Conscientiousness, perceived risk, and risk-reduction behaviors: a preliminary study.

Participants (N = 343) from an Oregon community completed surveys at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months to assess personality, the perceived health risk of radon in combination with smoking, and changes in smoking behavior. Conscientiousness predicted instituting a more restrictive household smoking rule (p < .01), and perceived risk predicted reduction in cigarettes smoked per day for men (p < .001). Perceived risk predicted a reduction in the proportion of cigarettes smoked in the home for those who had high (p < .05) but not low or moderate levels of Conscientiousness, a dimension in one personality model. The results demonstrate the importance of Conscientiousness in the prediction of health behavior, particularly behavior that affects others as well as oneself.     

Personality from a realist’s perspective: Personality traits, criminal behaviors, and the externalizing spectrum

Reviews ways in which the author’s program of research has been influenced by Tellegen’s (1991) conceptualization of personality traits as both real and biologically based entities. Analyses of longitudinal-epidemiological data on personality and criminal behavior indicate that personality measures and measures of criminal behavior can be conceived of as indicators of a latent, stable propensity to act in an unconstrained manner. In addition, an unconstrained personality style, substance dependence, and antisocial behavior can be modeled as indicators of a highly heritable propensity towards “externalizing” or acting-out behaviors, with environmental factors playing a key role in determining the specific way in which this general, heritable externalizing propensity is expressed. Such research outlines the value of concepts from personality psychology in understanding consequential behaviors in the population at large.     

The relationship between instrumental and expressive traits,health behaviors,and perceived physical health

Relations between instrumental and expressive traits, health behaviors, and self-reported physical health were examined among young adults. Individuals (169 men, 167 women) completed two measures of instrumental and expressive traits, the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). Ethnic background of the sample included 72% European Americans, 13% Latin Americans, 6% Asian Americans, 5% African Americans, less than 1% Native American, and 4% did not specify a particular category. Expressive traits from the BSRI, and expressive and instrumental traits from the PAQ were associated with health behaviors, after controlling for neuroticism. Neuroticism explained 43% of the variance in perceived physical health. Separation of individuals into four groups on the basis of instrumental and expressive traits showed that androgynous individuals reported significantly better health practices than other individuals providing support for the androgyny model.     

Personality traits in eating-disordered patients with and without self-injurious behaviors

Although there is a high comorbidity of eating disorder and self-injurious behavior (SIB), no systematic research has focused on personality trait differences in patients with and without SIB. In this study, a Dutch adaptation of the NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1985, 1992) was completed by 178 female, eating-disordered (ED) patients of whom 46.5% showed at least 1 form of SIB (e.g., cutting, burning, hair pulling). A subsample of 41 patients also completed the NEO-PI-R. Compared to patients without SIB, ED patients with SIB scored significantly higher on the Neuroticism scale and significantly lower on the Extraversion scale; on subtraits (facet scores) they appeared to be more anxious, more willing to please and less cheerful, efficient and ambitious. Personality traits were not associated with frequency or form of SIB or subtype of ED (except for impulsiveness). We also did not find a significant interaction effect between ED subtype and presence/absence of SIB.     

Metacognition, risk behavior, and risk outcomes: the role of perceived intelligence and perceived knowledge.

The present study explores 2 key variables in social metacognition: perceived intelligence and perceived levels of knowledge about a specific content domain. The former represents a judgment of one's knowledge at an abstract level, whereas the latter represents a judgment of one's knowledge in a specific content domain. Data from interviews of approximately 8,411 female adolescents from a national sample were analyzed in a 2-wave panel design with a year between assessments. Higher levels of perceived intelligence at Wave 1 were associated with a lower probability of the occurrence of a pregnancy over the ensuing year independent of actual IQ, self-esteem, and academic aspirations. Higher levels of perceived knowledge about the accurate use of birth control were associated with a higher probability of the occurrence of a pregnancy independent of actual knowledge about accurate use, perceived intelligence, self-esteem, and academic aspirations.     

Personality psychology and problem behaviors: HIV risk and the five-factor model

Studies of personality and problem behaviors may begin with analyses of the problem and develop hypotheses about personality traits that might be relevant; or they may begin with models of personality and explore links to behavior. Because it is well validated and relatively comprehensive, the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality lends itself to systematic exploratory studies that may sometimes lead to unanticipated findings. In this article, we review a program of research in a high-risk, disadvantaged population that illustrates the utility of the FFM in understanding health risk behavior. Previous analyses showed that behavior associated with the risk of HIV infection can be predicted from the personality dispositions of Neuroticism and (low) Conscientiousness.     

