RESUMO
Traditionally, models of positive personality traits have referred to moral characteristics. The High Five Model (HFM) is a factor model of individual positive traits based on an inductive psycho-lexical approach. Unlike other models, in the HFM the positive characteristics were freely determined by lay people, beyond any moral tones. The HFM comprises the following factors: erudition, peace, cheerfulness, honesty, and tenacity, known as "the high factors." This model was shown to positively exceed the capacity of normal personality to predict emotional, social, and psychological well-being. Additionally, this model is negatively associated with non-transmissible diseases, psychopathological symptoms, and psychopathological personality traits. This study aimed to increase the validation of the HFM, by analyzing the relationships among this model and positive mental health, psychopathological symptoms, academic adjustment, and academic performance in university students. Another objective was to study the association between complete mental well-being (i.e., high well-being and low psychopathological symptomatology) and the high factors of the HFM. The sample consisted of 256 university students. Correlations were calculated, and the two-step cluster analysis was used to obtain profiles. The results showed that tenacity and erudition high factors are positively associated with academic achievement and academic adjustment. Finally, each of the high factors was positively associated with complete mental well-being. The HFM has a broad scope, as it is related not only to psychological variables (e.g., well-being or psychopathological symptomatology) but also to academic performance (e.g., adjustment and achievement) in university students.
RESUMO
El presente estudio tiene como objetivo establecer la validez cultural de la clasificación VIA (24 fortalezas en 6 virtudes) mediante la utilización de un enfoque mixto (ético/émico). Se intentó determinar si la clasificación VIA resultaba relevante culturalmente para poder capturar las respuestas de personas legas en ocasión de describir las características positivas de personajes protípicos admirados en un formato de respuesta libre (free listing). Participaron del estudio una muestra de 378 personas adultas de población general no consultante argentina, varones y mujeres. Los resultados señalan que las fortalezas más frecuentes fueron la integridad, la persistencia, la bondad y el amor, lo que da lugar a dos perfiles diferenciados de personajes prototípicos de características positivas. No se encontraron diferencias según sexo y edad. Los resultados sugieren que la clasificación VIA debe ser ajustada en función de las variables culturales.
The purpose of the present study is to establish the cultural validity of the Values in Action (VIA) classification through the use of 24 character strengths contained in 6 virtues, by implementing a combined emic-etic approach. A group of 378 male and female Argentinian adults participated from this research. The aim was to determine if the VIA classification was culturally relevant to portray the answers of the participants involved. Results indicate that the most frequent strengths listed by the participants were integrity, persistency, kindness and love. No differences regarding age and gender were found. The results also suggest that the VIA classification needs to be adjusted according to cultural variables.
Assuntos
Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Adulto , Virtudes , Psicologia Positiva , Inventário de Personalidade , Inquéritos e QuestionáriosRESUMO
Los llamados modelos duales proponen dos tipos de procesamiento de la información, relacionados con los modos de tomar decisiones emocionales y racionales. La investigación realizada se focalizó en el estudio de la toma de decisión en soldados para el mantenimiento de la paz (i.e., Cascos Azules). Ellos integran el personal militar que envía la Organización Naciones Unidas (ONU) para mantener la paz y brindar ayuda humanitaria en zonas de conflicto. Se empleó un diseño factorial 2x2x2, con las variables independientes: modalidad decisoria, entrenamiento como soldado para la paz y saturación cultural de la situación observada, y con la variable dependiente respuesta de intervención en la situación observada. Según las reglas de la ONU, no se debería intervenir en las situaciones multiculturales presentadas en este estudio. Se corroboraron tres hipótesis: (a) la toma de decisión basada en el procesamiento racional de la información en comparación con la toma de decisión basada en el procesamiento afectivo / emocional, lleva a no intervenir, (b) los expertos en misiones militares de paz internacionales (i.e., militares con entrenamiento de casco azul) en comparación con los inexpertos (i.e., militares sin dicho entrenamiento) realizan menos intervenciones y (c) la alta saturación de elementos culturales de las escenas en comparación a las escenas de baja saturación de elementos culturales lleva a realizar menor cantidad de intervenciones. Adicionalmente, se halló que la tendencia individual a tomar decisiones racionales urgentes está asociada negativamente con el tiempo de reacción. Se discuten los resultados en relación al marco de las teorías duales.
