Academic psychology maintains that personality should be described in terms of five dimensions—the so-called five-factor model—and that all other dimensions of personality are combinations of these. But this model isn’t as comprehensive as many tend to believe. Consider ambition, for example. Ambition isn’t a factor in the Big Five, but we know it’s an important dimension of personality, essential to leadership. More recently, we at Hogan have concluded that the same is true of humility. This blog post will explain Hogan’s perspective on humility and the role of humility in leadership performance.

The Theory of Humility

What is humility, exactly? Humility can be defined as “freedom from pride or arrogance: the quality or state of low self-preoccupation.” All of the world’s major religions (including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism) maintain that humility is the proper human stance in view of the unfathomable nature of the universe. Humility is not meekness or self-deprecation; it is being willing to submit oneself to something “higher,” to appreciate the talents of others, and to recognize the limits of one’s ability or authority. In the words of “Dirty” Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood, Magnum Force), “A man’s got to know his limitations.”

Humility is best understood in relation to narcissism. They are psychological opposites, but they are similar in that they can be rated easily by other people. Like narcissism, humility is a kind of self-attribution (i.e., how people see themselves) that can be assessed using standard psychometric methods. An item intended to assess humility might read, “I am superior in many ways,” to which the humble answer is “false.” Typical behaviors associated with humility include being willing to admit mistakes, listening to feedback, treating others with respect, and making fun of oneself.

The Role of Self-Confidence in Narcissism and Humility

Self-confidence is important to both narcissism and humility. Self-confidence concerns the degree to which people feel able to solve their problems or complete tasks they have been (or will be) assigned. People with low self-confidence are defeated before they get started; people with high self-confidence persist with tasks until they are completed. Should they fail at a task, they dust themselves off and get ready for the next one.

Narcissists are always self-confident, and overly so. Although they are willing to take on tasks that few other people would attempt, they are unwilling to admit failure. If projects don’t turn out well, the reason will be circumstances beyond their control, such as incompetent subordinates, betrayal, or unforeseen changes in circumstances. But if a project turns out well, the reason is because the narcissist was in charge.  

On the contrary, humble people may or may not be self-confident. Humble people who lack self-confidence seem weak and indecisive, whereas humble people who are self-confident usually project themselves well—for example, Tom Brady, the all-pro quarterback of the National Football League, or professional tennis player Roger Federer.

The Theory of Leadership

The leadership literature overwhelmingly defines leadership in terms of the people who happen to be in charge, but this is a major confusion. People typically become CEOs, generals, admirals, or presidents because of hard work, politics, luck, or charisma, but these are not demonstrations of leadership.

Instead, we define leadership as the ability to build and maintain a team that can outperform its rivals. Similarly, leadership should be evaluated in terms of the performance of the team vis-à-vis its competition. When leadership is defined this way, the characteristics of effective leaders begin to stand out—and humility is one of them.

The importance of charisma to efficacy, on the other hand, is a myth.

The Myth of Charismatic Leadership

In Jim Collins’s famous 2001 book, Good to Great, he evaluates a sample of 1,435 organizations over a period of 40 years to identify the highest performers.¹ Of the 11 companies Collins sees transition from good to great, none have a charismatic CEO. So where did our illusions about charisma among leaders come from?

In the earlier history of American business, CEOs tended to be benevolent caretakers with modest salaries. In the 1970s, activist investors began pushing corporate boards for better results, and this had a major impact on CEO selection. Specifically, companies began hiring charismatic CEOs who promised to deliver better financial results.

But charisma correlates with narcissism, and people with these characteristics excel at making promises to get themselves hired or elected for high-ranking positions. The data clearly show that, once hired, narcissistic CEOs ruin companies by making extravagant bets and bad decisions.²

Humble Leadership

Collins’s book shows that highly effective leaders are humble and fiercely competitive regarding the performance of their organizations. They don’t take themselves seriously, but they take business success very seriously.

A 2017 study from the MIT Leadership Center reinforces Collins’s findings.³ The authors describe the highly successful MIT leadership style as open minded, collaborative, apolitical, data-driven, and as avoiding the trappings of leadership (corner offices, private planes, etc.). Successful CEOs Sergio Marchionne (Fiat Chrysler), Alan Mullaly (Ford), Hubert Joly (Best Buy), and Larry Culp (GE) are exemplars of this humble leadership style.

Since the publication of Collins’ book, research on humility and leadership has blossomed, led by Bradley Owens and colleagues.⁴ For example, Ou et al. show that humble CEOs reduce pay disparities among their top team members, minimize power struggles, foster team integration, and encourage equal participation in strategy formation. These factors predict successful corporate performance.⁵

In sum, humble leaders are serious about their business but don’t take themselves seriously. Humble leaders can laugh at themselves and admit their flaws. They are willing to take advice. They are concerned about their staff and their ability to contribute to the team’s performance. They are not concerned about personal gain or recognition, and they tend to find the spotlight uncomfortable. Humble leaders emphasize something greater than themselves. It is a difference that makes all the difference.

This blog post was written by Robert Hogan, PhD, president and founder of Hogan Assessments.

References

1. Collins, J. (2001). Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t. HarperCollins.
2. Chatterjee, A., & Hambrick, D.C. (2007). It’s All About Me: Narcissistic CEOs and Their Effects on Company Strategy and Performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52(5), 351–386.
3. Ancona, D., & Gregorson, H. (2017). Problem-Led Leadership: An MIT Style of Leading. MIT Leadership Center.
4. Wang, L., Owens, B.P., Li, J., & Shi, L. (2018). Exploring the Affective Impact, Boundary Conditions, and Antecedents of Leader Humility. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(9), 1019–1038.
5. Ou, Y., Waldman, S., & Peterson, D.A. (2015). Do Humble Leaders Matter? Journal of Management, 20, 1–27.

In the quest for professional success, people often wonder which careers or industries might best suit their personalities. Research suggests that personality-industry alignment—that is, the match between an individual’s personality characteristics and a specific industry’s requirements and demands—plays a significant role in shaping an individual’s professional journey. Person-environment alignment theories, for instance, indicate that certain personality characteristics may be better suited for certain industries or occupations, leading to better job performance, satisfaction, and career success.^1,2

For example, individuals who possess characteristics such as creativity, adaptability, and a willingness to take calculated risks may be better suited to industries that emphasize innovation and risk taking, such as technology or entrepreneurship. Similarly, individuals who exhibit compassion, patience, and strong communication abilities may work better in industries that require high levels of empathy and interpersonal finesse, such as healthcare or customer service.

