Practical recommendations for considering culture, race, and ethnicity in personality psychology

Sociocultural influences on body image concerns in men of color - a structural equation modeling study

OBJECTIVE

There is a noticeable underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) men in the existing empirical literature examining the sociocultural influences on body image concerns. To fill the gap, this study aimed to gain a better understanding of how sociocultural factors correlated with body dissatisfaction among BIPOC men living within the U.S.

DESIGN

Structural equation modeling was used to address this gap by examining how multiple sociocultural factors - interpersonal appearance pressure, media appearance pressure, ethnic-racial identity attitudes (including ethnic-racial salience, stereotype endorsement, and nationalistic assimilation) and ethnic self-hatred towards one's ethnic group - were linked to dissatisfaction with muscularity, body fat and height in a sample of 181 BIPOC men participants.

RESULTS

The proposed cross-sectional path model achieved satisfactory model fit and explained 31.9% in muscularity dissatisfaction, 36.2% in body fat dissatisfaction, and 26.4% in height dissatisfaction. Among direct relationships, interpersonal appearance pressure emerged most prominently associated with height dissatisfaction, whereas media appearance pressure and ethnic self-hatred were more related to muscularity and body fat dissatisfaction. Regarding the mediation effects, media appearance pressure was found to partially mediate the relationship between interpersonal appearance pressure and body dissatisfaction, as well as the relationship between ethnic self-hatred and body dissatisfaction. Furthermore, ethnic self-hatred was found to be predicted by ethnic-racial identity attitudes.

CONCLUSION

This research profoundly expands our understanding of the ethnic and racial complexities surrounding body dissatisfaction among BIPOC men and encourages health practitioners to acknowledge the unique sociocultural and systemic dynamics (ethnic-racial identities and associated stressors) when working with BIPOC men who present with body image concerns.

Volitional Change in Pathological Traits: Can People Change Their Maladaptive Traits?

Research suggests people want to change their normative personality traits-and they can volitionally do so. However, studies have not yet addressed volitional change in pathological personality. Consequently, the current study examined (a) people's desires to change pathological traits, (b) whether these change goals predict subsequent trait change, (c) whether this withstands controlling normative traits, and (d) the extent to which pathological trait change predicts relevant outcomes. College students (N = 463) self-reported their pathological traits weekly for up to 16 weeks. People with elevated pathological traits generally desired to decrease these traits. Furthermore, goals to change negative affectivity and disinhibition predicted corresponding trait change. Thus, people want to reduce their pathological traits-and they may be able to do so for some traits.

Short-term personality development and early career success: Two longitudinal studies during the post-graduation transition

OBJECTIVE

Investigate short-term personality development during the post-graduation transition.

BACKGROUND

Prior research indicates that long-term personality development matters for employment outcomes. However, this evidence is primarily limited to multi-year longitudinal studies. This research switches the focus to personality changes during a shorter, impactful life transition.

METHOD

We examined how short-term personality development during the 14-month post-graduation transition relates to early career outcomes among two diverse samples of graduates from universities (N = 816) and community colleges (N = 567). We used latent growth curve models to examine associations between career outcomes measured 14 months after graduation with initial personality levels and personality changes.

RESULTS

Results revealed that mean-level changes in personality were small and mostly negative. Moreover, individual differences in personality changes were not associated with career outcomes. However, initial levels of conscientiousness, emotional stability, and extraversion positively related to both subjective and objective career success. Initial levels of agreeableness were also positively related to subjective (but not objective) success.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate that individual differences in personality trait levels at graduation are stronger predictors of early career success compared to short-term personality changes during the post-graduation transition. Taken together, these results help define the time sequence through which personality changes relate to career outcomes.

Explicating narrow and broad conceptualizations of environmental influences on personality

BACKGROUND

A surge of studies aims to identify environmental factors that explain individual differences, personality stability, and personality development. This special issue builds on this large interest and solicited articles on broad and narrow environmental factors of personality.

OBJECTIVE

We provide an overview of the motivations behind the special issue, review each of the articles, and present data on researchers' perceptions of environmental factors contributing to personality expression and development.

METHOD

We review 16 special issue articles, thematically grouped into seven topics-culture and race, genes and environment, geography and habitat, major/minor life events, social relationships, socioeconomic status and economic inequality, and work. We also present data on researchers' (N = 223) responses and ratings of environmental influences on personality expression and development.

RESULTS

In the open-ended responses, the most important environmental influences were family, culture, peers, relationships, and trauma. Among the least important were weather, birth order, geography, climate, and shared environment. Nearly all the environmental influences featured in this special issue were considered at least somewhat important; however, there was considerable heterogeneity in how important researchers found each topic.

CONCLUSIONS

There is no perfect consensus among researchers as to which environmental factors contribute most to personality expression and development. We hope that there is a larger surge of studies on personality constructs beyond traits, that contextualize concepts within a cultural and historical framework and develop more stringent theories to hypothesize about the environmental influences on personality.

An examination of personality expression in everyday life in a Canadian sample of racialized undergraduate students

OBJECTIVE

There is a growing body of research regarding the situations that are linked to personality expression in daily life. We examined racialized young adults' experiences of racial and ethnic cues, and variables from prior personality expression research.

METHOD

We assessed Big Five personality states in racialized undergraduate students (N = 180) in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada using experience sampling methodology. Participants (Mage  = 19.85-years-old; 51% South Asian, 17% East Asian, 11% African, 11% Middle Eastern, 9% Southeast Asian, 8% Black-North American, 5% Caribbean, 3% Afro-Caribbean, 2% Central American, 2% White/European, 1% South American, 1% North African, 1% South and Central American, 1% Afro-European, 3% another) provided five assessments daily over 12 days (Nobservations  = 6980).

RESULTS

We observed within-person associations from past personality expression research (e.g., participants exhibited greater conscientiousness when at school). Racial and ethnic cues from previous studies of racial and ethnic identity, stereotyping, discrimination, and prejudice were associated with situational characteristics (e.g., being in a majority White space was associated with being in public), and with Big Five personality states (e.g., racial identity salience was associated with extraversion).

CONCLUSION

Results suggest that assessing sociocultural variables beyond the individual provides an opportunity for better understanding personality expression.

The development of the Broaching Assessment Scale: A client-rated measure of therapists' broaching behaviour in clinical counselling

Objective: Addressing ethnic-cultural topics during the process of psychotherapy, i.e. broaching, is considered highly important for ethnic minority clients who consult mental health care services. Surprisingly little is known, however, about clients' perception of a therapist's broaching qualities, and how clients' mental construction of broaching translates into behavioural broaching acts a therapist may display.

Method: Based on previous work and nine in-depth interviews with ethnic minority clients, a client-rated measure of therapists' broaching behaviour was developed and psychometrically evaluated in two samples. Sample 1 (N = 252 UK ethnic minority clients) was used to empirically delineate the factor structure of an initial item set. Participants were then resolicited to complete a revised item pool.

Results: The empirical structure resulted in a final 25-item broaching instrument with five subscales probing into therapists' broaching behaviour. This Broaching Assessment Scale (BrAS) was validated in Sample 2 (N = 239 US ethnic minority clients). Strict measurement invariance of the factor structure was observed across the two samples and distinctive correlational patterns with therapeutic process measures were found.

Conclusion: The BrAS provides new insights on how sensitivity to ethnic-cultural topics can be targeted along its concrete features, and is a promising tool for conceptualizing culturally sensitive mental healthcare assessment.

Personality development in immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents: Disruption or maturation?

This study examined gender and immigrant status differences in stability and change in the Big Five traits in a sample of early adolescents in Greece from economically disadvantaged schools with a high immigrant composition (65% first- or second-generation immigrants). Youth in the sample ( N = 1252, 46% female, ages 12–13 at time 1) self-reported Big Five traits annually for 3 years. Mean-level and rank-order stability were examined separately by gender and immigration history. Growth modeling of mean-level scores showed declines in all five personality traits for both genders between ages 12 and 14, followed by increases in conscientiousness for girls and boys, and increases in agreeableness and openness to experience for boys only. In sensitivity analyses, boys showed disruption at all levels of perceived economic stress, but only girls with high levels of perceived economic stress showed disruption. Trajectories were similar for immigrant and non-immigrant youth, suggesting that immigrant youth did not show greater mean-level disruption. However, immigrant youth reported lower means on all traits except emotional stability. Rank-order stability was moderately strong over 3 years and comparable across both genders and immigration histories. Results in this high-risk sample supported the disruption hypothesis and suggest that immigration experiences are associated with personality development.

The transition to grandparenthood: No consistent evidence for change in the Big Five personality traits and life satisfaction

Intergenerational relations have received close attention in the context of population aging and increased childcare provision by grandparents. However, few studies have investigated the psychological consequences of becoming a grandparent. In a preregistered test of grandparenthood as a developmental task in middle and older adulthood, we used representative panel data from the Netherlands ( N = 563) and the United States ( N = 2210) to analyze first-time grandparents’ personality and life satisfaction development. We tested gender, employment, and grandchild care as moderators. To address confounding, we employed propensity score matching using two procedures: matching grandparents with parents and nonparents to achieve balance in different sets of carefully selected covariates. Multilevel models demonstrated mean-level stability of the Big Five personality traits and life satisfaction over the transition to grandparenthood, and no consistent moderation effects—contrary to the social investment principle. The few small effects of grandparenthood on personality development did not replicate across samples. We found no evidence of larger inter-individual differences in change in grandparents compared to the controls or of lower rank-order stability. Our findings add to recent critical re-examinations of the social investment principle and are discussed in light of characteristics that might moderate grandparents’ personality development.

The Psychology of Communication: The Interplay Between Language and Culture Through Time

Human behavior is often guided by the development and use of language as a means of communication and as a way to represent thoughts and knowledge. Notions of linguistic relativity and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis indicate that language plays a role in structuring the worldview and perceptions of individuals. The current work will explore how those perceptions are not only guided by language but are also moderated by culture and the beliefs, mores, and ideas that are sanctioned and regulated by a given cultural group. Papers, chapters, and books that have demonstrated the ways in which culture moderates behavior by way of the language that is used to express that culture will be of primary focus. Moreover, a developmental view of language learning will frame this approach in learning how language, culture, and thought have been examined and assessed as a way of describing how, together, they moderate human behavior. Is there truly evidence of linguistic relativity? Does language serve as the primary moderator of thought, or do cultural influences play a more pressing role in cognitive thought processes for a given group? Developments in theory, methods, and data that help explore these concepts through their publication in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology as well as other outlets will be presented and discussed as a framework that can be developed to generate future research questions, testing paradigms, and experimental approaches—both basic and applied.