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Some of the most persistently recurring research questions concern sex differences. Despite much progress, limited research has thus far been undertaken to investigate whether there is one general construct of genderedness that runs through various domains of human individuality. In order to determine whether being gender typical in one way goes together with being gender typical also in other ways, we investigated whether 16-year-old Finnish girls and boys (N = 4106) differ in their personality, values, cognitive abilities, academic achievement, and educational track. To do this, we updated the prediction-focused gender diagnosticity approach by methods of cross-validation for more accurate estimation. The preregistered analysis shows that sex differences vary across domains (Ds = 0.15–1.48), that fine-grained measures, such as grade profiles, can be accurate in predicting sex (77.5%), whereas some summary indices, such as general cognitive ability, do not perform above-chance (52.4%), and that the genderedness correlations, despite all being positive, are too weak (average partial correlation, r´ = .09, range .03–.34) to support a general factor of genderedness. Our more exploratory analyses show that more focus on gender typicality could offer important insights into the role of gender in shaping people’s lives. publishedVersion

We investigated political polarization among the 28284 candidates in the Finnish municipal election who ran for municipal council in 2012, 2017, or both, and had responded to a Voting Advice Application. Our results revealed political polarization in terms of both conversion (longitudinal analysis, n = 6643) and recruitment (cross-sectional comparison of first-time candidates, n = 13054). The populist radical-right Finns Party became even more anti-refugee, and the pro-refugee Green League became even more pro-refugee. The Finns Party, in particular, has constructed the Green League as their enemies, which could explain why the Finns Party moved in an anti-environmental direction, as well as the increased issue-alignment between refugee-attitudes and environmental attitudes. We also observed increased within-party homogeneity in almost all parties. In the discussion, we focus on the nature of the association between refugee and environmental attitudes. The research was funded by the Academy of Finland grant nr. 309537 to the first author and by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation grant nr. 170303 to the third author.

We investigated the associations between refugee and environmental attitudes among 36876 respondents from 20 countries included in the European Social Survey Round 8 (2016). Three preregistered hypotheses were supported: (H1) there was a positive association between these attitudes across countries (meta-analytical partial correlation = .16), (H2) anti-immigration party voters held more negative environmental attitudes, and (H3) pro-environmental party voters held more positive refugee attitudes. Against our predictions, the linear association between refugee and environmental attitudes was not moderated by political affiliation (H4) or political engagement (H5). Exploratory analyses further showed that these attitudes were more strongly associated among the young, the more educated, and among the most extreme populist right voters.

Supporting info item, PER2219_Open practices disclosure for Peer Sociometric Status and Personality Development from Middle Childhood to Preadolescence by Ilmarinen Ville–Juhani, Vainikainen Mari–Pauliina, Verkasalo Markku, Lönnqvist Jan–Erik and Back Mitja in European Journal of Personality

Supporting info item, per2219-sup-0001-Supplementary File for Peer Sociometric Status and Personality Development from Middle Childhood to Preadolescence by Ilmarinen Ville–Juhani, Vainikainen Mari–Pauliina, Verkasalo Markku, Lönnqvist Jan–Erik and Back Mitja in European Journal of Personality

In a representative sample of Finnish car owners (N = 1892) we connected the Five-Factor Model personality dimensions to driving a high-status car. Regardless of whether income was included in the logistic model, disagreeable men and conscientious people in general were particularly likely to drive high-status cars. The results regarding agreeableness are consistent with prior work that has argued for the role of narcissism in status consumption. Regarding conscientiousness, the results can be interpreted from the perspective of self-congruity theory, according to which consumers purchase brands that best reflect their actual or ideal personalities. An important implication is that the association between driving a high-status car and unethical driving behaviour may not, as is commonly argued, be due to the corruptive effects of wealth. Rather, certain personality traits, such as low agreeableness, may be associated with both unethical driving behaviour and with driving a high-status car.

This research investigated the moderation effects of core self-evaluation (CSE) on singles’ ideal partner preference, concerning distinctive similarity in personality. The data were collected from singles from three countries (i.e., China, Denmark, and US), and modelled in a multilevel profile analysis. The results show that CSE moderated distinctive profile similarity preference in that people high in CSE preferred higher distinctive profile similarity with their ideal partner. In addition, CSE moderated distinctive trait similarity preference in Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness in that people high in CSE preferred their ideal partner to share higher distinctive similarity on these four traits. Implications and limitations of the research and findings are also discussed.

This study examined distinctive assumed similarity in Honesty-Humility and Openness to Experience and its influencing factors. With samples from the British Isles, China, and Denmark and with both individual and dyadic data (N = 1196), the meta-analytical results show that distinctive assumed similarity in Honesty-Humility and Openness to Experience was higher than in Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness in intimates after controlling for normativity. Also, relationship satisfaction and commitment moderated distinctive assumed similarity in Honesty-Humility and Openness to Experience, indicating that people high in relationship satisfaction and commitment perceived their partner to be more similar to them regarding those two traits relative to people low in relationships satisfaction and commitment. Implications and limitations of this research are also discussed.

Sociometric status, the regard that other group members confer to an individual, is one of the most ubiquitous and behaviourally relevant attributes assigned to the person by the social environment. Despite this, its contribution to personality development has received little attention. The present three–wave longitudinal study, spanning the age range 7–13 years ( n = 1222), sought to fill this gap by examining the transactional pathways between peer sociometric status (measured by peer nominations) and Five–Factor personality traits (measured by self–ratings and parent and teacher ratings). Sociometric status prospectively predicted the development of extraversion. By contrast, agreeableness and neuroticism prospectively predicted the development of sociometric status. Furthermore, individual–level stability in extraversion was associated with individual–level stability in sociometric status. The results were robust across different sources of personality ratings. We argue that peer sociometric status in the school classroom is the type of environmental effect that has potential to explain personality development. Because of its stability, broadness, and possible impact across a variety of personality processes, sociometric status can both repetitiously and simultaneously influence the network of multiple inter–correlated micro–level personality processes, potentially leading to a new network equilibrium that manifests in changes at the level of the broad personality trait. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology

We investigated determinants of liking at zero-acquaintance, focusing on individual differences in perceivers’ reactions to appearance cues. Perceivers (N = 385) viewed portrait photographs of Targets (N = 146). Perceiver’s Agreeableness and Extraversion were uniquely associated with liking targets. Targets who expressed positive emotions, looked relaxed, were physically attractive, and looked healthy and energetic, were the most liked. There were individual differences in how perceivers were influenced by almost all appearance cues, and traits could explain some of these differences. High Openness was, as expected, associated with liking targets who looked less traditional, more distinctive, and less well prepared. Physical attractiveness made more (less) of an impression on those high in Extraversion (Openness). Perceivers rated targets who displayed non-Duchenne (fake) smiles less favorably than targets who did not smile or targets who displayed Duchenne (authentic) smiles. High Neuroticism and high Conscientiousness were associated with viewing non-Duchenne smiles even more negatively.

Objective Experience sampling studies on Big Five–related behavior show that people display the whole spectrum of each trait in their daily behavior, and that desirable Big Five states—especially state Extraversion—are related to positive mood. However, other research lines suggest that extraverted and conscientious behavior may be mentally depleting. The present research examined this possibility by extending the time frame of the measured personality processes. Method A 12-day experience sampling study (N = 48; observations = 2,328) measured Big Five states, mood, stress, and fatigue five times a day. Results Extraverted and conscientious behavior were concurrently related to positive mood and lower fatigue, but to higher fatigue after a 3-hour delay. These relations were not moderated by personality traits. The relation between extraverted behavior and delayed fatigue was mediated by the number of people the person had encountered. Whether the person had a goal mediated the relation between conscientious behavior and delayed fatigue. Conclusion Extraverted and conscientious behavior predict mental depletion after a 3-hour delay. The results help reconcile previous findings regarding the consequences of state Extraversion and provide novel information about the consequences of state Conscientiousness.

Spousal similarity and its consequences are widely studied, but methodologically challenging topics. We employed Response Surface Analysis to examine similarity along political attitudes, personal values, and personality traits. Opposite-sex couples (624 individuals) expecting a child were recruited. Spouses were highly similar regarding their political attitudes and moderately similar regarding trait Openness and the personal values Universalism and Tradition. Similarity for other traits and values was weak (e.g. Conscientiousness, Power values) or non-existent (e.g. Neuroticism, Benevolence values). Similarity in conservative vs. liberal attitudes was non-linear: a conservative-conservative union was most common. Women's relationship satisfaction was related to similarity in left-right and liberal-conservative political attitudes, and both partners' satisfaction was related to similarity in Self-Direction values. Similarity in personality traits was unrelated to relationship satisfaction.

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

Experience sampling studies on Big Five-related behavior show that people display the whole spectrum of each trait in their daily behavior, and that desirable Big Five states-especially state Extraversion-are related to positive mood. However, other research lines suggest that extraverted and conscientious behavior may be mentally depleting. The present research examined this possibility by extending the time frame of the measured personality processes.A 12-day experience sampling study (N = 48; observations = 2,328) measured Big Five states, mood, stress, and fatigue five times a day.Extraverted and conscientious behavior were concurrently related to positive mood and lower fatigue, but to higher fatigue after a 3-hour delay. These relations were not moderated by personality traits. The relation between extraverted behavior and delayed fatigue was mediated by the number of people the person had encountered. Whether the person had a goal mediated the relation between conscientious behavior and delayed fatigue.Extraverted and conscientious behavior predict mental depletion after a 3-hour delay. The results help reconcile previous findings regarding the consequences of state Extraversion and provide novel information about the consequences of state Conscientiousness.

Friends tend to be similar on many characteristics, including personality traits. Yet, a real-world similarity-attraction effect based on actual personality traits is not supported by current research. One reason for this apparent contradiction could be that dark personality traits have been absent from this literature. In a sample (N = 181) of military cadet freshmen, we investigated homophily (“love of the same”) based on the traits identified by the Five-Factor Model (FFM) and two dark personality traits, Manipulativeness and Egotism. We did not find homophily based on the FFM traits. However, platoon-mate dyads with similar levels of trait Manipulativeness or Egotism were more likely to mutually like each other. Furthermore, response surface analyses revealed that homophily for these two traits occurred only at the low, or bright, end of these traits. Our results support arguments derived from evolutionary theory that argue for the importance of trait honesty in friendship formation.

In a sample of 7– to 8–year–old children (N = 760), we examined the associations between personality traits, oral fluency and sociometric popularity. Extending upon research conducted with older populations, we found parent ratings of extraversion at age 7 to predict popularity one year later. More importantly, we expected and found teacher–rated oral fluency to partially mediate the positive association between extraversion and popularity. This mediation effect was independent of psychometrically assessed working memory, academic skills and gender. Our results can be interpreted as suggesting that a Matthew effect, similar to the one proposed for early reading skills and cognitive ability, may be operating in the domain of social competence. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology