ORCID Profile
0000-0001-8970-591X
Current Organisation
The University of Texas at Austin
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Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 22-06-2015
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 09-2021
DOI: 10.1037/AMP0000812
Abstract: Accumulating evidence suggests that culture changes in response to shifting socioecological conditions economic development is a particularly potent driver of such change. Previous research has shown that economic development can induce slow but steady cultural changes within large cultural entities (e.g., countries). Here we propose that economically driven culture change can occur rapidly, particularly in smaller cultural entities (e.g., cites). Drawing on work in cultural dynamics, urban economics, and geographical psychology, we hypothesize that changes in local housing prices-reflecting changing availability of local amenities-can induce rapid shifts in local cultures of Openness. We propose two mechanisms that might underlie such cultural shifts: selective migration (i.e., people selectively moving to cities that offer certain amenities) and social acculturation (i.e., people adapting to changing amenities in their city). Based on trait Openness scores of 1,946,752 U.S. residents, we track annual changes in local Openness across 199 cities for 9 years (2006-2014). We link these data to annual information on local housing markets, an established proxy for local amenities. To test interdependencies between the time series of local housing markets and Openness, we use Panel Vector Autoregression modeling. In line with our hypothesis, we find robust evidence that rising housing costs predict positive shifts in local Openness but not vice versa. Additional analyses leveraging participants' duration of residence in their city suggest that both selective migration and social acculturation contribute to shifts in local Openness. Our study offers a new window onto the rapid changes of cultures at local levels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2023
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 04-2023
DOI: 10.1037/PSPP0000439
Abstract: The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed stark regional variation in the spread of the virus. While previous research has highlighted the impact of regional differences in sociodemographic and economic factors, we argue that regional differences in social and compliance behaviors-the very behaviors through which the virus is transmitted-are critical drivers of the spread of COVID-19, particularly in the early stages of the pandemic. Combining self-reported personality data that capture in idual differences in these behaviors (3.5 million people) with COVID-19 prevalence and mortality rates as well as behavioral mobility observations (29 million people) in the United States and Germany, we show that regional personality differences can help explain the early transmission of COVID-19 this is true even after controlling for a wide array of important sociodemographic, economic, and pandemic-related factors. We use specification curve analyses to test the effects of regional personality in a robust and unbiased way. The results indicate that in the early stages of COVID-19, Openness to experience acted as a risk factor, while Neuroticism acted as a protective factor. The findings also highlight the complexity of the pandemic by showing that the effects of regional personality can differ (a) across countries (Extraversion), (b) over time (Openness), and (c) from those previously observed at the in idual level (Agreeableness and Conscientiousness). Taken together, our findings support the importance of regional personality differences in the early spread of COVID-19, but they also caution against oversimplified answers to phenomena as complex as a global pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 06-08-2020
Abstract: The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed stark regional variation in the spread of the virus. Combining self-reported personality data (3.5M people) with COVID-19 prevalence rates and behavioral mobility observations (29M people) in the US and Germany, we show that regional personality differences can help explain the early transmission of COVID-19 this is true even after controlling for a wide array of important socio-demographic, economic, and pandemic-related factors. We use specification curve analyses to test the effects of regional personality in a robust and unbiased way. The results indicate that in the early stages of COVID-19, Openness-to-experience acted as a risk factor while Neuroticism acted as a protective factor. The findings also highlight the complexity of the pandemic by showing that the effects of regional personality can differ (i) across countries (Extraversion), (ii) over time (Openness) and (iii) from those previously observed at the in idual level (Agreeableness and Conscientiousness).
