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The role of personality in COVID-19 related perceptions, evaluations, and behaviors: Findings across five samples, nine traits, and 17 criteria

Authors:
Ingo Zettler
Ingo Zettler
Ingo Zettler
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Christoph Schild at Universität Siegen
Christoph Schild
Lau Lilleholt at University of Copenhagen
Lau Lilleholt
Lara Kroencke at University of Münster
Lara Kroencke
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People and institutions around the world have been affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Herein, we investigate the role of both basic (HEXACO and Big Five) and specific (Dark Factor of Personality, Narcissistic Rivalry and Admiration) personality traits for 17 criteria related to COVID-19, grouped into (i) personal perceptions in terms of risks and worries about the disease, (ii) behavioral adjustments in terms of following the health recommendations and hoarding, and (iii) societal evaluations in terms of the appropriateness of different measures and feelings of social cohesion. (Internal) Meta-analytic results across five samples from two countries (overall N = 10,702) show—next to gender and age effects—the importance of several traits, including Emotionality/Neuroticism for personal perceptions and anti- or prosocial traits for behavior in line with health recommendations. The investigation thus highlights the importance of individual differences in uncertain and changing situations and the COVID-19 pandemic in particular.
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... Several studies used the HEXACO personality framework to assess the relationship between personality and COVID-19 criteria. Zettler et al. (2022) reported that Emotionality/Neuroticism was the only consistent predictor of risk perception, while Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness showed significant associations with behavioral adjustment. Lazarević et al. (2021) assessed Big Five factors together with Honesty-Humility and found that Honesty-Humility had the strongest association with recommended health practices. ...
... Based on previous findings (Buljan Flander et al., 2020;Dryhurst et al., 2020;Galasso et al., 2020;Gerhold, 2020;Szabo et al., 2020;Alsharawy et al., 2021;Bechard et al., 2021;Laires et al., 2021;Rana et al., 2021;Ricotta et al., 2021), we expected women, older people, and people with chronic diseases to believe that COVID-19 poses more risk, and we expected regional differences in beliefs about COVID-19 risks (Gerhold, 2020;Parsons Leigh et al., 2020). Furthermore, we expected that COVID-19 threat beliefs will be related to personality factors as operationalized using the HEXACO model (Lazarević et al., 2021;Zettler et al., 2022). Finally, we expected that COVID-19 threat beliefs will be associated with other related beliefs such as trust in the health system, scientists, and the political system Udow-Phillips and Lantz, 2020;Antinyan et al., 2021;Bicchieri et al., 2021;Schaeffer, 2021;Sturgis et al., 2021). ...
... Our findings were in line with previous findings, with personality factors accounting for a significant, but small, amount of variance in COVID-19 threat beliefs (4.3%) and personality facets accounting for more variance than personality factors in the second step of the regression analyses (7.7%). We used the HEXACO personality framework since the Honesty-Humility factor was an important personality predictor in past studies (Lazarević et al., 2021;Zettler et al., 2022), which is also echoed in our results. Personality traits that were important predictors in the final step were Honesty-Humility and Emotionality. ...
Relationship Between COVID-19 Threat Beliefs and Individual Differences in Demographics, Personality, and Related Beliefs
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2022
Individual differences in demographics, personality, and other related beliefs are associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threat beliefs. However, the relative contributions of these different types of individual differences to COVID-19 threat beliefs are not known. In this study, a total of 1,700 participants in Croatia (68% female; age 18–86 years) completed a survey that included questions about COVID-19 risks, questions about related beliefs including vaccination beliefs, trust in the health system, trust in scientists, and trust in the political system, the HEXACO 60 personality inventory, as well as demographic questions about gender, age, chronic diseases, and region. We used hierarchical regression analyses to examine the proportion of variance explained by demographics, personality, and other related beliefs. All three types of individual differences explained a part of the variance of COVID-19 threat beliefs, with related beliefs explaining the largest part. Personality facets explained a slightly larger amount of variance than personality factors. These results have implications for communication about COVID-19.
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... The authors observed that while cognitive deterrence was not related to conformity, the latter did depend on people's competence to obey laws, chance to violate codes, self-control, moral motivation, and social norms, using an online survey conducted on 570 individuals across 35 states. Furthermore, Zettler et al. (2020) investigated whether factors impact people's acceptance of personal constraints imposed by COVID-19 regulations and procedures. The main demographic characteristics affecting acceptability of personal limitation, according to their findings, are socioeconomic position, perceived health threat, and age. ...
