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ReportsNational Character Does Not Reflect Mean Personality Trait Levels in 49 Cultures  ebí ková,31 evi ,37 i,15 i,65
Most people hold beliefs about personality characteristics typical of members of their own and others' cultures. These perceptions of national character may be generalizations from personal experience, stereotypes with a "kernel of truth," or inaccurate stereotypes. We obtained national character ratings of 3989 people from 49 cultures and compared them with the average personality scores of culture members assessed by observer ratings and self-reports. National character ratings were reliable but did not converge with assessed traits. Perceptions of national character thus appear to be unfounded stereotypes that may serve the function of maintaining a national identity.
1 National Institute on Aging, NIH, DHHS, Gerontology Research Center, 5600 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
2 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kuwait, Post Office Box 68168, 71962, Kaifan, Kuwait. 3 Faculty of Education and Psychology, Lóránd Eötvös University, 1075 Budapest, Kazinczy u. 23-25, Hungary. 4 Institute of Experimental Psychology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 813 64. 5 Department of Education, Pusan National University, 30 Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea. 6 Department of Psychology, Pusan National University, 30 Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea. 7 Escuela de Psicologia, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Vicuna Mackenna 4860, Macul, Santiago, Chile. 8 Department of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tiigi 78, Tartu, Estonia, 50410. 9 University of Bielefeld, Department of Psychology, Post Office Box 100131, Bielefeld, Germany, D-33501. 10 Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. 11 Department of Psychology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M3J 1P3. 12 Department of Psychology, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Via Dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy. 13 Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, E11 Seashore Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242–1407, USA. 14 Department of Psychology, University of Malta, Msida MSD 06 Malta. 15 Odsjek za Psihologiju, Filozofski Fakultet u Zagrebu, I. Lucica 3, Zagreb, Croatia, 10000. 16 Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Av. Armendáriz 497 Miraflores, Lima, Peru. 17 Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC, 3010, Australia. 18 Laboratoire de Psychologie Clinique des Faits Culturels, Universite de Paris-X, 200, Avenue de la Republique, Nanterre, France, 92001. 19 Department of Psychology, University of Ouagadougou, 03 B.P. 7021 Ouagadougou 03, Burkina Faso. 20 Department of Psychology, H. Dunantlaan, 2, Ghent, Belgium, B-9000. 21 Faculdade de Psicologia, Ciencias da Educacao, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. 22 Department of Psychology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, 1101, Philippines. 23 Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. 24 Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Post Office Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand. 25 School of Psychology, Post Office Box 600, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. 26 U Federal de Minas Gerais, Dept. de Psicologia, Sala 4042, Av. Antonio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 27 Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco. 28 Koç University, Sariyer 80910, Istanbul, Turkey. 29 Unit of Gerontology and Care for the Elderly, Lund University, Box 187, S-222 20 Lund, Sweden. 30 Faculty of Psychology, Atma Jaya Indonesia Catholic University, Jl. Jenderal Sudirman kav-51, Jakarta Selatan-12930, Indonesia. 31 Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Vev í 97, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic.32 Department of Health Psychology, Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3, Copenhagen N, Denmark, DK-2200. 33 Institute for Psychiatry, Pasterova 2, Belgrade, Yugoslavia. 34 University of Iceland, Faculty of Social Science, Oddi, Sturlugata, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland. 35 Department of Psychiatry, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Post Office Box 11-0236, Riad El-Solh, Beirut 1107 2020 Lebanon. 36 Catholic University of Lublin, Department of Psychology, A1, Raclawickie 14, Lublin 20-950 Poland. 37 Department of Psychology, University of Belgrade, Cika Ljubina 18-20, 11000 Belgrade, Yugoslavia. 38 Faculty of Psychology, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 39 Department of Psychology, Susquehanna University, 514 University Avenue, Selinsgrove, PA 17870, USA. 40 Center for General Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. 41 Department of Psychology, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA. 42 School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK. 43 Department of Psychology, International University Dubna, 19, Universitetskaya str., Dubna, Moscow area, Russia, 141980. 44 Center for Continuing Education, University of Botswana, Private Bag UB 0022, Gaborone, Botswana. 45 Department of Psychology, Iwate Prefectural University, 152-52 Sugo, Takizawa, Iwate, 020-0193 Japan. 46 Department of Organizational Psychology, Makerere University, Post Office Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. 47 Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Post Office Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA 22904–4400, USA. 48 Department of Psychology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. 49 Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Z4. 50 Psychiatric Hospital of Idrija, Pot Sv. Antona 49 Idrija, 5280 Slovenia. 51 Escuela Graduada de Administracion Publica, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. 52 Department of Psychology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530 003, Andhra Pradesh, India. 53 Université Paris 10, STAPS Dept., 200 Avenue de la République, Nanterre, France, 92001. 54 Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, BFSH 2 Dorigny, Lausanne, Switzerland, CH-1015. 55 Psychologisches Institut, Zürichbergstrasse 43, 8044 Zürich, Switzerland. 56 Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. 57 School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology. 58 Department of Psychology, Bunkyo Gakuin University, 1196, Kamekubo, Oi-machi, Iruma-gun, Saitama, 356-8533, Japan. 59 Department of Psychology, Ramapo College of New Jersey, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ 07430, USA. 60 Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. 61 Department of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. 62 Department of Psychology, The University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 2E9. 63 Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China. 64 Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. 65 Ministry for Health,  tefanova ulica 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Republic of Slovenia.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: terraccianoa{at}grc.nia.nih.gov (A.T.); mccraej{at}grc.nia.nih.gov (R.R.M.)
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Present address: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182–4611, USA. 
Present address: School of Psychology, University of Tasmania, Locked Bag 1342, Launceston, TAS, 7250 Australia. Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)
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