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PreprintCC BY 4.0PsyArXiv

Mapping Personal Goals Linked to Honesty-Humility: Development and Validation of the GHGD Questionnaire

  • Giulio Costantini
  • Anastasiia Galkina
  • Simona Amenta
  • Calogero Zarbo
  • Marco Perugini
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Abstract

Personal goals help explain how personality traits are expressed in behavior, yet the goals linked to honesty-humility remain poorly understood. We developed and validated the Goals for Honesty and Goals for Dishonesty (GHGD) questionnaire–the first instrument measuring goals of honesty-humility. Using a multi-method, bottom-up approach, we identified and classified personal goals associated with honesty-humility. Study 1 (N = 250) employed participant-driven goal elicitation using personality-descriptive adjectives. Responses were classified using natural language processing and raters' coding, yielding a final set of goals. Study 2 (N = 300) refined goals, selecting them based on their association with personality traits, developing the GHGD questionnaire. Study 3 (N = 400 participants and N = 209 informants) provided validation using self-reports, informant-reports, and observed behavior in an incentivized cheating task. Results revealed a two-component solution distinguishing honesty-oriented (GH) from dishonesty-oriented goals (GD). These dimensions were moderately negatively correlated, indicating distinct rather than bipolar motivational orientations. GD predicted dishonest behavior beyond trait measures, while GH related more strongly to authentic living and self-concept integrity. Overall, goal-based assessments predicted dishonest behavior above and beyond trait self-reports. This work integrates trait-based and process-oriented approaches to personality, delivering theoretical and empirical contributions for future research on moral personality and behavior.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{costantini2026mapping,
  title = {{Mapping Personal Goals Linked to Honesty-Humility: Development and Validation of the GHGD Questionnaire}},
  author = {Giulio Costantini and Anastasiia Galkina and Simona Amenta and Calogero Zarbo and Marco Perugini},
  howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.31234/osf.io/u93zp_v2},
  url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/u93zp_v2/},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Mapping Personal Goals Linked to Honesty-Humility: Development and Validation of the GHGD Questionnaire
AU  - Giulio Costantini
AU  - Anastasiia Galkina
AU  - Simona Amenta
AU  - Calogero Zarbo
AU  - Marco Perugini
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/14
PB  - PsyArXiv
DO  - 10.31234/osf.io/u93zp_v2
UR  - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/u93zp_v2/
AB  - Personal goals help explain how personality traits are expressed in behavior, yet the goals linked to honesty-humility remain poorly understood. We developed and validated the Goals for Honesty and Goals for Dishonesty (GHGD) questionnaire–the first instrument measuring goals of honesty-humility. Using a multi-method, bottom-up approach, we identified and classified personal goals associated with honesty-humility. Study 1 (N = 250) employed participant-driven goal elicitation using personality-descriptive adjectives. Responses were classified using natural language processing and raters' coding, yielding a final set of goals. Study 2 (N = 300) refined goals, selecting them based on their association with personality traits, developing the GHGD questionnaire. Study 3 (N = 400 participants and N = 209 informants) provided validation using self-reports, informant-reports, and observed behavior in an incentivized cheating task. Results revealed a two-component solution distinguishing honesty-oriented (GH) from dishonesty-oriented goals (GD). These dimensions were moderately negatively correlated, indicating distinct rather than bipolar motivational orientations. GD predicted dishonest behavior beyond trait measures, while GH related more strongly to authentic living and self-concept integrity. Overall, goal-based assessments predicted dishonest behavior above and beyond trait self-reports. This work integrates trait-based and process-oriented approaches to personality, delivering theoretical and empirical contributions for future research on moral personality and behavior.
ER  -