Recognizing the significance of personality-industry alignment, Experd, Hogan’s authorized distributor in Indonesia, used Hogan’s extensive database of personality research to examine the relationship between personality and industry-specific success in Indonesia.

This blog post will explain how different personality characteristics align with the oil and gas and banking and finance industries in Indonesia. It will also explore the implications of these findings for organizations striving to improve their recruitment and talent management practices. Lastly, it will share some unique personality characteristics of the Indonesian workforce.

Oil and Gas Industry

The oil and gas industry is typically divided into two main sectors: upstream and downstream. The upstream sector deals with identifying, extracting, and producing raw materials, while the downstream sector focuses on refining, distributing, and marketing products.

Experd found clear personality differences between people working in these two sectors in Indonesia. People employed in the upstream sector tend to score high on the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) Prudence scale. People who score high on Prudence are described as organized, structured in their approach to work, meticulous in following rules, and planful. They are ideal for roles requiring high safety standards since they generally follow the rules and will likely follow safety procedures.

In contrast, the downstream sector prioritizes achieving business targets and the agility to make changes at any moment. Indonesian employees in this environment tend to score lower on Prudence. These types of employees tend to be described as tolerant to ambiguity and flexible in adapting work plans based on changing conditions.

Understanding these personality differences can help organizations optimize talent acquisition and development strategies within the oil and gas industry.

Banking and Finance Industry

The banking and finance industry can be divided into two main categories: regulatory organizations and commercial organizations. Regulatory organizations ensure the stability and integrity of the financial system, while commercial organizations provide the necessary financial services to meet the needs of individuals, businesses, and governments.

Experd observed distinct personality differences between people working in regulatory and commercial organizations in Indonesia. The work culture in regulatory organizations usually emphasizes collaboration, compliance, and process orientation. Employees must consider the interests of numerous stakeholders and develop policies and guidelines to minimize risk. As a result, high scores on the HPI’s Interpersonal Sensitivity scale and low scores on the Hogan Development Survey (HDS) Mischievous scale are the most prevalent characteristics of Indonesians working in these regulatory organizations. People with high scores on Interpersonal Sensitivity tend to be described as agreeable, personable, and diplomatic in their communication style. Those with low Mischievous scores are described as responsible and rule abiding, even in times of stress, pressure, or boredom. Employees with these scores may tend to develop high-quality relationships with various stakeholders while following the rules, matching the requirements for regulatory organizations.

Meanwhile, in commercial organizations, the emphasis is on competition, business, and results. Employees must establish relationships with various stakeholders and achieve strategic business goals, including taking risks to advance the business. Because of these demands, people working in commercial organizations tend to score high on HPI Ambition, HPI Sociability, and HDS Mischievous. People who score high on Ambition and Sociability tend to be described as assertive, competitive, and outgoing, while those who score high on Mischievous are described as charming but limit testing.

Understanding these distinct personality profiles can improve hiring decisions, team dynamics, and overall organizational effectiveness, enabling both regulatory and commercial organizations to harness the strengths of their employees for success in their respective domains.

Personality Characteristics of the Indonesian Workforce

While individual personalities across any population are unique and show a broad range of differences, some common characteristics can be observed among Indonesian employees, according to Experd’s research. The Indonesian culture places great value on compassion, generosity, and mutual assistance, known as gotong royong. This cultural aspect contributes to higher scores on the Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) Altruistic scale, highlighting Indonesians’ inclination to help others. High scorers on the Altruistic scale tend to be described as good-natured and concerned for the well-being of others. This value supports teamwork as an important culture characteristic in most organizations.

Politeness, respect, loyalty, and reverence for elders are also deeply ingrained in the culture. This is consistent with higher scores on the MVPI Tradition scale. People who score high on the Tradition scale typically care deeply about traditions and customs. Indonesians also tend to score high on the MVPI Security scale, indicating a preference for certainty and clear expectations, rather than taking risks or embracing an entrepreneurial spirit. This suggests that the spirit of entrepreneurship might not be as prevalent within Indonesian culture and that some organizations might find it challenging to implement a culture of agility.

Another prevalent high score among Indonesians is on the HDS Leisurely scale. People who score high on the Leisurely scale are described as cooperative and agreeable but privately resentful and passively resistant in times of pressure. Social harmony is highly valued in Indonesia, which can lead to indirect communication and the avoidance of direct confrontation. The cultural concept of ewuh pakewuh, or indirectness, is still prominent in the workplace. Many individuals are hesitant to voice their objections directly, preferring to express their disagreement behind the scenes to maintain harmony and avoid conflict. This can create challenges in fostering a productive work environment and constructive collaboration within a company or organization. Consequently, employees in Indonesia could consider working on developing assertive communication skills with the goal of effectively expressing their opinions in a more direct manner but without causing offense.

Lessons from Experd’s Research

Assessing personality-industry alignment can help organizations make informed decisions during the talent acquisition process, ensuring they can identify candidates with suitable personality characteristics for a particular industry or job role. Moreover, employees and leaders who have self-awareness about their personalities can improve their job satisfaction, performance, and career success long-term.

In addition, understanding these characteristics can provide valuable insights for organizations and people navigating the workplace in Indonesia. Embracing the values of compassion, respect, and indirect communication can help individuals foster harmonious and successful relationships in the Indonesian workforce. Working, however, on effective communication that proactively addresses problems will be important for organizations and individuals in Indonesia to succeed in the marketplace.

Finally, personal values play a significant role in shaping organizational culture. By being aware of employees’ values, organizations can take proactive measures to address discrepancies and align personal values with the desired culture. Ultimately, recognizing the influence of personal values and actively managing them can help build a strong organizational culture.

References

1. Dawis, R. V., & Lofquist, L. H. (1984). A Psychological Theory of Work Adjustment. University of Minnesota Press.
2. Holland, J. L. (1997). Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments (3rd ed.). Psychological Assessment Resources.

The link between personality and relationships is complex, to say the least. What compatible personality characteristics help us form positive, long-term human connections?

Recently on The Science of Personality, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, and Blake Loepp, discussed personality, relationships, and the psychology of connection.

Most of what we feature on our podcast revolves around work and business, but there’s so much more to life than work. Our personalities heavily influence our personal and romantic relationships.

Let’s explore that further.

Personality and Finding Meaning

When a reporter asked Sigmund Freud to define the meaning of life, the psychologist gave two answers: love and work. Personality affects both in ways that aren’t always apparent. For instance, it can be hard to understand exactly why people fall in or out of love with each other.

At Hogan, we talk about three fundamental motives that drive human behavior: getting along, getting ahead, and finding meaning. Getting along corresponds to forming personal relationships, getting ahead corresponds to gaining social status, and finding meaning corresponds to life purpose. Some find purpose in love, others in work, and others in ideologies such as religion, philosophy, or politics. “How we find that meaning is an essential part of what it means to be human,” Ryne said.

According to Freud, the unconscious part of our minds dictates many of our values and choices about getting along and getting ahead. Compatible personality characteristics and individual preferences play a crucial role in determining our relationships in both love and work.

Compatible Personality Characteristics and Positive Relationships

“There are certain personality characteristics related to positive relationship outcomes,” Ryne explained. “If you have these certain personality characteristics, you’re more likely to have more frequent and more positive relationships.” These are the ones he identified:

• Extraversion – Extraverted individuals tend to have a high number of relationships and lifestyles focused on creating social connections.
• Agreeableness – A high level of agreeableness contributes to healthy and positive relationships. In Hogan terms, the Interpersonal Sensitivity scale on the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) relates to the tendency to get along, avoid disputes, defuse conflicts, and make compromises.
• Trustworthiness – Trust is seen as the foundation of any relationship; it is highly valued in friendships and romantic connections. People who are perceived as warm and trustful are more likely to be liked by others. Conversely, deviousness can hinder relationship formation and create difficulties in building connections.

Two Common Sayings About Relationships

Is there any basis in personality psychology to the two sayings that opposites attract and that birds of a feather flock together? The answer to one has to do with the concept of complementarity. The answer to the other relates to values.

Opposites Attract

The common interpretation of the proverb that opposites attract is a romantic partnership in which the partners significantly differ. For example, one person is an introvert and one an extravert. “There’s really no evidence for this theory that opposites attract, particularly when we talk about personality traits,” Ryne said.

It’s silly to assume that someone with a low score on the HPI Sociability scale is more likely to be attracted to someone with a high score on Sociability. An opposite attraction in that sense just isn’t how love works.

However, long-term personal relationships do tend to function well if the partners have complementarity. Complementarity in relationships refers to how two individuals complement each other in ways that make them stronger together. It is about finding areas where they enhance each other’s strengths, support each other’s weaknesses, and share each other’s values.

Complementarity is not necessarily about being complete opposites, but rather about relating in a way that combines individual strengths to create unity or harmony. To use another saying to explain complementarity, we might say that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

The second saying implies that romantic relationships should succeed based on similar personality characteristics. However, just like opposites, there is no empirical evidence to support this. People do tend to seek similarities in values, though. “We tend to have more successful longer romantic relationships with people who share our values,” Ryne said.

We’re not often consciously aware of values alignment, but we use values to assess others and build relationships. These include personal and business relationships, plus relationships with brands and public figures. Ryne noted that among Republican voters in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, those who shared values with then-candidate Donald Trump were more likely to vote for him than Republicans who did not.

At Hogan, we use our Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) to provide insight into relationships in the workplace, particularly between organizations and employees. Ryne referenced how values affect talent attraction, selection, and retention.¹ Based on an organization’s published values, candidates who share those values will apply. And based on an organization’s cultural alignment with its values, employees who share those values will remain. In the same way, birds of a feather are likely to flock together in personal relationships by seeking out and remaining with partners who share their values.

Blake provided validation for values alignment from his own career history. He worked at a financial institution for about a year and a half before joining Hogan, where he learned that his MVPI Commerce score was very low. Because he didn’t value a lifestyle that reflected the pursuit of financial interests, Blake didn’t feel satisfied or fulfilled by work in which financial gain was important.

Personality-Based Relationship Advice

When asked to share one thing everyone should know about relationships and personality, Ryne answered, “There’s a lot of ways that our personalities affect the relationships that we have with others. But if you could only pick one trait to base a positive relationship with someone, you would want to have agreeableness. On average, if you want to have positive romantic relationships, it’s really about trying to be more agreeable, trying to get along.”

Listen to this conversation in full on episode 78 of The Science of Personality. Never miss an episode by following us anywhere you get podcasts. Cheers, everybody!

Reference

1. Schneider, B. (1987). The People Make the Place. Personnel Psychology, 40(3), 437-453. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1987.tb00609.x

Over the past couple of years, a trend has emerged in research and articles about the importance of so-called “soft” skills for leaders. Recently, that thinking seems to be accelerating. Some have suggested that soft skills are the new “hard” skills for leaders.¹ Others have suggested that soft skills deserve a rebrand because of their importance in the workplace.² But whether they are called soft skills, power skills, core skills, interpersonal skills, or as we’ve referred to them, socioemotional skills, it is fair to say they are having a moment.

This popularity is not surprising given the increase in employee power in the job market, the talent shortage, increased unionization, widespread remote work, and a greater focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is understandable that some conclude that socioemotional skills are new skills for a new world³ or that there has been a fundamental shift⁴ in what it takes to be an effective leader. These conclusions are well intentioned but incorrect.

Soft Skills Aren’t Just a Fad

These skills have always been important for leaders. Consider socioanalytic theory, which posits that humans are driven by core needs of getting along, getting ahead, and making sense of the world. Early human groups faced threats from the environment and animals, as well as threats from other human groups. More cohesive groups tended to survive, meaning they were skilled at getting along. Successful groups also excelled at getting ahead together, meaning they performed better than other groups. Leadership is an evolved solution to the problem of group coordination (getting along) and survival (getting ahead).

More (relatively) recent research established the importance of socioemotional skills in leadership. For example, the famous Ohio State studies,⁵ which began in the 1940s, identified two important categories of leader behaviors:

• Initiation of structure includes critiquing others’ work, setting performance standards, and setting uniform procedures.
• Consideration includes behaviors such as doing personal favors for group members, taking time to listen, treating people equally, and being friendly and approachable.

