Personality profiles of cultures: Aggregate personality traits.

Personality profiles of cultures can be operationalized as the mean trait levels of culture members. College students from 51 cultures rated an individual from their country whom they knew well (N=12,156). Aggregate scores on Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) scales generalized across age and sex groups, approximated the individual-level 5-factor model, and correlated with aggregate self-report personality scores and other culture-level variables. Results were not attributable to national differences in economic development or to acquiescence. Geographical differences in scale variances and mean levels were replicated, with Europeans and Americans generally scoring higher in Extraversion than Asians and Africans. Findings support the rough scalar equivalence of NEO-PI-R factors and facets across cultures and suggest that aggregate personality profiles provide insight into cultural differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's beliefs about substance use: An examination of age differences in implicit and explicit cognitive precursors of substance use initiation.

Cognitive models conceptualize attitudes and beliefs about substance use (SU) as proximal mediators of a variety of risk and protective factors for SU. Researchers have distinguished implicit and explicit cognition, but limited research has examined this distinction in the early stages of SU. The authors' goal was to examine age differences in implicit and explicit SU cognitions to clarify proximal cognitive processes that may be involved in early SU. Alcohol- and cigarette-naive children (N=76; 69.7% male; M age=11.8 years) completed the laboratory-based experiment. Likelihood ratings of costs and benefits of use assessed explicit cognitions, and a priming task assessed implicit cognitions. Regardless of age, children perceived costs of drinking alcohol and smoking as more likely than benefits. This discrepancy was smaller for older children, although this age difference was weaker for costs and benefits of cigarette use. Strong positive implicit alcohol use cognitions were apparent regardless of age. However, age differences were found for implicit cigarette use cognition. Older children were more positive about cigarette use. Findings suggest the importance of distinguishing explicit and implicit cognition for etiological models of early SU. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in beliefs about groups.

The current research examined individual differences in peoples' positive versus negative beliefs about groups. Three studies were conducted to develop and validate a 16-item Beliefs About Groups (BAG) scale. Factor analyses in Studies 1 and 2 identified and replicated a 4-factor solution, with factors reflecting preferences for group versus individual work, positive group performance beliefs, negative group performance beliefs, and beliefs that others will work hard on group tasks. Study 2 also provided evidence for convergent and divergent validity, and explored relationships between the Big Five personality dimensions and group beliefs. Study 3 provided evidence for test–retest reliability. Across these 3 studies, the BAG scale had total score alphas ranging from .83 to .88. Implications of beliefs about groups for member motivation and group performance, as well as for future research and practice, are highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond cognition: Predicting health risk behaviors from instrumental and affective beliefs.

Objective: Two studies assessed the relative contribution of affective and instrumental beliefs to the prediction of 2 risk behaviors: driving above the speed limit and smoking. Design: Both studies took the form of large-scale questionnaire surveys (Study 1, N = 292; Study 2, N = 500) measuring instrumental and affective beliefs and self-reported behavior. In both cases, behavior was also measured objectively. Outcome measures: In Study 1, speeding behavior was measured via infrared camera along sections of road with 30 mph, 40 mph, and 60 mph speed limits. Self-reports of speeding in these same contexts represented a 2nd dependent variable. In Study 2, level of smoking was measured via a carbon monoxide monitor, and participants were asked to indicate the number of cigarettes they smoked in a week. Results: In Study 1, positive and negative instrumental and affective beliefs were significant predictors of self-reported speed. The most powerful predictor was negative affective beliefs. Observed speed was predicted by negative affective beliefs only. In Study 2, the significant predictors of self-reported smoking and objective measures of smoking were positive and negative affective beliefs. Conclusion: The findings indicate the importance of affective beliefs across 2 health risk behaviors. Implications for social cognition models and interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in personality traits across cultures: Robust and surprising findings.

Secondary analyses of Revised NEO Personality inventory data from 26 cultures (N =23,031) suggest that gender differences are small relative to individual variation within genders; differences are replicated across cultures for both college-age and adult samples, and differences are broadly consistent with gender stereotypes: Women reported themselves to be higher in Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Warmth, and Openness to Feelings, whereas men were higher in Assertiveness and Openness to Ideas. Contrary to predictions from evolutionary theory, the magnitude of gender differences varied across cultures. Contrary to predictions from the social role model, gender differences were most pronounced in European and American cultures in which traditional sex roles are minimized. Possible explanations for this surprising finding are discussed, including the attribution of masculine and feminine behaviors to roles rather than traits in traditional cultures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demonstrations of implicit anti-fat bias: The impact of providing causal information and evoking empathy.

