Individual Differences Perspective Research Articles

Examining the merits of an individual differences perspective on the hemispheric organization of discourse processing

ABSTRACT Hemispheric asymmetries are key characteristics of the neural implementation of verbal communication. Traditionally, the left hemisphere is considered dominant for phonology, literal semantics, and syntax, while a special role is allocated to the right hemisphere for higher-order language functions and discourse processing. More recent research has challenged this classical view, suggesting that discourse functions tend to engage both hemispheres, often with a left-sided dominance. However, studies contradict each other regarding the extent of right hemisphere recruitment during discourse processing, which may be influenced by various stimulus-related and context-dependent factors. Notably, virtually all conclusions drawn by these studies were obtained from group-aggregated data, which disregarded individual differences in hemispheric asymmetry. Meanwhile, individualized approaches in the language laterality literature that have recently gained traction were instrumental in reconsidering longstanding assumptions about the hemispheric organization of language and refining our knowledge thereof. Arguing that discourse processes have been underexplored in this context, the current review advocates for the adoption of an individual differences approach. This strategy may help reconcile the mixed findings in the literature and, ultimately, integrate discourse processing into comprehensive models of hemispheric language organization.

Disentangling greed and self-interest

Greed combines dissatisfaction with one’s current state of affairs with an unsatisfiable desire for more. It motivates people to acquire more and has many societal implications. Various scholars have argued that greed is associated with, or even equated to the motive of self-interest. And hence, they have also argued that greed is associated negatively with other-interest (some definitions even suggest that greed produces negative externalities and harm-to-others). To date, however, these ideas have not been scrutinized empirically. In this article we report three survey studies (N1 = 145, N2 = 302, and N3 = 346) that adopted an individual differences perspective to investigate how dispositional greed, self-interest, and other-interest are related to each other. The results from correlational analyses and confirmatory factor analyses indicate that greed is distinct from self-interest, and from other-interest. The results also reveal that greed and self-interest are differentially related to various distinct behavioral inclinations. The current findings corroborate recent research on greed and adds to the understanding of this motivational construct and the potential harm it can inflict on others.

Resilience and small business performance: An empirical investigation

ABSTRACT When small business owners encounter vicissitudes, does their resilience help them bounce back quickly to survive and be successful? Is their resilience more pronounced when they perceive the environment to be hostile? Answering this question is the purpose of this study. Using data from 105 small business owners in multiple industries, the results show that small business owners’ resilience and small business performance are positively associated, and that when they perceive the environment to be hostile, the effect of resilience is stronger. While validating findings in the extant literature, this study enhances the veracity of past findings by examining small business owners in Thailand. Also, the study illustrates the importance of the individual difference perspective in small business research. Last, the study illustrates a need for training to enhance the resilience of small business owners before, during, and after small business owners encounter vicissitudes.

How does organizational polychronicity relate to individual adaptive performance? A conservation of resources perspective

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effects of organizational polychronicity on individual adaptive performance. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and the perspective of individual differences in pressure perceptions, this study develops a conceptual model to test the mediating role of time pressure and the moderating role of trait regulatory focus in the relationship between organizational polychronicity and individual adaptive performance.Design/methodology/approachA three-wave survey was conducted to investigate a sample of 591 employees who engaged in innovative activities in China. The hypotheses were tested using hierarchical multiple regression and bootstrapping.FindingsThe results show that organizational polychronicity is negatively related to individual adaptive performance via time pressure. Promotion focus weakens the positive relationship between organizational polychronicity and time pressure and the mediating role of time pressure, while prevention focus augments the positive relationship between organizational polychronicity and time pressure and the mediating role of time pressure.Originality/valueThis study reveals the mediating role of time pressure in the relationship between organizational polychronicity and individual adaptive performance, as well as the moderating role of trait regulatory focus in this relationship, thereby deepening our understanding of organizational polychronicity from both a theoretical and a practical perspective.