Later, in the 1970s, V. Jon Bentz, a vice president of human resources at Sears, conducted research about managerial failure.⁶ He found that most leaders fail due to interpersonal incompetence, not IQ or technical skills (a.k.a. hard skills). Similarly, our research at Hogan in the past several decades highlights the importance of socioemotional skills for leaders and others. The data show that good judgment, humility, integrity, vision, and drive, to name just a few characteristics, are critical for selecting high-performing leaders.

Selecting Leaders with Socioemotional Skills

In the past few years, so-called soft skills have been critical to help leaders effectively navigate the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world we all face. Despite the recent attention, the truth is that socioemotional skills have always been an important part of leader effectiveness.  For organizations, using a scientific, research-based approach to talent acquisition—rather than trend chasing—will always yield the best results. 

This blog post was written by Scott Gregory, PhD, a renowned expert in IO psychology.

References

1. Trudeau-Poskas, D. (2020, January 29). Soft Skills Are 2020’s Hard Skills—Here’s How to Master Them. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2020/01/29/soft-skills-are-2020s-hard-skills-heres-how-to-master-them/?sh=aa0ea0d70f27
2. Bersin, J. (2019, October 31). Let’s Stop Talking About Soft Skills: They’re Power Skills. Josh Bersin. https://joshbersin.com/2019/10/lets-stop-talking-about-soft-skills-theyre-power-skills/
3. Patnaik, D. (2022, December 16). The Disney Effect: How CEOs Can Fortify Against The Panic-Button Era. Chief Executive.https://chiefexecutive.net/the-disney-effect-how-ceos-can-fortify-against-the-panic-button-era/
4. Pontefract, D. (2022, December 6). The Seismic Shift in Leadership. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danpontefract/2022/12/06/the-seismic-shift-in-leadership/?sh=2b372d948485
5. Li, M. (2018, June 8). What Have We Learned from the 100-Year History of Leadership Research? (Part II). The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/leadreadtoday/blog/what-have-we-learned-from-the-100-year-history-of-leadership-research-part-ii
6. Bentz, V. J. (1985). A view of the top: a thirty-year perspective of research devoted to the discovery, description and prediction of executive behavior [Conference presentation]. Division 14, 93rd Annual Convention, American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

After 75 full episodes, several bonus episodes, and three live video episodes, here we are three years after the launch of The Science of Personality with more than 100,000 downloads and an active, engaged listener base. None of that would be possible without you, our listeners. Thank you.

Join The Science of Personality cohost Blake Loepp for this special countdown of highlights from our top five episodes of all time.

Let’s dive in.

5. Personality Change

Episode 35, “Personality Change,” featured Jackie VanBroekhoven Sahm, MS, director of product development at Hogan Assessments. Jackie responds to this question: Given that personality tends to remain stable over time, can people change their personalities?

“People can change their personality,” Jackie said. “But how are we defining personality?” She revisited the differences between identity and reputation and between biology and behavior. “We have to be clear about what we mean when we say yes to that question,” she said.

Another complicating factor in personality change is comparing changes in personality assessment scores to reputational changes. “Even if we could hypothetically change your personality or change your test scores, it’s hard to know if the changes that we see there are based on real change that an outsider could perceive,” Jackie concluded.

Click here to listen to the full episode.

4. Michael Jordan and Leadership Effectiveness

Episode 1, “Michael Jordan and Leadership Effectiveness,” was a discussion between cohosts Blake and Ryne Sherman, PhD, chief science officer at Hogan Assessments. They noted parallels between leadership in sports and leadership in business.

“Michael Jordan was such a well-known personality that he put professional basketball on a global scene,” Blake said. He then asked Ryne to explain the background of why a larger-than-life personality like Jordan’s matters so much in leadership effectiveness.

“Leadership is critical,” Ryne said. “CEOs account for somewhere between 17% and 35% of the variance in firm performance. CEOs and their average tenure in major companies add or subtract up to $40 million in revenue for a business. Who’s in charge of organizations has a huge impact, and there’s all kinds of research now showing this.”

Click here to listen to the full episode.

3. Personality: Frequently Asked Questions

Episode 3 of The Science of Personality, “Personality: Frequently Asked Questions,” also featured Jackie VanBroekhoven Sahm. Jackie responds to this question: How does Hogan compare to other personality assessments, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or DiSC?

“Hogan and tools like Myers-Briggs and DiSC are similar in that they are all personality assessments. That’s where a lot of the similarities end,” Jackie said. She explained that other assessments differ greatly from Hogan’s in how they were developed and how they are applied. “Whereas Hogan has been the first workplace assessment that was designed to predict performance and therefore can be used in selection contexts where you’re making decisions about a person based on their scores, tools like the Myers-Briggs and DiSC are generally not validated for that purpose.”

Hogan’s assessments also differ from others in their underlying theory. “[The Hogan Personality Inventory] is based on the five-factor model of personality, which is one of the most well-researched and robust models of personality out there,” she continued. “What the Myers-Briggs claims to measure is quite different from what the Hogan tools claim to measure.” When we compare the Extraversion-Introversion scale on the MBTI or the outgoing and reserved elements of the DiSC with the Sociability scale on the Hogan Personality Inventory, they cannot be truly reconciled because they are built on different foundations.

Click here to listen to the full episode.

2. Organizational Culture

Episode 37, “Organizational Culture,” features Daniel Denison, PhD, chair at Denison Consulting. Daniel responds to this question: How do you change organizational culture?

“Successful culture change almost always starts with the recognition that the environment that we operate in requires something different today that we don’t have,” Daniel said. “Our behavior is a complex set of habits built up over time, routines that are rooted in past experience, and lessons that we learn. You have to intervene both at that micro level and at the big-picture level of the organization,” he said, adding that there must be a strong connection between executives and front-line workers.

Leaders must take the initiative in implementing change by starting small and nurturing a new mindset, Daniel explained. “The future is moving fast,” he pointed out. “We’ve got to get better as leaders at managing the culture and the transformation process so that you’re not only staying abreast of the changes in the marketplace, but you are the disruptor. You are the one that’s creating the new way of doing things so that everybody else needs to follow you.”

Click here to listen to the full episode.

