Results indicate (i) that individual differences in most traits tend to increase with age from early childhood into early adolescence and then plateau, (ii) that this general pattern of greater personality variance at older childhood age is consistent across the two countries, and (iii) that this pattern is not an artefact of age differences in means or floor/ceiling effects. These findings are consistent with several (noncontradictory) developmental mechanisms, including youths' expanding behavioural capacities and person–environment transactions (corresponsive principle). However, these mechanisms may predominantly characterize periods before adolescence, or they may be offset by countervailing processes, such as socialization pressure towards a mature personality profile, in late adolescence and adulthood. Finally, the findings also suggest that interpreting age trajectories in mean trait scores as pertaining to age differences in a typical person may sometimes be misleading. Investigating variance should become an integral part of studying personality development. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  July 04, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2107   open full text
• A Network Approach to Affect Regulation Dynamics and Personality Trait‐Induced Variations: Extraversion and Neuroticism Moderate Reciprocal Influences between Affect and Affect Regulation Strategies.
  Jean‐Baptiste Pavani, Sarah Le Vigouroux, Jean‐Luc Kop, Anne Congard, Bruno Dauvier.
  European Journal of Personality. July 04, 2017
  The objectives of the present study were twofold. First, we tested a new approach to affect regulation dynamics, conceptualized as a network made up of the reciprocal influences that affect and affect regulation strategies constantly exert on each other. Second, we attempted to gain a better understanding of these dynamics by examining how they vary according to broad personality traits. To this end, we adopted an experience sampling method, involving five daily assessments over a 2‐week period. In each assessment, participants indicated their current affective experience and the way they had implemented five well‐known affect regulation strategies (i.e. appreciation, positive reappraisal, distraction, expressive suppression, and rumination) since the previous assessment. At the sample level, the network of affect regulation dynamics was characterized by positive feedback loops between positive affect and so‐called broad‐minded strategies, and between negative affect and narrow‐minded strategies. The form of this network varied according to levels of extraversion and neuroticism. Our findings are discussed in light of current knowledge about personality and affect regulation. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  July 04, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2109   open full text
• Why Narcissists are Unwilling to Apologize: The Role of Empathy and Guilt.
  Joost M. Leunissen, Constantine Sedikides, Tim Wildschut.
  European Journal of Personality. June 20, 2017
  We hypothesized that narcissists would be unwilling to apologize for their interpersonal transgressions, and that reduced levels of self‐reported empathy and guilt would serially mediate this effect. Narcissism is characterized by little empathy for the victim, which reduces guilt about one's transgressions. Low guilt, in turn, is associated with unwillingness to apologize. In Study 1, we assessed dispositional narcissism, empathy, guilt, and willingness to apologize. In Study 2, we assessed dispositional narcissism and obtained state measures of empathy, guilt, and willingness to apologize. In Study 3, we manipulated narcissism and collected state measures of empathy, guilt, and willingness to apologize. Narcissism was negatively associated with (Studies 1–2) and decreased (Study 3) willingness to apologize, with this link being explained (i.e., serially mediated) by low empathy and guilt. Finally, in Study 4, we showed that antagonistic narcissism (i.e., narcissistic rivalry), but not agentic narcissism (i.e., narcissistic admiration), was negatively associated with willingness to apologize and apologizing behaviour. In all, narcissists are unwilling to apologize for their transgressions, as they experience little empathy for their victims and lower guilt. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  June 20, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2110   open full text
• Did Strategic Bombing in the Second World War Lead to ‘German Angst’? A Large‐scale Empirical Test Across 89 German Cities.
  Martin Obschonka, Michael Stuetzer, P. Jason Rentfrow, Jeff Potter, Samuel D. Gosling.
  European Journal of Personality. June 19, 2017
  A widespread stereotype holds that the Germans are notorious worriers, an idea captured by the term German angst. An analysis of country‐level neurotic personality traits (trait anxiety, trait depression, and trait neuroticism; N = 7 210 276) across 109 countries provided mixed support for this idea; Germany ranked 20th, 31st, and 53rd for depression, anxiety, and neuroticism, respectively, suggesting, at best, the national stereotype is only partly valid. Theories put forward to explain the stereotypical characterization of Germany focus on the collective traumatic events experienced by Germany during World War II (WWII), such as the massive strategic bombing of German cities. We thus examined the link between strategic bombing of 89 German cities and today's regional levels in neurotic traits (N = 33 534) and related mental health problems. Contrary to the WWII bombing hypothesis, we found negative effects of strategic bombing on regional trait depression and mental health problems. This finding was robust when controlling for a host of economic factors and social structure. We also found Resilience × Stressor interactions: Cities with more severe bombings show more resilience today (lower levels of neurotic traits and mental health problems in the face of a current major stressor—economic hardship). Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  June 19, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2104   open full text
• Person–Group Dissimilarity in Personality and Peer Victimization.
  Savannah Boele, Jelle J. Sijtsema, Theo A. Klimstra, Jaap J.A. Denissen, Wim H.J. Meeus.
  European Journal of Personality. June 19, 2017
  The present study examined the role of person–group dissimilarity in personality in peer victimization. It was hypothesized that adolescents who show more deviation from the classroom norm in personality experience more peer victimization. Data from 1108 adolescents (48% boys; Mage = 13.56 years, SD = 1.13) from 54 classrooms were used to test this hypothesis. Data included measurements of self‐reported and bully‐disclosed victimization and Big Five and Dark Triad personality traits. Results of generalized linear mixed models including polynomial equations and subsequent response surface analyses partly supported our hypothesis. Person–group dissimilarity in the shape of personality profiles was related to more bully‐disclosed victimization, but not to self‐reported victimization. Dissimilarity in neuroticism and Machiavellianism was related to both more self‐reported and bully‐disclosed victimization. Dissimilarity in extraversion, openness to experience, and psychopathy was only related to more self‐reported victimization. Unexpectedly, dissimilarity in agreeableness was related to less self‐reported victimization. Moreover, our results also indicated that certain levels of congruent person–group combinations in agreeableness, neuroticism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy were related to more peer victimization. Overall, findings of this study emphasize the importance of considering classroom norms in relation to peer victimization. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  June 19, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2105   open full text
• Are People Mindful in Different Ways? Disentangling the Quantity and Quality of Mindfulness in Latent Profiles and Exploring their Links to Mental Health and Life Effectiveness.
  Baljinder K. Sahdra, Joseph Ciarrochi, Philip D. Parker, Geetanjali Basarkod, Emma L. Bradshaw, Ruth Baer.
  European Journal of Personality. June 15, 2017
  We sought to disambiguate the quantitative and qualitative components of mindfulness profiles, examine whether including ‘nonattachment’ as a subcomponent of mindfulness alters the profiles, and evaluate the extent to which the person‐centred approach to understanding mindfulness adds predictive power beyond a more parsimonious variable‐centred approach. Using data from a nationally representative sample of Americans (N = 7884; 52% female; Age: M = 47.9, SD = 16), we utilized bifactor exploratory structural equation modelling and latent profile analysis to separate the level and shape of previously identified profiles of mindfulness (Pearson, Lawless, Brown, & Bravo, ). Consistent with past research, we identified a judgmentally observing profile and a non‐judgmentally aware group, but inconsistent with past research, we did not find profiles that showed high or low levels on all specific aspects of mindfulness. Adding nonattachment did not alter the shape of the profiles. Profile membership was meaningfully related to demographic variables. In models testing the distinctive predictive utility of the profiles, the judgmentally observing profile, compared to the other profiles, showed the highest levels of mental ill‐health, but also the highest levels of life satisfaction and effectiveness. We discuss the implications of our study for clinical interventions and understanding the varieties of mindfulness. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  June 15, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2108   open full text
• Whose Job Will Be Taken Over by a Computer? The Role of Personality in Predicting Job Computerizability over the Lifespan.
  Rodica Ioana Damian, Marion Spengler, Brent W. Roberts.
  European Journal of Personality. May 09, 2017
  Economists estimate that 47% of US jobs will be computerized in the future. This paper tests the prospective role of a comprehensive range personality factors on selection into more (or less) computerizable jobs. We used a US representative high school sample (N = 346 660) and a longitudinal design. At baseline, we measured social background, intelligence, personality traits and vocational interests. In two follow‐ups (11 and 50 years later), we recorded occupations and coded their probability of being computerized based on the skills required and technological developments. Multiple regressions showed that, regardless of social background, people who were more intelligent, mature, interested in arts, and sciences at baseline, and selected into jobs that had a lower probability of computerization. On average, a one standard deviation increase in each of these traits predicted an average of 4 percentage points drop in the probability of one's job of being computerized. At the US population level, this is equivalent with saving 5.8 million people from losing their future careers to computerization. Most effects replicated across time. Path analyses showed that educational attainment mediated these effects and some direct effects remained. This highlights the importance of personality on occupational selection and in shaping the labour market. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  May 09, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2103   open full text
• How do Personality and Social Structures Interact with Each Other to Predict Important Life Outcomes? The Importance of Accounting for Personality Change.
  Christopher J. Boyce, Alex M. Wood, Liam Delaney, Eammon Ferguson.
  European Journal of Personality. April 27, 2017
  Personality is important for a range of life outcomes. However, despite evidence that personality changes across time, there is a concerning tendency for researchers outside of personality psychology to treat measures of personality as if they are non‐changing when establishing whether personality predicts important life outcomes. This is problematic when personality changes in response to outcomes of interest and creates a methodological issue that may result in misleading conclusions. We illustrate this methodological issue and suggest using measures before the outcome takes place to mitigate concerns. We then demonstrate, using data from Germany, that using post‐event personality measures, as opposed to pre‐outcome measures, to predict both occurrence of, and reactions to, socio‐economic events results in inconsistent conclusions in the directions hypothesized and therefore increases the likelihood of Type 1 and Type 2 errors. This has implications for research investigating the importance of personality for psychological, behavioural, and socio‐economic outcomes. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  April 27, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2099   open full text
• Does a Major Earthquake Change Job Preferences and Human Values?
  Shigehiro Oishi, Ayano Yagi, Asuka Komiya, Florian Kohlbacher, Takashi Kusumi, Keiko Ishii.
  European Journal of Personality. April 27, 2017
  Does a major natural disaster change human values and job preferences? The present studies examined whether the experience of a natural disaster experience shifts people's values and job preferences toward pro‐social directions. In Study 1 (cross‐temporal analysis), we analysed job application data in nine cities in Japan over 12 years and found that the popularity of pro‐social occupations (e.g. firefighter) increased after the Great Hanshin–Awaji Earthquake in 1995, in particular the area hit hardest by the quake. In Study 2 (a large national survey), we found that Japanese respondents who had experienced a major earthquake are more likely to hold a pro‐social job than those who never experienced a major earthquake. Together, the current findings suggest that the experience of a major natural disaster shifts human values from the egocentric to the allocentric direction, which in turn could result in a social structure that values pro‐social occupations. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  April 27, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2102   open full text
• Individual Differences in the Resistance to Social Change and Acceptance of Inequality Predict System Legitimacy Differently Depending on the Social Structure.
  Mark J. Brandt, Christine Reyna.
  European Journal of Personality. April 23, 2017
  We propose that individual differences in the resistance to social change and the acceptance of inequality can have divergent effects on legitimacy depending on the context. This possibility was tested in a sample of 27 European countries (N = 144 367) and across four experiments (total N = 475). Individual differences in the resistance to social change were related to higher levels of perceived legitimacy no matter the level of inequality of the society. Conversely, individual differences in the acceptance of inequality were related to higher levels of perceived legitimacy in unequal societies, but either a relationship near zero or the opposite relationship was found in more equal societies. These studies highlight the importance of distinguishing between individual differences that make up political ideology, especially when making predictions in diverse settings. © 2017 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology

  April 23, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2100   open full text
• Why are Extraverts more Satisfied? Personality, Social Experiences, and Subjective Well‐being in College.
  Kelci Harris, Tammy English, Peter D. Harms, James J. Gross, Joshua J. Jackson.
  European Journal of Personality. April 18, 2017
  It is widely appreciated that extraversion is associated with greater subjective well‐being. What is not yet clear is what mechanisms relate the two. In two longitudinal studies, we explored whether extraversion is prospectively associated with higher levels of satisfaction during college through influencing college social experiences using longitudinal cross‐lagged mediation models. In both studies, students' extraversion at the beginning of college predicted their subjective well‐being 4 years later. In both studies, extraversion at the beginning of college predicted a variety of self‐reported and peer‐reported social experiences (e.g. feelings of belonging and size of social network). We tested whether qualitative or quantitative aspects of social experiences explained the association between extraversion and subjective well‐being. In the first study, neither type of social experience explained the effect of extraversion on satisfaction. Only qualitative social experiences in the second study were instrumental in explaining this effect. The results suggest that extraversion's ability to create better social experiences can play a role in extraverts' greater subjective well‐being, but these experiences are not the only reason extraverts are happier and more satisfied. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  April 18, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2101   open full text
• A Meta‐analytic and Conceptual Update on the Associations Between Procrastination and Multidimensional Perfectionism.
  Fuschia M. Sirois, Danielle S. Molnar, Jameson K. Hirsch.
  European Journal of Personality. March 26, 2017
  The equivocal and debated findings from a 2007 meta‐analysis, which viewed perfectionism as a unidimensional construct, suggested that perfectionism was unrelated to procrastination. The present meta‐analysis aimed to provide a conceptual update and reanalysis of the procrastination–perfectionism association guided by both a multidimensional view of perfectionism and self‐regulation theory. The random‐effects meta‐analyses revealed a small to medium positive average effect size (r = .23; k = 43, N = 10 000; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) [0.19, 0.27]) for trait procrastination and perfectionistic concerns and a small to medium negative average effect size (r = −.22; k = 38, N = 9544; 95% CI [−0.26, −0.18]) for procrastination and perfectionistic strivings. The average correlations remained significant after statistically accounting for the joint variance between the two perfectionism dimensions via semi‐partial correlations. For perfectionistic concerns, but not perfectionistic strivings, the effects depended on the perfectionism measure used. All effects did not vary by the trait procrastination measure used or the respondent's sex. Our findings confirm that from a multidimensional perspective, trait procrastination is both positively and negatively associated with higher‐order perfectionism dimensions and further highlights the value of a self‐regulation perspective for understanding the cognitive, affective and behavioural dynamics that characterise these traits. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  March 26, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2098   open full text
• Old Wine in New Bottles? The Case of Self‐compassion and Neuroticism.
  Stefan Pfattheicher, Mattis Geiger, Johanna Hartung, Selina Weiss, Simon Schindler.
  European Journal of Personality. March 20, 2017
  Research on self‐compassion, which is defined as being understanding and kind to oneself when confronted with negative experiences, has produced an impressive number of articles in recent years. This research shows that individual differences in self‐compassion, as measured by the Self‐Compassion Scale (SCS), are positively related to life satisfaction, health and social functioning. However, a critical and systematic test of self‐compassion from a personality perspective has not yet conducted so far. In the present study (N = 576), we (i) tested the factor structure of the SCS, (ii) examined the distinctiveness of self‐compassion with regard to the five‐factor model of personality, focusing on neuroticism, and (iii) tested the incremental predictive power of self‐compassion beyond the five‐factor model in the context of life satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a two‐factor plus six facets solution of self‐compassion (a positive factor and a negative factor). Additional analyses revealed that the negative factor was redundant with facets of neuroticism (rs ≥ .85), whereas the positive factor had some unique variance left. However, neither the negative factor nor the positive factor could explain substantial incremental variance in life satisfaction beyond neuroticism. Recommendations for how to use the SCS are provided, and the future of research on self‐compassion is discussed. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  March 20, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2097   open full text
• Homophilous Friendship Assortment Based on Personality Traits and Cognitive Ability in Middle Childhood: The Moderating Effect of Peer Network Size.
  Ville‐Juhani Ilmarinen, Mari‐Pauliina Vainikainen, Markku Johannes Verkasalo, Jan‐Erik Lönnqvist.
  European Journal of Personality. February 24, 2017
  Even though homophily (love of the same) is often thought of as a standard feature of friendships, the empirical evidence for attraction based on personality trait similarity is mixed at best. One reason for the inconsistent findings across studies could be variation in the large‐scale social environment in which the studies have been conducted. We investigated whether diversity in the everyday social ecologies of 7‐ to 8‐year‐old children (N = 549) moderates whether friendships are formed on the basis of similar personality traits and similar levels of Cognitive ability. Moderated polynomial regression and response surface analyses showed that classroom size moderated homophily based on Openness to Experience: children similar in Openness were more likely to form friendship ties, but only in larger classrooms. Moreover, we found homophily for Cognitive ability, especially among girls. The results for Openness and Cognitive ability were independent of each other. We discuss the social relevance of trait Openness and the notion that capacity to reciprocate underlies homophily based on Cognitive ability. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  February 24, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2095   open full text
• Values that Underlie and Undermine Well‐Being: Variability Across Countries.
  Florencia M. Sortheix, Shalom H. Schwartz.
  European Journal of Personality. February 22, 2017
  We examined relations of 10 personal values to life satisfaction (LS) and depressive affect (DEP) in representative samples from 32/25 countries (N = 121 495). We tested hypotheses both for direct relations and cross‐level moderation of relations by Cultural Egalitarianism. We based hypotheses on the growth versus self‐protection orientation and person‐focus versus social‐focus motivations that underlie values. As predicted, openness to change values (growth/person) correlated positively with subjective well‐being (SWB: higher LS, lower DEP) and conservation values (self‐protection/social) correlated negatively with SWB. The combination of underlying motivations also explained more complex direct relations of self‐transcendence and self‐enhancement values with SWB. We combined an analysis of the environmental context in societies low versus high in Cultural Egalitarianism with the implications of pursuing person‐focused versus social‐focused values to predict how Cultural Egalitarianism moderates value–SWB relations. As predicted, under low versus high Cultural Egalitarianism, (i) openness to change values related more positively to SWB, (ii) conservation values more negatively, (iii) self‐enhancement values less negatively and (iv) self‐transcendence values less positively. Culture moderated value–SWB relations more weakly for DEP than for LS. Culture moderated value–LS relations more strongly than the socio‐economic context did. This study demonstrates how the cultural context shapes individual‐level associations between values and SWB. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  February 22, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2096   open full text
• Wiley Award and Call for Papers.
  
