Authors in the Department of Psyhcology who were recognized at the recent Council for Research in the Social Sciences (CRISS) event. From left to right: Sid Segalowitz; Teena Willoughby; Michael Ashton; Gordon Hodson; Tony Bogaert; John Mitterer; and Stefan Brudzynski

Are honest people also humble?

Brock psychologist Michael Ashton and University of Calgary psychologist Kibeom Lee make that connection in their 2012 book The H factor of personality: why some people are manipulative, self-entitled, materialistic, and exploitive – and why it matters for everyone.

The authors add “H” – honesty and humility – to the five well-established dimensions of personality, explains Sid Segalowitz, director of the Jack and Nora Walker Centre for Lifespan Development Research.

“It isn’t intuitive and obvious that traits of honesty and humility go hand-in-hand. Until very recently the H factor, in fact, wasn’t recognized as a personality dimension,” he says.

Segalowitz was speaking at the recent Council for Research in the Social Sciences (CRISS) event celebrating research and scholarship in the Department of Psychology. The H factor of personality was among more than a half dozen recently published books Segalowitz highlighted illustrating the department’s accomplishments.

He told the gathering that a 2010 survey of Canadian psychology departments with graduate programs ranked Brock third in the country for the number of citations and seventh place for the number of refereed publications per faculty member.

Also, of the 17 psychology master’s students, eight had been awarded SSHRC grants, seven NSERC grants and five Ontario Graduate Scholarship awards, while 18 of the department’s 26 PhD students had received external awards, he said.

“All I can say is, Brock rocks,” Segalowitz told the gathering.

Books highlighted at the event include:

• Gordon Hodson and Miles Hewstone (2013). Advances in intergroup contact. New York: Psychology Press
• Michael Ashton (2013). Individual Differences and Personality (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Academic Press
• Kibeon Lee and Michael Ashton (2012). The H factor of personality : why some people are manipulative, self-entitled, materialistic, and exploitive– and why it matters for everyone. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Michelle Jetha and Sidney J. Segalowitz (2012). Adolescent brain development: Implications for behavior. San Diego: Academic Press
• Tony Bogaert (2012) Understanding Asexuality. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Dennis Coon and John O. Mitterer (2012) Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior. 13th Edition, Wadsworth
• David R. Shaffer, Katherine Kipp, Teena Willoughby and Eileen Wood (2012)
• Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence, 4th Edition. Nelson
• Stefan Brudzynski (2010). Handbook of mammalian vocalization: an integrative neuroscience approach. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

“This is just a small sample of the incredible work that the psychology department has done,” Acting Dean of the Faulty of Social Sciences Ingrid Makus told The Brock News. “What is really terrific is that this is one of the departments in the social sciences that is putting Brock on the map internationally.”

The Council for Research in the Social Sciences (CRISS), which hosted the event, promotes research and scholarship in the Faculty of Social Sciences. Faculty members apply for research and speakers’ grants to CRISS where a committee of colleagues reviews the proposals and awards funds.