The NEO PI-R assesses five broad domains of personality, Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, and is widely applied in cross-cultural research. However, its direct applicability in African contexts has been questioned, given concerns about linguistic equivalence, cultural relevance, and response styles. This quantitative, non-experimental study examined the psychometric properties of the NEO PI-R in a South African community sample of 586 individuals. Reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega coefficients, and construct validity was explored through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Analyses of variance, Kruskal-Wallis tests and EFAs were conducted to assess potential bias across genders, population groups, and home languages. Results indicated that while several scales achieved acceptable reliability, others produced suboptimal coefficients. The five-factor model emerged broadly in the factor analysis, though some facets failed to load as expected or demonstrated inconsistent patterns, echoing concerns about the cultural transportability of certain constructs. Evidence of construct bias across genders was minimal, but significant bias was detected across population and language groups, reflecting broader critiques of the universality of the Five-Factor Model. These findings suggest that although the NEO PI-R demonstrates some psychometric promise in South Africa, its use should be approached with caution. Direct translation and adaptation may be insufficient, and careful consideration of construct-level applicability is required before assuming cross-cultural equivalence.
The Level of Personality Functioning Scale—Self-Report (LPFS-SR) is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD) Criterion A, which assesses general problems in personality that pervade all areas of functioning. The present study, we translated the LPFS-SR into Arabic and examined the psychometric properties of the translated measure in a sample of 1,039 undergraduate students. In addition, we sought to validate the measure by examining its relationship to AMPD Criterion B, which measures maladaptive personality traits, in predicting general well-being. Results of the present study indicated high internal consistency for the total scale score, yet somewhat lower than typically found when using the original English version in some specific domains. Factor analyses indicated the presence of a large first component, while the specific domains were found to add valid variance in predicting well-being that was independent of this general factor, suggesting that the measure is not entirely unidimensional as applied in this sample. Both Criterion A and B measures were significantly correlated with well-being scores, with Criterion A found to significantly increment Criterion B in predicting well-being.
Although traditional accounts of the internalization of self-presentation (IOSP; i.e., shifts in individuals’ self-perceptions toward the direction of their self-presentation) assumed that IOSP occurs for any trait, an alternative account based on self-deception predicts that it occurs only for socially desirable traits and that merely recalling trait-relevant episodes for self-presentation is sufficient to produce IOSP. This pre-registered study examined whether IOSP occurs for introversion that is defined in a socially undesirable manner. Japanese university students (N = 227; 129 women, 97 men, 1 other; Mage = 19.40, SD = 1.70) completed a measure of introversion twice: T1 as a baseline and T2 after 7–10 days, after merely preparing to present themselves as introverted based on their own introverted episodes. At T1, they also rated social desirability of trait words defining introversion. As predicted, the present definition of introversion was rated as socially undesirable (M = 2.78, SD = 0.57; range = 1-7). More importantly, a one-sample t-test under the null hypothesis that the shift in introversion would be equal to or greater than the smallest effect size of interest revealed that the shift was negligible (dz = 0.01, p = .004). Taken together with previous findings that IOSP occurs after merely preparing to self-present oneself as introverted when introversion is defined in a more socially desirable way, these results suggest that IOSP may occur only when target trait is framed in a socially desirable direction through self-deception.
Imposter Phenomenon (IP) is a set of psychological experiences characterized by self-doubt, attributing success to external causes, and a constant fear of being perceived as a phony (Clance & Imes, 1978), which may be suggestive of dissatisfaction with basic psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers (N = 325, 61% men, 39% women) ranked their self-identified knowledge and abilities relative to others, completed the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) assessing IP, and the Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs (BMPN) assessing competence, autonomy, and relatedness. We hypothesized that IP and dissatisfaction in basic psychological needs would predict underestimation of knowledge and abilities relative to those of other people. However, we found imposter phenomenon and basic psychological needs predicted positive self-evaluations. Inflated self-evaluations may be strategically used to defend against IP feelings and against a sense of “ill-being” associated with thwarted psychological needs. Thus, a positive, confident presentation may be compensatory or defensive in nature. Future research could explore specific defense mechanisms that may mediate this positive self-evaluation of knowledge and ability relative to others as well as the role of styles of perfectionism.