Selected lifestyle and risk behaviors associated with adolescents' smoking

A selected number of lifestyle and risk behaviors of adolescents in relation to their smoking were studied using both longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses. Data of a national sample of 4,431 nonsmoking adolescents who participated in the 1989 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey and were re-interviewed in 1993 were analyzed. Adolescents who engaged in physical fights, engaged in drunk driving, and were risk-takers were more likely to be regular experimental smokers than adolescents who did not exhibit these behaviors. The data suggest that high-risk behaviors may cluster. Interventions may be necessary to target multiple risk behaviors and be more effective in changing adolescents' risk behaviors associated with smoking.     

Personality traits,learning stratigies,and performance

The objective of this research is to analyse the relationships between personality traits, learning strategies, and performance. Two multivariate studies (N=139 and N=92) were conducted. In both studies factor analyses of the learning strategies yielded two factors. One factor, labelled, ‘learning discipline’, correlated highly with the Conscientiousness scale and the other factor, labelled, ‘elaboration’, correlated with the Openness of Experience scale. In Study 1, about 17 per cent of the variance in college grades was accounted for by personality scales and learning strategies. In Study 2, learning strategies accounted for about 31 per cent of the variance in college grades. Path analyses showed that the relations between basic personality traits and grades were mediated by the learning strategies.     

Personality, stress, smoking, and genetic predisposition as synergistic risk factors for cancer and coronary heart disease.

Risk factors for cancer have been found in the past to act synergistically in a number of studies. However, these studies were not always designed to test the hypothesis of synergism, and have sometimes failed to equate for important variables, which might influence the results. The present study tests the hypothesis that psychosocial variables and physical ones (personality/stress, smoking, and genetic predisposition) interact in a synergistic fashion in the causation of lung cancer and coronary heart disease (CHD).     

Ovarian cancer patients' psychological distress: the role of physical impairment, perceived unsupportive family and friend behaviors, perceived control, and self-esteem.

Although research has indicated that illness-related and interpersonal stress are associated with greater psychological distress among cancer patients, little empirical attention has been given to mechanisms that account for these relationships. In the present study, 2 mechanisms for the association between illness-related stress (physical impairment) and interpersonal stress (family and friend unsupportive responses) and psychological distress of 143 ovarian cancer patients were examined cross-sectionally. Separate structural equation models tested whether physical impairment impacted patients' distress via decrements in perceived control over their illness and whether unsupportive behaviors impacted patients' distress via decrements in patients' self-esteem. Results supported the proposed models and suggest that perceived control and self-esteem are 2 mechanisms for explaining how illness-related and interpersonal stress may be associated with psychological distress among women with ovarian cancer.     

Coin value and perceived size: a longitudinal study.

Decimalization of the Irish currency presented an opportunity to study the perceived size of coins as they were introduced or withdrawn and to examine the accentuation of differences between coins. Estimates were obtained of the sizes of 4 coins from 478 subjects in 3 groups tested at different times: just after decimalization, 2, or 3 yr. later. A newly introduced coin was significantly underestimated in size at first but came to be significantly overestimated later, while all familiar coins were always significantly overestimated. The amount of overestimation of a coin depended on its value, not its size, leading to an accentuation of the difference between any two coins if the larger coin was also the more valuable but sometimes to the opposite if the smaller coin were of higher value than the larger member of the pair.     

Personality traits in late adolescence predict mental disorders in early adulthood: a prospective-epidemiological study

Prospective relations between personality traits and mental disorders were assessed in a longitudinal study of a representative birth cohort of young men and women from Dunedin, New Zealand. Personality traits were assessed via self-report questionnaire at age 18, and mental disorders were assessed via diagnostic interview at both ages 18 and 21. High "negative emotionality" (a propensity to experience aversive affective states) at age 18 was linked with affective, anxiety, substance dependence, and antisocial personality disorders at age 21 when corresponding mental disorders at age 18 were controlled. Low "constraint" (difficulty inhibiting the expression of affect and impulse) at age 18 was linked with substance dependence and antisocial personality disorders at age 21 when corresponding mental disorders at age 18 were controlled. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the development and treatment of mental disorders in young adulthood.     

