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Advances in knowledge about personality will be fostered by improved research methods, but corresponding improvements in our theories will be needed also, better methods will not be enough. Theory itself can have methodological functions, and some methods provide strong impetus toward greater theoretical clarity and rigor. Distinctions between methodological developments in research design, measurement, and analysis need to be maintained, and we badly need more research directed specifically toward improving methodologies. Some papers in this volume point quite clearly to the need for all aspects of our research to be better rationalized and deliberate, casual and opportunistic decisions about how to carry out research simply will not do. These papers indicate, for example, that the trait vs situation controversy would likely never have occurred had the issues been addressed with greater methodological, and logical, rigor. This volume is not complete in its coverage of the potentially useful methods for personality research, and attention should ultimately be devoted to such methods as life histories and case studies and cross-cultural comparisons. In general, however, the papers in this volume offer an opportunity to raise the level of research in personality to a new plane of sophistication and revealingness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How might our expanding knowledge of gender contribute to a deeper understanding of personality? This paper offers a personological perspective for considering the import of contemporary work, and focuses on the ten substantive papers included in this issue of the Journal of Personality. An agenda for our future inquiry is proposed that includes (a) revising our ideology of science in a postpositivist era, (b) recognizing the complexity of personality as a domain distinguished from "human being theory," (c) developing richer and more comprehensive personality theory, and (d) studying persons over time. The papers reported in this issue contribute in various ways to the enrichment of personological understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is a report of some experiments, which were developed to test the hypothesis that a preference for tints on the one hand or for strong color on the other hand is associated with certain characteristics of personality. It was believed that individuals are fairly consistent in their choosing of either colors or tints and that these choices are associated with two different ways of experiencing life. The ideas underlying the research herein reported were brought sharply into focus while the authors were discussing some paintings. One author expressed the opinion that she would have used dark reds and blues and found the use of tints inconceivable. Preference for color or for tint would appear to have been fairly reliably measured in the first individual session of this experiment. Several interpretations of the data presented in the table of results appeared possible. The interpretations, however, did not seem to apply equally well when checked against the everyday behavior of a number of subjects known intimately.

Initial theorizing depicted self-complexity as the number of nonoverlapping self-aspects, such as traits, roles, and behaviors, and proposed that greater self-complexity is linked to better coping in response to stress and negative events. A review of the literature, however, finds inconsistent results. The inconsistency apparently arises from variation in the measurement of self-complexity. The different measures stem from disagreement over the definition of self-complexity, and the various definitions apparently result from theoretical disagreement about how to conceptualize the structure of self-knowledge. The present paper reviews the self-complexity literature and suggests directions for future research. The present paper suggests a positive, moderating relationship between self-complexity and coping, and additional research that includes careful measurement and definition of self-complexity may provide stronger support for this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research conducted during the last few years has investigated the relationship between these personality variables and several dependent variables including performance on classroom tests, preference for certain degrees of risk, estimation of future success, persistence at tasks, and several others. The extent of these findings has seemed substantial enough to warrant the use of achievement-motivation variables as predictors of performance in applied as well as laboratory studies. This is not to imply that the reported findings are always consistent or that significant differences are always discovered. Since the theory of achievement motivation does appear to be of considerable potential use in several areas, any attempt at clarification would seem to be a contribution in a practical as well as a theoretical sense. In this paper one such attempt will be reviewed and data will be presented that seem to clarify some of the inconsistencies in the literature. In particular, control-of-reinforcement theory, originally devised by Julian Rotter, will be reviewed and an attempt will be made to show how a consideration of this theory along with the theory of achievement motivation can aid in understanding the conditions under which both theories apply.

The article focuses on a study which examined the implications of symmetry and asymmetry in interpersonal relations for the concept of projection. A distinction between symmetrical and asymmetrical cases of projection has been fundamental since it was introduced by Murray and remains so in the recent review by Holmes. It is usually implied that the two types of cases require entirely different accounts in terms of different psychological processes. The implication of the present paper is quite different. Consider any cognitive process whereby once perceives the characteristics of oneself and the other person according to the likely relationship between them. It follows from the earlier argument that such a process will lead to symmetrical cognitions for certain characteristics and asymmetrical cognitions for others. The application to cases of asymmetrical projection is most direct. Murray used complementary projection to refer to an asymmetrical situation where children who were afraid attributed maliciousness to photographs. He suggested a process, similar to that just proposed, involving the attribution of characteristics to others that explain or justify one's own. This type on interpretation has traditionally bee applied only to asymmetrical cases. Murray used supplementary projection for the symmetrical cases dealt with by classical psychoanalytic mechanism of defense. It was in order to clarify such cases that the study included adjectives to represent both relatively strong and milder versions of the Freudian motives of sex and aggression all of which gave clearly evidence for symmetry.

