Journal of Personality

OBJECTIVE: Examining the personality and well-being correlates of positive event diversity. BACKGROUND: Past research has highlighted that personality traits are linked to the frequency of daily positive events. This study is the first to examine positive event diversity, the extent to which positive events are spread across multiple types of positive life domains, as well as its personality and well-being correlates. METHOD: We conducted parallel analyses of three daily diary datasets (Ns = 1919, 744, and 1392) that included evening assessment of daily positive events and affective well-being...

OBJECTIVE: People value solitude in varying degrees. Theories and studies suggest that people's appreciation of solitude varies considerably across persons (e.g., an introverted person may value solitude more than an extraverted person), and solitude experiences (i.e., on average, people may value some functions of solitude, e.g., privacy, more than other functions, e.g., self-discovery). What are the unique contributions of these two sources? METHOD: We surveyed a quota-based sample of 501 US residents about their perceived importance of a diverse set of 22 solitude functions...

OBJECTIVE: Further investigate the application of self-determination theory (SDT) to experiences of solitude by examining the effects of recalling intrinsic versus non-intrinsic memories. BACKGROUND: SDT research indicates that recalling memories associated with intrinsic goals (e.g., personal growth, relationships, altruism) enhances present moment wellness by satisfying basic psychological needs. METHOD: Two studies were conducted with American adults...

INTRODUCTION: Research on the link between affect and creativity rests on the assumption that creativity unfolds as a stimulus-driven response to affective states. We challenge this assumption and examine whether personality dynamics moderate the relationships between positive and negative mood with creativity. THEORETICAL MODEL: According to our model, personality dynamics that generate and maintain positive affect and downregulate negative affect energize creativity...

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to develop a machine learning model to infer OCEAN traits from text. BACKGROUND: The psycholexical approach allows retrieving information about personality traits from human language. However, it has rarely been applied because of methodological and practical issues that current computational advancements could overcome. METHOD: Classical taxonomies and a large Yelp corpus were leveraged to learn an embedding for each personality trait...

OBJECTIVE: This study explored how belief in a just world (BJW) develops among Chinese adolescents and the predictive role of family factors. BACKGROUND: The development of BJW in adolescence is an important but understudied topic, especially in non-Western contexts. METHOD: Using a three-wave longitudinal design, 1525 participants (48% girls; Mage  = 12.47) were recruited to report their BJW, childhood SES, only-child or not, and parental psychological control in Wave 1 (Wave 2: N = 1262; Wave 3: N = 1124)...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to better understand the role of personality as it relates to psychopathology, with satisfaction as a mediating variable. BACKGROUND: Personality is an important determinant of many life outcomes including relationship satisfaction and psychopathology. Previous work has demonstrated that broad domains of normal personality have low-to-moderate associations with various forms of psychopathology. Research has primarily focused on mechanisms that might explain how common personality traits put one at risk for common forms of psychopathology; this work builds upon existing work in examining relationship satisfaction as one possible mechanism...

INTRODUCTION: How people attach value to the outcomes of self and other-social preferences-is central to social behavior. Recently, how dispositional and state emotion shape such social preferences has received researchers' attention. METHOD: The present investigation asked whether and to what extent dispositional and state compassion predict shifts in social preferences across 4 samples: two correlational samples (final ns 153 & 368, study 1a and 1b) and two experimental samples (final ns: 430 & 530, studies 2 and 3)...

OBJECTIVE: Despite long-standing assumptions that a sense of purpose in life and goal pursuit are mutually supportive, empirical evidence of their reciprocity remains deficient. In the context of a unique out-of-school time program that empowers youth to pursue passions through self-driven learning, we examined whether purpose and one aspect of goal pursuit-perceptions of goal progress-work together to sustain themselves and each other over time. METHOD: Adolescents (N = 321) completed daily surveys throughout program enrollment (Menrollment  = 69...

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the associations between personality traits at age 8 and academic performance between ages 10 and 14, controlling for family confounds. BACKGROUND: Many studies have shown links between children's personality traits and their school performance. However, we lack evidence on whether these associations remain after genetic and environmental confounders are accounted for. METHOD: Sibling data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) were used (n = 9701)...

UNLABELLED: Personality traits and affective functioning have been closely linked. Empirical evidence suggests that the Five-Factor Model traits have been linked with Panskepp's six primary affective systems, as measured by the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales: SEEKING, PLAY, CARE (positive emotions) and FEAR, SADNESS, ANGER (negative emotions). OBJECTIVE: The present work investigated the dynamic relations between primary affective systems and FFM personality...

OBJECTIVE AND BACKGROUND: How do targets shape consensus in impression formation? Targets are known to play an outsized role in the accuracy of first impressions, but their influence on consensus has been difficult to study. With the help of the recently developed extended Social Relations Model, we explore the structure and correlates of individual differences in consensus (i.e., dissensus). METHOD: Across 3 studies, 187 photographs of targets were rated by 960 perceivers on personality and evaluative traits, as well as being coded for physical cues by trained coders...

OBJECTIVE: The psychological profile of the moral person might depend on whose perspective is being used. Here, we decompose moral impressions into three components: (a) Shared Moral Character (shared variance across self- and informant reports), (b) Moral Identity (how a person uniquely views their morality), and (c) Moral Reputation (how others uniquely view that person's morality). METHOD: In two samples (total N  = 458), we used an extended version of the Trait-Reputation-Identity model to examine the extent to which each perspective accounts for the overall variance in moral impressions and the degree to which social and personal outcomes were associated with each perspective, controlling for method variance (i...

OBJECTIVE: Children perceived by peers as someone who is fun reap interpersonal rewards, but little is known about what makes someone fun or how being fun leads to social success. The present study is designed to identify what qualities makes someone fun and how being fun leads to social success. METHOD: Two studies of children in primary and middle school are reported. Participants in the present investigation attended a public-school representative of Florida school children in terms of ethnicity and income...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations that narcissistic personality traits had with the preference for solitude. BACKGROUND: Preference for solitude may be impacted by various characteristics. Narcissism may be one such characteristic given its association with specific motivations for engagement with other individuals (e.g., status attainment). METHOD: We examined whether the associations that narcissism had with the preference for solitude were moderated by perceived attainment of status or instability of status...

INTRODUCTION: Solitude represents an important context for emerging adults' well-being; but to date, little is known about how emerging adults spend their time alone. The goals of this study were to: (1) describe and characterize solitary activities among emerging adults attending university; (2) examine links between solitary activities and indices of adjustment; and (3) explore the moderating role of affinity for solitude in these associations. METHODS: Participants were N = 1798 university students aged 18-25 years (Mage  = 19...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) within the DSM-5 includes separable components representing general personality dysfunction (Criterion A) and maladaptive personality traits (Criterion B). Some critique Criterion A for accounting for little incremental variance in PD beyond Criterion B. However, Morey et al. (2020) hypothesized that personality dysfunction is a key mechanism through which normal-range traits account for the maladaptive component of personality traits, justifying its inclusion...

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the defense styles in the African context by exploring their internal structure in Burkinabé individuals. Moreover, we explored how defense styles were related to sociocultural variables. Finally, we tested whether defense styles could mediate the relationship between sociocultural variables and mental well-being as well as functional disability. METHOD: The study recruited 998 individuals (66.9% male; age = 25.50 ± 7...

OBJECTIVE: Which traits best describe individuals who are recognized as exemplary in different domains? And can self-rated positively valued personality traits distinguish such individuals from the general population? BACKGROUND: The study of exemplary individuals' personality traits traditionally focused on general and broad traits. Using character strengths, which are narrower and designed to describe desirable behavior, could provide new insights. METHOD: In this study, we examined 204 outstanding individuals-exemplars who received or were nominated for a public award recognizing their exemplary behavior (e...

OBJECTIVE: We sought to factor analyze a broad array of aggression measures to identify a comprehensive, coherent factor structure for this construct. BACKGROUND: Measures and models of trait aggression have multiplied to the point of incoherence. METHOD: In Study 1, a diverse sample of 922 undergraduates completed a battery of items acquired from 42 self-report aggression questionnaires. In Study 2, we administered a curated item pool to another diverse sample of 1447 undergraduates, alongside criterion measures...