Personality and Prejudice: From Big Five Personality Factors to Facets

On the Selection of Item Scores or Composite Scores for Clinical Prediction

Recent shifts to prioritize prediction, rather than explanation, in psychological science have increased applications of predictive modeling methods. However, composite predictors, such as sum scores, are still commonly used in practice. The motivations behind composite test scores are largely intertwined with reducing the influence of measurement error in answering explanatory questions. But this may be detrimental for predictive aims. The present paper examines the impact of utilizing composite or item-level predictors in linear regression. A mathematical examination of the bias-variance decomposition of prediction error in the presence of measurement error is provided. It is shown that prediction bias, which may be exacerbated by composite scoring, drives prediction error for linear regression. This may be particularly salient when composite scores are comprised of heterogeneous items such as in clinical scales where items correspond to symptoms. With sufficiently large training samples, the increased prediction variance associated with item scores becomes negligible even when composite scores are sufficient. Practical implications of predictor scoring are examined in an empirical example predicting suicidal ideation from various depression scales. Results show that item scores can markedly improve prediction particularly for symptom-based scales. Cross-validation methods can be used to empirically justify predictor scoring decisions.

Adaptation and validation of the Johnson-Lecci scale to assess anti-white bias among black UK minority group members

The present study (total N = 901) set out to construct and validate a culturally sensitive instrument to examine anti-White bias among Black UK minority group members. Our novel measure of anti-White bias-which we called the AWB scale-was based upon the Johnson-Lecci scale (JLS; 2003) a questionnaire designed to measure anti-White attitudes among Black Americans. Studies 1 and 2 provided converging evidence for the AWB's four-factor dimensionality, its structural characteristics, its temporal stability and its external validity in Black UK samples, attesting to the consistency of minorities' experience of anti-majority bias in two very different societal contexts. Moreover, Study 3 evidenced our measure's utility for understanding reactions to various relevant contemporary societal events. Theoretical contributions to the literature on intergroup bias are delineated and compared with majority-to-minority prejudice.

The Attribution of Parental Competence to Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Couples: Experimental and Correlational Results

This research examined the impact of sexual orientation on heterosexuals' judgment of parental competence. Using a vignette approach, Study 1 presented participants with a lesbian, gay, or heterosexual couple who desired to have a child, either as adoptive parents or, in an additional heterosexual target condition, as biological parents. Study 2 presented a lesbian, gay, or heterosexual parent couple; heterosexual targets were either adoptive parents, reflecting the LG target conditions, or biological parents. Contradicting Hypothesis 1, neither target sexual orientation nor way to parenthood (with the latter varied in the heterosexual target condition only) had an impact on parental competence attributions. Confirming Hypothesis 2, participants with personal contact with lesbian and gay (LG) people provided higher ratings of LG target parental competence, mediated by positive attitudes toward homosexuality. Importantly, this mediation did not occur in the heterosexual target condition, corroborating the specificity of the intergroup contact effect.

Agreeableness and Its Consequences: A Quantitative Review of Meta-Analytic Findings

Agreeableness impacts people and real-world outcomes. In the most comprehensive quantitative review to date, we summarize results from 142 meta-analyses reporting effects for 275 variables, which represent N > 1.9 million participants from k > 3,900 studies. Arranging variables by their content and type, we use an organizational framework of 16 conceptual categories that presents a detailed account of Agreeableness’ external relations. Overall, the trait has effects in a desirable direction for 93% of variables (grand mean [Formula: see text]). We also review lower order trait evidence for 42 variables from 20 meta-analyses. Using these empirical findings, in tandem with existing theory, we synthesize eight general themes that describe Agreeableness’ characteristic functioning across variables: self-transcendence, contentment, relational investment, teamworking, work investment, lower results emphasis, social norm orientation, and social integration. We conclude by discussing potential boundary conditions of findings, contributions and limitations of our review, and future research directions.

