Agentic, communal, and spiritual traits are related to the semantic representation of written narratives of positive and negative life events

Abstract

Background:We used a computational method to quantitatively investigate the relationship between personality and written narratives of life events. Agentic (i.e., selfdirectedness), communal (i.e., cooperativeness), and spiritual (self-transcendence) traits were of special interest because they represent individual differences in intentional values and goals, in contrast to temperament traits, which describe individual differences in automatic responses to emotional stimuli. We also investigated which pronouns were most common in relation to personality constructs that were significantly related to the narratives. Methods:Personality was assessed among 79 adolescents at one point in time using the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R) and the temperament and character inventory (TCI). Six months later, adolescents were asked to write down the most positive or the most negative event that had happened to them in the last 3 months. Adolescents were explicitly instructed to answer the following questions within their narratives: What happened? Who were involved? Why do you think it happened? How did you feel when it happened? How do you think the involved persons felt? The descriptions were quantified using a computational method in which the latent semantic analysis algorithm generates a semantic representation of the narratives.Results: Only self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence were related to the semantic representation of the narratives. Moreover, cooperativeness and selftranscendence were associated with less frequent usage of singular pronouns (e.g., me respectively mine).Conclusions: Agentic, communal, and spiritual traits are involved when adolescents describe positive and negative life experiences. Moreover, high levels of communal and spiritual traits are related to less self-focused narratives.

Validation of Subjective Well-Being Measures Using Item Response Theory

“…We suggest the replication of our results and the use of other methods or a combination of methods before modifications are implemented. For instance, in recent studies our research team has used artificial intelligence to use words and narratives in relation to the measurement of health (Kjell et al, 2019), subjective well-being (Garcia and Sikström, 2013), happiness (Garcia et al, 2016;Garcia et al, 2020b), and personality Sikström, 2014, 2019;Garcia et al, 2015;Garcia et al, 2020a,c). In one study, the scales used here seem to be related to both different and similar words people use to describe what they relate to the concept of happiness and what makes them happy (Garcia et al, 2020b).…”

Out of Flatland: The Role of the Notion of a Worldview in the Science of Well-being

“…We agree in that these studies are not commonly unified in personality psychology and to an even lesser degree in well-being research (for some exceptions see McAdams, 2008[21]; Pennebaker, 2011[24]; and Garcia et al ., 2015[13]). This is highly important because the words we use are not only a mirror of our thoughts and feelings but also the tools that can be used to guide behaviour (Pennebaker, 2011[24]).…”

The Dark Side of the Affective Profiles

“…Importantly, agreeableness is positively related to the character trait of cooperativeness in Cloninger's model (De Fruyt, Van De Wiele, & Van Heeringen, 2000, Garcia, 2012Garcia, Anckarsäter, et al, 2015). For instance, while the Dark Triad as one global construct (i.e., the sum of all three traits) is related to low levels of agreeableness, high levels of extraversion, high levels of openness, low levels of neuroticism, and low levels of conscientiousness, the only common correlate for each unique dark trait is low levels of agreeableness .…”