Meta-Analyses of Personality and Cognitive Ability

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. August 2014. Major: Psychology. Advisors: Deniz Ones, Matt McGue. 1 computer file (PDF); xxiii, 1048 pages.Personality and cognitive ability are the two most important domains of individual differences in terms of their breadth and impact on human behavior. An abundance of research has examined the relations between these domains, but previous empirical reviews of this literature have suffered from three key deficiencies. First, previous meta-analyses of personality and cognitive ability relied on biased, insular strategies to identify and obtain the relevant literature. This limitation has resulted in relatively small numbers of relatively homogeneous studies being used to understand each relation. Second, previous reviews were organized around less-comprehensive and less-detailed construct frameworks, especially in the personality domain. This limitation made previous findings for various personality trait categories liable to influence from unspecified mixtures of variance attributable to multiple constructs. This limitation also precluded a systematic approach to examining or understanding relations at the lower, aspect and facet levels of personality. Finally, previous reviews of personality and cognitive ability lacked empirical keys/maps for matching constructs across measures. The current meta-analyses endeavored to remedy these deficiencies and fully elucidate the relations between personality and cognitive ability by employing a more comprehensive primary source identification strategy and more empirically-grounded frameworks for organizing the personality and cognitive ability domains. Personality and cognitive ability are not entirely independent domains of individual differences and the overlap extends beyond commonly recognized personality traits. Results highlight the importance of: (1) considering personality aspects and facets, (2) distinguishing general and specific cognitive abilities, and (3) considering the global Big Five dimensions, aspects, facets, and compounds jointly. Openness/Intellect, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness results all contained findings that differed by aspect. Facets of personality also displayed relations with cognitive ability constructs that were disparate from the relations observed at the global factor and even at the aspect level. Similarly, results for several personality constructs indicated that distinguishing between cognitive abilities at the general factor and specific component levels was important. Overall, the findings suggest even more points of overlap between cognitive abilities and personality constructs than previously recognized