Associations Between Openness Facets, Prejudice, and Tolerance: A Scoping Review With Meta-Analysis

The personality factor of openness to experience, which encompasses curiosity, imagination, and a desire for new experiences, has been associated negatively with prejudice and positively with the closely related value of tolerance. While these relationships have been reviewed at the factor level, there has been no review of research at the lower facet level. This review aims to uncover the relationships between the facets of openness and the constructs of prejudice and tolerance. We conducted a preregistered scoping review with meta-analysis following the recommended guidelines from Joanna Briggs Institute. A total of 2,349 articles were reviewed, with 16 primary research articles (or 17 studies) meeting the criteria for inclusion. Aggregated effect sizes via random-effect meta-analysis revealed that all revised neuroticism-extraversion-openness personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) and international personality item pool (IPIP)-based facets of openness significantly predicted prejudice and tolerance. Out of the three measures [i.e., NEO-PI-R, IPIP-NEO, and honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience personality inventory (HEXACO-PI), and the facets of openness examined], the NEO-PI-R facet of value was most strongly associated with prejudice. In contrast, the NEO-PI-R facet of aesthetics was the facet most strongly associated with tolerance. However, these results should be treated as preliminary in light of the small number of meta-analyzed studies and more primary research studies are needed to confirm the trends found in this review. This review represents the first step in the systematic investigation of the link between the facets of openness and components of prejudice and tolerance and contributes toward explaining prejudice and tolerance.

The Relationships Between Personality Traits and Public Stigma Attached to Families Bereaved Due To Suicide

Suicide is a serious global public-health issue that is perceived as the most stigmatizing of sudden losses. Most studies on this topic have examined how bereaved families perceive public stigma, paying less attention to the actual stigma experienced by those not directly bereaved. Therefore, this study examined the association between personality traits and the public stigma attached to families that have lost a member to suicide. Three hundred and eighty (N = 380) Israeli participants completed demographic, Big 5, and stigma questionnaires. The study findings demonstrate that neuroticism and openness to experience are associated with higher levels of public stigma, while conscientiousness is associated with lower levels of public stigma. In addition, Arab participants reported higher levels of public stigma than Jewish participants. These findings make an important contribution to our understanding of the relationship between personality traits and the public stigma attached to families that have lost a member to suicide.

Default Mode Network Functional Connectivity Negatively Associated with Trait Openness to Experience

Evaluating associations between the five-factor personality domains and resting-state functional connectivity networks (e.g., default mode network, DMN) highlights distributed neurobiological systems linked to behaviorally relevant phenotypes. Establishing these associations can highlight a potential underlying role for these neural pathways in related clinical illness and treatment response. Here we examined associations between within- and between-network resting-state functional connectivity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the five-factor personality domains: Openness to experience (Openness), Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. We included data from 470 resting-state scan sessions and personality assessments in 295 healthy participants. Within- and between-network functional connectivity from 32 a priori defined regions was computed across seven resting-state networks. The association between functional connectivity and personality traits was assessed using generalized least squares. Within-network DMN functional connectivity was significantly negatively associated with trait Openness (regression coefficient= -0.0010; [95% CI] = [-0.0017, -0.0003]; pFWER = 0.033), seemingly driven by association with the Fantasy subfacet. Trait Extraversion was significantly negatively associated with functional connectivity between the visual and dorsal attention networks and positively associated with functional connectivity between the frontoparietal and language networks. Our findings provide evidence that resting-state DMN is associated with trait Openness and gives insight into personality neuroscience.