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-07-2023
DOI: 10.1057/S41267-023-00632-Z
Abstract: Corruption is often seen as one of the root causes of pressing national and global challenges. The persisting stark national differences in corruption levels and their potential causes have thus attracted growing interest from international business scholars. The objective of this study was to re-examine key factors that predict levels of national corruption. Drawing on comprehensive personality data from over 5 million respondents across 87 nations, and numerous dimensions of national culture, the study examines the relative importance of national personality versus national culture and wealth as predictors of national corruption. Regression analysis found that collectivism (particularly societal practices pertaining to collectivism) and wealth were robust predictors of corruption. In contrast, there was no consistent support for the effects of the Big Five personality traits aggregated to the national level, above and beyond the effects of national culture and wealth. These findings highlight and specify the important role played by national culture, and call into question previous research on national personality and corruption. More broadly, our study further highlights the need to exert caution when examining the influence of national-level personality, and the need for cross-national personality researchers to improve the validity, interpretability, and replicability of their work.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2004
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 16-06-2023
Abstract: We present a global experience-s ling method (ESM) study aimed at describing, predicting, and understanding in idual differences in well-being during times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This international ESM study is a collaborative effort of over 60 interdisciplinary researchers from around the world in the “Coping with Corona” (CoCo) project. The study comprises trait-, state-, and daily-level data of 7,490 participants from over 20 countries (total ESM measurements = 207,263 total daily measurements = 73,295) collected between October 2021 and August 2022. We provide a brief overview of the theoretical background and aims of the study, present the applied methods (including a description of the study design, data collection procedures, data cleaning, and final s le), and discuss exemplary research questions to which these data can be applied. We end by inviting collaborations on the CoCo dataset.
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 20-09-2021
Abstract: According to a fundamental assumption in the social sciences, the burden of lower socioeconomic status (SES) is more severe in developing nations. In contrast to this assumption, recent research has shown that the burden of lower SES is less—not more—severe in developing nations. In three large-scale global data sets, we show that national religiosity can explain this puzzling finding. Developing nations are more religious, and most world religions uphold norms that, in part, function to ease the burden of lower SES and to cast a bad light on higher SES. In times of declining religiosity, this finding is a call to scientists and policymakers to monitor the increasingly harmful effects of lower SES and its far-reaching social consequences.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 11-2018
DOI: 10.1037/PSPP0000175
Abstract: Recent research has identified regional variation of personality traits within countries but we know little about the underlying drivers of this variation. We propose that the Industrial Revolution, as a key era in the history of industrialized nations, has led to a persistent clustering of well-being outcomes and personality traits associated with psychological adversity via processes of selective migration and socialization. Analyzing data from England and Wales, we examine relationships between the historical employment share in large-scale coal-based industries (coal mining and steam-powered manufacturing industries that used this coal as fuel for their steam engines) and today's regional variation in personality and well-being. Even after controlling for possible historical confounds (historical energy supply, education, wealth, geology, climate, population density), we find that the historical local dominance of large-scale coal-based industries predicts today's markers of psychological adversity (lower Conscientiousness [and order facet scores], higher Neuroticism [and anxiety and depression facet scores], lower activity [an Extraversion facet], and lower life satisfaction and life expectancy). An instrumental variable analysis, using the historical location of coalfields, supports the causal assumption behind these effects (with the exception of life satisfaction). Further analyses focusing on mechanisms hint at the roles of selective migration and persisting economic hardship. Finally, a robustness check in the U.S. replicates the effect of the historical concentration of large-scale industries on today's levels of psychological adversity. Taken together, the results show how today's regional patterns of personality and well-being (which shape the future trajectories of these regions) may have their roots in major societal changes underway decades or centuries earlier. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 10-01-2021
