scholarly journals Personality network neuroscience: promises and challenges on the way towards a unifying framework of individual variability

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Kirsten Hilger ◽  
Sebastian Markett
Keyword(s):  
Layer Structure ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Human Personality ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Plausible Model ◽  
Behavioral Tendencies ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Network Neuroscience

Abstract We propose that the application of network theory to established psychological personality conceptions has great potential to advance a biologically-plausible model of human personality. Stable behavioral tendencies are conceived as personality ‘traits’. Such traits demonstrate considerable variability between individuals, and extreme expressions represent risk factors for psychological disorders. Although the psychometric assessment of personality has more than hundred years tradition, it is not yet clear whether traits indeed represent ‘biophysical entities’ with specific and dissociable neural substrates. For instance, it is an open question whether there exists a correspondence between the multi-layer structure of psychometrically-derived personality factors and the organizational properties of trait-like brain systems. After a short introduction into fundamental personality conceptions, this article will point out how network neuroscience can enhance our understanding about human personality. We will examine the importance of intrinsic (task-independent) brain connectivity networks and show means to link brain features to stable behavioral tendencies. Questions and challenges arising from each discipline itself and their combination are discussed and potential solutions are developed. We close by outlining future trends and by discussing how further developments of network neuroscience can be applied to personality research.

scholarly journals Coffee or Tea? Examining Cross-Cultural Differences in Personality Nuances Across Former Colonies of the British Empire

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscilla Achaa-Amankwaa ◽  
Gabriel Olaru ◽  
Ulrich Schroeders
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Studies ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Cross Cultural Studies

Cross-cultural comparisons often focus on differences in broad personality traits across countries. However, many cross-cultural studies report differential item functioning which suggests that considerable group differences are not accounted for by the overarching personality factors. We argue that this may reflect cross-cultural personality differences at a lower level of personality, namely personality nuances. To investigate the degree of cultural similarities and differences between participants of ten countries that formerly belonged to the British Empire, we scrutinized participants’ personality scores on domain, facet, and nuance level of the personality hierarchy. More specifically, we used the responses of 9,110 participants on the IPIP-NEO 300-item personality inventory in cross-validated and regularized logistic regressions. Based on the trait domain and facet scores, we were able to identify the country of residence for 60% and 73% of the participants, respectively. By using the nuance level of personality, we correctly identified the nationality of 89% of the participants. This pattern of results explains the lack of measurement invariance in cross-cultural studies. We discuss implications for cross-cultural personality research and whether the high degree of cross-cultural item-level differences compromises the universality of the personality structure.

scholarly journals From static to temporal network theory: Applications to functional brain connectivity

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Hedley Thompson ◽  
Per Brantefors ◽  
Peter Fransson
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Network Activity ◽  
Temporal Network ◽  
Functional Brain ◽  
Brain Connectome ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Network Neuroscience

Network neuroscience has become an established paradigm to tackle questions related to the functional and structural connectome of the brain. Recently, interest has been growing in examining the temporal dynamics of the brain’s network activity. Although different approaches to capturing fluctuations in brain connectivity have been proposed, there have been few attempts to quantify these fluctuations using temporal network theory. This theory is an extension of network theory that has been successfully applied to the modeling of dynamic processes in economics, social sciences, and engineering article but it has not been adopted to a great extent within network neuroscience. The objective of this article is twofold: (i) to present a detailed description of the central tenets of temporal network theory and describe its measures, and; (ii) to apply these measures to a resting-state fMRI dataset to illustrate their utility. Furthermore, we discuss the interpretation of temporal network theory in the context of the dynamic functional brain connectome. All the temporal network measures and plotting functions described in this article are freely available as the Python package Teneto.

scholarly journals Network Neuroscience and Personality

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Markett ◽  
Christian Montag ◽  
Martin Reuter
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Nervous Systems ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Network Neuroscience