Personality,stress, smoking,and genetic predisposition as synergistic risk factors for cancer and coronary heart disease

Risk factors for cancer have been found in the past to act synergistically in a number of studies. However, these studies were not always designed to test the hypothesis of synergism, and have sometimes failed to equate for important variables, which might influence the results. The present study tests the hypothesis that psychosocial variables and physical ones (personality/stress, smoking, and genetic predisposition) interact in a synergistic fashion in the causation of lung cancer and coronary heart disease (CHD).     

Approach, avoidance, and inhibition: Personality traits predict cognitive control abilities

The extent to which approach and avoidance personality trait sensitivities are associated with specific cognitive control abilities as well as with verbal and nonverbal domains remains unclear. In the current study, we investigated whether approach and avoidance trait sensitivities predict performance on verbal and nonverbal versions of the Stroop task, which taps the specific cognitive control ability of inhibiting task-irrelevant information. The findings from the current study indicate that whereas approach (specifically, Extraversion) sensitivity was predictive of verbal Stroop performance, avoidance (specifically, Behavioral Inhibition System) sensitivity was predictive of nonverbal Stroop performance. These results provide novel evidence suggestive of the integration of motivational personality traits and the ability to inhibit task-irrelevant information in a domain-specific fashion.     

Personality and differential susceptibility to hypnosis: further replication and sex differences.

Following the study of Gibson & Curran (1974), a further sample of 45 subjects were tested on the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) and a slightly modified form of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (SHSS) in precisely the same way. The results in this second sample were broadly the same as those obtained in the earlier study. Combining the two samples, it was found that the sex variable provided some interesting contrasts. The power of the lie scale of the EPI to predict hypnotic susceptibility observed earlier was found to be a significant effect only for males. While there was no significant difference between the sexes in terms of the means and S.D.S. of the extraversion (E) and neuroticism (N) scales, when the interaction of these scales was studied males and females differed significantly. The population from the two studies (n = 88) was analysed by means of polar coordinates in the manner suggested by Eysenck (1966) with regard to the E nad N scales. Esyenck's prediction as to hypnotic susceptibility was strikingly confirmed. These data are briefly discussed in terms of alternative approaches to hypnosis from the 'state' and the 'non-state' viewpoints.     

Personality traits and their relationship to traffic violations.

There is a relationship between personality traits of enlisted personnel at one mid-west Air Force Base and their frequency of moving violations. The 52 individuals who received one or two moving violations were more emotionally stable than the 33 non-offenders and the 18 chronic offenders. Discriminant analysis showed significant differences between the personality characteristics of the occasional offender and the other two groups, but none between the chronic offender and the non-offender. The personality characteristics of the chronic offender resembled those of Zelhart's alcoholic offender and Dunbar's "accident-prone" individual. Additional research using a more heterogeneous sample might make possible identification of the high-frequency traffic violator by means of personality characteristics measured after his first offense.     

Relationships between perceived stress and health behaviors in a sample of working adults.

The study examined associations between perceived stress and fat intake, exercise, alcohol consumption, and smoking behaviors. Data were from surveys of 12,110 individuals in 26 worksites participating in the SUCCESS project (D. J. Hennrikus, R. W. Jeffery, & H. A. Lando, 1995), a study of smoking cessation interventions. Linear regression analyses examined cross-sectional associations between stress level and health behaviors. Analyses were stratified by gender and controlled for demographics. High stress for both men and women was associated with a higher fat diet, less frequent exercise, cigarette smoking, recent increases in smoking, less self-efficacy to quit smoking, and less self-efficacy to not smoke when stressed. Stress was not associated with alcohol intake. Findings suggest that the association between stress and disease may be moderated in part by unhealthy behaviors.     

The perceived attractiveness and traits of the Dark Triad: Narcissists are perceived as hot,Machiavellians and psychopaths not

The current work investigated how a fictitious opposite-sex narcissist, Machiavellian, and psychopath are perceived in an experimental between subjects-design with three groups (total N = 184). Participants rated personality traits (Big Five and Agency/Communion) and different domains of interpersonal attraction (likeability, attractiveness, friend value, short-term mate value, long-term mate value) of the target persons. While all three target persons were not perceived particularly favorably by participants, the narcissist was consistently perceived more favorably than the Machiavellian and the psychopath who were perceived quite similarly to each other. It is discussed why narcissists may be judged more favorably and Machiavellians and psychopaths converge in people’s lay perceptions.