Adrian Furnham

University of London · University College London (UCL)

This study examined the interaction between attitude strength and the cognitive constraints imposed by the semantic properties of measurement items. It made use of digital algorithms and built on the semantic theory of survey response (STSR), examining how people who hold strong beliefs about contemporary issues violate cognitive constraints in exp...

Financial planners seek to learn more about their clients' personalities and money scripts due to the significant influence these factors have on financial behavior and decision‐making. This study surveyed 288 adults with a personality assessment (HPTI: High Potential Trait Indicator), and their money scripts (KMSI‐R: Klontz Money Script Inventory)...

This study set out to examine to what extent a set of psychological, health and socio-demographic factors are associated with self-efficacy (SE) in a large sample of over 12,000 participants over a two-year period. We were interested in the correlates of self-efficacy (criterion variable) with gender, age, education and occupation, the Big-Five per...

Esports are competitive video games that are typically played online. League of Legends (LoL) is an esport with a ranking system that measures player performance in temporary teams. Qualitative studies have suggested there are behavioural differences between ranks, with lower ranking players being more entitled and communicating antisocially. This...

In the present study, we sought to position support for weight-related anti-discrimination laws and policies within a broader political and socioeconomic context. Specifically, we hypothesised that individualistic (rather than structural) anti-poverty attitudes would provide the basis for negative weight-related dispositions. To test this hypothesi...

Scores on tests of standardized tests of intelligence meaningfully predict certain real-world outcomes, including those reflecting performance in complex real-world tasks. At the same time, research on intelligence has been conducted in a largely acontextual fashion, overlooking the importance both of other individual-difference factors and environ...

This study examined personality antecedents of idea generation when pursuing either benevolent or malevolent goals. Specifically, 308 participants completed two Divergent Thinking tests. A malevolent divergent thinking test (MDT) in which participants generated ideas to inflict revenge and a benevolent divergent thinking test (BDT) in which partici...

Research has suggested that schizotypy – a personality organisation representing latent vulnera-bility for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders – may be elevated in women with symptoms of dis-ordered eating. However, studies have not fully considered associations between symptoms of disordered eating and multidimensional schizotypy. To overcome this li...

Emerging research has suggested that appearance-related factors, such as greater appearance orientation, are associated with dating anxiety in emerging adults, but much more could be done to understand mechanistic pathways and potential buffers. Here, we tested a moderated mediation model in which appearance-based rejection sensitivity and social p...

The aim of this study is to examine whether a preference for specific assessment methods in higher education is associated with personality and character strengths. Two-hundred and seventy Portuguese students completed a survey of character strengths, a Big Five personality test and their preference for each of six higher education assessment metho...

This chapter concerns differences and similarities in the psychological research on personality traits and the psychiatric research on personality disorders. There are striking similarities in assumptions about the stability and consequences of traits and disorders. While the psychological research on the classification of traits has been dominated...

Leadership impacts the lives of billions of people around the world. In healthy organizations, leadership is a productive force that inspires cooperation and builds cultures that give people meaning and purpose in their lives. In dysfunctional organizations, in contrast, leadership can perpetuate the misery of thousands of people by being the prima...

Purpose: Previous studies examining the appropriateness of the 4-factor model of Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2) scores have returned equivocal results, which may reflect methodological limitations in the way IES-2 scores are modelled. Here, we applied a bifactor-exploratory structural equation modelling (B-ESEM) framework to better understand IES...

The prediction that neuroticism (or emotional instability) will change the definition of an intelligence factor, or g, was tested in a large sample (N = 2,716) of British managers who completed both personality and intelligence measures. Specifically, we examine if the structure of mental abilities changes across levels of personality (with a focus...

Background The Dark Triad literature examining pro-social behaviours is minimal, with mixed results. Participants and procedure This study investigates the relationships between the Dark Triad and altruistic behaviours based on self-report data from 286 adults. Altruism was assessed using two scales: a general measure as well as a more recent scal...

Mounting evidence suggests that exposure to natural environments is associated with more positive body image, but mechanistic pathways are not fully understood. Here, we tested one such indirect pathway involving positive rational acceptance (i.e., an adaptive body image coping strategy). A total of 401 participants from the United Kingdom complete...

This study examined how lifestyle factors and gender affect kidney allocation to transplant patients by 99 British and Singaporean participants. Thirty hypothetical patients were generated from a combination of six factors (alcohol intake, smoking frequency, weight, exercise frequency, diet, and gender) and randomly paired four times. Participants...

Studies have suggested that body image is associated with dating anxiety, but are limited by small sample sizes, singular operationalisations of body image, and a lack of consideration of the concurrent effects of social physique anxiety. To overcome these gaps in the literature, we asked an online sample of 501 heterosexual emerging adults from th...