In this paper, are included three rather diverse themes which have a common origin in a research program on psychological stress, which is still in progress. The occasion for the first theme was the concern with the measurement of motivation, which is felt as an important source of such individual differences. The second theme, related to this last-made point, is that the traditional search for main effects of independent variables in stress, experimentation must give way to analysis of interactions among variables, if such experimentation is to be most meaningful and realistic. It is demonstrated that the influence of a given variable in the determination of behavior is a function of the context of other variables in which it occurs. Two classes of potentially interacting variables were discussed; attributes of the individual; and characteristics of the situation to which the individual is exposed. The third, and last, theme emphasizes the contribution which developmental psychology can make to the understanding of response to stressor conditions. On the one hand, differences in the developmental level of individual-including individuals of equivalent chronological age-should be a significant factor in determining such response. In addition, the use of tasks which may be developmentally analyzed should provide meaningful dimensions for evaluating stress responses.

On a priori grounds there seems to be a logical relationship between the personality variable "authoritarianism" and the acceptance of military ideology. Military organizations, of necessity, operate in a fairly authoritarian manner and presumably individuals predisposed to accept authoritarian ideology should accept and reflect ideas on attitudes and behavior which these organizations hold. Some of the variables allegedly measured by the scale appear relevant to the problem of military acceptance, while some others, on the surface at least, appear less so Conventionalism, submission to and enforcement of authority, toughness, and practical "hard-headedness" could be classed in the former group. Superstition, destructiveness, projection and exaggerated concern with sexual "goings on" appear less relevant. The theoretical considerations leading to the prediction of military acceptance by "authoritarian" individuals do not necessarily lead to the opposite prediction that "equalitarian" individuals will reject the military.

This paper deals with the problem of the relation between dominant ectomorphy and dominance of the corresponding component in the temperament index or psychotype. The restricted nature of this presentation is due among other things to certain limitations of the temperament material and to the size of the available series. It is the opinion of the authors, however, that within the realm of the Grant Study data, the area selected for this preliminary presentation best affords exploration of this relationship. Somatotype ratings were given to 260 Grant Study subjects. An attempt was made to follow as closely as possible the somatotype standards as presented. From these data it appeared that in 51 out of the 260 cases, or in 19.6 per cent of the individuals, the predominant component was ectomorphy. All the psychotype classifications of the subjects here reported were made independently by one of the authors of this paper. An intensive study was made of each case history from the mass of interview material obtained by the staff psychiatrists.

This paper reviews and critiques the growing literature on the distinction between reactive and proactive aggression in children and adolescents. Empirical findings suggest that the subtypes of aggression are (a) preceded by different familial precursors, (b) associated with different behavioral outcomes, (c) driven by different social–cognitive and emotional processes, and (d) related to different social experiences. Because measurement difficulties have been a prominent concern in the study of reactive and proactive aggression, a discussion of various assessment approaches is included. Suggestions are made for future research directions, including a greater use of observational and laboratory-based methods, more longitudinal designs, and a greater focus on the careful assessment of the subtypes of aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rejection sensitivity is the disposition to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react to rejection. In response to perceived social exclusion, highly rejection sensitive people react with increased hostile feelings toward others and are more likely to show reactive aggression than less rejection sensitive people in the same situation. This paper summarizes work on rejection sensitivity that has provided evidence for the link between anxious expectations of rejection and hostility after rejection. We review evidence that rejection sensitivity functions as a defensive motivational system. Thus, we link rejection sensitivity to attentional and perceptual processes that underlie the processing of social information. A range of experimental and diary studies shows that perceiving rejection triggers hostility and aggressive behavior in rejection sensitive people. We review studies that show that this hostility and reactive aggression can perpetuate a vicious cycle by eliciting rejection from those who rejection sensitive people value most. Finally, we summarize recent work suggesting that this cycle can be interrupted with generalized self-regulatory skills and the experience of positive, supportive relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental aspect of Hans Eysenck's research was his emphasis upon using all the tools available to the researcher to study personality. This included correlational, experimental, physiological, and genetic approaches. Fifty years after Cronbach's call for the reunification of the two disciplines of psychology ( Cronbach, 1957 ) and 40 years after Eysenck's plea for experimental approaches to personality research ( H. J. Eysenck, 1966 ), what is the status of the unification? Should personality researchers use experimental techniques? Do experimental techniques allow us to tease out causality, and are we communicating the advantages of combining experimental with multivariate correlational techniques? We review the progress made since Cronbach's and Eysenck's original papers and suggest that although it is still uncommon to find experimental studies of personality, psychology would benefit from the joint use of correlational and experimental approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent discussions of the idiographic-nomothetic debate were initially reviewed in this paper. Three important issues stemming from this debate were then expounded within the context of Personal Construct Theory and evaluated in an empirical study. Participants were required to rate themselves and people they knew on 25 marker items for the Big Five personality traits and on 12 of their own unique personal constructs. The ratings were analyzed using a number of novel statistical methods, including a simple type of confirmatory factor analysis and an informative graphing procedure. Results indicated that at least half of the statistical information derived from the idiographic, personal construct ratings was unique when compared to ratings on the nomothetic Big Five items. The implications of these methods and results for person-centered and trait conceptualizations of personality were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a psychobiographical study of Henry A Murray's early career A formulation of his personality is developed, emphasizing his inner depressive tendencies, his sense of specialness, and his characteristic concerns in relationships His decision to become a psychologist, his initial reaction to academic psychology, and his years of involvement with psychoanalysis are considered in the light of his personality The final section contains an examination of the ways in which Murray's personality and his experiences during his early career shaped Explorations in Personality, his most influential work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we describe a technique for coding expressions of preoccupation with aspects of the adult self in personal documents and retrospective autobiographical writings In particular we explore the value of this approach by analyzing themes of identity, intimacy, and generativity expressed in Vera Brittain's diary and correspondence, written during her adolescence in World War I, and in her retrospective autobiographical account of that period in her life. Analyses aim to use Erikson's theory of personality development to describe her psychological experience at the time and to compare that account with the later one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attribution of responsibility is becoming the subject of increasing research activity. Reasons for such activity appear fairly obvious. It is highly probable that the degree to which one person holds another as responsible for the latter's acts is a prime determinant of much interpersonal behavior. For example, responses to others that are punishing versus rehabilitative, generous versus niggardly, kindly versus hostile, or accepting versus rejecting may all be mediated to a substantial extent by the degree to which one attributes responsibility to another person for the outcome of his acts. The focus of the present paper is on several potential determinants of responsibility attribution and their interactions. In professor E. Walster's study, the stimulus events were described as chance-determined. That is, a person gained, broke even, or lost money on an investment purely as a function of environmental events over which he had no control. In this study, Walster was not able to show a relation between responsibility attribution and outcome seventy.