... This result corroborates the findings of van which revealed that cognitive deterrence was not related to conformity, the latter did depend on people's competence to obey laws, chance to violate codes, self-control, moral motivation, and social norms. The research of Zettler et al. (2020) found that the main demographic characteristics affecting acceptability of personal limitation, according to their findings, are socioeconomic position, perceived health threat, and age. ...
Students-Perception-and-Adjustment-towards-the-COVID-19-New-Normal-in-Universities-in-Cross-River-State
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2023
The study adopted the descriptive survey design to assess the perception and adjustment of students towards the new normal of COVID-19 in universities. Three research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. A total of 3,553 regular undergraduate students in the Faculty of Education of the three universities in Cross River State constituted the study's population. The cluster and simple random sampling techniques were employed to select 1,421 undergraduates, representing 40 per cent of the study's population. Data were collected using the "Students' Perception and Adjustment Questionnaire" (SPAQ) designed by the researchers, validated by experts, with Cronbach reliability coefficients of .87 and .93 for the two sub-domains respectively. Copies of the instrument were administered to the respondents with 1,403 properly filled and returned copies. Collected data were subjected to statistical analysis using both descriptive and inferential techniques. It was found that students reported significantly low extents of perception and adjustment to the new normal in universities; students' perception has no significant contribution to their adjustment to the new normal in universities. Based on the findings, it was recommended, inter alia, that counselling services be rendered to university students to change their notion or perception of the new normal.
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... Some of these procedures were enforced by states (e.g., closure of public places), whereas other procedures were only advised but out of the state's control (e.g., social distancing, hand washing) [139]. Many of these rules and recommendations can be considered as fairly drastic for citizens [140]. For this reason, some people ignored these instructions, exacerbating the problem [134]. ...
... Age: Age was positively associated with compliance intentions [154]. In general, older individuals appeared as more willing to accept anti-COVID-19 restrictions [140,142]. Nonetheless, results were contradictory: some research [89,101,119,179] showed that older citizens tended to be more (self-declared) compliant; but others demonstrated that young adults complied more with prevention measures (e.g., cell phone disinfection, maintaining a safe distance) [143,160,162,166]. Finally, one research showed that different age ranges followed different protective behaviors. ...
Impact of COVID-19 First Wave on Psychological and Psychosocial Dimensions: A Systematic Review
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2022
A systematic review of the literature investigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological and psychosocial factors was completed. Published literature was examined using electronic databases to search psychosocial factors such as beliefs and media persuasion, social support, coping, risk perception, and compliance and social distancing; and psychological factors as anxiety, stress, depression, and other consequences of COVID-19 that impacted mental health among the pandemic. A total of 294 papers referring to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (December 2019–June 2020) were selected for the review. The findings suggested a general deterioration of mental health, delineating a sort of “psychological COVID-19 syndrome”, characterized by increased anxiety, stress, and depression, and decreased well-being and sleep quality. The COVID-19 effect on the psychological dimensions of interest was not the same for everyone. Indeed, some socio-demographic variables exacerbated mental health repercussions that occurred due to the pandemic. In particular, healthcare workers and young women (especially those in postpartum condition) with low income and low levels of education have been shown to be the least resilient to the consequences of the pandemic.
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... There is evidence that, in addition to the risk of serious illness and concern for oneself or loved ones, many individuals fear job or wage losses as a result of the economic crisis created by the pandemic. There is growing evidence that health and economic risk perception is influenced by psychological traits (Brooks et al. 2020;Zettler et al. 2020) and that risks and fears are not equally distributed among the population, but stratified socially (Dryhurst et al. 2020), culturally (Delia 2020) and economically (Wright et al. 2020). Scholars have pointed out that subjective risk perception predicts COVID-19-related attitudes and behaviours (e.g., public acceptance of authorities' recommendations) more than the objective severity of the risk(s) Khosravi 2020;Naumann et al. 2020). ...
