An Investigation Across 105 Countries of Gender Differences in the Five Factor Model of Personality: Men score higher in Emotional Stability (the more individualist the country, the more stable) & lower in Agreeableness

International Comparison of Gender Differences in the Five Factor Model of Personality: An Investigation Across 105 Countries. Sara A. Murphy, Peter A. Fisher, Chet Robie. Journal of Research in Personality, 104047, Nov 29 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2020.104047

Abstract: Researchers have been interested in cross-cultural gender differences in personality for decades. Early research on the five factor (FFM) model of personality focused on estimating the difference between men and women on personality dimensions, however results have varied. Using a large cross-country sample of personality data and advanced analytic techniques, we uncover accurate estimates of cross-country gender differences in personality. Relatively small (δÌ¿^ < |.10|) cross-country gender differences emerged on most FFM dimensions, with the largest differences emerging for Emotional Stability (δÌ¿^ = .38) and Agreeableness (δÌ¿^ = -.17). After controlling for socioeconomic indicators, gender indicators, and Type I error, only country-level Individualism accounted for unique variance in effect size differences for Emotional Stability. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Keywords: Gender; Personality; Five-Factor Model; Cross-cultural; Cross-country