The lay of the land: Associations between environmental features and personality.

OBJECTIVE: Personality traits cluster across countries, regions, cities, and neighborhoods. What drives the formation of these clusters? Ecological theory suggests that physical locations shape humans' patterns of behaviors and psychological characteristics. Based on this theory, we examined whether and how differential land-cover relates to individual personality. METHOD: We followed a preregistered three-pronged analysis approach to investigate the associations between personality (N = 2,690,878) and land-cover across the United States. We used eleven land-cover categories to classify landscapes and tested their association with personality against broad physical and socioeconomic factors. RESULTS: Urban areas were positively associated with openness to experience and negatively associated with conscientiousness. Coastal areas were positively associated with openness to experience and neuroticism but negatively associated with agreeableness and conscientiousness. Cultivated areas were negatively associated with openness. Landscapes at the periphery of human activity, such as shrubs, bare lands, or permanent snows, were not reliably associated with personality traits. CONCLUSIONS: Bivariate correlations, multilevel, and random forest models uncovered robust associations between landscapes and personality traits. These findings align with ecological theory suggesting that an individual's environment contributes to their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings.

Momentary assessment of the relations between narcissistic traits, interpersonal behaviors, and aggression.

INTRODUCTION: This study explores the associations among narcissistic traits, interpersonal behaviors, and aggression using repeated, situation-based measurement. We examine narcissism's relations with aggression across three levels of its theorized hierarchy (level 1: narcissism; level 2: grandiose vs. vulnerable narcissism; level 3: antagonism, agentic extraversion, and narcissistic neuroticism). METHODS: Using an experience-sampling approach, the current study examined the effects of narcissism and its finer-grained components on daily affective experiences and aggressive behaviors in the context of interpersonal interactions. Data were collected from 477 undergraduate students who were instructed to complete four prompts a day for ten consecutive days. RESULTS: Narcissism at the global construct level positively predicted multiple indices of episodic aggression (i.e., aggressive temper, aggressive urge, verbal aggression). At the dual-dimension level, grandiose narcissism specifically predicted aggression, and then at the trifurcated level, interpersonal antagonism predicted aggression by itself and in interaction with event-level negative affect. Negative affect consistently exhibited both within- and between-person effects on aggression. CONCLUSION: In real-life social interactions, narcissism dimensions differentially affect the way individuals experience social interactions and process negative affect, and thus in both research and clinical practice, narcissism is best assessed as a heterogeneous, multidimensional construct.

Evaluating dynamics in affect structure with latent Markov factor analysis.

In intensive longitudinal research, researchers typically consider the structure of affect to be stable across individuals and contexts. Based on an assumed theoretical structure (e.g., one bipolar or two separate positive and negative affect constructs), researchers create affect scores from items (e.g., sum or factor scores) and use them to examine the dynamics therein. However, researchers usually ignore that the affect structure itself is dynamic and varies across individuals and contexts. Understanding these dynamics provides valuable insights into individuals' affective experiences. This study uses latent Markov factor analysis (LMFA) to study what affect structures underlie individuals' responses, how individuals transition between structures, and whether their individual transition patterns differ. Moreover, we explore whether the intensity of negative events and the personality trait neuroticism relate to momentary transitions and individual differences in transition patterns, respectively. Applying LMFA to experience sampling data (N = 153; age: mean = 22; SD = 7.1; range = 17-66), we identified two affect structures-one with three and one with four dimensions. The main difference was the presence of negative emotionality, and the affect dimensions became more inversely related when the affect structure included negative emotionality. Moreover, we identified three latent subgroups that differed in their transition patterns. Higher negative event intensity increased the probability of adopting an affect structure with negative emotionality. However, neuroticism was unrelated to subgroup-membership. Summarized, we propose a way to incorporate contextual and individual differences in affect structure, contributing to advancing the theoretical basis of affect dynamics research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The psychological mechanism underlying neuroticism on divorce proneness: The chain mediating roles of negative partner support and couple burnout and the moderating role of economic level.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have found that neuroticism is a significant predictor of divorce proneness. However, how neuroticism affects divorce proneness remains unclear. Based on the vulnerability-stress-adaptation (VSA) model of marriage, this study aimed to explore the psychological mechanism by which neuroticism affects divorce proneness. METHODS: A total of 752 Chinese heterosexual married individuals were surveyed by the Neurotic Subscale of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, the Negative Subscale of the Dyadic Coping Inventory, the Couple Burnout Measure, the Divorce Proneness Scale, and the Personal Monthly Income Survey. RESULTS: (1) Negative partner support and couple burnout played chain mediating roles in the relationship between neuroticism and divorce proneness, which constructed a chain mediating model. (2) Economic level played a moderating role in the relationship between couple burnout and divorce proneness, which was the latter part of the chain mediating model. CONCLUSIONS: Divorce proneness can be decreased by perfecting personality traits, reducing negative partner support and couple burnout, and improving the economic level.