Intranasal oxytocin as a treatment for anxiety and autism: From subclinical to clinical applications

Animal and human studies have demonstrated that intranasal oxytocin (OT) can penetrate the brain and induce cognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes, particularly in social functioning. Consequently, numerous investigations have explored the potential of OT as a treatment for anxiety and autism, conditions characterized by social deficits. Although both subclinical and clinical studies provide converging evidence of the therapeutic effects of OT in reducing anxiety levels and improving social symptoms in autism, results are not always consistent. Additionally, the pharmacological mechanism of OT requires further elucidation for its effective clinical application. Therefore, this review aims to examine the contentious findings concerning the effects of OT on anxiety and autism, offer interpretations of the inconsistent results from the perspectives of individual differences and varying approaches to OT administration, and shed light on the underlying mechanisms of OT. Ultimately, standardization of dosage, frequency of administration, formulation characteristics, and nasal spray devices is proposed as essential for future human studies and clinical applications of OT treatment.

What Drives People’s Cryptocurrency Investment Behavior

ABSTRACT By integrating the Self-Determination Theory and individual difference perspectives, this study examines how individual differences (i.e. locus of control, self-efficacy, and risk preference) influence behavioral intention to invest cryptocurrency through the mediation of the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Data collected from a sample of 305 valid responses are used to examine the research model and test the hypotheses with the employment of partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that locus of control and self-efficacy significantly influence both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to invest in cryptocurrencies. However, risk preference significantly impacts only extrinsic motivation. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations markedly influence the behavioral intention to invest in cryptocurrencies. The findings of this study provide several important theoretical and practical implications for understanding online cryptocurrency investment behaviors.

Examining the inconsistent effect of privacy control on privacy concerns in e-commerce services: The moderating role of privacy experience and risk propensity

Consumer privacy protection has become an important issue and challenge in the development of e-commerce, and consumers' concerns for privacy may lead to negative user experiences and make them more cautious about disclosing personal information. As one of the widely adopted privacy concerns inhibiting approaches, the accumulated information privacy literature indicated that providing privacy controls may not always mitigate privacy concerns, implying that there are potential boundary conditions to be clarified. This study aims to explain the inconsistent effect of perceived privacy control on privacy concerns from the perspective of individual factor differences among consumers. We investigated the roles of trust, Internet privacy experience, and risk propensity in the relationship between perceived privacy control and privacy concerns. We collected empirical data containing 625 representative samples of Chinese consumers based on a mainstream online survey platform in China. The results suggest that trust in e-commerce partially mediates the influence of perceived privacy control on privacy concerns. Internet privacy experience positively moderates the relationship between perceived privacy control and trust in e-commerce, and both Internet privacy experience and risk propensity negatively moderate the relationship between trust in e-commerce and privacy concerns. This study extends existing information privacy and trust literature through the analysis of the mediating effect of trust and the moderating effects of consumers' individual factors. We also discuss the potential positive and negative implications of this research.

Who is and is not "average"? Random effects selection with spike-and-slab priors.

Mixed-effects models are often employed to study individual differences in psychological science. Such analyses commonly entail testing whether between-subjects variability exists and including covariates to explain that variability. We argue that researchers have much to gain by explicitly focusing on the individual in individual differences research. To this end, we propose the spike-and-slab prior distribution for random effect selection in (generalized) mixed-effects models as a means to gain a more nuanced perspective of individual differences. The prior for each random effect is a two-component mixture consisting of a point-mass "spike" centered at zero and a diffuse "slab" capturing nonzero values. Effectively, such an approach allows researchers to answer questions about particular individuals; specifically, "Who is average?", in the sense of deviating from an average effect, such as the population-averaged slope. We begin with an illustrative example, where the spike-and-slab formulation is used to select random intercepts in logistic regression. This demonstrates the utility of the proposed methodology in a simple setting while also highlighting its flexibility in fitting different kinds of models. We then extend the approach to random slopes that capture experimental effects. In two cognitive tasks, we show that despite there being little variability in the slopes, there were many individual differences in performance. In two simulation studies, we assess the ability of the proposed method to correctly identify (non)average individuals without compromising the mixed-effects estimates. We conclude with future directions for the presented methodology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Moral identity goal characteristics: Age-related trends from early adolescence to old age.

The study investigated age-related trends in moral identity goal characteristics, as proposed in previous research (Krettenauer, 2022a), by modifying the Self-Importance of Moral Identity Questionnaire (Aquino & Reed, 2002). Internally and externally motivated moral identity was assessed on varying levels of abstractness for promotion orientation as well as prevention orientation in Canadian participants from three different age groups: early adolescence (13-14 years, n = 248, 119 female), late adolescence to early adulthood (17-20 years, n = 251, 160 female), and mid to old age (50-76 years, n = 129, 76 female). Findings demonstrate that the self-importance of abstract moral identity characteristics increased with age relative to concrete identity characteristics, while the relationship between the two characteristics weakened. The same trend was found for internal moral identity motivation in comparison to external motivation. The study demonstrates that moral identity does not only reflect stable individual differences but is also an important developmental construct. Merging developmental and individual difference perspectives on moral identity opens new and promising avenues for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

An attempt to assess individual differences in Shinrin-Yoku tendencies and associations with personality and life satisfaction: a study from Germany

Shinrin-Yoku, also known as forest-bathing, has become the focus of much psychological and neuroscientific research in recent years. In this realm, it has been shown that spending time in the forest, with a focus on the forest environment, has positive effects on both cognition and emotion. Interestingly, an individual differences perspective from personality psychology is largely lacking in shedding light on the characteristics of persons reporting higher Shinrin-Yoku tendencies than others. Therefore, this study presents the psychometric properties of a new Shinrin-Yoku scale (with a focus on the recreational aspects of visiting the forest including finding peace) to assess individual differences in enjoying forest bathing tendencies. A final sample of 896 participants was analyzed not only regarding their Shinrin-Yoku tendencies, but also with respect to the Big Five of Personality traits, life satisfaction, and perceived life stress. This study shows that higher openness to experience is robustly linked to higher Shinrin-Yoku tendencies, and higher Shinrin-Yoku tendencies are also associated with higher life satisfaction. A mediation model showed that the association between openness and life satisfaction was partially mediated by Shinrin-Yoku tendencies. No significant association was observed between perceived life stress and the Shinrin-Yoku scores. This work should be just seen as the start of beginning to construct scales assessing individual differences in Shinrin-Yoku tendencies: As one will see from the items included in the here presented final brief Shinrin-Yoku scale, many facets of Shinrin-Yoku - such as mindfulness activities in the forest – need further investigation. More research is needed to grasp the broad concept of Shinrin-Yoku including its nuances.

The role of focus back effort in the relationships among motivation, interest, and mind wandering: an individual difference perspective

Considerable research suggests a link between mind wandering and diminished levels of motivation and interest. During episodes of mind wandering, individuals may engage in efforts to redirect their attention back to the task at hand (known as focus back effort). Building on the resource-control hypothesis, we hypothesized that the influence of interest and motivation on mind wandering may be mediated by focus back effort. In Study 1, we employed a latent-variable approach to investigate these relationships across three tasks with varying cognitive demands. The results showed that individual differences in interest indirectly influenced mind wandering through the mediating factors of motivation and focus back effort. Furthermore, individual differences in interest indirectly predicted task performance through the mediating factors of motivation, focus back effort, and mind wandering during the high-load task. In Study 2, we replicated the relationships among these factors in a reading comprehension task. The results consistently support the role of focus back effort as an adaptive mechanism for executive control, enabling the allocation of cognitive resources to both mind wandering and task performance. These findings underscore the significance of focus back effort in elucidating the interplay between mind wandering, motivation, interest, and task performance. Importantly, our results align with the resource-control theory.

Double-Edged Sword Effect of Flexible Work Arrangements on Employee Innovation Performance: From the Demands–Resources–Individual Effects Perspective

This study explores the double-edged sword effect of FWAs on employee innovation performance based on the Demand–Resource–Individual Effect (DRIVE) model. A total of 411 valid questionnaires from knowledge-based employees were collected in three stages through a survey of technology-based companies in China. The data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 22 software, and multi-level linear model analysis was conducted to test the double mediating effect of psychological empowerment and role ambiguity and the moderating effect of role breadth self-efficacy. This study found that, in terms of the job demand path, flexible work arrangements (FWAs) increased employees’ role ambiguity, which in turn decreased their innovation performance; in terms of the job resource path, FWAs increased employees’ psychological empowerment, which in turn increased their innovation performance. From the perspective of individual differences, under the flexible work system, employees with high role breadth self-efficacy can enhance their psychological empowerment and reduce role ambiguity, thus promoting their innovation performance. This study is the first to analyze the “double-edged sword” effect of FWAs on employee innovation performance based on the DRIVE model, which effectively extends the moderating variable of role breadth self-efficacy in the model and helps to understand the impact of different types of FWAs on employee innovation performance. In addition, this study provides a reference for technology-based companies to strengthen their digital capabilities and regulation of FWAs, which is conducive to achieving sustainable business development.

