Individual Difference Variables Research Articles

Reliable individual differences in researcher performance capacity estimates: evaluating productivity as explanatory variable

AbstractAre latent variables of researcher performance capacity merely elaborate proxies of productivity? To investigate this research question, we propose extensions of recently used item-response theory models for the estimation of researcher performance capacity. We argue that productivity should be considered as a potential explanatory variable of reliable individual differences between researchers. Thus, we extend the Conway-Maxwell Poisson counts model and a negative binomial counts model by incorporating productivity as a person-covariate. We estimated six different models: a model without productivity as item and person-covariate, a model with raw productivity as person-covariate, a model with log-productivity as person covariate, a model that treats log-productivity as a known offset, a model with item-specific influences of productivity, and a model with item-specific influences of productivity as well as academic age as person-covariate. We found that the model with item-specific influences of productivity fitted two samples of social science researchers best. In the first dataset, reliable individual differences decreased substantially from excellent reliability when productivity is not modeled at all to inacceptable levels of reliability when productivity is controlled as a person-covariate, while in the second dataset reliability decreased only negligibly. This all emphasizes the critical role of productivity in researcher performance capacity estimation.

The Happy and Hopeful NCAA Division I Athlete: Predicting Well-Being and Ill-Being in Elite Student-Athletes Who Participate in Sport

ABSTRACT The role of hope and happiness in accounting for mental health, both well-being (viz. life satisfaction & flourishing) and ill-being (depressive symptoms & suicidal ideation), using a cross-sectional design, was examined in a diverse sample of 140 elite student-athletes (88 female & 52 male NCAA Division I athletes, representing 16 different varsity sports, M age = 20.0) who completed a battery of self-report measures. Results from conducting a series of hierarchical regression analyses, controlling for demographic factors and perceived sport performance (individual & team), indicated hope and happiness (as a positive personality set) accounted for additional unique variance in all indices of well-being and ill-being. However, although happiness emerged as a significant statistical predictor of all indices of well-being and ill-being, hope only emerged as a significant statistical predictor across indices of well-being. Importantly, the inclusion of the Hope × Happiness interaction term consistently added further incremental validity to the prediction of additional unique variance in all indices of mental health in student-athletes. However, evidence for the doubling-up hypothesis was only found in predicting indices of well-being, not ill-being. Taken together, the present findings provide strong evidence for the importance of integrating positive individual differences variables for understanding mental health in elite student-athletes.

Intended effort and self-related and social experiences during study abroad at a European university

ABSTRACT This study investigates the role of individual difference (ID) variables in a single-setting Hungarian study abroad (SA) context. We contribute to the growing body of research dealing with students in European SA contexts highlighting the importance of social and academic circumstances as well. Data was collected with a validated questionnaire (N = 106) that measured international students’ intended effort, self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs, and social experiences. Our main results present a rather positive picture of international students’ IDs, but we found differences among students studying at various levels and length of stay. In terms of the relationships among the scales, it seems that students’ intended effort was shaped by their self-efficacy beliefs pertaining to evaluation and students’ experiences of community-related issues. Hence, we conclude that when it comes to the role of IDs in SA contexts, it is not only academic activity-related variations that should be considered, but also the social characteristics of the context. Our results have significant implications for pedagogical practice and future research, highlighting the importance of not only the support students receive before and during their SA, which can positively influence their self-efficacy beliefs, but also underscoring the relevance of community-related support at the host institute.

