Countervailing Forces: Religiosity and Paranormal Belief in Italy

Due to the unique cultural niche inhabited by “paranormal” beliefs and experiences, social scientists have struggled to understand the relationship between religion and the paranormal. Complicating matters is the fact that extant research has primarily focused upon North America, leaving open the possible relationship between these two spheres of the supernatural in less religiously pluralistic contexts. Using data from a random, national survey of Italian citizens, we examine the nature of the relationship between religiosity and paranormal beliefs in a largely Catholic context. We find a curvilinear relationship between religiosity and paranormal beliefs among Italians, with those at the lowest and highest levels of religious participation holding lower average levels of “paranormal” belief than those with moderate religious participation. This pattern reflects how two influential social institutions, religion and science, simultaneously define the paranormal as outside of acceptable realms of inquiry and belief.     

Personality and Glossolalia: A Study Among Male Evangelical Clergy

A sample of 991 male clergy affiliated with the Evangelical Alliance in the United Kingdom completed the short-form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, together with a question regarding the practice of glossolalia. The data demonstrated that glossolalia was correlated positively with extraversion, correlated negatively with neuroticism, and unrelated to psychoticism. Glossolalia was associated with stable extraversion, and contrary to some theories, completely unrelated to psychopathology.     

Religiosity, Personality, and Happiness: A Study among Israeli Male Undergraduates

A sample of 203 male Hebrew speaking undergraduate students completed the Hebrew translation of the Oxford Happiness Inventory together with the Katz–Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism and the short form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The data demonstrate that Eysenck's dimensional model of personality provides significant prediction of individual differences in both attitude toward Judaism and happiness. After taking personality into account there is a small but statistically significant positive correlation between religiosity and happiness.     

The factor structure of the Eysenck Personality Profiler in Russia

One hundred and seventy seven males and 399 females completed a translated short version of the Eysenck Personality Profiler (EPP-S). Two hundred and ninety four Ss also completed the EPQ. By means of item analysis, further shortening of the EPP was achieved, while retaining adequate psychometric characteristics and convergent validity with EPQ scales. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the Eysenck hierarchical model of personality with three basic dimensions and showed stability of the EPP factor structure across genders and sub-samples of different origin. However, CFA showed that only E and P were independent, while N was correlated with E and P.     

Personality and Preference for Rural Ministry: Replication and Reconsideration

A random sample of 1,057 male stipendiary parochial clergy completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The data demonstrate that clergy serving in rural ministry tend to be more introverted, more socially conforming and less toughminded. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the shape of rural ministry.     

The Relationship Between Religion and Happiness Among German Students

A sample of 331 students completed German editions of the Oxford Happiness Inventory and the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity, together with the short form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. These data provide no evidence for a relationship between religiosity and happiness among German students, contrary to the conclusions of recent studies that have employed the same indices in the UK and in the USA.     

Paranormal beliefs and religiosity: Chinese version of the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale

This paper reports an initial study investigating the relations of paranormal beliefs with religiosity in a Chinese sample, as well as the development of a Chinese version of the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale and a test of its psychometric properties with 310 college students (5.5% Christians, 21.3% Buddhists, 61% believers in traditional Chinese religions, and 12% atheists). The reliability and validity of the Chinese version were satisfactory. In general, traditional Chinese religious believers had higher scores on paranormal belief than did Christians and atheists, and the mean total score of the Chinese participants was higher than previously reported in a Western sample. It was concluded that the greater involvement of practitioners of traditional Chinese religions in activities emphasizing paranormal experiences might contribute to their greater paranormal belief, especially as compared to the minority Christian group. The results are consistent with the idea that Christianity may offer the least support for paranormal belief.     

Hierarchical structure of the Eysenck Personality Inventory in a large population sample: Goldberg’s trait-tier mapping procedure

The structure of the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) is poorly understood, and applications have mostly been confined to the broad Neuroticism, Extraversion and Lie scales. Using a hierarchical factoring procedure, we mapped the sequential differentiation of EPI scales from broad, molar factors to more specific, molecular factors, in a UK population sample of over 6500 persons. Replicable facets at the lowest tier of Neuroticism included oversensitivity, mood lability, nervous tension and rumination. The lowest order set of replicable Extraversion facets consisted of social dynamism, sociotropy, haste, jocularity, communalism and impulsivity. The Lie scale consisted of an interpersonal virtue and a behavioral diligence facet. Users of the EPI may be well served in some circumstances by considering its broad Neuroticism, Extraversion and Lie scales as multifactorial, a feature that was explicitly incorporated into subsequent Eysenck inventories and is consistent with other hierarchical trait structures.     