Individual differences in attention control and the processing of phonological contrasts in a second language.

This study investigated attention control in L2 phonological processing from a cognitive individual differences perspective, to determine its role in predicting phonological acquisition in adult L2 learning. Participants were 21 L1-Spanish learners of English, and 19 L1-English learners of Spanish. Attention control was measured through a novel speech-based attention-switching task. Phonological processing was assessed through a speeded ABX categorization task (perception) and a delayed sentence repetition task (production). Correlational analyses indicated that learners with more efficient attention switching skill and faster speed in correctly identifying the target phonetic features in the speech dimension under focus could perceptually discriminate L2 vowels at higher processing speed, but not at higher accuracy rates. Thus, attentional flexibility provided a processing advantage for difficult L2 contrasts but did not predict the extent to which precise representations for the target L2 vowels had been established. However, attention control was related to L2 learners' ability to distinguish the contrasting L2 vowels in production. In addition, L2 learners' accuracy in perceptually distinguishing between two contrasting vowels was significantly related to how much of a quality distinction between them they could make in production.

Allocation Efficiency of Public Sports Resources Based on the DEA Model in the Top 100 Economic Counties of China in Zhejiang Province

Background: The county is the basic unit of national economic and social development, and is also the foothold and starting point of public sports services. Purpose: Taking the top 100 economic counties of China in Zhejiang Province as the research object, this study explores the allocation efficiency and influencing factors of public sports resources in the period of 2016 to 2020. Methods: The output-oriented Super-SBM model, which is used to measure the static efficiency of its public sports resource allocation, is combined with the DEA–Malmquist model to measure the total factor productivity from the perspectives of overall characteristics, regional heterogeneity, and individual differences. Moreover, we objectively evaluate the dynamic evolution and spatiotemporal characteristics of resource quality growth, financial management technology, and allocation efficiency from the horizontal cross-section and vertical time series. Results: (1) The efficiency of allocation of public sports resources in the top 100 economic counties in Zhejiang Province is relatively high, but it presents the characteristics of “extensive” allocation, and the allocation structure is unreasonable. (2) The super-efficiency gradient division of public sports resources shows that Yuhuan City ranks first with a state of super-efficiency allocation; Ruian, Linhai, Wenling, Yiwu, and Haining have a state of high-efficiency allocation; and other regions are characterized by a state of medium- or low-efficiency allocation. (3) The improvement of total factor productivity depends on the catching-up feature of technological efficiency on the production frontier, but it has not yet compensated for the negative effect of the decline of technological progress, resulting in a decline in total factor productivity with an average annual trend of 0.3%. (4) The level of county economic development has a highly significant positive effect on the allocation efficiency of public sports resources, while the per capita sports ground area has a highly significant negative effect on efficiency. The county population density has a highly significant impact, and regional factors have no significant effect on efficiency. Conclusions: The results of this study provide useful insights for the development of sound public sports service improvement policies.

You're humble, so I'm not ashamed to ask? The intervening role of supervisor trust and feedback orientation

PurposeDrawing on the perspective of trust and individual differences, this study developed and tested a model to identify the effect of leaders' demonstrated humility on employees' feedback-seeking processes. Specifically, it examined the role of feedback orientation and employees' trust in supervisors in the way humble leadership affects employees' feedback-seeking behavior (FSB).Design/methodology/approachThe moderated mediation model was tested using matched surveys from 175 Chinese employees and their direct supervisors from various organizations.FindingsThe results revealed that humble leadership could predict employees' FSB through supervisor trust. Moreover, feedback orientation not only moderated the relationship between supervisor trust and employees' FSB but also moderated the indirect effect of humble leadership on employees' FSB via supervisor trust.Originality/valueThese findings can provide guidance to corporate organizations on how to motivate employees to actively seek feedback to improve their job performance.

