Self-reported Personality Research Articles

Negative internal working models as mechanisms that link mothers' and fathers' personality with their parenting: A short-term longitudinal study.

Research on associations between parents' personality and parenting has a long history, but mechanisms that explain them remain unsettled. We examined parents' explicit and implicit negative internal working models (IWMs) of the child, assessed at toddler age, as linking parental personality and parenting. Mothers and fathers from 200 community families provided personality self-reports (Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Empathy, and Anger/Hostility) when their children were infants. When children were toddlers, the explicit negative IWMs included self-reported low-mentalizing reflective functioning and resentment regarding the child. The implicit negative IWMs were coded as negative relational schemas from parental interviews. Parental positive affect, responsiveness, and power-assertive control were observed in lengthy interactions. Measures were parallel for mother- and father-child dyads. Mothers' implicit IWMs linked the association between low Empathy and more power-assertive control. Fathers' explicit IWMs linked the associations between high Neuroticism and low Agreeableness and lower responsiveness. Additionally, fathers' Agreeableness and Empathy directly predicted their parenting. Two paths (Agreeableness→implicit IWMs, and explicit IWMs→responsiveness) significantly differed between mothers and fathers. IWMs may link parental personality with parenting. The findings integrate and inform several bodies of literature in personality, social cognition, and developmental psychology.

Associations between impulsivity and self-care adherence in individuals diagnosed with Type 2 or prediabetes.

Diabetes is a chronic disease requiring extensive self-care. Different impulsivity constructs, including choice-based and self-report personality measures are associated with decreasing diabetes self-care adherence. However, both choice-based and self-report impulsivity have never been measured for individuals diagnosed with either Type 2 or prediabetes in the same study. The current study examined the relationship between impulsivity and diabetes self-care in 101 adults diagnosed with either Type 2 or prediabetes. Results indicated that increasing self-reported impulsiveness was significantly correlated with decreasing Type 2 diabetic self-care, whereas the choice-based measure was not associated with any self-care measure. No association between impulsivity and self-care was significant for individuals diagnosed with prediabetes. Path analyses showed that self-reported impulsiveness directly and positively predicted problems controlling blood sugar levels in individuals diagnosed with either prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes. However, self-reported impulsiveness only indirectly and negatively predicted exercise and diet adherence via diabetes management self-efficacy for individuals diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. These results show what specific impulsivity constructs and diabetes management self-efficacy may be incorporated into interventions for increasing specific self-care behaviors.

Creative students in self-paced online learning environments: an experimental exploration of the interaction of visual design and creativity

Creativity is an increasingly recognized construct in technology-enhanced learning. However, our understanding of how creativity interacts with the design of online learning environments to affect learning experiences is still limited. For example, do creative students benefit from different learning environment designs than those benefitting their less creative peers? This experimental study (N = 187) explores this question by investigating the visual design of a self-paced online learning environment, specifically the degree of visual structure, in relation to students' creativity. Creativity was measured in different ways, along the lines of vocational/study choice, self-reported personality and behavior, and creative production. Students were randomly assigned to either a visually unstructured (experimental group) or a visually highly structured (control group) learning environment. They reported their preference, impulse for activation, and situational motivation after the learning experience. Results indicate interaction effects consistent with the role of creativity in perception and learning. More specifically, creative students reported more motivation after learning in an unstructured environment, whereas non-creative students reported relatively better learning experiences in the highly structured condition. These results contribute to resolving previous conflicting findings from separated studies, yet some ambiguities remain. Results and implications are discussed, and recommendations for future research are laid out.

Examining the reliability and validity of two versions of the Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT).

The Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT) has gained validity evidence from several studies. However, various modifications have been applied to the original version, which have never been compared systematically. In Study 1, we tested 120 healthy participants to directly compare two versions of the EEfRT. In Study 2, we tested a larger sample of 394 healthy participants to further examine the original EEfRT. We replicated the split-half reliability of both task versions. However, self-reported personality traits (e.g., trait BAS) correlated with only some task performance parameters in Study 1, which did not replicate for the original EEfRT in Study 2. Our results indicate complex and sometimes inconsistent relations between different personality traits, task properties, and reward attributes.

