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Sex differences in variability in personality: a study in four samples.

Peter Borkenau1, Martina Hřebíčková, Peter Kuppens

  • 1Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. p.borkenau@psych.uni-halle.de

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Men show greater personality variation than women, particularly in informant reports of key traits. This finding, using the NEO Personality Inventory, suggests men are more diverse in personality, potentially explaining group differences.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Human Behavior
  • Personality Science

Background:

  • Men exhibit greater variability than women in cognitive and physical attributes.
  • Previous research has not consistently found greater male variability in personality.
  • Methodological limitations, such as self-report bias and confounding informant/target sex, may have obscured earlier findings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate sex differences in personality variability.
  • To determine if men exhibit greater personality variation than women.
  • To address potential methodological issues in prior personality research.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of informant and self-reports on the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R or NEO PI-3).
  • Inclusion of four international samples (Czech Republic, Estonia, Belgium, Germany) comprising community and student populations.
  • Data collection from N = 3,646 participants.

Main Results:

  • Significantly higher male than female variability was observed across informant reports for Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness.
  • Men, but not women, were disproportionately represented in the extreme ranges (both tails) of several personality trait distributions.
  • Informant reports revealed greater male variability, suggesting this is a more accurate measure in this context.

Conclusions:

  • Greater male personality variability may contribute to men's overrepresentation in certain deviant groups, aligning with liability-threshold models of mental disorders.
  • The findings highlight the importance of using informant reports to accurately assess personality variability between sexes.
  • Understanding sex differences in personality variation has implications for psychological and psychiatric research.