The Labor Market with People in It: Personality Traits and Employment Dynamics.

Issues pertaining to the organization and efficiency of the labor market and to the dynamics of employment and unemployment have always been at the forefront of the concerns of economists. Typically, such issues are approached through the analysis of the conflicting interests of a representative worker and of a representative firm, each of which intending to maximize the corresponding intertemporal objective function. Much of the research undertaken on this subject neglects the fact that each person is unique and endowed with different personality traits that influence their educational attainment, their ability to access jobs, their productivity while employed, and also their willingness to support, through social welfare mechanisms, those who become unemployed. In this research, we propose a simulation model to approach the dynamics of the labor market. The model conceives an economy populated by a large number of individuals who, over their life cycles, acquire education, search for a job, receive a wage while employed, and access an unemployment benefit while out of work. Because individuals are endowed with different personalities, they experience different degrees of professional success over their life cycles. Such reasoning leads to a labor market aggregate outcome characterized by emergent phenomena, out-of-equilibrium, path dependence, and other features that are characteristic of a complex evolving system. In the proposed setting, the personality of individuals is shaped by taking into account the big five personality traits of psychological analysis, namely openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Sleepiness Moderates the Associations between Personality and Financial Risk Tolerance and Spending Habits among College Students.

OBJECTIVES: Personality and sleep characteristics are related to financial attitudes and behaviors. However, to our knowledge no study has examined how personality and sleep may be conjointly associated with these financial outcomes. The present study examined sleepiness as a moderator of the associations between college students' personality traits and financial risk tolerance and spending habits. METHODS: Undergraduates (N = 177, 77% women, 78% White) self-reported their personality traits and sleepiness using well-established questionnaires. Financial attitudes and behaviors were assessed via students' self-reported responses to a set of scenarios assessing risk tolerance as well as their spending habits over the prior two weeks. RESULTS: Multiple regression analyses were run. Across five significant two-way interactions, high levels of sleepiness exacerbated risk for greater financial risk tolerance and higher spending among those characterized by high open-mindedness and low neuroticism, whereas low sleepiness increased protection for lower risk tolerance and less spending among those high in agreeableness and conscientiousness. CONCLUSIONS: Sleepiness may act as both a vulnerability and protective factor in relations between personality and financial attitudes and behaviors. Improvements in sleepiness, which is modifiable via intervention, may have significant implications for individuals' financial well-being.

Adjusting for Measurement Noninvariance with Alignment in Growth Modeling.

Longitudinal measurement invariance-the consistency of measurement in data collected over time-is a prerequisite for any meaningful inferences of growth patterns. When one or more items measuring the construct of interest show noninvariant measurement properties over time, it leads to biased parameter estimates and inferences on the growth parameters. In this paper, I extend the recently developed alignment-within-confirmatory factor analysis (AwC) technique to adjust for measurement biases for growth models. The proposed AwC method does not require a priori knowledge of noninvariant items and the iterative searching of noninvariant items in typical longitudinal measurement invariance research. Results of a Monte Carlo simulation study comparing AwC with the partial invariance modeling method show that AwC largely reduces biases in growth parameter estimates and gives good control of Type I error rates, especially when the sample size is at least 1,000. It also outperforms the partial invariance method in conditions when all items are noninvariant. However, all methods give biased growth parameter estimates when the proportion of noninvariant parameters is over 25%. Based on the simulation results, I conclude that AO is a viable alternative to the partial invariance method in growth modeling when it is not clear whether longitudinal measurement invariance holds. The current paper also demonstrates AwC in an example modeling neuroticism over three time points using a public data set, which shows how researchers can compute effect size indices for noninvariance in AwC to assess to what degree invariance holds and whether AwC results are trustworthy.

