The General Factor of Personality (GFP) and Vocational Interests: a Test of Social Effectiveness at the Behavioral and Genetic Level

Abstract

Previous studies have examined how personality models (e.g., Big Five, HEXACO) relate to vocational interests. We adopt a novel approach by testing the associations between personality and vocational interests from the perspective of the general factor of personality (GFP). One interpretation of the GFP is that it reflects social effectiveness. Based on this interpretation, we predicted that the GFP is particularly related to interest in social jobs because people generally tend to be attracted to activities in which they perform well. To test this, we used four large data sets: the Professional Worker Career Experience Survey (study 1a; N = 752), OpenPsychometrics.org (study 1b, N = 108,209), Project Talent (study 2; N = 81,130), and the National Merit Twin Study (study 3: N = 1536 in 768 twin pairs). In each sample, we presented the direct associations as well as the results after using control variables (gender and cognitive ability). In study 1a and 1b, the GFP particularly related to interest in social and enterprising occupations. In study 2, the GFP related to interest in working with people and was also associated with a range of occupational scales involving social aspects. In study 3, the GFP only showed a consistent relation with social interests. This association was present at the phenotypical as well as genetic level. Notwithstanding some variation in findings across the different studies, the overall pattern seems to be in line with the notion that the GFP is positively associated with the preference for more socially laden jobs.

The general factor of personality and moral hypocrisy: A moderated mediation model

“…In contrast to the lower‐order trait models, the existence of the highest‐order personality trait model (the GFP) is trying to find the core variables that influence individual behaviors (Zhu & Yan, 2015). Much evidence has revealed the predictive effect of the GFP in various social domains, including individuals' interpersonal relationship quality (Pelt et al, 2020), quality of life and well‐being (Musek, 2017), vocational interests (Van der Linden et al, 2022), future criminal behavior (Watters et al, 2020), and moral values (Kawamoto et al, 2017). Therefore, it is possible that the GFP may also predict moral hypocrisy.…”

“…Although existing research has found evidence that the Big Five personality traits are related to certain unethical behaviors (Hart et al, 2020; Koodamara et al, 2020), the relationship between personality traits (the Big Five) and moral hypocrisy has not been tested directly. In addition, a growing body of research has found a relatively high correlation between the Big Five personality traits in general (Van der Linden et al, 2022; Musek, 2017; Pelt et al, 2020; Wu et al, 2022). The emergence of the GFP implies that the highest‐order factors reflect the general level of the Big Five personality traits (Zhu & Yan, 2015) and might fit the correlations better among the five traits (Musek, 2017).…”