Identification Problems in Personality Psychology

Borghans, Lex; Golsteyn, Bart; Heckman, James J.; Humphries, John Eric

Identification Problems in Personality Psychology

22 Pages Posted: 11 Apr 2011

Lex Borghans

Maastricht University - Department of Economics; University of Maastricht - Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Bart Golsteyn

Maastricht University - Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Stockholm University - Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI)

University of Chicago - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); American Bar Foundation; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

John Eric Humphries

Yale University, Department of Economics

There are 2 versions of this paper

Abstract

This paper discusses and illustrates identification problems in personality psychology. The measures used by psychologists to infer traits are based on behaviors, broadly defined. These behaviors are produced from multiple traits interacting with incentives in situations. In general, measures are determined by these multiple traits and do not identify any particular trait unless incentives and other traits are controlled for. Using two data sets, we show, as an example, that substantial portions of the variance in achievement test scores and grades, which are often used as measures of cognition, are explained by personality variables.

Keywords: psychology, personality, identification problem, achievement test, grades

JEL Classification: D01, D03, D89

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Borghans, Lex and Golsteyn, Bart and Heckman, James J. and Humphries, John Eric, Identification Problems in Personality Psychology. IZA Discussion Paper No. 5605. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1806406