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... The body of research on personality characteristics in relation to different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic is quickly growing, including studies about compliance with the restrictive measures and difficulties with dealing with these measures (Zettler, Schild, Lilleholt et al., 2020;Sibley, Greaves, Satherley et al., 2020) and studies about psychological distress caused by the pandemic such as COVID-19 anxiety and COVID-19 anxiety syndrome (Nik cevi c & Spada, 2020; Nik cevi c, Marino, Kolubinski, Leach & Spada, 2021;Lee, 2020), COVID-19-related fear (Ahorsu, Lin, Imani, Saffari, Griffiths & Pakpour, 2020) and threat (Conway, Woodard & Zubrod, 2020), and COVID stress (Taylor, Lin, Imani, Saffari, Griffiths & Pakpou, 2020). Despite the availability of these studies, it is still unclear which situational and personality factors are meaningful in predicting COVID-19 rumination over time. ...
Antecedents of COVID‐19 rumination: A three‐wave study
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2022
The COVID‐19 pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of our lives and has caused a considerable rise in psychological complaints such as anxieties and depression. The majority of studies so far has focused on outcomes of the COVID‐19 pandemic. To augment current knowledge, we focus on the antecedents of COVID‐19 rumination. Specially, we examine how negative and positive work events prior to the outbreak influence individuals' coping capacity with regard to COVID‐19 (i.e., the extent to which individuals have recurrent negative thoughts about COVID‐19). Drawing on Conservation of Resources Theory (COR), we maintain that positive and negative work events prior to the pandemic can affect one's self‐efficacy experiences and in turn can impact recurrent negative thoughts about COVID‐19. Alongside exploring the proposed theoretical mediation model, we test one of the key assumptions of the COR theory: the notion of primacy of negative over positive affect that results from negative (vs. positive) work events. Three‐waved data was collected among Dutch employees (T1 = 302; T2 = 199; T3 = 171); two prior to the pandemic and one at the onset of the outbreak. Results showed that positive work events increased self‐efficacy, which in turn reduced COVID‐19 rumination. Contrary to the expectation of primacy of the effects of negative work events, we found no significant impact of negative work events on individuals' COVID‐19 rumination.
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Trust as a catalyst: revealing the impact of government trust and professional trust on public health policy compliance during a pandemic
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2024
  • BMC PUBLIC HEALTH
Background Existing research has extensively explored the relationship between government trust and compliance behaviour, but significant controversies exist. Some studies suggest a strong positive correlation between the two. Other studies have found that government trust hinders compliance behaviour. However, during the pandemic, the effectiveness of public health policies largely depends on the public’s compliance with these policies. To examine the aforementioned controversies, this study utilizes survey data on the Chinese population during the COVID-19 period to explore the relationship between compliance with public health policies and government trust. Methods The study conducted a questionnaire survey of 1,395 individuals from 25 provinces in China from mid-November to mid-December 2022. Firstly, we categorized the public’s compliance behaviour with public health policies based on the results of factor analysis. Subsequently, we examined the impact of government trust and professional trust on compliance behaviour with public health policies by constructing a structural equation model. Results Based on the results of factor analysis, we classified public adherence to public health policies into protective compliance and restrictive compliance. Results from the structural equation model show a positive correlation between the public’s trust in the government and both protective and restrictive compliance, with a stronger influence on protective compliance. Government trust also exerts a positive impact on restrictive compliance behaviour through professional trust. Additionally, the study indicates a significant positive correlation between the public’s professional trust and restrictive compliance, while it does not significantly affect protective compliance. Moreover, the public from rural areas demonstrates a greater willingness to adhere to both types of public health policies. Married individuals exhibit a stronger inclination toward protective compliance, while females show a stronger tendency toward restrictive compliance. Conclusion The study revealed a significant positive impact of government trust and professional trust on compliance behaviour with public health policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, refuting any negative correlation between government trust and compliance behaviour. Normative motivations for compliance behaviour had a substantial impact on adherence. These findings offer valuable insights for future public health crisis management and public policy formulation.
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Investigating Hexaco Personality Traits, Perceived Threat and Covid-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among Undergraduates in a Nigerian University
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2023
The role of personality traits and perceived threat on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among undergraduates is relatively scarce. The study investigated the role of personality traits and perceived threat on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among 374 (age = 18-28 years, M =23.23 years, SD = 2.57 years) undergraduates in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design was utilized. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather information about socio-demographics, HEXACO personality traits, perceived threat and COVID-19 Vaccine acceptance. Results showed a significant influence of personality traits on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Findings also revealed that perceived threat significantly predict COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among undergraduates. Result further showed that there was a significant influence of religion on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance (t (372) = −2.13, p = .034, 95% CI (−6.44, −.25), d = 0.22.) These results emphasize the importance of HEXACO personality traits and perceived threat when considering program targeted at COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among undergraduates.