A Dilemma of Dogma: Specifying the Personality Root of Sexual Prejudice

The current study integrated prior research demonstrating 1) a mediational process by which the Five-Factor Model personality factor Openness to Experience, transmitted through right-wing authoritarian ideology, predicts sexual prejudice and 2) that the Five-Factor Model personality facet Openness to Values may be the more precise personality root of this process. Participants were 79 college students who completed a comprehensive measure of Five-Factor Model personality factors and facets and other relevant measures. Results supported hypotheses. In particular, facet-level Openness to Values accounted for comparable unique variance in sexual prejudice as factor-level Openness, and analyses of direct and indirect effects and overall model fit supported Openness to Values as the precise source predictor of the mediational pathway. Discussion focuses on preliminary evidence that Openness (and perhaps its facets) may be cultivated, and sexual prejudice reduced, by contact interventions. I emphasize in particular the promise of contact interventions that avoid frustration of the dogmatic personality by enhancing the experiential processing mode, including encouraging mental simulation of alternate social values.

Inter‐ and intrapersonal processes underlying authoritarianism: The role of social conformity and personal need for structure

Several personality constructs have been theorised to underlie right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA). In samples from New Zealand and Germany (Ns = 218, 259), we tested whether these constructs can account for specific variance in RWA. In both samples, social conformity and personal need for structure were independent predictors of RWA. In Sample 2, where also openness to experience was measured, social conformity and personal need for structure fully mediated the impact of the higher‐order factor of openness on RWA. Our results contribute to the integration of current approaches to the personality basis of authoritarianism and suggest that two distinct personality processes contribute to RWA: An interpersonal process related to social conformity and an intrapersonal process related to rigid cognitive style. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Right–Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation Differentially Moderate Intergroup Effects on Prejudice

Research has shown that two individual difference dimensions, Right–Wing authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), consistently predict prejudice. Traditionally it has been assumed that RWA and SDO both index generalized dispositions to dislike outgroups and those who differ, and therefore predict prejudice similarly. An alternative approach suggests that RWA and SDO express different motivational bases for prejudice that differentially interact with intergroup conditions to predict prejudice. This was tested by investigating students’ reactions to varying descriptions of a bogus immigrant group. As hypothesized, the degree to which RWA and SDO predicted opposition to the immigrants was differentially contingent on the degree to which the immigrants were described as economically competitive, socially threatening (deviant) and socio–economically disadvantaged. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Predictors of stigma in a sample of mental health professionals: Network and moderator analysis on gender, years of experience, personality traits, and levels of burnout

Background.

Stigma is one of the most important barriers to help-seeking and to personal recovery for people suffering from mental disorders. Stigmatizing attitudes are present among mental health professionals with negative effects on the quality of health care.

Methods.

Network and moderator analysis were used to identify what path determines stigma, considering demographic and professional variables, personality traits, and burnout dimensions in a sample of mental health professionals (n = 318) from six Community Mental Health Services. The survey included the Attribution Questionnaire-9, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory.

Results.

The personality trait of openness to new experiences resulted to determine lower levels of stigma. Burnout (personal accomplishment) interacted with emotional stability in predicting stigma, and specifically, for subjects with lower emotional stability lower levels of personal accomplishment were associated with higher levels of stigma.

Conclusions.

Some personality traits may be accompanied by better empathic and communication skills, and may have a protective role against stigma. Moreover, burnout can increase stigma, in particular in subjects with specific personality traits. Assessing personality and burnout levels could help in identifying mental health professionals at higher risk of developing stigma. Future studies should determine whether targeted interventions in mental health professionals at risk of developing stigma may be effective in stigma prevention.

Individual-Level Analyses of the Impact of Parasite Stress on Personality: Reduced Openness Only for Older Individuals

The parasite stress hypothesis predicts that individuals living in regions with higher infectious disease rates will show lower openness, agreeableness, and extraversion, but higher conscientiousness. This article, using data from more than 250,000 U.S. Facebook users, reports tests of these predictions at the level of both U.S. states and individuals and evaluates criticisms of previous findings. State-level results for agreeableness and conscientiousness are consistent with previously reported cross-national findings, but others (a significant positive correlation with extraversion and no correlation with openness) are not. However, effects of parasite stress on conscientiousness and agreeableness are not found when analyses account for the data's hierarchical structure and include controls. We find that only openness is robustly related to parasite stress in these analyses, and we also find a significant interaction with age: Older, but not younger, inhabitants of areas of high parasite stress show lower openness. Interpretations of the findings are discussed.