Three studies investigated implicit biases, and their modifiability, against overweight persons. In Study 1 (N=144), the authors demonstrated strong implicit anti-fat attitudes and stereotypes using the Implicit Association Test, despite no explicit anti-fat bias. When participants were informed that obesity is caused predominantly by overeating and lack of exercise, higher implicit bias relative to controls was produced; informing participants that obesity is mainly due to genetic factors did not result in lower bias. In Studies 2A (N=90) and 2B (N=63), participants read stories of discrimination against obese persons to evoke empathy. This did not lead to lower bias compared with controls but did produce diminished implicit bias among overweight participants, suggesting an in-group bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why can't a man be more like a woman? Sex differences in Big Five personality traits across 55 cultures.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 96(1) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2008-18683-004). Some of the sample sizes presented in Table 1 were incorrectly reported. The correct sample sizes are presented in the erratum.] Previous research suggested that sex differences in personality traits are larger in prosperous, healthy, and egalitarian cultures in which women have more opportunities equal with those of men. In this article, the authors report cross-cultural findings in which this unintuitive result was replicated across samples from 55 nations (N = 17,637). On responses to the Big Five Inventory, women reported higher levels of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness than did men across most nations. These findings converge with previous studies in which different Big Five measures and more limited samples of nations were used. Overall, higher levels of human development--including long and healthy life, equal access to knowledge and education, and economic wealth--were the main nation-level predictors of larger sex differences in personality. Changes in men's personality traits appeared to be the primary cause of sex difference variation across cultures. It is proposed that heightened levels of sexual dimorphism result from personality traits of men and women being less constrained and more able to naturally diverge in developed nations. In less fortunate social and economic conditions, innate personality differences between men and women may be attenuated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culture, cross-role consistency, and adjustment: Testing trait and cultural psychology perspectives.

Trait and cultural psychology perspectives on cross-role consistency and its relation to adjustment were examined in 2 individualistic cultures, the United States (N = 231) and Australia (N = 195), and 4 collectivistic cultures, Mexico (N = 199), the Philippines (N = 195), Malaysia (N = 217), and Japan (N = 180). Cross-role consistency in trait ratings was evident in all cultures, supporting trait perspectives. Cultural comparisons of mean consistency provided support for cultural psychology perspectives as applied to East Asian cultures (i.e., Japan) but not collectivistic cultures more generally. Some but not all of the hypothesized predictors of consistency were supported across cultures. Cross-role consistency predicted aspects of adjustment in all cultures, but prediction was most reliable in the U.S. sample and weakest in the Japanese sample. Alternative constructs proposed by cultural psychologists-personality coherence, social appraisal, and relationship harmony-predicted adjustment in all cultures but were not, as hypothesized, better predictors of adjustment in collectivistic cultures than in individualistic cultures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Why can't a man be more like a woman? Sex differences in big five personality traits across 55 cultures": Correction to Schmitt et al. (2008).

Reports an error in "Why can't a man be more like a woman? Sex differences in Big Five personality traits across 55 cultures" by David P. Schmitt, Anu Realo, Martin Voracek and Jüri Allik (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2008[Jan], Vol 94[1], 168-182). Some of the sample sizes presented in Table 1 were incorrectly reported. The correct sample sizes are presented in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-19165-013.) Previous research suggested that sex differences in personality traits are larger in prosperous, healthy, and egalitarian cultures in which women have more opportunities equal with those of men. In this article, the authors report cross-cultural findings in which this unintuitive result was replicated across samples from 55 nations (N = 17,637). On responses to the Big Five Inventory, women reported higher levels of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness than did men across most nations. These findings converge with previous studies in which different Big Five measures and more limited samples of nations were used. Overall, higher levels of human development--including long and healthy life, equal access to knowledge and education, and economic wealth--were the main nation-level predictors of larger sex differences in personality. Changes in men's personality traits appeared to be the primary cause of sex difference variation across cultures. It is proposed that heightened levels of sexual dimorphism result from personality traits of men and women being less constrained and more able to naturally diverge in developed nations. In less fortunate social and economic conditions, innate personality differences between men and women may be attenuated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

(Why) do I think what you think? Epistemic social tuning and implicit prejudice.

