Role Of Personal Factors Research Articles

“Some People Aren’t Cut Out for It”: The Role of Personality Factors in the Careers of Teachers of Students With EBD

This qualitative study explores reasons that experienced teachers of students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders give for remaining in their field. Previous research, usually conducted among the wider population of special education teachers, has focused on the relationship of employment and demographic factors to attrition and has primarily relied on quantitative surveys. The researcher sought to expand that body of work through the use of in-depth interviews with teachers who have continued teaching students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders for more than 6 years. In discussing career decisions, these teachers consistently pointed to the importance of personal characteristics, such as the fit between their personality and the demands of the job. These findings point to the importance of recruiting appropriate candidates for this field and helping pre- and in-service teachers develop the personal skills necessary to cope with the unique demands of the job.

Sex differences in autonomy-connectedness: The role of personality factors

We examined the relationships between autonomy-connectedness components (Self-awareness: SA; Sensitivity to others: SO; and Capacity for managing new situations: CMNS) and the Big Five personality factors. Given the robust much higher levels of SO found in women than in men, we specifically aimed to investigate the degree of mediation of this sex difference by (one or more of) the Big Five factors. SEM analyses revealed that the Big Five could explain about 35% of the three autonomy-connectedness components’ variance. However, the Big Five personality factors did not mediate the large sex difference on SO. Given the clinical relevance of SO, these results indicate that autonomy-connectedness, particularly SO, is an important factor to include in personality research and clinical practice.

Violent behavior among adolescents in post-war Lebanon: the role of personal factors and correlation with other problem behaviors

Adolescent violence is a significant public health problem. The primary objective of this study is to assess the prevalence and correlates of violent behavior among adolescent students in Lebanon. A cross-sectional study was conducted among a representative sample of 827 secondary students enrolled in public and private schools in Beirut. Using a series of multiple logistic regression techniques, socio-demographic variables which significantly associated with violent behavior were included as potential confounders in building the models for risk behavior. Nearly 42 and 17% of adolescents reported being involved in physical fights and weapon carrying, respectively. Boys were significantly more likely to use violence than girls. Whereas associations with physical fights were stronger for socio-economic variables and perceived rank in class, weapon carrying was significantly associated with problem behaviors, such as unintentional injury, substance abuse and sexual activity, with effect measures being stronger than those estimated for physical fighting. Compared with other countries, the rates of violent behavior in Lebanon are relatively high. The results from this study are discussed in light of the political ecology of Lebanon which may contribute to a culture that perpetrates violent behavior and may have influenced the clustering pattern of risk behaviors.

The Role of Personality Factors in the Dynamics of Context and Psychological Well-Being

The purpose of this study was to determine personality factors that mediate between context and psychological well-being. A convenience sample of 514 mutlicultural participants from Potchefstroom (n=384) and Mafikeng (n=130) comprising mainly of black and white students was drawn. The participants completed measures on extraversion and agreeableness and psychological well-being in a cross-sectional survey. Context was defined in terms of differentials pertaining to race, socioeconomic differentials and infrastructural resources. Regression analyses indicated the viability of relationships among context, personality and psychological well-being. Structural equation models showed that both extraversion and agreeableness mediate the relationship between context and psychological well-being. Future research using longitudinal designs may study the importance of social context, personality factors and psychological well-being within and between groups.

Alcohol use, expectancies, and sexual sensation seeking as correlates of HIV risk behavior in heterosexual young adults.

Most theoretical models of HIV risk behavior have not considered the role of personality factors, and few studies have examined mechanisms accounting for dispositional influences on sexual risk taking. This study elaborated on a conceptual model emphasizing sexual sensation seeking, alcohol expectancies, and drinking before sex as key predictors of HIV risk (S. C. Kalichman, L. Tannenbaum, & D. Nachimson, 1998). Multiple groups structural equation modeling was used to determine whether gender moderated relationships among these variables in a sample of 611 heterosexual, young adult drinkers (49% women, 76% Caucasian, mean age = 25 years). The model provided an excellent fit to the data, and gender differences were not substantiated. Sexual sensation seeking predicted HIV risk directly as well as indirectly via sex-related alcohol expectancies and drinking in sexual contexts. Findings suggest that expectancies and drinking before sex represent proximal mechanisms through which dispositional factors influence sexual risk outcomes. Moreover, these relationships appear to be similar in men and women. Interventions could benefit from targeting alcohol expectancies and drinking before sex in individuals with a dispositional tendency toward sexual risk taking.

Approach/avoidance motivation, message framing, and health behavior: understanding the congruency effect

Health messages framed to be congruent with individuals' approach/avoidance motivations have been found to be more effective in promoting health behaviors than health messages incongruent with approach/avoidance motivations. This study examines the processes underlying this congruency effect. Participants (undergraduate students, N = 67) completed a measure of approach/avoidance orientation (the BIS/BAS scales) and read either a gain- or loss-framed message promoting dental flossing. Results demonstrated a congruency effect: Participants who read a congruently framed message had greater flossing efficacy, intended to floss more, and used more dental flosses than did the participants who read an incongruent message. Moreover, intention to perform the behavior predicted the congruency effect and self-efficacy mediated participants' intentions to perform the health behavior. Discussion centers on the role of personality factors and situational factors in models of behavior change.

Impaired health status in Type D patients following PCI in the drug-eluting stent era

Background Drug-eluting stenting reduces restenosis post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), but subgroups of patients may not benefit optimally from this procedure. We examined the impact of Type D personality on health status over time and the clinical relevance of Type D as a predictor of impaired health status at 12 months in unselected post-PCI patients. Methods Consecutive patients ( n = 692) participating in the Rapamycin-Eluting Stent Evaluated At Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital (RESEARCH) registry completed the Type D Scale at 6 months and the Short Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36) at 6 and 12 months post-PCI. Results Although there was a significant improvement in health status over time ( p < 0.001), Type D patients reported a substantially lower score on all health status domains of the SF-36 compared with non-Type D patients ( p < 0.001). Type D personality was an independent predictor of impaired health status on all SF-36 sub domains at 12 months except for physical functioning, adjusting for baseline demographic and clinical variables and health status at 6 months. In these adjusted analyses, Type D personality increased the likelihood of impaired health status at 12 months post-PCI from 60% (OR: 1.60; 95% CI: 1.04–2.46) to almost 300% (OR: 3.99; 95% CI: 2.52–6.32), varying among the parameters analyzed. Conclusions Type D personality was associated with impaired health status in post-PCI patients treated in the drug-eluting stent era. The role of personality factors as determinants of clinical outcome and health status should not be overlooked as these factors may have much explanatory power.

Role of personal factors in women's self-reported weight management behaviour

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of motivation, anxiety and self-efficacy in self-reported behaviour that may be important for weight loss and weight maintenance. One hundred and twenty-nine females aged 18-81 years were recruited from a variety of social, sporting venues and work places within a local community. Participants completed questionnaires assessing their levels of participation and perseverance in weight management activities, their motivation levels, their anxiety levels (State Anxiety Inventory) and their levels of self-efficacy for weight management behaviours. Motivation was found to play a major role in participation in weight management activities. Anxiety and self-efficacy played no significant role. The findings are discussed in relation to previous studies, and directions for future studies are indicated. It is argued that the level of motivation is a key factor that should be taken into account for each individual engaging in women's weight management programmes, and that further research should be undertaken to identify other relevant factors.

No role for extroversion and neuroticism in cancer development

Recently, Pernille Hansen and co-workers1 reported on the role of personality factors in the development of cancer. After some 30 years of research, the question is still unanswered about whether psychological factors have an influence on cancer initiation and progression, or not. This question is not only of interest for scientists, but is also of importance for patients. Being diagnosed with cancer means a serious disturbance of one's course of life. This fate may be considered as more personal and controllable if one's adjustment style could affect cancer progression.

THE ROLE OF PERSONALITY FACTORS IN COPING WITH ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

This study, conducted in a large public sector undertaking in India that had undergone a major change recently, examines the influence of personality factors on employees ability of coping with organizational change in the Indian context. The role of personality factors—self‐esteem, optimism, perceived control, and change self‐efficacy—on influencing employees for coping with organizational change has been examined. Further, the role of demographic variables on the employee's ability of coping with organizational change has also been studied. Results that these personality factors—perceived control, optimism and change self‐efficacy—indicate a significant relationship with coping with organizational change. Contrary to expectations, self‐esteem has not been significantly associated with coping with organizational change. Demographic variables—seniority and education—indicate a significant relationship with the outcome variable.

Gender differences in spatial orientation: A review

While significant gender differences in spatial abilities consistently emerge, results concerning gender differences in spatial orientation skills are mixed, ranging from “marked differences” to “no-differences”. In order to improve our understanding of this phenomenon, literature about gender differences in spatial orientation skills is reviewed from 1983 to 2003. The influence of biological and socio/cultural factors is discussed as well as the hypothesis that gender differences are due to different strategies used to solve orientation tasks. The role of personality factors and the influence of spatial anxiety in orientation performance are also discussed. An additional interpretative hypothesis is proposed highlighting the role of task-difficulty expressed in terms of Visuo-Spatial Working Memory involvement. This interpretation can explain the overall results, resolving some apparent contradictions.

Personal factors affecting users’ Web session lengths

The objective in this study is to evaluate the mediating role of personal factors affecting the Web behaviour and in turn the length of Web sessions as a highly‐subjective variable among individuals. This could be used to explain and improve the users’ experience of being and acting in the Web. The present study uses a flow‐ versus goal‐directed theoretical and practical approach to determine the influence of personal factors on Web behaviours and session lengths. A field study of 209 Web users was conducted to validate measures used to operationalise model variables and to test the hypothesised network of relationships using partial least squares (PLS) as a second‐generation multivariate analysis technique. The study findings indicate that experiential behaviour, followed by goal‐directed behaviour, has the largest influence on the lengths of Web sessions.

Psychology brings justice: the science of forensic psychology.

In this paper the focus is on one aspect of forensic psychology: the development of psychological instruments, a social psychological model and assessment procedures for evaluating the credibility of witnesses and police detainees during interviewing. Clinically grounded case work and research has impacted on police interviewing and practice, the admissibility of expert psychological testimony and the outcome of cases of miscarriage of justice. After describing the research that laid the foundations for advancement of scientific knowledge in this area, a brief review is presented of 22 high-profile murder cases where convictions based on confession evidence have been quashed on appeal between 1989 and 2001, often primarily on the basis of psychological evidence. The review of the cases demonstrates that psychological research and expert testimony in cases of disputed confessions have had a profound influence on the practice and ruling of the Court of Appeal for England and Wales and the British House of Lords. The cases presented in this paper show that it is wrong to assume that only persons with learning disability or those who are mentally ill make unreliable or false confessions. Personality factors, such as suggestibility, compliance, high trait anxiety and antisocial personality traits, are often important in rendering a confession unreliable. Future research needs to focus more on the role of personality factors in rendering the evidence of witnesses and suspects potentially unreliable.

Personality Disorder Attributes as Supplemental Goals for Change in Interpersonal Psychotherapy

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) is a manualized, short-term (usually 12–16 sessions) based on the assumption that psychological disorders often emerge secondary to social and interpersonal problems that require active intervention to achieve symptom remission. The time-limited nature of IPT compels therapists to establish the goal of diminishing, on a weekly basis, a small number of focused interpersonal problems with a decided emphasis on proximal rather than historic conflicts and associated patterns of behavior. This strategy discourages the adoption of diffuse therapy goals and directions that have more opportunity to emerge in long-term, unstructured treatment modalities. The role of traditional personality testing in short-term therapy, when it occurs, is to identify and quantify symptom clusters that warrant attention as dependent measures in the treatment process. The role of personality factors in the genesis or maintenance of psychological disturbance is rarely addressed. The present article explores theoretical and pragmatic objections to the use of personality testing in IPT. A method is proposed for the limited but systematic incorporation of personality testing in the IPT treatment process using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III). While unreasonable to expect personality transformation through short-term therapy, the partial attenuation of maladaptive behavioral, attitudinal, and emotional reactions to stressors could prove exceedingly helpful to short-term treatments such as IPT.

Mental health service utilization in the United States. The role of personality factors.

