Impact Of Individual Differences Research Articles

Impact of Individual Differences and Consumers’ Readiness on Likelihood of Using Self-Service Technologies at Hospitality Settings

As more hospitality companies use self-service technologies (SSTs), the industry is going through an evolutionary adoption process. Many hotels, resorts, and casinos have installed self-service check-in/check-out kiosks and have recently added new SSTs, such as self-service ordering devices at pool lounge chairs. To successfully implement and use SSTs, it is important for the hospitality operators to understand the factors that determine both willingness and resistance of the customers on using the SSTs. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore factors that affect customers’ willingness to embrace the usage of SSTs. Having a comprehensive understanding of customers behavior related to their demographic factors and readiness will promote successful implementation of new SSTs as well as effective modifications of existing SSTs. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test hypotheses with a sample of 614 consumers. The results indicate that consumers’ extrinsic motivation had the most significant impact on their likelihood of using new SSTs (e.g., kiosks and touch screen tables for ordering food or other services at hotels, casinos, and restaurants or pools), followed by intrinsic motivation and role clarity. Younger customers and those who do not believe having interactions with employees at hospitality settings is important were also more likely to use these SSTs.

Pedometer Steps-Per-Minute, Moderate Intensity, and Individual Differences in 12- to 14-Year-Old Youth

Researchers have noted both the utility and limitations of using pedometers to measure physical activity (PA). While these unobtrusive devices are widely accepted for their ability to measure accumulated PA, they have been criticized for their inability to measure exercise intensity. However, recent steps-per-minute (SPM) research provides reasonably accurate measures of intensity allowing users to assess time spent at recommended PA levels. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the SPM taken that are associated with moderate physical activity in 12- to 14-year-old youth. Ninety-three participants (49 boys and 44 girls; ages 12 to 14) walked on a treadmill for 3 minutes at each of 4 different speeds while wearing a pedometer and a heart rate monitor. On average boys and girls reached their moderate activity intensity threshold at 122 SPM and 102 SPM, respectively. However, individual differences must be taken into account when determining appropriate SPM intensities for youth. The impact of individual differences underscores the need to address SPM for moderate intensity individually rather than with a single guideline for everyone at this age.

Individual differences and self-regulatory fatigue: optimism, conscientiousness, and self-consciousness

Ability to self-regulate varies and self-regulatory strength is a limited source that can be depleted or fatigued. Research on the impact of individual differences on self-regulatory capacity is still scarce, and this study aimed to examine whether personality factors such as dispositional optimism, conscientiousness, and self-consciousness can impact or buffer self-regulatory fatigue. Participants were patients diagnosed with chronic multi-symptom illnesses ( N = 50), or pain free matched controls ( N = 50), randomly assigned to either a high or low self-regulation task, followed by a persistence task. Higher optimism predicted longer persistence ( p = .04), and there was a trend towards the same effect for conscientiousness ( p = .08). The optimism by self-regulation interaction was significant ( p = .01), but rather than persisting despite self-regulatory effort, optimists persisted longer only when not experiencing self-regulatory fatigue. The effects of optimism were stronger for controls than patients. There was also a trend towards a similar conscientiousness by self-regulation interaction ( p = .06). These results suggest that the well-established positive impact of optimism and conscientiousness on engagement and persistence may be diminished or reversed in the presence of self-regulatory effort or fatigue, adding an important new chapter to the self-regulation, personality, and pain literature.

Cyberbullying as an Act of Revenge?

AbstractDespite significant overlaps between victim status in traditional forms of bullying and cyberbullying, and qualitative results about self-reported reasons for cyberbullying, the role of revenge and retaliation as a motive to engage in acts of cyberbullying has not yet been examined systematically. As a first step, this study investigates whether and to what extent traditional victims, when they become cyberbullies, actually choose their former (traditional) perpetrators as targets of their own cyberbullying behavior. Furthermore, the impact of individual differences in relevant traits, such as vengefulness and justice sensitivity, on the choice of cybervictims is examined. Data from 473 students were collected via an online survey. Of these, 149 were identified as traditional victims/cyberbullies. Results show that traditionally bullied students indeed tend to choose their former perpetrators as cybervictims, and that individual differences play a role in the choice of their victims. Implications for further research, as well as for interventions and prevention programmes, are discussed.

The effect of low self-control on perceived police legitimacy

Objective The process-based model has influenced policing research for a number of years, but the role of individual differences on procedural justice judgments and perceived police legitimacy has received limited attention. The current study fills a void in the literature by examining the effect of low self-control on individuals’ procedural justice judgments and perceptions of police legitimacy. Materials and Methods The study uses a sample of young adults and estimates a series of OLS regression models to determine the effect of low self-control on the process-based model of policing. Results The findings demonstrate that low self-control is associated with unfavorable procedural justice judgments. In turn, procedural justice mediates the effect of low self-control on perceived police legitimacy. Low self-control, however, is also shown to condition the effect of procedural justice on legitimacy. Specifically, the effect of procedural justice on legitimacy becomes weaker with reduced levels of self-control. Conclusions These findings suggest that studies should account for self-control in process-based policing research and police policy should consider the impact of individual differences when implementing process-based strategies.

Association between reward‐related activation in the ventral striatum and trait reward sensitivity is moderated by dopamine transporter genotype

The impact of individual differences on human reward processing has been a focus of research in recent years, particularly, as they are associated with a variety of neuropsychiatric diseases including addiction and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Studies exploring the neural basis of individual differences in reward sensitivity have consistently implicated the ventral striatum (VS) as a core component of the human reward system. However, the mechanisms of dopaminergic neurotransmission underlying ventral striatal activation as well as trait reward sensitivity remain speculative. We addressed this issue by investigating the triadic interplay between VS reactivity during reward anticipation using functional magnetic resonance imaging, trait reward sensitivity, and dopamine (DA) transporter genotype (40-bp 3'VNTR of DAT, SLC6A3) affecting synaptic DA neurotransmission. Our results show that DAT variation moderates the association between VS-reactivity and trait reward sensitivity. Specifically, homozygote carriers of the DAT 10-repeat allele exhibit a strong positive correlation between reward sensitivity and reward-related VS activity whereas this relationship is absent in the DAT 9-repeat allele carriers. We discuss the possibility that this moderation of VS-trait relation might arise from DAT-dependent differences in DA availability affecting synaptic plasticity within the VS. Generally, studying the impact of dopaminergic gene variations on the relation between reward-related brain activity and trait reward sensitivity might facilitate the investigation of complex mechanisms underlying disorders linked to dysregulation of DA neurotransmission.

Children's brand symbolism understanding: Links to theory of mind and executive functioning

Against a background of research suggesting that brand symbolism understanding does not develop until 7 to 11 years of age, two studies investigate various aspects of preschool children's brand knowledge. While children's recognition of child-oriented brands is found to be significantly greater than their recognition of brands that are marketed primarily to teens and adults, these young children do recognize brands. In a second study, children's ability to form mental representations of brands is assessed, along with their understanding of brands as social symbols. Cognitive ability, theory of mind, and executive functioning are assessed as predictors of these brand-related outcomes. Theory of mind and executive functioning are both significant predictors of the ability to form mental representations of brands. Children's brand symbolism understanding shows a significant link with theory of mind. It is concluded that 3- to 5-year-olds have emerging knowledge of brands that are relevant in their lives. The impact of individual differences in theory of mind and executive functioning on children's brand knowledge aligns with current theories of child development. Methodological contributions and societal implications are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Impact of individual differences upon emotion-induced memory trade-offs

After seeing a scene containing an emotional component (e.g., a snake in a forest) people often demonstrate a “trade-off” in memory, where memory for the emotional component (e.g., the snake) is good, but memory for the non-emotional elements (e.g., the forest) is poor. The result is an incomplete memory retaining central emotional information at the expense of neutral background information. Though almost everyone demonstrates the trade-off, there may be individual differences in the magnitude of the effect. We investigated whether differences in the strength of the trade-off would correlate with anxiety levels, working memory capacity, and executive functioning abilities. Sixty-four participants studied scenes comprised of a negative or neutral item placed on a neutral background, and memory was later tested for items and backgrounds separately. The magnitude of the trade-off correlated positively with anxiety and negatively with visuospatial working memory and executive function. These results suggest that greater anxiety, poor visuospatial working memory, and poor executive function may inhibit formation of complete mental representations of these complex emotional scenes.

On the relative effectiveness of affect regulation strategies: A meta-analysis

To examine the effectiveness of various affect regulation strategies and categories of affect regulation strategies, a meta-analysis was conducted. Results generally indicate that reappraisal (d=0.65) and distraction (d=0.46 for all studies; d=0.95 for studies with a negative or no affect induction) are the most effective regulation/repair strategies, producing the largest hedonic shift in affect. The effectiveness of different categories of regulation/repair strategies depended on the valence of the preceding affect induction. Results also indicate that stronger affect inductions and the use of bivariate affect measures will provide a richer understanding of affect regulation. Additionally, not all specific strategies or categories of strategies have been researched and the impact of individual differences on affect regulation has received relatively little attention. Finally, results indicate that control conditions in affect regulation research may not provide a valid point for comparison, as they facilitate effective affect repair.

The impact of individual differences on e-learning system satisfaction: A contingency approach

This study investigated the impact of contingent variables on the relationship between four predictors and students' satisfaction with e-learning. Five hundred and twenty-two university students from 10 intact classes engaging in online instruction were asked to answer questionnaires about their learning styles, perceptions of the quality of the proposed predictors and satisfaction with e-learning systems. The results of analysis of variance and structural equation modelling analyses showed that two contingent variables, gender and job status, significantly influenced the perceptions of predictors and students' satisfaction with the e-learning system. This study also found a statistically significant moderating effect of two contingent variables, student job status and learning styles, on the relationship between predictors and e-learning system satisfaction. The results suggest that a serious consideration of contingent variables is crucial for improving e-learning system satisfaction. The implications of these results for the management of e-learning systems are discussed.

How Are Personality Traits Related to Preparation for Future Care Needs in Older Adults?

We investigated associations between personality and health cognitions and behaviors related to preparation for future care among 355 primary care patients who were 65 years of age and older. Path analyses examined the effects of the personality traits of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness on health cognitions about future care (avoidance, awareness), health-planning behaviors (gathering information, decision making, and planning), and beliefs about planning, while covarying age, gender, education, medical burden, functional status, and depression-symptom severity. Higher levels of neuroticism, openness, and agreeableness were associated with greater awareness of care needs; higher openness was also associated with more gathering of information and less avoidance. Extraversion and conscientiousness were not related to future-oriented health cognitions. Depression was inversely associated with the gathering of information. Age and education were related to more positive beliefs about the planning. Neither concrete planning nor decision making were related to personality variables. Health professionals should consider the impact of individual differences when addressing preparation for future care with older adults.

Evaluative conditioning of fear and disgust in blood-injection-injury phobia: Specificity and impact of individual differences in disgust sensitivity

The present study examines whether the repeated pairing of neutral facial expressions with phobic-relevant stimuli differentially influences evaluative ratings of fear and disgust between analogue blood-injection-injury (BII) phobic ( n = 40) and non-phobic ( n = 40) participants. Consistent with prior research, BII phobics reported greater disgust sensitivity than non-phobic participants even after controlling for between group differences in anxiety symptoms. Results from the evaluative conditioning experiment indicated that pre- to posttest increases in fear ratings were only marginally greater for phobic compared to non-phobic participants. However, increases in disgust from pre- to posttest were greater for phobic compared to non-phobic participants and greater for neutral expressions that were paired with threat-relevant stimuli compared to stimuli not paired with threat-relevant stimuli. Subsequent analysis also indicated that pre- to posttest increases in disgust ratings of neutral expressions that were paired with threat-relevant stimuli was moderated by disgust sensitivity levels among phobic and non-phobic participants. Heightened fear and disgust ratings were subsequently reduced by an extinction procedure. Implications of present findings in understanding the role of fear and disgust in BII phobia are discussed.

Teaching and Learning Guide for: ‘Ostracism: The Kiss of Social Death’

Teaching and Learning Guide for: ‘Ostracism: The Kiss of Social Death’

Client Uncertainty and the Process of Change in Psychotherapy: The Impact of Individual Differences in Self-concept Clarity and Intolerance of Uncertainty

We describe a number of ways in which two major components of client uncertainty, namely, self-concept clarity and intolerance of uncertainty may either facilitate or impede change in psychotherapy. Clients with low self-concept clarity find it much more difficult to clearly identify and understand their problematic thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; thus slowing down their progress through the various stages identified in Prochaska’s model of psychotherapeutic change. To illustrate, they may engage in much more contemplation prior to action, as they struggle to increase their awareness and insight. Clients with high intolerance of uncertainty experience substantial discomfort when faced with uncertainty, causing them to be highly motivated to avoid or minimize any aspects of psychotherapy that focus on change. This may cause them to avoid confronting their problems during the action stage of therapy. We further suggest that it would be beneficial to assess these two components of client uncertainty very early on in the therapeutic process, in order to facilitate a given client’s progress. Finally, we indicate a need for much more research that explores the role of these two individual difference constructs during therapy. This might include, for example, studies that directly examine how self-concept clarity and intolerance of uncertainty may relate to progress through each stage of change, or the selective use of avoidance strategies.

Behavioral Reactivity and Addiction: The Adaptation of Behavioral Response to Reward Opportunities

Persons recovering from addiction must refrain from drug use even when the opportunity to use exists. Understanding how behavioral response to drug reward opportunities is modified is key to treating addiction. Most effective behavioral therapies encourage patients to increase reinforcement opportunities by engaging unidentified sources of nondrug reward. The authors integrate transdisciplinary research on the brain and behavioral effects of increasing reward availability to demonstrate one neurobiological mechanism by which behavioral therapies help patients abstain. Explicating neurobiological processes underlying psychotherapy provides predictions about the interaction between dopaminergic medications and therapy and the impact of individual differences in dopamine receptor expression on addiction vulnerability.

User characteristics and performance with automated mobile phone systems

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of individual differences (such as gender and attitude towards mobile phone use in public places) on the usability of a speech-activated mobile city guide service in various context of use (e.g. cafe, train). A Wizard of Oz methodology was used to provide the service functionality for the mobile city guide service. Participants in the study completed specific tasks over a six-week period in public and private locations. The results highlight the importance of considering the effects of individual differences on the context of use in system design and evaluation.

Functional Outcomes From Inpatient Rehabilitation After Traumatic Brain Injury: How Do Hispanics Fare?

Arango-Lasprilla JC, Rosenthal M, DeLuca J, Cifu DX, Hanks R, Komaroff E. Functional outcomes from inpatient rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury: how do Hispanics fare? Objective To examine the relation between Hispanic ethnicity and rehabilitation outcome in traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors. Design Retrospective study. Setting Longitudinal dataset of the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems national database. Participants Persons (N=3056; 2745 whites vs 311 Hispanics) with moderate to severe TBI hospitalized between 1989 and 2003. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Functional outcomes at discharge and 1-year follow-up (Disability Rating Scale [DRS], FIM instrument). Glasgow Outcome Scale−Extended (GOS-E), and the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) were measured at follow-up only. Results At admission, Hispanics were less educated ( P≤.001), earned less money ( P≤.05), and were younger ( P≤.001) than whites. Hispanics had lower GOS-E scores ( P≤.01) at acute hospital admission compared with whites. Despite similar functional status at inpatient rehabilitation discharge, Hispanic ethnicity was associated with poorer functional outcomes at 1 year postinjury (DRS, FIM, CIQ), after controlling for age, length of posttraumatic amnesia, injury severity, DRS score at admission, FIM score at admission, and preinjury educational level ( P<.05). Conclusions Hispanics showed significantly reduced long-term functional outcome after rehabilitation relative to whites. Rehabilitation professionals should recognize the possible impact of individual differences and diverse sociodemographic, injury, and rehabilitation characteristics so that differential health outcomes among TBI survivors can be reduced or eliminated.

Self‐Monitoring: Individual Differences in Orientations to the Social World

In their articles in this special section of the Journal of Personality, the authors have focused their attention on the role of individual differences in self-monitoring for a variety of interpersonal phenomena. In so doing, the authors have provided an overview of the theoretical and empirical contributions of the psychology of self-monitoring to the domains of interest: close relationships, consumer behavior, behavior in the workplace, and social interaction. As each of the contributing authors to this special section suggests, much more theoretical and empirical work is in order if the impact of individual differences in self-monitoring for the phenomena reviewed here is to be fully appreciated. Moreover, the four domains of interest represented in this special section by no means exhaust the areas to which theorists and researchers have applied or can apply the psychology of individual differences in self-monitoring. Given the large nomological network that currently exists involving the self-monitoring construct, it is anticipated that the breadth and depth of applications of the psychology of self-monitoring will only continue to expand as it has in the last 30 years since the appearance of the construct in the literature.

Neural correlates of individual differences in pain-related fear and anxiety

Although individual differences in fear and anxiety modulate the pain response and may even cause more suffering than the initiating physical stimulus, little is known about the neural systems mediating this relationship. The present study provided the first examination of the neural correlates of individual differences in the tendency to (1) feel anxious about the potentially negative implications of physical sensations, as measured by the anxiety sensitivity index (ASI), and (2) fear various types of physical pain, as indexed by the fear of pain questionnaire (FPQ). In separate sessions, participants completed these questionnaires and experienced alternating blocks of noxious thermal stimulation (45–50 °C) and neutral thermal stimulation (38 °C) during the collection of whole-brain fMRI data. Regression analyses demonstrated that during the experience of pain, ASI scores predicted activation of a medial prefrontal region associated with self-focused attention, whereas FPQ scores predicted activation of a ventral lateral frontal region associated with response regulation and anterior and posterior cingulate regions associated with monitoring and evaluation of affective responses. These functional relationships cannot be wholly explained by generalized anxiety (indexed by STAI-T scores), which did not significantly correlate with activation of any regions. The present findings may help clarify both the impact of individual differences in emotion on the neural correlates of pain, and the roles in anxiety, fear, and pain processing played by medial and orbitofrontal systems.

The impact of individual differences and learning context on strategic skill acquisition and transfer

How individual differences in cognitive ability influence acquisition and transfer of strategic comparison skills was examined as a function of learning difficulty. Using a cognitive test battery, we classified forty-nine participants into three cognitive ability groups. Participants in each group were trained to compare similar (difficult training) or dissimilar (easy training) stimuli and then transferred to compare novel stimuli. Results suggest that overall individual differences in cognitive ability dictate the optimality of strategic skill development, though the effect of training difficulty on transfer performance varies with cognitive ability. Individuals with a midrange of cognitive ability are the most sensitive to the training context. Results are discussed with respect to the characteristics of strategic skills acquired and transferred.