Do personality characteristics relate to nightmares? If so, which?

Recently on The Science of Personality, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, and Blake Loepp spoke with returning podcast guest Zlatan Krizan, PhD, professor of psychology at Iowa State University, about the psychology of nightmares.

As a child, Zlatan had a recurring nightmare of a gorilla coming down a hallway toward his bedroom. Within one of these nightmares, he eventually realized he was dreaming and decided to flee the gorilla by jumping out of his bedroom window. He woke up before he landed and never had the dream again.

This article covers what causes nightmares, what happens in the brain during dreams, the difference between nightmares and night terrors, and the impact of personality.

A personality test isn’t quite like other job-related tests. There’s no such thing as passing or failing, for one. And it’s not even truly a test—it’s an assessment, which is more like a measurement. Because of that, we have a few important tips for how to take a personality test.

This article, signed by  Ryne Sherman, PhD, and Blake Loepp, covers what a personality assessment measures, how to take a personality assessment, and how not to.

During everyday social interactions, people try to influence how others view them. Some people make this effort deliberately, while others do so unconsciously. In social psychology, this behavior is called impression management. This article explores what impression management is, who impression managers are, and why it matters.

Impression management is the process of trying to control the impression others have of you.¹ It’s an intentional attempt to influence your reputation, or how you seem to others. If you want to seem friendly, you’ll probably make eye contact, smile, start a conversation, use people’s names, and remember details about their lives. An impression manager chooses to present in a certain way to create a specific image of themself.

“Impression management has a lot of advantages,” said Alise Dabdoub, PhD, director of product innovation at Hogan Assessments. “It can help you get a job, do better in the workplace, make sales—all kinds of things.”

Our personality can affect our sleep, and our sleep can affect our personality. Given that we spend about one-third of our time asleep, the psychology of sleep may have a greater influence on our well-being than we tend to believe.

Recently on The Science of Personality, Zlatan Krizan, PhD, an award-winning researcher and professor of psychology at Iowa State University, spoke about the psychology of sleep and its relation to personality. How exactly does sleep deprivation affect our physical, mental, and emotional well-being, both personally and professionally?

When psychologists talk about the Dark Triad, they mean narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. But that list doesn’t cover all the dark-side personality characteristics.

Recently on The Science of Personality, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, chief science officer, and Blake Loepp, PR manager, spoke with Peter Harms, PhD, professor of management at the University of Alabama, about dark-side behaviors not covered by the Dark Triad.

“I hope nobody finds out I’m really a fraud.” That’s an extremely common worry for high performers. Imposter syndrome haunts many of us despite (and sometimes because of) our successes. The three types of imposter syndrome all relate to anxiety. But the goal shouldn’t necessarily be to overcome it. Instead, we can benefit from it by allowing it to motivate us.

Recently on The Science of Personality, Michael Sanger, director of assessment solutions for Leadership Development Worldwide, spoke about the topic. Currently based in Atlanta, Michael has lived in New York, Amsterdam, and Shanghai. “I’ve always known how it feels to be secretly insecure,” he said, referring to his global experience.

Imposter syndrome doesn’t have to be bad, though. In this article, we’ll cover what it is, three types of imposter syndrome, the possible benefits, and how to use imposter syndrome to improve performance.

Values affect our personal and professional lives in ways we aren’t often aware. They influence our work performance and organizational effectiveness. The importance of values can’t be overstated — values explain quite a lot about the nature of human nature.

Recently on The Science of Personality, Robert Hogan, PhD, founder and president of Hogan Assessments, spoke about the importance of values. “Values have shaped human history,” he said.

In this article, we cover what values are, how organizations establish values, and the relationship between values and organizational effectiveness. Let’s explore the impact of values.

The Characteristics of a Competitive Personality

Ambition is a personality characteristic measured with the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI). The HPI assesses the bright side of personality, or the everyday strengths that influence how we present ourselves at our best. Ambition refers to our energy and drive. It measures the degree to which someone seems socially self-confident, leaderlike, competitive, and energetic.

Similar to competition itself, the HPI Ambition scale is intrinsically neither good nor bad. Someone with a low score on the Ambition scale might prefer to belong on a team or lead from behind—effective in many circumstances. Someone with a high score on the Ambition scale might become overfocused on their own advancement or achieving results—ineffective in many circumstances.

Many people, even psychologists, prefer to minimize the fact of ambition. In cultures that value humility or group consensus, admitting you want to get ahead of others might seem tactless, arrogant, or embarrassing. At Hogan, we recognize that getting ahead is an integral part of human nature and can even help predict workplace performance. In roles where getting ahead is a key skill, someone with a competitive personality will tend to do a better job.³

Workplace competition is universal. The workplaces themselves aren’t the cause of why we compete at work, though. People are the common factor in all work environments everywhere. Something fundamental exists in human nature that motivates us to compete.

Competition in the workplace can produce outcomes that are positive, negative, or a complex mixture. The desire to get ahead of others can carry us to unparalleled heights of innovation, productivity, and success. Yet it can destroy the reputations of individuals, teams, and organizations. And it can do both simultaneously.

Robert Hogan, PhD, founder and president of Hogan Assessments, says that people have always competed for power, defined as status and the control of resources. Today, much of that competition takes place not in nomadic groups seeking subsistence but in the professional context of businesses and organizations. “The fundamental dynamic of organizational life is the individual search for power,” Dr. Hogan said. Understanding why we compete at work can help us direct our innate drive to succeed.

Read on to discover why we compete, the types of workplace competition, and what makes a competitive personality.

The entrepreneurial economy may feel like a new frontier, but it may have a dark side.

Peter Harms, PhD, professor of management at the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business, spoke about two trends: (1) the shift toward an entrepreneurial economy and (2) the increase in mental health disorders. Peter discussed some of his recent research about how the entrepreneurial economy may have a dark side for mental health, particularly for younger generations.