The effectiveness with which people deal with problem situations has long been a matter of concern to both the scientist and the layman Indeed, most of the psychological knowledge can be construed as relevant to such a concern. Over the past several years a personality concept has evolved out of social learning theory, which appears intimately related to the above noted concerns. This concept, internal vs external (I-E)control of reinforcement, refers to the extent to which an individual feels that he has control over the reinforcements that occur relative to his behavior. Of more central concern to this paper, however, are those studies which relate I-E to such things as acquisition of information, information-seeking, retention of information, and effectiveness in influencing others. M. Seeman and J.W. Evans matched groups of internals and externals, hospitalized in a tuberculosis hospital, on socioeconomic and hospital experience variables. The findings were that under ambiguous conditions, internals sought more information than did externals, under chance conditions, internals and externals did not differ in information seeking behavior, and under skill conditions, externals sought significantly less information than did internals. The major purpose of the present study, therefore, is to demonstrate that internals are more effective in the utilization of information. In order to show greater utilization of information on the part of internals it will be necessary to also control for factors such as initial learning and retention of material.

Studies of the effects of individual characteristics upon memory typically are concerned with the selective learning and forgetting of particular details of the original stimulus complex. Relatively little attention has been given to the question of possible reliable individual differences in the degree to which any detail is likely to be forgotten regardless of its semantic content. The purpose of the present paper is to inquire into the reliability of individual differences in leveling tendency, and to examine the relationship between leveling and various personality factors presumed to affect perceptual-cognitive style. The present hypothesis is that individuals indicating a preference for simple phenomenal experiences on this scale have relatively strong leveling tendencies. Leveling in the design recall task was significantly associated with leveling at the story recall task, indicating reliable individual differences in general leveling tendency. Furthermore, as predicted, individuals preferring simple rather than complex experiences tended to have high general leveling tendency scores. The Low-Complex individuals also tended to be highly ethnocentric, but the ethnocentrism measure was not significantly associated with leveling.

The article focuses on factor analysis of some handwriting characteristics. Graphology has had a long history as a technique for character and personality study. Despite the fact, there is relatively little evidence in the literature to support its claims, and its validity remains in doubt. One important difficulty has been the lack of procedures for measuring graphological characteristics. Researchers Thea S. Lewison and J. Zubin, in their classic monograph on handwriting analysis, have attacked the problem brilliantly. A related problem is the one of isolating those handwriting characteristics that are in some sense basic to the domain. The study reported in the article had as its principal objective the isolation and identification of some of the factors descriptive of handwriting. A group of 200 right-handed graduate psychology students with a median age of 27 were used as subjects of the study. Each subject was asked to write in pen and ink, as a test of imagination, a full-page story on a standard sheet of unruled bond paper, when presented with a TAT card.

This article presents a broad conceptual framework within which the how and why of human loquacity (and related processes) may be considered. The increasing amount of published research on human communicative behavior has made the lack of theoretical integration noticeable. In the present discussion, communicative behavior is placed in the context of the current formulations regarding cognitive-perceptual processes conceived as dynamically related to the need-value systems of individuals. Broadly stated, these conceptualizations assert that these systems, which are central in the personality structure of the individual, interacting with the environment, result in instabilities and disequilibriums which are co-ordinated with an increase in tension in the individual, and that cognitive-perceptual processes structure the environment in a specific manner so as to reduce tension. It is essential to the formulations in the present paper that the behavior events in these areas be regarded as dynamically interrelated. An important implication of this assumption is that any change occurring in any subregion will have effects in all other regions.

