Personality and Culture Revisited: Linking Traits and Dimensions of Culture

Abstract

“Culture and personality” was a focus of anthropology and psychology in the first half of the 20th century. It was concerned with traditional and preliterate societies and drew many of its constructs from psychoanalysis. In this article, we note that taxonomies of personality traits and cultural values developed independently since 1980 have created new possibilities for exploring the topic. The Five-Factor Model of personality is a universally valid taxonomy of traits. The IBM study (conducted by Hofstede) dimensions of culture represent a well-validated operationalization of differences between cultures as manifested in dominant value systems. In reanalyses of recently reported data, mean personality scores from 33 countries were significantly and substantially correlated with culture dimension scores. We discuss environmental and temperamental explanations for these associations and suggest directions for future research, including replications, experimental simulations, acculturation studies, and research on the interaction of traits and culture in shaping human lives.