中国大学生艾森克人格问卷测试因素结构之探讨

本文旨在检验艾森克人格理论对中国人的适合性,探明艾森克人格问卷(成人)的结构。经对2311名大学生艾森克人格问卷的作答数据做验证性因素分析,艾森克人格理论未能得到证明。使用全息项目因素分析方法对EPQ进行因素分析,得出神经质、外向性、友善因素、诚实因素、任性因素和严谨因素六个因素。该方法较好地克服了经典线性因素分析高估维度数。低估因素负荷等缺陷。     

Age-Related Personality Differences in Inpatients with Personality Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study

There are few empirical studies of age-associated differences in personality characteristics of individuals diagnosed with Personality Disorder (PD), and none that comparatively examine multiple personality characteristics, with a variety of psychological measures, across a wide age range in adults diagnosed with PD and coexisting substance abuse. Personality test data of 392 psychiatric inpatients diagnosed with PD were analyzed by age group. Patients were assessed with the California Psychological Inventory, Psychological Inventory of Personality and Symptoms, Diagnostic Inventory of Personality and Symptoms, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-1, and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-1. There were no age differences in the number of patients diagnosed with PD, but older adults were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with more than one PD. Older patients with PD were significantly less impulsive, paranoid, high-energy, antisocial, and irresponsible than younger patients with PD. It appears that, with aging, there is a general mellowing of personality for those diagnosed with PD, which may be related to the proposed geriatric variants of PD.     

Personality and Intelligence in Business People: A Study of Two Personality and Two Intelligence Measures

This study examined the overlap and correlations among two well-known personality measures (NEO-PI–R; Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, MBTI) and two widely used intelligence tests (the Graduate Management Assessment (GMA), Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA)). The GMA measures both fluid intelligence (Gf) and crystallized intelligence (Gc), whereas WGCTA mainly assess Gc. A total of over 3,500 participants completed the four measures in a middle management assessment event. Correlational analysis showed that Extraversion on the MBTI tended to be associated with Openness and Stability on the NEO. Intuition was associated with Openness and Introversion. Feeling types tended to be both Agreeable and Neurotic while perceiving types were high on Openness but low on Agreeableness. The NEO Big Five factor of Openness was most consistently and significantly associated with both measures of intelligence (r = .09 to r =.12). Results from the MBTI showed that Intuition and Perceiving scores were positively and significantly associated with both intelligence test scores which were intercorrelated (r = .38). Regressional analysis showed that personality traits are logically and coherently related to intelligence test scores. Implications for selection and assessment are considered.     

大学新生心理健康状况调查分析

对广东某高校2005级大学新生的心理健康状况进行调查分析,旨在为开展大学生心理健康教育工作提供依据。研究结果表明:(1)当代大学新生心理健康状况良好,在E因子上有54.6%的新生的得分高于 0.67SD,属于外向型人格;在N因子上有54.4%新生的得分低于-1.15SD, 属于情绪反应缓慢型;在P因子上,只有3.5%的新生的得分高于 0.67SD,这表明绝大多数新生在精神质因子上表现良好;在L因子上,有69.4%的新生的得分介于±0.67SD之间,属于稳定型。(2)对当代大学新生心理健康状况与全国常模的进行比较研究,结果表明在E、N、P、L四个因子上,除了N因子外的得分显著高于全国正常成人常模标准分外,其余因子的得分均显著低于全国正常成人常模标准分。(3)采用t检验进行性别差异分析,结果表明在E因子上,性别差异不显著;在N、L因子上男生的得分要显著低于女生;在P因子上,男子的得分要显著高于女生。     

家庭环境影响青少年人格特质的性别差异

对855名青少年学生用家庭环境量表和中国人人格量表进行测试,结果表明：青少年的家庭环境对其人格特质的影响,存在显著的性剐差异;家庭亲密度和组织性是影响男孩人格特质的重要家庭环境因素,而家庭道德宗教观是影响女孩人格特质的重要家庭环境因素。新的家庭教育模式应充分考虑到家庭环境影响孩子人格特质的性别差异。     

The General Factor of Personality: A critical test

The present study provides evidence supporting the presence of a General Factor of Personality (GFP), which has been proposed to represent the apex of the hierarchy of personality traits. Furthermore, the construct validity of this general factor is assessed to address recent criticisms suggesting that the GFP may merely be a statistical artefact rather than a genuine higher-order personality dimension. In this study, two samples of monozygotic (MZ) and same-sex dizygotic (DZ) twins completed the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-IR), assessing individual differences in the Big Five traits of personality, and the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Problems-Differential Questionnaire (DAPP-DQ) measuring variance in abnormal personality traits. First unrotated factors were extracted from each of the two measures separately within each sample. Correlations between these factors were significant and high in both samples (.78 and .77), indicating that the factors represent similar constructs. The manner in which these findings help to validate the GFP is discussed.     

