Showing papers on "Personality published in 1996"

The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television, and New Media Like Real People and Places

Abstract: Part I. Introduction: 1. The media equation Part II. Media and Manners: 2. Politeness 3. Interpersonal distance 4. Flattery 5. Judging others and ourselves Part III. Media and Personality: 6. Personality of characters 7. Personality of interfaces 8. Imitating a personality Part IV. Media and emotion: 9. Good versus bad 10. Negativity 11. Arousal Part V. Media and Social Roles: 12. Specialists 13. Teammates 14. Gender 15. Voices 16. Source orientation Part VI. Media and Form: 17. Image size 18. Fidelity 19. Synchrony 20. Motion 21. Scene changes 22. Subliminal images Part VII. Final Words: 23. Conclusions about the media equation References.

IQ and ego-resiliency: conceptual and empirical connections and separateness.

Abstract: The constructs of intelligence and ego-resiliency are discussed. The personality implications of "pure intelligence" and "pure ego-resilience" were identified. Intelligence (IQ) was indexed by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised and ego-resiliency by an inventory scale. Residual scores measuring "pure intelligence" and "pure ego-resilience" were correlated with the items of the observer-based California Q-sort, used to describe participants. Persons relatively high on ego-resilience tend to be more competent and comfortable in the "fuzzier" interpersonal world; persons defined primary by raw IQ tend to be effective in the "clearer" world of structured work but tend also to be uneasy with affect and less able to realize satisfying human connections. Gender differences exist in the relations of ego-resilience and intelligence and in their adaptive relevance.

Pleasure-arousal-dominance: A general framework for describing and measuring individual differences in Temperament

Abstract: Evidence bearing on the Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance (PAD) Emotional State Model was reviewed and showed that its three nearly orthogonal dimensions provided a sufficiently comprehensive description of emotional states. Temperament was defined as average emotional state across a representative sample of life situations. The Pleasure-Arousability-Dominance (PAD) Temperament Model was described. Evidence relating the PAD Temperament Model to 59 individual difference measures was reviewed. Formulas were offered for use of P, A, and D temperament scores to compute and predict a variety of personality scores (e.g., Anxiety, Depression, Panic, Somatization, Empathy, Affiliation, Achievement, Extroversion, Arousal Seeking, Loneliness, Neuroticism, Suicide Proneness, Binge Eating, Substance Abuse, Emotional Stability, Dependency, Aggressiveness, and Fidgeting).

Personality, Modernity, and the Storied Self: A Contemporary Framework for Studying Persons

Abstract: As the scientific study of the individual person, personality psychology historically has struggled to provide the kind of broad conceptual framework capable of orienting theory and research around human individuality in cultural context. This article presents a new integrative framework for studying persons that brings together recent advances in the field of personality with the emerging social science emphasis on the narrative study of lives, while situating personality inquiry within the cultural context of contemporary modernity and the unique problems of the modern self. The frame-work builds on a clear distinction between the "I" and the "Me" features of personality in the modem world and the delineation of three relatively independent levels on which modern persons may be described. In personality, the I may be viewed as the process of "selfing," of narrating experience to create a modern self whereas the Me may be viewed as the self that the I constructs. Personality traits, like those included w...