Who Is Prejudiced, and Toward Whom? The Big Five Traits and Generalized Prejudice

Meta-analyses show that low levels of Openness and Agreeableness correlate with generalized prejudice. However, previous studies narrowly assessed prejudice toward low-status, disadvantaged groups. Using a broad operationalization of generalized prejudice toward a heterogeneous array of targets, we sought to answer two questions: (a) Are some types of people prejudiced against most types of groups? and (b) Are some types of people prejudiced against certain types of groups? Across four samples ( N = 7,543), Openness was very weakly related to broad generalized prejudice, r = −.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) [−.07, −.001], whereas low Agreeableness was reliably associated with broad generalized prejudice, r = −.23, 95% CI [−.31, −.16]. When target characteristics moderated relationships between Big Five traits and prejudice, they implied that perceiver–target dissimilarity on personality traits explains prejudice. Importantly, the relationship between Agreeableness and prejudice remained robust across target groups, suggesting it is the personality trait orienting people toward (dis)liking of others.

There Is a Limit to Your Openness: Mental Illness Stigma Mediates Effects of Individual Traits on Preference for Psychiatry Specialty

Objective: The widening gap between the need for mental health professionals and the low percentages of medical students pursuing a psychiatric career urges an examination of how individual traits, stigma attitudes, and related intended behaviors interact to better explain the variance in preferences for psychiatry as a specialty choice. Methods: Participants were second-year, preclinical medical students at Bologna University, Italy. The study consisted in completion of an online questionnaire evaluating preferences for the psychiatry specialty (one single item and a scenario-based response), personality traits (the Big Five Questionnaire), attitudes (Mental Illness for Clinicians' Attitude scale), behaviors (Reported and Intended Behavior Scale), and fears toward mental illness (questionnaire created ad hoc). Sociodemographic data were also collected. Results: A total of 284 medical students [58.8% female, mean (SD) age 20.47 ± 1.90] completed the questionnaire. Preference for the psychiatry specialty was significantly and positively associated with openness to experience and negatively related with Mental Illness for Clinicians' Attitude scale and Reported and Intended Behavior Scale. The full-mediation model provided good indices explaining 18% of the variance. Mental illness stigma was strongly and negatively associated with both openness to experience and preference for psychiatry, and the mediation results evidenced a positive and significant effect. Conclusions: Mental illness stigma influences medical students' choice of psychiatry as a specialty, accounting for the effects of the openness to experience trait. Stigma awareness and reduction programs should be introduced as early as possible in medical education.

Prejudice, Integrativeness, and Motivation to Learn a Second Language: A Mediation Analysis

The role of prejudice in second-language acquisition has received little attention but may be related to an individual’s motivation to learn another language. For instance, learners who express high Social Dominance Orientation or Right-Wing Authoritarianism, constructs reflective of prejudice and worldviews that endorse hostility towards or fear of outgroup members, may be less motivated to learn a second language. Moreover, increased Social Dominance Orientation and/or Right-Wing Authoritarianism scores may be associated with reduced motivation to learn a second language due to the impact of prejudice on Integrativeness, which is the extent to which a person has an interest in learning a second language and in interacting with members who speak that second language. The current study sought to test these associations with a sample of 110 college participants learning French as a second language in a bilingual institution. Integrativeness was found to fully mediate the relations between Social Dominance Orientation, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, and Motivation to learn a second language. Results suggest the importance of examining the role of prejudice in second-language acquisition.