Modelling the effects of the reading medium on L2 Spanish reading emotions: The moderating role of individual difference variables

While existing research has documented that the reading medium significantly impacts language learners’ reading comprehension processes and outcomes, empirical evidence on how the reading medium influences reading emotions is lacking. The present study contributes to the field by investigating whether reading emotions (i.e. enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom) of learners of Spanish as a second language (L2) differ between mobile-assisted and paper-based reading processes. In addition, it explores whether individual difference variables (i.e. L2 Spanish proficiency and preferences for the reading medium) moderate the relationship between the reading medium and reading emotions. The instruments used are reading comprehension tests and questionnaire surveys administered to a sample of 245 first-year college students majoring in Spanish. Paired samples t-tests indicate that L2 Spanish learners perceive more enjoyment and less negative emotions when reading from a paper-based format than those from a mobile-assisted mode. In addition, moderation analyses indicate that both L2 Spanish proficiency and preferences for the medium are moderators of the relationships between the medium and reading emotions. More proficient L2 Spanish readers perceive more enjoyment and less anxiety and boredom when reading from paper than those from mobile phones; less proficient L2 readers demonstrate the opposite pattern. Students’ preference for mobile-assisted language reading would significantly enhance their reading enjoyment while reducing reading anxiety and boredom when they engage in such a type of reading mode. These results imply that individual differences are crucial factors in shaping students’ emotions across different reading modes. Reasons for differences in reading emotions across mediums and the moderating roles of individual variables are discussed.

Task-specific writing anxiety and self-efficacy are separate from general L2 writing anxiety and self-efficacy and they have differential associations with the effects of written corrective feedback in pre-task and within-task planning

This study examines the validity of task-specific anxiety and self-efficacy and the joint effects of task-specific and general second language (L2) writing anxiety and self-efficacy on learning gains resulting from different task conditions formed based on two types of written corrective feedback and two types of task planning. 115 high school EFL learners in South Korea were divided into two groups and received either direct correction or metalinguistic feedback on their wrong use of English articles and past tense in their written narratives. After receiving feedback, each of the two large groups was further divided into three subgroups, each performing a second writing task under three conditions: pre-task planning, within-task planning, and no planning. The learners responded to questionnaires that aimed to measure task-specific and L2 general anxiety and self-efficacy. The results demonstrated that task-specific anxiety and self-efficacy were distinct from general L2 writing anxiety and self-efficacy and that they played different roles in L2 development under the different treatment conditions. Specifically, general L2 writing anxiety was a negative predictor of learning gains regardless of learning condition; task-specific anxiety showed a positive effect in metalinguistic explanation + within-task planning but a negative effect in all other task conditions; neither task-specific nor general L2 self-efficacy was a significant predictor of treatment effects. This study demonstrates the importance of investigating task-specific individual difference variables and shows the differential associations between general and task-specific individual difference variables on one hand and different types of task-based instruction on the other.

Testing the dual-memory framework: individual differences in the magnitude of the retrieval practice effect and fluid intelligence.

Retrieving information from memory enhances long-term retention. In this manuscript, we describe the dual-memory framework, which makes interval-scale predictions of the magnitude of this retrieval practice effect. After outlining the framework, we use data from our laboratory-both at the group level and at the distribution level-to fit the equations from the dual-memory framework. Overall, we successfully fitted the model predictions to the observed average data. In addition, we compared the predicted and the observed distributions of performance in the retrieval practice condition. More importantly, we introduce a useful approach to simulate empirical scenarios and test the relationship between individual-difference variables and the retrieval practice effect. We illustrate the application of this approach using data from a study that measured fluid intelligence. Future studies may benefit from contrasting different strength-based frameworks.

Individual differences in Bitcoin investment: The role of personality, attitudes, and knowledge

Cryptocurrencies have found their way into the financial market as a serious alternative in recent years. In particular, Bitcoin is increasingly coming into focus. Currently, however, little is known why people invest in cryptocurrency or not. The present study seeks to shed light on individual difference variables potentially associated with these investment decisions. This includes personality traits, knowledge, and attitudes toward the social and political environment. The effective sample comprised 603 respondents who completed an online survey. Based on the proportion of their financial portfolio invested into Bitcoin, participants were divided into three groups: Non-Bitcoiners, Bitcoin Enthusiasts, and Bitcoin Maximalists. Group comparisons and prediction models indicated that Bitcoiners differed substantially from Non-Bitcoiners in justice-related attitudes as well as in specific knowledge about this cryptocurrency. By contrast, general political attitudes or reinforcement sensitivity did not differ much, and there was hardly a difference in basic dimensions of personality and general knowledge.

