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It is widely believed that female and male leaders have fundamentally different characteristics and styles, which are thought to explain why organizations with more gender-diverse top management teams perform somewhat better. Unfortunately, few studies have concretely specified such differences or examined whether men and women in leadership roles, particularly executives, indeed differ on core psychological characteristics such as personality traits. Drawing on three alternative perspectives on the roles of personality and gender in leadership ascendancy, this study (a) examined whether men and women are more similar among executives than among non-executive employees, and (b) tested whether similar traits distinguish executives from lower-level employees across genders. Data were from a large (N = 577) sample of European executives (434 male, 143 female) and 52,139 non-executive employees (34,496 male, 17,643 female) who completed high-stakes personality assessments. Results generally supported a gender-similarities perspective. Gender differences on leadership emergence-relevant traits (i.e., Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Extraversion) were smaller among executives compared to non-executives. Further, similar traits distinguished executives from non-executives across genders. Both male and female executives tend to demonstrate an archetypical "leader personality" focused on assertiveness, high-level strategic thinking, and decisiveness. However, results also showed that hierarchical level differences in personality were much more strongly pronounced among women than men. Implications for gender equity in organizational leadership are discussed.

Personality disorders (PDs) are inherently associated with deficits in relating to other people. Previous research has shown consistent negative associations between categorical PD symptoms and relationship satisfaction. The present studies extend on these findings by examining the role of maladaptive traits in a number of ways. Self- and partner-reported maladaptive traits of both partners are included. Moreover, the present studies add a couple-centered approach by investigating the effects of actual similarity, perceptual similarity, and perceptual accuracy of the maladaptive trait profile on relationship satisfaction. PDs are conceptualized using 2 dimensional maladaptive trait models, that is, the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire in Study 1 and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 in Study 2. A total of 167 heterosexual couples participated in Study 1 and 52 heterosexual couples in Study 2. The actor-partner interdependence model was used to examine the associations between traits and relationship satisfaction, whereas the coefficient of profile agreement was used for the couple-centered analyses. Overall, results showed that the presence of maladaptive traits within romantic relationships has a detrimental effect on relationship satisfaction. Self-ratings on maladaptive traits, how we perceive our partners, and how we are perceived by our partners on maladaptive traits make significant contributions to our relationship (dis)satisfaction. Among the maladaptive traits, negative affect and detachment were most consistently negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. The couple-centered perspective showed less explanatory value but nontrivial associations between perceptual similarity and relationship satisfaction were found in Study 2. (PsycINFO Database Record

The past years have been witness to a renewed attention for vocational interests in both theory and practice. In this context the present research aims to illustrate the relevance of finer-grained interest information next to more general information at the domain level. A recently developed and Holland-based interest instrument is presented and validated; it measures 15 interest components in addition to the more familiar Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (RIASEC) domains. We provide evidence for (a) the hierarchical structure of specific interest components under broader interest domains and (b) the convergent validity of this instrument. Moreover, (c) the relevance of considering diversity within Holland types is illustrated by showing divergent associations with Big Five personality traits.

The dark triad of personality has traditionally been defined by 3 interrelated constructs, defined as Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy. Although the content of each of these constructs is clearly represented in childhood maladaptive trait measures, no studies have jointly addressed the prospective developmental course of this core set of maladaptive characteristics throughout childhood and adolescence. The current study uses latent growth modeling to explore how early dark traits develop over time, relying on a selected set of 6 childhood maladaptive traits that conceptually cover the adult dark triad. Across a 5-wave multi-informant design spanning 10 years of childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood (N wave 1 ϭ 717, 54.4% girls, age range T 1 ϭ 8 -14.7 years, mean age ϭ 10.73), results indicate that childhood dark traits show to some extent shared growth across time, although notable unique growth variance was also observed. Early dark traits further demonstrate significant association patterns with an adult dark triad measure across informants and are increasingly able to discriminate among more and less prototypical profiles of adult dark triad scores. Findings are discussed from a developmental psychopathology framework, underscoring that the proposed set of childhood dark traits represents a meaningful developmental precursor of the adult dark triad. General Scientific SummaryThis article describes how socially aversive personality traits develop from childhood onward and demonstrates that these traits overall decline over time, although some unique developmental issues are observed too for each of the childhood traits. From an outcome perspective, the study shows that childhood dark traits, as perceived by the children themselves as well as by their mothers, are meaningfully related to adult socially aversive traits.