Attachment Style, Openness to Experience, and Social Contact as Predictors of Attitudes Toward Homosexuality

Considerable research has shown that people generally hold more negative attitudes toward homosexuals. Given this fact, it is important to understand psychological and social correlates of homophobia. With this purpose, the present study investigates attachment styles, openness to experience, and social contact in relation to attitudes toward homosexuals. The findings show that being female, having prior contact with homosexuals, and scoring high in openness to experience predict more favorable attitudes toward homosexuals. The supplementary analyses also support the moderating effect of secure attachment on the relationship between openness to experience and attitudes toward homosexuals. The present study not only extends the related research by examining the interactive effects of attachment style and personality trait, but also provides important implications for researchers, educators, or managers in terms of reducing anti-homosexual attitudes in diverse settings.

Direct and moderating effects of personality on stigma towards mental illness

BACKGROUND

While many studies have explored the concept and correlates of stigma towards individuals with mental illness, few have investigated the role of personality in this process. In the current study, we firstly examined the relationship between personality and stigma towards mental illness; and then explored the moderating effects of personality traits on the relationship between contact experience/s and stigma.

METHODS

Participants were recruited from public medical (N = 502) and nursing schools (N = 500) from April to September 2016 in Singapore for this cross-sectional survey, and they were randomly assigned to a vignette describing one of the following mental disorders: major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, alcohol abuse, schizophrenia, and dementia. Stigma was measured by the 'Personal and Perceived scales of the Depression Stigma Scale' and the 'Social Distance Scale'. These scales together had a 3-factor structure based on a previous national study in Singapore, namely 'weak-not-sick', 'dangerous/unpredictable' and 'social distance'. Personality was measured by the 20-item short form of the International Personality Item Pool-five factor model measure.

RESULTS

Regression suggested agreeableness and openness to experience were negatively associated with all three domains of stigma. 'Weak-not-sick' and extraversion were positively associated; and 'social distance' was positively associated with higher scores on conscientiousness and neuroticism. Both close- and non-close contact were associated with more positive attitudes towards mental illness among the participants. Openness to experience moderated the relationships of close contact experience with 'weak-not-sick' and 'dangerous/unpredictable', but in different directions. The association between close contact and 'social distance' were moderated by agreeableness.

CONCLUSIONS

Unlike non-close contact experience, close contact with people with mental illness worked differently on stigma for individuals with different personality traits. Future studies are needed to further explore the underlying mechanisms for such differences.

Is empathy one of the Big Three? Identifying its role in a dual-process model of ideology and blatant and subtle prejudice

In the field of the social psychology of prejudice, John Duckitt's Dual-Process Cognitive-Motivational Model of Ideology and Prejudice has gained a firm grounding over the past decade and a half, while empathy has become one of the most powerful predictors of prejudice, alongside right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. This study integrates empathy into the dual-process model, exploring the effects of this variable, along with the impact of personality and ideological attitudes, on prejudice in both its blatant and subtle forms. A cross-sectional research design was used to collect data from 260 university students by self-report measures. Despite its cross-sectional nature, a pattern of causal relationships was hypothesized according to experimental and longitudinal findings from previous studies. The path analysis results show that in the model fitted to the data, empathy does not have any direct impact on prejudice, although it plays a significant role in the prediction of prejudice towards a particular immigrant group. On the other hand, the dual-process model is confirmed in the explanation of blatant prejudice and, in a weaker and indirect way, of subtle prejudice; sustaining the distinctive nature of these constructs on some differential predictors and paths. In the discussion, this study proposes that when ideological and personality-based variables are both included in the model, general empathy is not so robust in the explanation of prejudice, since some of the empathetic components might become diluted among other covariates. But even so, its indirect effectiveness through personality and ideological attitudes remains relevant.

Is the Association Between Multicultural Personality and Ethnic Tolerance Explained by Cross-Group Friendship?