The present study investigated personality disorder traits, paranormal beliefs, and political ideologies associated with people who believe in conspiracy theories. Through Amazon Mechanical Turk, 133 adults (M = 45.16 years, range = 23–65 years, 84 women, 46 men, three not stated) completed two conspiracy measures: A newly constructed Conspiracy Ideational Scale and the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale. They also completed the Coolidge Axis II Inventory, Revised Paranormal Belief Scale, and Political Beliefs Scale. It was found that personality disorder traits weakly predicted conspiracy theory beliefs, while paranormal beliefs and political beliefs were found to be stronger predictors. The strongest relationship among the measures was between the Conspiracy Ideational Scale and Conservative/Republican-leaning attitudes (r = .60, p < .001). Interestingly, even the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale, designed to be independent of political beliefs, was still strongly associated with people who have Conservative/Republican-leaning attitudes (r = .42, p < .001). It appears that paranormal beliefs and Conservative/Republican leaning-attitudes are better predictors of conspiracy beliefs than personality disorder traits.
While existing research has explored the buffering effects of social support and hardiness separately, there is a gap in understanding their interrelationship within the college student population. This study aimed to explore which dimensions of the hardiness trait (capturing commitment, control, and challenge) are associated with which types of perceived social support (attachment, guidance, social integration, reliable alliance, reassurance of worth) among college students. This study thus will contribute to the social support and hardiness literature by providing empirical evidence on how these constructs are specifically related to each other, offering insights that can inform future research, interventions, and practice. The data for this study were obtained from Dang’s (2024) doctoral dissertation examining the relation between social support, distress tolerance, and self-regulated learning. The participants were 323 full-time students (59% male, Mage = 28.3). Multivariate regression analyses were conducted in R to assess the relations between subscales of hardiness and types of perceived social support. Social support turned out to be positively related to commitment and control dimensions of hardiness and was negatively related to the challenge dimension of hardiness. The results of further analysis indicated that perceiving attachment support and guidance support were associated with the control dimension of the hardiness trait.
The present study assessed the capacity of revised reinforcement sensitivity theory (r-RST) to predict difficulties in emotional regulation (DER), and in both internalized and externalized anger difficulties. Participants were college students (N = 705) from Mexico and from the US. Regression analyses showed that both the behavior inhibition system (BIS) and impulsivity (IMP) are direct and significant predictors of all three dependent variables, in both samples. Reward interest is an inverse and statistically significant predictor of both internalized and externalized aggression. Although both samples share a common footing regarding the importance of BIS and IMP as predictors of the dependent variables, protection variables differed between the samples. The results of the study suggest that elements belonging to the sensitivity to punishment and sensitivity to reward domains interact to generate DER. Finally, the results suggest that personality theories derived from basic neurobiological processes are not exempt from cultural variations.
This study aimed to (1) investigate the potentially conflicting relationships between conscientiousness facets and subjective well-being (SWB), and (2) examine the mediating roles of cognitive flexibility (CF) and emotional intelligence (EI) in these relationships, thereby elucidating distinct motivational pathways underlying conscientiousness and its connection to well-being. Path analyses were calculate based on data from 459 Japanese employees (237 men, mean age = 42.35). Facets of conscientiousness were measured using both the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP)-300 and the IPIP-Abridged Big Five-Dimensional Circumplex (AB5C) to obtain robust results and assess possible instrument-specific effects. Both instruments revealed mixed positive and negative relationships between conscientiousness facets and SWB. Competence, self-discipline, and achievement-striving — components of the industriousness subdomain — showed positive associations with SWB. In contrast, orderliness, dutifulness, and cautiousness — components of the orderliness subdomain — exhibited negative associations. Mediation analyses identified CF and EI as critical factors enhancing the positive effects of industriousness and lower EI as a key factor contributing to lower SWB among cautious individuals. Conscientiousness demonstrates dual effects on well-being: proactive facets enhance, while inhibitory facets diminish well-being via cognitive-emotional pathways. Improving flexibility and social skills may enhance well-being by leveraging industriousness and mitigating the downsides of orderliness.