The Online Looking Glass: The Study of Self Esteem and Narcissism on Instagram within a Patriarchal and Collectivist Society

Online social networking sites have revealed an entirely new method of impression management and self-expression. These user-generated social tools present a new and evolving medium of investigation to study personality and identity. The current study examines how narcissism and self-esteem are demonstrated on the social networking application Instagram. To frame our research, we utilized the Uses and Gratifications Theory, which explains why audiences consume mediated messages and how and why authors create user-generated media (UGM). In this research our objective was to understand how and why users of Instagram in Kuwait were using the social media platform and how it related and impacted their self-esteem and how it revealed, if any, narcissistic personality traits. To do so, self-esteem and narcissistic personality self-reports were collected from 79 Instagram users in Kuwait and we also followed and analyzed their Instagram accounts. In our analysis, these participants’ profiles were coded on self-promotional content features based on their Instagram photos and captions posted on their Instagram accounts. By probing the relationship between this new medium, we can begin to understand the relationship amongst technology, culture, and the self. Keywords: social media, Kuwait, Instagram, self-esteem, narcissism, social networking

Prenatal exposure to a mixture of organochlorines and metals and internalizing symptoms in childhood and adolescence

BackgroundAlthough prenatal chemical exposures influence neurobehavior, joint exposures are not well explored as risk factors for internalizing disorders through adolescence. ObjectiveTo evaluate associations of prenatal organochlorine and metal exposures, considered individually and as a mixture, with mid-childhood and adolescent internalizing symptoms. MethodsParticipants were 468 children from a prospective cohort recruited at birth (1993–1998) in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Organochlorines (hexachlorobenzene, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene, polychlorinated biphenyls) and metals (lead, manganese) were analyzed in cord blood. Internalizing symptoms (anxiety, depressive, somatic) were assessed via multiple informants on the Conners' Rating Scale (CRS) at 8-years and Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2) at 15-years; higher T-scores indicate greater symptoms. Overall and sex-specific covariate-adjusted associations were evaluated using Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) and five-chemical linear regression models. ResultsThe cohort was socioeconomically diverse (35% household income <$20,000; 55% maternal ≤ high school education at birth). Most chemical concentrations were consistent with background levels [e.g., median (range) cord blood lead: 1.1 (0–9.4) μg/dL]. BKMR suggested linear associations and no interactions between chemicals. The overall mixture was positively associated with Conners’ Parent Rating Scale (CPRS) and BASC-2 Self Report of Personality (SRP) anxiety and depressive symptoms, and negatively with somatic symptoms. Prenatal lead was positively associated with adolescent anxiety symptoms [1.56 (95% CI: 0.50, 2.61) BASC-2 SRP Anxiety score increase per doubling lead]. For CRPS and BASC-2 SRP, a doubling of cord blood manganese was positively associated with internalizing symptoms for girls [e.g., 3.26 (95% CI: 0.27, 6.25) BASC-2 SRP Depression score increase], but not boys. Organochlorine exposures were not adversely associated with internalizing symptoms. DiscussionLow-level prenatal lead exposure was positively associated with adolescent anxiety symptoms, and prenatal manganese exposure was positively associated with internalizing symptoms for girls from mid-childhood through adolescence. In utero neurotoxicant metal exposures may contribute to the emergence of anxiety and depression.

Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Self-report Personality Questionnaire for Personality Disorders of DSM-5 (SCID-5-SPQ) in Clinical Samples

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Self-Report Personality Questionnaire of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5-SPQ) in Iranian clinical samples. Methods: This is a descriptive survey study. Participants were 289 outpatients and inpatients referred to Iran Psychiatric Hospital, Hazrat-e Rasool General Hospital and the clinic of Tehran Institute of Psychiatry who were selected using a convenience sampling method. In addition to a demographic form and the Persian version of SCID-5-SPQ, the Persian version of SCID-5 Personality Disorder (SCID-5-PD) was used. Finally, face validity, internal consistency (by Cronbach’s alpha), convergent validity (by Spearman correlation test) and the differences between self-reports of women and men (by Mann-Whitney U test) were evaluated. Results: The Persian SCID-5-SPQ showed good face validity. Regarding the convergent validity, all subscales of this questionnaire showed a significant positive correlation with the SCID-5-PD (P&lt;0.001). Moreover, Cronbach’s alpha was reported α=0.93, indicating good internal consistency. Conclusion: The Persian version of SCID-5-SPQ has good validity and reliability, and can be used alone or along with the interviews in psychiatric clinics and hospitals in Iran for screening personality disorders.

Identity problems and suicidal ideation severity among women with bulimic-spectrum pathology.

Individuals with bulimia nervosa often experience suicidal ideation. Identity disturbance, or unstable sense of self, has been connected both to eating disorders and to suicidality. This study sought to test whether identity problems were related to severity of current suicidal ideation in a sample of women with bulimic-spectrum pathology, above and beyond history of suicidal behavior and several symptoms of borderline personality disorder. Women (N = 204; 90.7% Caucasian; Mage = 25.7 years [SD = 8.8]) with bulimic-spectrum pathology completed self-report personality assessments and items evaluating suicidality. A hierarchical linear regression was utilized to examine the association between identity problems and severity of current suicidal ideation, before and after inclusion of relevant clinical features (i.e., suicide attempt history [Step 2], affective lability, stimulus seeking, and rejection [Step 3]). Identity problems were directly associated with severity of current suicidal ideation (β = .481, p < .001). This relationship retained significance after inclusion of suicide attempt history (β = .335, p < .001) as well as borderline personality disorder symptoms (β = .324, p < .001). Identity problems displayed a robust relationship with suicidal ideation severity in women with bulimic-spectrum pathology. Findings suggest that identity problems may be a specifically relevant personality feature regarding presence and severity of suicidal ideation in this high-risk group, even after considering the contributions of history of suicidal behavior and various symptoms of borderline personality disorder. There may be value in attending to identity problems when considering suicidal ideation in this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Effect of Mind Mapping on Creative Thinking of Children in Scratch Visual Programming Education

Scratch, a kind of visual programming software, has been widely used in instruction for primary school children. Scratch constructs a digital world for children to design, develop, and create coursework in which their creative thinking is fostered. Different instructional methods have been designed and implemented to stimulate children’s creative thinking skills through their coursework. This study investigated whether scaffolding construction with mind mapping promoted children’s creative thinking in a Scratch course. Two groups of 84 fifth-grade pupils participated in the study. The experimental group of 44 students adopted the scaffolding construction with mind mapping in the Scratch course, while the control group of 40 students did not use the mind mapping method. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking-Figural (TTCT-F) and Torrance Creative Personality Self-Report Scale were used three times over the 16-week learning period. The results show that learning in the Scratch course promoted the children’s creative thinking. The difference between the two groups indicates that mind mapping was beneficial to improve the children’s creative thinking.

What Does Your Voice Reveal About You?

Abstract. The first goal of the present study was to explore how 21 voice measures related to self-reported personality and communication styles. The second goal was to test the assertion of Trait Activation Theory (TAT) that traits are activated in relevant situations and that verbal behavior is the result of an interplay between individual differences and situations. The voice of 138 participants was measured in the lab via steady voice and continuous speech tasks, whereas personality and communication styles were self-reported using the HEXACO and Communication Styles Inventory. To test TAT, four scenarios were developed to activate the communication styles of Informality and Expressiveness. It was hypothesized that the activated communication styles will interact with relevant situations and will be expressed through changes in voice (i.e., pitch variation). Regarding the first goal, an explorative approach revealed that voice characteristics are informative mainly for the personality traits of Openness to Experience, Emotionality, and Conscientiousness and the communication styles of Emotionality and Questioningness. Regarding the second goal, the interactions between situations and communication styles provided mixed support for TAT. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Clarifying personality measurement in industrial-organizational psychology: The utility of item response tree models