O florir da violeta: um estudo de caso em avaliação terapêutica / The flowering of violet: a case study in therapeutic assessment / La flor de la violeta: un estudio de caso en evaluación terapéutica

A Avaliação Terapêutica (AT) é um processo avaliativo e interventivo proposto para ser semiestruturado e colaborativo com o objetivo de promover mudanças positivas no cliente, que é convidado a ter uma participação ativa durante o processo. Na AT, os resultados dos testes psicológicos padronizados ganham destaque como facilitadores do processo de autoconhecimento do cliente. Desse modo, usualmente, integram-se os achados de testes psicológicos de autorrelato com os métodos projetivos para gerar informações que possam ampliar a visão que o cliente tem de si. Neste artigo, buscou-se compreender o potencial de uso dos testes psicológicos e da relação colaborativa a partir de um caso atendido na perspectiva da AT. A participante, Violeta (nome fictício), foi atendida em 10 sessões com duração entre 60 e 115 minutos. Foram utilizados os testes psicológicos Escala de Bem-Estar Psicológico (Ebep), Escala de Vulnerabilidade e Estresse no Trabalho (Event), Bateria Fatorial de Personalidade (BFP), Método de Rorschach e Inventários de Habilidades Sociais 2 (IHS-2). Observou-se que, durante o processo, Violeta ampliou sua autopercepção, o que possibilitou mudanças no modo de agir em seus relacionamentos amorosos e na reflexão sobre como sua postura era vista por si e por seus colegas de trabalho. Acredita-se que a AT cumpriu com o objetivo de estabelecer uma experiência terapêutica que possibilitasse mudanças positivas para a cliente. Este estudo de caso contribuiu para ampliar a compreensão sobre a importância e o uso dos testes psicológicos neste modelo de avaliação psicológica.(AU)

The Therapeutic Assessment (TA) is an evaluative and interventional process proposed to be semi-structured and collaborative with the objective of promoting positive changes in the client, who is invited to have an active participation during the process. At the TA, the results of standardized psychological tests are highlighted as facilitators of the client's self-knowledge process. In this way, the findings of psychological self-report tests are usually integrated with projective methods to generate information that can broaden the client's view of themselves. In this article, understanding the potential use of psychological tests and of the collaborative relationship from a case treated from the TA perspective was sought. The participant, Violet (fictitious name), was assisted in 10 sessions lasting between 60 and 115 minutes. The psychological tests Psychological Well-Being Scale (EBEP), Vulnerability and Stress at Work Scale (EVENT), Personality Factorial Battery (BFP), Rorschach Method and Social Skills Inventories 2 (IHS-2) were used. It was observed that, during the process, Violet increased her self-perception, which allowed changes in her way of acting in her love life and in her reflection on how her posture was seen by herself and herco-workers. It is believed that TA fulfilled the objective of establishing a therapeutic experience that would enable positive changes for the client. This case study contributed to broaden the understanding about the importance and use of psychological testing in this psychological assessment model.(AU)

La Evaluación Terapéutica (ET) es un proceso de evaluación e intervención que se propone ser semiestructurado y colaborativo, con el objetivo de lograr cambios positivos en el cliente, quien es invitado a tener participación activa durante el proceso. En la ET se destacan los resultados de las pruebas psicológicas estandarizadas como facilitadoras del proceso de autoconocimiento del cliente. Los hallazgos de las pruebas psicológicas de autoinforme suelen integrarse con métodos proyectivos para generar información que pueda ampliar la visión que el cliente tiene de sí mismo. En este artículo se buscó comprender el uso potencial de las pruebas psicológicas y de la relación colaborativa a partir de un estudio de caso tratado desde la perspectiva de la ET. Atendieron a la participante Violeta (nombre ficticio), en 10 sesiones que duraron entre 60 y 115 minutos. Se utilizaron las pruebas psicológicas Escala de Bienestar Psicológico (EBEP), Escala de Vulnerabilidad y Estrés en el Trabajo (EVENT), Batería de Factorial de la Personalidad (BFP), Método de Rorschach e Inventario de Habilidades Sociales 2 (IHS-dos). Se observó que, durante el proceso, Violeta amplió su autopercepción, lo que permitió cambios en la forma de actuar en sus relaciones amorosas y en el reflejo de como ella y sus compañeros de trabajo veían su postura. Así, se cree que ET ha cumplido el objetivo de establecer una experiencia terapéutica que permitió cambios positivos a la cliente. Este estudio contribuyó a ampliar la comprensión sobre la importancia y el uso de las pruebas psicológicas en este modelo de evaluación psicológica.(AU)

Classification and assessment of fear and anxiety in personality and psychopathology.

