January 31, 2019

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia

Personality profiles and the "russian soul": Literary and scholarly views evaluated

Many domestic and foreign observers have claimed that Russians have a unique constellation of personality traits that mirrors their distinctive historical and cultural experience. To examine the hypothesized uniqueness of Russian personality, members of the Russian Character and Personality Survey collected data from 39 samples in 33 administrative areas of the Russian Federation. Respondents (N = 7,065) identified an ethnically Russian adult or college-aged man or woman whom they knew well and rated the target using the Russian observer-rating version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. The mean personality profile of Russians was very similar to the international average based on 50 different countries, debunking the myth of a unique Russian soul.The small variations from world norms did not converge with depictions of Russian national character in fiction and the scholarly literature. New items intended to capture distinctive, emic aspects of Russian personality provided no new information beyond the familiar Big Five dimensions. Religion, ethnicity, and beliefs about the uniqueness of the Russian character and the malleability of personality traits had little effect on personality ratings. Perceptions of the Russian soul do not seem to be based on the personality traits of Russians

An ecological approach to personality : Psychological traits as drivers and consequences of active perception

The ecological approach to perception highlights how organisms engage in active perception and that the environment is understood relative to an individual's physical traits. Personality research draws attention to the variability in psychological traits that affect the way individuals differentially explore and anticipate the world. The current paper identifies compatibilities in these fields and suggests that personality both initiates and perpetuates the manner with which individuals engage in active perception. Personality traits both drive and limit perceptual refinement of the world and also lead to the construction of niches to suit personality. Here, we explore the benefits for considering individual differences in perception and active perception in regards to personality theory, comparative psychology, mental health, research methodology, and intervention. We conclude by encouraging both ecological and personality research to consider the benefits of understanding personality traits as mechanisms for initiating or constraining active perception.Peer reviewe