Self-report personality measures typically seek to capture overall tendencies of individuals' behavior but do not capture potentially useful information provided by within-person variability and differences in trait relevance. We propose an item-response theory approach to simultaneously capture estimates of trait levels, within-person variability, and differences in trait relevance. In contrast to previous research, we focus on intentional within-person shifts in personality that we label adaptability. This approach was tested on a large sample (N = 983) using Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Results suggested that these three aspects can be statistically distinguished from each other and provide incremental variance in related outcomes. The ability to simultaneously capture personality trait levels, adaptability, and traitedness with self-report measures would allow researchers to better understand the role of personality in the workplace.

Adolescent Attachment Profiles Are Associated With Mental Health and Risk-Taking Behavior.

This person-oriented study aimed to identify adolescents’ hierarchical attachment profiles with parents and peers, and to analyze associations between the profiles and adolescent psychosocial adjustment. Participants were 449 Finnish 17–19-year-olds reporting their attachments to mother, father, best friend, and romantic partner and details on mental health (internalizing symptoms, inattention/hyperactivity, and anger control problems) and risk-taking behavior (substance use and sexual risk-taking). Attachment was measured with Experiences in Close Relationships – Relationship Structures (ECR-RS); internalizing, inattention/hyperactivity, and anger control problems with Self-Report of Personality — Adolescent (SRP—A) of the Behavior Assessment System for Children, third edition (BASC-3); substance use with the Consumption scale of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C) and items from the Finnish School Health Promotion Study; and sexual risk-taking behavior with the Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events (CARE). Latent profile analysis identified five attachment profiles: “All secure” (39%), “All insecure” (11%), “Parents insecure – Peers secure” (21%), “Parents secure – Friend insecure” (10%), and “Parents secure – Partner insecure” (19%). “All insecure” adolescents showed the highest and “All secure” adolescents the lowest levels of mental health problems and substance use. Further, parental attachment security seemed to specifically prevent substance use and anger control problems, while peer attachment security prevented internalizing problems. Our findings help both understand the organization of attachment hierarchies in adolescence and refine the role of specific attachment relationships in psychosocial adjustment, which can be important for clinical interventions in adolescence.

The Self in the Mind’s Eye: Revealing How We Truly See Ourselves Through Reverse Correlation

Is there a way to visually depict the image people “see” of themselves in their minds’ eyes? And if so, what can these mental images tell us about ourselves? We used a computational reverse-correlation technique to explore individuals’ mental “self-portraits” of their faces and body shapes in an unbiased, data-driven way (total N = 116 adults). Self-portraits were similar to individuals’ real faces but, importantly, also contained clues to each person’s self-reported personality traits, which were reliably detected by external observers. Furthermore, people with higher social self-esteem produced more true-to-life self-portraits. Unlike face portraits, body portraits had negligible relationships with individuals’ actual body shape, but as with faces, they were influenced by people’s beliefs and emotions. We show how psychological beliefs and attitudes about oneself bias the perceptual representation of one’s appearance and provide a unique window into the internal mental self-representation—findings that have important implications for mental health and visual culture.

Understanding ideational fluency as a survival process.