This research examines whether people who experience epistemic motivation (i.e., a desire to acquire knowledge) came to have implicit attitudes consistent with the apparent beliefs of another person. People had lower implicit prejudice when they experienced epistemic motivation and interacted with a person who ostensibly held egalitarian beliefs (Experiments 1 and 2). Implicit prejudice was not affected when people did not experience epistemic motivation. Further evidence shows that this tuning of implicit attitudes occurs when beliefs are endorsed by another person, but not when they are brought to mind via means that do not imply that person's endorsement (Experiment 3). Results suggest that implicit attitudes of epistemically motivated people tune to the apparent beliefs of others to achieve shared reality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between level of training, implicit bias, and multicultural competency among counselor trainees.

The assessment of attitudes toward diversity among counselor trainees has relied on self-report measures. Implicit measures might offer a valuable addition to self-report because they assess biased attitudes indirectly, do not rely on conscious introspection, and often demonstrate bias that contradicts self-reported attitudes. A sample (N = 105) of counselor trainees was assessed with measures of implicit bias toward African Americans and lesbians and gay men and a measure of self-reported multicultural competency. Implicit bias was present among counselor trainees despite high self-reported multicultural competency. In addition, self-reported multicultural competency varied by training level, but implicit bias did not. The results suggest that implicit bias can add to the understanding, assessment, and training of multicultural counselor competency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A social-cognitive model of trait and state levels of gratitude.

Three studies tested a new model of gratitude, which specified the generative mechanisms linking individual differences (trait gratitude) and objective situations with the amount of gratitude people experience after receiving aid (state gratitude). In Study 1, all participants (N = 253) read identical vignettes describing a situation in which they received help. People higher in trait gratitude made more positive beneficial appraisals (seeing the help as more valuable, more costly to provide, and more altruistically intended), which fully mediated the relationship between trait and state levels of gratitude. Study 2 (N = 113) replicated the findings using a daily process study in which participants reported on real events each day for up to14 days. In Study 3, participants (N = 200) read vignettes experimentally manipulating objective situations to be either high or low in benefit. Benefit appraisals were shown to have a causal effect on state gratitude and to mediate the relationship between different prosocial situations and state gratitude. The 3 studies demonstrate the critical role of benefit appraisals in linking state gratitude with trait gratitude and the objective situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Cross-Cultural Investigation of the Efficacy Beliefs of South Asian Immigrant and Anglo Canadian Nonimmigrant Early Adolescents.

The author explored the mathematics efficacy beliefs of 270 South Asian (Indo Canadian) immigrant and Anglo Canadian nonimmigrant Grade 7 students. Self-efficacy beliefs strongly predicted mathematics performance for both cultural groups, but there were differences between the 2 groups in the sources of self-efficacy, the predictiveness of the secondary motivation variables, and the vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism. It is argued that the Indo Canadian students are more vertical or hierarchical than the Anglo Canadian students and that comparison with others strongly influences their motivation beliefs and the formation of their efficacy beliefs. Self-efficacy in some cultures may be more other-oriented than is typically seen in Western cultures. A caution against generalizing about Asian populations is given, and implications for school settings are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in efficacy beliefs in mathematics across the transition to middle school: Examining the effects of perceived teacher and parent goal emphases.

This study examined the effects of change in teacher goal emphases on students' efficacy beliefs in mathematics across the transition to middle school. The sample (N = 929) included primarily White (65%) and Black (27%) students, and approximately one third received free or reduced-fee lunch. Analyses grouped children by cross-classification of teachers (N = 53 elementary and N = 34 middle school teachers). On average, students' efficacy beliefs remained stable and relatively high across the transition. Compared with their elementary school teacher, children reported declines in both perceived teacher mastery and performance goal emphases in middle school. A cross-classified hierarchical linear model was used to estimate the effects of perceived teacher and parent goal emphases during 6th and 7th grades on changes in students' efficacy beliefs. An increase in self-efficacy beliefs from elementary to middle school was predicted by an increase in group-level perceptions of teachers' mastery goal emphasis, even after controlling for parents' goal emphases. These findings underscore the important role that both teachers' and parents' goal emphases play as children develop a sense of efficacy in mathematics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of interests and competency beliefs in Italian adolescents: An exploration of circumplex structure and bidirectional relationships.