Individual Difference Predictors of Attitudes toward Polyamorous Targets and Likelihood to Date a Polyamorous Partner in a Student Sample

An online survey was completed by a convenience sample of 495 students to assess attitude toward polyamorous targets as an outgroup using 0–100 feeling thermometers. Also assessed was the likelihood of dating a polyamorous partner. These two measures were only weakly related for women participants but modestly related for men participants. Overall, feeling thermometer averages were favorable (66%) but dating likelihood was very low, with 89% rating dating a polyamorous partner as unlikely. Women were slightly more favorable toward polyamorous targets than were men but target gender showed no effect (i.e., ratings of polyamorous men were the same as those of polyamorous women). However, men were slightly more willing to date a polyamorous partner than were women. In terms of personality and individual difference variables as predictors of attitudes, authoritarianism, erotophobia–erotophilia, and participant sexual orientation accounted for a quarter of the variance in feeling thermometer ratings of polyamorous targets. Specifically, those who had lower authoritarianism, were more comfortable with sexuality, and were sexual minority in orientation were likely to rate the polyamorous targets the most favorably. Individual difference variables did not predict willingness to date a polyamorous partner consistently across gender and sexual orientation participant subgroups; the most consistent predictors were sociosexuality and erotophobia–erotophilia. This study adds to our knowledge in a nascent area of sexual attitude and discrimination research—it demonstrates the differences between rating an outgroup person and attitude toward engaging with them personally. The latter appears to involve more complexity in terms of the relationship with personality and the type of social perceiver. More research is needed into the differentiation between general ratings of others who engage in non-mainstream, stigmatized sexual practices versus when the ratings involve personal involvement or behavior of the social perceiver (i.e., such as dating).

Academic Engagement in a Post-Pandemic Environment

University students’ engagement in their academic experience has been linked to both greater retention and higher levels of academic achievement. Recognizing that COVID-19 had a negative effect on university engagement, the goal of this study was to measure the level of academic engagement post-pandemic. It was hypothesized that individual difference variables, such as academic self-esteem and resilience would significantly contribute to greater academic engagement, as would institutional variables, such as professor-student rapport. Online self-report questionnaires were completed by 271 second-year Carleton University students. Results indicated that academic self-esteem, resilience, and professor-student rapport were significantly and positively correlated with academic engagement. Professor-student rapport remained a significant predictor of academic engagement, even after controlling for individual levels of academic self-esteem. These findings indicate that students play an active role in their university engagement, and that support from professors can play a significant role in their university experience.

The relationship between morningness-eveningness and naturalness bias

ABSTRACT The naturalness bias in which people perceive natural items to be safer, healthier, and better than synthetic alternatives has been found to be associated with numerous individual difference variables (e.g. connectedness to nature and religiosity). However, no research has examined the role of morningness-eveningness in influencing preferences for naturalness. Here, we propose that evening individuals may exhibit a weaker preference for naturalness compared to morning individuals due to their greater exposure to artificial lighting, technology, and stimuli. To systematically test our theoretical perspective, we conducted three complementary and high-powered studies. In an online survey (Study 1), student participants with a stronger evening orientation displayed a diminished preference for natural drugs compared to those with a morning orientation. Using a sample of community adults, Study 2 replicated the findings of Study 1 in a real-world, behavioral context. Study 3 examined the relationship between morningness-eveningness and preference for naturalness within the domain of beverages. The results revealed that individuals with an evening-orientation had decreased odds of selecting natural water without minerals. Taken together, the findings suggest that an individual’s diurnal preference toward eveningness may have implications for their bias toward and perception of naturalness across various domains.

Interactive effects of intrasexual competitiveness, same-sex competition, and physical attractiveness on temporal discounting

Studies have shown that men discount the future and prefer immediate-but-smaller over delayed-but-larger rewards when exposed to mating opportunities (e.g., attractive opposite-sex targets) or threats (e.g., same-sex competition) whereas women's discounting in response to similar cues appears mixed, suggesting that mating-motivated discounting is primarily a male phenomenon. Importantly, this line of research has not yet examined the role of individual difference variables as well as how the attractiveness of potential mates and perceptions of competition jointly influence discounting rates. We conducted a novel test of the effect of trait intrasexual competitiveness (ISC) using dating profiles varying on target attractiveness and same-sex competition to observe their interactive effects on participants' discounting. Results showed that when targets were attractive, higher ISC was associated with steeper discounting for both men and women, and this association was stronger when competition was high rather than low. ISC still predicted discounting when targets were low in attractiveness but competition was high; high ISC did not predict discounting only in the low attractiveness and low competition condition. These findings reveal ISC as a factor that leads women to discount as much as men, and that high-ISC individuals may be more responsive to competition than to target attractiveness.

New insights into the contributions of playfulness to dealing with stress at work: Correlates of self- and peer-rated playfulness and coping strategies

Playfulness is an individual difference variable that enables people to experience and (re)frame situations of everyday life as interesting, entertaining, and/or stimulating. This definition is consistent with a structural model that includes four different playfulness facets: other-directed, lighthearted, intellectual, and whimsical playfulness. In the work context, playfulness has been shown to be related with various outcomes such as innovative behavior or intrinsic goals. We tested adult playfulness' associations with coping strategies employed at work and whether these coping strategies help to transfer the expected association between playfulness and employees' life satisfaction. Study 1 (N = 185; nursery school trainees) provides support for our hypothesis that playfulness is associated with more positive and less negative coping strategies when being confronted with general and work-specific stress. Study 2 (N = 355; employees from various working fields) confirms our results from study 1 by demonstrating that playfulness is related to adaptively coping with work stress. Further, study 2 shows that some playfulness facets were positively related to life satisfaction and that these associations were transferred by coping less negatively with work stress and, to some degree, also by utilizing positive control strategies. Overall, our findings indicate that adults' playfulness is of importance for coping with stress at work and to further explain employees’ life-satisfaction. Directions for future research on playfulness in the work place are discussed.

The Ubiquitous External Ejaculation: Examining Perceptions of Sexual Images Across Cultures.

The persistent debates over pornography have often focused on differences between males and females, not only in the frequency of consumption or the type of material consumed, but also on the different ways that individuals may perceive sexually explicit images and respond to them. Some of these differences may be due to sex differences in a number of factors including sexual strategies, pathogen or sexual disgust, and own mate value as well as within sex differences in these factors. Previous studies have demonstrated that perceptions of sexually explicit images are influenced by the sex of the target in the image and the target's emotional affect, as well as sex of the respondent, their sexual orientation, short-term mating orientation, and disgust measures. However, these previous studies were conducted with participants from the United States alone. This study compared the findings from these US samples to those from non-Western ones (Philippines and Brazil) in order to examine the replicability across cultures of the US results as well as whether some variables (religiosity, for example) account for more or less of the variance in perceptions in different populations. Results indicated that there were some differences in terms of the amount of variance in perceptions explained by different variables across populations. Participant and stimuli related variables explained more variance in the Philippines while individual difference variables accounted for more variance in Brazil.

Effects of mindfulness meditation training offered in-person and via a virtual world on self-compassion: A study with U.S. military active duty and veterans.