We examine fear and anxiety in the context of structural models of personality (the five-factor model, or FFM) and psychopathology (the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology, or HiTOP); we also highlight important issues related to their assessment. Anxiety is a sustained, future-oriented response to potential threat. Trait measures of anxiety represent a core facet within the broader domain of neuroticism in the FFM. Anxiety-related symptoms are indicators of the distress subfactor within the internalizing spectrum in HiTOP. In contrast, fear is a brief, present-focused response to an acute threat. We distinguish between two ways of assessing individual differences in fear. The first type assesses phobic responses to specific stimuli. Phobia measures are moderately correlated with measures of neuroticism in the FFM and define the fear subfactor of internalizing in HiTOP. The second type assesses individual differences in harm avoidance versus risk taking. Measures of risk taking (i.e., low fear) are moderately related to disinhibition/low conscientiousness and antagonism/low agreeableness in the FFM and are indicators of the externalizing superspectrum in HiTOP.

Risk assessment of the work-related musculoskeletal disorders based on individual characteristics using path analysis models.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to assess the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) using the path analysis models. METHODS: This study was carried out on 350 office employees with good general health. All variables were collected using a questionnaire. Personality traits and mental workload of employees were evaluated using the NEO Personality Inventory and the NASA-task load index software, respectively. The individual and personality traits were used as predictor variables, and mental workload (MWL) and body posture scores as mediating variables of the musculoskeletal discomforts. The role of predictor and mediating variables on discomforts was explained based on the path analysis models. RESULTS: The impact coefficient of MWL and posture on WMSDs was significant. The coefficient of the direct effect of body mass index (BMI) and gender on musculoskeletal disorders was significant and positive and the women have reported a higher rate of discomforts. The strongest positive impact of personality traits on MWL and posture was conscientiousness, followed by neuroticism and agreeableness. In return, the strongest negative impact was extroversion, followed by openness. The strongest positive impact of individual factors on MWL and posture was BMI, followed by work experience. CONCLUSION: Gender, BMI, neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness can be strong predictors for musculoskeletal discomforts which can mediate the impact of body posture and mental workload (mediating factors) on musculoskeletal discomfort. Therefore, personality and individual traits can be strong alarming and indicators for risk identification and preventing musculoskeletal disorders when choosing people for a job or task.

Neuroticism and Sexual Orientation-Based Victimization as Mediators of Sexual Orientation Disparities in Mental Health.

This study tested whether elevated risk of poorer mental health outcomes among nonheterosexual adolescents compared with heterosexual adolescents is plausibly explained by neuroticism and sexual orientation-based victimization. The Millennium Cohort Study, a large British prospective birth cohort, was used (4566 heterosexual boys, 77 bisexual boys, 129 homosexual boys, 96 asexual boys, 4444 heterosexual girls, 280 bisexual girls, 158 homosexual girls, and 182 asexual girls). We analyzed the following measures assessed at age 17 years: sexual orientation based on sexual attraction, neuroticism, sexual orientation-based victimization, self-harm attempts, and psychological well-being. Mediation analysis was undertaken separately by sex and yielded the following statistically significant findings: for both sexes, we found that bisexual and homosexual adolescents scored higher than heterosexual adolescents on neuroticism; for both sexes, bisexual and homosexual adolescents reported more negative psychological well-being scores and self-harm attempts compared with heterosexual adolescents, with total effects (standardized regression coefficients) ranging from .58 to .91; those associations were mediated through sexual orientation-based victimization and neuroticism scores, with the indirect effects (standardized regression coefficients) through sexual orientation-based victimization and neuroticism scores ranging from .09 to .26 and .16 to .55, respectively. Asexual adolescents did not differ significantly from their heterosexual counterparts in psychological well-being and self-harm attempts, with the total effects ranging from - .02 to .21. Sexual orientation-based victimization and neuroticism may both contribute to the sexual orientation-related disparities in psychological well-being and self-harm attempts. However, neuroticism appears to the more powerful factor.

Community Participation and Subjective Well-Being of Older Adults: The Roles of Sense of Community and Neuroticism.

Participation in community affairs and activities is beneficial to the mental health of older adults. The current study attempted to confirm the mediating role of sense of community (SoC) between community participation (CP) and subjective well-being (SWB), and the moderating role of neuroticism between CP and SoC. A total of 465 older adults aged ≥65 years from China participated in both two-wave online surveys. The self-developed Community Participation questionnaire, the SoC scale, and the Neuroticism subscale were used to assess CP, SoC, and neuroticism, respectively. The four indicators of SWB were assessed by the Satisfaction with Life Scale, Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale. The results revealed that CP was associated with three indicators of SWB including life satisfaction, positive affect, and depressive symptoms, SoC mediated the above associations, and neuroticism negatively moderated the association between CP and SoC, after controlling for age, sex, education, spouse status, monthly income, and physical health. CP enhances older adults' SWB through increasing their SoC. When compared to those older adults with a higher score of neuroticism, the enhancing effect of CP on SoC is stronger for those with lower scores of neuroticism.

Predictors of well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: The importance of financial satisfaction and neuroticism.

Current research suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacts well-being. This study examined how subjective well-being (SWB) and psychological well-being (PWB) in Singapore were affected during the pandemic, and the factors that were important to SWB. A representative sample of 999 respondents completed an online survey during the pandemic in August 2020 (after a lockdown was lifted). Two hundred and thirty-two respondents completed the follow-up Wave 2 survey 4 months later. Analyses showed that SWB and PWB during the pandemic were significantly lower than the prepandemic period. However, by Wave 2, well-being levels recovered to levels similar to those observed in the prepandemic period. Regression analyses showed that previously established key determinants of SWB were still important predictors during the pandemic. Specifically, neuroticism and financial satisfaction were strongly associated with all three major SWB components. PWB, particularly in terms of meeting one's psychological needs for autonomy and mastery, was also closely related to SWB. The importance of financial satisfaction suggests that one avenue to buffer the detrimental effects of the pandemic on well-being would be to formulate economic policies that can alleviate the pandemic's negative financial impact.

Assessment of Implicit Interests through an Unobtrusive Computer Task. Their Relations with Career Decision, Anxiety, and Personality Traits.

Adolescence is a period where youngsters still do not know much about themselves. That makes some decisions, like those concerning vocational elections, a complicated issue that has important consequences for their life. The main goal of this piece of research is to measure implicit interests using a situated, unobtrusive computer tool (PrUnAs: Preferences Unobtrusive Assessment) as well as its connection with anxiety and personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion, self-efficacy, optimism, consciousness, and openness. SAMPLE: 304 16-year-old adolescents enrolled in the last course of compulsory education. INSTRUMENTS: Computer programs were used to measure implicit interests, career preferences, and to self-descript personality traits; finally, the paper-and-pencil test Stai was applied to measure anxiety. RESULTS: Concordance between implicit interests and explicit choices was less than 50%. The software developed for assessing implicit interests not only proved to be an efficient tool to make them arise but also a good predictor of anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Implicit interests and explicit elections are not the same. The approach from implicit preferences is an important shift in the approximation to vocational guiding and to reduce youngsters' indecision level. Beyond vocational choice, this information may improve the short- and long-term quality of life and mental health.

Prominent health problems, socioeconomic deprivation, and higher brain age in lonely and isolated individuals: A population-based study.

Loneliness is linked to increased risk for Alzheimer's disease, but little is known about factors potentially contributing to adverse brain health in lonely individuals. In this study, we used data from 24,867 UK Biobank participants to investigate risk factors related to loneliness and estimated brain age based on neuroimaging data. The results showed that on average, individuals who self-reported loneliness on a single yes/no item scored higher on neuroticism, depression, social isolation, and socioeconomic deprivation, performed less physical activity, and had higher BMI compared to individuals who did not report loneliness. In line with studies pointing to a genetic overlap of loneliness with neuroticism and depression, permutation feature importance ranked these factors as the most important for classifying lonely vs. not lonely individuals (ROC AUC = 0.83). While strongly linked to loneliness, neuroticism and depression were not associated with brain age estimates. Conversely, objective social isolation showed a main effect on brain age, and individuals reporting both loneliness and social isolation showed higher brain age relative to controls - as part of a prominent risk profile with elevated scores on socioeconomic deprivation and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours, in addition to neuroticism and depression. While longitudinal studies are required to determine causality, this finding may indicate that the combination of social isolation and a genetic predisposition for loneliness involves a risk for adverse brain health. Importantly, the results underline the complexity in associations between loneliness and adverse health outcomes, where observed risks likely depend on a combination of interlinked variables including genetic as well as social, behavioural, physical, and socioeconomic factors.

