Ryne A Sherman

• Ph. D.
• Principal Investigator at Hogan Assessment Systems

Leadership versatility refers to the flexible, balanced, and situationally appropriate use of a broad range of opposing yet complementary leader behaviors. This article presents a definition and measure of versatility along with an explanation for its increasing importance in modern organizations and empirically examines two general propositions: f...

The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) and Hogan Developmental Survey (HDS) are among the most widely used and extensively well-validated personality inventories for organizational applications; however, they are rarely used in basic research. We describe the Hogan Personality Content Single-Items (HPCS) inventory, an inventory designed to measure t...

This volume distills the many developments, opportunities, risks, and challenges associated with talent assessment in organizations. As a new generation of technology-driven applications of assessment comes of age, several new issues and opportunities have emerged that require assessment professionals to balance organizations’ return-on-investment...

This volume distills the many developments, opportunities, risks, and challenges associated with talent assessment in organizations. As a new generation of technology-driven applications of assessment comes of age, several new issues and opportunities have emerged that require assessment professionals to balance organizations’ return-on-investment...

Contingencies between situational variables and psychological states have been proposed as key individual difference variables by many theoretical approaches to personality. Despite their relevance, the basic properties, nomological correlates, and factor structure of individual differences in contingencies have not been examined so far. We address...

Objective Personality psychology has traditionally focused on stable between‐person differences. Yet, recent theoretical developments and empirical insights have led to a new conceptualization of personality as a dynamic system (e.g., Cybernetic Big Five Theory). Such dynamic systems comprise several components that need to be conceptually distingu...

This chapter summarizes the authors’ view of how the relatively recent interest in the dark side of personality has influenced leadership research. Conventional wisdom of leadership researchers has always been that the corporate elite is a race of heroes. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first section provides some context and backgr...

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...

Person-situation fit can be operationalized as within-person associations between profiles of personality traits and situation characteristics (trait-situation fit) as well as personality states and situation characteristics (state-situation fit). We provide an initial examination of basic properties (magnitudes, individual differences, reliabiliti...

Personality psychology has traditionally focused on stable between-person differences. Yet, recent theoretical developments and empirical insights have led to a new conceptualization of personality as a dynamic system (e.g., Cybernetic Big Five Theory). Such dynamic systems comprise several components that need to be conceptually distinguished and...

Twenty years ago, Robert and Joyce Hogan introduced the concept of the dark side of personality as a way to understand incompetent management and bad leadership. The current article traces the development of this line of thinking and highlights 6 lessons learned from 2 decades of research inspired by it: how to define and assess the dark side of pe...

The current work examines consistencies of personality state scores across functionally equivalent and non-equivalent situations. We argue that simple consistency, defined as the correlation between state scores without taking people’s straits into account, needs to be distinguished from residual consistency that does account for traits. The existe...

The current work examines consistencies of personality state scores across functionally equivalent and non-equivalent situations. We argue that simple consistency, defined as the correlation between state scores without taking people’s straits into account, needs to be distinguished from residual consistency that does account for traits. The existe...

The current work examines consistencies of personality state scores across functionally equivalent and non-equivalent situations. We argue that simple consistency, defined as the correlation between state scores without taking people’s straits into account, needs to be distinguished from residual consistency that does account for traits. The existe...

This study explores whether photos posted on online social networks can be used to assess personality. We have demonstrated that personality is connected to human- and machine- detected situational cues, characteristics, classes, behavior, and affect displayed in Instagram photos. Observations of individual relationships between normal or dark side...

The current chapter gives a primer on the conceptualization and measurement of psychological situations. Regarding conceptualization, different ways of defining situational information in terms of cues, characteristics, and classes are sketched. Next, the different realities – physical, social, and personal – upon which situation perception are gro...

Affect and situation perception are intertwined in any given situation, but the extent to which both predict behavior jointly and uniquely has not yet been systematically examined so far. Using two studies with experience sampling methodology (ESM), we examine how trait-like variables (Big Six, trait affect, general situation experience) and state-...

