(Week 12 pt1) Personality Around the World Notes
Personality Around the World
Readings
Suggested readings for the course include:
Allik, et al. (2023). Conceptual & methodological issues in the study of the personality-&-culture relationship. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1077851.
Sanchez-Roige, et al. (2018). The genetics of human personality. Genes, Brain & Behavior, 17, e12439.
McCrae, R. R. (2004). Human nature & culture: A trait perspective. Journal of Research in Personality, 38, 3-14.
Outline
Universal approaches to personality- Trait psychology & the Five-Factor Model (FFM)
Exploration of whether FFM traits are genuinely universal, considering variations and nuances across different cultures and populations.
The FFM & the geography of personality- East/West differences
Examination of how the FFM manifests differently across Eastern and Western cultures, with a focus on geographical and cultural factors.
Evolutionary explanations of traits- Pathogens & personality
Discussion of evolutionary perspectives on personality traits, particularly the influence of pathogens on personality development and expression.
Study of the Dark Triad (D3) traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) in various cultures, examining their prevalence and impact.
Learning Outcomes
Comprehend the meaning of ‘universal’ personality traits and the emic/etic approaches, with emphasis on their applications and limitations.
Comprehend and elucidate the hypothesized relationship between the FFM traits and culture, highlighting the complexities and implications.
Evaluate the major findings associated with the FFM and cross-cultural research, and illustrate their significance.
Comprehend and elucidate how traits might be explained in evolutionary terms, and present the associated major findings.
Universal Approaches to Personality
Individual differences exist, but universal human traits persist.
“Universal means that something is characteristic of all members of a class, without limit or exception” (Allik et al, 2023).
Trait psychology: Traits apply to every cultural group across the world.
Etic approach: Pursuit of a universal model of traits.
Emic approach: Focus on studying personality within a cultural system.
Five-Factor Theory (FFT)
Five Factor Theory/Model: The longest-running systematic personality-culture research area (Carlo et al, 2014).
Traits are biologically fixed human universals.
Genetically determined endogenous traits: “… traits are strictly endogenous, changing only in response to intrinsic maturation or other biological inputs” (Allik & McCrae, 2002).
Traits & Culture
Regarding culture:
“The central dogma of FFT postulates that there is no “transfer” from culture & life experience to basic personality traits” (Allik & McCrae, 2002).
“FFT argues that culture may impact characteristic adaptations rather than dispositional traits” (Allik et al, 2023).
“Culture influences only the expression of personality” (Allik et al, 2023).
Biological Bases and External Influences
The model includes:
Basic Tendencies: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness. These are considered the fundamental dimensions of personality.
Characteristic Adaptations: Culturally-conditioned phenomena like personal strivings and attitudes. These reflect how basic tendencies are expressed in specific cultural contexts.
External Influences: Cultural norms, life events, and situational factors that can shape the expression of personality traits.
Dynamic Processes: Interactions between these components, influencing self-concept and behavior. This involves how basic tendencies interact with characteristic adaptations and external influences to produce individual behaviors.
Are FFM Traits Universal?
Method:
Use indigenous lexicon or translate NEO into other languages.
Collect data from around the world to ensure diverse representation.
Factor analysis to identify traits and their underlying structure.
Determine if the same groupings emerge across different cultural contexts.
Traits & Culture: Factor Analysis and Cross-Cultural Research
FFM tested in 50+ societies across 6 continents; general replication of 5-factor structure (McCrae & Terracciano, 2005).
Traits & Culture: Gurven et al (2013)
FFM tested with the indigenous Tsimane people in central lowland Bolivia (n = 632).
Forager-horticulturalists with unique cultural practices.
43-item Tsimane Big Five Inventory adapted to the local context.
FFM not replicated in Bolivian indigenous sample, indicating cultural specificity.
Tsimane Big Two: pro-sociality & industriousness, reflecting important aspects of their culture.
Possible Explanation
“… it is entirely possible that the results in these studies merely reflected the lack of experience that hunter-gatherers have with personality questionnaires. For the same reason, personality structure is not as well-defined in the self-reports of children” (Allik et al, 2023).
The FFM & a Geography of Personality
Traits are likely to shape culture (McCrae, 2004; Allik et al., 2017, 2023).
Example: a society of introverts will be very different from a society of extroverts, influencing social norms and interactions.
Personality profiles of culture provide insights into regional differences.
Examination of East/West differences to understand cultural variations.
Exploration of whether there is a geography of personality with distinct regional patterns.
Geographical Differences (Allik & McCrae, 2004)
5 continents; N = 27,965 Ss
Undergrad Ss
Traits & latitude- Latitude & E: r = .59
Latitude & C: r = -.41
“… people who live farther from the equator tend to be more outgoing but less dutiful” (p. 18)
Cluster Analysis (Allik & McCrae, 2004)
Hierarchical cluster analysis to group cultures based on personality traits.
Cultures with the most similar personality FFM profiles are linked closest.
Examination of geographical proximity & personality profile similarity.
Identification of irregularities and exceptions to the geographical patterns.
Multidimensional Scaling (MDS)
MDS maps data points (usually two-dimensional) to visualize relationships.
Findings:
Clustering into distinctive groups of countries or cultures, revealing common traits.
Euro-American cultures distinct from Asian-African ones on FFM.
“European cultures tend to score high on Extraversion & Openness while African & Asian cultures gravitate toward the opposite pole, Introversion & Closeness” (Allik et al. 2017)
NOTE: North in the figure is associated with N (neuroticism) & East with E (extraversion).
How Large Are Cultural Differences in Personality? (Allik, et al., 2017)
N = 71,870 Ss across diverse cultural contexts.
76 samples from various regions.
62 different countries.
37 different languages, ensuring broad linguistic representation.
Difficult to establish ‘true’ country ranking due to methodological challenges.
Finding: Personality differences across countries exist but are very small relative to individual differences.
Differences between individuals within a country > differences between countries, emphasizing the importance of individual variation.
Cross-Cultural Differences
“Cross-country & cross-cultural differences in personality are very small compared with within-sample differences. Differences in personality between aggregate personality scores of countries/cultures are about 8 times smaller than differences between any two individuals randomly selected from the same sample” (Allik et al., 2017).
Let’s not over-exaggerate differences … & shows culture doesn’t impact traits.
Genetic Differences?
Traits & genetics?
Genetic plot predicted to match geography findings (Allik et al., 2017), suggesting a genetic basis for regional personality patterns.
But:
Vukasović & Bratko (2015): Meta-analysis (134 studies): 40% personality diffs are genetic; 60% environment, highlighting the substantial role of environmental factors.
Balestri et al (2014): systematic review of 369 studies: no consensus on role of genes in personality, indicating ongoing debate and complexity.
“… the premise that personality is uniquely genetically determined seems far-fetched given the evidence” (Carlo et al, 2014), questioning the purely genetic perspective.
Traits & Evolution
How might traits have evolved?
Natural selection favoring traits advantageous for survival and reproduction.
Nettle (2006): Costs & benefits associated with differing environments, influencing the adaptive value of personality traits.
Pathogens & Personality
Pathogens: microorganisms that cause disease in their host (e.g., bacteria, viruses, fungi, & parasites).
“… when infectious diseases are more prevalent, people may adopt a more cautious & conservative style when interacting with their social & physical environment” (Schaller & Murray, 2008).
↓ Openness, Extraversion leading to more cautious and reserved behavior.
Pathogens & Personality: Schaller & Murray (2008)
Big 5 inventories; 17,837 Ss in 56 different world regions.
Extraversion & disease prevalence: r = -.26 to -.67 (-.50)
Openness & disease prevalence: r = -.24 to -.59 (-.40)
Interpretation?-
“… in places with historically high levels of infectious diseases, individuals have less extraverted personalities.”
“… in places with historically high levels of infectious diseases, extraversion is less culturally valued.”
The Dark Triad Around the World?
Jonason et al. (2020): D3 data from 49 countries (N= 11,723; 65.8% female; Mean Age = 21.53)
Dirty Dozen used to measure Dark Triad traits.
Country-level variables:
Economic status (standard of living) impacting resource availability and competition.
Social relations (e.g., gender equality) influencing social dynamics and power structures.
Political orientations (e.g., democracy) affecting freedom and individual expression.
Cultural values (e.g., autonomy) shaping individualistic vs. collectivistic tendencies.
Jonason et al. (2020): Findings
“The less developed, less free, more corrupt, less peaceful, & more sex-asymmetrical a country is, the more narcissistic its population is.”
Jonason et al. (2020): Explanation
Narcissism linked to hypercompetitiveness (Luchner et al., 2011; N = 324), driving individuals to seek dominance and recognition.
Scarcity hypothesis: D3 traits become more adaptive or advantageous in highly competitive environments where resources (e.g., money, status, mates) are scarce.
“These results converge on the scarcity hypothesis & align with predictions from evolutionary psychology. Narcissism is likely an adaptation to enable people to compete for limited resources in competitive environments” (Jonason et al, 2020)
Summary
The FFT proposes that traits are genetically determined & unaffected by culture, highlighting the biological basis of personality.
The FFT proposes that traits are likely to shape culture & underlie differences between the East & West, suggesting a top-down influence.
These differences may have been evolutionarily shaped by local factors including pathogens & scarce resources, adapting personality to environmental challenges.
However, does culture really not shape personality, leaving room for the influence of cultural factors?
Therapy for Psychopathy?
If primary psychopathy is a brain disorder…
Pharmacological intervention for psychopathy? (Thompson et al., 2014), exploring potential treatment options.