Which personality traits can mitigate the impact of the pandemic? Assessment of the relationship between personality traits and traumatic events in the COVID-19 pandemic as mediated by defense mechanisms.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant influence on the lives of people around the world and could be a risk factor for mental health diseases. This study aimed to explore the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by identifying patterns related to post-traumatic symptoms by considering personality and defensive styles. Specifically, it was hypothesized that neuroticism was negatively associated with impact of event, as opposed to extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness traits. The mediation role of mature, neurotic, and immature defenses in these relationships was also investigated. This study involved 557 Italian individuals (71.3% women, 28.7% men; Mage = 34.65, SD = 12.05), who completed an online survey including the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Forty Item Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40) and Ten Item Personality Inventory. Results showed a nonsignificant effect for extraversion and openness on impact of event. The negative influence of neuroticism was instead confirmed in a partial parallel mediation involving significant effects from immature and neurotic defenses in the indirect path. Finally, agreeableness and conscientiousness delineated two protective pathways regarding impact of event, determining two total parallel mediation models in which both these personality traits were negatively associated with immature defensive styles, and conscientiousness was also positively related to mature defenses. These findings provide an exploration post-traumatic symptom patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic, involving the big five personality traits and defense mechanisms. These results may be useful for developing interventions, treatments, and prevention activities.

"The Heidelberg Five" personality dimensions: Genome-wide associations, polygenic risk for neuroticism, and psychopathology 20 years after assessment.

HeiDE is a longitudinal population-based study that started in the 1990s and, at baseline, assessed an array of health-related personality questionnaires in 5133 individuals. Five latent personality dimensions (The Heidelberg Five) were identified and interpreted as Emotional Lability (ELAB), Lack of Behavioral Control (LBCN), Type A Behavior (TYAB), Locus of Control over Disease (LOCC), and Psychoticism (PSYC). At follow-up, 3268 HeiDE participants (post-QC) were genotyped on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays. To further characterize The Heidelberg Five, we analyzed genomic underpinnings, their relations to the genetic basis of the Big Five trait Neuroticism, and longitudinal associations with psychiatric symptoms at follow-up. SNP-based heritability was significant for ELAB (34%) and LBCN (29%). A genome-wide association study for each personality dimension was conducted; only the phenotype PSYC yielded a genome-wide significant finding (p < 5 × 10-8 , top SNP rs138223660). Gene-based analyses identified significant findings for ELAB, TYAB, and PSYC. Polygenic risk scores for Neuroticism were only associated with ELAB. Each of The Heidelberg Five was related to depressive symptoms at follow-up. ELAB, LBCN, and PSYC were also associated with lifetime anxiety symptoms. These results highlight the clinical importance of health-related personality traits and identify LBCN as a heritable "executive function" personality trait.

Indecisão e maturidade vocacional, autoeficácia e personalidade em adolescentes com e sem superdotação / Vocational and maturity indecision, self-efficacy, and personality in gifted and non-gifted adolescents / Indecisión y madurez vocacional, autoeficacia y personalidad en adolescentes superdotados y no superdotados

O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar as características sociodemográficas, nível de indecisão vocacional (EIV), autoeficácia geral percebida (EAGP), personalidade (BFP) e maturidade para a escolha profissional (EMEP) de adolescentes com e sem superdotação. A amostra foi composta por 31 adolescentes com idade média de 16,29 anos (DP = 1,21), 12 com superdotação e 19 sem superdotação. Os superdotados foram recrutados em um Núcleo Estadual de Altas Habilidades/Superdotação e os sem superdotação em uma escola particular. Os dois grupos de adolescentes responderam os mesmos instrumentos: ficha de dados sociodemográficos, EMEP, EIV, BFP e EAGP. Os sem superdotação apresentaram menores níveis de autoeficácia (EAGP) e maiores níveis de neuroticismo (BFP) e responsabilidade (EMEP). Já os adolescentes com superdotação obtiveram maiores níveis de realização (BFP), autoeficácia (EAGP), determinação (EMEP), extroversão e abertura (BFP) e autoconhecimento (EMEP). Os resultados contribuem para que orientadores profissionais e de carreira desenhem intervenções mais assertivas para adolescentes superdotados. (AU)