1. The Dark Side of Personality

The Science of Personality‘s most popular episode to date is episode 4, “The Dark Side of Personality,” which features Peter Harms, PhD, professor of management at the University of Alabama. While most assessments focus on one’s strengths, or bright side, we think understanding one’s challenges, or dark side, is vital in predicting workplace performance. Peter responds to this question: What are common dark-side personality characteristics of leaders?

First, Peter defines an effective leader, pointing out the difference between emergent leaders who tend to network with the people above them and effective leaders who tend to talk to their teams and workers. “Organizations are not very good at detecting dark-side personality characteristics,” he said. “They put these people in a position of power where it’s harder to get rid of them. Quite often what you see with these characteristics is that all their negative actions are downward to the people underneath them, so it can end up producing toxic cultures.”

In certain circumstances, in certain cultures, certain dark-side characteristics can be positive. “We see characteristics like narcissism quite often being associated with becoming a leader,” Peter said. “They’re the ones with their hands in the air first. Moderate levels of narcissism—that’s just confidence, and you definitely need confidence if you’re going to be a leader.”

Click here to listen to the full episode.

What’s Next for The Science of Personality?

Thank you so much for listening to The Science of Personality podcast. We look forward to taking this podcast to another level in the weeks, months, and years ahead.

Listen to these highlights in full on episode 76 of The Science of Personality. Never miss an episode by following us anywhere you get podcasts. Cheers, everybody!

If Sigmund Freud was the king of psychoanalysis, Carl Jung was its crown prince. The two men were friends for a time, then bitter enemies. Yet nearly every idea that followed them in personality psychology can be said to be an afterthought to their contributions.

Recently on The Science of Personality, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, chief science officer, and Blake Loepp, PR manager, spoke with Robert Hogan, PhD, founder and president of Hogan Assessments, about the contributions that Carl Jung made to modern psychology.

Dr. Hogan is an international authority on personality assessment, leadership, and organizational effectiveness. He appeared on episode 73 of The Science of Personality to talk about the importance of Freud.

Now let’s look at Carl Jung and why his work matters.

About Carl Jung

Understanding personality theory starts with the two great figures of Freud and Jung. Dr. Hogan called them the Plato and Aristotle of personality psychology. “They had something to say about almost every single important issue in the discipline,” he added.

Jung was an intuitive introvert with an interest in people and society rather than academic fame. Compared to Freud, who was a rationalist, Jung’s insight into people could seem mystical. He spent most of his scholarly career researching and writing about psychology, the unconscious, and myth and religion.

Freud and Jung had a complicated relationship. Because Freud was passionate about building a following around his own international reputation, he was intolerant of psychologists who disagreed with him. Although at first Jung upheld Freudian thought, he developed his own theories and ended his friendship with Freud. Freudians subsequently defamed Jung, destroying his reputation in a way that still affects the extent to which he is studied today.

Dr. Hogan said, “Personality theory is about the nature of human nature. Part of my mission in running Hogan Assessments is to restore people’s interest in personality theory.”

What Are Jungian Archetypes?

Both Freud and Jung thought that most human behavior was motived by the unconscious. They differed, however, in what they thought the unconscious was. Freud’s view of the unconscious was comparable to thoughts that have been systematically repressed over time. For Jung, on the other hand, the unconscious is the collective memory of the human species. “Freud would regard Jung’s view of the unconscious as hopelessly mystical, and Jung would regard Freud’s view of the unconscious as trivial,” Dr. Hogan explained.

Jung’s perspective is grounded in evolutionary theory. Humans possess a collection of emotions and response patterns from the history of our species. For example, one of our greatest fears is to be alone in a strange place in the dark. Our physical and emotional fear response in these circumstances comes from our collective unconscious, Jung would say.

Jung and Myth

Archetypes are thought patterns that help people make sense of their experience.¹ Jung identified numerous archetypes, including the persona, the shadow, and the hero. The famous hero archetype appears in nearly every human culture and follows the same general template. A divine child is raised in humble circumstances, displays supernatural abilities, rises to fame, and is betrayed and sacrificed.

The stories of Hercules, Oedipus, Jesus, Buddha, King Arthur, and Superman all share the Jungian hero archetype. “Certain things happen over and over and over and over again until, at some point, they’re recorded down there in the collective unconscious,” Dr. Hogan said.

Jung and Religion

Humans have three core motivations: (1) getting along, (2) getting ahead, and (3) finding meaning. Religion is one of the most powerful forces in human affairs because it speaks to our desire to commit our belief to an idea. Politics, philosophy, and history can hold similar psychological roles regarding belief.

According to Jung, religion is a universal in human culture. He viewed all religions as having similar underlying structures that allow people to find purpose in their lives. While Freud believed religion was a delusion, Jung took religion seriously. “People need to believe in something, and religion provides an answer,” said Dr. Hogan, explaining Jung’s perspective on the psychological necessity of religion.

Why Jung Matters

Jungian theory has had a significant impact on psychology. Aside from the legacy of his archetypes, which pervade popular culture, Jung invented the word association test. The person taking the test speaks the first word that comes to mind through free association in response to a word, image, or other stimulus. This test is still used in clinical psychology.

The biggest effect that Jung has had on modern culture was by laying the foundational theory for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a widely known personality inventory. The theory came about while Jung was comparing the personalities of Freud and Alfred Adler, another psychologist.

He defined four differences in how people acquired and analyzed facts. Jung noticed that Adler focused his attention on the external world, while Freud focused inside his own head. After focusing their attention externally or internally, some people perceived facts, while others perceived the meaning of the facts. Then Jung saw that some people accepted facts at face value, whereas others filtered facts through their unconscious. Finally, some people judged facts as true or false, while others judged facts as meaningful or meaningless. The MBTI’s creators later applied these four dimensions of discerning, acquiring, processing, and applying information to its development.

Many modern personality psychologists believe that personality causes a person to think, feel, or act in certain ways. That is opposite to Jung’s information-processing theory of personality. “The way you process information—the way you feel about information—is exactly what it means to be different, to have a different personality,” Dr. Hogan said. While there are more dimensions to personality, Jung is both unique and correct when he says that our approaches to learning information contribute to our personalities.

To emphasize the importance of Jungian theory, Dr. Hogan said, “All personality psychology can be seen as an extended footnote to Freud and Jung.”

Listen to this conversation in full on episode 75 of The Science of Personality. Never miss an episode by following us anywhere you get podcasts. Cheers, everybody!

