Racial and Gender Differences in the Five Factors of Personality within Military Samples

摘要

This project assessed racial and gender differences on responses to the NEO-PI-R, the major instrument for measuring the five factors of personality. Theoretical rationale and empirical research is provided regarding possible personality differences between groups. Members across all branches of the Armed Services completed the NEO-PI-R resulting in a total sample of 472 (293 males, 179 females; 222 African Americans, 250 Whites). Multiple analysis of variance with race and gender as factors and age as a covariate (MANCOVA) demonstrated that African Americans scored higher than Whites on the factor of Agreeableness (p.003 and lower on the factor of Negative Emotionality, p. 0001). Females scored higher on Agreeableness (p.0001), Negative Emotionality (p.006), and Openness to Experience (p.0001) than males. A significant interaction effect emerged for Agreeableness (p.03), with White males scoring lower than White females and African-American males and females. Univariate F tests indicated significant racial differences for twelve (out of thirty) of the facet scales and gender differences were significant for ten of the facet scales. Within the context that this research is comparative, not causal, possible interpretations of between-group differences, applicability of the findings to organizational settings, and implications for the universality of the five-factor model are discussed.