The aim of the study was to compare the sociodemographic characteristics, level of vocational indecision (EIV), perceived general self-efficacy (EAGP), personality (BFP) and maturity for professional choice (EMEP), of adolescents with and without giftedness. The sample consisted of 31 adolescents with a mean age of 16.29 years (SD = 1.21), 12 with giftedness and 19 without. The gifted students were recruited from a State Center for High Skills/Giftedness and the non-gifted students from a private school. The two groups of adolescents answered the same instruments, including a sociodemographic data form, the EMEP, EIV, BFP and EAGP. The non-gifted students presented lower levels of self-efficacy (EAGP) and higher levels of neuroticism (BFP) and responsibility (EMEP). The gifted adolescents presented higher levels of achievement (BFP), self-efficacy (EAGP), determination (EMEP), extraversion and openness (BFP), and self-knowledge (EMEP). The results can help professional and career counselors to design more assertive actions for gifted adolescents. (AU)

El objetivo del estudio fue comparar las características sociodemográficas, nivel de indecisión vocacional (EIV), autoeficacia general percibida (EAGP), personalidad (BFP) y madurez para la elección profesional (EMEP), de adolescentes con y sin superdotación. La muestra se compuso por 31 adolescentes con una edad media de 16,29 años (DS = 1,21), 12 con superdotación y 19 sin superdotación. Los superdotados fueron reclutados de un Centro Estatal de Altas Habilidades/Superdotación y aquellos sin superdotación de una escuela privada. Los dos grupos de adolescentes respondieron los mismos instrumentos: ficha sociodemográfica, EMEP, EIV, BFP y EAGP. Los niveles más bajos de autoeficacia (EAGP) y niveles más altos de neuroticismo (BFP) y responsabilidad (EMEP). Los adolescentes superdotados, por su parte, tenían niveles más altos de logro (BFP), autoeficacia (EAGP), determinación (EMEP), extraversión y apertura (BFP) y autoconocimiento (EMEP). Los resultados ayudan a los consejeros profesionales y de carrera a diseñar acciones más asertivas para los adolescentes superdotados. (AU)

Assessment of the Enterprising Personality: A Short Form of The BEPE Battery.

BACKGROUND: Enterprising personality is related to business creation and success. The objective of this study was the development and psychometric analysis of a reduced version of the BEPE Battery for the Evaluation of Enterprising Personality. METHOD: We used a sample of 1,170 people, 60% women, with a mean age of 42.34 years (SD = 12.96). We carried out psychometric analyses within the frameworks of Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory models. RESULTS: The short version (BEPE-16) consists of 16 items, demonstrating an essentially unidimensional structure. The reliability was excellent (α= .94; Ω= .94) and evidence of validity was found in relation to various variables: Measure Of Entrepreneurial Talents And Abilities (META test) (r=.71), extraversion (r=.57), conscientiousness (r=.50), neuroticism (r=-.54). The correlation between scores from the BEPE-16 and the original version was very high (r=.95). CONCLUSIONS: The BEPE-16 reduced version for the evaluation of enterprising personality demonstrated good psychometric properties, both in terms of reliability and validity. As such, it can be used in place of the original when the professional or research circumstances require it.

Spontaneous microstates related to effects of low socioeconomic status on neuroticism.

Individuals with high neuroticism had the decreased control functions of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) over amygdala (emotion regions) and low socioeconomic status (SES) had negative effects on the functions of ACC. Based on these, we hypothesized that the decreased functions of ACC might make individuals with low SES had high level of neuroticism. According to the score of objective SES (OSES) and subjective SES (SSES) scales, subjects were divided into four groups (low SSES, high SSES, low OSES and high OSES) to investigate the roles of dynamic characteristics related to the ACC in the relationships between SES and neuroticism using resting-state EEG (RS-EEG) microstates analysis. It had been found that RS-EEG microstates can be divided into four types (MS1, MS2, MS3 and MS4) and the MS3 was related cingulo-opercular brain networks (including ACC and anterior insular). As our prediction, SSES had direct effects on neuroticism relative to OSES. Moreover, the neuroticism for low SSES was positively related to the occurrence and contribution of MS3, as well as the possibilities of transitions between MS3 and MS1. Based on these, we thought that low-SSES individuals might be more difficult to inhibit the negative emotions, especially inhibit the spontaneous thoughts related to these emotions.