Definition
National character refers to shared beliefs or perceptions of personality characteristics common to members of a particular nation held by the members of the nation or by any other group of people.
Introduction
The nations and ethnic groups, just like individuals, are often perceived to have a distinct character which can be described by a set of specific personality traits. Such shared beliefs of personality traits typical to people of a particular nation are called national character or national character stereotypes. National character is a narrower term than national stereotypes which also include beliefs about different physical features, mental abilities, specific skills, or preferences. They are called stereotypes because such beliefs, even if widely shared, are often overgeneralized or inaccurate and do not apply to every member of a nation.
Content, Stability, Accuracy, and Origins
Most of the...
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Allik, J., Mõttus, R., & Realo, A. (2010). Does national character reflect mean personality traits when both are measured by the same instrument? Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 62–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2009.10.008.
Hřebíčková, M., & Graf, S. (2014). Accuracy of national stereotypes in Central Europe: Outgroups are not better than ingroup in considering personality traits of real people. European Journal of Personality, 28(1), 60–72. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1904.
Katz, D., & Braly, K. W. (1933). Racial stereotypes of one-hundred college students. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 28, 280–290.
Lönnqvist, J.-E., Konstabel, K., Lönnqvist, N., & Verkasalo, M. (2014). Accuracy, consensus, in-group bias, and cultural frame shifting in the context of national character stereotypes. Journal of Social Psychology, 154(1), 40–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2013.843500.
Madon, S., Guyll, M., Aboufadel, K., Montiel, E., Smith, A., Palumbo, P., & Jussim, L. (2001). Ethnic and national stereotypes: The Princeton trilogy revisited and revised. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(8), 996–1010.
McCrae, R. R., Terracciano, A., Realo, A., & Allik, J. (2007). Climatic warmth and national wealth: Some culture-level determinants of national character stereotypes. European Journal of Personality, 21(8), 953–976.
Peabody, D. (1985). National characteristics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Realo, A., Allik, J., Lönnqvist, J.-E., Verkasalo, M., Kwiatkowska, A., Kööts, L., Kütt, M., Barkauskiene, R., Laurinavicius, A., Karpinski, K., Kolyshko, A., Sebre, S., & Renge, V. (2009). Mechanisms of the national character stereotype: How people in six neighbouring countries of Russia describe themselves and the typical Russian. European Journal of Personality, 23(3), 229–249. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.719.
Terracciano, A., & McCrae, R. R. (2007). Implications for understanding national character stereotypes. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38(6), 695–710.
Terracciano, A., Abdel-Khalek, A. M., Adam, N., Adamovova, L., Ahn, C., Ahn, H. N., … , McCrae, R. R. (2005). National character does not reflect mean personality trait levels in 49 cultures. Science, 310(5745), 96–100. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1117199
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Realo, A., Allik, J. (2020). National Character. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_475
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_475
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-24610-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-24612-3
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences