NEO PI-R personality characteristics of high-performing entry-level police officers.

The NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R; P. T. Costa, Jr., & R. R. McRae, 1992) measures the 5-factor model of personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness) and 30 specific personality facets within these domains. Researchers in personnel selection are beginning to use the NEO PI-R to describe the personality characteristics of high-functioning employees, including police officers. Here, 100 field training officers (FTOs) described the "best" entry-level police officers they had supervised, using the NEO PI-R Form R (Observer form). The resulting profile was notable for low Neuroticism, high Extraversion, and high Conscientiousness. NEO PI-R profiles of very high- and very low-performing entry-level officers were then compared. The low-performing group had higher Neuroticism and lower Conscientiousness scores than the high-performing group. The latter group was notable for low Neuroticism and high Conscientiousness scores that were similar to those obtained from the FTO sample. Results are relevant to identifying personality characteristics of high-performing entry-level police officers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality, temperament, and character dimensions and the DSM-IV personality disorders in substance abusers.

The authors evaluated the relationship between P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae's (1992) NEO 5-factor model, C. R. Cloninger's (1993) 7-factor Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the American Psychiatric Association's (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., personality disorders in 370 inpatient and outpatient alcohol, cocaine, and opiate abusers. NEO Neuroticism was associated with many disorders, and different patterns for Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion emerged for the different disorders. Several TCI scales were associated with different personality disorders, although not as strongly as the NEO dimensions. Results did not support most predictions made for the TCI. Normal personality dimensions contributed significantly to the prediction of personality disorder severity above and beyond substance abuse and depression symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and vocational interests in an adult sample.

Examined the relations between vocational typology developed by the 3rd author (1966, 1973) and the neuroticism–extraversion–openness (NEO) model of personality presented by the 1st 2 authors (1980) among 217 males and 144 females, aged 21–89 yrs. Young and old adult groups were similar to college students in most vocational interests, and the same pattern of sex differences was found. Correlations between Self-Directed Search and NEO inventory scores showed strong associations of investigative and artistic interests with openness to experience, and of social and enterprising interests with extraversion. Ss interested primarily in conventional occupations tended to be closed to experience. These associations were generally confirmed when spouse ratings were used as a non-self-report measure of personality traits in a subset of the Ss. The NEO Inventory complements the Holland typology, primarily in providing measures of neuroticsm. Research on the possible utility of supplementing vocational interest data with personality measures is suggested, and some implications for vocational counseling among older adults are discussed. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of the MMPI-2 Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5), the NEO-PI, and the NEO-PI—R.

This study examined relations between Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5; A. R. Harkness, J. L. McNulty, & Y. S. Ben-Porath, 1995), NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1985), and the revised NEO-PI (NEO-PI—R; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992) scores in community (N?=?170) and clinical (N?=?57) samples. In the clinical sample, the temporal stability of the scales and their associations with personality disorder symptom counts were also assessed. Correlations between the two instruments demonstrated meaningful relations between the two sets of constructs in both samples. Both instruments showed substantial stability over 6 months, and both were significant and substantial predictors of symptom counts for most personality disorders. The data support the reinterpretation of personality disorders in terms of underlying dimensions of personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

DSM-III—R personality disorders and the five-factor model of personality: An empirical comparison.

Examined the relationship between the 5-factor model (FFM) of personality and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III-Revised (DSM-III-R) personality disorders in a sample of 54 psychiatric outpatients. Correlations between raw scores on the NEO-Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) and the number of DSM-III—R personality disorder symptoms rated present using a semistructured interview were computed. In addition, correlations between NEO-PI scores and scores on 2 self-report personality disorder inventories were also examined to determine which results replicated across instruments. Results indicate that the FFM personality dimensions of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Agreeableness were most apparent in the DSM-III—R conceptualizations of the personality disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Global self-esteem in relation to structural models of personality and affectivity.

Three studies examined global self-esteem in relation to structural models of personality and affectivity. In every study, self-esteem was strongly negatively correlated with Neuroticism/Negative Affectivity and moderately to strongly related to Extraversion/Positive Affectivity. Additional findings, however, revealed that self-esteem is better viewed at the lower order level. For instance, global self-esteem correlated -.79 with the Depression facet of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (P. T. Costa, Jr., & R. R. McCrae, 1992) in Study 3. Moreover, confirmatory factor analyses produced very strong correlations between self-esteem and depression in both Study 2 (r = -.82) and Study 3 (r = -.86). Taken together, the data suggest that global self-esteem measures define one end of a bipolar continuum, with trait indicators of depression defining the other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers.

Two data sources—self reports and peer ratings—and two instruments—adjective factors and questionnaire scales—were used to assess the five-factor model of personality. As in a previous study of self-reports (McCrae & Costa, 1985b), adjective factors of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness–antagonism, and conscientiousness–undirectedness were identified in an analysis of 738 peer ratings of 275 adult subjects. Intraclass correlations among raters, ranging from .30 to .65, and correlations between mean peer ratings and self-reports, from .25 to .62, showed substantial cross-observer agreement on all five adjective factors. Similar results were seen in analyses of scales from the NEO Personality Inventory. Items from the adjective factors were used as guides in a discussion of the nature of the five factors. These data reinforce recent appeals for the adoption of the five-factor model in personality research and assessment. (69 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"An item response theory integration of normal and abnormal personality scales": Correction to Samuel et al (2010).

Reports an error in "An item response theory integration of normal and abnormal personality scales" by Douglas B. Samuel, Leonard J. Simms, Lee Anna Clark, W. John Livesley and Thomas A. Widiger (Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 2010[Jan], Vol 1[1], 5-21). In the acknowledgments, Douglas Samuel was incorrectly listed as the author of the DAPP-BQ instrument. John Livesley is the correct author of the DAPP-BQ instrument. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2010-01479-005.) The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–IV–TR) currently conceptualizes personality disorders (PDs) as categorical syndromes that are distinct from normal personality. However, an alternative dimensional viewpoint is that PDs are maladaptive expressions of general personality traits. The dimensional perspective postulates that personality pathology exists at a more extreme level of the latent trait than does general personality. This hypothesis was examined using item response theory analyses comparing scales from two personality pathology instruments—the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire (DAPP-BQ; Livesley & Jackson, in press) and the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP; Clark, 1993; Clark, Simms, Wu, & Casillas, in press)—with scales from an instrument designed to assess normal range personality, the NEO Personality Inventory–Revised (NEO PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992). The results indicate that respective scales from these instruments assess shared latent constructs, with the NEO PI-R providing more information at the lower (normal) range and the DAPP-BQ and SNAP providing more information at the higher (abnormal) range. Nevertheless, the results also demonstrated substantial overlap in coverage. Implications of the findings are discussed with respect to the study and development of items that would provide specific discriminations along underlying trait continua. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of NEO PI-R gender norms on the assessment of personality disorder profiles.

Many personality assessment inventories provide gender-specific norms to allow comparison of an individual's standing relative to others of the same gender. In some cases, this means that an identical raw score produces standardized scores that differ notably depending on whether the respondent is male or female. Thus, an important question is whether unisex-normed scores or gender-normed scores more validly assess personality. Gender-normed and unisex-normed scores from the NEO Personality Inventory—Revised (P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992) were examined in a large clinical sample, using 2 measures of personality disorder as validating criteria. Gender-normed scores did not obtain significantly higher correlations. In fact, for 2 personality disorders (antisocial and narcissistic), gender-normed scores yielded significantly lower correlations, suggesting that personality disorder pathology relates most closely to one's absolute level of a personality trait, rather than one's standing relative to others of the same gender. Ramifications of this finding for personality research and clinical assessment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relating the Tellegen and five-factor models of personality structure.

With 575 college students, the relationship between A. Tellegen's (1985) personality model, assessed with the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), and the Big Five model, operationalized by P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae's (1985) NEO Personality Inventory, was investigated. Correlations and joint factor analyses indicated that the MPQ constructs could be well-organized under the Big Five model, and the NEO constructs could be well-organized under the Tellegen higher-order dimensions (plus Absorption). Tellegen's higher-order dimensions relate to components of the Big Five hierarchically: Negative Emotionality encompasses Big Five Neuroticism and Agreeableness, Positive Emotionality encompasses Extraversion and the surgent aspect of Conscientiousness, and Constraint encompasses the controlled aspect of Conscientiousness and much of Openness to Experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality trait development from age 12 to age 18: Longitudinal, cross-sectional and cross-cultural analyses.

Three studies were conducted to assess mean level changes in personality traits during adolescence. Versions of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (P. T. Costa, Jr., & R. R. McCrae, 1992a) were used to assess the 5 major personality factors. A 4-year longitudinal study of intellectually gifted students (N = 230) was supplemented by cross-sectional studies of nonselected American (N = 1,959) and Flemish (N = 789) adolescents. Personality factors were reasonably invariant across ages, although rank-order stability of individual differences was low. Neuroticism appeared to increase in girls, and Openness to Experience increased in both boys and girls; mean levels of Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were stable. Results extend knowledge of the developmental curve of penalty traits backward from adulthood and help bridge the gap with child temperament studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Associations among NEO personality assessments and well-being at midlife: Facet-level analyses": Correction to Siegler and Brummett (2000).

Reports an error in "Associations among NEO personality assessments and well-being at mid-life: Facet-level analyses" by Ilene C. Siegler and Beverly H. Brummett (Psychology and Aging, 2000[Dec], Vol 15[4], 710-714). The article contained an error in the journal title for the Schmutte and Ryff (1997) reference. The correct reference is: Schmutte, P. S., & Ryff, C. D. (1997). Personality and well-being: Reexamining methods and meanings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 549-559. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2000-16635-013.) The association between well-being and personality was examined in 2,379 middle-aged adults. Measures that parallel C. D. Ryff's (1989) psychological model were selected to assess well-being. The 30 facet scales of the NEO-PI–R were used to measure personality. More than 83% of the facet–well-being correlations within the domains of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness reached statistical significance, whereas, less than half of the correlations within the domains of Agreeableness and Openness were significant. The facets within each domain demonstrated different patterns of associations with the well-being measures, indicating that facet-level assessments yield additional information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-cultural personality assessment in psychiatric populations: The NEO-PI—R in the People's Republic of China.

The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI—R) is a measure of the 5-factor model developed on volunteer samples in the United States. To examine its validity in a non-Western, psychiatric sample, an existing Chinese translation was modified for use in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The instrument was administered to 2,000 psychiatric in- and outpatients at 13 sites throughout the PRC. Internal consistency was low for some facet scales, but retest reliability was adequate and the hypothesized factor structure was clearly recovered. Correlations with age, California Psychological Inventory scales, and spouse ratings supported the validity of NEO-PI—R scales, and diagnostic subgroups showed meaningful personality profiles. The 5-factor model appears to be useful for the assessment of personality among Chinese psychiatric patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

IQ and ego-resiliency: Conceptual and empirical connections and separateness.

The constructs of intelligence and ego-resiliency are discussed. The personality implications of "pure intelligence" and "pure ego-resilience" were identified. Intelligence (IQ) was indexed by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS—R) and ego-resiliency by an inventory scale. Residual scores measuring "pure intelligence" and "pure ego-resilience" were correlated with the items of the observer based California Q-sort, used to describe participants. Persons relatively high on ego-resilience tend to be more competent and comfortable in the "fuzzier" interpersonal world; persons defined primarily by raw IQ tend to be effective in the "clearer" world of structured work but tend also to be uneasy with affect and less able to realize satisfying human connections. Gender differences exist in the relations of ego-resilience and intelligence and in their adaptive relevance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An alternative to the search for single polymorphisms: Toward molecular personality scales for the five-factor model.

There is growing evidence that personality traits are affected by many genes, all of which have very small effects. As an alternative to the largely unsuccessful search for individual polymorphisms associated with personality traits, the authors identified large sets of potentially related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and summed them to form molecular personality scales (MPSs) with from 4 to 2,497 SNPs. Scales were derived from two thirds of a large (N = 3,972) sample of individuals from Sardinia who completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (P. T. Costa, Jr., & R. R. McCrae, 1992) and were assessed in a genomewide association scan. When MPSs were correlated with the phenotype in the remaining one third of the sample, very small but significant associations were found for 4 of the 5e personality factors when the longest scales were examined. These data suggest that MPSs for Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness (but not Extraversion) contain genetic information that can be refined in future studies, and the procedures described here should be applicable to other quantitative traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between the five-factor model of personality and Axis I disorders in a nonclinical sample.

The relationship between the 5-factor model (FFM) of personality and Axis I disorders was evaluated in a nonclinical sample of 468 young adults. In general, scores on the 5 personality dimensions of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness (assessed via the NEO Five-Factor Inventory) distinguished Ss with and without a variety of Axis I diagnoses from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III-Revised (DSM-III-R). In several instances, results indicate that scores on these dimensions were differentially sensitive to diagnosis. Furthermore, scores on these 5 personality dimensions accounted for unique variance in several Axis I diagnoses above and beyond that accounted for by a general measure of current psychopathological symptoms. These results support the utility of the FFM of personality in Axis I diagnostic assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The utility of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory in an outpatient, drug rehabilitation context.

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO–PI–R) in a mostly African American clinical sample and determined if these qualities provided useful information about their motivational characteristics that were germane to treatment. Eighty-two men and 50 women entered a 6-week outpatient drug rehabilitation program, completed the NEO–PI–R, and received counselor ratings of personality at admission. The 99 who finished the program completed a 2nd NEO–PI–R. Counselors provided ratings of treatment responsiveness. The cross-observer, cross-method, cross-time correlations indicated that the NEO–PI–R can be a useful tool for organizing clinical information about clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term stability of NEO–PI–R personality trait scores in opioid-dependent outpatients.

The present study examined the short-term stability of personality trait scores from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO–PI-R) among 230 opioid-dependent outpatients. The NEO–PI-R is a 240-item empirically developed measure of the five-factor model of personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness). Participants completed the NEO–Pl-R at admission and again approximately 19 weeks later. Results indicated fair to good stability for all NEO–PI-R factor domain scores, with coefficients ranging from .68 to .74. Stability of NEO–PI-R scores was decreased among potentially invalid response patterns but was not significantly affected by drug-positive versus drug-negative status at follow-up. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An item response theory integration of normal and abnormal personality scales.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 1(3) of Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment (see record 2010-17135-005). In the acknowledgments, Douglas Samuel was incorrectly listed as the author of the DAPP-BQ instrument. John Livesley is the correct author of the DAPP-BQ instrument.] The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–IV–TR) currently conceptualizes personality disorders (PDs) as categorical syndromes that are distinct from normal personality. However, an alternative dimensional viewpoint is that PDs are maladaptive expressions of general personality traits. The dimensional perspective postulates that personality pathology exists at a more extreme level of the latent trait than does general personality. This hypothesis was examined using item response theory analyses comparing scales from two personality pathology instruments—the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire (DAPP-BQ; Livesley & Jackson, in press) and the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP; Clark, 1993; Clark, Simms, Wu, & Casillas, in press)—with scales from an instrument designed to assess normal range personality, the NEO Personality Inventory–Revised (NEO PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992). The results indicate that respective scales from these instruments assess shared latent constructs, with the NEO PI-R providing more information at the lower (normal) range and the DAPP-BQ and SNAP providing more information at the higher (abnormal) range. Nevertheless, the results also demonstrated substantial overlap in coverage. Implications of the findings are discussed with respect to the study and development of items that would provide specific discriminations along underlying trait continua. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A convergence of the tender-minded and the tough-minded?

Compares the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) with an assessment instrument described by R. R. McCrae and P. T. Costa (see record 1987-01218-001). It is suggested that empirically oriented personality theorists and practitioner-oriented psychologists—converging on a common set of factors describing personality—may converge to produce a valid depiction of basic personality dimensions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)