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Do Students’ Personality Characteristics Predict COVID-19 Safety Measures Compliance? Evidence from University Students at University of Dar es Salaam
Article
  • Dec 2021
The study aimed at investigating the predictability of personality characteristics on COVID-19 safety measures compliance. Specifically, the study aimed at examining the influence of agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion, openness to experiences on COVID-19 safety measures compliance. The study is based on cross-sectional research design whereby data were collected from university students. Through a questionnaire survey, data were collected from 450 university students at the University of Dar es Salaam. Based on SmartPLS estimates, it was found that four students’ personality characteristics i.e. agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion and openness to experiences significantly predict COVID-19 safety measures compliance. The study revealed that agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experiences have a positive prediction on COVID19 safety measures compliance. Moreover, the study revealed that extraversion personality has a negative prediction on COVID-19 safety measures compliance. However, the study failed to establish the predictability of emotional stability as one of students’ personality characteristics on COVID-19 safety measures compliance. The study suggests a unique perspective on the predictability of personality characteristics on COVID-19 safety measures thus complementing previous studies based on university students’ perspective. The positive predictability of agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experiences as well as the negative predictability of extraversion on COVID19 safety measures compliance tend to increase the soundness of personality characteristics in complying with established standards. Thus, understanding personality characteristics of people such as university students is essential in determining the extent of COVID-19 safety measures compliance.
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Political beliefs and the acceptance of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic restrictions. The case of Poland
Article
Full-text available
We investigated the relationships between political beliefs regarding two aspects of the right-left distinction (cultural and economic) and the acceptance of the pandemic restrictions using variable-centred and person-centred approaches. The community sample consisted of 305 participants. Four groups of the restrictions were considered. Religious fundamentalism predicted positively the acceptance of the restrictions associated with the limitations of labour rights and those limiting civil rights without a direct impact on safety . Anti-welfare negatively predicted the acceptance of the restrictions regarding social distancing and those limiting civil rights and increasing safety . These associations were discussed in relation to basic needs and values which motivate persons who endorse right-wing or left-wing political views. The latent profile analysis revealed three profiles of political beliefs, which were termed “Conservative Statists,” “Liberal Laissez-fairists,” and “Conservative Laissez-fairists.” The profiles differed in terms of acceptance of the pandemic restrictions, and the patterns of these relationships were different for particular groups of restrictions.
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To disclose or not to disclose? Factors related to the willingness to disclose information to a COVID-19 tracing app
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2022
  • Inform Comm Soc
Contact tracing apps have been identified as a promising technology to curb the spread of COVID-19. To be effective, a sufficient number of individuals needs to install the app and to disclose information like a COVID-19 infection to such an app. Yet, usage data demonstrates that a large amount of app users does not disclose a COVID-19 infection to the app. Hence, in two studies (overall N = 1,522), we investigate factors related to individuals’ willingness to actively disclose information to such an app. In a preregistered online-experiment conducted two months before the app launch onto the German market, we find that disclosure willingness increases when the app’s prosocial benefit or a social-life-enabling benefit is emphasized (vs. no benefit emphasized). In a subsequent, quota-representative survey study conducted two months after the app launch onto the German market, we adapted and extended the Technology Acceptance Model 2 (TAM2) to the context of prosocial information sharing in tracing apps. We find that the perceived prosocial benefit of the app, trust in public institutions, and fear of COVID-19 are relevant predictors. Moreover, we demonstrate that the relation between perceived prosocial benefit and disclosure willingness is moderated by perceived ease of use. Results are discussed with regard to effective implementation and communication strategies for a tracing apps, and the general role of prosocial concerns for technology usage to address major societal challenges.
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COVID-19 Government Response Event Dataset (CoronaNet v.1.0)
Article
Full-text available
  • Jul 2020
  • Nat. Hum. Behav.
Governments worldwide have implemented countless policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We present an initial public release of a large hand-coded dataset of over 13,000 such policy announcements across more than 195 countries. The dataset is updated daily, with a 5-day lag for validity checking. We document policies across numerous dimensions, including the type of policy, national versus subnational enforcement, the specific human group and geographical region targeted by the policy, and the time frame within which each policy is implemented. We further analyse the dataset using a Bayesian measurement model, which shows the quick acceleration of the adoption of costly policies across countries beginning in mid-March 2020 through 24 May 2020. We believe that these data will be instrumental for helping policymakers and researchers assess, among other objectives, how effective different policies are in addressing the spread and health outcomes of COVID-19. The COVID-19 Government Response Event Dataset (CoronaNet v.1.0) compiles real time, publicly available (https://coronanet-project.org) data on policy announcements made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic across the world.
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Predictors of COVID-19 Voluntary Compliance Behaviors: An International Investigation
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2020
With a large international sample (n=8,317), the present study examined which beliefs and attitudes about COVID-19 predict 1) following government recommendations, 2) taking health precautions (including mask wearing, social distancing, handwashing, and staying at home), and 3) encouraging others to take health precautions. The results demonstrate the importance of believing that taking health precautions will be effective for avoiding COVID-19 and generally prioritizing one’s health. These beliefs continued to be important predictors of health behaviors after controlling for demographic and personality variables. In contrast, we found that perceiving oneself as vulnerable to COVID-19, the perceived severity of catching COVID-19, and trust in government were of relatively little importance. We also found that women were somewhat more likely to engage in these health behaviors than men, but that age was generally unrelated to voluntary compliance behaviors. These findings may suggest avenues and dead ends for behavioral interventions during COVID-19 and beyond.
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Influence of perceived threat of Covid-19 and HEXACO personality traits on toilet paper stockpiling
Article
Full-text available
Following the fast spread of Covid-19 across Europe and North America in March 2020, many people started stockpiling commodities like toilet paper. Despite the high relevance for public authorities to adequately address stockpiling behavior, empirical studies on the psychological underpinnings of toilet paper stockpiling are still scarce. In this study, we investigated the relation between personality traits, perceived threat of Covid-19, and stockpiling of toilet paper in an online survey (N = 996) across 22 countries. Results suggest that people who felt more threatened by Covid-19 stockpiled more toilet paper. Further, a predisposition towards Emotionality predicted the perceived threat of Covid-19 and affected stockpiling behavior indirectly. Finally, Conscientiousness was related to toilet paper stockpiling, such that individuals higher in Conscientiousness tended to stockpile more toilet paper. These results emphasize the importance of clear communication by public authorities acknowledging anxiety and, at the same time, transmitting a sense of control.
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formr: A study framework allowing for automated feedback generation and complex longitudinal experience-sampling studies using R
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2019
  • BEHAV RES METHODS
Open-source software improves the reproducibility of scientific research. Because existing open-source tools often do not offer dedicated support for longitudinal data collection on phones and computers, we built formr, a study framework that enables researchers to conduct both simple surveys and more intricate studies. With automated email and text message reminders that can be sent according to any schedule, longitudinal and experience-sampling studies become easy to implement. By integrating a web-based application programming interface for the statistical programming language R via OpenCPU, formr allows researchers to use a familiar programming language to enable complex features. These can range from adaptive testing, to graphical and interactive feedback, to integration with non-survey data sources such as self-trackers or online social network data. Here we showcase three studies created in formr: a study of couples with dyadic feedback; a longitudinal study over months, which included social networks and peer and partner ratings; and a diary study with daily invitations sent out by text message and email and extensive feedback on intraindividual patterns.
