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 scales generalized across age and gender groups, approximated the individual-level Five-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

Strach ze zesměšnění: Česká a slovenská verze dotazníku GELOPH 15 pro zjišťování gelotofobie

Gelotophobia is defined as the fear of being laughed at. First empirical studies revealed that it is a valid and useful new concept. Furthermore, it was shown that it is of relevance among non-clinical groups and that it should be best conceptualized as a one-dimensional individual differences phenomenon. The present study presents first empirical data on the fear of being laughed at in the Czech Republic (N = 286) and in Slovakia (N = 440). It describes the adaptation of an instrument for the subjective assessment of gelotophobia to Czech and to Slovakian. The translations yielded good psychometric properties in terms of a high reliability (α ≥ .87). Especially, items referring to the avoidance of places where one has made an embarrassing impression (Czech Republic) and to controlling oneself strongly for not attracting negative attention for not making a ridiculous impression on others (Slovakia) yielded higher endorsements. Gelotophobia was not related to demographics, such as age, sex, and marital status (Czech Republic), but related to personality traits included in five-factor model. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the five broad personality dimensions explained 41% (Czech sample) and 21% (Slovak sample) of fear of being laughed at. 6.29% (Czech Republic) and 6.14% (Slovakia) of the participants exceeded a cut-off score indicating at least a slight expression of gelotophobic symptoms. The GELOPH seems to be a useful instrument for further research on gelotophobia

The Inaccuracy of National Character Stereotypes

Consensual stereotypes of some groups are relatively accurate, whereas others are not. Previous work suggesting that national character stereotypes are inaccurate has been criticized on several grounds. In this article we (a) provide arguments for the validity of assessed national mean trait levels as criteria for evaluating stereotype accuracy and (b) report new data on national character in 26 cultures from descriptions (N = 3323) of the typical male or female adolescent, adult, or old person in each. The average ratings were internally consistent and converged with independent stereotypes of the typical culture member, but were weakly related to objective assessments of personality. We argue that this conclusion is consistent with the broader literature on the inaccuracy of national character stereotypes

Assessing the universal structure of personality in early adolescence: The NEO-PI-R and NEO-PI-3 in 24 cultures

The structure and psychometric characteristics of the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (NEO-PI-3), a more readable version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R), are examined and compared with NEO-PI-R characteristics using data from college student observer ratings of 5,109 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years from 24 cultures. Replacement items in the PI-3 showed on average stronger item-total correlations and slightly improved facet reliabilities compared with the NEO-PI-R in both English- and non-English-speaking samples. NEO-PI-3 replacement items did not substantially affect scale means compared with the original scales. Analyses across and within cultures confirmed the intended factor structure of both versions when used to describe young adolescents. The authors discuss implications of these cross-cultural findings for the advancement of studies in adolescence and personality development across the lifespan.</p