Mindfulness-based, in-person programs are effective at reducing stress and enhancing resilience in military and civilian samples, yet few studies have examined or compared training offered via real-time, interactive social media. Such a program would have a wider-reach and could include those unable to attend in-person. There is also interest in resolving ambiguity about the effects of mindfulness training on individual difference variables, such as self-compassion. The purpose of this research was to compare pre/post self-compassion for three interventions; Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction delivered in-person (IP), mindfulness meditation training delivered via a Virtual World (VW), and a wait-list Control Group (CG) among active duty and veteran U.S. military. A 2 (pre/post)×3 (group) factorial design was conducted with 250 active duty and veteran U.S. Military service members, with self-compassion measures as dependent variables. Self Compassion improved 10% for the IP group and 14% for the VW group, while the CG group did not improve. Combined treatment groups yielded a 10.3% improvement in self-compassion compared with no change in the CG and with a group×time interaction effect (p < 0.01). Participants with lower initial self-compassion experienced greater benefits than those with higher baseline self-compassion (p < 0.01). IP and VW Mindfulness Meditation training were equally effective in increasing self-compassion. Adding effective on-line mindfulness delivery will promote self-compassion among a more extensive audience, likely yielding improved coping, confidence, connectedness, cheerfulness, steadiness, and self-satisfaction, while lessening anxiety, fear-of-failure, and stress among participants.

Sexual Minority Identity and Risky Alcohol Use: the Moderating Role of Aggressive Behavior.

Adolescent alcohol use has significant consequences for concurrent and longitudinal health and wellbeing, with sexual minority youth consistently reporting higher levels of alcohol use than their heterosexual peers. Understanding how individual-difference variables like aggressive behavior are associated with variability in sexual minority adolescents' higher levels of alcohol use offers novel theoretical insight into this vulnerability. The 81,509 participants were drawn from the Profiles of Student life: Attitudes and Behavior Study. They were ages 14-17 years (M = 15.38, SD = 1.09) and 50.1% were cisgender girls. For sexual identity, 88% were heterosexual, 5% were mostly heterosexual, were 4% bisexual, were 1% mostly gay or lesbian, and were 1% being gay or lesbian. Participants reported on alcohol use, aggressive behavior, and sexual identity. Gay/lesbian and mostly gay/lesbian adolescents who reported higher aggressive behavior had higher levels of alcohol use than their heterosexual peers who also reported higher aggressive behavior. The way in which aggressive behavior amplified the link between mostly gay/lesbian and gay/lesbian identities and alcohol use suggests the need for more research examining how this trait may heighten both exposure and reaction to minority stressors among some subgroups of sexual minority youth.

Secure attachment priming inhibits the generalization of conditioned fear

BackgroundFear overgeneralization constitutes a susceptibility factor contributing to the development and maintenance of anxiety spectrum disorders. Extant research has demonstrated that exposure to positive and supportive social relationships attenuates fear acquisition and promotes the extinction of conditioned fear responses. However, the literature lacks investigation into the effect of secure attachment priming on inhibiting the generalization of conditioned fear.MethodsIn this study, college students were recruited via online platforms to voluntarily engage in the experimental procedures, resulting in 57 subjects whose data were deemed suitable for analysis. The experimental protocol consisted of four consecutive phases: pre-acquisition, acquisition, priming, and generalization. The priming phase consisted of two experimental conditions: secure attachment priming (experimental group) and positive emotion priming (control group). This study adopted the perceptual discrimination fear conditioning paradigm, employing subjective expectancy of shock ratings and skin conductance responses as primary assessment indices. Individual difference variables were measured using corresponding psychological measurement scales.ResultsIn terms of generalization degree, a notable divergence surfaced in the skin conductance responses across various generalization materials between the secure attachment priming group and the control group. Similarly, during generalization extinction, a significant disparity emerged in the skin conductance responses across different generalization phases between the secure attachment priming group and the control group. In addition, individual differences analyses revealed that the inhibitory effect of secure attachment priming on fear generalization was not affected by intolerance of uncertainty and attachment orientations. Conversely, slope analyses confirmed that as intolerance of uncertainty increased, the inhibitory effect of positive emotion priming on fear generalization was attenuated.ConclusionThe findings suggest that activating participants' representations of secure attachment via imagination effectively attenuates the generalization of perceptual fear at the physiological level. The inhibitory effect of secure attachment priming appears to be distinct from positive emotional modulation and remains unaffected by individual trait attachment styles. These results offer novel insights and avenues for the prevention and clinical intervention of anxiety spectrum disorders.

Exploring English learning motivation among Chinese older adults

With increasing attention paid to the effects of learning a foreign language (FL) on older adults in the currently ageing world, psychological individual difference (ID) variables (e.g. learning motivation) remain much under-investigated, compared with cognitive IDs. This exploratory study examined older adults’ English learning motivation in the Chinese context of English as a foreign language (EFL) by conducting a web-based survey ( n = 510) and semi-structured interviews ( n = 21). Results showed that (1) the selected sociobiographical variables influenced older adults’ English learning motivation to different degrees, among which education, use frequency of English and socioeconomic status (SES) emerged as very important predictors; and (2) four motivators for English learning by older adults emerged as traveling or visiting relatives abroad, keeping the brain in shape, supporting inter-generational communication, and having general interest in the target FL. As one of the first systematic attempts to explore English learning motivation among Chinese older adults, the present study (1) contributes to a further understanding of English learning motivation among older adults in the Chinese EFL context, and (2) provides pedagogical and policy implications for English language teaching targeting older adults.

Correlates of climate change skepticism.

While much research has examined the correlates of climate change beliefs from an alarmist perspective, less work has systematically measured climate change skepticism. This study aims to create a comprehensive tool capturing climate skeptics' beliefs and test its association with individual difference variables. 502 European adults completed a 22-item questionnaire on climate change (CC) skepticism as well as measures of ambiguity tolerance, belief in a just world (BJW), dark-side personality traits, and self-esteem. Principal components analysis revealed a four dimension structure of CC. Political ideology was the most consistent and significant predictor across the climate change skepticism factors. Dark-side traits, also played a role. Future research should further validate this measure and explore how climate change information could be tailored to different audiences. Understanding the nuances and causes of climate skepticism can enable more effective communication to promote sustainability.

To beckon or not to beckon: Testing a causal-evaluative modelling approach to moral judgment: A registered report

Moral judgments are increasingly being understood as showing context dependent variability. A growing literature has identified a range of specific contextual factors (e.g., emotions, intentions) that can influence moral judgments in predictable ways. Integrating these diverse influences into a unified approach to understanding moral judgments remains a challenge. Recent work by Railton (2017) attempted to address this with a causal-evaluative modelling approach to moral judgment. In support of this model Railton presents evidence from novel variations of classic trolley type dilemmas. We present results from a pre-registered pilot study that highlight a significant confound and demonstrate that it likely influenced Railton's results. Building on this, our registered report presents a replication-extension of Railton's study, using larger more diverse samples, and more rigorous methods and materials, specifically controlling for potential confounds. We found that participants' judgments in sacrificial dilemmas are influenced by both direct personal force, and by whether harm occurs as a means or as a side-effect of action. We also show the relationship between a range of individual difference variables and responses to sacrificial moral dilemmas. Our results provide novel insights into the factors that influence people's moral judgments, and contribute to ongoing theoretical debates in moral psychology.

Distinct genetic and environmental origins of hierarchical cognitive abilities in adult humans

Human cognitive abilities ranging from basic perceptions to complex social behaviors exhibit substantial variation in individual differences. These cognitive functions can be categorized into a two-order hierarchy based on the levels of cognitive processes. Second-order cognition including metacognition and mentalizing monitors and regulates first-order cognitive processes. These two-order hierarchical cognitive functions exhibit distinct abilities. However, it remains unclear whether individual differences in these cognitive abilities have distinct origins. We employ the classical twin paradigm to compare the genetic and environmental contributions to the two-order cognitive abilities in the same tasks from the same population. The results reveal that individual differences in first-order cognitive abilities were primarily influenced by genetic factors. Conversely, the second-order cognitive abilities have a stronger influence from shared environmental factors. These findings suggest that the abilities of metacognition and mentalizing in adults are profoundly shaped by their environmental experiences and less determined by their biological nature.