Relations Between Lexical and Biological Perspectives on Personality: New Evidence Based on HEXACO and Affective...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Personality Science

Background:

• Personality research often uses language-based questionnaires or biological perspectives.
• Panksepp's Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) offer a biological approach to personality.
• The HEXACO model is a widely accepted language-based personality framework.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the convergence between biological (ANPS) and language-based (HEXACO) personality measures.
• To determine the position of ANPS within the HEXACO personality space.
• To validate ANPS in relation to a major personality taxonomy.

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted: one with Serbian students and a replication with German young adults.
• Canonical correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between ANPS and HEXACO facets.
• The position of ANPS scales within the HEXACO personality space was examined.

Main Results:

• High canonical correlations (first 3 > .70) were found between ANPS and HEXACO scales in both samples.
• ANPS scales showed substantial loadings on multiple HEXACO factors, indicating overlap but not a one-to-one mapping.
• The correlation patterns between ANPS and HEXACO were highly consistent across the Serbian and German samples.

Conclusions:

• Biological and language-based personality perspectives converge, targeting similar personality phenomena.
• ANPS scales are well-positioned within the HEXACO personality space, supporting their validity.
• Findings contribute to personality taxonomy and theory by integrating biological and questionnaire-based approaches.