Differences In Psychological Factors Research Articles

Individual differences and analyst forecast accuracy

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of unidentifiable individual differences among financial analysts on the cross section of their earnings forecast accuracy.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs the concept of analyst fixed effects to control for unidentifiable individual differences. Various psychological factors, such as decision style and personality traits, are documented to impact individuals' decision making. However, analysts' individual differences in such psychological factors are not captured by identifiable personal attributes employed in finance literature, such as years of experience. The methodology used addresses this issue and presents a more comprehensive study of analyst forecast accuracy.FindingsThe paper documents that unidentifiable analyst‐specific effects are significant, and that controlling for them improves model fitting and changes the explanatory power of some of the traditionally used independent variables in the literature. The paper confirms that the analyst's firm‐specific experience, the intensity of following that a firm receives, and the forecast horizon are all significantly and consistently related to forecast accuracy. However, it is found that analyst general experience and coverage complexity lose explanatory power when individual differences are controlled for. Analyst general experience is not monotonically associated with better accuracy and that analysts only benefit from increased general experience during the early to middle stages of their career. Finally, when analysts' individual differences are controlled for, the boldness of a forecast revision is not associated with the improvement of accuracy.Research limitations/implicationsThe documented non‐monotonic relationship between analyst general experience and forecast accuracy is explained as a result of U‐shaped self‐efficacy, decision style and career concerns. This observation is not necessarily in line with the theory of analyst seniority and reputation‐related performance.Originality/valueThe methodology used addresses the issue of analysts' individual differences in psychological factors and presents a more comprehensive study of analyst forecast accuracy.

Quality of life and level of functioning in cancer patients: The roles of behavioural inhibition and approach systems

Psychosomatic medicine shows that individual differences in psychological factors are implicated in physical disease. However, the influence of personality on cancer-related psychological outcomes has not been clarified. The aim of this article is to contribute to this literature in terms of the reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) approach to personality. Measures of the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) and the Behavioural Approach System (BAS) were examined in relation to quality of life (QoL) and level of functioning (LoF) in 48 cancer patients (compared with non-clinical controls). Personality differences were measured by the Carver and White (1994) BIS/BAS Scales; and QoL and LoF by the EORTC QLQ C30. Both BAS Fun Seeking (BAS-Fun) and BAS Reward Responsiveness (BAS-RR) interacted with the cancer-control factor on LoF, with higher scoring individuals on both sub-scales reporting higher LoF in the cancer group. BAS-RR interacted with cancer-control factor on QoL, with higher scoring individuals reporting a higher QoL in the cancer group. As expected, on both QoL and LoF, scores were significantly lower in the cancer group. Implications of this study for future personality-based cancer research are discussed.

Considerations in Coaching Girls and Women in Sport and Physical Activity Settings