The Proactive Personality Scale as a Predictor of Entrepreneurial Intentions

Abstract: In a review of trends in the entrepreneurship literature, Gartner (1990) identified eight themes characterizing the major issues of entrepreneurship. One of these themes focused on the entrepreneur as an individual, and the notion that entrepreneurship involves individuals with unique personality characteristics and abilities. Within this domain of research, five attributes have consistently been found to covary with entrepreneurship: need for achievement, locus of control, risk-taking propensity, tolerance for ambiguity, and Type-A behavior (Brockhaus 1982; Brockhaus and Horwitz 1986; Furnham 1992). Despite these findings, a number of scholars have expressed dissatisfaction with extant knowledge of the personality-entrepreneurship relationship. Chell, Haworth, and Brearley (1991) suggested that disagreement on the meaning of "entrepreneurship" has impeded research progress; moreover, these authors advocated using trait terms which describe natural categories accessible to lay persons. Gartner (1988) noted that theoretical models seeking to explain the broad phenomenon of entrepreneurship would benefit by including variables beyond traits alone. Robinson et al. (1991) argued for more dynamic models of the entrepreneurship process. Shaver and Scott (1991) identified the methodological weaknesses of much entrepreneurial trait research (including the research that generated the attributes listed above) and argued for consistency between the specificity of measures and underlying constructs. Perhaps as a result of criticisms such as these, recently little research has been published examining the relationship between personality traits and entrepreneurship. Considerable attention has been devoted to creating ambitious models of various entrepreneurial processes, such as new venture initiation (Herron and Sapienza 1992), entrepreneurial potential (Krueger and Brazeal 1994), and entrepreneurial motivation (Naffziger, Hornsby, and Kuratko 1994). These conceptual frameworks have significantly enhanced the precision of theory surrounding the entrepreneurship process. However, the death knell for the study of personality and entrepreneurship may have sounded prematurely. The proactive personality scale, a recent addition to the literature on individual differences, appears to have the potential for providing further insight into the personality trait-entrepreneurship relationship. The proactive personality scale measures a personal disposition toward proactive behavior, an idea that intuitively appears to be related to entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically the extent to which having a proactive personality is associated with entrepreneurial intentions. Because a common definition of entrepreneurship is lacking, it is incumbent upon researchers to define explicitly the meaning they ascribe to the term (Gartner 1989; 1990). The central variable in this paper, entrepreneurial intentions, will be defined as one's judgements about the likelihood of owning one's own business. For the research questions in this paper, differences in specific tactics and themes of entrepreneurship (for example, creating a new venture vs. buying an existing business) will not be explored. Defining entrepreneurial intentions broadly is consistent with the objectives of this research in that it avoids delimiting subjects' expression of entrepreneurial intentions. The study of behavioral intentions has a rich history in psychology (for example, Ajzen and Fishbein 1980), and has begun to appear in both conceptual (Bird 1988; Katz and Gartner 1988; Krueger and Brazeal 1994) and empirical (Brenner, Pringle, and Greenhaus 1991; Krueger 1993a; 1993b; Scott and Twomey 1988) entrepreneurship research. Krueger (1993b) argued that entrepreneurial intentions are central to understanding the entrepreneurship process because they form the underpinnings of new organizations. Because entrepreneurship occurs over time (Gartner et al. …

Behavioral observations at age 3 years predict adult psychiatric disorders: Longitudinal evidence from a birth cohort.

Abstract: Background: This study provides, to our knowledge, the first empirical test of whether behavioral differences among children in the first 3 years of life are linked to specific adult psychiatric disorders: anxiety and mood disorders, antisocial personality disorder, recidivistic and violent crime, alcoholism, and suicidal behavior. Methods: In a longitudinal-epidemiological study, 3-year-old children were classified into groups based on examiner observations of their behavior. At age 21 years, they were reassessed for psychopathologic functioning using standardized interviews based on DSM-IIJ-R criteria. Results: Although effect sizes were small,undercontrolled(includes children who are impulsive, restless, and distractible) andinhibited(includes children who are shy, fearful, and easily upset) children differed significantly from comparison children in young adulthood. Undercontrolled 3-year-olds were more likely at 21 years to meet diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder and to be involved in crime. Inhibited 3-year-olds were more likely at 21 years to meet diagnostic criteria for depression. Both groups were more likely to attempt suicide, and boys in both groups had alcohol-related problems. Controls for family social class did not change the findings. Conclusions: Some forms of adult psychopathologic abnormality are meaningfully linked, albeit weakly, to behavioral differences observed among children in the third year of life.

The five-factor model of personality : theoretical perspectives

Abstract: Digman, The Curious History of the Five-Factor Model. Saucier, Goldberg, The Language of Personality: Lexical Perspectives on the Five-Factor Model. McCrae, Costa, Toward a New Generation of Personality Theories: Theoretical Contexts for the Five-Factor Model. Wiggins, Trapnell, A Dyadic-Interactional Perspective on the Five-Factor Model. Hogan, A Socioanalytic Perspective on the Five-Factor Model. Buss, Social Adaptation and Five Major Theories of Personality.

Construing benefits from adversity: Adaptational significance and dispositional underpinnings.

Abstract: The discovery of benefits from living with adversity has been implicated in psychological well-being in numerous investigations, is pivotal to several prominent theories of cognitive adaptation to threat, and can be predicted by personality differences. This article summarizes the prevalence and adaptive significance of finding benefits from major medical problems, locates the place of benefit-finding in stress and coping theories, and examines how it may be shaped by specific psychological dispositions such as optimism and hope and by broader personality traits such as Extraversion and Openness to Experience. The distinction between beliefs about benefits from adversity (benefit-finding) and the use of such knowledge as a deliberate strategy of coping with the problem (benefit-reminding) is underscored and illustrated by daily process research on coping with chronic pain.