Reference

1. Hogan, R., & Smither, R. (2008). C. G. Jung and Analytic Psychology. In Personality: Theories and Applications. Hogan Press: 77–102.

A household name in American football, Deion Sanders recently garnered attention again as the new football head coach at the University of Colorado. Will his larger-than-life personality serve him in a leadership role?

Recently on The Science of Personality, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, chief science officer, and Blake Loepp, PR manager, discussed the recent exodus of players at Colorado and how Deion Sanders seems as a leader.

Sports—or any high-level competition—can be relevant to the business world. Let’s look at how leader personality and a competitive environment may correspond to talent acquisition strategies.

About Deion Sanders

During the 1990s, Deion Sanders was known as a star player who excelled in multiple sports. A record-holding athlete, Sanders is the only person to have played in both the World Series and the Super Bowl.

In December 2022, he became head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes football team, where he promptly warned the players on his new team to transfer. The implication was that he doesn’t plan to develop them. Sanders implied that he would be filling positions with athletes he feels have more talent.

“‘The best way to change people is to change people,’” Ryne said, quoting Robert Hogan, PhD, our founder. “It’s an important change management organizational strategy. Sometimes that’s the most effective and efficient way to go.”

The Buffaloes previously had one win and 11 losses. Of the 83 players, 63 are not returning.

Similarities with Elon Musk

If this strategy of “cleaning house” sounds familiar, that’s because it is. There are a lot of parallels between how Deion Sanders started his tenure at Colorado and how Elon Musk started his at Twitter.

Both leaders have been criticized for their takeover methods. Yet both leaders have extremely impressive past records of success. As Dr. Hogan pointed out about Musk, “It is difficult to say how the Twitter acquisition will work out for Musk, but if his past business ventures are any indication, it would be hard to bet against him.”

As a player, Sanders won two Super Bowls. As a head coach, he took his team to two Celebration Bowls. Sanders deserves credit for knowing what he is doing. “Look at what’s on the paper,” Blake said, citing Sanders’s success record. “You can’t say that he’s going to do poorly.”

The two leaders are similar in another way. At Twitter, Musk reduced his workforce and enforced policies that called for increased worker commitment, such as in-office work and longer hours. “What Sanders is doing at Colorado is reducing the staff to just those players who are really committed,” Ryne explained. Some employees and players who don’t like how the environment has changed will leave. Others who accept the dramatically new direction will stay.

Will Coach Prime Attract Talent?

Deion Sanders’s popularity is expressed in his nickname “Coach Prime.” As a player with a larger-than-life personality, he built a strong personal brand. His confidence and discipline are likely to attract players who identify with his reputation for hard work and success. “They see that combination and say, ‘That’s who I want to play for,’” Ryne said.

Conversely, the bravado and show of Coach Prime—as well as his recent comments about the transfer portal—might deter some athletes. Will Coach Prime show favoritism by bringing former players along with him? Will he commit to developing new players or encourage them to transfer away?

In business as in sports, recruitment is a challenge. “Attracting talent is a personality question,” Ryne said. In fact, talent attraction is a performance metric backed by personality data. “Personality is definitely predictive of the ability to attract talent to an organization,” he added.

As to Coach Prime’s ability to do so, Blake said, “It’ll be a story to watch over the next few years.”

Listen to this conversation in full on episode 74 of The Science of Personality. Never miss an episode by following us anywhere you get podcasts. Cheers, everybody!

Cybersecurity threats are on the rise. With the rapid increase of security breaches, company hacks, and data leaks, cybercrime has become one of the most significant threats to global business. Skilled cybersecurity professionals are key for the safety of companies and governments, but there is a talent shortage of 3.4 million workers. The demand for talent in this space is at an all-time high, and there are some unique personality traits that recruiters and companies need to look out for.

At Hogan, we have helped some of the world’s top IT and cybersecurity firms recruit the right individuals. Our science-based assessments and decades of validated research found that there are eight personality traits best suited to a successful career in cybersecurity.

Personality Traits for Cybersecurity

1. Modest – Those who tend to excel in cybersecurity typically prefer to avoid the spotlight. A successful cybersecurity agent is not egotistical or fame hungry and instead favors a more low-key lifestyle. After all, most of the well-known names in cybersecurity are notorious cybercriminals.
2. Altruistic – Cybersecurity professionals should want to help people. While they are working all day with systems and programming, protecting and helping people is at the core of this profession. They should work well with others and avoid isolating themselves. Fighting threats will require cooperation and trust between colleagues as they are striving together toward the same security goals.
3. Composed – The enterprise systems they are protecting from attacks are always under threat. Cybersecurity agents naturally need to have a sense of urgency, but it is crucial that they stay composed handling cyberthreats. Unnecessary outbursts when the pressure is rising can be counterproductive and shift their attention away from what is at stake.
4. Scientific – The perfect cybersecurity professional wants to solve problems using data and analytic skills. Cybercriminals are increasingly sophisticated in their attacks. Data security requires individuals who are highly technical and value evidence-based decision-making.
5. Inquisitive – The world of cybersecurity is ever-changing. When threats are prevented, new ones emerge. These can require a completely different set of skills than the ones needed previously. A successful cybersecurity candidate is imaginative, curious, and creative. They need to figure things out quickly, show motivation to learn, and be open to new ideas.
6. Skeptical – “Trust no one” would be a useful motto for a cybersecurity worker. To get ahead of the game and prevent attacks means sometimes having to think like a hacker. This means maintaining suspicion about what’s going on, because in a world of constant threats, naiveté can be a dangerous thing.
7. Responsive – Things can go wrong quickly. A data security breach might be as simple as someone in the company opening a phishing email and exposing sensitive information. It is thus very important for a cybersecurity worker to be open and responsive to criticism and avoid being passive-aggressive.
8. Diligent – In a high-pressure environment with a firm’s security at stake, a successful candidate needs to be detail-oriented and constantly pushing projects to completion. One small oversight could lead to attacks, so cybersecurity specialists need to scrutinize every detail. They also need to value achievement and making an impact.

Ryne Sherman, PhD, Hogan’s chief science officer, adds: “Traditional recruiting practices often overlook personality and focus on education, experience, and technical skills. While these are important, it is crucial to remember that personality traits play a huge role. A candidate with the suitable personality can be easily trained into the right role. This is especially true in the cybersecurity world where companies struggle to find the experienced individuals they need. To recruit top talent, companies should direct their attention to the power of personality.”

