Psychological foundations of xenophilia

The role of major personality traits in predicting favorable attitudes toward cross-cultural contact and exploration

Bibliographic Data

ID6205523
AuthorsStefan Stürmer (0000-0003-2951-5545, FernUniversität in Hagen), Alison E F Benbow (0000-0001-6902-7920, FernUniversität in Hagen), Birte Siem (0000-0003-4697-7856, FernUniversität in Hagen), Markus Barth (0000-0002-6544-6754, FernUniversität in Hagen), Alexander N Bodansky, Alexander Bodansky (FernUniversität in Hagen), Katharina Lotz-Schmitt, Katharina Lotz‐Schmitt (FernUniversität in Hagen)
Year2013
Volume105
Issue5
Pages832-851
Publication date2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/a0033488
PMID23834640
OpenAlexW2057403355
LanguageEN
Citations received37
References cited43

Building on an integration of research findings on intergroup behavior from multiple fields of scientific inquiry (biological and cultural paleoanthropology, social psychology), as well as research on the HEXACO personality framework (e.g., Ashton & Lee, 2007), 3 independent studies (total N = 1,007) were conducted to introduce and test a fresh personality perspective on human xenophilia. Even though the studies focused on different criteria (Study 1: favorable attitudes toward contact with immigrants, Study 2: habitual cross-cultural exploration, Study 3: favorable attitudes toward contact with indigenous people) and employed different operationalizations of major personality traits (the HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised [HEXACO-PI-R], the 10-item Big Five Inventory [BFI-10]) results were remarkably similar. First, path analyses confirmed that major personality traits were significant and direct predictors of xenophilia that were independent of the contributions of individual differences commonly predicting xenophobic reactions across studies. Second, and in line with the authors' more specific hypotheses, hierarchical regression analyses also corroborated that individual differences in the levels of endeavor-related personality traits (i.e., eXtraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness) had a substantially greater power in predicting individual differences in xenophilia than individual differences in levels of altruism/cooperation-related traits (i.e., Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, and Agreeableness). The implications of these findings for more general psychological theorizing on human sociality are discussed

Agreeableness · Big Five personality traits · Big Five personality traits and culture · Conscientiousness · Developmental psychology · Extraversion and introversion · Facet (psychology) · Hierarchical structure of the Big Five · Openness to experience · Personality · Cultural Differences and Values · Personality Traits and Psychology · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

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