Social consequences of experiential openness.

Abstract: Openness to Experience is one of the 5 broad factors that subsume most personality traits. Openness is usually considered an intrapsychic dimension, defined in terms of characteristics of consciousness. However, different ways of approaching and processing experience lead to different value systems that exercise a profound effect on social interactions. In this article, the author reviews the effects of Openness versus Closedness in cultural innovation, political ideology, social attitudes, marital choice, and interpersonal relations. The construct of Openness and its measures could profitably be incorporated into research conducted by social psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, and historians.

Heritability of the Big Five Personality Dimensions and Their Facets: A Twin Study

Abstract: The genetic and environmental etiology of the five-factor model of personality as measured by the revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) was assessed using 123 pairs of identical twins and 127 pairs of fraternal twins. Broad genetic influence on the five dimensions of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness was estimated at 41%, 53%, 61%, 41%, and 44%, respectively. The facet scales also showed substantial heritability, although for several facets the genetic influence was largely nonadditive. The influence of the environment was consistent across all dimensions and facets. Shared environmental influences accounted for a negligible proportion of the variance in most scales, whereas nonshared environmental influences accounted for the majority of the environmental variance in all scales.

Role of social desirability in personality testing for personnel selection: The red herring.

Abstract: Response bias continues to be the most frequently cited criticism of personality testing for personnel selection. The authors meta-analyzed the social desirability literature, examining whether social desirability functions as a predictor for a variety of criteria, as a suppressor, or as a mediator. Social desirability scales were found not to predict school success, task performance, counterproductive behaviors, and job performance. Correlations with the Big Five personality dimensions, cognitive ability, and years of education are presented along with empirical evidence that (a) social desirability is not as pervasive a problem as has been anticipated by industrial-organizational psychologists, (b) social desirability is in fact related to real individual differences in emotional stability and conscientiousness, and (c) social desirability does not function as a predictor, as a practically useful suppressor, or as a mediator variable for the criterion of job performance. Removing the effects of social desirability from the Big Five dimensions of personality leaves the criterion-related validity of personality constructs for predicting job performance intact.

Evaluating replicability of factors in the Revised NEO Personality Inventory: Confirmatory factor analysis versus Procrustes rotation.

Abstract: Despite the empirical robustness of the 5-factor model of personality, recent confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) of NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) data suggest they do not fit the hypothesized model. In a replication study of 229 adults, a series ofCFAs showed that Revised NEO-PI scales are not simple-structured but do approximate the normative 5-factor structure. CFA goodness-of-fit indices, however, were not high. Comparability analyses showed that no more than 5 factors were replicable, which calls into question some assumptions underlying the use of CFA. An alternative method that uses targeted rotation was presented and illustrated with data from Chinese and Japanese versions of the Revised NEO-PI that clearly replicated the 5-factor structure.

Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication.

Abstract: Numerous studies have established the importance of affective variables, such as attitudes, motivation, perceived competence, and anxiety, in predicting success in second language learning and communication. Path analysis was used to investigate the relations among these variables, to examine their impacton the frequency ofsecond language communication, and to examine the role of global personality traits. Significant paths affecting the frequency of communication were found, from willingness to communicate in the second language (2), language learning motivation, perceived L2 communicative competence, and the opportunity for contact with L2 speakers. Further results demonstrate thatglobal personality traits and language-related affective variables (such as attitudes and anxiety) set the psychological context for second language communication. These results are interpreted in terms of models of second language learning and communication.

Adaptational Style and Dispositional Structure: Coping in the Context of the Five‐Factor Model

Abstract: We review prior evidence—and present data of our own—linking measures of adaptational style to the traits comprising the five-factor model of personality. Neuroticism has been studied most extensively and is consistently associated with passive and ineffective coping mechanisms. Conscientiousness has emerged as an equally powerful predictor of coping; however, it is related to active, problem-focused response strategies. Extraversion is less broadly related to coping but tends to be correlated with social support seeking, positive reappraisal, and problem-focused coping. Openness is largely unrelated to many traditional coping inventories, but appears to reflect a more flexible, imaginative, and intellectually curious approach to problem solving. Finally, Agreeableness is only modestly related to coping. These results demonstrate the value of using well-articulated taxonomic schemes as a framework for trait-based research.

Perceiving interpersonal conflict and reacting to it: the case for agreeableness.

