Differences In Personality Structure Research Articles

Interindividual age differences in personality structure

Most investigations in the structure of personality traits do not adequately address age; instead, they presuppose a constant structure across the lifespan. Further, few studies look at the structure of personality traits a-theoretically, often neglecting to examine the relationship among indicators within a trait (convergence) and across traits (divergence). Using a network approach, the present study examines (1) age differences in divergence and convergence, (2) the similarity between the Big Five and network structures, and (3) the consistency of network structure across age groups in a large, cross-sectional sample. Results indicate that convergence shows early gains in adolescence with few differences across the lifespan, while divergence mostly weakens across adulthood. The result of these age-related differences is that Big Five indicators only parallel the Big Five structure among young but not older adults. The structure of young adults tends to be quite similar while the network structures of older adults appear to greatly differ from one another. These results suggest that older adults have a different structure of personality than younger adults and suggest that future research should not assume consistency in personality structure across the lifespan.

Age Differences in Personality Structure

Most investigations in the structure of personality traits do not adequately address age, as few studies look at the structure of personality traits a-theoretically, instead presupposing a theoretical structure e.g., Big Five. As a result, the relationship among indicators within a trait (coherence) are often highlighted but relationships across traits (differentiation) are not thoroughly examined. Using a large-scale sample of 369,151 individuals ranging in age from 14 to 90, the present study examines whether personality indicators show differential relationships as a function of age. Results indicate that coherence shows few changes across the lifespan, while differentiation weakens across adulthood into old age. These finding suggest that Big Five indicators only parallel the Big Five structure among young but not older adults. Thus, using standard Big Five personality trait assessments in older adults may, at best, not reflect reality and, at worse, undermine the predictive utility of personality traits.

Measurement of Personality Structure by the OPD Structure Questionnaire Can Help to Discriminate Between Subtypes of Eating-Disorders.

BackgroundDifferentiation between purging type (AN-P) and restricting type (AN-R) is common in anorexia nervosa (AN) and relevant for clinical practice. However, differences of personality pathology in eating disorders (ED) and their subtypes, which can be captured by the operationalized psychodynamic diagnosis (OPD) system, have not been systematically investigated to date.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to explore differences in personality structure between the subtypes of AN and bulimia nervosa (BN) using the OPD structure questionnaire (OPD-SQ). In addition, the ability of the instrument to support the classification of eating disorders was examined.Materials and MethodsWe conducted a retrospective, exploratory study in a subset sample of a larger validation study. The OPD-SQ had been collected from n = 60 patients with AN or BN. Patients were assigned to the ED groups by clinical assessment. Statistical analyses included multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and discriminant analysis.ResultsDifferences between ED groups were observed on 5 OPD-SQ main scales and 9 subscales, as well as on the global scale. AN-P patients demonstrated the lowest personality structure on most of the main scales and subscales, whereas AN-R patients showed a higher personality structure level as compared to both BN and AN-P patients. The OPD-SQ scales with the largest differences include self-perception, object perception, and attachment to internal objects. Discriminant analysis resulted in satisfactory assignment to ED groups by OPD-SQ subscales.ConclusionsPersonality structure was found to be less developed in patients with BN and AN-P as compared to patients with AN-R. Although the results have to be proven in larger prospective studies, these results suggest that the OPD-SQ may be used to support the clinical assessment and classification in patients with EDs.

Niche diversity can explain cross-cultural differences in personality structure.

The covariance structure of personality traits derived from statistical models (for example, Big Five) is often assumed to be a human universal. Cross-cultural studies have challenged this view, finding that less-complex societies exhibit stronger covariation among behavioural characteristics, resulting in fewer derived personality factors. To explain these results, we propose the niche diversity hypothesis, in which a greater diversity of social and ecological niches elicits a broader range of multivariate behavioural profiles and, hence, lower trait covariance in a population. We formalize this as a computational model, which reproduces empirical results from recent cross-cultural studies and also yields an additional prediction for which we find empirical support. This work provides a general explanation for population differences in personality structure in both humans and other animals and suggests a substantial reimagining of personality research: instead of reifying statistical descriptions of manifest personality structures, research should focus more on modelling their underlying causes.

