A cross-cultural test of the personality integration hypothesis1

This study attempted to validate the psychological integration hypothesis by comparing the levels of psychological functioning of individuals from four cultural groups on three dimensions of personality. The personality attributes investigated were field-dependence/independence cognitive style, tolerance of ambiguity (an affective style variable) and machiavellianism (an index of stylistic orientation in interpersonal relationships). Subjects were 218 first-level supervisors from five industrial plants in Auckland, New Zealand. Comparisons of mean group scores on each personality variable showed that a similar rank order among the groups held for each personality variable. It was also found that, for the sample as a whole, there were positive intercorrelations between the personality variables. The symmetrical rank ordering of the groups on the personality variables was considered to indicate that members of each group had attained relatively similar levels of psychological development on each personality attribute. The relatively low levels of intercorrelations between the personality variables were held to indicate that they were measuring separate areas of psychological functioning.     

Personality,exercise and psychological well-being: Static relationships in the community

It is often claimed that participation in physical exercise is associated with a range of psychological benefits. In addition, certain personality traits have been linked with patterns of exercise participation. However, almost no research has examined the roles of personality, exercise, and psychological well-being in a single study. The present study examined the relationships between exercise, personality traits, and psychological health in a sample of 204 women and 48 men, recruited from health clubs and adult education classes by postal survey. Results from the women in the sample suggest that participation in physical exercise contributed only a small amount of variance (6%) on the prediction of Positive Affect. Personality factors were by far the most significant determinants of psychological well-being.     

Personality traits moderate the relationships between psychological needs and enjoyment of physical activity

One of the most important factors of maintaining regular and long-term physical activity is the enjoyment an individual experiences from engaging in the activity. If basic psychological needs are fulfilled, the likelihood that someone enjoys being physically active increases. However, it is unclear whether the impact of psychological needs is influenced by personality. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate if personality traits (BIG 5) moderate the relationships between basic psychological needs and enjoyment of physical activity. We conducted an online survey with N = 399 participants (M_age = 35.82 years). Physical activity enjoyment, basic psychological needs (autonomy, perceived competence, social relatedness), and the BIG 5 were assessed. Analyses show that personality moderates the relationships between psychological needs and enjoyment of physical activity: Extraversion moderates the relationship between social relatedness and enjoyment, conscientiousness and neuroticism moderate the relationship between perceived competence and enjoyment, and agreeableness, but not openness, moderates the relationship between autonomy and enjoyment. Our findings suggest that the BIG 5 play an important role regarding the experience of physical activity enjoyment. Therefore, personality should be considered to design interventions more tailored to individual needs in order to promote enjoyment of physical activity effectively.     

The Marxist-Leninist concept of personality and its significance for the integration of psychiatric patients

The Marxist view of man as the "ensemble of social relations" is a prerequisite for understanding the personality of the mentally handicapped. The dialectic relationship between biological and social events permits the conclusion that restrictedly developed versions of the personality must be accepted as natural. The particular obligation of society is to ensure the all-round integration, encouragement and care of such handicapped persons. The task of the medical fraternity is to establish a comprehensive system to prevent such handicaps.     

Spinal cord injured people: differences in psychological variables from a gender perspective

This ex post factor study is within the framework of studies dealing with the psychological aspects involved in the rehabilitation of people with physical handicaps from the perspective of gender. From this perspective, the study focuses on comparing and studying the differences between men and women using the EMELM Scale (Multidimensional Evaluative Scale for People with Spinal Cord Injury). Participants were 143 people -99 men and 44 women- with spinal cord injuries. The results showed no differences as a result of gender in any of the following psychological variables related to the spinal cord injury adjustment process: extraversion-neuroticism, motivation and anxiety, locus of control, current coping strategies, remembrance of coping strategies and depression. The implications of these results for future research are discussed.     

Mapping the field of the whole human: Toward a form psychology

The concept of personality has served as the model of the whole human being within modern psychology for most of the 20th century. However, the original reasons for this selection were based on philosophical assumptions that have since come to be rejected by philosophers of science. Other approaches to the whole human have been identified within psychology, as well as philosophy and theology, which can also serve as models of the whole human in psychology, and which highlight additional, distinctly human kinds of psychological wholeness. The value of a number of the most important models will be discussed, and it will be suggested that the concept of form could serve as a higher-order concept for the psychological subdiscipline of the whole human being.     

Is Change Bad? Personality Change Is Associated with Poorer Psychological Health and Greater Metabolic Syndrome in Midlife

Personality change is emerging as an important predictor of health and well‐being. Extending previous research, we examined whether two types of personality change, directional and absolute, are associated with both subjective and objective indicators of health. Utilizing the longitudinal Midlife in the United States survey (MIDUS) data, we examined whether both types of change over 10 years were associated with psychological well‐being, self‐reported global health, and the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) components and diagnosis. Socially undesirable personality change (e.g., becoming less conscientious and more neurotic) and absolute personality change were independently associated with worse perceived health and well‐being at Time 2. Notably, absolute personality change, regardless of the direction, was also associated with having a greater number of MetS components and a greater probability of diagnosis at Time 2. In sum, too much personality change may be bad for one's health: Socially undesirable and absolute personality change were both associated with worse psychological health and worse metabolic profiles over 10 years. These findings suggest that personality change may contribute to psychological and physical health, and provide initial insight into potential intermediate links between personality change and distal outcomes such as mortality.     

