Introducing the Special Section on Openness to Experience: Review of Openness Taxonomies, Measurement, and Nomological Net

Abstract

In this introduction to the Special Section on Openness to Experience, we review the historical background of the construct and its measurement. We also provide a meta-analytically based review of its broader nomological net. Specifically, we review relationships with other individual differences constructs, including personality traits, interests, and cognitive ability. We highlight the various roles that openness and intellect play in educational performance, occupational attitudes and behaviors, job performance, career success, and psychological health and well-being. In doing so, we emphasize the unique contributions of the articles published in this special section (Albrecht, Dilchert, Deller, & Paulus; Connelly, Ones, Davies, & Birkland; DeYoung, Quilty, Peterson, & Gray; Roets, Cornelis, & Van Hiel; Woo, Chernyshenko, Longley, Zhang, Chiu, & Stark; Woo, Chernyshenko, Stark, & Conz). Finally, we note fruitful venues for future research involving Openness constructs.

Acknowledgments

We thank Greg Meyer for his help and support in commissioning this special section. We also thank the authors who submitted their manuscripts for consideration.

Notes

We note, however, that DeYoung et al. (2007) used the labels Intellect and Openness for the two aspects and the combined name of Openness/Intellect for the broader factor.