Want to learn more about personality tests? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Personality Tests

“The unexamined life is not worth living” is a message attributed to Socrates and adopted by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis. Today, the theories of Freud are often considered dated at best and sexist at worst. Modern personality psychology, however, still gains a lot of value and influence from Freudian theory.

Recently on The Science of Personality, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, chief science officer, and Blake Loepp, PR manager, spoke with Robert Hogan, PhD, founder and president of Hogan Assessments, about why Freud matters.

Let’s dive into seven relevant scientific ideas from Freud.

Does Freudian Psychoanalysis Work?

People want more out of life than just financial rewards. They want to know what life is about—how to achieve wisdom and happiness. This is why some may pursue psychotherapy, such as Freudian psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is expensive and time-consuming, Dr. Hogan pointed out. It typically appeals to wealthy, smart people who have time on their hands and want to understand themselves better.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, one of the most common types of modern psychotherapy, has the focused goal of treating mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression. In contrast, the goal of long-term psychoanalysis is to create a deep, profound personal understanding beyond simple introspection. “It’s about a total psychic overhaul,” Dr. Hogan said. As to whether psychoanalysis “works” . . .

It can be life-changing in that it provides thorough, intimate self-knowledge. Self-awareness doesn’t necessarily lead to ultimate happiness. Freud himself was clear that the goal of psychoanalysis is not to make you happy. The goal is to persuade you to exchange your “neurotic unhappiness” for the “common misery” of humanity. By this, Freud meant directly facing reality with no illusions. This degree of intellectual and emotional honesty borders on philosophical existentialism, which can seem bleak. Yet, contrary to the belief that it is unscientific, psychodynamic psychotherapy is indeed an effective therapeutic approach.¹

Seven Important Concepts in Freudian Theory

“People are the most dangerous and deadly invasive species in the history of the earth,” Dr. Hogan said to explain why studying human personality is so significant. “Wouldn’t it make some sense to know something about people? The one discipline that has the nature of human nature as its explicit subject matter is personality psychology,” he added.

Yes, we know some parts of Freudian theory to be nonsensical today. But Freud created a systematic model for understanding people. Modern personality psychology is built on his framework, which makes it a good place to start. “There are about seven points about psychoanalysis that are absolutely true and that provide the scaffolding for a proper understanding of the nature of human nature,” Dr. Hogan said. He emphasized that the points do not have a priority order but are each fundamental.²

Psychic Determinism

Psychic determinism is the assumption that there are no accidents in our mental lives. All psychic phenomena have a cause. Our dreams, memories, impulses, speech, and behavior—everything has a meaning and can be interpreted. “I love that as a discipline for understanding people,” Dr. Hogan said.

Evolutionary Psychology

Personality is rooted in biology and human evolution. Evolutionary psychology stands on the assumptions that the study of human origins is essential for understanding human psychology and the fundamental human impulses have evolutionary implications. Freud claimed that the core human motives were sex and aggression. His notion of “sex” can be interpreted as social acceptance (getting along with others) and “aggression” as social competition (getting ahead of others). “Everything of significance in psychology is rooted in biology, and everything of significance in biology is rooted in evolution,” Dr. Hogan concurred.

Human Motivation

All human relationships are fundamentally ambivalent, according to Freud. In other words, there is no love without some hate, no good without some bad. Human motivation is likewise ambivalent. To get along with other people, we should avoid competing with them. However, success in life necessarily involves competition. That tension is unavoidable and leads to a struggle to accept others and ourselves.

Self-Deception

Freud argued that we are typically unaware of why we do what we do. As Freud knew, self-awareness is a prerequisite for successful relationships and careers. Many people lie to themselves about their identity, creating a gap between how they perceive themselves and how they are perceived by others. Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman’s famous theory of behavioral economics describes how people deceive themselves in decision-making, a concept built on Freud’s foundational views about self-deception.

Authority

Attitudes toward authority are a fundamental component of personality. Freud wrote that human attitudes toward authority are established at about age five with the development of the superego, broadly defined as the conscience or morality. “Will you accept, internalize, believe, comply with authority, or will you reject, criticize, fight against, struggle against authority?” Dr. Hogan asked. Too much compliance can lead to suppression of creativity, while too much resistance makes a bad organizational citizen. Attitudes toward authority form early and are easy to measure, such as with the Socialization scale of the California Psychological Inventory or the Prudence scale of the Hogan Personality Inventory.

Primary and Secondary Process Thinking

Freud’s distinction between primary and secondary process thought is a precursor to Tversky and Kahneman’s distinction between fast and slow thinking. Primary process thinking is fast, impulsive, and directed toward immediate pleasure, which Freud called the pleasure principle. Secondary process thinking concerns setting aside immediate gratification for the sake of longer-term rewards, or delayed gratification. “The degree to which people adopt one or the other of these two forms of thinking has major implications for a person’s success in life,” Dr. Hogan said. It’s the difference in mindset, for example, between someone who drops out of high school to party and someone who works hard to earn an undergraduate degree to study a topic they really enjoy in graduate school.

Leadership

Freud was keenly interested in politics and the psychology of populist leaders and demagogues. To explain some of Freud’s social theory, Dr. Hogan said, “There’s the kind of person who will offer up outrageous, opportunistic claims, and there’s the kind of people who respond to it. Freud said you need them both to understand populist leadership.” The people who respond are looking for meaning in the message of the populist leader. “This connection between the needy bourgeois and the populist demagogues create these powerful movements,” he added, mentioning Charles Manson and Jim Jones.

Why Freud Matters

“Freud was a raging sexist,” Dr. Hogan said. While he may have been smart and sensitive, Freud was also a chauvinist. Many of his ideas are wrong, yet many others are also right. These seven points outline what a proper theory of personality should look like. They focus on the nature of human nature, which academic psychology has largely ignored or forgotten. “The most interesting part of modern of modern personality psychology is where personality intersects with clinical psychology,” he added.

Dr. Hogan reminded us that just as Plato and Aristotle are to philosophy, Freud and Jung are to psychology. Freud is part of the legacy of Western civilization that we would be wrong to forget. “With Freud, it’s a journey, not the completion of the trip, right? It’s worth doing,” he said.

