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The present opinion paper makes a strong case for a biologically oriented personality theory. A short review on seminal studies applying methods from the neurosciences to unravel the biological underpinnings of personality is given, and findings are critically discussed. It becomes apparent that new methodological advances in the neurosciences provide inspiration for modern personality research but that there is still so much unexplained variance left. Only interdisciplinary research can be a promising research avenue for the future.

Abstract. Experience sampling often makes use of items that are similar to personality questionnaire items. Arguably, this opens up for item-popularity effects, where some respondents react to the items’ level of evaluative phrasing, causing a separate factor. Gauging the risk of item popularity effects in experience sampling is important since the multifactorial aspect of the responses to the items may cause spurious correlations. We investigate this in one original study and two existing datasets. The results reveal that evaluativeness in experience sampling items creates the same type of problems as in self-rating inventories. We conclude that personality researchers need to be aware that the experience sampling method is not vaccinated against socially desirable responding, and that careful phrasing of items promotes purer personality measures. This allows for more optimal testing of theoretical models of personality, as the fit between data and model will not concern variance in socially desirable responding but in the relevant constructs.

In this contribution, we intend to review the way in which personality is typified and represented through the centuriesin arts, literature, and science. The scope ranges from primitive paintings in the Middle Ages to reports made by means ofquestionnaires developed by psychological scientists. During the centuries, the leadership temperament has been shifted from thecholeric toward the sanguine temperament. The resulting extraverted character and personality have come into the picture and thus,have raised new problems for explication and interpretation. Further, there is a remarkable similarity between the medievalrepresentation of the four temperaments and trait dimensions in recent neurophysiological and biological research. In contrast, thequestionnaires show a stepwise development of increasing negligence of elements of the impulsive personality, or, in medievalterms, the choleric temperament. This tendency in mainstream personality test design is criticized by some researchers. In thisarticle, we suggest that this development is caused by a romantic hankering after an ideal of leadership. There is a symbolic layer inthe verbal reasoning through which the steps to impulsivity-free personality representations have been made. Surprisingly, thistendency is absent in a personality representation derived from adjectives in the English language. Finally, we raise the question ofwhether it is sensible to shut our eyes for the presence of the choleric temperament in our contemporary society.

Abstract. Clinical and personality research consistently demonstrates that people can form unhealthy and problematic attachments to material possessions. To better understand this tendency, the current paper extends past research demonstrating that anxieties about other people motivate these attachments. These findings suggest that although object attachment generally correlates with poorer well-being, it may attenuate well-being deficits associated with insecurity about close relationships. The current paper presents two studies using converging correlational ( N = 394) and diary methods ( N = 413) to test whether object attachments’ association with poorer well-being is moderated by relationship uncertainties. We find that both trait (Study 1) and state (Study 2) insecurities about others eliminated, and in some cases reversed, the negative psychological correlates of object attachment. These effects, however, were only observed when focusing on between-person variation in both studies; within-person analysis demonstrated that state variation in object attachment predicted better psychological well-being. These results highlight a need for more nuanced studies of object attachment and well-being.

Recent developments in personality research highlight the value of modelling dynamic state–like manifestations of personality. The present work integrates these developments with prominent clinical models addressing within–person multiplicity and promotes the exploration of models centred on state–like manifestations of personality that function as cohesive organizational units. Such units possess distinct subjective qualities and are characterized by specific affects, behaviours, cognitions, and desires that tend to be co–activated. As background, we review both theory and research from the fields of social cognition, psychotherapy, and psychopathology that serve as the foundation for such models. We then illustrate our ideas in greater detail with one well–supported clinical model—the schema therapy mode model, chosen because it provides a finite and definite set of modes (i.e. cohesive personality states). We assessed these modes using a newly developed experience–sampling measure administered to 52 individuals (four times daily for 15 days). We estimated intraindividual and group–level temporal and contemporaneous networks based on the within–person variance as well as between–person network. We discuss findings from exemplar participants and from group–level networks and address cross–model particularities and consistencies. In conclusion, we consider potential idiographic and nomothetic applications of subjective states dynamic personality research based on intensive longitudinal methods. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology

This study applied trait-state-occasion (TSO) modelling to investigate the extent to which inter-individual differences in personality were accounted for by time-invariant and time-varying factors during adolescence. The participants were 753 high school students, and only 661 students were followed for 4 years. The mean age in the first year was 15.23 years and 52.8% were females. The results showed that the full TSO model had the best representation of adolescent personality, and the means of the proportions of variance explained by trait factors for the Big Five ranged between 56% and 83%, suggesting that inter-individual differences in personality are mainly accounted for by stable trait variance over the course of adolescence. Furthermore, the five dimensions of personality differed not only in the amounts of trait variance but also in the stability of time-varying factors. These findings have significant implications for personality research.

Objective The symmetry principle and the frame-of-reference perspective have each made contributions to improving the measurement of personality. Although each perspective is valuable in its own right, we argue that even greater improvement can be achieved through the combination of both. Therefore, the goal of the current article was to show the value of a combined lens-model and frame-of-reference perspective. Method We conducted a literature review to summarize relevant research findings that shed light on the interplay of both perspectives and developed an integrative model. Results Based on the literature review and on theoretical grounds, we argue that a basic premise of the frame-of-reference literature--that personality items are open to interpretation and allow individuals to impose their own contextual framings--should be considered from a symmetry perspective. Unintended context-specificity in items may "spread" to personality facets and domains, and thus, impact the symmetry of personality measures with other criteria. As the individuals ' frames-of-reference and (a)symmetric relationships are not always apparent, we term them as "hidden." Conclusions The proposed combination of lens-model and frame-of-reference perspectives provides further insights into current issues in personality research and uncovers important avenues for future research.

The six–dimensional HEXACO model of personality structure and its associated inventory have increasingly been used in personality research. But in spite of the evidence supporting this structure and demonstrating its advantages over five–dimensional models, some researchers continue to use and promote the latter. Although there has been little overt, organized argument against the adoption of the HEXACO model, we do hear sporadic offerings of reasons for retaining the five–dimensional systems, usually in informal conversations, in manuscript reviews, on social media platforms, and occasionally in published works. In this target article, we list all of the objections to the HEXACO model that we have heard of, and we then explain why each objection fails. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology

Self-report questionnaires can only yield information that people are able and willing to report, but implicit assessment methods are not commonly used in mainstream personality research. The Questionnaire-based Implicit Association Test (qIAT) was designed to address the limitations associated with the conventional self-concept IAT, and it enables an indirect assessment that is based on the items of standard self-reports. The present studies examined the psychometric properties of the qIAT across two personality constructs. Study 1 (N = 528) provided support for the internal consistency, test-retest reliability and convergent and discriminant validity of the qIAT that measured extraversion. Study 2 (N = 164) supported the reliability and validity of the qIAT assessment of conscientiousness, which predicted who returned to complete the second session of the study two weeks later, for which participants were paid in advance. This same prediction effect was marginally significant in Study 3 (N = 200), and across both Studies 2 and 3 the qIAT prediction of the criterion behavior was incremental to the parallel self-report questionnaire. Taken together, findings support the reliability and validity of the qIAT, which enables the indirect measurement of a wide variety of distinct personality constructs, currently measured only by self-report scales.

Previous attempts to identify personality profiles in the five-factor and HEXACO models of personality have produced inconsistent results. Here, using data from four independent samples, each with approximately 90,000 international respondents to the 100-item HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised (HEXACO-PI-R), we demonstrated that a five-profile solution fit the data well. Exploratory analyses suggested that this solution was also consistent across gender and age groups. The five-profile structure replicated well with larger subsamples, but could not be reproduced consistently with samples of fewer than 500 individuals. However, even with small samples, the five-profile structure could be applied using the parameters obtained with the larger samples. We used HEXACO theory along with agency–communion and attachment theories to offer preliminary explanations and labels for the five profiles. We discuss how these theories, combined with parameter estimates provided by our research, can be used to generate and test hypotheses to validate the five-profile structure and evaluate its utility for personality research and other applications. Using data from more than 370,000 individuals on the HEXACO-100 personality measure, Jose Espinoza and colleagues find that five profiles of the HEXACO-PI-R traits replicate robustly across multiple independent samples, and across age and gender.

Agreeableness is one of the major domains included within prominent hierarchical models of personality like the five–factor model. (Low) agreeableness is the strongest correlate of a variety of antisocial behaviours relative to the other five–factor model domains. Although there is substantial evidence that (low) agreeableness is arguably the most important personality correlate of various antisocial behaviours, this evidence is descriptive and provides little information on the direction or processes underlying the relation. Process–related research has started to provide more insight into how agreeableness–related traits give rise to various antisocial and prosocial behaviours. The proposed study looked to first replicate previous research on some of the potential cognitive–emotional processes related to agreeableness and then conduct exploratory analyses to identify which, if any, of the empirically identified facets of agreeableness bear specific relations to the processes under study. Overall, we were unable to replicate the primary effects of interest in regard to processes of agreeableness and found little support for our preregistered confirmatory and exploratory hypotheses despite having high power (≥.94) to detect these effects. Nonetheless, process models of personality remain at the vanguard of personality research, and we discuss how the current results can inform future work in this area. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology

This article earned Open Materials badge through Open Practices Disclosure from the Center for Open Science: https://osf.io/tvyxz/wiki. The materials are permanently and openly accessible at: https://osf.io/ds7j5/. Author's disclosure form may also be found at the Supporting Information in the online version., Gefördert im Rahmen des Projekts DEAL

Personality has been identified as a vital factor in understanding the quality of human‒robot interactions. Despite this the research in this area remains fragmented and lacks a coherent framework. This makes it difficult to understand what we know and identify what we do not. As a result, our knowledge of personality in human‒robot interactions has not kept pace with the deployment of robots in organizations or in our broader society. To address this shortcoming, this paper reviews 83 articles and 84 separate studies to assess the current state of human‒robot personality research. This review: (1) highlights major thematic research areas, (2) identifies gaps in the literature, (3) derives and presents major conclusions from the literature and (4) offers guidance for future research.

Reporting and interpreting effect sizes has been recommended by all major bodies within the field of Psychology. In this systematic review, we investigated the reporting of ES in six Social-Personality Psychology journals from 2018, given that this area has been at the center of Psychology’s replication crisis. Our results highlight that although ES reporting is near perfect (even for follow-up tests), interpreting the magnitude of ESs, including confidence intervals for ESs, and interpreting the precision of the confidence intervals needs development. We also highlight widespread confusion regarding the interpretations of the magnitude of effect sizes within the context of the research.

The purpose of this study was to adapt a Japanese version of the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2-J) to examine its factor structure, reliability, validity, and measurement invariance. The BFI-2-J assesses five domains and 15 facets of the Big Five personality traits. We analyzed two datasets: 487 Japanese undergraduates and 500 Japanese adults. The results of the principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the domain-facet structure of the BFI-2-J was similar to that of other language versions. The reliability of the BFI-2-J is sufficient. The correlation coefficients between the BFI-2-J and the other Big Five and self-esteem measures supported convergent and discriminant validity. Moreover, we confirmed measurement invariance across age and sex groups in domain-level and facet-level models. The results suggest that the BFI-2-J is a good instrument for measuring the Big Five personality traits and their facets in Japan. The BFI-2-J is expected to be useful in Japanese personality research and international comparative research.

Implicit motive research has shown that implicit motives are important predictors of behavior and well-being. However, little is known about the interrelationship between the different implicit motives measures frequently applied. We aimed to shed light on the convergent validity of three implicit motive measures and wanted to test their assumed statistical independence from three explicit motive measures. Therefore, we administered the picture story exercise (PSE), the operant motive test (OMT), and the multi-motive grid in one and the same study. As explicit measures, we used the personality research form, the motive enactment test, and a goal questionnaire. We investigated the statistical overlaps between all these measures (sample: 202 undergraduate students) and found that the implicit motive measures showed either no or only little correlation with each other. Furthermore, they also partly correlated with explicit motive measures. Supplementary analyses showed that the lack of statistical overlap between PSE and OMT can partly be ascribed to their different scoring systems. published

Sexual addiction risk may be elevated by personality maladjustment. The Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 (PID) was identified in the DSM-5 as an exemplar for future personality research. The bri...

Studies on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) often include check questions in personality inventories to ensure data quality. However, a subset of MTurk workers may give only meaningful responses to these checks while giving noncompliant responses to the other questions. We demonstrate in an analysis of five MTurk datasets using the statistical approach of Lee and Ashton (2018) that this selectively responsive subset can be detected on the HEXACO personality inventory. Our lower bound estimate is that at least 2% in each sample did not get caught with the check questions while giving noncompliant responses on the personality inventory. Overall, researchers who strive to remove noise due to noncompliant responding may benefit from complementing check questions with a statistical approach.

Measurement in personality development faces many psychometric problems. First, theory–based measurement models do not fit the empirical data in terms of traditional confirmatory factor analysis. Second, measurement invariance across age, which is necessary for a meaningful interpretation of age–associated personality differences, is rarely accomplished. Finally, continuous moderator variables, such as age, are often artificially categorized. This categorization leads to bias when interpreting differences in personality across age. In this tutorial, we introduce methods to remedy these problems. We illustrate how Ant Colony Optimization can be used to sample indicators that meet prespecified demands such as model fit. Further, we use Local Structural Equation Modeling to resample and weight subjects to study differences in the measurement model across age as a continuous moderator variable. We also provide a detailed illustration for both tools with the Neuroticism scale of the openly available International Personality Item Pool – NEO inventory using data from the UK sample ( N = 15 827). Combined, both tools can remedy persistent problems in research on personality and its development. In addition to a step–by–step illustration, we provide commented syntax for both tools. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology