Nezlek, J. B., Schütz, A., Schröder-Abé, M., and Smith. C. V. (in press). A Cross-cultural study of relationships between daily social interaction and the Five Factor Model of personality. Journal of Personality.

Two studies, one in the US and another in Germany, examined relationships between daily social interaction and the traits of the Five Factor Model. In both studies, participants described their social interactions for two weeks using the Rochester Interaction Record. In both countries, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were positively related to reactions to social interaction, whereas Neuroticism was unrelated to reactions to interactions. In the US, Extraversion and Openness were positively related to reactions to interactions, whereas these factors were not related to reactions to interactions in Germany. In the US, Extraversion was positively related to how socially active participants were, whereas none of the FFM traits was related to amount of social interaction in the German sample. In both countries, Extraversion was positively related to percent of interactions involving friends. The results highlight the importance of taking into account the socio-cultural milieus within which personality unfolds.