Personality and Culture Revisited: Linking Traits and Dimensions of Culture

TLDR

Culture and personality have been studied since the early 20th century, drawing on psychoanalysis and focusing on traditional societies; the Five‑Factor Model and Hofstede’s IBM dimensions provide universally valid taxonomies of traits and cultural values. The article aims to explore how independently developed personality and cultural value taxonomies can be combined to investigate their interrelations. The authors analyze environmental and temperamental explanations for trait‑culture associations and propose future research avenues such as replications, experimental simulations, acculturation studies, and interaction analyses. Reanalysis of data from 33 countries shows that mean personality scores are significantly and substantially correlated with cultural dimension scores.

Abstract

“Culture and personality” was a focus of anthropology and psychology in the first half of the 20th century. It was concerned with traditional and preliterate societies and drew many of its constructs from psychoanalysis. In this article, we note that taxonomies of personality traits and cultural values developed independently since 1980 have created new possibilities for exploring the topic. The Five-Factor Model of personality is a universally valid taxonomy of traits. The IBM study (conducted by Hofstede) dimensions of culture represent a well-validated operationalization of differences between cultures as manifested in dominant value systems. In reanalyses of recently reported data, mean personality scores from 33 countries were significantly and substantially correlated with culture dimension scores. We discuss environmental and temperamental explanations for these associations and suggest directions for future research, including replications, experimental simulations, acculturation studies, and research on the interaction of traits and culture in shaping human lives.