There have been many recent experiments, which have studied the relationships between perceptual behaviors and need states. The study, which the author is reporting here, is basically personality-centered. This means that the author has used perceptual behavior as a means of studying personality dynamics. An extensive bibliography dealing with the correlations between needs and values and perceptual recognition thresholds for need-related stimuli has accumulated. A few examples of experiments in this area may be noted. Along with these experiments has come a great deal of controversial discussion concerning the nature of the relationships. Many of the articles in this area have been concerned with the nature of the perceptual process itself. In this paper the author is not concerned with the controversial issues concerning the definition of perception. Regardless of the types of mechanisms and processes, which may be involved, the author believes that the obtained correlations afford an excellent opportunity to study personality dynamics. In this report the author is concerned with the expression of sexual and aggressive needs on a sentence completion test and the auditory recognition of sexual and aggressive.

The problem of the relationship of handwriting to personality is a complex one. Before one can determine whether any relationship exists between handwriting and personality, reliable and valid methods for measuring handwriting and for measuring personality must be found. The purpose of the present paper is to review briefly some previous studies and to report two experiments by the writer on this subject, placing particular emphasis on the various methodologies, which have been employed. The various approaches to quantifying or appraising handwriting, which have been, used in the past generally fall into two categories, the intuitive or wholistic approach and the analytical approach. Observing such attributes of handwriting as form and style makes the intuitive evaluation of handwriting. The chief disadvantage of evaluating handwriting by the intuitive method is the great difficulty of objectifying intuitive methods. Generally speaking, intuitive methods are inherently subjective, and any attempt to objectify them reduces to the analytical method. However, one approach in which the psychologist with some success has used the intuitive method is the matching method.

The present paper reports an attempt to build up by means of objective tests a picture of the differences between neurotics and non-neurotics, i.e., between persons differing with respect to their position on the other continuum of personality. In previous studies by the authors, significant differences had been found between the responses of neurotics and non-neurotics to a variety of tests, but no intercorrelation of these tests had been possible as the test population was not the same throughout. In the present experiment, twelve tests and a questionnaire were given to a group of normal and of neurotic subjects and a factorial analysis of the intercorrelations of these tests was carried out. The aim of such an analysis was twofold. In the first place, it served to determine the intercorrelation of the tests with the criterion of psychiatric diagnosis and thus provided the basis upon which to build up a battery of tests that will discriminate satisfactorily between the well and the poorly adjusted subjects. The tests used in this experiment were all of the objective type, easy to administer and to score, and it was thought that a battery of these tests might prove useful for purposes of selection and of screening.

This article presents a commentary on papers relating to personality psychology, published in the June 1992 special issue of the Journal of Personality. The editor of this special issue and its contributors, have provided the readers with a representative cross-section of what may very well be a turning point for personality psychology. The editors are especially enthused about a possible turning point because they themselves are able historians of the five-factor model who can appreciate an apparent transition from earlier disagreements to a working consensus. The contributors, with the editors, have provided examples of both comprehensiveness of the working model and the necessity of focusing on less abstract facets or components of the model when applying it to specific areas of inquiry. In most of the articles, contributors are apparently in agreement on several limitations of the model. The first of these has to do with the super ordinate nature of the five trait categories, and that quality is variously characterized as global, abstract, broad-bandwidth, initial rough distinctions, generic situations, etc. Another limitation on which many of these contributors appear to agree concerns the atheoretical nature of the model. Still another limitation of the model with which some contributors are concerned is its descriptive as opposed to explanatory status. The theoretical perspectives enumerated differ from one another in the extent to which the descriptive-explanatory distinction is recognized explicitly. In sum, the multiple theoretical perspectives on the model differ from one another in detail and in their claims to comprehensiveness or explanatory power, but the global designation of these efforts as atheoretical seems both inaccurate and unfair.

Most personologists and clinicians have assumed that personality variables are the major source of behavioral variance and are expressed in a relatively consistent manner across different situations. Social psychologists and sociologists have suggested that situational factors are more important than individual differences as sources of behavioral variance. Professor W. Mischel has indicated that until recently much of theorizing about personality has been dominated by trait theories and by psychodynamic or state theories, which have assumed the existence of trans-situational consistency. These theories have assumed that personality is basically stable and continuous regardless of the situation. However, social behavior theory emphasizes situational specificity and states that a person will behave consistently across situations only to the extent that similar behavior leads, or is expected to lead, to similar consequences across those conditions. It was proposed that the personality vs situation issue was a pseudo-issue because it was usually conceptualized in terms of which is more important rather than in terms of how personality variables and situational factors interact in affecting behavior.

The nature of this relationship, however, appears to vary as a function of the level of psychological disturbance characterizing the individual. When disturbance level is low, graphic expansiveness seems to mirror socially extraverted behavior; expansiveness tends to be greater when extraversion is greater. When disturbance level is high, on the other hand, graphic expansiveness seems, if anything, to compensate for the absence of socially extraverted behavior rather than to reflect its presence expansiveness tends to be greater when introversion, not extraversion, is greater. From such findings there emerged the following type of interpretative formulation Expansiveness as indicated in graphic productions--the amount of page area covered in graphic work--constitutes an indirect manifestation of an extraverted social attitude. Conversely, graphic constriction represents an indirect expression of social introversion. One can, however, propose a simpler explanatory possibility for understanding the connection between graphic expansiveness and overt indications of social extraversion.

It is widely assumed that the constriction or expansiveness of a person's graphic expression is in some sense indicative of his personality. While a similar interpretation of graphic constriction and expansiveness also is offered in much of the work on handwriting interpretation and on the consistency shown among various kinds of expressive behavior in the same individual, it is often argued that just the reverse can occur. Graphic constriction or expansiveness, then, may serve either as a reflection of social introversion-extraversion tendencies, or, alternatively, as a safe level on which to displace behavior tendencies undergoing overt inhibition. A person's claiming to want isolation from others may be viewed as one adaptation to the presence of others in his surroundings. If the individual's adaptation of social introversion is successful, as indicated by an absence of anxiety, then such introversion should be reflected in his covert behavior too, since no strong contrary need is being inhibited from the sphere of overt conduct.

In recent years there have been an increasing number of attempts to integrate the field of perception with that of motivation and of personality. These attempts may take either of two opposite directions. One is characterized by a basic dependence on the outlook, the problems, and the techniques developed in the general psychology of perception. This approach may be further subdivided in the following manner. The motivational angle is either, first, superimposed upon this nucleus of general problems of perception as an additional element or factor, or second, denved from it by an expansion of concepts or principles originating in the field of perception Both these subdivisions may be characterized as perception-centered. The opposite direction is taken by a third group of investigations. These are organized about major patterns of findings originating in some area of personality research, problems or findings of perception psychology are brought into the picture by way of analogy as convenient means in the testing of hypotheses, or in some other secondary role. This may be called the personality-centered approach.

The shift in perception within psychology is primarily due to the growing recognition of what one might call the projective nature of perception. The article tries to examine the expansion of the problem of perception from the splendidly isolated area of classical psychophysics to the areas of social and personality dynamics necessitates a reformulation of the theoretical framework within which perception is to be conceived. Paradoxically enough, the most abstract theory of perception, that of the nineteenth-century psychophysicists, and the naive view of the man-in-the-street are in some ways quite similar, that is, both are sure that we see with our eyes and hear with our ears. The attempts to integrate facts and principles of general and motivational psychology will, of course, vary considerably in view of the wide differences in background and temperament of the individual psychologists. Considering the hierarchic structure of personality, within which perception occupies an intermediate position, it seems only logical that integrative interpretation should be ventured at various levels, "from above" as well as "from below."

The article presents an introduction to the issue's theme of methodological and statistical research of personality phenomena.

Objective: Personality psychology has largely ignored the experiences of people with disabilities. This article strives to bring the thriving, interdisciplinary field of disability studies to personality psychology via a case study of Samantha (N = 1). Samantha feels that she grew up as a hearing person who could not hear and is now a deaf person who can hear.Method: Narrative identity provides the theoretical, methodological, and analytical framework for the rich, qualitative examination of Samantha's life story, interwoven with approaches from disability studies and intersectionality theory. Two Life Story Interviews (McAdams, 2008), conducted 2 weeks prior to Samantha's cochlear implant surgery and again 7 weeks after the surgery, provide the foundation for this case study and are interpreted alongside additional self-report measures. Grounded theory methods were used to interpret Samantha's narrative identity.Results: Samantha's story demonstrates the ways in which narrative identity can serve as a foundation for meaning and psychological well-being, as well as a demonstration of the ways in which the study of identity can be enriched by perspectives from disability studies.Conclusions: As an initial effort at integrating personality psychology and disability studies, this article sought to approach this task by privileging ethical representation over generalizability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although there are several models of the lower-order structure of Agreeableness, empirically derived descriptions of this domain are largely nonexistent. We examined the factor structure of Agreeableness items from multiple scales in order to empirically determine the facet-level structure of the domain.Method: Participants (N = 1,205; 73% female; 84% White; Mage  = 35.5, SD = 17.26) completed 131 items from 22 scales measuring Agreeableness.Results: A series of factor analyses was conducted on 104 items to identify factor emergence of the domain from a single factor to increasingly more specific factors. A five-factor solution consisting of facets labeled Compassion, Morality, Trust, Affability, and Modesty was identified as most appropriate. Factors from all levels of the construct were compared to current measures of the domain as well as a number of criterion variables. The patterns of association with criterion variables at the lower level of the Agreeableness domain showed significant divergence.Conclusions: The current results highlight how specific Agreeableness traits unfold from broader to more specific facets and how these traits are represented in existing measures of this important domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article draws on various areas in arguing that personality psychologists need to reconsider the potential utility of personality types. The Distinguished Senior Psychologist Forum in the Journal of Personality invites a senior researcher to present his or her views on some aspect of personality psychology. The nature of the forum is not fixed, however, the goal of the forum is to generate interesting perspectives on a wide variety of issues in personality psychology. The forum encourages articles that tend to be speculative, broadbrush and/or historical in nature. The third article in the series is by Professor Paul E. Meehl of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Meehl has won numerous prestigious awards, including the American Psychological Association's distinguished contributor award and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the author of many well-known articles and chapters, a distinguished sample of which are reprinted in Psychodiagnosis: Selected Papers in 1973 and Selected Philosophical and Methodological Papers in 1991. In the article, Meehl offers several examples and definitions of taxa, then considers a variety of methods for detecting and validating putative taxa.