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Psychological and Behavioural Responses to Coronavirus Disease 2019: The Role of Personality
Article
  • Jul 2020
This study examined the associations between personality traits and psychological and behavioural responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. Personality was assessed in January/February 2020 when the public was not aware of the spread of coronavirus in the USA. Participants were reassessed in late March 2020 with four sets of questions about the pandemic: concerns, precautions, preparatory behaviours, and duration estimates. The sample consisted of N = 2066 participants (mean age = 51.42; range = 18–98; 48.5% women). Regression models were used to analyse the data with age, gender, education, race, and ethnicity as covariates. Consistent with the preregistered hypotheses, higher neuroticism was related to more concerns and longer duration estimates related to COVID‐19, higher extraversion was related to shorter duration estimates, and higher conscientiousness was associated with more precautions. In contrast to the preregistered hypotheses, higher neuroticism was associated with fewer precautions and unrelated to preparatory behaviours. Age moderated several trait–response associations, suggesting that some of the responses were associated more strongly in older adults, a group at risk for complications of COVID‐19. For example, older adults high in conscientiousness prepared more. The present findings provide insights into how personality predicts concerns and behaviours related to the COVID‐19 pandemic. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology
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Who Hoards? Honesty-Humility and Behavioural Responses to the 2019/20 Coronavirus Pandemic
Preprint
  • Mar 2020
Large-scale emergencies such as the 2019/20 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic pose conflicts of interests between individual and societal welfare. One example is the run on many basic goods which affected countries experience. However, conflicts of interests also afford the expression of personality traits associated with individual differences in prosocial behaviour. HEXACO Honesty-Humility, in particular, is associated with prosocial behaviour at a personal cost. Across two studies (N = 601), Honesty-Humility was positively associated with refraining from stockpiling in the past and intentions to do so in the future. Surprisingly, this was not due to personality differences in beliefs that others would refrain from stockpiling. Instead, results suggest that individuals high in Honesty-Humility may have been motivated to maximise societal outcomes, even at the cost of foregoing individual gain. Overall, Honesty-Humility showed a relationship with individual differences in prosocial behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Effect size guidelines for individual differences researchers
Article
  • Nov 2016
  • PERS INDIV DIFFER
Individual differences researchers very commonly report Pearson correlations between their variables of interest. Cohen (1988) provided guidelines for the purposes of interpreting the magnitude of a correlation, as well as estimating power. Specifically, r = 0.10, r = 0.30, and r = 0.50 were recommended to be considered small, medium , and large in magnitude, respectively. However, Cohen's effect size guidelines were based principally upon an essentially qualitative impression, rather than a systematic, quantitative analysis of data. Consequently, the purpose of this investigation was to develop a large sample of previously published meta-analytically derived correlations which would allow for an evaluation of Cohen's guidelines from an empirical perspective. Based on 708 meta-analytically derived correlations, the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles corresponded to correlations of 0.11, 0.19, and 0.29, respectively. Based on the results, it is suggested that Cohen's correlation guidelines are too exigent, as b3% of correlations in the literature were found to be as large as r = 0.50. Consequently, in the absence of any other information, individual differences researchers are recommended to consider correlations of 0.10, 0.20, and 0.30 as relatively small, typical, and relatively large, in the context of a power analysis, as well as the interpretation of statistical results from a normative perspective.
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The HEXACO Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness, and Emotionality Factors A Review of Research and Theory
Article
  • Feb 2014
  • PERS SOC PSYCHOL REV
We review research and theory on the HEXACO personality dimensions of Honesty-Humility (H), Agreeableness (A), and Emotionality (E), with particular attention to the following topics: (1) the origins of the HEXACO model in lexical studies of personality structure, and the content of the H, A, and E factors in those studies; (2) the operationalization of the H, A, and E factors in the HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised; (3) the construct validity of self-reports on scales measuring the H factor; (4) the theoretical distinction between H and A; (5) similarity and assumed similarity between social partners in personality, with a focus on H and A; (6) the extent to which H (and A and E) variance is represented in instruments assessing the "Five-Factor Model" of personality; and (7) the relative validity of scales assessing the HEXACO and Five-Factor Model dimensions in predicting criteria conceptually relevant to H, A, and E.
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When Do Individual Differences Matter? A Paradoxical Theory of Personality Coherence
Article
  • Oct 1993
  • PSYCHOL INQ
We propose that individual differences in personality should be studied during periods of environmental change because these periods provide an opportunity to discern the general mechanisms that govern the functions and processes of personality. We delineate the circumstances wherein personality differences are accentuated and then specify the conditions whereby change is produced. Personality differences are likely to be revealed during transitions into unpredictable new situations, when there is a press to behave but no information about how to behave adaptively. Dispositional differences are thus accentuated as each person seeks to transform novel, ambiguous, and uncertain circumstances into familiar, clear, and expectable social encounters. Our theory also accounts for turning points in behavioral development: Systematic change is likely to occur during transitions into new situations, when there is a press to behave and when previous responses are actively discouraged while clear information is provided about how to behave adaptively.
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