Abstract: Accumulating evidence suggests that culture changes in response to shifting socioecological conditions economic development is a particularly potent driver of such change. Previous re-search has shown that economic development can induce slow but steady cultural changes within large cultural entities (e.g., countries). Here we propose that economically driven culture change can occur rapidly, particularly in smaller cultural entities (e.g., cites). Drawing on work in cultural dynamics, urban economics, and geographical psychology, we hypothesize that changes in local housing prices – reflecting changing availability of local amenities – can induce rapid shifts in local cultures of Openness. We propose two mechanisms that might underlie such cultural shifts: selective migration (i.e., people selectively moving to cities that offer certain amenities) and social acculturation (i.e., people adapting to changing amenities in their city). Based on trait Openness scores of 1,946,752 U.S. residents, we track annual changes in local Openness across 199 cities for nine years (2006-2014). We link these data to annual infor-mation on local housing markets, an established proxy for local amenities. To test interdepend-encies between the time series of local housing markets and Openness, we use Panel Vector Autoregression modelling. In line with our hypothesis, we find robust evidence that rising housing costs predict positive shifts in local Openness but not vice versa. Additional analyses leveraging participants’ duration of residence in their city suggest that both selective migration and social acculturation contribute to shifts in local Openness. Our study thus offers a new window onto the rapid changes of cultures at local levels.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 08-03-2018
Abstract: Two recent electoral results—Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president and the UK’s Brexit vote—have reignited debate on the psychological factors underlying voting behavior. Both c aigns promoted themes of fear, lost pride, and loss aversion, which are relevant to the personality dimension of neuroticism, a construct previously not associated with voting behavior. To that end, we investigate whether regional prevalence of neurotic personality traits (neuroticism, anxiety, and depression) predicted voting behavior in the United States ( N = 3,167,041) and the United Kingdom ( N = 417,217), comparing these effects with previous models, which have emphasized the roles of openness and conscientiousness. Neurotic traits positively predicted share of Brexit and Trump votes, and Trump gains from Romney. Many of these effects persisted in additional robustness tests controlling for regional industrial heritage, political attitude, and socioeconomic features, particularly in the United States. The “sleeper effect” of neurotic traits may profoundly impact the geopolitical landscape.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-07-2016
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2003
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 05-12-2017
DOI: 10.1093/ICC/DTX047
Publisher: Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID)
Date: 13-10-2022
DOI: 10.5964/PS.7447
Abstract: Since Trump was elected U.S. President in 2016, researchers have sought to explain his support, with some focusing on structural factors (e.g., economics) and others focusing on psychological factors (e.g., negative emotions). We integrate these perspectives in a regional analysis of 18+ structural variables capturing economic, demographic, and health factors as well as the aggregated neuroticism scores of 3+ million in iduals. Results revealed that regions that voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 had high levels of neuroticism and economic deprivation. Regions that voted for Trump also had high anti-Black implicit bias and low ethnic ersity, though Trump made gains in ethnically erse regions in 2020. Trump’s voter base differed from the voter base of more traditional Republican candidates and Democrat Bernie Sanders. In sum, structural and psychological factors both explain Trump’s unique authoritarian appeal.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 10-2009
DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X09991026
Abstract: We present evidence that smiling is positively associated with positive affect in women and negatively associated with negative affect in men. In line with Vigil's model, we propose that, in women, smiling signals warmth (trustworthiness cues), which attracts fewer and more intimate relationships, whereas in men, smiling signals confidence and lack of self-doubt (capacity cues), which attracts numerous, less-intimate relationships.
Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Date: 09-2011
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-06-2023
DOI: 10.1111/SPC3.12813
Abstract: We present a global experience‐s ling method (ESM) study aimed at describing, predicting, and understanding in idual differences in well‐being during times of crisis such as the COVID‐19 pandemic. This international ESM study is a collaborative effort of over 60 interdisciplinary researchers from around the world in the “Coping with Corona” (CoCo) project. The study comprises trait‐, state‐, and daily‐level data of 7490 participants from over 20 countries (total ESM measurements = 207,263 total daily measurements = 73,295) collected between October 2021 and August 2022. We provide a brief overview of the theoretical background and aims of the study, present the applied methods (including a description of the study design, data collection procedures, data cleaning, and final s le), and discuss exemplary research questions to which these data can be applied. We end by inviting collaborations on the CoCo dataset.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 22-10-2015
Abstract: Do macropsychological factors predict “hard” economic outcomes like regional economic resilience? Prior approaches to understanding economic resilience have focused on regional economic infrastructure. In contrast, we draw on research highlighting the key role played by psychological factors in economic behaviors. Using large psychological data sets from the United States ( n = 935,858) and Great Britain ( n = 417,217), we characterize region-level psychological correlates of economic resilience. Specifically, we examine links between regions’ levels of psychological traits and their degree of economic slowdown (indexed by changes in entrepreneurial vitality) in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008–2009. In both countries, more emotionally stable regions and regions with a more prevalent entrepreneurial personality makeup showed a significantly lower economic slowdown. This effect was robust when accounting for regional differences in economic infrastructure. Cause cannot be inferred from these correlational findings, but the results nonetheless point to macropsychological factors as potentially protective factors against macroeconomic shocks.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1037/A0032275
Abstract: In recent years the topic of entrepreneurship has become a major focus in the social sciences, with renewed interest in the links between personality and entrepreneurship. Taking a socioecological perspective to psychology, which emphasizes the role of social habitats and their interactions with mind and behavior, we investigated regional variation in and correlates of an entrepreneurship-prone Big Five profile. Specifically, we analyzed personality data collected from over half a million U.S. residents (N = 619,397) as well as public archival data on state-level entrepreneurial activity (i.e., business-creation and self-employment rates). Results revealed that an entrepreneurship-prone personality profile is regionally clustered. This geographical distribution corresponds to the pattern that can be observed when mapping entrepreneurial activity across the United States. Indeed, the state-level correlation (N = 51) between an entrepreneurial personality structure and entrepreneurial activity was positive in direction, substantial in magnitude, and robust even when controlling for regional economic prosperity. These correlations persisted at the level of U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (N = 15) and were replicated in independent German (N = 19,842 14 regions) and British (N = 15,617 12 regions) s les. In contrast to these profile-based analyses, an analysis linking the in idual Big Five dimensions to regional measures of entrepreneurial activity did not yield consistent findings. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for interdisciplinary theory development and practical applications.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 22-03-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2002
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2004
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 29-01-2010
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 17-09-2009
Abstract: Despite the crucial role of physical appearance in forming first impressions, little research has examined the accuracy of personality impressions based on appearance alone. This study examined the accuracy of observers’ impressions on 10 personality traits based on full-body photographs using criterion measures based on self and peer reports. When targets’ posture and expression were constrained (standardized condition), observers’ judgments were accurate for extraversion, self-esteem, and religiosity. When targets were photographed with a spontaneous pose and facial expression (spontaneous condition), observers’ judgments were accurate for almost all of the traits examined. Lens model analyses demonstrated that both static cues (e.g., clothing style) and dynamic cues (e.g., facial expression, posture) offered valuable personality-relevant information. These results suggest that personality is manifested through both static and expressive channels of appearance, and observers use this information to form accurate judgments for a variety of traits.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 05-2017
DOI: 10.1002/PER.2104
Abstract: A widespread stereotype holds that the Germans are notorious worriers, an idea captured by the term German angst. An analysis of country–level neurotic personality traits (trait anxiety, trait depression, and trait neuroticism N = 7 210 276) across 109 countries provided mixed support for this idea Germany ranked 20th, 31st, and 53rd for depression, anxiety, and neuroticism, respectively, suggesting, at best, the national stereotype is only partly valid. Theories put forward to explain the stereotypical characterization of Germany focus on the collective traumatic events experienced by Germany during World War II (WWII), such as the massive strategic bombing of German cities. We thus examined the link between strategic bombing of 89 German cities and today's regional levels in neurotic traits ( N = 33 534) and related mental health problems. Contrary to the WWII bombing hypothesis, we found negative effects of strategic bombing on regional trait depression and mental health problems. This finding was robust when controlling for a host of economic factors and social structure. We also found Resilience × Stressor interactions: Cities with more severe bombings show more resilience today (lower levels of neurotic traits and mental health problems in the face of a current major stressor—economic hardship). Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2008
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 20-05-2022
Location: United States of America
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Samuel Gosling.