Personality and lateralization in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

Specialization of the left and right hemispheres to control behavioural responses may represent one of the mechanisms underlying individual differences in personality structure, as well as the preferential use of one hand. The present study investigated the relationship between personality and hand preference in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), a little New World monkey that presents highly consistent and stable individual hand preferences for simple reaching. To address this issue, data on 56 different behaviours from the species’ behavioural repertoire were measured in 10 different laboratory tests and during observations under social conditions on 16 adult common marmosets. Stable behavioural variables were aggregated a priori into 13 personality traits. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on personality traits was carried out to verify the presence of major personality factors, and their relationship with direction and strength of individual hand preferences was assessed by multiple regression, taking into account sex and age of the subjects. The largest number of species-specific behaviours so far investigated in this species was taken into account and robust temporal stability between two testing periods was verified. We confirm that common marmosets are characterized by specific and stable personality profiles. A single personality factor, accounting for about 38% of the total variance, was found by EFA, that describes the interest towards unusual and new experiences and resembles the human Openness domain. The strength of the hand preference was found to be predicted by this personality factor, that we named Inquisitiveness. Present results highlight common marmoset as a useful primate model for the study of the relationship between personality and lateralization.

Affective disorders in Iraq.

A retrospective study of clinical features of 98 Iraqi patients suffering from affective disorders of various degrees was presented. The incidence of various symptoms and signs was rated on a two-point scale. Certain demographic data were also collected. Ideally, to draw valid conclusions from these data they should be compared to data derived from an identical sample of patients in a western society; however, as such a study with a control western population is not known to the author, the conclusions that are made here are based solely on clinical judgement. Essentially, there are a few select areas where affective disorders in Iraq seem to differ from the same group in England. There appears to be a lesser incidence of ideas of unworthiness even in the more severely depressed patients. The same can be said about suicidal thoughts and attempts. The affect does not seem to follow the classical western descriptions of this illness. In depression, patients do not feel nor show the sadness of western depressed patients, and in mania they lack the infective joyous mood. Depression is conspicuously coloured by physical symptomatology and hysterical behaviour. Paranoid thinking and projection of responsibility in depression are not uncommon. Mania, on the other hand, is more often characterized by aggression and anti-social behaviour than in the West. These differences, in the author's opinion, can only be explained by recourse to the differences in personality structure as moulded by cultural influences and child rearing. The disorder in affective illness is seen as a manifestation of a defence mechanism that has gone too far. It is an emotional equivalent to the instincts of fight or flight in the animal kingdom, but complicated and exalted by the presence of such faculties as the mind, the affect and the other higher acquisitions of man in his evolution.

Personality in Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus): Temporal stability and social rank

Tracing the evolutionary origins of species-specific personality structures requires comparative personality research. We used a 51 item questionnaire to examine the personality structure of 26 semi-free-ranging Barbary macaques assessed at two time points. Principal-components analysis revealed four dimensions: Friendliness, Activity/Excitability, Confidence, and Opportunism. These dimensions were reliable across raters, stable over time, and both similar to and different from the personality dimensions of free-ranging rhesus macaques and male Hanuman langurs. We modeled the relationships between Confidence and a behavioral measure of rank at both time points. The stability of rank over time could be explained by Confidence but not vice versa. These findings highlight how interspecies differences in personality structure reflect personality evolution and how rank is related to personality.

PW01-221 - The relationship between personality traits and anxiety/depression levels in different types of substance abuse

To analyse the relationship between personality structure and emotional state of dyferent types of drug abusers, the objectives of this study were to examine: the levels of Eysenck's personality dimensions and the levels of anxiety and depression of heroin addicts and recreate drug users; the relationship between personality and emotion variables; and differences between those two groups of subjects concerning their personality traits and emotional state.During their ambulatory admission, 288 (219 males and 69 females) patients were completed Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire (EPQ R/A) and Beck's Anxiety (BAI) and Depression Inventory (BDI). 191 of them were in the group of heroin addicts and 97 of them in the group of recreate drug users identified by the DSM-IV classification. Their averaged age was 22, ranged from 14 to 44.Significantly higher levels of psychoticism, neuroticism, criminality and addiction, that were determined in the group of heroin addicts, were significantly correlated with the higher levels of anxiety and depression. Higher extraversion and social conformity were determined in the group of recreate drug users who still had dispositions to resist of developing the addiction problem. Finally, even great differences in personality structure were determined between heroin addicts and recreate drug users, and even higher depression was found in the first group, there was no significant difference in the anxiety level between those two groups. The findings implied at the used measurement instruments here as the useful diagnostic tool that could provide with advantageous treatment directions.

Age differences in five personality domains across the life span.

The present study addresses the issue of age differences in 5 personality domains across the life span in a cross-sectional study. In contrast to most previous studies, the present study follows a methodologically more rigorous approach to warrant that age-related differences in personality structure and mean level can be meaningfully compared. It uses data on 50 items of the Five-Factor Personality Inventory (FFPI) available from a study in a large and representative Dutch sample (N = 2,494; age range: 16 to 91 years) conducted in 1996 for the purpose of establishing norms for the FFPI. After having established strict measurement invariance, tests were made for factor covariances to be equal across age groups, revealing structural continuity of personality. Additionally, factor variances were shown to be equal across age groups. A number of age differences in the mean level of the five personality domains emerged. Specifically, older adults were, on average, more agreeable and, especially, more conscientious than middle-aged and younger adults. Findings from our study suggest that both continuity and change may mark personality over the course of life.

Emotional and physiological responses of fluent listeners while watching the speech of adults who stutter

People who stutter produce speech that is characterized by intermittent, involuntary part-word repetitions and prolongations. In addition to these signature acoustic manifestations, those who stutter often display repetitive and fixated behaviours outside the speech producing mechanism (e.g. in the head, arm, fingers, nares, etc.). Previous research has examined the attitudes and perceptions of those who stutter and people who frequently interact with them (e.g. relatives, parents, employers). Results have shown an unequivocal, powerful and robust negative stereotype despite a lack of defined differences in personality structure between people who stutter and normally fluent individuals. However, physiological investigations of listener responses during moments of stuttering are limited. There is a need for data that simultaneously examine physiological responses (e.g. heart rate and galvanic skin conductance) and subjective behavioural responses to stuttering. The pairing of these objective and subjective data may provide information that casts light on the genesis of negative stereotypes associated with stuttering, the development of compensatory mechanisms in those who stutter, and the true impact of stuttering on senders and receivers alike. To compare the emotional and physiological responses of fluent speakers while listening and observing fluent and severe stuttered speech samples. Twenty adult participants (mean age = 24.15 years, standard deviation = 3.40) observed speech samples of two fluent speakers and two speakers who stutter reading aloud. Participants' skin conductance and heart rate changes were measured as physiological responses to stuttered or fluent speech samples. Participants' subjective responses on arousal (excited-calm) and valence (happy-unhappy) dimensions were assessed via the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) rating scale with an additional questionnaire comprised of a set of nine bipolar adjectives. Results showed significantly increased skin conductance and lower mean heart rate during the presentation of stuttered speech relative to the presentation of fluent speech samples (p<0.05). Listeners also self-rated themselves as being more aroused, unhappy, nervous, uncomfortable, sad, tensed, unpleasant, avoiding, embarrassed, and annoyed while viewing stuttered speech relative to the fluent speech. These data support the notion that stutter-filled speech can elicit physiological and emotional responses in listeners. Clinicians who treat stuttering should be aware that listeners show involuntary physiological responses to moderate-severe stuttering that probably remain salient over time and contribute to the evolution of negative stereotypes of people who stutter. With this in mind, it is hoped that clinicians can work with people who stutter to develop appropriate coping strategies. The role of amygdala and mirror neural mechanism in physiological and subjective responses to stuttering is discussed.

Identifying Psychopathy Subtypes on the Basis of Personality Structure.

The authors used model-based cluster analysis to identify subtypes of criminal psychopaths on the basis of differences in personality structure. Participants included 96 male prisoners diagnosed as psychopathic, using the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991). Personality was assessed using the brief form of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ-BF; C. J. Patrick, J. J. Curtin, and A. Tellegen, 2002). The best-fitting model yielded two clusters. Emotionally stable psychopaths were characterized by low Stress Reaction and high Agency. Aggressive psychopaths were characterized by high Negative Emotionality, low Constraint, and low Communion. These results suggest that psychopaths as defined by the PCL-R includes distinct subtypes, distinguishable in terms of personality structure, that may reflect different etiologies.

An idiographic approach to understanding personality structure and individual differences among smokers

We present a social-cognitive theory which requires an idiographic assessment of individual differences in personality structure among smokers, and contrast this approach to traditional nomothetic trait approaches. A sample of 15 regular smokers completed idiographic assessment procedures designed to tap into three cognitive structures (smoker self-schema, abstainer ideal-possible self, abstainer ought-possible self) which are proposed to regulate individual differences in smoking behavior, coping behavior, and finally smoking cessation. Support for the idiographic approach was found. The three cognitive structures were distinguishable from one another, and had properties that self-schema are proposed to hold, and intraindividual patterns of schematic responding across situations were stable and predictable phenomena. These findings are not consistent with a nomothetic trait approach. We discuss the implications of these results for individual-differences assessment among smokers and suggest avenues for future research.

Positive Affectivity, Self-Mastery, and a Sense of Failure as Predictors of Self-Assessed Health

The study was part of the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development. The participants (145 females and 147 males) were mailed a Life Situation Questionnaire at ages 27 and 36. This included a Personal Control Inventory as well as questions about their satisfaction with intimate relationships, leisure time, housing, occupation, work situation, and livelihood as well as about their sense of control over life events. Three groups of variables emerged from their responses: positive affectivity (satisfaction with life, contentment with one's achievements), a sense of failure (low self-worth, accusation of others), and self-mastery (self-confidence, social support, control over life events). A single-item self-assessment of health was elicited at ages 27 and 36, and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire was administered at age 36 to study psychological distress. The results (tested by LISREL 7.2) showed that long-term positive affectivity was directly related to good self-assessed he...

Los Cinco Grandes across cultures and ethnic groups: multitrait multimethod analyses of the Big Five in Spanish and English.

Spanish-language measures of the Big Five personality dimensions are needed for research on Hispanic minority populations. Three studies were conducted to evaluate a Spanish version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI) (O. P. John et al., 1991) and explore the generalizability of the Big Five factor structure in Latin cultural groups. In Study 1, a cross-cultural design was used to compare the Spanish and English BFI in college students from Spain and the United States, to assess factor congruence across languages, and to test convergence with indigenous Spanish Big Five markers. In Study 2, a bilingual design was used to compare the Spanish and English BFI in a college-educated sample of bilingual Hispanics and to test convergent and discriminant validity across the two languages as well as with the NEO Five Factor Inventory in both English and Spanish. Study 3 replicated the BFI findings from Study 2 in a working-class Hispanic bilingual sample. Results show that (a) the Spanish BFI may serve as an efficient, reliable, and factorially valid measure of the Big Five for research on Spanish-speaking individuals and (b) there is little evidence for substantial cultural differences in personality structure at the broad level of abstraction represented by the Big Five dimensions.

Five Big, Big Five Issues

Five Big, Big Five Issues

A first survey of the similarity of personality and motivation prediction of “in situ” and experimentally controlled learning, by structured learning theory

Abstract Cumulative studies show the prediction of school achievement from personality and dynamic traits to exceed that from abilities alone and to reach, with abilities, a multiple R of 0.7 to 0.8. A study of intellectual learning in a one-hour controlled experimentally-induced aversive situation shows essentially the same personality factors to be involved as in daily life situations, namely Superego (G), Dominance (E)—negatively—and Self-Sentiment (Q3). These findings support the structured learning theory in showing differences in personality structure to contribute significantly to both real-life academic achievement and short-term experimental learning outcomes (albeit under extremely stressful conditions).

Personality Patterns of Public School Librarians and Teachers

Personality traits of 43 female public school librarians were compared to traits exhibited by 50 female public school teachers. Differences in personality structure were found to exist on four factors of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire: G and M (p < .05) and I and Q1 (p < .01). Personality of public school librarians and teachers should provide a meaningful variable for study of successful working interaction between the two groups. The implication is that in order to effect a smooth professional relationship between these two groups, school personnel should be aware that a heterogeneity of personality traits does exist.

Effects of instructions for visual imagery on Rorschach responses.

The Rorschach was administered to two groups of 12 subjects under two conditions. The first group was classified as imagery Reactors based upon their prior responsivity to imagery instructions during therapy. The second group was labelled Nonreactors using the same clinical criteria. The condition administered first utilized the standard Rorschach; in the second, subjects were asked to produce sequences of visual imagery using Rorschach cards as stimuli. Both groups received both Rorschach administrations. Responses were scored without knowledge of the two classifications of subjects. Instructions for imagery appeared to have a disinhibiting effect and led to significant changes in several major Rorschach scoring categories and in a specially derived index of the amount of clinically relevant conflictual and affective material manifested. There were a number of significant differences between Reactors and Nonreactors in Rorschach response levels under the imagery condition, among other changes. Reactors yielded significantly more complex and clinically revealing material under imagery than did Nonreactors. The findings were considered to be particularly useful for diagnostic and therapeutic decisions with certain types of patients. The results also suggest the possibility of differences in personality structure between imagery Reactors and Nonreactors which warrant further investigation.

Intrapair difference in personality traits, and emotional and social adjustment in monozygotic twins.

During the last decade, there has been a growing interest in the advantages that MZ twin pairs offer for studying the effect of environmental factors on the development of emotional disturbances. Much of this research has been aimed at investigating the relationship between childhood differences and later discordance with regard to schizophrenia in MZ twin pairs. A few studies have used similar methodology to investigate the development of neurotic reactions. There has been very little work dealing with the causes of discordance in the normal personality development of MZ twin pairs. The paper presents some of the results from a larger twin project which show the relationship between childhood differences and differences in adulthood. The study examined differences in oral, obsessive, and hysterical personality traits, as well as differences in phobic fears, general neurotic symptomatology, occupational and marriage adjustment in 50 relatively unselected MZ twin pairs. The results show that many of the same childhood differences which have been reported to be associated with the discordance found in regard to schizophrenia and neuroses, are also related to differences in personality structure, emotional and social adjustment in less disturbed MZ twin pairs. Other childhood differences, however, seem to be more specifically related either to neurotic or to normal personality development, pointing to the importance of studying the relationship between specific intrapair differences in childhood and differences in various areas of later personality development.

Age differences in personality structure: a cluster analytic approach.

A cluster analytic approach was used to determine possible age differences in the structure of personality as measured by the Cattell Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire. Subjects were 969 adult male volunteers, originally divided into three groups: 25 to 34, 35 to 54, and 55 to 82. Two familiar dimensions of personality, Anxiety-Adjustment and Introversion-Extraversion, were found to be cross sectionally stable. A third cluster dimension, interpreted as openness to experience, showed age-related differences. Young subjects showed openness to feelings; middle-aged subjects showed openness to ideas; and old subjects showed a balanced openness to both feelings and ideas. Repartitioning of the sample into two groups (ages 25 to 43 and 44 to 82), and three groups (25 to 39, 40 to 47, and 48 to 82) confirmed these age differences in the third cluster. The interpretation of the third cluster is discussed in terms of Jung's concepts of psychological functions.