We live in an age of rapidly advancing genetic research. This research is generating new knowledge that has implications for personal health and well-being. The present study assessed the level of genetic knowledge and personal engagement with genetics in a large sample (N = 5404) of participants. Participants received secondary education in 78 countries, with the largest samples from Russia, the UK and the USA. The results showed significant group differences in genetic knowledge between different countries, professions, education levels and religious affiliations. Overall, genetic knowledge was poor. The questions were designed to assess basic genetic literacy. However, only 1.2% of participants answered all 18 questions correctly, and the average score was 65.5%. Genetic knowledge was related to peoples’ attitudes towards genetics. For example, those with greater genetic knowledge were on average more willing to use genetic knowledge for their personal health management. Based on the results, the paper proposes a number of immediate steps that societies can implement to empower the public to benefit from ever-advancing genetic knowledge.

Spatial ability (SA) shows wide variability. One proposed explanation for the observed individual difference in SA is variability in interest and engagement in activities that promote spatial ability. Research also robustly shown that males on average outperform females in most aspects of SA. Previous studies have identified a number of activities that can potentially contribute to both individual and gender differences in SA, including tinkering with electronics, particular sports activities, and designing. However, the findings regarding these links are inconsistent. One way to investigate these links is to compare the groups that are intensively engaged with these activities. The present study aims to evaluate the robustness of these links by comparing SA in adolescents with expertise in STEM, arts, and sports, with their unselected peers. We also aimed to assess whether gender differences in SA are still present in expert groups. The data on ten small-scale SA tests was collected in an unselected sample of adolescents (N = 864, Mean age = 15.4, SD = 1.1); as well as in 3 samples of adolescents with expertise in STEM (N = 667, Mean age = 15, SD = 1.2); in Arts (N = 280, Mean age = 15, SD = 1.2) and in Sports (N = 444, Mean age = 14.3, SD = 0.7). Out of the three expert groups, only STEM experts on average outperformed the unselected group on all SA tasks. The STEM experts also outperformed Arts and Sports experts. Gender differences persisted in all expert groups, with moderate effect sizes. Findings support previously established links between spatial ability and STEM-related expertise. In contrast, such links were not found for expertise in arts and sports. Consistent with previous research, we found gender differences in SA for all samples, which persisted in STEM experts.

Background: Individual differences in personality, behavioural, and academic outcomes of gifted adolescents remain under‐explored. Aims: The present study directly compared selected and unselected adolescents on multiple measures of personality, behavioural strengths and difficulties, and achievement. Sample: Nine hundred seventy‐three adolescents selected for high performance in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematical (STEM) fields ( M =  15.23; SD =  1.11), and one thousand two hundred sixty‐one unselected adolescents ( M =  15.07; SD =  1.18) participated in the study. Methods: Participants completed self‐report measures that assess the Big Five, the Dark Triad, and Behavioural Strengths and Difficulties. Demographic information and academic achievement in Maths and Russian were also obtained. Results: The observed differences in personality and behaviour traits between selected and unselected samples were negligible as measured by ANOVAs. The selected sample had on average slightly lower scores on conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, and subclinical narcissism, partial Eta Squared (ES)  =  [.01 to .05]; slightly lower scores on prosocial behaviour; and slightly higher scores on internalizing and externalizing problems, ES  =  [.01 to .04]. The selected group also showed higher Year and Examination grades (ES  =  .05 and .23, respectively). However, MANOVA results showed larger differences between samples (ES  =  .15). Conclusion: Our results showed no pronounced differences between selected and unselected samples in any trait apart from examination performance. However, multivariate results suggest greater overall differences. These results suggest that high‐achieving individuals may be characterized by specific combinations of personality and behavioural traits.

The Remote Associates Test (RAT) is a measure of associative ability, which is often regarded as essential for creative thinking. The most commonly used version of the test is the compound RAT. However, many RAT items do not translate directly in different languages. Additionally, a linguistic measure cannot be used to measure visual associative ability. A visual measure for associative ability that is similar to the RAT would be a useful tool for cross-cultural investigations of creativity. The present study investigated the relationship between the linguistic and a newly developed visual version of RAT in Russian and Finnish native speakers (for both samples n = 67). Both linguistic and visual measures showed good internal reliabilities in both samples (Cronbach’s α = 0.73–0.84). The mean score in the visual task was slightly higher for the Finnish sample. The correlation between the two measures was stronger in the Russian sample (r = 0.56) compared to the Finnish sample (r = 0.28). These results are discussed in relation to linguistic and cultural differences between the samples.

Research has shown that levels of the Dark Triad (i.e., traits of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) vary across sex and age, with males and younger people reporting higher scores. The Dark Triad has also been found to be associated with personal economic status. We investigated whether sex and age differences in the Dark Triad varied across countries of different socioeconomic conditions. We further explored whether the dark traits predicted personal income to different extent across countries. We utilized three samples from the UK, Greece, and China (total N = 5,854), whose socioeconomic status varied from more to less developed according to the Human Development Index. Men scored higher than women on the Dark Triad, with the magnitude of sex differences being largest in the UK, followed by Greece and China. Younger people scored higher than older people on the Dark Triad, with the effect of age varying across countries. Narcissism positively predicted income, with its predictive power being significant in China and Greece but null in the UK. The results are consistent with the view that Dark Triad traits may be adaptive responses to environmental challenges. Specifically, the results suggest that sex differences in the Dark Triad and the relation between narcissism and personal income are responsive to socioeconomic conditions at the country level.