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between personality factors and the use of mental health services (past 12 months) among adults in the community. Data were drawn from the Midlife Development in the United States Survey (MIDUS), a representative sample of 3,032 adults aged 25-74 in the United States population. Analyses of variance and logistic regression analyses were used to determine the relationship between personality factors and mental health service utilization, in the presence and absence of mental disorders, during the past 12 months. Neuroticism [OR = 1.5 (1.2, 1.9)] was associated with significantly increased likelihood of mental health service utilization among adults in the community. Conscientiousness [OR = 0.7 (0.5, 0.9)] and extraversion [OR = 0.7 (0.5, 0.98)], in contrast, were associated with decreased likelihood of use of mental health services. Among adults with mental disorders, conscientiousness [OR = 0.5 (0.3, 0.8)] was associated with decreased odds of mental health service utilization. Neuroticism [OR = 1.8 (1.3, 2.4)] was associated with increased likelihood of service use among those who did not meet criteria for common mental disorders. These findings are the first to document a significant association between personality factors and the use of mental health services among adults in the general population. Our results highlight new ways in which personality may influence mental health in the community. This information may be useful in identifying those with unmet need for mental health treatment and developing more effective interventions for those at risk for common mental disorders. Replication of these findings is needed.

Personality Factors in Mental Disorders of Later Life

The roles of personality factors in psychopathology are most often examined from the standpoint of personality disorders, but this approach may usefully be complemented by other theoretical and methodological perspectives. In particular, individual personalities can be conceptualized as having measurable degrees of various stable traits or as demonstrating evidence of various dynamic processes, such as specific cognitive, motivational, or emotional patterns. The author discusses these three basic approaches, reviews recent representative studies from each, and indicates directions for further research. A concluding section suggests ways to integrate the various approaches to more fully understand personality factors in late-life mental disorders.

Motor vehicle accident trauma exposure: Personality profiles associated with posttraumatic diagnoses

Personality profiles associated with diagnostically distinct posttraumatic responses were examined. Profiles were compared between three groups defined on the basis of posttraumatic diagnosis following motor vehicle accident (MVA) trauma exposure. The diagnostic groups were: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) without progression to PTSD, and subclinical responses. Participants were male and female community volunteers aged 18 to 77 (N = 83) who had all been exposed to an MVA meeting the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for a traumatic event. The Personality Assessment Inventory (Morey, 1991) was used to assess psychological variables in the framework of posttraumatic diagnostic groups. The PTSD group scored significantly higher than the ASD and subclinical groups on scales assessing somatic complaints, anxiety, anxiety related disorders, depression, non-psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia, and negative relationships. The profile of the ASD group was characterized by self report of greater interpersonal warmth and a trend for greater egocentricity than the PTSD group. There were no significant differences in the personality profiles of the ASD and subclinical groups. The role of personality factors in posttraumatic adjustment is discussed in the context of previous literature.

Personality Factors in Mental Disorders of Later Life

The roles of personality factors in psychopathology are most often examined from the standpoint of personality disorders, but this approach may usefully be complemented by other theoretical and methodological perspectives. In particular, individual personalities can be conceptualized as having measurable degrees of various stable traits or as demonstrating evidence of various dynamic processes, such as specific cognitive, motivational, or emotional patterns. The author discusses these three basic approaches, reviews recent representative studies from each, and indicates directions for further research. A concluding section suggests ways to integrate the various approaches to more fully understand personality factors in late-life mental disorders.

Pubertal timing and substance use: Associations between and within families across late adolescence.

In the present study, between-family analyses of data from adolescent twin girls offer new evidence that early menarche is associated with earlier initiation and greater frequency of smoking and drinking. The role of personality factors and peer relationships in that association was investigated, and little support was found for their involvement. Novel within-family analyses replicating associations of substance use with pubertal timing in contrasts of twin sisters selected for extreme discordance for age at menarche are reported. Within-family replications demonstrated that the association of pubertal timing with substance use cannot be explained solely by between-family confounds. Within-family analyses demonstrated contextual modulation of the influence of pubertal timing: Its impact on drinking frequency is apparent only among girls in urban settings. Sibling comparisons illustrate a promising analytic tool for studying diverse developmental outcomes.

Does extraversion predict positive incentive motivation?

I focus on a number of issues arising from Depue &amp; Collins's target article that require further consideration: (1) data that fail to confirm extraversion effects in positive incentive experiments; (2) the role of personality factors, other than extraversion, in dopamine agonism on positive mood states; (3) the role of extraversion in nonspecific arousal, indicating that extraversion may not be an homogeneous trait; and (4) the problem of identifying neurobiologically important traits from existing structural models of personality. I applaud the heuristic value of the model presented and suggest ways in which aspects of the model may be used to identify the personality traits associated with positive incentive motivation.