The present study reports on the relations between multicultural personality and ethnic tolerance via associations with cross-group friendship in a sample of Portuguese university students (n = 270). It was found that the multicultural personality dimensions, particularly cultural empathy, open-mindedness, social initiative, and flexibility, were significantly correlated with ethnic tolerance. At the same time, a mediation model demonstrated that the relationship between open-mindedness and ethnic tolerance was partially mediated by cross-group friendship. In addition, emotional stability was found to be indirectly related to ethnic tolerance via its association with cross-group friendship. These findings highlight the importance of considering individual and contact variables in promoting tolerance toward representatives of diverse ethnic and cultural groups.

Answering Unresolved Questions About the Relationship Between Cognitive Ability and Prejudice

Previous research finds that lower cognitive ability predicts greater prejudice. We test two unresolved questions about this association using a heterogeneous set of target groups and data from a representative sample of the United States ( N = 5,914). First, we test “who are the targets of prejudice?” We replicate prior negative associations between cognitive ability and prejudice for groups who are perceived as liberal, unconventional, and having lower levels of choice over group membership. We find the opposite (i.e., positive associations), however, for groups perceived as conservative, conventional, and having higher levels of choice over group membership. Second, we test “who shows intergroup bias?” and find that people with both relatively higher and lower levels of cognitive ability show approximately equal levels of intergroup bias but toward different sets of groups.

Examining the role of psychological inflexibility, perspective taking, and empathic concern in generalized prejudice

Research to-date on generalized prejudice has focused primarily on personality factors. Further work is needed identifying manipulable variables that directly inform antiprejudice interventions. This study examined three such variables: empathic concern, perspective taking, and psychological inflexibility/flexibility with prejudiced thoughts, as a test of the flexible connectedness model. A sample of 604 undergraduate students completed online surveys. A model indicated prejudice measures loaded onto a latent variable of generalized prejudice. In a second model, psychological inflexibility, flexibility, empathic concern, and perspective taking were all significant, independent predictors of generalized prejudice. Psychological inflexibility also predicted prejudice above and beyond personality and general inflexibility variables. Results suggest the three components of the flexible connectedness model may be important targets for prejudice interventions.

Challenging the Status Quo

Intersectionality theory is increasingly seen as a valuable tool for understanding and contextualizing the complexity of individual lives. However, psychologists have generally focused on intersectionality as defining a social location rather than as an individual difference that affects social attitudes and behavior. Using secondary data analyses from three separate studies, we examined the antecedents and implications of intersectional awareness (IA), or an understanding of structural inequality from an intersectional perspective. Data from Study 1 were used to establish construct validity and test the relationship between IA and activism in a student sample. Study 2 was a limited replication of Study 1 using a non-student sample. Finally, Study 3 examined the longitudinal relationship between IA and pro-social attitudes toward out-groups as well as the intention to be politically engaged. In this third study, IA was related to basic personality traits, beliefs about the social status quo, pro-social attitudes toward out-groups, intentions to be active, and activism but was unrelated to changes in pro-social attitudes toward out-groups or intentions to be active over time. We discuss how IA can help explain why people may reject prejudicial attitudes and social inequalities as well as when they may engage in collective action.

Intergroup Perception and Proactive Majority Integration Attitudes

Few social psychological investigations have focused on the potential active role of the majority in integration. The present study examines the relationship between intergroup perception and majority attitudes toward the proactive integration of immigrant minorities in Norway. It assesses how and whether perceived entitativity of immigrants, endorsement of counterstereotypic portrayals of immigrants and metaperspectives along the appraisal dimensions of warmth/competence predict the integration attitudes of majority members in Norway as measured by the Majority Integration Efforts (MIE) scale. Correlational and multiple regression analysis yielded two strong (perceptions of positive immigrant integration intentions and perceived entitativity) and two moderate (perceptions of high immigrant competence in Norwegian society and metawarmth) predictors of these attitudes. Further analysis indicated that the main effect of perceived immigrant entitativity on MIE attitudes was partially mediated by perceptions of counterstereotypic intentions and competence. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. We conclude by highlighting how the perception of immigrants’ positive integration intentions and their heterogeneity as a group may best promote majority support for proactive integration efforts.

Broad bandwidth or high fidelity? Evidence from the structure of genetic and environmental effects on the facets of the five factor model

The Five Factor Model of personality is well-established at the phenotypic level, but much less is known about the coherence of the genetic and environmental influences within each personality domain. Univariate behavioral genetic analyses have consistently found the influence of additive genes and nonshared environment on multiple personality facets, but the extent to which genetic and environmental influences on specific facets reflect more general influences on higher order factors is less clear. We applied a multivariate quantitative-genetic approach to scores on the CPI-Big Five facets for 490 monozygotic and 317 dizygotic twins who took part in the National Merit Twin Study. Our results revealed a complex genetic structure for facets composing all five factors, with both domain-general and facet-specific genetic and environmental influences. For three of the Big Five domains, models that required common genetic and environmental influences on each facet to occur by way of effects on a higher order trait did not fit as well as models allowing for common genetic and environmental effects to act directly on the facets. These results add to the growing body of literature indicating that important variation in personality occurs at the facet level which may be overshadowed by aggregating to the trait level. Research at the facet level, rather than the factor level, is likely to have pragmatic advantages in future research on the genetics of personality.

Parsimony in personality: predicting sexual prejudice

Extant research has established numerous demographic, personal-history, attitudinal, and ideological correlates of sexual prejudice, also known as homophobia. The present study investigated whether Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality domains, particularly Openness, and FFM facets, particularly Openness to Values, contribute independent and incremental variance to the prediction of sexual prejudice beyond these established correlates. Participants were 117 college students who completed a comprehensive FFM measure, measures of sexual prejudice, and a demographics, personal-history, and attitudes-and-ideologies questionnaire. Results of stepwise multiple regression analyses demonstrated that, whereas Openness domain score predicted only marginal incremental variance in sexual prejudice, Openness facet scores (particularly Openness to Values) predicted independent and substantial incremental variance beyond numerous other zero-order correlates of sexual prejudice. The importance of integrating FFM personality variables, especially facet-level variables, into conceptualizations of sexual prejudice is highlighted. Study strengths and weaknesses are discussed as are potential implications for prejudice-reduction interventions.

Personality and Social Psychology Factors Explaining Sexism

Previous research has almost exclusively examined sexism (negative attitudes toward women) from either a personality or a social-psychology perspective. In two studies (N = 379 and 182, respectively), we combine these perspectives and examine whether sexism is best explained by personality (Big-Five factors, social dominance orientation, and right-wing authoritarianism) or by social-psychological (group membership and group identification) variables – or by a combination of both approaches. Causal modeling and multiple regression analyses showed that, with the present set of variables, sexism was best explained by considering the combined influence of both personality- and social-psychology constructs. The findings imply that it is necessary to integrate various approaches to explain prejudice.

Trait antagonism and the progression of arterial thickening: women with antagonistic traits have similar carotid arterial thickness as men

A large body of evidence links antagonism-related traits with cardiovascular outcomes, but less is known about how psychological traits are associated with intermediate markers of cardiovascular disease. Using a large, community-based sample from Sardinia, Italy (n=5614), this study examined how trait antagonism (low agreeableness) and its facets are associated with carotid artery intima-media thickness, a measure of arterial thickening. Controlling for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors, low agreeableness and, in particular, low straightforwardness and low compliance, were associated with greater carotid thickening, measured concurrently and prospectively, and with increases in intima-media thickness over 3 years. Indeed, those in the bottom 10% of agreeableness had a 40% increase in risk for elevated intima-media thickness. Although men have thicker arterial walls, women with antagonistic traits had similar carotid thickening as antagonistic men. Antagonistic individuals, especially those who are manipulative and aggressive, have greater increases in arterial thickening, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors.