National Personality Profiles and Innovation: The Role of Cultural Practices

摘要

This study investigates the relationship between personality factors, cultural practices, and innovativeness on the national level. Hitherto no study has been done which considers these factors simultaneously. We argue that the relationship between national aggregated personality factors and the level of national innovation is mediated by national cultural practices. Our model is based on three arguments: First, Five Factor theory and cultural theory state that the national personality profile of a country influences its cultural practices. Second, person-environment-fit theory argues that personality factors can best manifest themselves in an appropriate environment. Third, in contrast to the individual level, we argue that on the national level cultural practices may not act as a moderator but as a mediator. Based on the triangulation of three datasets, we subsequently test our model on a sample of N=33 countries. Our results demonstrate that innovation-relevant national personality profiles are closely linked with innovation-relevant national cultural practices. Further, we show that national cultural practices mediate the relationship between national personality profiles and national innovativeness. Additionally, we reveal that the recently proposed relationship between nationally aggregated personality profiles and national innovativeness virtually disappears as soon as national cultural practices, are integrated into the model.