Abstract
Introduction: The successful “Divergent” sci-fi trilogy by writer Veronica Roth portrays a dystopian and post-apocalyptic society where the population is divided into five groups called “Factions,” each with a specific social role and associated to a specific set of psychological traits. Though fictional, such typology is compelling and may provide a significant contribution to personality studies.Objectives: To investigate the accuracy of the classification of psychological and sociocultural traits into five Factions as described in Divergent and their potential practical usefulness for understanding work life choices and experiences in organizations.Method: A total of 217 Brazilian adult men and women of various ages, socioeconomic status and ethnicities were submitted to measures of several psychological and sociocultural variables, as well as of how strongly they supposedly manifest each Faction. The resulting dataset was studied using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) and Facet Theory.Results: The Factions were shown not only to be associated to psychological variables in ways consistent with the descriptions from Divergent, but also to be related to specific aspects of one’s work life in organizations.Conclusion: The five Factions conceived by Roth appear to constitute an original set of constructs that are psychologically valid and, at the same time, of practical use in predicting work life choices and experiences. This justifies engaging in future empirical and theoretical work toward a new scientific model of potential practical value.
Highlights
The successful “Divergent” sci-fi trilogy by writer Veronica Roth portrays a dystopian and post-apocalyptic society where the population is divided into five groups called “Factions,” each with a specific social role and associated to a specific set of psychological traits
Very widely used are the instruments based on the “Big Five” or “OCEAN” personality traits, such as the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R), the Five-Factor Model Rating Form (FFMRF), and the Big Five Inventory (BFI), which have a much better scientific standing, though it can still be pointed out that they leave something to be desired in terms of theory and practical applications (Hunter et al, 1990; Rosenthal, 1990; Mount and Barrick, 1998; Block, 2010)
The present paper aimed to investigate whether the personality dimensions expressed in the fictional Factions of the Divergent series (Roth, 2013) could constitute a sound, functional and useful psychological framework
Summary
The successful “Divergent” sci-fi trilogy by writer Veronica Roth portrays a dystopian and post-apocalyptic society where the population is divided into five groups called “Factions,” each with a specific social role and associated to a specific set of psychological traits Though fictional, such typology is compelling and may provide a significant contribution to personality studies. Conclusion: The five Factions conceived by Roth appear to constitute an original set of constructs that are psychologically valid and, at the same time, of practical use in predicting work life choices and experiences. This justifies engaging in future empirical and theoretical work toward a new scientific model of potential practical value. This can be seen as a form of tapping into what Jerome Bruner referred to as the “folk psychology” that emerges in the narratives of a culture (Bruner, 1990)
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