The number of girls and women involved in sport has risen dramatically over the last several decades. Given this increase, an interesting question is whether or not there are important differences in coaching girls as compared to coaching boys. A search for coaching books published since 1980 with titles suggesting a discussion of gender differences in coaching results in one book focusing on coaching boys and over 30 books that focus on coaching girls. The books that focus on coaching girls include titles like They Can Do it!, the Female Athlete, Issues with Coaching Girls, Designing Women, and Pregnancy and Other Practical Considerations. Clearly there is from the popular literature supporting the perception that there is nothing special that you need to know to coach boys, but there is important information you must have if you are going to coach girls. Although the focus of this talk is not on the social issues reflected in this disparity, interested readers should consult a recent content analysis of popular coaching books for an informed discussion of these issues (LaVoi, Becker, & Maxwell, 2007). The focus of this talk is on the empirical supporting the perception that there are differences in coaching boys as opposed to coaching girls. With regard to physical differences between men and women, there is substantial evidence. However, with regard to gender differences in psychological factors related to sport performance, there is very limited empirical and this has primarily been translated from research conducted in other venues such as educational settings, worksites, or personal relationships. In fact, the majority of the evidence for gender differences in psychological factors that are critical for coaches to be aware of appears to come from expert opinion or to be based upon experience and gender stereotypes. That being said, there is to suggest that there are small differences in communication between men and women (Allen & Valde, 2006). For example, men have been shown to be more talkative than women and to use more assertive speech whereas women use more afflliative speech (Leaper & Ayres, 2007). This is consistent with perceptions that women are rapport specialists who use communication to develop relationships while men use communication to problem solve and to aggressively focus on task accomplishment. Meta-analytic also indicates that all-female groups prefer a leader who uses a democratic style while all-male groups are more equivocal in terms of their preference for an autocratic or a democratic leader (Foels et al, 2000). There is some empirical of gender differences related to assertiveness and motivations for participation in intercollegiate sport. Men tend to report higher assertion scores than women (Keeler, 2007), and women report that they are less accepting of aggression in sport than are men (Tucker & Parks, 2001). Female athletes report a higher value for the social aspects of sport while male athletes more highly value the competitive nature of sport (Flood & Hellstedt, 1991). With regard to physical issues relevant to sport, there is empirical regarding pain perception and tolerance, injuries, and physical attributes. Although pain thresholds and pain tolerance are higher for the general population of men as compared to women (Riley et al., 1998), some suggests that there are no gender differences in pain intensity or affect amongst athletes (Hall & Davies, 1991). In terms of injuries, there are no differences in injury rates between boys and girls participating in youth (7-13 yrs) soccer (Radelet et al., 2002). In contrast, female high school athletes have greater overall injury rates than males in the sports of soccer and softball/baseball (Powell & Barber-Foss, 1999a) and have a greater rate of mild traumatic brain injuries (concussions) in the sports of soccer, basketball, and softball/ baseball (Powell & Barber-Foss, 1999b). …

Real-time craving differences between black and white smokers.

Black and White smokers may experience aspects of nicotine dependence, including craving, differently. This study used a naturalistic technique, ecological momentary assessment (EMA), to explore differences in craving, mood, expectancy, and smoking enjoyment between Black and White smokers. Participants carried personal digital assistants (PDAs) programmed to obtain multiple daily assessments. Black smokers reported higher craving after smoking and at random assessment times and higher cigarette enjoyment. No differences were found in mood or expectancy. Racial differences in psychological factors related to smoking are explored in the contexts of genetic, sociological, and psychophysiological distinctions. Implications for practice and research are discussed. (Am J Addict 2010;00:1-5).

Relationship of psychological factors with physical activity stage of change in prime-and middle-aged Japanese.

The present study aimed to investigate the status of physical activity and the differences in psychological factors associated with physical activity from the perspective of transtheoretical model stages between prime- and middle-aged Japanese. The study involved 375 prime-aged volunteers (175 men, 200 women) and 557 middle-aged volunteers (247 men, 310 women) living in Kuse, a town in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. We found that the prime-aged men at the preparation stage had significantly higher self-efficacy scores than at the contemplation stage (p<0.01). Middle-aged men had significantly higher self-efficacy scores at the contemplation stage than at the precontemplation stage (p<0.001). Middle-aged women, meanwhile, had significantly higher self-efficacy scores at the maintenance stage than at the action stage (p<0.01), and at the contemplation stage than at the precontemplation stage (p<0.001). The present findings provide valuable information about the differences in psychological factors affecting physical activity between prime-aged and middle-aged community-dwelling Japanese. This information may be useful to health professionals as they develop effective community-based intervention programs for target populations.

Psychosocial Factors May Play Role in Posttrauma Resilience

Psychosocial Factors May Play Role in Posttrauma Resilience

Relationship of credit attitude and debt to self-esteem and locus of control in college-age consumers.

College-age consumers are one of the groups most highly targeted by credit card marketers. While some college students use their credit cards wisely, others are unable to control their spending. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in attitude toward credit cards and the psychological factors of self-esteem and locus of control among college students who possess one or more credit cards. Attitude was operationalized to include three underlying components: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. We separated credit users into subcategories based on amount of installment debt. Convenience users were defined as those consumers who paid the credit-card balance in full each month. Installment users were classified as consumers who carried a balance month-to-month. Convenience users were compared to mild and heavy installment users to assess significance of differences in attitudinal and psychological factors. There were no significant differences in the psychological factors across the credit-card user groups. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference on each of the attitude components (knowledge/beliefs, affect, and behavior) across user groups; convenience users, mild installment, and heavy installment users.

Stages of change, psychological factors and awareness of physical activity levels in the Netherlands

The purpose of this study was to investigate physical activity levels, stages of change, awareness, and differences in psychological factors relating to physical activity in an adult Dutch population, in order to identify specific objectives for physical activity promotion. Physical activity levels, self-rated physical activity, stages of change, awareness, attitudes, social influences and self-efficacy relating to physical activity were assessed among a random sample of 2608 adults using structured questionnaires. Almost 60% of the respondents did not meet the recommended target for physical activity to promote health. Half of these respondents were in the pre-contemplation stage, and >60% were overestimating their physical activity level. Furthermore, respondents who were not aware of their inadequate physical activity level had a less positive intention to increase their level of physical activity than those who rated their own physical activity level as low. Respondents in the pre-contemplation and maintenance stages had a less positive attitude, perceived less social support and had lower self-efficacy expectations towards increasing physical activity than those in the contemplation, preparation and action stages. The results suggest that interventions aimed at increasing physical activity in the studied population should be aimed at increasing awareness of personal activity levels and should be stage-matched.

Prediction of shoulder flexion endurance from personal factors

With the primary purpose of improving current data bases for ergonomic guidelines, isometric shoulder flexion endurance was investigated in a healthy population of 20 males and 20 females (age: 20–55 years, height: 1.53–1.90m, weight 48–106kg). The subjects were encouraged to hold the straight dominant arm in a horizontal position in front of the body until exhaustion. This task corresponded to between 10% and 21% of the maximal shoulder flexion strength (%MVC). Regression analysis showed that endurance time (Tlim) was significantly related to shoulder torque expressed relative to maximal capacity (%MVC), but not to absolute torque, gender or age. The resulting model was: Tlim=40.609exp(−0.097[%MVC]), Tlim measured in minutes. Shoulder flexion endurance was less than predicted by most previous models based on other muscle synergies and load levels. Only 30% of the total variance in Tlim between individuals was explained by the model, and it is suggested that additional physiologic factors may account for, at the most, another 20%. Thus, about half of the total variance may be attributed to individual differences in psychological factors, e.g. pain tolerance, motivation and mood. The results demonstrate that pre-employment screening procedures for endurance capacity, based on readily accessible personal factors, have a low efficiency. Guidelines for occupational shoulder loads in the investigated range (10–20%MVC) should be constructed with consideration to the specific endurance properties of shoulder muscles, and they should recognize the large variability between individuals in endurance capacity, for instance by using a percentile approach as exemplified in the paper.Relevance to industryIsometric endurance has been used as the basis of several guidelines addressing industrial work tasks with increased risk for disorders or fatigue in the shoulders and neck. The paper presents extensive data on shoulder flexion endurance and discusses whether it is predictable from the personal factors gender, age, anthropometry and maximal strength. The results may guide the practitioner considering pre-employment selection of workers, and they may help in improving future ergonomic guidelines.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS RELATED TO ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUNG ELITE FEMALE GYMNASTS

A sample of 162 young Australian elite and non elite competitive female gymnasts were administered the Sport Competition Anxiety Test for Children, the Coopersmith Self‐esteem Inventory, the Perceived Competence Scale for Children and the Children's Nowicki‐Strickland Internal‐External Control Scale. Stepwise discriminant function analysis showed that the elite gymnasts could be discriminated from non elite on the basis of higher levels of general, physical, and cognitive competence, and higher levels of self‐esteem. The results supported the findings of previous investigations and indicated clear differences in psychological factors between elite and non elite gymnasts. 1 Authors' Notes: Preparation of this article was supported by Physiotherapy Research Foundation Grants 005/91 and 021/92 to Gregory Kolt, and the project was endorsed by the Australian Gymnastic Federation. We gratefully acknowledge Jeremy Cass, Helen Lindner, and Joanne Patton for their assistance in the preparation and analysis of the ...