Personality self-assessment of scientific and technical personnel

Abstract

A sample of 514 technical and scientific respondents anonymously completed self-administered self-description ratings on a five-point scale for each of 56 personality trait names. The self-ratings were correlated with a productivity criterion (inventions plus publications). On the basis of the finding that 68% of the validity coefficients exceeded chance at the 1% level, it is concluded that "… a self-rating approach… may yield… greater validity than ordinarily found in the external evaluation [personality test or clinical assessment] approach." As compared with the less productive, the more productive scientists described themselves as more original, imaginative, curious, enthusiastic, impulsive, less contented, conventional, etc. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)