When students generate ideas, important inter-individual variance exists both in the quantity and the quality of ideas they are able to produce (e.g., perfectionists who have few highly creative ideas or mass producers who produce a lot of uncreative ideas). In educational psychology research on creativity, the relation between the quantity and quality of ideas has not been well understood, limiting progress in this area. We conceptualized Ideational Fluency as a phenomenon that requires participants to 'survive' to produce more ideas, and where dropping out of the ideational process was analogous to 'dying'. Using this novel paradigm, we aimed to test the relations among Fluency (as a dependent variable); and creative Expertise, Originality and self-reported Personality attributes (as independent variables). Participants were drawn from three groups: those with demonstrated expertise in stage or screen acting (n = 104); undergraduates being trained in the same domain (n = 100), and adults with no acting training or experience (n = 92). Participants responded to the Alternate Uses Task; Non-parametric and semi-parametric survival models were fit to their Ideational Fluency; and average and maximum Originality scores, as well as self-reported Personality attributes, were used as covariates. Across all participants, the Ideational Fluency survival function showed an S-shape, but the Expertise grouping interacted with that pattern. The survival rate of professional actors decreased more rapidly during the first few ideas, but after the 5th idea, professional actors displayed a clear advantage in survival rate. Participants who were less original on average but who showed a high maximum Originality, as well as those participants who reported more Assertiveness and less Industriousness, also survived further into the Ideational process. Contrary to our hypothesis, professional actors' advantage in Fluency did not manifest in the survival model until after the 5th idea generated. A quantity-quality trade-off was observed with average Originality being associated with shorter survival, but that trade-off was not observed with maximum Originality, which was associated with longer survival.

Assessing the disproportionality of depressive reactions to life stress.

Prior to DSM-5, depression had long been conceptualized as symptoms without cause or disproportionate to one's circumstances. A central challenge to considering whether a depressive reaction is disproportionate is the lack of measures assessing disproportionality. Drawing on a study of patients participating in cognitive behavioural therapy for depression, we evaluate two new measures of the disproportionality of one's depressive symptoms to their recent life circumstances. To assess the disproportionality of depressive symptoms, we developed an interview-based assessment and a brief self-report measure. We employed both assessments in a sample of 126 patients who participated in cognitive behavioural therapy for depression. Initial evidence for the reliability and validity of both self-report and interview-based approaches appeared promising. Interview judges demonstrated strong inter-rater reliability on life stress ratings, and both forms of disproportionality showed a pattern of correlations with variables reflecting greater clinical complexity, including self-reported personality dysfunction and symptom severity. Comorbid generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) was the only previously proposed marker of complicated depression to significantly predict both disproportionality scores. The sample had limited ethnic diversity and tended to be highly educated. Participants all met criteria for major depressive disorder and sought treatment. Two assessments of the disproportionality of depressive reactions demonstrated evidence of reliability and validity. Despite limited efforts at assessment to date, these results suggest these measures may be able to reliably distinguish the disproportionality of depressive reactions and allow clinicians to better assess contextual life stress depressive disorders.

Overlap between general factors of psychopathology and personality: They share associations with daily life functioning and communication style

Previous studies have shown that specific personality dimensions, -e.g., the Big Five-, consistently intercorrelate, such that they form a general factor of personality (GFP). It has been hypothesized that the GFP reflects social effectiveness. Similarly, in the clinical domain, overlap between various psychopathological symptoms has also been reported, leading to a general factor of Psychopathology, or p factor. The aim of this study was to test the overlap between the higher-order factors in personality and psychopathology, and how they relate to daily life functioning and communication style. We tested a sample of 165 outpatients of a psychological therapy institute, using a multi-source approach that included self-reports and other ratings. The outpatients’ self-reports of personality, general psychological problems, and interpersonal problems were available. Psychotherapists rated the outpatients’ functioning in daily life with the well-known Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. A spouse or friend also rated the impact of the patient’s communication/social behavior. Patients with lower GFP scores and higher scores on general psychopathology, displayed more distress and daily functioning deficits (i.e., lower GAF scores) and, in terms of communication styles, were also rated as being less dominant, less in control socially, and more submissive and aggressive. We proposed that part of the overlap between the general factors (GFP, psychopathology factors) may relate to a lower general life functioning and less social effectiveness.

Comparing the Self-Reported Personality Disorder Traits and Childhood Traumatic Experiences Between Patients With Schizophrenia Vs. Major Depressive Disorder.