Objective: Personality traits are associated with well-being, but the precise correlates vary across well-being dimensions and within each Big Five domain. This study is the first to examine the unique associations between the Big Five aspects (rather than facets) and multiple well-being dimensions.Method: Two samples of U.S. participants (total N = 706; Mage  = 36.17; 54% female) recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk completed measures of the Big Five aspects and subjective, psychological, and PERMA well-being.Results: One aspect within each domain was more strongly associated with well-being variables. Enthusiasm and Withdrawal were strongly associated with a broad range of well-being variables, but other aspects of personality also had idiosyncratic associations with distinct forms of positive functioning (e.g., Compassion with positive relationships, Industriousness with accomplishment, and Intellect with personal growth).Conclusions: An aspect-level analysis provides an optimal (i.e., parsimonious yet sufficiently comprehensive) framework for describing the relation between personality traits and multiple ways of thriving in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose is to present a new conception about the nature of personality traits based on the Kreitler Meaning System. The major constructs of the meaning system are referent, meaning value, meaning unit, and meaning variables characterizing the meaning unit. The individual's meaning profile is the set of meaning variables the individual uses as assessed by the Test of Meanings. Personality traits are defined as patterns of meaning assignment tendencies.Method: After introducing the meaning system, the article describes the new conception of personality traits and presents the example of extraversion. Correlation coefficients of four different extraversion scales with the meaning profiles are analyzed.Results: The findings enable defining the meaning profile of extraversion and validating it in view of the information available about extraoversion.Conclusions: Implications of the new conception are providing insight into the structure, nature, and dynamics of a trait, a factor, or a cluster of traits; comparing traits; validating traits; describing interactions between traits; assessing traits by the Test of Meanings; assessing traits and anti-traits; identifying traits; classifying traits; describing traits in interaction with other tendencies; and applying interventions for modifying traits. Applications concerning attitudes, cognitive performance, emotions, defenses, coping, and psychopathology are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of life narrative research is performed using trained human coders. In contrast, automated linguistic analysis is oft employed in the study of verbal behaviors. These two methodological approaches are directly compared to determine the utility of automated linguistic analysis for the study of life narratives. In a study of in-person interviews (N = 158) and a second study of life stories collected online (N = 242), redemption scores are compared to the output of the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (Pennebaker, Francis & Booth, 2001). Additionally, patterns of language are found using exploratory principal components analysis. In both studies, redemption scores are modestly correlated with some LIWC categories and unassociated with the components. Patterns of language do not replicate across samples, indicating that the structure of language does not extend to a broader population. Redemption scores and linguistic components are independent predictors of life satisfaction up to 3 years later. These studies converge on the finding that human-coded redemption and automated linguistic analysis are complementary and nonredundant methods of analyzing life narratives, and considerations for the study of life narratives are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigated discrepancies in self-, partner-, and meta-perceptions of the Big Five traits and their associations with relationship satisfaction in intimate couples. The study was based on a subsample of the Swiss study "Co-Development in Personality: Longitudinal Approaches to Personality Development in Dyads Across the Life Span" (CoDiP) including cross-sectional data of 216 heterosexual couples. We adapted the Latent Congruence Model (LCM) for the study of discrepancies in personality perceptions in dyads. Beyond personality trait levels, the discrepancies between self- and partner-perceptions and between partner- and meta-perceptions of the Big Five traits were related to relationship satisfaction as actor and partner effects. In general, flattering and favorable partner-perceptions in relation to self- and meta-perceptions seem to positively contribute to relationship satisfaction. The present study implies that not only personality trait levels but also discrepancies between personality perceptions are important for understanding relationship satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examined whether and how adolescents' personality traits moderate associations between psychologically controlling parenting and problem behaviors. On the basis of self-determination theory, we also examined the mediating role of psychological need frustration in the effects of psychologically controlling parenting. A cross-sectional study in two samples (N = 423 and 292; Mage = 12.43 and 15.74 years) was conducted. While in Sample 1 both mothers and adolescents provided reports of parenting and problem behavior, Sample 2 relied on adolescent-reported parenting and mother-reported problem behavior. Psychologically controlling parenting was related to internalizing and externalizing problems in both samples. Little systematic evidence was obtained for the moderating role of personality, with the exception of a moderating effect of Agreeableness. In both samples, psychological control was unrelated to externalizing problems among adolescents high on Agreeableness. Analyses of Sample 2 showed that associations between psychological control and problem behavior were mediated by psychological need frustration. Adolescent personality plays a modest role as a moderator of associations between psychologically controlling parenting and problem behavior. Frustration of adolescents' basic and universal psychological needs can account for the undermining effects of psychologically controlling parenting. Directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research suggests that indecisiveness and trait anxiety may both decrease the likelihood of performing risk-mitigating preparatory behaviors (e.g., preparing for natural hazards) and suggests two cognitive processes (perceived control and worrying) as potential mediators. However, no single study to date has examined the influence of these traits and processes together. Examining them simultaneously is necessary to gain an integrated understanding of their relationship with