AbstractPersonality and individual differences originate from the brain. Despite major advances in the affective and cognitive neurosciences, however, it is still not well understood how personality and single personality traits are represented within the brain. Most research on brain-personality correlates has focused either on morphological aspects of the brain such as increases or decreases in local gray matter volume, or has investigated how personality traits can account for individual differences in activation differences in various tasks. Here, we propose that personality neuroscience can be advanced by adding a network perspective on brain structure and function, an endeavor that we label personality network neuroscience.With the rise of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the establishment of connectomics as a theoretical framework for structural and functional connectivity modeling, and recent advancements in the application of mathematical graph theory to brain connectivity data, several new tools and techniques are readily available to be applied in personality neuroscience. The present contribution introduces these concepts, reviews recent progress in their application to the study of individual differences, and explores their potential to advance our understanding of the neural implementation of personality.Trait theorists have long argued that personality traits are biophysical entities that are not mere abstractions of and metaphors for human behavior. Traits are thought to actually exist in the brain, presumably in the form of conceptual nervous systems. A conceptual nervous system refers to the attempt to describe parts of the central nervous system in functional terms with relevance to psychology and behavior. We contend that personality network neuroscience can characterize these conceptual nervous systems on a functional and anatomical level and has the potential do link dispositional neural correlates to actual behavior.

scholarly journals Personality neuroscience and psychopathology: should we start with biology and look for neural-level factors?

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil McNaughton
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Causal Explanation ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Personality Factor ◽  
System Sensitivity ◽  
Taxonomic Description ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Time Sensitivity ◽  
Anxiolytic Drugs ◽  
Serotonergic Drugs

Abstract “Personality is an abstraction used to explain consistency and coherency in an individual’s pattern of affects, cognitions, desires and behaviors [ABCDs]” (Revelle, 2007, p. 37). But personality research currently provides more a taxonomy of patterns than theories of fundamental causes. Psychiatric disorders can be viewed as involving extremes of personality but are diagnosed via symptom patterns not biological causes. Such surface-level taxonomic description is necessary for science, but consistent predictive explanation requires causal theory. Personality constructs, and especially their clinical extremes, should predict variation in ABCD patterns, with parsimony requiring the lowest effective causal level of explanation. But, even biologically inspired personality theories currently use an intuitive language-based approach for scale development that lacks biological anchors. I argue that teleonomic “purpose” explains the organisation and outputs of conserved brain emotion systems, where high activation is adaptive in specific situations but is otherwise maladaptive. Simple modulators of whole-system sensitivity evolved because the requisite adaptive level can vary across people and time. Sensitivity to a modulator is an abstract predictive personality factor that operates at the neural level but provides a causal explanation of both coherence and occasional apparent incoherence in ABCD variation. Neuromodulators impact all levels of the “personality hierarchy” from metatraits to aspects: stability appears altered by serotonergic drugs, neuroticism by ketamine and trait anxiety by simple anxiolytic drugs. Here, the tools of psychiatry transfer to personality research and imply both interaction between levels and oblique factor mappings to ABCD. On this view, much psychopathology reflects extremes of neural-level personality factors, and we can view much pharmacotherapy as temporarily altering personality. So, particularly for personality factors linked to basic emotions and their disorders, I think we should start with evolutionary biology and look directly at conserved neural-level modulators for our explanatory personality constructs and only invoke higher order, emergent, explanations when neural-level explanation fails.

Confirmation of Objective Test Factors and Assessment of Their Relation to Questionnaire Factors: A Factor Analysis of 113 Rating, Questionnaire and Objective Test Measurements of Personality

1958 ◽  
Vol 104 (436) ◽  
pp. 608-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan H. Scheier ◽  
Raymond B. Cattell
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Objective Test ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Single Factor ◽  
Basic Strategy ◽  
Self Rating ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Factor Analytic ◽  
Objective Tests

Cattell's basic strategy in personality research has been first to establish personality factors for each of three major types of measurement, rating (Life-Record), questionnaire (Self-Rating), and objective tests, then to compare factors from one realm with factors from another (7). A factor in any one realm is established in the first place by being replicated. As Cattell says (4, p. 291): “… a functionally unitary trait or process should nevertheless not be considered established by a pattern in a single factor analytic research, but must reappear consistently and persistently in independently rotated studies.”

Comparative personality research: methodological approaches

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 427-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Uher
Keyword(s):  
Personality Trait ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Population Differences ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Nonhuman Species ◽  
Behavioural Repertoire

In the broadest sense, personality refers to stable inter‐individual variability in behavioural organisation within a particular population. Researching personality in human as well as nonhuman species provides unique possibilities for comparisons across species with different phylogenies, ecologies and social systems. It also allows insights into mechanisms and processes of the evolution of population differences within and between species. The enormous diversity across species entails particular challenges to methodology. This paper explores theoretical approaches and analytical methods of deriving dimensions of inter‐individual variability on different population levels from a personality trait perspective. The existing diversity suggests that some populations, especially some species, may exhibit different or even unique trait domains. Therefore, a methodology is needed that identifies ecologically valid and comprehensive representations of the personality variation within each population. I taxonomise and compare current approaches in their suitability for this task. I propose a new bottom–up approach—the behavioural repertoire approach—that is tailored to the specific methodological requirements of comparative personality research. Initial empirical results in nonhuman primates emphasise the viability of this approach and highlight interesting implications for human personality research. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

scholarly journals Robust prediction of individual personality from brain functional connectome

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huanhuan Cai ◽  
Jiajia Zhu ◽  
Yongqiang Yu
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Five Factor Model ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Imaging Features ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Functional Connectome ◽  
Human Connectome Project

Abstract Neuroimaging studies have linked inter-individual variability in the brain to individualized personality traits. However, only one or several aspects of personality have been effectively predicted based on brain imaging features. The objective of this study was to construct a reliable prediction model of personality in a large sample by using connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM), a recently developed machine learning approach. High-quality resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 810 healthy young participants from the Human Connectome Project dataset were used to construct large-scale brain networks. Personality traits of the five-factor model (FFM) were assessed by the NEO Five Factor Inventory. We found that CPM successfully and reliably predicted all the FFM personality factors (agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism) other than extraversion in novel individuals. At the neural level, we found that the personality-associated functional networks mainly included brain regions within default mode, frontoparietal executive control, visual and cerebellar systems. Although different feature selection thresholds and parcellation strategies did not significantly influence the prediction results, some findings lost significance after controlling for confounds including age, gender, intelligence and head motion. Our finding of robust personality prediction from an individual’s unique functional connectome may help advance the translation of ‘brain connectivity fingerprinting’ into real-world personality psychological settings.

scholarly journals Coffee or tea? Examining cross-cultural differences in personality nuances across former colonies of the British Empire

2020 ◽  
pp. 089020702096232
Author(s):  
Priscilla Achaa-Amankwaa ◽  
Gabriel Olaru ◽  
Ulrich Schroeders
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Studies ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Cross Cultural Studies

Cross-cultural comparisons often focus on differences in broad personality traits across countries. However, many cross-cultural studies report differential item functioning which suggests that considerable group differences are not accounted for by the overarching personality factors. We argue that this may reflect cross-cultural personality differences at a lower level of personality, namely personality nuances. To investigate the degree of cultural similarities and differences between participants of 10 English speaking countries (of which nine formerly belonged to the British Empire), we scrutinized participants’ personality scores on the domain, facet, and nuance level of the personality hierarchy. More specifically, we used the responses of 9110 participants on the IPIP-NEO 300-item personality inventory in cross-validated and regularized logistic regressions. Based on the trait domain and facet scores, we were able to identify the country of residence for 60% and 73% of the participants, respectively. By using the nuance level of personality, we correctly identified the nationality of 89% of the participants. This pattern of results explains the lack of measurement invariance in cross-cultural studies. We discuss implications for cross-cultural personality research and whether the high degree of cross-cultural item-level differences compromises the universality of the personality structure.

‘Fear’ of Crime: Role of Defensive Personality Factors for Concern About Crime

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Satchell ◽  
Oliver Waddup ◽  
Alison Bacon ◽  
Philip Corr
Keyword(s):  
High Intensity ◽  
Fear Of Crime ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory ◽  
The Past ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Sensitivity Theory ◽  
Reinforcement Sensitivity ◽  
The Relationship

Research into ‘fear of crime’ often interchangeably uses the terms ‘anxiety’, ‘fear’ and ‘worry’. However, neuropsychological and personality research makes a crucial distinction between fear, anxiety and worry. Theoretically, it is likely that anxiety (rumination on the past and worry about the future) rather than fear (i.e., immediate reaction to high intensity threat) is a better predictor of ‘fear’ of crime. We studied the relationship between anxiety, fear and anger (using measures from Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory) and concerns about becoming a victim of crime. We also investigated the relationship between responses to hypothetical threat scenarios and general concerns about crime. In our sample (N = 250), we found, contrary to our predictions, that personality traits related to general fearfulness were predictive of concerns about crime – more so than traits related to anxiety or anger. Responses to hypothetical threat scenarios were predictive of concerns about crime, but less so than trait fear. Overall, our results suggest that it may, after all, be correct to suggest that concerns about becoming a victim of crime are more to do with being afraid than anxious or angry and we discuss the theoretical implications of this effect.

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