Does scarcity increase or decrease donation behaviors? An investigation considering resource-specific scarcity and individual person-thing orientation.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-023-00938-2.

An individual differences perspective on pragmatic abilities in the preschool years.

Pragmatic abilities are fundamental to successful language use and learning. Individual differences studies contribute to understanding the psychological processes involved in pragmatic reasoning. Small sample sizes, insufficient measurement tools, and a lack of theoretical precision have hindered progress, however. Three studies addressed these challenges in three- to 5-year-old German-speaking children (N=228, 121 female). Studies 1 and 2 assessed the psychometric properties of six pragmatics tasks. Study 3 investigated relations among pragmatics tasks and between pragmatics and other cognitive abilities. The tasks were found to measure stable variation between individuals. Via a computational cognitive model, individual differences were traced back to a latent pragmatics construct. This presents the basis for understanding the relations between pragmatics and other cognitive abilities. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Individual differences in pragmatic abilities are important to understanding variation in language development. Research in this domain lacks a precise theoretical framework and psychometrically high-quality measures. We present six tasks capturing a wide range of pragmatic abilities with excellent re-test reliability. We use a computational cognitive model to provide a substantive theory of individual differences in pragmatic abilities.

Alpha ERS-ERD Pattern during Divergent and Convergent Thinking Depends on Individual Differences on Metacontrol

The role of metacontrol in creativity is theoretically assumed, but experimental evidence is still lacking. In this study, we investigated how metacontrol affects creativity from the perspective of individual differences. Sixty participants completed the metacontrol task, which was used to divide participants into a high-metacontrol group (HMC) versus a low (LMC) group. Then, these participants performed the alternate uses task (AUT; divergent thinking) and the remote associates test (RAT; convergent thinking), while their EEG results were recorded continuously. Regarding their behavior, the HMC group showed superior creative performance in the AUT and RAT, compared with the LMC group. For the electrophysiology, the HMC group showed larger stimulus-locked P1 and P3 amplitudes than the LMC group. Furthermore, the HMC group exhibited smaller alpha desynchronization (ERD) than the LMC group at the initial stages of the AUT task, followed by a flexible switching between alpha synchronization and desynchronization (ERS-ERD) during the process of selective retention in the AUT. In addition, the HMC group evoked smaller alpha ERD during the initial retrieval and the backtracking process in the RAT, associated with cognitive control adaptability. The aforementioned results indicate that metacontrol reliably contributes to the idea generation process, and HMC individuals could flexibly adjust their cognitive control strategies according to the demand for creative idea generation.

Presenteeism Is Reloaded and Ready for Further Research – A Commentary on Priebe, J. and Hägerbäumer, M. (2023)

Presenteeism Is Reloaded and Ready for Further Research – A Commentary on Priebe, J. and Hägerbäumer, M. (2023)

Total reward satisfaction profiles and work performance: A person-centered approach

It has recently become an incentive management challenge for organizations to implement a total reward system. Existing variable-centered studies have neglected to explore the incentive effect of a total reward system from the perspective of individual differences. Our study aimed to initially investigate the profiles of total reward satisfaction (TRS) and the impact of these profiles on work performance. Using a person-centered approach, two studies were conducted using retail industry employees in China as samples. Study 1 identified the TRS profiles of 429 samples using latent profile analysis. Study 2 replicated Study 1's configuration of profiles and examined the relationship of these profiles with demographic variables and work performance using 885 samples. Our results were as follows: (1) there were four quantitatively and qualitatively distinct profiles (subpopulations) of TRS, namely, dissatisfied (DS), development and career opportunities satisfied-dominant (DOS-dominant), work-life balance satisfied-dominant (WLS-dominant), and compensation satisfied-dominant (CS-dominant); (2) demographic variables involving gender, age, education, and position level affected the likelihood of membership in each TRS profile; and (3) the four profiles predicted different levels of work performance, or more specifically, different levels of task and contextual performance. The task and contextual performance of the four subpopulations listed from best to worst were WLS-dominant, DOS-dominant, CS-dominant, and DS. For practical management, organizations should customize a classified total reward system according to employee subpopulations to improve work performance.