The so called dual models that emerged in the70s suggest that there are two types of information processing with opposite characteristics to one another and are related to ways of making emotional and rational decisions. This research focused on the study of emotional and rational peace keepers' decision making. Peace keepers are military personnel that participate in United Nations Organization (UN) international forces in order to be deployed in conflict zones around the world to maintain peace and to provide humanitarian aid. In these missions, peacekeepers' behavior is ruled by codes which are committed to ensuring the highest standards of conduct in UN military operations. According to these UN rules, servicemen should not intervene in situations of not obvious risk or no imminent physical harm to civilians of the local population. It is worth noting that inappropriate peacekeepers ´interventions can have serious negative consequences in the mission. Consequently, in the predeployment stage peacekeepers are trained by qualified military personnel with core operational and cultural information related the country where they are going to be deployed to have an effective performance during their duty. At the moment of our research, Argentinian peacekeepers were deployed in Haiti. The objective of this study was to study the effects of the emotional / rational decision-making mode, the Argentine's soldiers training as peacekeeper, and the level of cultural saturation in the observed situations; over the decision to intervene in multicultural situations. For this study, a piece of software called SITDE with a series of audible videos that reflect different situations related to the UN peacekeeper mission was used. There were two SITDE versions that differed from each other due to the level of cultural representation. One version contains a set of videos with high typical Haitian´s cultural saturation. The other version, a set of homologous videos related to the other series, includes scenes with fewer aspects of Haitian´s elements. After watching each video participants had to decide whether to intervene or not to intervene in the observed scenes. They should report its decision by clicking on a screen displaying two buttons with the corresponding decision. The software recorded the participant's response and the response time of each scene. This study sought to corroborate three hypotheses about peacekeepers' decision making on culturally diverse scenes in which they had no danger of imminent attack: (a) decision making based on rational information processing compared to decision making based on affective / emotional processing leads to not intervene; (b) military experts in international peace missions (i.e., military with UN training) compared to the inexperienced (military with no UN training) make fewer interventions and (c) the high saturation of cultural elements of the scenes compared to scenes of low saturation of cultural elements leads to make fewer interventions. The hypotheses were verified through a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design. The 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design included the independent variables decision making modality, training as peace -keepers, and cultural saturation of the observed situation; and the dependent variable intervention in the observed situation. The military personnel´s decision-making was manipulated by differentiated instruction, and the cultural saturation of scenes was manipulated by the use of the two SITDE versions. Additionally, it has been analyzed the relationship between the individual trend to the emotional / rational decision-making and relevant variables. It was found that the individual trend to the rational decision making in urgent situations is negatively associated to the reaction time. The results are discussed related to the frame of the dual theories.
RESUMO
Se examinó la importancia de las fortalezas del carácter para el desarrollo positivo desde el punto de vista de las personas legas. Una muestra de 687 adultos evaluó la importancia de las 24 fortalezas del carácter de la clasificación Values in Action para cinco áreas: bienestar personal, metas personales, relaciones personales y laborales y contribuir a un país mejor. Se diseñó un instrumento basado en la metodología de la encuesta que estaba compuesto por 24 ítems. Cada uno evaluaba una fortaleza en cada una de las cinco áreas comentadas. La confiabilidad global del mismo fue igual a .98. Los datos se analizaron mediante la inspección de las frecuencias (por ej.: grado de respaldo a cada una de las fortalezas en relación con el desarrollo positivo), considerando aquellas fortalezas que se encontraban por encima del percentil 90. En general, los resultados han mostrado que la fortaleza del carácter honestidad es un importante recurso personal para las cinco áreas consideradas en este estudio. Específicamente, amor, honestidad y vitalidad son las fortalezas del carácter más importantes para el bienestar personal; perseverancia y autorregulación, para lograr metas vitales, honestidad y gratitud para el desarrollo de relaciones positivas; compañerismo e imparcialidad para las relaciones laborales positivas, e imparcialidad y honestidad para contribuir a un país mejor. Se analizaron las diferencias por género y edad y se encontró que las mujeres consideraban a las fortalezas mucho más importantes que los varones para la mayoría de las áreas vitales consideradas. Este estudio señala que las concepciones implícitas de las personas legas deberían ser tomadas en cuenta a la hora de diseñar estrategias de intervención positivas basadas en las fortalezas del carácter.