Abstract: Two converging, multimethod studies probed the hypothesis that individual differences in Agreeableness are related to patterns of interpersonal conflict. In Study 1, participants (N = 263) evaluated the efficacy of 11 modes of conflict resolution within the context of 5 different interpersonal relationships. Across all relationships, high- and low-agreeable participants rated negotiation and disengagement tactics as better choices that power assertion tactics. However, low-agreeable participants rated power assertion as a better choice than did high-agreeable participants. In Study 2, participants (N = 124) were assigned partners and were asked to resolve jointly 2 social conflict problems. Partners were videotaped, and observers coded behaviors. Participants also completed ratings of perceived conflict, partner perception, and liking of their partner. Agreeableness differences, sex of participant, and type of dyad partner were related to patterns of interpersonal conflict. Results were discussed in terms of personality and social influences during interpersonal conflict.

Bandwidth-fidelity dilemma in personality measurement for personnel selection

Abstract: This paper presents a discussion of the bandwidth–fidelity dilemma in personality measurement for personnel selection purposes. Should job applicants be assessed on fine-grained personality variables or on broader personality variables, such as the Big Five dimensions of personality? Most human resources practitioners and researchers appear to assume that more specific and narrow measures of personality traits result in better and more fine-grained understanding of the person, and therefore ought to be preferred over global measures. We review evidence that when the criterion of interest is job performance, broader personality measures may be preferable over narrowly focused ones. It appears that the alleged advantages of narrowly defined traits and narrowly constructed measures are mainly due to erroneous conventional beliefs predicated upon statistical artifacts. In personnel selection research and practice, we advocate the use of broader personality traits for both better prediction and explanation.

Effects of impression management and self-deception on the predictive validity of personality constructs.

Abstract: This study tests whether 2 types of response distortion (self-deception and impression management) affect the predictive validity of 2 of the "Big 5" personality dimensions, conscientiousness and emotional stability, in 2 applicant samples of long-haul semitruck drivers (n = 147 and n = 139). As hypothesized, conscientiousness (p = -.26 and -.26) and emotional stability (p = -.23 and -.21) were valid predictors of voluntary turnover in the 2 samples. Also as hypothesized, conscientiousness was a valid predictor of supervisory ratings of performance (p = .41 and .39) in the 2 samples. Although not hypothesized, emotional stability was also significantly related to supervisor ratings of performance (p = .23 and .27). Results from structural equations modeling indicated that applicants did distort their scores on both personality dimensions and the distortion occurred both through self-deception and impression management; however, neither type of distortion attenuated the predictive validities of either personality construct.

Exploring careers with a typology: What we have learned and some new directions.

Abstract: Holland's (1985a) typology of persons and environments is outlined, and support for the theory as an explanation of stability and change in careers and work satisfaction is summarized. Studies show that people flourish in their work environment when there is a good fit between their personality type and the characteristics of the environment. Lack of congruence between personality and environment leads to dissatisfaction, unstable career paths, and lowered performance. The results of recent research designed to strengthen the explanatory power of Holland's typology and link it to the Big Five personality factors is described. Speculations about the application of the theory to future careers in a changing economy are offered.

Contemporary Interpersonal Theory and Research: Personality, Psychopathology, and Psychotherapy

Abstract: Partial table of contents: PERSONALITY AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY. Overt Interpersonal Behavior and the Interpersonal Circle. Interpersonal Behavior: Moderating Factors and Other Issues. Covert Components of Interpersonal Behavior. Interpersonal Behavior and Our Bids for Complementarity. Measurement of the Covert Complementary Response: The Impact Message Inventory. Maladjusted Interpersonal Behavior: General Principles and Formulations for Specific DSM Disorders. DIAGNOSIS, PSYCHOTHERAPY, AND SUPERVISION. Interpersonal Assessment and Diagnosis. The Relationship in Psychotherapy: An Interpersonal Communication Analysis. Interpersonal Communication Interventions: Interpersonal Complementary Principles. Conclusion. References. Indexes.

The interactional context of problem-, emotion-, and relationship-focused coping: the role of the big five personality factors.

Abstract: This study examined the role that personality and situational factors play in three forms of coping responses: problem-, emotion- and relationship-focused. Coping responses were strongly associated with whether the situation involved a primarily agentic (work) or communal (interpersonal) stressor. Among communal stressors, the involvement of close versus distant others was also associated with coping responses. Situational factors were linked most strongly with the use of problem-focused (planful problem solving) and relationship-focused (empathic responding) modes of coping. Dimensions of personality derived from the five-factor model (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) had important associations with coping responses. Coping responses were best predicted by models that included both the additive and multiplicative effects of person and situation factors. Taken together, the findings suggest that a model of coping that considers both agentic and communal dimensions of stressful situations, includes interpersonal dimensions of coping, and considers personality and situation factors in tandem is needed to increase the predictive utility of current models.