Structural and functional equivalence of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire within and between countries

The question was examined as to whether scores at the individual level and scores at the country level on the four scales of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) have the same psychological meaning. Using data of 24 countries, it was found that the EPQ has different factorial structures at both levels. Both the Lie scale and the Psychoticism scale were shown to jeopardize cross-level equivalence. For further exploration of the meaning of the EPQ scales within countries and between countries country-level correlations were calculated with a variety of country characteristics such as Gross National Product, political indices, religiosity, Hofstede's measures, and subjective well-being. Significant findings for 38 countries included correlations of the EPQ scales with Hofstede's Masculinity, Diener's Subjective Well-Being, religiosity, the number of deaths in a country due to political violence, and bribery. The most striking finding was a substantial negative correlation of the Lie scale with Gross National Product and other wealth-related indices.     

The Conflict Between Religion and Science in Light of the Patterns of Religious Belief Among Scientists

Recent summaries of psychologist James H. Leuba's pioneering studies on the religious beliefs of American scientists have misrepresented his findings and ignored important aspects of his analyses, including predictions regarding the future of religion. Much of the recent interest in Leuba was sparked by Edward J. Larson and Larry Witham's commentary in Nature (3 April 1997), “Scientists Are Still Keeping the Faith.” Larson and Witham compared the results of their 1996 survey of one thousand randomly selected American scientists regarding their religious beliefs with a similar survey published eighty years earlier by Leuba. Leuba's original studies are themselves problematical. Nonetheless, his notion that different fields of science have different impacts on the religion‐science relationship remains valid. Especially significant is his appreciation of religion as a dynamic, compelling force in human life: any waning of traditional beliefs does not mean a decrease in religious commitment but calls for a new spirituality in harmony with modern scientific teachings. Leuba's studies, placed in proper context, offer a broad historical perspective from which to interpret data about religious beliefs of scientists and the impact of science and scientists on public beliefs, and opportunity to develop new insight into the religion‐science relationship.     

Personality Disorders and Treatment: A Therapeutic Conundrum

Of challenge to developmental psychologists and mental health practitioners is the importance of temperament, the intractable nature of personality, the complex psychodynamics of personality disorders, the fragile features of the therapeutic alliance, and the selection of appropriate therapy techniques. The intent of this article is to provide specific information pertinent to understanding personality disorders and to offer recommendations for effective treatment strategies.     

A Subself Theory of Personality

Previous theories of personality have introduced the concepts of ego states, complexes, subsystems, subpersonalities, and subselves. A series of postulates and corollaries are proposed in the present paper that form the skeleton of a formal theory of personality based on the concept of subselves. Structural, developmental, psychopathological, and psychotherapeutic implications are discussed.

Comparison of the construct validity of the Gray–Wilson Personality Questionnaire and the BIS/BAS scales

345 subjects completed a translated, shortened version of the Gray–Wilson Personality Questionnaire (GWPQ), along with Russian versions of Carver and White’s BIS/BAS scales, the Eysenck Personality Profiler, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Exploratory factor analysis of GWPQ items pointed to a three-factor solution and three new scales were created which demonstrated adequate psychometric characteristics. Confirmatory factor analysis of the BIS/BAS scales showed that a four-factor model best fitted the data but the three BAS subscales should be treated as sub-factors of a second-order factor. Structural equation modelling showed that GWPQ scales generally explained Eysenck’s dimensions better than BIS/BAS scales. The distinction between GWPQ and Carver and White’s scales mainly concerned BAS measures. GWPQ BAS captured more of Psychoticism, whereas Carver and White’s BAS captured more of Extraversion.     

Personality styles and suggestibility: A differential approach

This study addresses the relationship between personality styles measured with the Portuguese adaptation of the Millon Index of Personality Styles Revised – MIPS-R and interrogative suggestibility assessed by the Portuguese adaptation of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale – GSS1. Hypotheses predicted individual differences in suggestibility and that these differences correspond to differences in individuals’ personality styles. The study was conducted with a sample of 258 individuals (M_age = 31.8 years, SD = 12.0). Results showed that there were individual differences in suggestibility and that these differences corresponded to certain personality characteristics, mainly related to the Thinking Styles and some Behaving Styles.