Introduction: Personality disorder (PD) and childhood traumatic experience (CTE) are well- recognized risk factors for the development of schizophrenia (SZ) and major depressive disorder (MDD). The relationship between CTE and PD is extremely close, and both conditions can affect subsequent psychiatric disorders. Little is known about the differences of these factors in patients with SZ and those with MDD.Materials and Methods: A total of 1,026 outpatients participated in the study, including 533 (51.9%) with SZ and 493 (48.1%) with MDD who were sequentially sampled. The PD traits were assessed using the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire Fourth Edition Plus (PDQ-4+). The Child Trauma Questionnaire Short Form (CTQ-SF) was used to assess childhood adversities. The scores and associations of PDQ-4+ and CTQ-SF between patients with SZ and those with MDD were compared.Results: The MDD group exhibited more PD traits and more childhood emotional neglect than the SZ group. In patients with MDD, the correlation between PD traits and CTE was significantly higher than that in patients with SZ. Patients with SZ vs. those with MDD showed different PD traits and CTE. The schizotypal and antisocial PD traits, as well as sexual abuse and physical neglect CTE, were significantly related to SZ. In contrast, the borderline, narcissistic and avoidant PD traits, and emotional abuse/neglect CTE were significantly associated with MDD.Discussion: These findings indicated a robust relationship between CTE and PD traits. Moreover, patients with SZ or MDD, have different interactive patterns. Both CTE and PD traits have the potential to be premorbid risk factors that could be targeted for preventative interventions.

Dimensional Model of Personality Disorder Incorporated Into ICD-11

Dimensional Model of Personality Disorder Incorporated Into ICD-11

Child and family predictors of insomnia from early childhood to adolescence

BackgroundInsomnia is prevalent among children and adolescents and is associated with a wide range of negative outcomes. Knowledge about its determinants is therefore important, but due to the lack of longitudinal studies, such knowledge is limited. The aim of the present inquiry is to identify child and family predictors of future pediatric insomnia within a psycho-bio-behavioral framework. MethodsA representative community sample (n = 1,037) was followed biennially from 4 to 14 years of age (2007–2017). Insomnia was defined based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria and was diagnosed by a semistructured clinical interview of children (from age eight years of age) and parents (all ages). Predictors included parent ratings of child emotional reactivity, family functioning, and marital conflict; self-reports of personality; and teacher-rated emotion regulation skills. ResultsRandom intercept cross-lagged analyses revealed that within-person increases (ie, relative to the child's typical levels across childhood) in emotional reactivity and decreases in emotion regulation skills predicted insomnia diagnosis two years later from ages 4 to 14 after adjusting for previous insomnia and all unmeasured time-invariant factors. Previous insomnia was the strongest predictor of later insomnia, whereas family functioning and marital conflict did not predict insomnia. ConclusionsIncreases in emotional reactivity and decreases in emotion regulation skills predicted insomnia above and beyond all unmeasured time-invariant factors and could be targets for interventions. Previous insomnia predicted later insomnia, thereby underscoring the importance of detecting, preventing, and treating insomnia at an early age.

Reconsidering the Link Between Self-Reported Personality Traits and Political Preferences

Research on personality and political preferences generally assumes unidirectional causal influence of the former on the latter. However, there are reasons to believe that citizens might adopt what they perceive as politically congruent psychological attributes, or at least be motivated to view themselves as having these attributes. We test this hypothesis in a series of studies. Results of preregistered panel analyses in three countries suggest reciprocal causal influences between self-reported personality traits and political preferences. In two two-wave survey experiments, a subtle political prime at the beginning of a survey resulted in self-reported personality traits that were more aligned with political preferences gauged in a previous assessment. We discuss how concurrent assessment within the context of a political survey might overestimate the causal influence of personality traits on political preferences and how political polarization might be exacerbated by political opponents adopting different personality characteristics or self-perceptions thereof.