  European Journal of Personality. February 07, 2017
  There is no abstract available for this paper.

  February 07, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2089   open full text
• Using Indirect Measurement Tasks to Assess the Self‐concept of Personality: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analyses.
  K. De Cuyper, J. De Houwer, K. Vansteelandt, M. Perugini, G. Pieters, L. Claes, D. Hermans.
  European Journal of Personality. February 07, 2017
  This systematic review presents the current state of research investigating the implicit self‐concept of personality. First, we present results on meta‐analyses estimating internal consistency, reliability coefficients, the implicit–explicit consistency and the single association predictive effect of implicit self‐concept of personality measures. To do this, studies were aggregated over personality domains. Second, for each of the Five Factor personality domains, different aspects of construct validity and predictive validity are reviewed in a narrative way. Results show that implicit self‐concept of personality measures are reliable, and there is evidence for the construct and predictive validity of these implicit measures, especially in the extraversion and agreeableness domains of personality. However, it must be kept in mind that clear evidence for publication bias was found for studies examining the single association predictive pattern. Finally, this systematic review identifies some achievable improvements that are needed in future research. Large cross‐lab efforts are important in this respect. Moreover, the implicit self‐concept of personality field must move from an ‘ad hoc’ to a ‘validation’ approach in developing new indirect measurement tasks. By adopting these research objectives, the information processing account of personality will increase its potential to become integrated into mainstream personality theory and research. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  February 07, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2092   open full text
• Using Response Surface Analysis to Interpret the Impact of Parent–Offspring Personality Similarity on Adolescent Externalizing Problems.
  Aart Franken, Odillia M. Laceulle, Marcel A.G. Van Aken, Johan Ormel.
  European Journal of Personality. January 12, 2017
  Personality similarity between parent and offspring has been suggested to play an important role in offspring's development of externalizing problems. Nonetheless, much remains unknown regarding the nature of this association. This study aimed to investigate the effects of parent–offspring similarity at different levels of personality traits, comparing expectations based on evolutionary and goodness‐of‐fit perspectives. Two waves of data from the TRAILS study (N = 1587, 53% girls) were used to study parent–offspring similarity at different levels of personality traits at age 16 predicting externalizing problems at age 19. Polynomial regression analyses and Response Surface Analyses were used to disentangle effects of different levels and combinations of parents and offspring personality similarity. Although several facets of the offspring's personality had an impact on offspring's externalizing problems, few similarity effects were found. Therefore, there is little support for assumptions based on either an evolutionary or a goodness‐of‐fit perspective. Instead, our findings point in the direction that offspring personality, and at similar levels also parent personality might impact the development of externalizing problems during late adolescence. © 2017 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology

  January 12, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2088   open full text
• Combining Trait Models of Impulsivity to Improve Explanation of Substance Use Behaviour.
  Kaidy Stautz, Linda Dinc, Andrew J. Cooper.
  European Journal of Personality. January 09, 2017
  The UPPS‐P model of impulsivity is gaining popularity among personality and substance use researchers, but questions remain as to whether its five facets have incremental validity in explaining substance use over a more parsimonious model specifying only two facets: reward drive and rash impulsiveness. In three cross‐sectional studies (total N = 486), we investigated whether the novel components of the UPPS‐P model (negative Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation seeking, Positive urgency) predicted typical and problematic alcohol and cannabis use after accounting for reward drive, rash impulsiveness and trait neuroticism (assessed with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire). Reward drive and rash impulsiveness scores were calculated using principal components analysis of multiple scales, including UPPS‐P premeditation and sensation seeking. Results showed that rash impulsiveness was a robust predictor of typical and problematic substance use. The novel facets of the UPPS‐P did not improve prediction of typical substance use. The urgency scales inconsistently predicted problematic use. Specifically, negative urgency predicted one of three measures of negative consequences from alcohol use, and positive urgency only predicted negative consequences from cannabis use. Results suggest that the three novel facets of the UPPS‐P model add little over a two component model in explaining substance use, although may provide preliminary evidence for the utility of a revised global urgency construct in explaining problematic substance use. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  January 09, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2091   open full text
• Social Anxiety and Social Surrogacy in College Roommate Relationships.
  Eliane M. Boucher, Jorden A. Cummings.
  European Journal of Personality. January 09, 2017
  The social surrogate hypothesis proposes that people with higher social anxiety (HSA) recruit others to accompany them into social situations. We tested this hypothesis with college roommates using both hypothetical (Study 1) and retrospective (Study 2) measures, while assessing roommate's perceptions of recruitment and how social surrogacy might influence liking between roommates. Across two studies, we found that HSA participants were less likely to enter social situations alone (i.e. higher conditional entry); however, HSA was related to recruitment only when participants considered hypothetical scenarios, not when recruitment was assessed globally or retrospectively. There was little evidence that HSA participants' roommates were aware of these behaviours, although there was preliminary evidence that less social anxiety might increase liking when roommates perceived more conditional entry. We also found preliminary evidence that social anxiety may be negatively related to liking when participants were less likely to recruit an alternate surrogate if their roommate was unavailable. Taken together, these preliminary findings emphasize the importance of studying the surrogacy process from an interpersonal/dyadic perspective and using methods that will differentiate between anticipated (which may be assessed by hypothetical scenarios) and enacted recruitment behaviours. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  January 09, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2090   open full text
• Predicting Romantic Interest at Zero Acquaintance: Evidence of Sex Differences in Trait Perception but Not in Predictors of Interest.
  Sally G. Olderbak, Frederic Malter, Pedro Sofio Abril Wolf, Daniel N. Jones, Aurelio José Figueredo.
  European Journal of Personality. January 06, 2017
  We evaluated five competing hypotheses about what predicts romantic interest. Through a half‐block quasi‐experimental design, a large sample of young adults (i.e. responders; n = 335) viewed videos of opposite‐sex persons (i.e. targets) talking about themselves, and responders rated the targets' traits and their romantic interest in the target. We tested whether similarity, dissimilarity or overall trait levels on mate value, physical attractiveness, life history strategy and the Big Five personality factors predicted romantic interest at zero acquaintance and whether sex acted as a moderator. We tested the responders' individual perception of the targets' traits, in addition to the targets' own self‐reported trait levels and a consensus rating of the targets made by the responders. We used polynomial regression with response surface analysis within multilevel modelling to test support for each of the hypotheses. Results suggest a large sex difference in trait perception; when women rated men, they agreed in their perception more often than when men rated women. However, as a predictor of romantic interest, there were no sex differences. Only the responders' perception of the targets' physical attractiveness predicted romantic interest; specifically, responders' who rated the targets' physical attractiveness as higher than themselves reported more romantic interest. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

  January 06, 2017   doi: 10.1002/per.2087   open full text
• Why Does Frustration Predict Psychopathology? Multiple Prospective Pathways Over Adolescence: A TRAILS Study.
  Bertus F. Jeronimus, Harriëtte Riese, Albertine J. Oldehinkel, Johan Ormel.
  European Journal of Personality. December 14, 2016
  Adolescents' temperamental frustration is a developmental precursor of adult neuroticism and psychopathology. Because the mechanisms that underlie the prospective association between adolescents' high frustration and psychopathology (internalizing/externalizing) have not been studied extensively, we quantified three pathways: stress generation [mediation via selection/evocation of stressful life events (SLEs)], cross‐sectional frustration‐psychopathology overlap (‘carry‐over’/common causes), and a direct (non‐mediated) vulnerability effect of frustration, including moderation of SLE impact. Frustration and psychopathology were assessed at age 16 with the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire and the Youth Self‐Report. No gender differences in frustration were observed. At age 19, psychopathology was reassessed by using the Adult Self‐Report, while occurrence of endogenous (self‐generated) and exogenous (not self‐generated) SLEs during the interval (ages 16–19) were ascertained with the Life Stress Interview, an investigator‐based contextual‐stressfulness rating procedure (N = 957). Half of the prospective effect of frustration on psychopathology was explained by baseline overlap, including effects of ‘carry‐over’ and common causes, about 5% reflected stress generation (a ‘vicious’ cycle with the environment adolescents navigate and shape), and 45% reflected unmediated association: a direct vulnerability effect including stress sensitivity or moderation of SLE impact. After adjustment for their overlap, frustration predicted the development of externalizing but not internalizing symptoms. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  December 14, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2086   open full text
• Prediction Consistency: A Test of the Equivalence Assumption Across Different Indicators of the Same Construct.
  Benjamin E. Hilbig, Morten Moshagen, Ingo Zettler.
  European Journal of Personality. December 04, 2016
  Prominent theoretical constructs such as the Big Five personality factors often inspire the development and use of different inventories. This practice rests on the vital assumption that different indicators equivalently assess the same construct—otherwise, it would often be inappropriate to draw conclusions on the construct level. In comparison to the evidence typically relied on to support this equivalence assumption, we argue that a direct test of prediction consistency will provide further insights: prediction consistency is a necessary condition for the equivalence assumption that indicators from different inventories predict an external criterion to the same extent. Here, we outline guidelines how to design studies to establish prediction consistency and illustrate this approach in an experiment testing the prediction consistency of the Agreeableness indicators from three prominent Big Five inventories. Specifically, we considered prediction consistency with respect to honesty (vs. cheating) as the behavioral criterion for which a specific a priori hypothesis can be derived on theoretical grounds. Results contradicted predictions consistency and thus the equivalence assumption by showing qualitatively different relations to behavioral honesty, thereby also emphasizing that the interchangeability of inventories should generally be subjected to a strict test, rather than assumed. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  December 04, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2085   open full text
• Using Personality Item Characteristics to Predict Single‐Item Internal Reliability, Retest Reliability, and Self–Other Agreement.
  Reinout E. Vries, Anu Realo, Jüri Allik.
  European Journal of Personality. December 04, 2016
  The use of reliability estimates is increasingly scrutinized as scholars become more aware that test–retest stability and self–other agreement provide a better approximation of the theoretical and practical usefulness of an instrument than its internal reliability. In this study, we investigate item characteristics that potentially impact single‐item internal reliability, retest reliability, and self–other agreement. Across two large samples (N = 6690 and N = 4396), two countries (Estonia and The Netherlands), and two personality inventories (the NEO PI‐3 and the HEXACO‐PI‐R), results show that (i) item variance is a strong predictor of self–other agreement and retest reliability but not of single‐item internal reliability; (ii) item variance mediates the relations between evaluativeness and self–other agreement; and (iii) self–other agreement is predicted by observability and item domain. On the whole, weak relations between item length, negations, and item position (indicating effects of questionnaire length) on the one hand, and single‐item internal reliability, retest reliability, and self–other agreement on the other, were observed. In order to increase the predictive validity of personality scales, our findings suggest that during the construction of questionnaire items, researchers are advised to pay close attention especially to item variance, but also to evaluativeness and observability. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  December 04, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2083   open full text
• The Interplay of Self‐Certainty and Prosocial Development in the Transition from Late Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood.
  Elisabetta Crocetti, Silvia Moscatelli, Jolien Van der Graaff, Monica Rubini, Wim Meeus, Susan Branje.
  European Journal of Personality. December 04, 2016
  The transition from late adolescence to emerging adulthood is a period of the life span that offers young people the possibility to consolidate their self‐certainty and prosociality. Both aspects are of core importance for increasing personal and societal well‐being. The purpose of this longitudinal study was twofold: (i) to examine patterns of change and stability in self‐concept clarity and prosociality; and (ii) to unravel over time associations between these constructs in the transition from late adolescence to emerging adulthood. In addressing both aims, we explored the moderating effects of gender. Participants were 244 Dutch emerging adults (46% male; mean age at T1 = 16.73 years) who completed six waves of data collection (mean age at T6 = 22.7 years). Findings highlighted that (i) self‐concept clarity developed nonlinearly, with an initial decline from T1 to T2 followed by an increase thereafter, while prosociality increased linearly over time and both self‐concept clarity and prosociality were characterized by high rank‐order consistency; (ii) self‐concept clarity and prosociality were positively related over time, with the effect of prosociality on self‐concept clarity being stronger than the reciprocal effect of self‐concept clarity on prosociality. Gender differences were detected in mean levels of self‐concept clarity and prosociality (male participants reported higher self‐concept clarity and lower prosociality than female participants) but not in their developmental pathways nor in their reciprocal associations. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  December 04, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2084   open full text
• The Relationship Between Right‐wing Attitudes and Cognitive Style: A Comparison of Self‐report and Behavioural Measures of Rigidity and Intolerance of Ambiguity.
  Alain Van Hiel, Emma Onraet, Howard M Crowson, Arne Roets.
  European Journal of Personality. December 04, 2016
  Two recent meta‐analytic studies addressing the relationship between cognitive style and right‐wing attitudes yielded some discrepancies. We argue that these discrepancies can be accounted for when one considers the types of cognitive style measures included in those analyses. One of these analyses primarily relied on self‐report measures, whereas the other relied on behavioural measures of cognitive style. Based on a new meta‐analysis of 103 samples (total N = 12 714) focussing on behavioural and self‐report measures of rigidity and intolerance of ambiguity, we confirmed the hypothesis that self‐report scales yield stronger relationships with right‐wing attitudes than behavioural measures. We point out potential conceptual and validity issues with both types of cognitive style measures and call for cautiousness when interpreting the magnitude of their relationships with ideology. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  December 04, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2082   open full text
• Cultural Adjustment and Social Justice Behaviour: The Role of Individual Differences in Multicultural Personality.
  Alexander W. Fietzer, Joseph G. Ponterotto, Margo A. Jackson, Jane Bolgatz.
  European Journal of Personality. November 08, 2016
  The present study examined altruistic behaviour using broad personality traits (the Big Five) and the narrow personality trait of cultural adjustment (multicultural personality) while controlling for social justice attitudes and other demographic variables. Using an analogue version of a modified dictator game, 153 participants were required to divide a variable amount of money between themselves and a hypothetical recipient who was treated unfairly in a prior dictator game (based on results from a separate sample). We varied the race (Black and White) and gender (male and female) of the fictional recipient to present the individual as either advantaged or disadvantaged in society. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions with the recipient presented as (i) a White man, (ii) a White woman, or (iii) a Black man. A separate sample of 71 participants rated recipients as treated unfairly and as representing a marginalized group. Results showed that subscales of the Multicultural Personality Inventory predicted giving behaviour above and beyond the variance accounted for by broad personality traits and attitudes towards social justice. The discussion focuses on implications for research in social justice based on cultural adaptation and personality. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  November 08, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2081   open full text
• On the Integration of Need‐related Autobiographical Memories among Late Adolescents and Late Adults: The Role of Depressive Symptoms and Self‐congruence.
  Jolene Kaap‐Deeder, Maarten Vansteenkiste, Stijn Van Petegem, Filip Raes, Bart Soenens.
  European Journal of Personality. November 02, 2016
  Within self‐determination theory, integration denotes the process through which people accept past and present experiences and harmonize these experiences within their sense of self. We investigated associations between indicators of successful and poor integration of need‐related memories and memory‐related affect. We also examined the role of depressive symptoms and self‐congruence as antecedents of these indicators. Moreover, we investigated whether late adults, compared with late adolescents, were better capable of integrating need‐frustrating memories through higher levels of self‐congruence. Participants were 132 late adolescents (Mage = 17.83) and 147 late adults (Mage = 76.13), who reported on their level of depressive symptoms and self‐congruence. Next, participants generated a need‐satisfying and need‐frustrating memory and reported on the memories' integration (in terms of acceptance, connection and rumination) and associated affect. Whereas depressive symptoms related mainly to the poor integration of need‐frustrating memories, self‐congruence related positively to the integration of both need‐satisfying and need‐frustrating memories. In turn, integration was related to more positive and less negative affect. Late adults scored higher than late adolescents on the integration of need‐frustrating memories, an effect that was partly accounted for by late adults' elevated self‐congruence. Results suggest that self‐congruence, depressive symptoms and age play a role in the integration of need‐based autobiographical memories. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  November 02, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2079   open full text
• The Role of the Five‐factor Personality Traits in General Self‐rated Health.
  Liisi Kööts‐Ausmees, Monika Schmidt, Tõnu Esko, Andres Metspalu, Jüri Allik, Anu Realo.
  European Journal of Personality. October 16, 2016
  Self‐ratings of health (SRH) are widely used in large surveys and have been shown to predict mortality over and above more objective health measures. However, the debate still continues about what SRH actually represents and what the processes underlying people's assessments of their health are. The main aim of this study is to examine the role of the Five‐Factor Model personality traits in general SRH assessment while controlling for the effects of objective health indicators, health‐related quality of life and subjective well‐being in a large population‐based dataset of Estonian adults. A hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that only self‐rated, but not informant‐rated, neuroticism explained additional variance in SRH when the other aforementioned variables were taken into account. Our findings indicate that people's general SRH is a relatively good reflection of their objectively measured health status, but also that the way in which people experience and evaluate the quality of their lives—both in terms of subjective well‐being and more specific aspects of health—plays a significant role in general SRH assessments. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2058   open full text
• Breastfeeding and Adult Personality.
  Angelina R. Sutin, Yannick Stephan, Antonio Terracciano.
  European Journal of Personality. October 16, 2016
  Five‐Factor Model personality traits are implicated in long‐term health‐risk behaviours and outcomes. Less research has addressed how early life experiences are associated with individual differences in these traits in adulthood. We examine whether having been breastfed is associated with adult personality and well‐being in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. At Wave 1, caregivers reported whether the target child had been breastfed. At Wave 4, participants (N = 13,113; 53% female; Mage = 28.98) completed measures of psychological functioning. We tested for mean‐level differences in the traits by breastfeeding status (yes/no) and by the duration of breastfeeding, controlling for basic demographic factors and early life factors that could confound the breastfeeding–personality association (e.g. mother education). Participants who had been breastfed scored lower in neuroticism, anxiety, and hostility and higher in openness and optimism than those not breastfed. A curvilinear relation suggested that neuroticism was lowest for those breastfed for 9–12 months and highest for those either breastfed for >24 months or exclusively bottle‐fed. Breastfeeding was unrelated to conscientiousness or state psychological functioning. This research suggests long‐term psychological benefits to breastfeeding and indicates that early life experiences are associated with traits that are consequential for adult health. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2030   open full text
• Generality or Specificity? Examining the Relation between Personality Traits and Mental Health Outcomes Using a Bivariate Bi‐factor Latent Change Model.
  Wenting Mu, Jing Luo, Lauren Nickel, Brent W. Roberts.
  European Journal of Personality. October 16, 2016
  Most previous research has focused on the relationships between specific personality traits and specific facets of mental health. However, in reality most of the Big Five are associated at non‐trivial levels with mental health. To account for this broad correlation, we proposed the ‘barometer hypothesis’, positing that behind both ratings of mental health and personality lies a barometer that indicates one's general feelings of positivity or negativity. To the extent that both the general factors of personality and mental health reflect this same barometer, we would expect them to be correlated. We tested alternative models using data from a large longitudinal panel study that includes two cohorts of participants who were assessed every two years, resulting in parallel 4‐year longitudinal studies. Similar results were obtained across both studies. Supporting the ‘barometer hypothesis’, findings revealed that the optimal model included general latent factors for both personality traits and mental health. Compared to the broad raw pairwise correlations, the bi‐factor latent change models revealed that the relation among levels and changes in the specific factors were substantially reduced when controlling for the general factors. Still, some relations remained relatively unaffected by the inclusion of the general factor. We discuss implications of these findings. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2052   open full text
• Student Characteristics and Behaviours in Childhood Predict Self‐reported Health in Middle Adulthood.
  Marion Spengler, Brent W. Roberts, Oliver Lüdtke, Romain Martin, Martin Brunner.
  European Journal of Personality. October 16, 2016
  We examined how self‐reported and teacher‐rated student characteristics in primary school were associated with adult self‐reported health. A representative sample of Luxembourgish students was assessed in 1968 (Mage = 11.9, SD = 0.6) and 2008 (N = 745; Mage = 51.8, SD = 0.6). Self‐reported sense of inferiority and pessimism in childhood were negatively related to subjective health and vitality‐related quality of life/health in adulthood (rs = −.08 to −.12); teacher‐rated studiousness (age 12 years) was positively related to subjective health, healthcare utilization and vitality‐related quality of life/health (age 52 years; rs = .13 to .16). After controlling for childhood IQ, parental socio‐economic status, educational attainment and sex in multiple regression analyses, most effects of teacher‐rated studiousness showed incremental validity beyond the controls. School entitlement, sense of inferiority, impatience and pessimism were positively related to body mass index (rs = .08 to .13). The responsible student scale and teacher‐rated studiousness were negatively related to body mass index (rs = −.09 to −.13). The findings demonstrate that childhood characteristics and behaviours are important life‐course predictors of key health dimensions beyond childhood IQ and parental socio‐economic status. In addition, this narrower level of assessment adds significantly to the empirical body of knowledge on long‐term predictors of health outcomes in adulthood. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology.

  October 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2049   open full text
• Personality and Other Lifelong Influences on Older‐Age Health and Wellbeing: Preliminary Findings in Two Scottish Samples.
  Mathew A. Harris, Caroline E. Brett, John M. Starr, Ian J. Deary, Wendy Johnson.
  European Journal of Personality. October 16, 2016
  Recent observations that personality traits are related to later‐life health and wellbeing have inspired considerable interest in exploring the mechanisms involved. Other factors, such as cognitive ability and education, also show longitudinal influences on health and wellbeing, but it is not yet clear how all these early‐life factors together contribute to later‐life health and wellbeing. In this preliminary study, we assessed hypothesised relations among these variables across the life course, using structural equation modelling in a sample assessed on dependability (a personality trait related to conscientiousness) in childhood, cognitive ability and social class in childhood and older age, education, and health and subjective wellbeing in older age. Our models indicated that both health and subjective wellbeing in older age were influenced by childhood IQ and social class, via education. Some older‐age personality traits mediated the effects of early‐life variables, on subjective wellbeing in particular, but childhood dependability did not show significant associations. Our results therefore did not provide evidence that childhood dependability promotes older‐age health and wellbeing, but did highlight the importance of other early‐life factors, particularly characteristics that contribute to educational attainment. Further, personality in later life may mediate the effects of early‐life factors on health and subjective wellbeing. © 2016 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2068   open full text
• Childhood Personality, Betrayal Trauma, and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Adulthood: A Lifespan Perspective on Conscientiousness and Betrayal Traumas as Predictors of a Biomarker of Cellular Ageing.
  Grant W. Edmonds, Sarah E. Hampson, Hélène C. F. Côté, Patrick L. Hill, Bridget Klest.
  European Journal of Personality. October 16, 2016
  Conscientiousness is associated with longevity. As such, identifying the biological pathways linking personality to mortality is important. This study employs longitudinal data spanning >40 years to test prospective associations with leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a potential marker of cellular ageing. Because telomeres shorten over time, and are sensitive to oxidative stress, shorter LTL may reflect cumulative damage associated with negative health behaviours and past stressful events. We investigated childhood conscientiousness as a protective factor, expecting an association with longer LTL in adulthood, possibly reflecting slower LTL shortening. Potential lifespan pathways involving childhood trauma, smoking behaviours, and body mass index (BMI) were explored. Childhood conscientiousness showed a small raw association with LTL (r = .08, p = .04), although this effect did not persist when controlling for age and sex. Despite this lack of a direct effect on LTL, we detected an indirect effect operating jointly through BMI and smoking. Higher rates of childhood betrayal trauma were associated with shorter LTL. Contrary to our hypothesis that conscientiousness would buffer this effect, we found evidence for an interaction with childhood betrayal traumas where the association between childhood betrayal traumas and LTL was larger for those higher on conscientiousness in childhood. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2051   open full text
• Reappraisal Buffers the Association Between Stress and Negative Mood Measured Over 14 Days: Implications for Understanding Psychological Resilience.
  Judith Johnson, Daryl B. O'Connor, Christopher Jones, Christopher Jackson, Gareth J. Hughes, Eamonn Ferguson.
  European Journal of Personality. October 12, 2016
  Reappraisal is thought to be an adaptive emotion regulation strategy, and research suggests that individuals who habitually reappraise report more positive patterns of affect overall. However, some experimental studies indicate that a greater tendency to reappraise can exacerbate stress response, and it is unclear whether reappraisal confers resilience or exacerbates response to naturally occurring stressors. In order to address this, the present study investigated whether reappraisal prospectively moderated the association between daily stressors and daily negative mood measured over 14 days. Participants (n = 236) completed a measure of reappraisal at baseline, before completing daily online entries of stress and positive and negative mood. Data were analysed using multilevel modelling. Results suggested that reappraisal moderated the association between stress and negative mood, such that higher levels of reappraisal were associated with lower levels of negative mood in response to stress. Moreover, higher reappraisal was also independently associated with lower levels of daily negative mood and higher levels of positive mood. These results suggest that higher reappraisal may confer resilience to stress. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 12, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2080   open full text
• Life Gets Better and Better: Cultural Life Script Theory and Subjective Trajectories for Life Satisfaction.
  Erin Shanahan, Michael A. Busseri.
  European Journal of Personality. October 11, 2016
  Young adults typically believe that life gets increasingly satisfying over time. We examined the cultural life script as a source of these beliefs. In Study 1 (N = 1244), tabulation of previously published studies indicated that life script events are perceived as becoming increasingly positive over time between the ages of 10 and 30. Further, a specific series of 16 key life script events during this life stage was identified. These results were replicated in Study 2 (N = 100, Mage = 21.14, 51% female) based on young adults' perceptions concerning life script events in their personal life stories. Further, the perception that life script events in one's personal life story were becoming increasingly positive over time was linked with more steeply inclining subjective life satisfaction trajectories (i.e. recollected past < current < anticipated future life satisfaction). In Study 3 (N = 261, Mage = 18.5, 93.7% female), manipulating life script event information (number and positivity of events over time) within a personal life story had an additive impact on young adults' subjective life satisfaction trajectories. These findings reveal a robust connection between information contained with the cultural life script and the belief that life gets more and more satisfying over time. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 11, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2077   open full text
• Predicting Self‐Confident Behaviour with Implicit and Explicit Self‐Esteem Measures.
  Sascha Krause, Mitja D. Back, Boris Egloff, Stefan C. Schmukle.
  European Journal of Personality. October 05, 2016
  The present research compared the validity of popular direct and indirect measures of self‐esteem in predicting self‐confident behaviour in different social situations. In line with behavioural dual‐process models, both implicit and explicit self‐esteem were hypothesized to be related to appearing self‐confident to unacquainted others. A total of 127 participants responded to the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale, the Multidimensional Self‐Esteem Scale, and an adjective scale for measuring explicit self‐esteem (ESE). Participants' implicit self‐esteem (ISE) was assessed with four indirect measures: the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the name‐letter task (NLT), and two variants of an affective priming task, the reaction‐time affective priming task (RT‐APT) and the error‐based affective priming task (EB‐APT). Self‐confident behaviour was observed in four different social situations: (i) self‐introduction to a group; (ii) an ostracism experience; (iii) an interview about the ostracism experience; and (iv) an interview about one's personal life. In general, appearing self‐confident to unknown others was independently predicted by ESE and ISE. The indirect measures of self‐esteem were, as expected, not correlated, and only the self‐esteem APTs—but not the self‐esteem IAT or the NLT—predicted self‐confident behaviours. It is important to note that in particular the predictive power of the self‐esteem EB‐APT pertained to all four criteria and was incremental to the ESE measures. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 05, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2076   open full text
• Common Ideological Roots of Speciesism and Generalized Ethnic Prejudice: The Social Dominance Human–Animal Relations Model (SD‐HARM).
  Kristof Dhont, Gordon Hodson, Ana C. Leite.
  European Journal of Personality. September 26, 2016
  Recent research and theorizing suggest that desires for group‐based dominance underpin biases towards both human outgroups and (non‐human) animals. A systematic study of the common ideological roots of human–human and human–animal biases is, however, lacking. Three studies (in Belgium, UK, and USA) tested the Social Dominance Human–Animal Relations Model (SD‐HARM) proposing that Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) is a key factor responsible for the significant positive association between ethnic outgroup attitudes and speciesist attitudes towards animals, even after accounting for other ideological variables (that possibly confound previous findings). Confirming our hypotheses, the results consistently demonstrated that SDO, more than right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), is a key factor connecting ethnic prejudice and speciesist attitudes. Furthermore, Studies 2 and 3 showed that both SDO and RWA are significantly related to perceived threat posed by vegetarianism (i.e. ideologies and diets minimizing harm to animals), but with SDO playing a focal role in explaining the positive association between threat perceptions and ethnic prejudice. Study 3 replicated this pattern, additionally including political conservatism in the model, itself a significant correlate of speciesism. Finally, a meta‐analytic integration across studies provided robust support for SD‐HARM and offers important insights into the psychological parallels between human intergroup and human–animal relations. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  September 26, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2069   open full text
• Collective Narcissism Predicts Hypersensitivity to In‐group Insult and Direct and Indirect Retaliatory Intergroup Hostility.
  Agnieszka Golec de Zavala, Müjde Peker, Rita Guerra, Tomasz Baran.
  European Journal of Personality. September 15, 2016
  Results of five studies (N = 1596) linked collective narcissism—a belief in in‐group exaggerated greatness contingent on external validation—to direct and indirect, retaliatory hostility in response to situations that collective narcissists perceived as insulting to the in‐group but which fell well beyond the definition of an insult. In Turkey, collective narcissists responded with schadenfreude to the European economic crisis after feeling humiliated by the Turkish wait to be admitted to the European Union (Study 1). In Portugal, they supported hostile actions towards Germans and rejoiced in the German economic crisis after perceiving Germany's position in the European Union as more important than the position of Portugal (Study 2). In Poland, they supported hostile actions towards the makers of a movie they found offensive to Poland (Studies 3 and 5) and responded with direct and indirect hostility towards a celebrity whose jokes about the Polish government they found offensive (Study 4). Comparisons with self‐positivity and in‐group positivity indices and predictors of intergroup hostility indicated that collective narcissism is the only systematic predictor of hypersensitivity to in‐group insult followed by direct and indirect, retaliatory intergroup hostility. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  September 15, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2067   open full text
• The Structure and Sources of Right‐wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation.
  Christian Kandler, Edward Bell, Rainer Riemann.
  European Journal of Personality. August 26, 2016
  Right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) are widely used constructs in research on social and political attitudes. This study examined their hierarchical and correlative structure (across sexes, generations and rater perspectives), as well as how genetic and environmental factors may contribute to individual differences in them (using different rater perspectives and nuclear twin family data). We found a substantive common aspect (beyond shared artificial variance arising from socially desirable responding) underlying both RWA and SDO: aggression against subordinate groups. We discussed how this aspect could help to explain the commonly reported correlation between the two concepts in Western countries. Estimates of genetic and environmental components in RWA and SDO based on self‐reports were quite comparable with those based on peer reports. When controlling for error variance and taking assortative mating into account, individual differences in RWA were primarily due to genetic contributions including genotype–environment correlation, whereas variance in SDO was largely attributable to environmental sources shared and not shared by twins. The findings are discussed in terms of the utility of RWA and SDO as basic constructs to describe individual differences in social attitudes and with respect to the different patterns of genetic and environmental influences that underlie them. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 26, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2061   open full text
• Additive and Synergetic Contributions of Neuroticism and Life Events to Depression and Anxiety in Women.
  Christian Kandler, Fritz Ostendorf.
  European Journal of Personality. August 26, 2016
  In this genetically informative and longitudinal study of women, we investigated the nature of individual differences in tendencies to depression (TD) and anxiety (TA) as well as in the probability to develop unipolar mood disorders (UMDs), anxiety disorders (ADs) or both. Specifically, we examined the roles of neuroticism, negative and positive life events and their interplay as heritable and environmental factors of variance in TD and TA. Cross‐sectional data from a total of 1200 women including 232 patients (suffering from UMDs and/or ADs) and longitudinal data from 630 female twins including 260 complete pairs were analysed. The analyses yielded that variance in neuroticism mediated the vast majority of the genetic variance in both TD (about 85–90%) and TA (about 70–75%). Negative life events additionally contributed as risk factors accounting for common and specific environmental variance in both TD and TA, whereas positive life events only acted as protective factors in the case of TD. Moreover, TD but not TA was associated with both the probability of exposure and the sensitivity to negative life events and a negative life‐event balance (i.e. more negative than positive experiences). The results were discussed within the framework of additive, dynamic and synergetic diathesis–stress models. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 26, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2065   open full text
• Distinguishing Subgroups of Narcissists with Latent Class Analysis.
  Eunike Wetzel, Marius Leckelt, Tanja M. Gerlach, Mitja D. Back.
  European Journal of Personality. August 26, 2016
  This study investigated grandiose narcissism from a categorical perspective. We tested whether subgroups of narcissists can be distinguished that differ in their expressions of more agentic (narcissistic admiration, ADM) and more antagonistic (narcissistic rivalry, RIV) pathways of narcissism. We analysed three German samples (total N = 2211; Mage = 26; 70% female) and one US sample (N = 971; Mage = 35; 74% female) using latent class analysis. Four subgroups of narcissists were consistently identified across samples from Germany and the United States: low narcissists, moderate narcissists primarily characterized by agentic aspects (ADM), moderate narcissists characterized by both agentic and antagonistic aspects (ADM + RIV), and high narcissists. The subgroups were systematically related to a number of personality traits (e.g. Machiavellianism, impulsivity) and adjustment indicators (e.g. self‐esteem, empathy). Members in the moderate narcissists—ADM subgroup showed the most adaptive characteristics while members in the moderate narcissists—ADM + RIV subgroup showed the most maladaptive characteristics. Investigating grandiose narcissism—a primarily quantitative trait—from a categorical perspective can yield valuable insights that would otherwise be overlooked. In addition, our results underline the utility of a self‐regulatory process approach to grandiose narcissism that distinguishes between agentic and antagonistic dynamics. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 26, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2062   open full text
• Still Doing Fine? The Interplay of Negative Life Events and Self‐Esteem During Young Adulthood.
  Julia Tetzner, Michael Becker, Jürgen Baumert.
  European Journal of Personality. August 26, 2016
  This longitudinal study investigated the bidirectional relationship between negative life events and self‐esteem during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood (N = 2272). Drawing on theories of human development over the lifespan and just‐world theory, we analyzed age‐graded changes in self‐esteem and their interplay with negative life events at three measurement points over a 12‐year period. We addressed both the short‐term and the longer term effects of single as well as multiple negative life events on changes in self‐esteem (socialization effects). We further investigated whether the pre‐event level of self‐esteem affected the likelihood of negative life events occurring (selection effects) and, finally, whether it had protective effects in terms of helping people adjust to negative events. Latent change models yielded four main findings: (i) self‐esteem increased during young adulthood; (ii) socialization effects were observed over shorter and longer timespans, but (iii) selection effects were only found for multiple negative life events, with low self‐esteem predicting a high number of negative life events; (iv) high pre‐event self‐esteem acted as a protective factor, attenuating declines in self‐esteem after experience of multiple negative life events. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 26, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2066   open full text
• Rising High or Falling Deep? Pathways of Self‐Esteem in a Representative German Sample.
  Marcus Mund, Franz J. Neyer.
  European Journal of Personality. August 26, 2016
  In many longitudinal studies, self‐esteem has been shown to increase up until around age 50 or 60 and to decrease thereafter. These studies have also found substantial inter‐individual differences in the intra‐individual development of self‐esteem. In the current study, we examined whether this variation in change could be attributed to underlying latent classes of individuals following different trajectories of self‐esteem development over time. By applying general growth mixture modelling to data from the representative German pairfam study (N = 12 377), four latent classes of self‐esteem development across five years were extracted. Based on their mean levels, trajectories, and variability, individuals in the latent classes could be described as having (a) constant and stable high self‐esteem (29.00% of the sample), (b) constant but variable moderate self‐esteem (31.69%), (c) increasing and stabilizing self‐esteem (15.13%), and (d) decreasing and variable self‐esteem (24.18%). Furthermore, these latent classes differed in accordance with findings of prior research on self‐rated, partner‐rated, and objective correlates of the domains of health and well‐being, partner relationships, and occupational status. Thus, the current study shows that inter‐individual variation in intra‐individual change in self‐esteem is not random but reflects specific individual trajectories, or pathways, of self‐esteem. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 26, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2063   open full text
• Towards More Rigorous Personality Trait–Outcome Research.
  René Mõttus.
  European Journal of Personality. August 26, 2016
  Much of personality research attempts to identify causal links between personality traits and various types of outcomes. I argue that causal interpretations require traits to be seen as existentially and holistically real and the associations to be independent of specific ways of operationalizing the traits. Among other things, this means that, to the extents that causality is to be ascribed to such holistic traits, items and facets of those traits should be similarly associated with specific outcomes, except for variability in the degrees to which they reflect the traits (i.e. factor loadings). I argue that, before drawing causal inferences about personality trait–outcome associations, the presence of this condition should be routinely tested by, for example, systematically comparing the outcome associations of individual items or facets, or sampling different indicators for measuring the same purported traits. Existing evidence suggests that observed associations between personality traits and outcomes at least sometimes depend on which particular items or facets have been included in trait operationalizations, calling trait‐level causal interpretations into question. However, this has rarely been considered in the literature. I argue that when outcome associations are specific to facets, they should not be generalized to traits. Furthermore, when the associations are specific to particular items, they should not even be generalized to facets. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  August 26, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2041   open full text
• Principle of Care and Giving to Help People in Need.
  René Bekkers, Mark Ottoni‐Wilhelm.
  European Journal of Personality. June 06, 2016
  Theories of moral development posit that an internalized moral value that one should help those in need—the principle of care—evokes helping behaviour in situations where empathic concern does not. Examples of such situations are helping behaviours that involve cognitive deliberation and planning, that benefit others who are known only in the abstract, and who are out‐group members. Charitable giving to help people in need is an important helping behaviour that has these characteristics. Therefore we hypothesized that the principle of care would be positively associated with charitable giving to help people in need, and that the principle of care would mediate the empathic concern–giving relationship. The two hypotheses were tested across four studies. The studies used four different samples, including three nationally representative samples from the American and Dutch populations, and included both self‐reports of giving (Studies 1–3), giving observed in a survey experiment (Study 3), and giving observed in a laboratory experiment (Study 4). The evidence from these studies indicated that a moral principle to care for others was associated with charitable giving to help people in need and mediated the empathic concern–giving relationship. © 2016 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology

  June 06, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2057   open full text
• Trait Intellect Predicts Cognitive Engagement: Evidence from a Resource Allocation Perspective.
  Luke D. Smillie, Valeria Varsavsky, Rachel E. Avery, Ryan Perry.
  European Journal of Personality. June 06, 2016
  Trait Intellect, one of the two ‘aspects’ of the broader Openness/Intellect ‘domain’, predicts performance on a range of cognitive tasks including tests of intelligence and working memory. This has been explained in terms of the tendency for high‐Intellect individuals to explore, or engage more effortfully with, abstract information. This theoretical perspective can be framed in the language of Resource Allocation Theory, in terms of high‐Intellect individuals allocating more of their available cognitive resources to abstract cognitive tasks. In two experiments (total N = 160), we examined the relation between Intellect and cognitive engagement during a primary word‐search task under conditions of both high and low secondary cognitive load. Both experiments revealed that high‐Intellect individuals were more vulnerable to the impact of the secondary cognitive load on primary task performance. This suggests that, under low secondary load, such individuals were indeed allocating more of their available cognitive resources to the primary task. These results held after controlling for trait Openness, trait Industriousness (an aspect of Conscientiousness) and a measure of working memory capacity (N‐back task). Our findings provide novel support for the cognitive mechanisms proposed to underlie trait Intellect. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  June 06, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2059   open full text
• Self‐Regulation and Personality Profiles: Empirical Development, Longitudinal Stability and Predictive Ability.
  Laina Isler, James H. Liu, Chris G. Sibley, Garth J. O. Fletcher.
  European Journal of Personality. April 20, 2016
  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

  April 20, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2054   open full text
• Epistemic Motivation and the Structure of Moral Intuition: Dispositional Need for Closure as a Predictor of Individualizing and Binding Morality.
  Christopher M. Federico, Pierce Ekstrom, Michal Reifen Tagar, Allison L. Williams.
  European Journal of Personality. April 18, 2016
  Moral foundations theory argues that morality encompasses both group‐preserving binding concerns about in‐group loyalty, authority and purity and individualizing concerns about harm avoidance and fairness. Although studies have examined the relationship between sociopolitical attitudes and the moral foundations, the relationship between individual differences in epistemic motivation—as indexed by need for cognitive closure—and moral intuition remains unexplored. Given the role of groups in providing epistemic security, we hypothesized that the need for closure would be most strongly related to support for the foundations most central to the regulation of group ties, that is, the binding foundations as opposed to the individualizing ones. Data from three samples provided evidence for this. Unpacking this pattern, we also found that those high in need for closure endorsed all foundations, whereas those low in need for closure emphasized only the individualizing ones. Finally, we found that the relationship between need for closure and the binding foundations was mediated by right‐wing authoritarianism, an orientation closely linked to a desire for the preservation of conventional in‐group morality. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  April 18, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2055   open full text
• Me, Myself, and Mobility: The Relevance of Region for Young Adults' Identity Development.
  Elisabeth Schubach, Julia Zimmermann, Peter Noack, Franz J. Neyer.
  European Journal of Personality. April 04, 2016
  As residential mobility is a common life event that particularly affects young adults, regional identity may be relevant for young adults. We therefore extended the three‐dimensional identity model to the regional domain. The development of regional identity was studied using a prospective design over six months with a sample of 1,795 post‐secondary graduates (71% female, mean age of 24.54 years), containing both movers and non‐movers. Latent profile analyses and latent profile transition analyses revealed three main findings: First, solutions with four regional identity statuses—moratorium, searching moratorium, closure, and achievement—were found to be most interpretable. Second, the emergent statuses differed substantially in terms of Big Five personality traits and life satisfaction, as well as with moving experience. Third, the stability of identity status membership across a period of six months was highest for the non‐movers group. Comparatively less stability across time was found for the movers, underscoring the relevance of transitions for identity development. Taken together, these findings show that even in a mobile world, region matters in identity development. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  April 04, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2048   open full text
• Are Perfectionism Dimensions Vulnerability Factors for Depressive Symptoms After Controlling for Neuroticism? A Meta‐analysis of 10 Longitudinal Studies.
  Martin M. Smith, Simon B. Sherry, Katerina Rnic, Donald H. Saklofske, Murray Enns, Tara Gralnick.
  European Journal of Personality. March 11, 2016
  Extensive evidence suggests neuroticism is a higher‐order personality trait that overlaps substantially with perfectionism dimensions and depressive symptoms. Such evidence raises an important question: Which perfectionism dimensions are vulnerability factors for depressive symptoms after controlling for neuroticism? To address this, a meta‐analysis of research testing whether socially prescribed perfectionism, concern over mistakes, doubts about actions, personal standards, perfectionistic attitudes, self‐criticism and self‐oriented perfectionism predict change in depressive symptoms, after controlling for baseline depression and neuroticism, was conducted. A literature search yielded 10 relevant studies (N = 1,758). Meta‐analysis using random‐effects models revealed that all seven perfectionism dimensions had small positive relationships with follow‐up depressive symptoms beyond baseline depression and neuroticism. Perfectionism dimensions appear neither redundant with nor captured by neuroticism. Results lend credence and coherence to theoretical accounts and empirical studies suggesting perfectionism dimensions are part of the premorbid personality of people vulnerable to depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  March 11, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2053   open full text
• The Evil Queen's Dilemma: Linking Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry to Benign and Malicious Envy.
  Jens Lange, Jan Crusius, Birk Hagemeyer.
  European Journal of Personality. March 07, 2016
  It is widely assumed that narcissists are envious. Nevertheless, evidence supporting this claim has remained elusive. In five studies (N = 1,225), we disentangle how grandiose narcissism predicts divergent envious inclinations. Specific facets of narcissism and forms of envy shared the same underlying motivational orientations (Study 1) and distinctively related to each other (Studies 1 to 5) via differences in emotional appraisal (Study 4). Moreover, envy was linked to opposing social consequences of different narcissism facets (Study 5). Specifically, hope for success related to narcissistic admiration, predicting benign envy, which entails the motivation to improve performance, translating into the ascription of social potency by the self and others. In contrast, fear of failure related to narcissistic rivalry, predicting malicious envy, which entails hostility, translating into the ascription of a proneness for social conflict by others. These results converged with envy measured as a trait (Studies 1 and 5) or state in recall tasks (Studies 2 and 4) and as response to an upward standard in the situation (Study 3). The findings provide important insights into narcissists' emotional complexities, integrate prior isolated and conflicting evidence, and open up new avenues for research on narcissism and envy. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  March 07, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2047   open full text
• Recalling an Attachment Event Moderates Distress After Ostracism.
  Erez Yaakobi, Kipling D. Williams.
  European Journal of Personality. March 07, 2016
  Ostracism is known to cause psychological distress. Studies have indicated that immediate distress is resistant to individual differences and situational factors, but delayed reactions are more sensitive to moderation. Because attachment orientation is inextricably tied to rejection and inclusion, we hypothesized that attachment orientation would moderate both immediate and delayed ostracism effects and that recalling an attachment event compatible with a person's attachment internal working model would moderate the distress of a laboratory ostracism experience. In two experiments, 158 individualistic (secular Jewish) and 190 collectivistic (ultra‐Orthodox Jewish) participants played Cyberball with two other ostensible in‐group players. Distress was measured immediately after the game and 30 minutes later. The results show that less anxious and more avoidant individualistic but not collectivistic participants were less distressed by ostracism. After the delay, recall of an attachment event compatible with the participants' internal working model eliminated distress in both individualistic and collectivistic ostracized participants as measured on the needs satisfaction scale. Among individualistic participants, avoidants, who are known to avoid meaningful attachments, were less distressed by ostracism; anxious participants, who seek proximity, were more distressed. Recalling a compatible attachment event may be a mechanism that reduces individuals' perceptions of threats to their fundamental needs. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  March 07, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2050   open full text
• Cross‐cultural Generalizability of the Alternative Five‐factor Model Using the Zuckerman–Kuhlman–Aluja Personality Questionnaire.
  Jérôme Rossier, Anton Aluja, Angel Blanch, Oumar Barry, Michel Hansenne, André F. Carvalho, Mauricio Valdivia, Wei Wang, Olivier Desrichard, Thomas Hyphantis, Zsuzsanna Suranyi, Joseph Glicksohn, Vilfredo De Pascalis, Elizabeth León‐Mayer, Aleksei Piskunov, Adam Stivers, Julien Morizot, Fritz Ostendorf, Đorđe Čekrlija, Tarek Bellaj, Dorota Markiewicz, Abbas Motevalian, Gokhan Karagonlar.
  European Journal of Personality. February 29, 2016
  Several personality models are known for being replicable across cultures, such as the Five‐Factor Model (FFM) or Eysenck's Psychoticism–Extraversion–Neuroticism (PEN) model, and are for this reason considered universal. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the cross‐cultural replicability of the recently revised Alternative FFM (AFFM). A total of 15 048 participants from 23 cultures completed the Zuckerman–Kuhlman–Aluja Personality Questionnaire (ZKA‐PQ) aimed at assessing personality according to this revised AFFM. Internal consistencies, gender differences and correlations with age were similar across cultures for all five factors and facet scales. The AFFM structure was very similar across samples and can be considered as highly replicable with total congruence coefficients ranging from .94 to .99. Measurement invariance across cultures was assessed using multi‐group confirmatory factor analyses, and each higher‐order personality factor did reach configural and metric invariance. Scalar invariance was never reached, which implies that culture‐specific norms should be considered. The underlying structure of the ZKA‐PQ replicates well across cultures, suggesting that this questionnaire can be used in a large diversity of cultures and that the AFFM might be as universal as the FFM or the PEN model. This suggests that more research is needed to identify and define an integrative framework underlying these personality models. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  February 29, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2045   open full text
• Finding a Life Worth Living: Meaning in Life and Graduation from College.
  Joshua Wilt, Wiebke Bleidorn, William Revelle.
  European Journal of Personality. February 18, 2016
  Graduation from college is an important milestone for young adults, marked by mixed emotions and poignancy, and therefore is an especially salient context for studying meaning in life. The present research used experience‐sampling methodology to examine the antecedents and consequences of students' experience of meaning in life over the course of graduation. Participants were 74 graduating students who provided a total of 538 reports over the span of 3 days, including commencement day. Increased levels of state meaning in life during the days around commencement were linked to spending time with people in general and with family in particular, and thinking about one's years in college. Thinking about one's years in college mediated the effects of present company on state meaning in life. Graduates who experienced higher levels of state meaning in life during the days around their commencement ceremony had higher trait levels of meaning in life 1 week following commencement. We discuss how making meaning of a poignant experience has implications for healthy psychological development. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  February 18, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2046   open full text
• How Alluring Are Dark Personalities? The Dark Triad and Attractiveness in Speed Dating.
  Emanuel Jauk, Aljoscha C. Neubauer, Thomas Mairunteregger, Stephanie Pemp, Katharina P. Sieber, John F. Rauthmann.
  European Journal of Personality. January 11, 2016
  Dark Triad traits (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) are linked to the pursuit of short‐term mating strategies, but they may have differential effects on actual mating success in naturalistic scenarios: Narcissism may be a facilitator for men's short‐term mating success, while Machiavellianism and psychopathy may be detrimental. To date, little is known about the attractiveness of Dark Triad traits in women. In a speed‐dating study, we assessed participants' Dark Triad traits, Big Five personality traits, and physical attractiveness in N = 90 heterosexual individuals (46 women and 44 men). Each participant rated each partner's mate appeal for short‐ and long‐term relationships. Across both sexes, narcissism was positively associated with mate appeal for short‐ and long‐term relationships. Further analyses indicated that these associations were due to the shared variance among narcissism and extraversion in men and narcissism and physical attractiveness in women, respectively. In women, psychopathy was also positively associated with mate appeal for short‐term relationships. Regarding mating preferences, narcissism was found to involve greater choosiness in the rating of others' mate appeal (but not actual choices) in men, while psychopathy was associated with greater openness towards short‐term relationships in women. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

  January 11, 2016   doi: 10.1002/per.2040   open full text
• Gender Differences in Implicit Processing of Sexual Stimuli.
  Marieke Dewitte.
  European Journal of Personality. October 28, 2015
  The present studies investigated whether men and women differ in cognitive–motivational processing of sexual stimuli in order to better understand the commonly observed gender differences in sexual outcome variables. Because these processes often operate without conscious control, we focused specifically on automatic stimulus processing. Using a series of implicit tasks, we measured inhibition, attentional orientation, appraisal and approach‐avoidance motivation regarding sexually explicit stimuli in male and female students. Results showed that men were more strongly motivated to approach sexual stimuli than women and were better able to inhibit sexual information as to prevent activation of the sexual response. With regard to attentional orientation, men were more easily drawn by sexual cues than women, yet only when the cues were presented long enough to allow more elaborative processing. No gender differences were found in the implicit evaluation of sexual information, although men and women did differ at the level of self‐reported sexual evaluations. Our results indicate the importance of incorporating information‐processing mechanisms and emotion regulation strategies into the conceptualization of the sexual response and promote further research on the specificity, robustness, predictive validity and malleability of the cognitive–motivational processes underlying sexual arousal. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 28, 2015   doi: 10.1002/per.2031   open full text
• Differences in the Between‐Person and Within‐Person Structures of Affect Are a Matter of Degree.
  Annette Brose, Manuel C. Voelkle, Martin Lövdén, Ulman Lindenberger, Florian Schmiedek.
  European Journal of Personality. May 28, 2014
  This study tested whether the structure of affect observed on the basis of between‐person (BP) differences is equivalent to the affect structures that organize the variability of affective states within persons (WP) over time. Further aims were to identify individual differences in the degree of divergence between the WP and BP structure and examine its association to dispositional and contextual variables (neuroticism, extraversion, well‐being and stress). In 100 daily sessions, 101 younger adults rated their mood on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Variability of five negative affect items across time was so low that they were excluded from the analyses. We thus worked with a modified negative affect subscale. WP affect structures diverged reliably from the BP structure, with individual differences in the degree of divergence. Differences in the WP structural characteristics and the degree of divergence could be predicted by well‐being and stress. We conclude that BP and WP structures of affect are not equivalent and that BP and WP variation should be considered as distinct phenomena. It would be wrong, for example, to conceive of positive and negative affect as independent at the WP level, as suggested by BP findings. Yet, individual differences in WP structural characteristics are related to stable BP differences, and the degree to which individuals' affect structures diverge from the BP structure can provide important insights into intraindividual functioning. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology

  May 28, 2014   doi: 10.1002/per.1961   open full text
• Materialism and Well‐being in the UK and Chile: Basic Need Satisfaction and Basic Need Frustration as Underlying Psychological Processes.
  Wenceslao Unanue, Helga Dittmar, Vivian L. Vignoles, Maarten Vansteenkiste.
  European Journal of Personality. April 16, 2014
  A growing body of evidence shows that materialistic values are linked to lower well‐being. Self‐determination theory offers an explanation through the low fulfilment of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. However, recent research suggests that frustration of these psychological needs may also play an additional role. Using structural equation modelling in adult samples from an established mass‐consumer society (UK: N = 958) and a fast‐developing new economy (Chile: N = 257) and employing more comprehensive measures to tap into a materialistic orientation than used in previous studies, we found that a materialistic value orientation related negatively to well‐being and positively to ill‐being and that both psychological need satisfaction and psychological need frustration played an explanatory role herein. The model was found to be highly equivalent across both samples, supporting the cross‐cultural generality of the mechanisms involved. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology

  April 16, 2014   doi: 10.1002/per.1954   open full text
• Individual Differences in Testosterone Predict Persistence in Men.
  Keith M. Welker, Justin M. Carré.
  European Journal of Personality. April 16, 2014
  Persistence is an important predictor of future successes. The present research addresses the relationship between testosterone and persistence in men. One hundred eighteen men were randomly assigned to win or lose a competitive number tracing task against a confederate or complete the task alone in a non‐competitive control condition. Saliva samples were collected prior to and after the competition or control conditions. Participants were then given a maximum time of 30 min to spend attempting to solve unsolvable puzzles, with the option to quit at any time. In contrast to our prediction, changes in testosterone concentrations in response to the competitive interaction did not predict persistence behaviour. However, individual differences in testosterone concentrations (pre‐competition/non‐competition) were positively correlated with persistence. These findings are the first to examine associations between neuroendocrine function and persistence behaviour in people and suggest that testosterone should also be considered when predicting persistence‐related outcomes. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology

  April 16, 2014   doi: 10.1002/per.1958   open full text
• Dimensions of Social Dominance Orientation: The Roles of Legitimizing Myths and National Identification.
  Paul Hindriks, Maykel Verkuyten, Marcel Coenders.
  European Journal of Personality. March 26, 2014
  Using a representative sample of Dutch natives, the current study examined the distinction between two dimensions of social dominance orientation [SDO‐Dominance (SDO‐D) and SDO‐Egalitarianism (SDO‐E)] and their relation with prejudice towards immigrant groups. Results showed that an empirical distinction between the two dimensions could be made. Furthermore, the relation between SDO and prejudice was fully mediated by hierarchy‐enhancing (ethnic citizenship, assimilation) and hierarchy‐attenuating myths (civic citizenship, multiculturalism), but in different ways for both SDO dimensions. Moreover, there were distinct paths between the SDO dimensions and ethnic prejudice for higher and lower identifiers. For higher identifiers, the relation between SDO‐D and prejudice was fully mediated by the endorsement of hierarchy‐enhancing myths. For lower identifiers, there was an association between SDO‐E and prejudice that was predominantly mediated by the endorsement of hierarchy‐attenuating myths. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology

  March 26, 2014   doi: 10.1002/per.1955   open full text
• Towards a Pan‐cultural Personality Structure: Input from 11 Psycholexical Studies.
  Boele De Raad, Dick P. H. Barelds, Marieke E. Timmerman, Kim De Roover, Boris Mlačić, A. Timothy Church.
  European Journal of Personality. March 26, 2014
  The purpose of the present study is to find the common kernel of different trait taxonomic studies and find out how the individual structures relate to this common kernel. Trait terms from 11 psycholexically based taxonomies were all translated into English. On the basis of the commonalities in English, the 11 matrices were merged into a joint matrix with 7104 subjects and 1993 trait terms. Untranslatable terms produced large areas with missing data. To arrive at the kernel structure of the joint matrix, a simultaneous component analysis was applied. In addition, the kernel structures were compared with the individual taxonomy trait structures, obtained via principal component analysis. The findings provide evidence of a structure consisting of three components to stand out as the core of the taxonomies included in this study; those components were named dynamism, affiliation, and order. Moreover, the relations between these three kernel components and those of a six‐component solution (completing the six‐factor model) are provided. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology

  March 26, 2014   doi: 10.1002/per.1953   open full text
• Personality Traits and Relationship Satisfaction in Intimate Couples: Three Perspectives on Personality.
  Kathrin Schaffhuser, Mathias Allemand, Mike Martin.
  European Journal of Personality. February 05, 2014
  Personality traits are important predictors of relationship satisfaction. However, the majority of previous study findings are based on self‐perceptions of personality. Thus, by means of the self‐, partner‐, and meta‐perceptions of personality, the present study focused on three different perspectives on the Big Five personality traits to examine dyadic associations with relationship satisfaction of intimate couples. The study was based on the first measurement occasion of the Swiss longitudinal study ‘Co‐Development in Personality: Longitudinal Approaches to Personality Development in Dyads across the Life Span’ and included data of 216 couples. The main analyses were based on Actor‐Partner Interdependence Model. Three general findings emerged. First, the three personality perspectives represented related, albeit distinct, constructs, and showed incremental validity with respect to relationship satisfaction. Second, neuroticism was negatively related to relationship satisfaction, whereas agreeableness and conscientiousness were positively related to relationship satisfaction across all perspectives. Third, substantial associations between extraversion and relationship satisfaction were exclusively evident in terms of the partner‐ and meta‐perception. The present results contribute to the literature by showing that each perspective is essential for the understanding of the role of personality for relationship satisfaction. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology

  February 05, 2014   doi: 10.1002/per.1948   open full text
• Out of Sight, Out of Time? A Meta‐analytic Investigation of Procrastination and Time Perspective.
  Fuschia M. Sirois.
  European Journal of Personality. January 15, 2014
  Recent theory suggests that trait procrastination is a form of temporal self‐regulation failure that reflects a disjunction between the present and future self. Yet research to date is sparse and inconsistent regarding the nature of the associations of procrastination with time perspective. The current study aimed to meta‐analytically summarize the evidence to date to address the question of how procrastination is linked to future and present time perspective, and to test whether stress and positive affect explained the link between procrastination and future time perspective. A search of the available literature yielded six published studies and three unpublished studies, which were combined with five unpublished data sets for a total of 14 samples with 4312 participants. The meta‐analysis revealed that procrastination had a moderate and significant negative association with future time perspective, and a small but significant positive association with present time perspective. Mediation analyses across two of the samples found that high stress and low positive affect explained in part the association between procrastination and future time perspective. Overall, these findings support the notion that procrastinators focus less on the future and highlight the dynamic interrelations of affect and cognition that underlie procrastinators' intertemporal choices. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology

  January 15, 2014   doi: 10.1002/per.1947   open full text
• High Thrill and Adventure Seeking Is Associated with Reduced Interoceptive Sensitivity: Evidence for an Altered Sex‐specific Homeostatic Processing in High‐sensation Seekers.
  J. D. Kruschwitz, U. Lueken, A. Wold, H. Walter, M. P. Paulus.
  European Journal of Personality. December 16, 2013
  The personality trait of sensation seeking (SS) has been traditionally linked to the construct of exteroception, that is, sensing of the outside world. Little is known about the relationship between SS and interoception, that is, sensing originating in the body. Interoceptive sensations have strong affective and motivational components that may influence behaviours such as risk taking in SS. This investigation examined whether interoceptive differences contribute to different behavioural characteristics in SS. Using an inspiratory resistive load breathing task, the response to an aversive interoceptive stimulus as a basic homeostatic process was studied in 112 subjects (n = 74 women and 38 men). A linear mixed‐model approach was used to examine the influence of thrill and adventure seeking (TAS) on the interoceptive response across three levels of breathing resistances (10, 20, and 40 cm H2O/L/second). High‐TAS relative to low‐TAS individuals were less responsive in evaluating intensities of perceived choking with increasing inspiratory resistive loads. This effect was driven by male, but not female, high‐TAS individuals and was particularly associated with reduced interoceptive sensitivity in men. The conceptualization of SS as primarily driven by exteroceptive stimuli can be expanded to a view of an altered homeostasis in SS, specifically in men. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology

  December 16, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1946   open full text
• Why Do You Make Us Feel Good? Correlates and Interpersonal Consequences of Affective Presence in Speed‐dating.
  Raul Berrios, Peter Totterdell, Karen Niven.
  European Journal of Personality. November 21, 2013
  Recent research indicates that people consistently make others feel a certain way (e.g. happy or stressed). This individual difference has been termed affective presence, but little is known about its correlates or consequences. The present study investigated the following: (i) whether affective presence influences others' romantic interest in a person and (ii) what types of people have positive and negative affective presence. Forty volunteers took part in a speed‐dating event, during which they dated six or seven opposite‐sex partners. A Social Relations Model analysis confirmed that individuals prompted consistent positive emotional reactions in others. Participants were more likely to want to see dates with greater positive affective presence again in the future, and positive affective presence explained the effects of perceived responsiveness on romantic interest. Associations between positive affective presence and trait predictors, including emotion regulation, emotional expressiveness, attachment style, agreeableness and extraversion, were also observed. The findings indicate that what emotionally distinguishes one individual from another lies in part in the emotional consequences of their behaviours on others. © 2013 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology.

  November 21, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1944   open full text
• Personality and Serum Lipids: Does Lifestyle Account for Their Concurrent and Long‐term Relationships.
  Galit Armon.
  European Journal of Personality. October 11, 2013
  This study evaluates concurrent and over time associations of personality with measures of three serum lipids associated coronary heart disease morbidity, namely, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C), low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride (TRI). Participants were individuals who underwent a health examination at two points of time, T1 (N = 3835) and T2 (N = 2283), about 2.5 years apart. Personality was assessed by the Five‐Factor Model. Health, socioeconomic status and healthy lifestyle behaviours (smoking intensity, physical activity and body weight) were controlled. Regression analyses indicate that the personality factors of neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness are each significantly associated with HDL‐C and TRI, both concurrently and over time. However, most of these associations decreased to marginal significance when adjusted for body weight or physical activity as possible mediators. Both concurrent and over time associations of the openness personality trait with HDL‐C and TRI were significant and persisted after adjustment for measures of a healthy lifestyle. This study emphasizes the importance of collecting measures of a healthy lifestyle to better understand how personality might influence serum lipids. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1943   open full text
• Perceiving Aggression from Facial Structure: Further Evidence for a Positive Association with Facial Width‐to‐Height Ratio and Masculinity, but not for Moderation by Self‐Reported Dominance.
  Carmen E. Lefevre, Gary J. Lewis.
  European Journal of Personality. October 07, 2013
  Recent work has indicated that individual differences in facial structure are linked to perceptions of aggressiveness. In particular, the relative width of a face [facial width‐to‐height ratio (fWHR)] has been suggested to be a reliable cue to aggressive behaviour, at least in men. Additionally, facial masculinity has been associated with perceptions of dominance, a close proxy of aggressiveness. In two studies, we assessed the robustness of this link using faces transformed along these vectors in men (Studies 1 and 2) and women (Study 2). Additionally, we examined whether individual differences in self‐reported dominance of perceivers moderated this association in order to extend previous work indicating that own dominance affects perception of such behaviour in others. Results indicated that both male and female faces with increased fWHR and increased facial masculinity were perceived as more aggressive. However, we found no systematic evidence for moderating effects of self‐reported dominance on the perception of aggression in others. Taken together, these results further support the robustness of fWHR and facial masculinity as cues to aggressiveness but question whether observers' own dominance moderates their perception of these cues in others. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology

  October 07, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1942   open full text
• Narcissism and Empathy in Young Offenders and Non‐offenders.
  Erica G. Hepper, Claire M. Hart, Rosie Meek, Sylwia Cisek, Constantine Sedikides.
  European Journal of Personality. September 02, 2013
  Understanding the individual factors that predispose persons to criminal behaviour is vital to reducing offending and rehabilitating those who have been sentenced to prison. This study examined the roles of narcissism (at both clinical and subclinical trait levels) and empathy, by comparing levels in young adult males currently serving a prison sentence to those with no history of criminal convictions. Prison participants had significantly higher levels of narcissism—in particular entitlement—than control participants, and this link was sequentially mediated by lower perspective‐taking and subsequently lack of empathic concern. Trait narcissism showed stronger effects than narcissistic personality disorder symptoms. Narcissistic young men's feelings of entitlement and ensuing lack of empathy for others may account for their greater likelihood of criminal behaviour. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  September 02, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1939   open full text
• Personality Traits Increasingly Important for Male Fertility: Evidence from Norway.
  Vegard Skirbekk, Morten Blekesaune.
  European Journal of Personality. August 05, 2013
  We study the relationship between personality traits and fertility using a survey of Norwegian men and women born from 1927 to 1968 (N = 7017 individuals). We found that personality relates to men's and women's fertility differently; conscientiousness decreases female fertility, openness decreases male fertility and extraversion raises the fertility of both sexes. Neuroticism depresses fertility for men, but only for those born after 1956. The lower male fertility in younger cohorts high in neuroticism cannot be explained by partnership status, income or education. The proportion of childless men (at age 40 years) has increased rapidly for Norwegian male cohorts from 1940 to 1970 (from about 15 to 25 per cent). For women, it has only increased marginally (from 10 to 13 per cent). Our findings suggest that this could be partly explained by the increasing importance of personality characteristics for men's probability of becoming fathers. Men that have certain personality traits may increasingly be avoiding the long‐term commitment of having children, or their female partners are shunning entering this type of commitment with them. Childbearing in contemporary richer countries may be less likely to be influenced by economic necessities and more by individual partner characteristics, such as personality. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  August 05, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1936   open full text
• Personality Expression and Impression Formation in Online Social Networks: An Integrative Approach to Understanding the Processes of Accuracy, Impression Management and Meta‐accuracy.
  Juliane M. Stopfer, Boris Egloff, Steffen Nestler, Mitja D. Back.
  European Journal of Personality. August 05, 2013
  In this paper, we investigate personality expression and impression formation processes in online social networks (OSNs). We explore whether, when and why people accurately judge others' personalities (accuracy), successfully manage the impressions that others form of them (impression management) and accurately infer others' impressions of them (meta‐accuracy) at zero acquaintance. On the basis of targets' OSN profiles (N = 103), overall perceiver impressions were collected and compared with targets' self‐view, desired impression and meta‐perception. In addition, independent groups of thin‐slice perceivers based their personality impressions solely on one of four kinds of information within the OSN profiles (profile picture, interests field, group list and notice board), and more than 300 OSN cues (e.g. attractive person and number of friends) were coded. Results showed evidence of accuracy, impression management and meta‐accuracy, but their extent was moderated by the trait (e.g. Big Five and self‐esteem), the kind of information and the interplay of trait and information. Findings could be explained by cue expression and cue utilization processes (lens model analyses). Future prospects for studying personality impressions in online and offline environments are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  August 05, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1935   open full text
• Shyness and Psychosocial Functioning in South Korean Children.
  Yiyuan Xu, Jo Ann M. Farver, Yoolim Shin.
  European Journal of Personality. August 05, 2013
  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.

  August 05, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1938   open full text
• The Elusive General Factor of Personality: The Acquaintance Effect.
  Timo Gnambs.
  European Journal of Personality. August 05, 2013
  A general factor (gp) at the apex of personality has been suggested to account for the correlations between the Big Five. Although the gp has received ample support from monomethod studies, results from studies incorporating different methods have remained rather ambiguous; some have identified a gp across different informants, whereas others have not. It was hypothesized that these divergent findings are a result of varying lengths of acquaintance between raters. To this end, the current study presents a multitrait multi‐informant meta‐analysis (total N = 11 941) that found weak support for a gp as a substantive trait of personality. Evidence for a gp was susceptible to the length of acquaintance between informants. Although a gp could be identified for short‐term acquaintances, it remained elusive at long‐term acquaintance. Thus, the gp in other ratings more likely reflects normative ratings of an average individual rather than ratings of the specific target person. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  August 05, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1933   open full text
• Using the Implicit Association Test to Assess Risk Propensity Self‐concept: Analysis of its Predictive Validity on a Risk‐taking Behaviour in a Natural Setting.
  Javier Horcajo, Víctor J. Rubio, David Aguado, José Manuel Hernández, M. Oliva Márquez.
  European Journal of Personality. July 11, 2013
  The present work analyses the predictive validity of measures provided by several available self‐report and indirect measurement instruments to assess risk propensity (RP) and proposes a measurement instrument using the Implicit Association Test: the IAT of Risk Propensity Self‐Concept (IAT‐RPSC), an adaptation of the prior IAT‐RP of Dislich et al. Study 1 analysed the relationship between IAT‐RPSC scores and several RP self‐report measures. Participants' risk‐taking behaviour in a natural setting was also assessed, analyzing the predictive validity of the IAT‐RPSC scores on risk‐taking behaviour compared with the self‐report measures. Study 2 analysed the predictive validity of the IAT‐RPSC scores in comparison with other indirect measures. Results of these studies showed that the IAT‐RPSC scores exhibited good reliability and were positively correlated to several self‐report and indirect measures, providing evidence for convergent validity. Most importantly, the IAT‐RPSC scores predicted risk‐taking behaviour in a natural setting with real consequences above and beyond all other self‐report and indirect measures analysed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  July 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1925   open full text
• Quick to Act, Quick to Forget: the Link Between Impulsiveness and Prospective Memory.
  Carrie Cuttler, Tonia Relkov, Steven Taylor.
  European Journal of Personality. July 11, 2013
  Several traits of impulsiveness (e.g. lack of planning and perseverance, difficulty focusing attention) seem intimately connected to the skills required for successful prospective memory performance. This is the first study to examine whether the various inter‐correlated dimensions of impulsiveness are related to problems with prospective memory. Undergraduate students (N = 184) completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11, the Prospective Memory Questionnaire, the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire, and two objective prospective memory tests. Results revealed consistent correlations between the various dimensions of impulsiveness (attentional, motor, non‐planning) and self‐reported problems with prospective memory. Subsequent regression analyses indicated that attentional impulsiveness is a unique predictor of self‐reported problems with internally cued prospective memory, and non‐planning impulsiveness is a unique predictor of self‐reported problems with episodic and overall prospective memory. Similarly, findings from the objective prospective tests showed that non‐planning impulsiveness was related to worse performance on the two prospective memory tests. Whereas non‐planning impulsiveness was also related to using fewer prospective memory‐aiding strategies, mediation analyses showed that use of these strategies does not account for any of the detected relationships. Because the findings suggest that a failure to plan does not underlie the detected effects, other potential explanations for the relationships are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  July 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1926   open full text
• Speaking (Un‐)Truth to Power: Conspiracy Mentality as a Generalised Political Attitude.
  Roland Imhoff, Martin Bruder.
  European Journal of Personality. July 11, 2013
  Conspiracy theories explain complex world events with reference to secret plots hatched by powerful groups. Belief in such theories is largely determined by a general propensity towards conspirational thinking. Such a conspiracy mentality can be understood as a generalised political attitude, distinct from established generalised political attitudes such as right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) (Study 1a, N = 497) that is temporally relatively stable (Study 1b and 1c, total N = 196). Three further studies (combined N = 854) show that in contrast to RWA and SDO, conspiracy mentality is related to prejudice against high‐power groups that are perceived as less likeable and more threatening than low‐power groups, whereas SDO and RWA are associated with an opposite reaction to perceptions of power. Study 5 (N = 1852) investigates the relationship of conspiracy mentality with political behavioural intentions in a specific catastrophic scenario (i.e. the damage to the Fukushima nuclear reactor after the 2011 tsunami in Japan) revealing a hitherto neglected role of conspiracy mentality in motivating social action aimed at changing the status quo. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  July 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1930   open full text
• Timing of Stressful Life Events Affects Stability and Change of Neuroticism.
  Harriëtte Riese, Harold Snieder, Bertus F. Jeronimus, Tellervo Korhonen, Richard J. Rose, Jaakko Kaprio, Johan Ormel.
  European Journal of Personality. July 11, 2013
  Neuroticism is a predictor of many health problems. To study the determinants of within‐subject change in neuroticism, three hypotheses were tested: (i) subjects who experienced stressful life events (SLEs) show an increase in neuroticism; (ii) high baseline neuroticism moderated this effect; and (iii) recent SLEs had a greater impact on neuroticism than distant SLEs. Data came from the Finnish Twin Cohort. Neuroticism data were collected in 1975 and 1981 and SLEs data in 1981 (n = 21 085). By entering baseline neuroticism as a predictor for neuroticism at follow‐up, the outcome measure was change in neuroticism. Changes in neuroticism were predicted from SLE indices or their interaction with baseline neuroticism. Timing of SLEs was taken into account by distinguishing recent from distant SLEs. To control for confounding by shared genes and environments, both within‐twin pair and between‐twin pair effects were tested for monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs separately. Neuroticism's six‐year stability was high (r = .58, p < .001). Exposure to SLEs modestly increased neuroticism (βs > .55, ps < .001), unconfounded by shared genes. This effect was not moderated by high baseline neuroticism. Recent SLEs (.09 < βs < .15) had more impact than distant SLEs (.03 < βs < .11; ps < .01). In conclusion, the findings strongly supported a model of environmentally driven SLEs causing dynamic fluctuations around a person's set point of neuroticism. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  July 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1929   open full text
• An Exploration of the Dishonest Side of Self‐Monitoring: Links to Moral Disengagement and Unethical Business Decision Making.
  Babatunde Ogunfowora, Joshua S. Bourdage, Brenda Nguyen.
  European Journal of Personality. July 11, 2013
  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 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  July 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1931   open full text
• Reciprocal Associations between Parenting Challenges and Parents' Personality Development in Young and Middle Adulthood.
  Roos Hutteman, Wiebke Bleidorn, Gordana Keresteš, Irma Brković, Ana Butković, Jaap J. A. Denissen.
  European Journal of Personality. July 11, 2013
  Having children affects many aspects of people's lives. However, it remains unclear to what degree the challenges that come along with having children are associated with parents' personality development. We addressed this question in two studies by investigating the relationship between parenting challenges and personality development in mothers of newborns (Study 1, N = 556) and the reciprocal associations between (mastering) parenting challenges and personality development in parents of adolescents (Study 2, N = 548 mothers and 460 fathers). In Study 1, we found the stress of having a newborn baby to be associated with declines in maternal Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability. Parenting challenges were also related to personality development in parents of adolescent children in Study 2, with parent–child conflict being reciprocally associated with decreases in Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability. Mastering parenting challenges in the form of high parenting self‐efficacy, on the other hand, was found to be associated with increases in Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability, and vice versa. In sum, our results suggest that mastering the challenges associated with the social role of parenthood is one of the mechanisms underlying personality development in young and middle adulthood. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  July 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1932   open full text
• The Role of Personality Factors in the Reduction of Intergroup Anxiety and Amelioration of Outgroup Attitudes via Intergroup Contact.
  Rhiannon N. Turner, Kristof Dhont, Miles Hewstone, Andrew Prestwich, Christiana Vonofakou.
  European Journal of Personality. July 11, 2013
  Two studies investigated the role of personality factors in the amelioration of outgroup attitudes via intergroup contact. In study 1, the effect of extraversion on outgroup attitude operated via an increase in cross‐group friendship, whereas openness to experience and agreeableness had a direct effect on outgroup attitude. In study 2, we included intergroup anxiety as a mediator explaining these relationships, and we ruled out ingroup friendship as a potential confound. We found that the relationships between openness to experience and agreeableness on the one hand and outgroup attitude on the other were mediated by reduced intergroup anxiety. In addition, the effect of extraversion on outgroup attitude operated via an increase in cross‐group friendship that was in turn associated with lower levels of intergroup anxiety. Across both studies, the friendship–attitude relationship was stronger among those low in agreeableness and extraversion. We discuss the importance of integrating personality and situational approaches to prejudice reduction in optimizing the impact of contact‐based interventions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  July 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1927   open full text
• Are Actual and Perceived Intellectual Self‐enhancers Evaluated Differently by Social Perceivers?
  Michael Dufner, Jaap Denissen, Constantine Sedikides, Maarten Van Zalk, Wim H. J. Meeus, Marcel Aken.
  European Journal of Personality. July 11, 2013
  Do actual and perceived self‐enhancement entail differing social impressions (i.e. interpersonal evaluations)? Actual self‐enhancement represents unduly positive self‐views, as gauged by an objective criterion (in this case, IQ scores), whereas perceived self‐enhancement involves the extent to which an individual is seen by informants (i.e. peers or observers) as self‐enhancing. In an online survey (N = 337), a laboratory experiment (N = 75), and a round‐robin study (N = 183), we tested the effects of actual and perceived intellectual self‐enhancement on (informant‐rated) emotional stability, social attractiveness, and social influence. Actual self‐enhancers were rated as emotionally stable, socially attractive, and socially influential. High perceived self‐enhancers were judged as socially influential, whereas low‐to‐moderate perceived self‐enhancers were deemed emotionally stable and socially attractive. Privately entertained, illusory positive (even extreme) self‐beliefs confer social benefits, whereas being perceived as self‐enhancing buys social influence at the cost of being despised. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  July 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1934   open full text
• Positive Self‐regard and Claim to Leadership: Two Fundamental Forms of Self‐evaluation.
  Daniel Leising, Peter Borkenau, Johannes Zimmermann, Cornelia Roski, Anne Leonhardt, Astrid Schütz.
  European Journal of Personality. July 01, 2013
  The present article examines the common factor structure of various self‐evaluative personality constructs. Consistent with previous research, we found considerable redundancy between constructs. Two basic forms of self‐evaluation could be distinguished: Positive Self‐regard (PSR) reflects people's contentedness with themselves in comparison with their own standards. Constructs such as depression, self‐esteem and neuroticism have very high loadings on this factor. In contrast, Claim to Leadership (CTL) reflects the subjective conviction that one is called to take charge and lead others. This conviction is often called ‘narcissism’. PSR mainly reflects an intra‐personal kind of self‐evaluation, whereas CTL reflects an inter‐personal kind. Both forms of self‐evaluation independently predict intellectual self‐enhancement, but only one of them (PSR) also predicts self‐reported mental health. Moreover, the two forms of self‐evaluation are differentially associated with self‐reported and peer‐reported inter‐personal traits (Dominance and Affiliation). Finally, the concepts of ‘Grandiosity’ and ‘Vulnerability’ from narcissism research may easily be reframed in terms of CTL and PSR. The two‐dimensional framework may help overcome the conceptual confusion that exists around different forms of self‐evaluation and streamline the field for future research. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  July 01, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1924   open full text
• The Country's Crime Rate Moderates the Relation Between Authoritarian Predispositions and the Manifestations of Authoritarianism: A Multilevel, Multinational Study.
  Michele Roccato, Alessio Vieno, Silvia Russo.
  European Journal of Personality. July 01, 2013
  We performed a multilevel, multinational test of Stenner's model on authoritarianism using the 2008 European Values Survey dataset (N = 55 199, nested in 38 nations). We focussed on the effects exerted on four authoritarian manifestations (racial intolerance, political intolerance, negative attitudes towards immigrants, and moral intolerance) by the cross‐level interaction between participants' authoritarian predispositions (assessed in terms of childrearing values) and their country's crime rate. Associations between authoritarian predispositions and racial intolerance, political intolerance, negative attitudes towards immigrants, and moral intolerance were significantly stronger among participants living in countries characterised by high crime rates than those among participants living in countries with low crime rates. Limitations, implications, and future directions of this study are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  July 01, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1922   open full text
• The Conscientiousness Paradox: Cultural Mindset Shapes Competence Perception.
  Sylvia Xiaohua Chen, Ben C. P. Lam, Emma E. Buchtel, Michael Harris Bond.
  European Journal of Personality. July 01, 2013
  Studies comparing personality across cultures have found inconsistencies between self‐reports and measures of national character or behaviour, especially on evaluative traits such as Conscientiousness. We demonstrate that self‐perceptions and other‐perceptions of personality vary with cultural mindset, thereby accounting for some of this inconsistency. Three studies used multiple methods to examine perceptions of Conscientiousness and especially its facet Competence that most characterizes performance evaluations. In Study 1, Mainland Chinese reported lower levels of self‐efficacy than did Canadians, with the country effect partially mediated by Canadian participants' higher level of independent self‐construal. In Study 2, language as a cultural prime induced similar effects on Hong Kong bilinguals, who rated themselves as more competent and conscientious when responding in English than in Chinese. Study 3 demonstrated these same effects on ratings of both self‐perceived and observer‐perceived competence and conscientiousness, with participants changing both their competence‐communicating behaviours and self‐evaluations in response to the cultural primes of spoken language and ethnicity of an interviewer. These results converge to show that self‐perceptions and self‐presentations change to fit the social contexts shaped by language and culture. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  July 01, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1923   open full text
• Idiographically Desirable Responding: Individual Differences in Perceived Trait Desirability Predict Overclaiming.
  Steven G. Ludeke, Yanna J. Weisberg, Colin G. Deyoung.
  European Journal of Personality. May 01, 2013
  Objective: Conventional measures of self‐report bias implicitly assume consistent patterns of overclaiming across individuals. We contrast this with the effects of individual differences in views of trait desirability on overclaiming, which we label idiographically desirable responding (IDR). Method: We obtained self‐reports and peer reports of trait levels on mixed‐sex samples of undergraduates (N = 352) and middle‐aged community members (N = 541), with an additional performance‐based assessment in the latter sample. Results: Compared to conventional measures of bias, individual differences in trait desirability ratings identified an independent and comparatively large amount of the variance in overclaiming for personality and physical attractiveness. The importance of IDR was confirmed by the replication of these results for intelligence, for which both peer‐ratings and performance data were available. Individuals differed in the extent to which they rely on IDR, with these differences indexed by the correlation between views of the desirability of a given trait and the extent to which one overclaimed that trait. Individuals who were more prone to overclaim in this fashion exhibited higher self‐esteem as well as higher scores on questionnaire measures of socially desirable responding. Conclusion: Overclaiming of traits resulted both from the patterns of biases identified by conventional overclaiming measures and from individual differences in perceptions of what traits are most desirable. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  May 01, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1914   open full text
• The Dopamine D4 Receptor (DRD4) Exon 3 VNTR Contributes to Adaptive Personality Differences in an Italian Small Island Population.
  Andrea S. Camperio Ciani, Shany Edelman, Richard P. Ebstein.
  European Journal of Personality. March 12, 2013
  The search for evolutionary forces shaping the diversity of human personality traits encouraged studies that have found that islanders are relatively closed and introverted, with little interest in the external world. The ‘personality gene flow’ hypothesis was proposed to explain the mechanism underlying this difference, suggesting that the frequency of alleles that influence islander personality traits might progressively increase in the gene pools on islands because of selective emigration of individuals not displaying these alleles. We genotyped 96 individuals from the Italian mainland and 117 from Giglio Island, whose residents were previously assessed regarding their personality traits. We genotyped three polymorphisms: the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) exon 3 repeat region, the serotonin‐transporter SLC6A4 5‐HTTLPR indel and the dopamine transporter SLC6A3 DAT1 3′UTR repeat region. Only the DRD4 exon 3 repeat was hypothesised to show varying allele frequencies because this polymorphism could be associated with human migration and personality traits such as extraversion, openness and novelty seeking. As predicted, no differences in allele frequencies were found for the SLC6A4 and SLC6A3 polymorphisms, whereas significant differences were observed in the frequency of the DRD4 exon 3 alleles. The DRD4.2 repeat was more common in mainlanders, as expected, whereas the DRD4.7 allele was over‐represented among islanders who never emigrated. This last result contradicts the suggested association of this allele with long‐distance migrations. We suggest that emigration might have caused gene flow out the island that resulted in somewhat unpredictable changes in the frequencies of specific alleles, thus influencing islander personality traits. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  March 12, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1917   open full text
• Personality Types and Development of Adolescents' Conflict with Friends.
  Rongqin Yu, Susan J. T. Branje, Loes Keijsers, Wim H. J. Meeus.
  European Journal of Personality. February 11, 2013
  This study examined the development of adolescents' conflict frequency and conflict resolution with their best friends, and tested whether adolescents with different personality types differed in these developmental changes from early to middle adolescence. Dutch adolescents (N = 922, 468 boys; Mage = 12.4 years at first wave) annually filled in questionnaires for five consecutive years. Growth modelling revealed that, whereas adolescents' conflict frequency and hostile conflict resolution did not change, positive problem solving, withdrawal, and compliance during conflict with best friends increased from age 12 to 16 years. Adolescents with different personality types differed in the mean levels of conflict frequency and conflict resolution strategies. That is, resilients had less conflict with friends than undercontrollers and overcontrollers. During conflict, resilients used the least hostile conflict resolution and compliance, and employed the most positive problem solving. Undercontrollers adopted the least positive problem solving, and overcontrollers complied and withdrew the most. Using a person‐centred approach, three developmental conflict resolution types were identified based on different constellations of the four conflict resolution strategies over time. Adolescents with different personality types had different distributions on the conflict resolution types. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  February 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1913   open full text
• Not Enough of a ‘Dark’ Trait? Linking Machiavellianism to Job Performance.
  Ingo Zettler, Marc Solga.
  European Journal of Personality. February 10, 2013
  Machiavellianism is typically considered to encompass rather negatively connoted characteristics such as being ruthless, deceitful or self‐centred. Concerning its influence on job performance, there have been notions about a positive linear association as well as a negative one. Somewhat reflecting these different views, a recent meta‐analysis regarding this link indicated both large variability in respective empirical investigations and no substantial linear association. Herein, we aimed to integrate the theoretical underpinnings of both perspectives of a linear link by proposing an inverted U‐shaped relation between Machiavellianism and job performance. Using data from n = 235 dyads of self‐rating and colleague rating, results supported this hypothesis with regard to the three dimensions of organisational citizenship behaviour, whereas no support was found with regard to task performance. More precisely, intermediate levels of Machiavellianism yielded the highest organisational citizenship behaviour as compared with both lower and higher levels—although employees with lower levels had outcomes nearly as high as those of employees with intermediate levels. Further, tenure was found to moderate the curvilinear relation between Machiavellianism and organisational citizenship behaviour directed at individuals. In sum, this investigation might help to disentangle different understandings of the effects of Machiavellianism in organisational life and beyond. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  February 10, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1912   open full text
• Assessing Aberrant Personality in Managerial Coaching: Measurement Issues and Prevalence Rates across Employment Sectors.
  Filip De Fruyt, Bart Wille, Adrian Furnham.
  European Journal of Personality. January 31, 2013
  The convergent and discriminant validity of two methods to assess a broad spectrum of aberrant personality tendencies was examined in a large sample of managers who were administered the NEO‐PI‐R (N = 11 862) and the Hogan Development Survey (N = 6774) in the context of a professional development assessment. Five‐Factor Model (FFM) aberrant compounds, defined as linear combinations of NEO‐PI‐R facets, converged for the antisocial, borderline, histrionic, avoidant and obsessive–compulsive tendencies with their respective Hogan Development Survey counterparts. Alternative linear FFM combinations did improve convergent results for the schizoid and obsessive–compulsive pattern. Risk for various aberrant tendencies was roughly equal across different employment sectors, with a higher prevalence of borderline, avoidant and dependent tendencies in the legal and more histrionic tendencies in the retail sector. Adopting FFM aberrant compound cut‐offs developed for coaching purposes to flag at risk individuals showed that 20% to 25% of all managers qualified for at least one and 10% to 15% were flagged as at risk for two or more aberrant tendencies. The theoretical implications and the repercussions of this research for the design of professional development and coaching trajectories are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  January 31, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1911   open full text
• On the Road to the Unconscious Self: Understanding when People Gain Self‐knowledge of Implicit Disgust Sensitivity from Behavioural Cues.
  Axel Zinkernagel, Wilhelm Hofmann, Friederike X. R. Gerstenberg, Manfred Schmitt.
  European Journal of Personality. January 30, 2013
  On the basis of an integration of dual‐process models of information processing and the lens model framework of person perception, we conducted two studies to investigate whether self‐perceivers could detect their implicit disposition from video feedback of behavioural cues and whether these cues were used for explicit dispositional inferences under conditions that maximized the presumed self‐perception process. Using an approach that differed from previous research, we used the following: (i) a more detailed and stepwise self‐perception procedure; (ii) a specific explicit measure compared with a global explicit measure; and (iii) disgust sensitivity as a domain with clear, unambiguous cues and an assumed low self‐presentation bias. The results from two studies (N = 117 and N = 130) on disgust sensitivity provide the first evidence for the assumed process with regard to bodily reaction cues but not with regard to facial expression cues. These novel findings suggest that people can get to know their unconscious selves better if supporting conditions are met and the right behavioural cues are attended to. Additional boundary conditions of this self‐perception process were investigated using display rules and need for closure in Study 2. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  January 30, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1910   open full text
• Vigilant Self‐regulation and Costly Punishment in Public Goods Situations.
  Stefan Pfattheicher, Johannes Keller.
  European Journal of Personality. January 25, 2013
  Applying regulatory focus theory to the context of social dilemma situations, the present research demonstrates that individual differences in vigilant, prevention‐focused self‐regulation predict the tendency to invest private resources to punish uncooperative interaction partners (costly punishment), a behaviour that typically has strong positive effects on the collective level of cooperation. Analyses further support the distinctiveness of the vigilance system proposed in regulatory focus theory (prevention focus) in comparison with general defensive inhibitory tendencies (measured with Carver and White's Behavioral Inhibition System scale). Results document that individual differences in prevention‐focused self‐regulation but not differences in general defensive inhibitory tendencies are positively related to costly punishment. In sum, the findings indicate that vigilant, prevention‐focused self‐regulation plays a crucial role in the context of sanctions that enforce cooperation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  January 25, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1909   open full text
• Testing an Adaptationist Theory of Trait Covariation: Relative Bargaining Power as a Common Calibrator of an Interpersonal Syndrome.
  Aaron W. Lukaszewski.
  European Journal of Personality. January 25, 2013
  This article provides the first test of an adaptationist ‘common calibration’ theory to explain the origins of trait covariation, which holds that (i) personality traits are often facultatively calibrated in response to cues that ancestrally predicted the reproductive payoffs of different trait levels and (ii) distinct traits that are calibrated on the basis of common input cues will exhibit consistent patterns of covariation. This theory is applied to explain the covariation within a ‘personality syndrome’ encompassing various interpersonal trait dimensions (e.g. extraversion, emotionality and attachment styles). Specifically, it is hypothesized that these traits are inter‐correlated because each is calibrated in response to relative bargaining power (RBP)—a joint function of one's ability to benefit others and harm others. Path analyses from a correlational study compellingly supported this theoretical model: Objective and self‐perceived measures of RBP‐enhancing phenotypic features (physical attractiveness and physical strength) influenced an internal regulatory variable indexing RBP (i.e. self‐perceived RBP), which in turn had robust effects on each of the focal personality traits. Moreover, in support of the theory's core postulate, controlling for self‐perceived RBP greatly reduced the covariation within the interpersonal syndrome. These novel findings illustrate the promise of an evolutionary psychological approach to elucidating trait covariation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  January 25, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1908   open full text
• Exploring the Interplay of Trait Self‐Control and Ego Depletion: Empirical Evidence for Ironic Effects.
  Roland Imhoff, Alexander F. Schmidt, Friederike Gerstenberg.
  European Journal of Personality. January 24, 2013
  Trait self‐control (TSC) has been conceptualized as a general and abstract ability to exert self‐regulation across multiple domains that has mostly beneficial effects. However, its relationship to situational depletion of self‐regulatory resources has received little attention. We systematically explore the interplay of trait and situational self‐control in two studies (total N = 264). In contrast with a positive view of TSC, the results show greater ego depletion effects for high (vs. low) self‐control abilities across such diverse domains as candy consumption (Study 1), risk‐taking behaviour (Study 2) and achievement motivation (Study 2). It is proposed that these ironic effects are attributable to high‐TSC individuals' less frequent active inhibition of impulses in everyday life and their resulting lack of experience in resisting acute temptations. A third study (N> = 358) corroborated this general reasoning by showing that TSC is indeed associated with less frequent impulse inhibition in daily routines. Our data point to a downside of dispositional self‐control in ego depletion paradigms. Other explanations and potential future avenues for resolving inconsistent findings across the literature are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  January 24, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1899   open full text
• Accuracy of National Stereotypes in Central Europe: Outgroups Are Not Better than Ingroup in Considering Personality Traits of Real People.
  Martina Hřebíčková, Sylvie Graf.
  European Journal of Personality. January 24, 2013
  In a study on national stereotypes in central Europe—composed of Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Slovakia—2241 participants rated their autostereotype (a typical representative of their own country) and heterostereotypes (typical representatives of the other countries) by using National Character Survey (NCS). Existing data from 17377 participants including self‐reports or observer ratings on Revised NEO Personality Inventory and NCS were compared with the national autostereotypes and heterostereotypes. Although national autostereotypes converged with personality traits of real people in Poland and an adult subsample in the Czech Republic, national heterostereotypes did not correspond to personality traits of real people in any of the studied countries. National stereotypes were shared within as well as across countries. In heterostereotypes, raters from similar cultural backgrounds speaking similar languages agreed better as compared with raters from more distant cultures. Target country played a role in agreement of raters from different countries, showed in the highest convergence between autostereotypes and heterostereotypes of a typical German. Sharing of national stereotypes is influenced by political and economic significance of the target country. Although national autostereotypes clearly differentiated between typical representatives of central European countries, the comparison of personality profiles of their inhabitants showed remarkable resemblance. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  January 24, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1904   open full text
• Personality Traits and Body Weight Measures: Concurrent and Across‐Time Associations.
  Galit Armon, Samuel Melamed, Arie Shirom, Itzhak Shapira, Shlomo Berliner.
  European Journal of Personality. January 16, 2013
  We tested the possibility that the five‐factor model of personality is associated with three measures of body weight and with changes in their levels over time and that these associations are gender specific. The study was conducted at two points of time, Time 1 (2664 participants) and Time 2 (1492 participants), over approximately 4 years, controlling for gender, age, education, and having a chronic disease. Body weight was assessed by body mass index, waist circumference, waist‐to‐hip ratio, and the five‐factor model by Saucier's Mini‐Markers. Cross‐sectional regression results indicated that conscientiousness was negatively associated with the three body weight measures, whereas neuroticism and extraversion were positively associated with the three body weight measures. The longitudinal regression results indicate that extraversion was associated with an increase in two of the body weight measures. Neuroticism was associated with increase in all three body weight measures and more strongly for women than for men. Openness was associated with a decrease in all three body weight measures for women, but this association was not significant for men. These findings help identify personality traits that lead to risk of weight gain and point to the modifying role of gender. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  January 16, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1902   open full text
• The Suppression and Justification of Prejudice as a Function of Political Orientation.
  Russell J. Webster, Mason D. Burns, Margot Pickering, Donald A. Saucier.
  European Journal of Personality. January 14, 2013
  Politically conservative (versus liberal) individuals generally report more prejudice towards various low‐status out‐groups. Three studies examined whether prejudice suppression factors—specifically, internal and external motivation to suppress (IMS and EMS, respectively) prejudice—can help explain the relationship between political orientation and prejudice. Study 1 showed that IMS and EMS partially mediated the relationship between political orientation and affective prejudice towards Arabs. Study 2 demonstrated that when justification [right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation] and suppression (IMS and EMS) factors are simultaneously tested as mediators, only RWA partially mediated the relationship between political orientation and prejudice towards deviant (e.g. gay men) out‐groups, whereas RWA and IMS fully mediated the relationship between political orientation and prejudice towards derogated out‐groups (e.g. Blacks). Intriguingly, IMS rendered social dominance orientation effects non‐significant for derogated out‐groups. Study 3 showed that anticipating an out‐group interaction (with a Black or lesbian confederate) diminished the mediational contribution of IMS in the political orientation–prejudice relationship because of increased IMS among participants; yet the increases in IMS did not completely eliminate differences in prejudice as a function of political orientation. Ultimately, these three studies demonstrate that suppression (in addition to justification) factors do help explain the relationship between political orientation and prejudice. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  January 14, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1896   open full text
• The Relation Between Appraised Mismatch and the Duration of Negative Emotions: Evidence for Universality.
  Philippe Verduyn, Iven Van Mechelen, Francis Tuerlinckx, Klaus Scherer.
  European Journal of Personality. January 14, 2013
  Emotions are processes that unfold over time. As a consequence, a better understanding of emotions can be reached only when their time‐related characteristics can be assessed and interpreted adequately. A central aspect in this regard is the duration of emotional experience. Previous studies have shown that an emotional experience can last anywhere from a couple of seconds up to several hours or longer. In this article, we examine to what extent specific appraisals of the eliciting event may account for variability in emotion duration and to what degree appraisal–duration relations are universal or culture specific. Participants in 37 countries were asked to recollect emotional episodes of fear, anger, sadness, disgust, shame and guilt. Subsequently, they were asked to report the duration of these episodes and to answer a number of questions regarding their appraisal of the emotion‐eliciting event. Multi‐level analyses revealed that negative emotions last especially long when the eliciting event and its consequences are perceived to be incongruent with the individual's goals, values and self‐ideal, creating a mismatch. These relations are largely universal, although evidence for some limited variability across countries is found as well. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  January 14, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1897   open full text
• Fear of Death and Supernatural Beliefs: Developing a New Supernatural Belief Scale to Test the Relationship.
  Jonathan Jong, Matthias Bluemke, Jamin Halberstadt.
  European Journal of Personality. January 14, 2013
  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 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  January 14, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1898   open full text
• Influences Between Online‐Exclusive, Conjoint and Offline‐Exclusive Friendship Networks: The Moderating Role of Shyness.
  Maarten Herman Walter Zalk, Nejra Van Zalk, Margaret Kerr, Hakan Stattin.
  European Journal of Personality. January 07, 2013
  Prior research has indicated that shy adolescents are more motivated to form friendships online than to form friendships offline. Little is known about whether having friendships found exclusively online may impact self‐esteem and forming offline friendships for these adolescents. This study therefore aimed to provide insight into the moderating role of shyness in the longitudinal interplay between friendships in online and offline contexts in early adolescence. Adolescents and their friends (193 girls, 196 boys; Mage = 13.29) were followed with three consecutive measurements with intervals of eight months. Results showed that particularly for shy adolescents, having friends exclusively online predicted increases in self‐esteem. Self‐esteem, in turn, was found to predict forming more friendships found both offline and online and forming more friendships found exclusively offline. Thus, findings supported the social compensation perspective that shy adolescents may benefit from having friends exclusively online, as these friendships may increase self‐esteem, thereby facilitating the formation of friendships found partially and completely offline. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  January 07, 2013   doi: 10.1002/per.1895   open full text
• The Core of Darkness: Uncovering the Heart of the Dark Triad.
  Daniel Nelson Jones, Aurelio Jose Figueredo.
  European Journal of Personality. December 10, 2012
  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 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  December 10, 2012   doi: 10.1002/per.1893   open full text
• Playing Hard‐to‐Get: Manipulating One's Perceived Availability as a Mate.
  Peter K. Jonason, Norman P. Li.
  European Journal of Personality. December 06, 2012
  ‘Playing hard‐to‐get’ is a mating tactic in which people give the impression that they are ostensibly uninterested to get others to desire them more. This topic has received little attention because of theoretical and methodological limitations of prior work. We present four studies drawn from four different American universities that examined playing hard‐to‐get as part of a supply‐side economics model of dating. In Studies 1a (N = 100) and 1b (N = 491), we identified the tactics that characterize playing hard‐to‐get and how often men and women enact them. In Study 2 (N = 290), we assessed reasons why men and women play hard‐to‐get along with the personality traits associated with these reasons. In Studies 3 (N = 270) and 4 (N = 425), we manipulated the rate per week prospective mates went out with people they had just met and assessed participants' willingness to engage in casual sex and serious romantic relationships with prospective mates (Study 3) and the money and time they were willing to invest in prospective mates (Study 4). We frame our results using a sexual economics model to understand the role of perceived availability in mating dynamics. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  December 06, 2012   doi: 10.1002/per.1881   open full text
• Approaching Success or Avoiding Failure? Approach and Avoidance Motives in the Work Domain.
  Russell Eric Johnson, Chu‐Hsiang Chang, Tyler Meyer, Klodiana Lanaj, Jason Way.
  European Journal of Personality. October 01, 2012
  In our set of studies, we extended research on approach and avoidance motivations by investigating (i) motives in a work setting, (ii) interactions among approach and avoidance motives, and (iii) motives at implicit levels. Results of Studies 1 through 3 provided support for the construct validity of our work motives measure by demonstrating that approach and avoidance work motives are markers of more general approach and avoidance temperaments, they are distinct from other individual difference variables commonly studied by organisational psychologists (e.g. conscientiousness, regulatory focus and cognitive ability) and they are stable over time. In Studies 4 through 7, we confirmed our predictions that approach and avoidance motives predict employees' goal orientations, job appraisals and attitudes (e.g. job satisfaction and perceived support) and supervisor‐rated job behaviours (e.g. task performance and citizenship behaviour). Importantly, we provide the first empirical evidence that approach and avoidance motives interact to predict task performance and that the motives operate at implicit levels. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  October 01, 2012   doi: 10.1002/per.1883   open full text
• Confounding of Big Five Personality Assessments in Emotional Disorders by Comorbidity and Current Disorder.
  Philip Spinhoven, Willem Does, Johan Ormel, Frans G. Zitman, Brenda WJH Penninx.
  European Journal of Personality. September 28, 2012
  Foremost cross‐sectional studies of personality in common mental disorders show similar Big Five trait profiles [i.e. high neuroticism (N), low conscientiousness (C) and low extraversion (E)]. It remains undecided whether this lack of distinct personality profiles is partly due to comorbidity among disorders or contamination by current state. Using data from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety, we investigated 1046 participants with panic disorder (PD), social anxiety disorder (SAD) and/or major depressive disorder (MDD) and 474 healthy controls. Personality traits at baseline and two‐year follow‐up were assessed with the NEO‐Five Factor Inventory. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to determine the presence of emotional disorders at baseline and at two‐year follow‐up; the Life Chart Interview determined symptom severity in the month prior to baseline and during follow‐up. By analysing pure cases and investigating the effects in remitted cases, PD participants were found to be higher in N, but not lower in E and C than controls. Pure PD participants were also lower in N and higher in E than SAD and MDD participants. Both SAD and MDD participants were characterized by high levels of N and low levels of E, irrespective of comorbidity or current disorder state. Future studies should be more attentive to confounding of personality profiles by comorbidity and state effects. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  September 28, 2012   doi: 10.1002/per.1885   open full text
• The Role of Relationships in Understanding the Alexithymia–Depression Link.
  Heather M. Foran, K. Daniel O'Leary.
  European Journal of Personality. September 28, 2012
  Alexithymia is associated with increased depressive symptoms in both clinical and community samples. One way that alexithymia may lead to depression is through its impact on interpersonal relationships. Individuals with alexithymia report lower perceived social support, intimacy, and relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, poor relationship functioning is a clear risk factor for depressive symptoms. Given the established alexithymia–depression link and marital dysfunction–depression link, a logical next step is to examine whether relationship dysfunction (low social support, intimacy, negative relationship behaviours, and relationship dissatisfaction) mediates the association between alexithymia and depressive symptoms. The hypothesized mediation model was assessed in a sample of 104 community couples with two analytical approaches—first with cross‐sectional measures using path analysis and second with daily diary measures collected over a seven‐day period using a multilevel modelling approach. Poor relationship functioning mediated the association between alexithymia and depressed mood in the daily diary data and partially mediated that association with the cross‐sectional measures. These results identify alexithymia as an important variable in understanding the marital functioning–depression association, and this finding has implications for treatment. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  September 28, 2012   doi: 10.1002/per.1887   open full text
• Being Called a ‘Streber’: The Roles of Personality and Competition in the Labelling of Academically Oriented Students.
  Katrin Rentzsch, Michela Schröder‐Abé, Astrid Schütz.
  European Journal of Personality. September 28, 2012
  The current research investigated a phenomenon that has received little attention so far: the labelling of students who are characterised by a strong academic orientation. We analysed whether personality predicts being labelled a ‘Streber’ (literally a person who strives for success; German origin, similar to the English word ‘nerd’) and labelling others as Strebers. Besides individual characteristics, we examined the impact of the classroom context. In Study 1 (N = 317), eighth‐grade students nominated classmates who were considered to be Strebers and provided self‐ratings on how often they had labelled others as Strebers. In Study 2 (N = 358), using a round robin design, we had students rate each of their classmates on the extent to which the students perceived their classmates to be Strebers. Results showed that being labelled was associated with introversion and conscientiousness. Labelling others was related to extraversion, low conscientiousness and low agreeableness. Furthermore, the labelling and the expected relation between individual characteristics and labelling were stronger in high‐achieving than in low‐achieving classes. Results are discussed with respect to personality traits as potential risk factors in peer stigmatisation and the impact of the classroom context. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  September 28, 2012   doi: 10.1002/per.1884   open full text
• Deciphering Subjective Trajectories for Life Satisfaction Using Self‐versus‐Normative Other Discrepancies, Self‐esteem and Hope.
  Becky L. Choma, Michael A. Busseri, Stan W. Sadava.
  European Journal of Personality. September 27, 2012
  Drawing on temporal and social comparison perspectives, we examined sources of the widespread belief that life gets better and better over time by determining how young adults evaluate their past, present and anticipated future life satisfaction (LS) relative to beliefs about normative others. We assessed whether patterns of subjective LS trajectories based on self‐versus‐normative other discrepancies varied as a function of self‐esteem and whether such patterns were accounted for by hope, encompassing goal‐related cognitions and motivations. University participants (n = 394) completed measures of their own and normative others' past, present and anticipated future LS, as well as self‐esteem and hope scales. Results from latent growth curve analyses demonstrated that high‐self‐esteem and low‐self‐esteem individuals perceived normative others' LS as progressing on a similar upward subjective temporal trajectory; however, high‐self‐esteem individuals perceived self‐improvement from past to present LS and self‐consistency from present to future LS relative to others. Low‐self‐esteem individuals perceived self‐consistency from past to present LS and self‐improvement from present to future LS relative to others. These associations were accounted for by hope. This research highlights the utility of combining temporal and social comparison perspectives for understanding how people envision their LS unfolding over time. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  September 27, 2012   doi: 10.1002/per.1889   open full text
• Interest and Expertise Moderate the Relationship between Right‐Wing Attitudes, Ideological Self‐Placement and Voting.
  Luigi Leone, Marta Desimoni, Antonio Chirumbolo.
  European Journal of Personality. September 26, 2012
  Previous research has suggested that the association between right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) is moderated by political interest and involvement. It is here hypothesized that interest also strengthens the association of authoritarianism with political self‐placement and that higher levels of interest in politics shape voting choices that are more strongly associated with authoritarianism. Authoritarianism was defined as a second‐order factor reflecting onto SDO and RWA in a structural equation modelling approach. In Study 1 (two samples, total N = 873), interest was found to moderate the impact of authoritarianism, as hypothesized. In Study 2 (N = 721), a higher order interaction involving interest and political expertise was detected. These results were obtained with different measures and in different electoral campaigns. The motivational and cognitive underpinnings of the moderating effects are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  September 26, 2012   doi: 10.1002/per.1880   open full text
• Comparing Five Sets of Five‐Factor Model Personality Disorder Counts in a Heterogeneous Sample of Psychiatric Patients.
  Leen Bastiaansen, Gina Rossi, Filip De Fruyt.
  European Journal of Personality. June 21, 2012
  The research agenda for DSM‐5 emphasizes the implementation of dimensional trait models into the classification of personality disorders (PDs). However, because assessment psychologists may still want to recover the traditional DSM‐IV categories, researchers developed a count technique that uses sums of selected Five‐Factor Model facets to assess the DSM‐IV PDs. The presented study examined the convergent and divergent validity of different linear combinations of trait facets to describe specific DSM‐IV PDs in a heterogeneous clinical sample (N = 155) with sufficient prevalence of all PDs, using semi‐structured interviews to obtain all diagnostic information, and comparing alternative counts from five different sources for each PD. The results show that none of the schizotypal, antisocial, and dependent counts succeeded in combining good convergent with adequate divergent validity. However, the original counts could be optimized for five of the seven remaining PDs by using alternative Five‐Factor Model prototypes. The diagnostic and taxonomic implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  June 21, 2012   doi: 10.1002/per.1859   open full text
• Tracing the Path from Personality — via Cooperativeness — to Conservation.
  Benjamin E. Hilbig, Ingo Zettler, Morten Moshagen, Timo Heydasch.
  European Journal of Personality. June 04, 2012
  Ecological behaviour is often conceptualized as an instance of cooperating in a social dilemma situation. Thus, it has been argued to relate to dispositional tendencies of moral virtue and pro‐social orientation. To embed such notions in models of basic personality, we herein predicted that the recently proposed sixth basic personality factor, Honesty–Humility — which specifically pertains to individual differences in cooperativeness — is linked to environmental attitudes and ecological behaviour. Results from two studies (N = 137 and N = 531, respectively) supported these hypotheses and showed that Honesty–Humility explains incremental variance beyond the remaining, more classical five factors of personality. In addition, mediation analyses revealed that Honesty–Humility exerts part of its influence via individual differences in pro‐social value orientations. Individual tendencies to cooperate in social dilemma situations could thus be shown to form a bridge between basic personality dimensions and ecological behaviour. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  June 04, 2012   doi: 10.1002/per.1856   open full text
• The ABC of Social Desires: Affiliation, Being Alone, and Closeness to Partner.
  Birk Hagemeyer, Franz J. Neyer, Wiebke Neberich, Jens B. Asendorpf.
  European Journal of Personality. June 04, 2012
  We propose a triadic model of social desires directed at appetence/aversion of affiliation with friends (A), being alone (B), and closeness to one's partner (C) that account for individual differences in subjectively experienced needs for proximity and distance in serious couple relationships. The model assumes that A, B, and C can be conceptualized at the individual level as correlated latent factors measured by appetence and aversion indicators with opposite factor loadings and low shared method variance and at the couple level assuming the same measurement model and identical (co)variances for men and women. The model was confirmed with confirmatory factor analyses in a sex‐balanced internet sample of 476 individuals and a longitudinal sample of both partners of 578 heterosexual couples by assessing the ABC desires with brief appetence/aversion scales. In both samples, the desires showed expected unique associations with the Big Five personality traits, loneliness and relationship satisfaction, perceived available support by friends and partner, and attachment style toward the partner and high 1‐year stability in the longitudinal sample. We suggest that the ABC model helps to integrate research on couples' distance regulation along the lines of communal and agentic motivation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  June 04, 2012   doi: 10.1002/per.1857   open full text