The Science of Personality Podcast Listener Mailbag
4 snips
Sep 9, 2025 The hosts tackle listener questions about personality psychology, diving into the impact of toxic workplaces and the evolution of leadership. They discuss the complexities of measuring ambition and its relevance to success. Authenticity in leadership is explored, revealing the balance between self-disclosure and effectiveness. Additionally, they clarify the distinction between toxic and incompetent behaviors in teams. The conversation wraps up with a look at future challenges in personality psychology amidst AI advancements and the importance of enhancing personal reputations.
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Ambition Is Often Hidden In Big Five Scores
- Ambition often hides inside Big Five measures and gets obscured by broad scale scores.
- Hogan isolates ambition because it predicts promotions and executive ascent better than combined Big Five scales.
Measure Ambition By Targeting Facets
- Don't assume combining Extraversion and Conscientiousness equals ambition; that dilutes the specific components you need.
- Extract social ascendancy and achievement-motivation facets to measure ambition accurately.
Practical Utility Can Outweigh Pure Factor Models
- Many assessment developers stick strictly to factor-analytic Big Five models for academic reasons.
- Hogan prioritizes practical utility over strict adherence to factor structure when useful workplace constructs emerge.