In a cross-national replication and extension of prior research with American students, Italian middle and high school students completed measures of interests and competency beliefs relative to a variety of school- and nonschool-related activities. Both interests and competency beliefs tended to show greater adherence to circumplex Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (known as RIASEC) structure with increasing age, but this tendency was more pronounced in female than in male students. Interests and competency beliefs were moderately stable over a 1-year interval, with relatively small percentages of participants exhibiting clinically large changes on either variable. Good support was found for a bidirectional model of interest-competency belief relationships in both male and female students. Implications for further efforts to understand how interests and competency beliefs develop over time and across cultures are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is There a Universal Positivity Bias in Attributions? A Meta-Analytic Review of Individual, Developmental, and Cultural Differences in the Self-Serving Attributional Bias.

Researchers have suggested the presence of a self-serving attributional bias, with people making more internal, stable, and global attributions for positive events than for negative events. This study examined the magnitude, ubiquity, and adaptiveness of this bias. The authors conducted a meta-analysis of 266 studies, yielding 503 independent effect sizes. The average d was 0.96, indicating a large bias. The bias was present in nearly all samples. There were significant age differences, with children and older adults displaying the largest biases. Asian samples displayed significantly smaller biases (d = 0.30) than U.S. (d = 1.05) or Western (d = 0.70) samples. Psychopathology was associated with a significantly attenuated bias (d = 0.48) compared with samples without psychopathology (d = 1.28) and community samples (d = 1.08). The bias was smallest for samples with depression (0.21), anxiety (0.46), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (0.55). Findings confirm that the self-serving attributional bias is pervasive in the general population but demonstrates significant variability across age, culture, and psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Single Category Implicit Association Test as a measure of implicit social cognition.

The Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT) is a modification of the Implicit Association Test that measures the strength of evaluative associations with a single attitude object. Across 3 different attitude domains--soda brand preferences, self-esteem, and racial attitudes--the authors found evidence that the SC-IAT is internally consistent and makes unique contributions in the ability to understand implicit social cognition. In a 4th study, the authors investigated the susceptibility of the SC-IAT to faking or self-presentational concerns. Once participants with high error rates were removed, no significant self-presentation effect was observed. These results provide initial evidence for the reliability and validity of the SC-IAT as an individual difference measure of implicit social cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the leaky math pipeline: Comparing implicit math-gender stereotypes and math withdrawal in female and male children and adolescents.

Many models assume that habitual human behavior is guided by spontaneous, automatic, or implicit processes rather than by deliberate, rule-based, or explicit processes. Thus, math-ability self-concepts and math performance could be related to implicit math-gender stereotypes in addition to explicit stereotypes. Two studies assessed at what age implicit math-gender stereotyping can be observed and what the relations between these stereotypes and math-related outcomes are in children and adolescents. Implicit math-gender stereotypes could already be detected with Implicit Association Tests (Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) among 9-year-old girls. Adolescent girls showed stronger implicit gender stereotypes than adolescent boys, who, on average, did not reveal implicit gender-stereotypic associations. Girls also already showed an implicit affinity to language versus math at 9 years of age. In a regression analysis, implicit math-gender stereotypes predicted academic self-concepts, academic achievement, and enrollment preferences above and beyond explicit math-gender stereotypes for girls but (with the exception of achievement) not for boys. These findings suggest implicit gender stereotypes are an important factor in the dropout of female students from math-intensive fields. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpreting personality profiles across cultures: bilingual, acculturation, and peer rating studies of Chinese undergraduates

Prior research (R.R. McCrae, P.T. Costa, & M.S. Yik, 1996) using a Chinese translation of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory suggested substantial differences between Hong Kong and North American undergraduates. Study 1, with a sample of bilingual Hong Kong students (N = 162), showed that prior findings were not due simply to the translation. Study 2, with undergraduates of European and Chinese ancestry living in Canada (N = 633), suggested that more of the differences were cultural in origin. Study 3, which used peer ratings of Chinese students (N = 99), replicated most Study 2 results, suggesting that exposure to Canadian culture increased openness, cheerfulness, and prosocial behavior and attitudes. Differences in sense of competence and vulnerability to stress appeared to be due to different cultural standards for judging these traits. Together, the 3 studies illustrate an integrated approach to interpreting personality differences across cultures.