Personality in learning and education: a review

Abstract: The literature relevant to the combined area of personality and education and learning is summarized, covering almost a century of research and theorizing. Different topics considered important from the aspect of education and learning or from the aspect of personality ape represented. For personality this means that broad domains such as motivation and disposition are represented, and that reference is made to topics such as achievement motivation, character education, and goal orientation. The first few decades of the century are coloured by the unitary character-derived construct persistence of motives ( Webb, 1915), which has an inherent connection to learning and education. The last three or four decades are characterized by a growing consensus in the personality field about basic constructs such as those represented by the Big-Five factors. In addition, emerging issues covering the relationship between personality and intelligence and personality, motivation, and achievement-orientation are described. This review is necessarily incomplete, but most of the central topics in the field of personality and education have been given a place.

The Importance of Distinguishing the Belief in a Just World for Self Versus for Others: Implications for Psychological Well-Being

Abstract: Studies have shown that the belief in a just world (BJW) is related to psychological well-being. The authors suggest that studies exploring this relationship might benefit by making the distinction between the BJW for self versus for others or in general. In two studies, the authors assessed subjects' perceptions of depression, stress, and life satisfaction for self and for others. Subjects also completed measures of the five-factor model of personality. As predicted, the BJW for self most strongly and consistently predicted decreases in depression and stress, and increases in life satisfaction. When the five personality dimensions were included in the analyses, the BJW for self and for others continued to predict life satisfaction but not depression and stress. The implications of these results concerning the relationship between the BJW and psychological well-being, and how the just world is conceptualized, are discussed.

Resilient, Overcontrolled, and Undercontrolled Boys: Three Replicable Personality Types

Abstract: Three replicable personality types were identified in a sample of 300 adolescent boys and shown to generalize across African Americans and Caucasians. The types had conceptually coherent relations with the Big Five dimensions, ego resiliency, and ego control, and converged with three of the types identified by J. Block (1971). The behavioral implications of the types were explored using several independent data sources. Residents were intelligent, successful in school, unlikely to be delinquents, and relatively free of psychopathology; Overcontrollers shared some of these characteristics but were also prone to internalizing problems; and Undercontrollers showed a general pattern of academic, behavioral, and emotional problems. This research demonstrates that replicable and generalizable personality types can be identified empirically, and that the unique constellation of traits denning an individual has important consequences for a wide range of outcomes. We are each characterized by a unique constellation of personality traits that defines who we are and how we behave. Still, "none of us is so exquisitely different as to defy a useful categorization" (Block, 1971, p. 110). Typological approaches aim to discover the basic categories of human nature and in so doing to "carve nature at its joints." More specifically, personality typologies define categories of individuals who have similar configurations of characteristi cs and share the same personality structure.

The need to evaluate.

Abstract: Five studies tested the hypothesis that stable individual differences exist in the chronic tendency to engage in evaluative responding. In 2 studies, the 16-item Need to Evaluate Scale (NES) was developed and demonstrated to possess high internal consistency, a single factor structure, high testretest reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. Three additional studies supported the predictive validity of the NES. In one, high-NES participants were more likely to report having attitudes toward a variety of important social and political issues than low-NES participants. In another study, high-NES participants wrote more evaluative thoughts in a free thought listing about unfamiliar paintings than low-NES participants. In a final study, high-NES participants wrote more evaluative thoughts in a free thought listing about a typical day in their lives than low-NES participants. Implications for research in social and personality psychology are discussed.

Development of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory

Abstract: A combined "emic-etic" approach was adopted to develop an indigenous omnibus personality inventory for the Chinese people. The Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI) consists of constructs selected specifically in consideration of the Chinese culture as well as scales covering personality constructs commonly found in English-language psychological tests. Preliminary results confirmed the robust structure of the scales related to Chinese tradition among random samples of subjects in the People's Republic of China and in Hong Kong. This article reports the psychometric properties of the CPAI. It also outlines the steps in the construction of the CPAI, which adapted personality assessment methods used in Western countries for developing a culturally relevant instrument in a non-Western culture. The methodology provides an example for the development of indigenous personality inventories in other non-Western cultures.