Five-factor model (FFM) personality traits are associated with cognitive function. The present research seeks to replicate and extend prior research on FFM traits and performance in five cognitive domains and informant-rated cognition. Participants (N=2,501) from the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol sub-study of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe completed a 10-item personality measure in 2017 and were administered a comprehensive cognitive assessment in 2022. Neuroticism was associated with lower global cognitive performance, episodic memory, speed-attention, visuo-spatial ability, verbal fluency and informant-rated cognitive decline; the effects were attenuated by clinical (e.g., hypertension) and behavioral (e.g., physical inactivity) risk factors for cognitive impairment, which may mediate the associations. Openness was associated with better performance in most cognitive domains, even after accounting for behavioral and clinical covariates. Conscientiousness was related to less informant-rated cognitive decline but was surprisingly unrelated to performance in any cognitive domain; extraversion and agreeableness were also largely unrelated to cognitive function. There was not a consistent pattern of moderation by sociodemographic factors, cognitive impairment, or depression across domains, suggesting more similarities than differences across groups. The present research suggests that even with brief FFM scales, neuroticism and openness have replicable associations with multiple cognitive domains, whereas a more comprehensive assessment of conscientiousness may be needed to detect robust associations with cognitive performance.
Positive psychological capital (PsyCap) has been found to predict various individual outcomes such as well-being and effectiveness. While it encompasses a trait baseline, little research has examined the role of personality as an antecedent in impacting the development of PsyCap. Despite some studies linking specific Big Five personality traits to PsyCap, research utilizing culturally relevant assessments in non-Western contexts, particularly in the Chinese setting, remains scarce. This study addresses this gap by employing the Cross-Cultural (Chinese) Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI-2) and the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-24) to analyze data from 326 undergraduate students in Hong Kong. The CPAI-2 is a culturally grounded personality assessment tool that enables a fair understanding of personality traits uniquely relevant in the Chinese context, thereby enriching insights from Western-centric personality models. Regression analyses revealed significant associations: higher scores on traits of novelty seeking, leadership, and responsibility correlated with increased hope; divergent thinking and leadership, along with lower inferiority, were linked to greater self-efficacy; higher responsibility and lower anxiety related to increased resilience; and higher optimism, internal locus of control, and graciousness were associated with enhanced optimism. A path model was established to illustrate the relationships between personality traits and PsyCap. The findings emphasize the importance of culturally relevant assessments for understanding these relations, and they suggest that similar frameworks could be adapted globally to explore how local cultural factors inform the development of PsyCap.
This study examined how distinct facets of narcissism – extraverted, antagonistic, neurotic, and communal – relate to intimate partner violence (IPV) and whether desire for power mediates these associations. Using a community sample of 515 Iranian adults in committed heterosexual relationships, participants completed validated measures of narcissism, desire for power, and three forms of IPV: physical violence, inflicted injury, and sexual coercion. Antagonistic narcissism was most consistently linked with IPV, showing direct associations with partner-inflicted injury and sexual coercion, and an indirect link with partner-directed violence via desire for power. Neurotic narcissism predicted partner-directed violence but was not mediated by power motives. Extraverted and communal narcissism were not directly related to IPV but showed positive indirect associations with partner-directed violence through desire for power. These findings highlight the multifaceted nature of narcissism and suggest that power motives play a nuanced role in the perpetration of IPV. By extending this research to a non-Western cultural context, the study underscores the importance of cultural sensitivity in understanding narcissism’s interpersonal consequences.
Our personality is an important component in understanding ourselves and it influences how we navigate our environments and develop interpersonal relationships. The two-polarities model of personality describes the development of personality through the dialectical interaction between two developmental psychological processes, interpersonal relatedness and self-definition. Both dimensions have unique characteristics contributing to either adaptive or maladaptive personality development, shaping the meaning of psychological experiences. Too much of one configuration at the expense of the other has been related to psychopathology. Mentalized affectivity (MA), a component of mentalization, is similar to the two-polarities model of personality in that it also helps us to understand ourselves and others, but through our emotional experiences. One component of MA, processing emotions, is a powerful transdiagnostic feature that can create susceptibility to psychopathology or act as a protective factor and help promote change. Although research has looked at the relationship between mentalization and personality, less is known about the relationship between personality and mentalized affectivity. Participants (N = 201; 53.2% male) completed measures, related to mentalized affectivity, to personality, and to psychological symptoms. Moderation analysis revealed patterns of lower levels of processing emotions strengthening the relationship between personality and forms of psychopathology. When personality becomes maladaptive and there are impairments in processing, there is more susceptibility to pathology. Our research supports the use of mentalization-based and personality-based treatment to alleviate symptoms of psychopathology by increasing levels of processing emotions and fostering adaptive personality development.
Across four online self-report studies with college students and community members (N = 597; N = 273; N = 1,100; N = 882), we examined whether perceived childhood harshness and unpredictability were associated with ideological attitudes through dangerous and competitive social worldviews. Perceived childhood unpredictability consistently predicted a competitive social worldview, which, in turn, mediated its associations with social dominance orientation, anti-hierarchical aggression, equalitarianism, and the need for chaos. These findings suggest that perceiving one’s early environment as unpredictable may foster a competitive view of the world, which can lead to ideological attitudes that either uphold (e.g., social dominance orientation) or disrupt (e.g., need for chaos) social hierarchies. In contrast, perceived childhood harshness was not reliably linked to the dangerous worldview or to ideological attitudes via this pathway. This research contributes to the limited literature on how early life experiences shape ideological beliefs, highlighting the role of competitive social worldviews as a key mediator of the effects of childhood unpredictability.
The associations between narcissistic personality features and warmongering were examined, as well as whether these associations were mediated by the dangerous and competitive social world views believed to accompany these behaviors. Participants were 664 students from Iranian universities, who provided self-ratings on a short form of the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory, on a warmongering measure (capturing several categories), and on the Social World-view Scale-Revised. The results showed that there is a relationship between narcissism and warmongering and its categories. Also, the results showed that the aspects of narcissism (antagonistic narcissism, extraverted narcissism, and neurotic narcissism) had strong indirect relationships with warmongering and its categories, through the dangerous and competitive social worldviews. An important point about the obtained results was that the role of the competitive social worldview in this relationship was greater than the dangerous social worldview. The literature of this research and its results can be used to deepen our understanding of warmongering and factors related to it. Using its results, we may get a better understanding of the role of personality factors and of worldviews in warmongering and put it to use to help prevent such unfortunate events.
Individuals high in temperamental sensitivity are considered to orient their attention even to irrelevant stimuli in their current environments. Since this characteristic makes it more difficult for them to focus on the relevant stimuli in a situation, they should be more distractible than less sensitive individuals. However, how strongly this heightened distractibility results in actual distraction (i.e., lack of focused attention) should depend on the extent to which situations provide distracting stimulation. This study predicted that the relationship between university students’ overexcitability (i.e., an aspect of sensitivity) and lack of focused attention to academic learning was moderated by the degree of household chaos (i.e., potentially distracting noise and disorganization) in their homes during the lecture period. One hundred students approached on a Swiss university campus completed self-report measures on the variables of interest. Multiple regression analysis involving simple slope analyses revealed the expected interaction: The more intense the household chaos, the stronger the positive relationship between overexcitability and lack of focused attention for academic learning. The findings were robust when the current level of recovery was statically taken into account. The findings suggest practical implications for highly sensitive learners.
Personality may vary with geography and with socio-demographical determinants. Research is, however, limited to a few countries and often involves only selected groups of the population, like students. At the same time, electronic survey methods using authorities’ web platforms for communicating with citizens constitute an attractive new way of achieving data on a general population level. In this survey, we used the Danish authorities’ electronic mailbox solution, in order to investigate the variation of personality with geographical and socio-demographical characteristics. This is a secondary analysis of data from a web-based survey among Danish men aged 45-70 years in the general population. In total, 6,755 completed the survey (response rate of 30 percent), which included the ten item Big Five Inventory (BFI-10) as a measure of personality. The survey responses were connected to municipality-level register data. Among the five traits, openness showed the strongest geographical variation. Differences in personality scores--particularly in agreeableness and openness--were observed across regions and between the western and eastern parts of the country. However, these differences could be largely explained by sociodemographic variables such as age, marital status, and education. In conclusion, in this national web-platform based survey using a self-report personality measure in men, we found regional differences in personality. However, in agreement with previous research findings, personality also was found to be associated with a variety of socio-demographic characteristics.
The internalization of self-presentation (IOSP; Tice, 1992) is a phenomenon where individuals internalize presented traits (e.g., extraversion) and shift the level of their traits in the presented direction. While IOSP predicts self-concept shifts only in the presented traits, this pre-registered study examined whether self-concepts of non-presented traits also shift in socially desirable directions. Based on statistical power analyses, 89 Japanese undergraduate students were recruited. They completed measures of the Big Five personality traits at two time points: 7–10 days prior to and immediately following a task where they wrote a self-introduction designed to convey an extraverted impression. Paired t-tests revealed shifts in all the Big Five traits in the predicted socially desirable directions (Cohen's |dz| = .29–.36). These findings suggest that self-presentation of extraversion influences the self-concept of both presented and non-presented traits, challenging the current understanding of IOSP. Possible mechanisms underlying this phenomenon and implications for future research on personality change are discussed.
This study is about the relationship between the general dark triad factor and the five moral foundations (care/harm, fairness/reciprocity, ingroup/loyalty, respect/authority, and purity/sanctity). Participants (N = 723) provided ratings on the Dirty Dozen Dark Triad (DDDT) and on the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ). A structural validity and reliability test was carried out for the constructs and a structural equation was modeled, relating the general dark triad factor to the moral foundations. The results gave adequate fits for the dark triad, for moral foundations, and for the integrated model, obtaining negative and significant relationships between the general dark triad factor and all of the five moral foundations. It is concluded that there is a negative and statistically significant correlation between each of the moral foundations and the general dark triad factor.
Narcissistic traits, though often viewed negatively, can serve as protective mechanisms, shielding individuals from harmful self-attributions and enhancing performance in competitive environments. Consequently, different environmental contexts are likely to predict varying levels of narcissism. In mating contexts, for example, these traits may be adaptive, with gender differences expected due to differing reproductive fitness pressures on men and women. The present research investigated gender and ethnic identity differences in narcissistic traits. Across four studies conducted with participants from the United States, men consistently reported higher levels of extraverted and antagonistic narcissism, whereas women exhibited higher levels of neurotic narcissism. Black participants reported higher levels of extraverted and antagonistic narcissism compared to White participants, aligning with prior research that suggests narcissistic traits may act as protective responses to systemic discrimination. An unexpected finding emerged regarding communal narcissism, where Black participants consistently scored higher than their White counterparts, suggesting that marginalized groups may express narcissism through prosocial or communal behaviors. The studies provided evidence supporting the measurement invariance of narcissistic traits across gender and ethnic identity groups. This suggests that the tools and methods used to measure these traits function equivalently across these groups. The findings offer valuable insights into the connections between demographic factors and narcissistic traits, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of how narcissism manifests in different populations.
The relationship between personality traits and moment-to-moment interpersonal behavior is influenced by the context of the interaction. The aim of the current study was to understand associations between personality traits and interpersonal warmth and dominance in heterosexual romantic couples (Ncouples = 140). Actor-Partner Interdependence Models were used to examine the relationships between interpersonal behavior and the traits of negative emotionality, positive emotionality, and constraint. Results suggested personality traits were associated with behaviors of both the actor and partner, with the strongest positive relationships found between positive emotionality and warm behavior and between negative emotionality and cold behavior. These results provide evidence that personality traits are related to momentary behaviors in romantic couples.