This study explores whether photos posted on online social networks can be used to assess personality. We have demonstrated that personality is connected to human- and machine-detected situational cues, characteristics, classes, behavior, and affect displayed in Instagram photos. Observations of individual relationships between normal or dark side...

Affect and situation perception are intertwined in any given situation, but the extent to which both predict behavior jointly and uniquely has not yet been systematically examined so far. Using two studies with experience sampling methodology (ESM), we examine how trait-like variables (Big Six, trait affect, general situation experience) and state-...

Over the past 15 years, research on the assessment of psychological situations has flourished. As a result, many basic questions about psychological situations have been answered. We discuss the theoretical and empirical studies that answered these questions, including what situations are; how they can be characterized, taxonomized, and measured; h...

Personality theory concerns the nature of human nature and is the foundation for any discipline based on assumptions about human motivation (e.g., Anthropology, Economics, Political Science). Despite its central importance, personality theory has been marginalized in modern psychology. This survey of personality theory makes six points. First, pers...

Narcissism is unrelated to using first-person singular pronouns. Whether narcissism is linked to other language use remains unclear. We aimed to identify linguistic markers of narcissism. We applied the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count to texts (k = 15; N = 4,941). The strongest positive correlates were using words related to sports, second-person...

We examined trends over time in vocabulary, a key component of verbal intelligence, in the nationally representative General Social Survey of U.S. adults (n = 29,912). Participants answered multiple-choice questions about the definitions of 10 specific words. When controlled for educational attainment, the vocabulary of the average U.S. adult decli...

Narcissism is unrelated to using first-person singular pronouns. Whether narcissism is linked to other language use remains unclear. We aimed to identify linguistic markers of narcissism. We applied the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count to texts (k = 15; N = 4,941). The strongest positive correlates were: using words related to sports, second-perso...

Narcissism is unrelated to using first-person singular pronouns. Whether narcissism is linked to other language use remains unclear. We aimed to identify linguistic markers of narcissism. We applied the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count to texts (k = 15; N = 4,941). The strongest positive correlates were: using words related to sports, second-perso...

According to an “acting consistently = feeling authentic” hypothesis, people with higher ipsative trait-state consistency (degree to which one's state expressions of personality patterns match one's personality trait patterns) should experience higher experienced authenticity (degree to which one feels authentic). According to a “feeling good = fee...

Narcissism is virtually unrelated to using first-person singular pronouns (Carey et al., [2015] Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109). The degree to which narcissism is linked to other aspects of language use, however, remains unclear. We conducted a multi-site, multi-measure, and dual-language project to identify potential linguistic...

Convergent correlations between traits and state-aggregates from experience-sampling cannot fully establish trait-state homomorphy (the extent to which the same constructs are measured). With a nomological vector correlation and lens model approach we test how similar nomological networks of traits and state-aggregates are to each other: A trait an...

Using the most comprehensive lexical approach with English adjectives to date, Parrigon et al. (2017) found 7 major dimensions of psychological situation characteristics (CAPTION: Complexity, Adversity, Positive Valence, Typicality, Importance, humOr, Negative Valence). Researchers using or studying situations may be interested in how well these di...

Situation perception represents the fulcrum of a “psychology of situations” because situation ratings are ubiquitous. However, no systematic research program exists so far, particularly because two competing traditions have not been integrated: Objectivist views stress situations’ consensually shared meanings (social reality), and subjectivist view...

Donald Trump’s ascension to the Republican Party nomination and election as President of the United States in 2016 was a surprise to many political analysts. This article examines the notion that personal values played an important role in support for Trump. Using data from the Trump Similarity Values Test (N=1,825), a web based personality test th...

This article reviews three innovations that not only have the potential to revolutionize the way organizations identify, develop and engage talent, but are also emerging as tools used by practitioners and firms. Specifically, we discuss (a) machine-learning algorithms that can evaluate digital footprints, (b) social sensing technology that can auto...

American adults had sex about nine fewer times per year in the early 2010s compared to the late 1990s in data from the nationally representative General Social Survey, N = 26,620, 1989–2014. This was partially due to the higher percentage of unpartnered individuals, who have sex less frequently on average. Sexual frequency declined among the partne...

Examining age, time period, and cohort/generational changes in sexual experience is key to better understanding sociocultural influences on sexuality and relationships. Americans born in the 1980s and 1990s (commonly known as Millennials and iGen) were more likely to report having no sexual partners as adults compared to GenX’ers born in the 1960s...

Recently advances in mobile sensing technology provide innovative methods for understanding how individuals think, feel, and behave in vivo. Despite the utility of these new methods, as of yet researchers have not been able to see the environments people encounter in their daily lives. In this article, we introduce wearable cameras as a new tool fo...

To what extent do people achieve accuracy in judging others’ situations? Based on interpersonal perception models, we propose that ex-situ raters may attain accuracy by judging the psychological characteristics of a situation that in-situ raters have experienced according to a normative and distinctive characteristics profile. Biesanz’ Social Accur...

We examined change over time in the reported prevalence of men having sex with men and women having sex with women and acceptance of those behaviors in the nationally representative General Social Survey of U.S. adults (n’s = 28,161–33,728, ages 18–96 years), 1972–2014. The number of U.S. adults who had at least one same-sex partner since age 18 do...

Whole Trait Theory defines personality as a density distribution of one’s momentary behavior, complete with all of its parameters (e.g., mean, SD, skew, kurtosis). Two questions regarding these parameters remain largely unexamined: (1) are individual differences in these parameters stable? And (2) do scores on standard personality tests correspond...

Ambition is a personality construct with important implications for individual differences in educational and career success and status attainment. Although the best-known factor models of personality—the Five Factor Model (FFM) and the HEXACO—are widely regarded as comprehensive, they seem not to include ambition. The current study concerns whethe...

In three nationally representative surveys of U.S. residents (N = 10 million) from 1970 to 2015, more Americans in the early 2010s (vs. previous decades) identified as Independent, including when age effects were controlled. More in the early 2010s (vs. previous decades) expressed polarized political views, including stronger political party affili...

Almost 20 years after McKinsey introduced the idea of a war for talent, technology is disrupting the talent identification industry. From smartphone profiling apps to workplace big data, the digital revolution has produced a wide range of new tools for making quick and cheap inferences about human potential and predicting future work performance. H...

To elucidate temporal sequences among and between person and situation variables, this work examines cross-measurement spillovers between situation experiences S (on the Situational Eight DIAMONDS characteristics [Duty, Intellect, Adversity, Mating, pOsitivity, Negativity, Deception, Sociality]) and personality states P (on the Big Six HEXACO dimen...

Previous research found declines in Americans’ religious affiliation but few changes in religious beliefs and practices. By 2014, however, markedly fewer Americans participated in religious activities or embraced religious beliefs, with especially striking declines between 2006 and 2014 and among 18- to 29-year-olds in data from the nationally repr...

What is the role of the situation in situational judgment tests (SJTs)? Lievens and Motowidlo (2016) assert that SJTs are somewhat of a misnomer because they do not actually measure how individuals would behave in a given situation per se. According to these researchers, SJTs assess general domain knowledge—whether potential employees recognize the...

When, how, and why situations flow into one another is important for understanding dynamic personality processes, but the topic of situation change has traditionally been a thorny issue in personality/social psychology. We explore conceptual and methodological issues in research on situation change: (1) What is situation change, which variables cou...

Over 20 million Tweets were used to study the psychological characteristics of real-world situations over the course of two weeks. Models for automatically and accurately scoring individual Tweets on the DIAMONDS dimensions of situations were developed. Stable daily and weekly fluctuations in the situations that people experience were identified. P...

Are Americans happier, or less happy, than they used to be? The answer may depend on life stage. We examined indicators of subjective well-being (SWB) in four nationally representative samples of U.S. adolescents (aged 13–18 years, n = 1.27 million) and adults (aged 18–96 years, n = 54,172). Recent adolescents reported greater happiness and life sa...

According to the Fundamental Motives Framework, basic goals such as protecting oneself, forming coalitions, and avoiding disease have emerged as the result of evolutionary processes to enhance reproductive fitness. This article introduces the Situational Affordances for Adaptive Problems (SAAP), a measure of situation characteristics that promote o...

In the nationally representative General Social Survey, U.S. Adults (N = 33,380) in 2000-2012 (vs. the 1970s and 1980s) had more sexual partners, were more likely to have had sex with a casual date or pickup or an acquaintance, and were more accepting of most non-marital sex (premarital sex, teen sex, and same-sex sexual activity, but not extramari...

The joint influence of persons and situations on behavior has long been posited by personality and social psychological theory (Funder, 2006; Lewin, 1951). However, a lack of tools for real-time behavioral and situation assessment has left direct investigations of this sort immobilized. This study combines recent advances in situation assessment an...

First, we provide a condensed overview of the comments on the target article by summarizing central and recurring themes. Second, we address non-controversial and controversial themes and thereby update the three principles outlined in the target article. Third, we provide some suggestions for future research. Together, we hope that the target arti...

Contextualized theories of personality posit that people possess different personalities depending on their current context (i.e. situation). These approaches confuse behaviour, which is context-specific, with personality, which is not. Dunlop's extension of contextualized personality to include goals and life narratives similarly obfuscates this....

People perceive psychological situations on the “Situational Eight” DIAMONDS characteristics (Duty, Intellect, Adversity, Mating, pOsitivity, Negativity, Deception, Sociality; Rauthmann et al., 2014). To facilitate situational assessment and economically measure these dimensions, we propose four ultra-brief one-item scales (S8-I, S8-II, S8-III-A, S...

It has been suggested that people perceive psychological characteristics of situations on eight major dimensions (Rauthmann et al., 2014): The “Situational Eight” DIAMONDS (Duty, Intellect, Adversity, Mating, pOsitivity, Negativity, Deception, Sociality). These dimensions have been captured with the 32-item RSQ-8. The current work optimizes the RSQ...

In situation perceptions, the objective situation and its unique construal are confounded. We propose a multiple-rater approach where situations are rated by raters in-situ (who experienced the situations first-hand) and raters ex-situ (who read participants’ factual descriptions of the situations). Two multi-wave studies (Austria: N=176-179, 3 wav...

There is currently no consensus on how to study psychological situations, and situation research is still riddled with problems of conceptualization (What is a situation, what is it not?) and measurement (How can situational information be assessed?). This target article formulates three core principles (with corollaries) to provide a foundation fo...

Social networking sites (SNS) provide researchers with an unprecedented amount of user derived personal information. This wealth of information can be invaluable for research purposes. However, the privacy of the SNS user must be protected from both public and private researchers. New research capabilities raise new ethical concerns. We argue that...

It has been suggested that people perceive psychological characteristics of situations on eight major dimensions (Rauthmann et al., in press): The “Situational Eight” DIAMONDS (Duty, Intellect, Adversity, Mating, pOsitivity, Negativity, Deception, Sociality). These dimensions have been captured with the 32-item RSQ-8. The current work optimizes the...

Taxonomies of person characteristics are well developed, while taxonomies of psychologically important situation characteristics are underdeveloped. A working model of situation perception implies the existence of taxonomizable dimensions of psychologically meaningful, important, and consequential situation characteristics tied to situation cues, g...

Much of the research on post-traumatic growth posits that traumatic events may result in positive personality changes in a number of domains. We propose that this growth may occur, at least in part, because of changes in situations that one experiences following a traumatic event. Exposure to these new situations may be directly responsible for cha...

Personality psychology relies on well-validated measures of individual differences to describe and predict behavior. A newer comprehensive measure, the Inventory of Individual Differences in the Lexicon (IIDL) has been developed, but its ability to predict actual behavior has not been examined. The present article uses the IIDL to predict directly...