risk-mitigating behaviors. We therefore examined these traits and mediators in relation to wildfire preparedness in a two-wave field study among residents of wildfire-prone areas in Western Australia (total N = 223). Structural equation modeling results showed that indecisiveness uniquely predicted preparedness, with higher indecisiveness predicting lower preparedness. This relationship was fully mediated by perceived control over wildfire-related outcomes. Trait anxiety did not uniquely predict preparedness or perceived control, but it did uniquely predict worry, with higher trait anxiety predicting more worrying. Also, worry trended toward uniquely predicting preparedness, albeit in an unpredicted positive direction. This shows how the lack of performing risk-mitigating behaviors can result from distinct cognitive processes that are linked to distinct personality traits. It also highlights how simultaneous examination of multiple pathways to behavior creates a fuller understanding of its antecedents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The psychopathy field has long been beset by confusion and contention regarding the boundaries and features of this chimerical condition. We propose that this disagreement stems largely from the historical separation between psychopathy and basic personality psychology. Using findings from a meta-analysis of the correlations between the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and normal-range personality traits as a launching point, we (a) deconstruct widely used measures of psychopathy into their constituent subdimensions and (b) examine the associations of these subdimensions with higher-order and lower-order personality dimensions drawn from the Big Five and Big Three frameworks. Our review of the adult psychopathy literature reveals broad agreement that psychopathy measures are imbued with low Agreeableness and low Conscientiousness. Nevertheless, substantial disagreement revolves around the place of largely adaptive features, especially high agentic Extraversion, low Neuroticism, and high Openness, within the psychopathy construct. We propose that ongoing debates regarding the nature and boundaries of psychopathy reflect a focus on two differing operationalizations of this condition, each of which reflects a different "species" of individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relation between narcissism and other-derogation has been examined primarily in the context of ego threat. In three studies, we investigated whether narcissistic individuals derogate others in the absence of ego threat. In Study 1, 79 judges watched four videotaped dyadic interactions and rated the personality of the same four people. In Study 2, 66 judges rated the personality of a friend. In Study 3, 72 judges considered the average Northeastern University student and rated the personality of this hypothetical person. Across the three studies, targets' personality characteristics were described on the 100-item California Adult Q- Sort ( CAQ; Block, 2008). Judges' ratings of targets were compared to a CAQ prototype of the optimally adjusted person to assess target-derogation. Judges' narcissism and other-derogation were positively related in Studies 1 and 2. Narcissism positively predicted and self-esteem negatively predicted target-derogation after controlling for each other in Study 3. Narcissistic individuals derogate others more than non-narcissistic individuals regardless of whether ego threat is present or absent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both theoretical approaches and empirical evidence suggest that negative affect fosters analytic processing, whereas positive affect fosters holistic processing, but these effects are inconsistent. We aim to show that (a) differences in affect regulation abilities ('action orientation') and (b) implicit more so than self-reported affect assessment need to be considered to advance our understanding of these processes. Forty participants were asked to verify whether a word was correctly or incorrectly spelled to measure analytic processing, as well as to intuitively assess whether sets of three words were coherent (remote associates task) to measure holistic processing. As expected, implicit but not explicit negative affect interacted with low action orientation ('state orientation') to predict higher d' performance in word spelling, whereas implicit but not explicit positive affect interacted with high action orientation to predict higher d' performance in coherence judgments for word triads. Results are interpreted according to personality systems interaction theory. These findings suggest that affect and affect changes should be measured explicitly and implicitly to investigate affect-cognition interactions. Moreover, they suggest that good affect regulators benefit from positive affect for holistic processing, whereas bad affect regulators benefit from negative affect for analytical processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personality types reflect typical configurations of personality attributes within individuals. Over the last 20 years, researchers have identified a set of three replicable personality types: resilient ( R), undercontrolled ( U), and overcontrolled ( O) types. In this study, we examined the cross-cultural replicability of the RUO types in Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United States. Personality types were identified using cluster analyses of Big Five profiles in large samples of college students from Italy ( n = 322), the United States ( n = 499), Spain ( n = 420), and Poland ( n = 235). Prior to clustering the profiles, the measurement invariance of the Big Five measure across samples was tested. We found evidence for the RUO types in all four samples. The three-cluster solution showed a better fit over alternative solutions and had a relatively high degree of cross-cultural generalizability. The RUO types are evident in samples from four countries with distinct linguistic and cultural traditions. Results were discussed in light of the importance of considering how traits are organized within individuals for advancing contemporary personality psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on narcissism and person perception has used strangers as perceivers. However, research has demonstrated that strangers' ratings are influenced by narcissists' stylish appearance ( Back, Schmukle, & Egloff, 2010). In the present study, we recruited participants and their close friends, individuals whose close relationship should immunize them to participants' superficial appearance cues. We investigated the relation between narcissism and personality ratings by self and friends. Participants ( N = 66; 38 women; Mage = 20.83 years) completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory ( Raskin & Terry, 1988) and described their personality on the 100-item California Adult Q-Sort ( CAQ; Block, 2008). Participants' personality was also described on the