Objectives: Science mapping is a methodology that combines quantitative analysis, classification, and visualisation to identify the composition and inter-relationships between bibliographic objects. Although science mapping has proven useful in diverse fields, we are not aware of its application to self-compassion research, which we sought to recti...

A large body of research has documented the influence of traditional media formats (e.g. television programs, adverts) on young women’s consideration of cosmetic surgery. However, less is known about how newer forms of media such as social networking sites impact desire for cosmetic surgery. The present study aimed to examine whether exposure to im...

Over the years, there has been more and more research to test the validity of personnel assessment methods, an area which is far from easy. This book compares traditional practices against new techniques, including social media analytics, wearables, mobile phone logs, and gamification. Researchers and businesses alike know the importance of making...

This study explored a longitudinal data set of over 10,663 children at age 7 years to examine various psychological and sociological factors that possibly influenced their behavioural problems. Data were collected when cohort members were born, then 9 months old, and later at later at ages 3 and 7 years. Structural equation modelling showed that th...

In this study, we test the hypothesis that personality is more differentiated (variable) in individuals scoring higher in intelligence in a large sample (N = 16,258) of managers. In addition to a measure of intelligence and the Big Five personality factors, participants completed 11 “dark” personality scales in self-report format. The intelligence...

This study was concerned with the effects of acoustic distraction at work. Using a within-subject study we aimed to investigate the effect of background distraction on cognitive performance. In the presence of silence, white noise, and sirens, 55 fluent English speakers completed three equivalent variations of a reading comprehension task. As predi...

The Body Acceptance by Others Scale (BAOS) measures the degree to which individuals perceive body acceptance by others, but its factor structure is questionable. Here, we developed a revision of the BAOS (i.e., the BAOS-2) by designing novel items reflective of generalised perceptions of body acceptance by others. In three studies, we examined the...

This study examined the relationship between eleven dark-side personality traits and six established safety competencies in a large sample. Over twenty-five thousand Americans completed a questionnaire on Safety-Related behaviour in the work-place which measured six different, but related, safety competencies. They also completed a Dark Side person...

The stress and anxiety caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic presents a serious threat to psychological well-being in populations worldwide and may also extend to body image outcomes. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a preliminary study in which an online sample of adults from the United Kingdom (N = 506, age M = 34.25 years) were aske...

This study explored correlates of maternal Emotional Stability drawing on a longitudinal data, from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS): a sample of 10,925 mothers. Data were collected when children were at ages 9 months, and then 3 and 7 years. Structural equation modelling showed that family poverty indicator, maternal psychological distress, paren...

This study investigated the effect of the portrayal of unconventional gender roles in advert content, congruent program context, and liking of the advert on subsequent memory and purchase intention. In all, 186 French participants watched either a congruent-stereotype content program or an incongruent neutral one, with either 3 conventional or unco...

Humans have engaged in artistic and aesthetic activities since the appearance of our species. Our ancestors have decorated their bodies, tools, and utensils for over 100,000 years. The expression of meaning using color, line, sound, rhythm, or movement, among other means, constitutes a fundamental aspect of our species’ biological and cultural heri...

This study looked at personality and sub-clinical personality disorder correlates of self-rated motives for aesthetic motivation (AM). Two groups, totalling over 4000 adult British managers, completed three tests including a personality trait measure (HPI); a personality disorders measure (HDS), and a measure of their Motives and Values (MVPI) for...

Previous studies have reported a significant association between nature exposure and positive body image, but understandings of the mechanisms that help to explain this link remain nascent. Here, we considered the extent to which trait mindfulness and connectedness to nature, respectively, mediate the aforementioned relationship both in parallel an...

Issues of construct commonality and distinguishability in body image research are typically addressed using structural equal models, but such methods can sometimes present problems of interpretation when data patterns are complex. One recent-developed tool that could help in summarising complex data patterns is Item Pool Visualisation (IPV), an ill...

The study investigated whether cognitive ability or trait emotional intelligence impacted the formation of task-contingent communication and advice seeking in the workplace. Contrary to the theory driven hypothesis, an employee's level of EI has no impact on their position within both interaction and advice networks. As predicted, those with higher...

In a between subject design 903 people completed a robust Dark Triad and a Big Five trait measure and each group was asked to report their behaviour in two situations: at work or in general. Those individuals that were asked to think of work when reporting their personality reported behaviour that was more Extraverted, Conscientious, more Emotional...

This article attempts a comprehensive and multi‐disciplinary review of a scattered literature on the characteristics of successful investment managers. It considers nonpeer reviewed papers and reports written by organizations and human resource experts but also empirical papers from those in disciplines such as business studies, economics, finance,...