Many psychological constructs of interest to personality psychologists, such as personality, behavior, and emotions, are made up of many variables. Moreover, similarity metrics, such as self-other agreement, profile similarity, or behavioral consistency, result from calculations conducted across many variables. When analyzed using a comprehensive a...

Replication is at the heart of all empirical sciences. However, there are no standard procedures for establishing the replicability of a pattern of correlations found linking a particular variable to an inventory or battery of other measures. This article introduces 2 statistics for quantifying the expected replicability of a pattern of association...

Patterns of ratings using the Q-Sort method and the Likert-type method are compared. Ordering effects are found in Q-Sort ratings that are not present in Likert-type ratings. Specifically, item order is related to both item variance and item placement, such that items appearing near the end of the Q-Sort have less variance and more central placemen...

Life History (LH) Theory provides an evolutionary theoretical framework for understanding individual differences in maturation, mating, reproduction, parenting, and social interaction. However, the psychometric assessment of human life history has been largely limited to generalized self-reports. Using template matching, this paper examines the rel...

Participants (N = 186) viewed three pictures from the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1938) and rated the situations contained therein using a new measure of situations, the Riverside Situational Q-Sort (RSQ; Wagerman & Funder, 2009). Results support a twocomponent view of situation perception: an objective component attributable to the si...

Replication is at the heart of all empirical sciences. However, there are not standard procedures for establishing the replicability of a pattern of correlations found linking a particular variable to an inventory or battery of other measures. This article introduces two statistics for quantifying the expected replicability of a pattern of associat...

Using the Riverside Situational Q-sort (RSQ), this study investigates the relationship between personality, gender and individual differences in perceptions (or construals) of four situations experienced by undergraduate participants (N=205) in their daily lives. Results indicate that while people generally agree about the psychological characteris...

People who are open and curious orient their lives around an appreciation of novelty and a strong urge to explore, discover, and grow. Researchers have recently shown that being an open, curious person is linked to healthy social outcomes. To better understand the benefits (and liabilities) of being a curious person, we used a multimethod design of...

Congruence is the degree to which one's personality matches one's behavior in a particular situation. On four separate occasions over several weeks, 202 undergraduate participants described a situation they encountered the previous day and their behavior. Analyses considered overall congruence as well as distinctive congruence, adjusted for the mat...

A new method for assessing situations is employed to examine the association between situational similarity, personality, and behavioral consistency across ecologically representative contexts. On 4 occasions across 4 weeks, 202 undergraduate participants (105 women, 97 men) wrote descriptions of a situation they had experienced the previous day. I...

The continuity of personality's association with directly observed behavior is demonstrated across two contexts spanning four decades. During the 1960s, elementary school teachers rated personalities of members of the ethnically diverse Hawaii Personality and Health Cohort (Hampson & Goldberg, 2006). The same individuals were interviewed in a medic...

When large numbers of statistical tests are computed, such as in broad investigations of personality and behavior, the number of significant findings required before the total can be confidently considered beyond chance is typically unknown. Employing modern software, specially written code, and new procedures, the present article uses three sets o...

The present essay explores some implications of the target paper's taxonomy of approaches to identify trait dimensions in differing species for understanding behavioural and situational properties in humans. We agree with the behavioural repertoire approach advocated by the target paper, and observe that to understand how an individual organism wil...

Surprisingly little is known about how well-being is related to social reputation, clinician judgments, and directly observed social behaviors. This study presents data that bear directly on these issues, along with comparing the personality and behavioral correlates of subjective happiness, a measurement based on a hedonic conceptualization of wel...

Previous studies have indicated that situational context impacts the rapport experience (e.g., F. J. Bernieri, J. S. Gillis, J. M. Davis, & J. E. Grahe, 1996; N. M. Puccinelli, L. Tickle-Degnen, & R. Rosenthal, 2003). The authors designed the present study to further document the behavioral and experiential predictors of dyadic rapport and to evalu...