Explicating narrow and broad conceptualizations of environmental influences on personality

Abstract

Background: A surge of studies aims to identify environmental factors that explain individual differences, personality stability, and personality development. This special issue builds on this large interest and solicited articles on broad and narrow environmental factors of personality. Objective: We provide an overview of the motivations behind the special issue, review each of the articles, and present data on researchers' perceptions of environmental factors contributing to personality expression and development. Method: We review 16 special issue articles, thematically grouped into seven topics—culture and race, genes and environment, geography and habitat, major/minor life events, social relationships, socioeconomic status and economic inequality, and work. We also present data on researchers' (N = 223) responses and ratings of environmental influences on personality expression and development. Results: In the open-ended responses, the most important environmental influences were family, culture, peers, relationships, and trauma. Among the least important were weather, birth order, geography, climate, and shared environment. Nearly all the environmental influences featured in this special issue were considered at least somewhat important; however, there was considerable heterogeneity in how important researchers found each topic. Conclusions: There is no perfect consensus among researchers as to which environmental factors contribute most to personality expression and development. We hope that there is a larger surge of studies on personality constructs beyond traits, that contextualize concepts within a cultural and historical framework and develop more stringent theories to hypothesize about the environmental influences on personality.