This paper used moderator analysis to test whether emotional intelligence and resilience moderated the relationship between the Dark Triad variables and burnout. 232 adults completed measures of all variables. Primary Psychopathy was found to reduce an individual's level of burnout. However, Secondary Psychopathy and Machiavellianism were expected...

This paper reports two studies examining correlates of self-estimated intelligence (SEI). In the first, 517 participants completed a measure of SEI as well as self-estimated emotional intelligence (SEEQ), physical attractiveness, health, and other ratings. Males rated their IQ higher (74.12 vs. 71.55) but EQ lower (68.22 vs. 71.81) than females but...

This study attempted to examine the Emotional Intelligence (EI) domain and facet correlates of various personality-test derived occupational Scale dimensions like service, sales and management in a developing country. In all, 431 people completed two validated questionnaires: one measuring six occupational scales (HPI: Hogan Personality Inventory)...

Following Hartley (Scientometrics 118:375–381, 2019) I attempted to draw lessons from my personal Google citations (> 100,000) by reviewing over 100,000 personal citations. The review asked eight questions: Do papers in high impact journals necessarily lead to higher personal citations? Does innovative research attract more citations than replicati...

This study explored a longitudinal data set of over 5766 adults examining factors that influence adult savings and investment. Data were collected at birth, in childhood (at age 11) and adulthood (at ages 33 and 50 yrs) to examine the effects of family social status, childhood intelligence, adult personality traits, education and occupation, and pe...

This study looked at whether demographics, religious beliefs, political orientation, personality traits, and money attitudes are correlates of financial capability, knowledge and distress. Over 3,500 British participants completed multiple measures online. As hypothesized, demographics, religious beliefs, political orientation, personality traits,...

This paper reports on a study testing over 12,000 adults. We were interested in the correlates of gratification delay (GD) (as criterion variable) with gender, age, education and occupation, the Big-Five personality factors, and mental health (as predictor variables). Correlations and regressions showed that all the Big-Five personality factors, me...

Research on positive body image has infrequently considered sexual minority orientations beyond lesbians, gay men, and bisexual persons. Indeed, there is no existing research on the relationships between body image and asexuality, which refers to a lack of sexual attraction to anyone or anything. In two studies, we rectified this by examining assoc...

This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note...

This paper reports on a study of the relationship between demographic, personality and attitudinal variables and impulsive buying (a consumer's tendency to buy spontaneously, unreflectively, and immediately); using secondary analysis of data from common participants in two large national surveys of British adults: one survey contributing data on im...

Just over 400 participants completed a measure of the personality disorders (PDs) (the Coolidge Axis‐II Inventory – Short Form measuring 14 dimensions) and one of money beliefs (The New Money Attitudes Test measuring five factors). Correlational analysis showed few significant age, gender, and educational relationships to the five money factors but...

We examined associations between feminist beliefs, empowerment, and positive body image. An online sample of 302 British women completed measures of positive body image (body appreciation, body pride, functionality appreciation), feminist beliefs (synthesis, active commitment), and empowerment (power/powerlessness, self-esteem/self-efficacy). They...

This study investigated the change and stability of the Big-Five personality factors measured on a short scale. Fifteen similar studies using longer instruments were reviewed. In this study 7554 participants aged between 16 and 92 years completed a short 15 item FFM inventory twice six years apart in a large British sample. As expected, Agreeablene...

This study reports on the development of a new questionnaire to measure money behaviors devised by the Financial Times (London). In all, 402 participants from diverse backgrounds, who were recruited online, completed the 29-item questionnaire. Six a priori money types were identified by financial experts, who did not know the salient psychological...

Previous studies have shown that exposure to natural environments is associated with positive body image, but mechanistic pathways are not fully understood. Here, we tested one possible pathway, namely with self-compassion as a mediator of the effects of nature exposure on positive body image. A British sample of 225 women and 229 men completed mea...

Background. Postnatal depression affects between 6 and 13% of new parents, but only a small proportion of individuals who meet diagnostic criteria receive optimal treatment. One reason for this is poor mental health literacy of postnatal depression. Aims. Studies have examined mental health literacy of maternal postnatal depression, but there are...

This study was conceived by the idea that there exist different kinds of cognitive style-based, task competencies that have implications for task motivation and cognitive performance on creative problem-solving tasks/insight. Specifically, the relationships among the Assimilator–Explorer styles (Kaufmann, 1979), experimentally manipulated task comp...

This study investigated the change in the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) scores from teenage years to young adulthood using a large, nationally representative sample in the UK. It took account of socio-demographic variables, childhood intelligence, behavioural problems and self-esteem at teenage and educational qualifications in early adulth...

Objective: To identify personality, biomedical and behavioural factors associated with adult obesity in a large longitudinal sample. Method: In total, 5360 participants with data on personality, neurological functioning, maternal smoking during pregnancy, education and occupation, physical exercise, adult self-reported BMI and obesity were inclu...

This study examines the associations between socio-demographic variables, the Big Five personality traits, and the extent of political interest as well as voting behavior, in a large, nationally representative sample in the UK. The contribution of the Big Five personality traits to political issues over and above demography, education, and social c...

This study explored a longitudinal data set of 4361 adults (2119 males and 2239 females) to examine factors that influence adult vocabulary task performance. Data were collected at birth, in childhood (age 10 years), during teenage years (age 16 years), and in adulthood (ages 30, 34, and 42 years) to examine the effects of family social status, chi...

The present study investigated biomedical, social, and psychological factors associated with self-reported heart conditions in adulthood in a British cohort. In total, 5697 (50.7% males) participants with data on parental socioeconomic status, childhood cognitive ability, childhood heart problems, educational qualifications, current occupational le...

In total, 5663 participants provided information on family social background measured at birth; family social life at age 7 years; childhood intelligence, childhood speech difficulties and oral ability assessed at 11 years; leisure activities (parties and sports) measured at age 16 years; optimism and educational qualifications measured at 33 years...

An increasing amount of scholarly work has attempted to understand the reasons for poor rates of help-seeking for symptoms of mental health disorders all around the world. One particular body of work has focused on ‘mental health literacy’ (MHL) defined as knowledge about mental health disorders that are associated with their recognition, managemen...

This study aimed to examine a Big Five, normal personality trait, “bright side” analysis of a sub-clinical personality disorder: Dependency Personality Disorder. Around 6000 British adults completed the NEO-PI-R which measures the Big Five personality factors at the domain and the facet level. They also completed the Hogan Development Survey (HDS)...

In this study, we investigated the relationship between narcissism, creative personality traits, ideational fluency, and accomplishments in various creative activities. We measured narcissism with the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Emmons, 1987), creative personality with the Creative Person Profile (Martinsen, 2011), creative potential with a...

Objective: To investigate to what extent locus of control, self-esteem, psychological distress, physical exercise, as well as socio-demographic factors are associated with obesity in 42-year-old adults in a longitudinal birth cohort study. Method: The sample consisted of 5645 participants born in Great Britain in 1970 and followed up at 10, 34 a...

This paper looks at the contribution of applied cognitive psychology primarily to the research on advertising. The first issue is to attempt to define and specify the unique contribution of applied, as opposed to “pure,” cognitive psychology to this research area. Next, the issue of the medium of message delivery is discussed. The importance of pro...

This article looks at the two very different worlds of academic personality psychologists and business (human resources) professionals who both use personality tests. It examines the decisions practitioners make when choosing to purchase and use psychometric tests in the workplace. It reviews the relatively few papers on practitioner’s knowledge of...

Our objective was to investigate various psychological and socio-demographic factors in childhood and adulthood that relate to alcohol intake and binge drinking at age 42 years. Data were drawn from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70), a prospective longitudinal study monitoring the development of babies born in 1970, with nine follow-ups. The an...

This study examined the incremental validity of the Big-Five personality traits over primarily demographic factors in predicting Left-Right political orientation (PO) in a large British adult sample. Gender and trait Openness was most strongly correlated with PO. The regression indicated that females who were better educated, less religious and of...

The present study investigated the relationship between six high flyer personality traits and intelligence measured at the domain and facet level. In all, 820 adults completed a multidimensional High Flyers Personality Inventory (measuring six traits) and a multidimensional intelligence test. Correlational analysis showed four traits were related t...

This study reports on the development and validation of a new questionnaire to measure money attitudes and beliefs. In all, 268 participants from diverse backgrounds, who were recruited online, completed a 30-item questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses verified a five-factor model. The factors were labeled: Achievement and Succ...

This study investigated the association between childhood intelligence, personality traits, parental social class, maternal smoking, educational qualifications and occupation prestige, and smoking status assessed at different ages. The study was based on a British birth cohort with nine follow-ups. At age 54 years, cohort members provided informati...

This chapter addresses the aptitude and temperament of the performing artist, and is divided into two sections. In the first section the concept of emotional intelligence, which replaced older ideas of interpersonal and social skills, is discussed. The ideas that all performing artists need exemplary emotional awareness and management in their craf...

Objective: The study set out to investigate socio-economic, biomedical, health and behavioural and psychological factors in childhood and adulthood associated with the prevalence of asthma in adulthood, drawing data from The National Child Development Studies (NCDS), a birth cohort in the UK. Design: The National Child Development Study, a national...