The idea underlying this work is that character strengths are an essential component for achieving life fulfillment. In order to determine the extent to which strengths of character are essential to living a good life, this study was conducted from lay-people’s point of view. This work took as theoretical framework Seligman’s recent theory, known under the acronym of PERMA, which proposes that human strengths are vehicles for achieving positive emotions, engagement (flow), enriching relationships, meaning in life, and accomplishment of personal goals. This study considered life fulfillment beyond the hedonic conception of subjective well-being emphasizing the importance of both individual and social meaning; the relationship with others; and the achievement of personal goals, among others. A sample of 687 adults evaluated the importance of 24 character strengths from the Values in Action classification for the five areas that contribute to a fulfilling life: personal well-being, personal goals, personal relationships, work relationships, and contributing to a better country. This study used a similar methodology to Biswas-Diener (2006), who studied the attitudes towards the 24 VIA character strengths with members of dissimilar cultural groups. An instrument was designed comprising 24 items in a survey-format. Each item assessed one character strength for each of the five areas under study. Cronbach’s alpha reliability test for the overall scale was .98. Data was analyzed by calculating frequencies (e.g., the degree of endorsement to the character strengths in relation to life fulfillment) and conducting chi-square tests (e.g., gender and age differences). The character strengths over the 90th percentile were considered. The results showed that the character strength honesty is an important personal resource for the five areas studied. Specifically, love, honesty and zest were the major character strengths for personal well-being; persistence and self-regulation for achieving life goals; honesty and gratitude for developing positive personal relationships; citizenship and fairness for positive work relationships; and, fairness and honesty for contributing to a better country. Differences by gender were found. For the majority of the areas of life explored, women placed more importance on character strengths than men. The main finding of this study is that people consider the strengths of character from the VIA classification as important elements for life fulfillment. Most participants in this study showed a high degree of endorsement (60 to 70%) to each of the character strengths of the VIA classification for all the areas, i.e., achieving personal well-being, accomplishing life goals, enriching personal relationships, working well with others, and contributing to a better country. Based on these results, it can be concluded that from the point of view of lay-people, character strengths are not only fundamental to feel good but also to function well both in relation to themselves and to the world. Overall, intervention strategies, from the Positive Psychology perspective, tend to be generic and unspecific, without considering individuals’ particular points of view. Knowing people’s implicit ideas in relation to the strengths that contribute most to life fulfillment would allow generating more accurate and culturally adjusted interventions to the particular group in question. This adjustment not only operates as a key motivational aspect but also a reinforcement of the effect of the intervention. Future studies should experimentally compare the effectiveness of generic interventions on character strengths versus interventions focused on those strengths that the group under study deems important, especially in Latino populations in which the efficacy of these interventions has not been tested yet, and little has been studied in relation to this topic.
RESUMO
Se exploró la modulación del deterioro de la memoria de trabajo espacial producida por estrés psicológico en ratas hembra Sprague-Dawley, de acuerdo a la hipótesis de Diamond et al. (1996). Los sujetos fueron entrenados en tareas de memoria de trabajo y de referencia en laberinto radial de ocho brazos. Alcanzado el criterio en memoria de trabajo, la demora entre el recorrido informativo y el de prueba -15´´- se incrementó sucesivamente a 5´ y 4 horas, manteniéndose los sujetos en un ambiente familiar. Se los expuso luego a un estresor psicológico -cambio a ambiente no familiar con olor de predador- durante la demora de 4 horas. Los resultados mostraron un deterioro inicial en el rendimiento en memoria de trabajo -pero no en memoria referencial- con la introducción del estresor, efecto que se ve atenuado a través de sucesivas exposiciones, como producto de la habituación al ambiente no familiar...
Assuntos
Animais , Feminino , Aprendizagem em Labirinto , Memória , Estresse Fisiológico , Ratos/psicologiaRESUMO
Se exploró la modulación del deterioro de la memoria de trabajo espacial producida por estrés psicológico en ratas hembra Sprague-Dawley, de acuerdo a la hipótesis de Diamond et al. (1996). Los sujetos fueron entrenados en tareas de memoria de trabajo y de referencia en laberinto radial de ocho brazos. Alcanzado el criterio en memoria de trabajo, la demora entre el recorrido informativo y el de prueba -15´´- se incrementó sucesivamente a 5´ y 4 horas, manteniéndose los sujetos en un ambiente familiar. Se los expuso luego a un estresor psicológico -cambio a ambiente no familiar con olor de predador- durante la demora de 4 horas. Los resultados mostraron un deterioro inicial en el rendimiento en memoria de trabajo -pero no en memoria referencial- con la introducción del estresor, efecto que se ve atenuado a través de sucesivas exposiciones, como producto de la habituación al ambiente no familiar.
Spatial working memory impairment by psychological stress in Sprague-Dawley female rats was studied, according to Diamond et al hypothesis (1996). Subjects were trained on reference and working memory tasks in an 8-arm radial maze. Once criterion was reached, delay phase was increased first day, from 15 sec to 5 min, and the second day, from 5 min to 4 hr, with subjects remaining in their familiar environment. Subjects were exposured to a psychological stressor -change to a novel environment, with animals placed in restraint, predator scented cages- during the 4 hr delay period. Working memory errors -but not reference memory errors- significantly increased at first days, under stress condition. Working memory impairment was attenuated as a result of habituation to unfamiliar environment in subsequent four days,