Listen to this conversation in full on episode 73 of The Science of Personality. Never miss an episode by following us anywhere you get podcasts. Cheers, everybody!

References

1. Shedler, J. (2010). The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 65(2), 98–109. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018378
2. Hogan, R., & Smither, R. (2008). Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalytic Theory. In Personality: Theories and Applications. Hogan Press: 45-76.

Before we start catastrophizing about our future AI rulers, we should stop and appreciate the potential good that artificial intelligence can offer. The impact of AI on personality assessment and workplace communication will likely be positive—and extensive.

Recently on The Science of Personality Live, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, chief science officer, and Blake Loepp, PR manager, spoke with Michal Kosinski, PhD, associate professor in organizational behavior at Stanford University, about the evolving technology of artificial intelligence.

Michal’s primary research focus is studying humans in a digital environment using cutting-edge computational methods, artificial intelligence, and big data. He was also behind the first press article warning against Cambridge Analytica, the privacy risks they exploited, and the efficiency of the methods they use.

Let’s look at how AI language models have evolved, what AI-assisted communication might become, how AI affects the future of personality assessment, and whether AI language models can be creative.

The Evolution of AI Language Models

Within the next few months (as of March 2023), AI language models will become exponentially more capable and ingenious. How does that explosive growth happen?

The approach to the development of AI language models started with chess. At first, software engineers and data scientists fed AI chess programs with archives of chess games played by humans. Then they equipped two AI programs with a virtual chessboard and instructions for how to play without any human intervention. “For the first few million games, those models were completely stupid,” Michal said, explaining that the rate of play was millions of games per second. “But soon, after a few hours, what emerged was this alien, superhuman software that could play chess at a level completely unachievable to human players.”

Software developers and artificial intelligence specialists used the same adaptive strategy to teach AI models how to craft language. Humans learn language through conversation, context, and correction. They make mistakes, learn, and make mistakes more rarely over time. “At some point they stop making mistakes and reach new levels of language. The same approach was used to train ChatGPT and similar models,” Michal said. The AI programs were given sentences with one word missing, failed millions of times to fill in the blank correctly, and then began to get it right. After a few million dollars of electricity and a few billion sentences, Michal quipped, the programs showed language mastery at an extraordinary level.

The AI revolution originated by teaching machines to solve problems using the same strategies that we use to teach humans: reinforcement and feedback. At first, the machines make obvious logical mistakes, but then they don’t. “The AI is responding to you as if as if it’s another person, which is the most incredible thing,” added Ryne. Because computers can exceed humans in logical ability, they are well suited to both playing chess and using language.

AI-Assisted Communication

“AI is a revolution comparable with the invention of written language,” Michal said. Manual writing gave humans the ability to communicate across time, sometimes thousands of years in the past. Knowing how to use a stylus, quill, or pencil was an essential method for communication before computers. Now, knowing how to use a keyboard is essential. Very shortly, the same fundamental change will happen with AI language models, Michal predicted.

“I think that GPT is potentially a new language for humanity to communicate at speed and convenience unheard of and impossible before,” Michal said.

An AI language model won’t just help humans write emails. It will craft the perfect message in the language that is most readily understood for the recipient. Here’s how.

Imagine that Michal wants to send Ryne an email. An AI language model knows and remembers all the events of each person’s life and has consumed every piece of digital communication each has produced. If Michal asked the AI to send a message to Ryne, he could make the request in very few words as if speaking to a good friend with intimate knowledge of him. But because the AI knew Ryne at that same level, it could “translate” Michal’s message into the perfect form for Ryne. The AI could use not only Ryne’s preferred language, such as English or Mandarin, but also a highly personalized form of that language unique to Ryne.

“In terms of the potential for translation, it knows the meaning of what you’re trying to say. It can translate that into a meaning that somebody else can understand in the way they understand,” Ryne said.

Another sense of AI-assisted communication is searching the internet. You wouldn’t ask the AI language model to find a website for you; you’d ask it the question you wanted to learn. It would search all websites and tailor its answer to any length or depth for your individual understanding of the world.

AI in Personality Assessment

Artificial intelligence is great at knowing and remembering what has been written, both words and data. For an AI language model to predict personality based on language, you’d need to first collect a lot of quality data. Michal pointed out that AI language models already understand language, of course, and can translate words into analyzable numbers. “They already understand psychological concepts like personality,” he said. These models have read texts written by introverts and extroverts and could theoretically detect, based on a fragment of a text, whether a person is introverted or extroverted.

Ryne imagined whether personality assessments of the future would have questionnaires and self-reporting. “One of the big questions surrounding this topic is to what degree I’m a willing participant in this endeavor,” he said. The quality of publicly available information versus data gained from individuals intentionally taking a personality assessment will differ substantially. The AI-assisted analysis would likely be higher quality in the latter case. Voluntary participation would also address questions of ethics.

Using big data models to predict personality characteristics is not a new notion. It has positives: it can analyze millions of people in a minute, and it can match people with compatible work or suggest workplace training and development. It also has negatives: it can be used to invade privacy or manipulate people. “As with many other technologies, we focus on the risks of the technology itself, completely forgetting that the real risk is in the intentions of the users,” Michal responded.

Artificial Intelligence and Creativity

A new fronter in AI language models is innovation and creativity. Humanity has taken generations to refine speech and writing. Individual humans spend over a decade learning to speak and write. AI language models have mastered written communication in a few years at a high level that continues to increase.

Michal compared AI creativity to human creativity in that most of us learn and combine elements of what we know or have experienced in new, creative ways. Perceiving computers as nothing but glorified calculators is short-sighted thinking, he said. That computers can incorporate and build elements into new results makes them fundamentally creative too.

“Many other animals are also creative in their own ways that we do not always recognize because it’s just not our type of art. The same applies to computers,” Michal said. “They learn from us, they learn from each other, and they become extremely creative with what they are good at—and they’re increasingly good at anything we ask them to do.”

Note: When ChatGPT (March 23 version) was asked to provide a quote in fewer than 120 characters about how it learned language, this was its response: “Words woven, sounds spoken, meanings grasped. A symphony of curiosity, immersion, and connection. Language learned, world unlocked.”

Listen to this conversation in full, and find the whole library of episodes at The Science of Personality. Never miss a new episode by following us anywhere you get podcasts. Cheers, everybody!