CAQ by close friends. The 'optimally adjusted individual' prototype was used to summarize participant and friend personality ratings ( Block, 2008). Participants with high narcissism scores were ascribed higher optimal adjustment by self than by friends. Narcissistic individuals' self-ratings were extremely positive and more favorable than friends' ratings of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most noteworthy and robust findings in personality psychology is the relationship between extraversion and positive affect. Existing theories have debated the origins and nature of this relationship, offering both structural/fixed and environmental/dynamic explanations. We tested the novel and straightforward dynamic hypothesis that part of the reason trait extraversion predicts trait positive affect is through an increased propensity to enact extraverted states, which in turn leads to experiencing more positive affect states. We report 5 experience sampling studies (and a meta-analysis of primary studies) conducted in natural environments and laboratory settings in which undergraduate participants ( N = 241) provided ratings of trait extraversion, trait positive affect, extraversion states, and positive affect states. Results of primary studies and the meta-analysis showed that relationships between trait extraversion and trait positive affect were partially mediated by aggregated extraversion states and aggregated positive affect states. The results supported our dynamic hypothesis and suggested that dynamic explanations of the relationship between trait extraversion and trait positive affect are compatible with structural explanations. An important implication of these findings is that individuals might be able to increase their happiness by self-regulating their extraverted states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable scientific interest in the psychological correlates of pro-environmental behaviors. Much research has focused on demographic and social-psychological characteristics of individuals who consistently perform such actions. Here, we report the results of 2 studies in which we explored relations between broad personality traits and pro-environmental actions. Using a wide variety of behavior and personality measures, we consistently found moderate positive relations between Openness to Experience and pro-environmental activities in both a community sample ( Study 1: N = 778) and an undergraduate student sample ( Study 2: N = 115). In Study 2, we showed that the effect of Openness on pro-environmental behaviors was fully mediated by individuals' environmental attitudes and connection to nature. Our findings suggest that high levels of aesthetic appreciation, creativity, and inquisitiveness, but not personality traits associated with altruism, may have motivated the performance of pro-environmental actions among our respondents. Implications for intervention development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study considered the validity of the personality structure based on the Five-Factor Model using both self- and peer reports on twins' NEO-PI-R facets. Separating common from specific genetic variance in self- and peer reports, this study examined genetic substance of different trait levels and rater-specific perspectives relating to personality judgments. Data of 919 twin pairs were analyzed using a multiple-rater twin model to disentangle genetic and environmental effects on domain-level trait, facet-specific trait, and rater-specific variance. About two thirds of both the domain-level trait variance and the facet-specific trait variance was attributable to genetic factors. This suggests that the more personality is measured accurately, the better these measures reflect the genetic structure. Specific variance in self- and peer reports also showed modest to substantial genetic influence. This may indicate not only genetically influenced self-rater biases but also substance components specific for self- and peer raters' perspectives on traits actually measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present research was to test a model on the role of passion for work in professional burnout. This model posits that obsessive passion produces conflict between work and other life activities because the person cannot let go of the work activity. Conversely, harmonious passion is expected to prevent conflict while positively contributing to work satisfaction. Finally, conflict is expected to contribute to burnout, whereas work satisfaction should prevent its occurrence. This model was tested in 2 studies with nurses in 2 cultures. Using a cross-sectional design, Study 1 ( n=97) provided support for the model with nurses from France. In Study 2 ( n=258), a prospective design was used to further test the model with nurses from the Province of Quebec over a 6-month period. Results provided support for the model. Specifically, harmonious passion predicted an increase in work satisfaction and a decrease in conflict. Conversely, obsessive passion predicted an increase of conflict. In turn, work satisfaction and conflict predicted decreases and increases in burnout changes that took place over time. The results have important implications for theory and research on passion as well as burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 3 experiments, some participants read a story describing ambiguously mean behaviors performed by another person. Other participants read the story and imagined that they performed the behaviors. Results showed that (a) exposure to a conceptual priming manipulation caused assimilation effects in actor meanness judgments, regardless of whether the actor was self or other, (b) tasks designed neither to heighten self-concept accessibility nor to threaten the self moderated the effects of conceptual meanness primes on self-meanness judgments, and (c) this lack of moderation occurred despite considerable evidence of self–enhancement effects elsewhere in self-judgments. A fourth experiment examined the extent to which priming affected interpretations of real self or other behavior. Results were consistent with the idea that priming altered event interpretation and subsequent judgments but also suggested that judgments were influenced by self-enhancement motivation. Implications of the results for theorizing in personality and self-knowledge acquisition are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the first genome-wide scan of adolescent personality. We conducted a genome-wide scan to detect linkage for measures of adolescent Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Lie from the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Data are based on 1,280 genotyped Australian adolescent twins and their siblings. The highest linkage peaks were found on chromosomes 16 and 19 for Neuroticism, on chromosomes 1, 7, 10, 13 m, and 18 for Psychoticism, and on chromosomes 2 and 3 for Extraversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]