The Relationship Between Personality and Self-Report Abilities

Abstract

The relationship between self-report abilities and personality was examined at both the phenotypic (zero-order) level as well as at the genetic and environmental levels. Twins and siblings (N = 516) completed self-report ability and personality questionnaires. A factor analysis of the ability questions revealed 10 factors, including politics, interpersonal relationships, practical tasks, intellectual pursuits, academic skills, entrepreneur/business, domestic skills, vocal abilities, and creativity. Five personality factors were examined, including extraversion, conscientiousness, dependence, aggression, and openness. At the phenotypic level, the correlations between the ability factor scores and personality factor scores ranged from 0 to .60 (between political abilities and extraversion). The relationship between the two areas at the genetic level was found to range between –.01 and .60; the environmental correlations ranged from –.01 to .48. The results suggest that some of the self-report ability scores are related to self-report personality, and that some of these observed relationships may have a common genetic basis while others are from a common environmental factor.