Physical fitness and enhanced psychological health

A great deal of attention has been given to the association between physical fitness and psychological health. The purpose of this view is to examine recent developments in the burgeoning exercise and psychological health literature and to explore avenues for future research. The current review focuses on research that has examined enhancement of psychological health and well-being among nonclinical populations since 1980. Four areas of psychological functioning are reviewed: (1) psychological well-being and mood, (2) personality and self-concept, (3) physiological stress responsivity and (4) cognition. Exercise appears to improve mood and psychological well-being as well as enhancing self-concept and self-esteem. Exercise appears to do little for personality functioning. Furthermore, mixed empirical support exists to suggest that exercise influences stress responsivity and cognitive functioning. However better research designs and procedures are still needed. Theories regarding the connection between exercise and psychological functioning as well as suggestions for future research are offered.     

Progress in Psychoblography

ABSTRACT Progress in psychobiography What is it? Has there been any? And what processes contnbute to it? The issue of progress in psychobiography is pursued from two different perspectives The first section briefly reviews the historical growth of the field, including the range of disciplines involved, the rise of associated professional organizations and publication outlets, and a quantitative analysis of the increase in books, articles, and dissertations in psychobiography The second section argues that progress in psychobiographical understanding can be analyzed into eight component processes, such as the collection of additional evidence, the formulation of fresh interpretations, critical examination of prior explanations, and the application of new theoretical advances These processes are illustrated with an examination of the course of debate about the physical and psychological disturbances of King George III Personality psychology is concerned with the four basic tasks of developing general theories of personality, analyzing individual and group differences, understanding individual persons, and studying selected processes and classes of behavior In that developing a better understanding of individual persons is one of the ultimate objectives of personality psychology, progress in psychobiography is intimately related to progress in personality psychology as a whole     

Optimism and pessimism as predictors of physical and psychological health among grandmothers raising their grandchildren

This study examines the role of personality in predicting psychological and physical health among grandmothers who are coping with a non-normative non-traumatic stressor, i.e. serving as primary caregivers for their grandchildren. Using the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), a measure of personality disposition, we examine the contributions of both optimism and pessimism to health outcomes. ANOVAs and regression analyses of the LOT-R and self reports of health in 67 African American and Latino grandmothers revealed psychological (obsessive compulsive symptoms, depression, hostility) and physical (sleep disorder, hypertension) health outcomes are differentially predicted by optimism and pessimism among older and younger age-groups of grandmothers. Implications for grandmothers’ response to caregiving stress and for future studies of personality’s relation to health are discussed.     

缺陷儿童人格诊断量表的修订

缺陷儿童人格诊断量表是日本特殊教育领域的一种专门用于测量缺陷儿童人格的著名量表。作者用三年时间对其进行了修订,建立了包括弱智、聋哑、盲等缺陷儿童的中国常模。该量表具有较高的信度与效度,是一个较好的心理测量工具。     

A new Big Five: fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality

Despite impressive advances in recent years with respect to theory and research, personality psychology has yet to articulate clearly a comprehensive framework for understanding the whole person. In an effort to achieve that aim, the current article draws on the most promising empirical and theoretical trends in personality psychology today to articulate 5 big principles for an integrative science of the whole person. Personality is conceived as (a) an individual's unique variation on the general evolutionary design for human nature, expressed as a developing pattern of (b) dispositional traits, (c) characteristic adaptations, and (d) self-defining life narratives, complexly and differentially situated (e) in culture and social context. The 5 principles suggest a framework for integrating the Big Five model of personality traits with those self-defining features of psychological individuality constructed in response to situated social tasks and the human need to make meaning in culture.     

Personality and intimate partner aggression in dating relationships: the role of the "Big Five"

Although personality is shown to predict negative relationship experiences, few researchers have used a structural model of personality to study the ways that personality contributes to intimate partner aggression (IPA). This study investigates the five-factor model of personality and its associations with both the use and receipt of psychological, physical, and sexual IPA in 179 men and 301 women. Each of the five factors of personality was associated with at least one type of IPA perpetration or victimization. The dimensions of neuroticism and agreeableness were the strongest predictors of IPA particularly for women. Results are discussed in terms of why personality should be considered as a predictor for both the use and receipt of IPA, why sex differences emerged, and future research that should be conducted.     

The Openness-calibration hypothesis

The current study tested the hypotheses that (1) psychological adaptations calibrate Openness to Experience to facilitate or deter pursuit of short-term mating, and (2) this calibration varies as a function of mating strategy, physical attractiveness, and sex—individual differences that shift the costs and benefits of alternative personality strategies. Participants completed a personality inventory before and after reading vignettes describing mating opportunities of different durations (short- and long-term) with individuals of differing levels of attractiveness. Among study findings, participants presented with short-term mating opportunities with individuals of average attractiveness exhibited down-regulated Openness relative to those presented with highly attractive mates. Moreover, these effects varied as a function of the interaction between participants’ sex, mating strategy, and attractiveness. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that evolved psychological mechanisms adaptively calibrate Openness levels in response to short-term mating opportunities. More broadly, they highlight the heuristic value of an evolutionary framework for the study of personality and individual differences.     

The relationship of anthropometric measurements with psychological criteria in female athletes

Sports and exercise settings as well as other socio-cultural environments emphasize a thin and physically fit female body. However, there is a clear need for a better understanding of the physical and psychological correlates of social physique anxiety and body image dissatisfaction in female athletes. This study aimed to examine the association of the social physique anxiety, body image satisfaction, and personality with the anthropometric measurements in female college athletes according to their sport type using the Co-Plot technique. The sample included 63 female athletes ranging in age from 18 to 26. Results of the Co-Plot analysis revealed a significant association among social physique anxiety, personality and anthropometric measurements. This means that certain physical measurements may lead to greater social physique anxiety and body image dissatisfaction in female athletes. It was found that females having higher levels of social physique anxiety and thus, lower levels of body image satisfaction may be less emotionally stable and more negatively perfectionist. In conclusion, the results of the present study provided evidence to the claim that both physical self-perception and anthropometric measurements may be closely associated with psychological criteria in female athletes.     

A Three‐Domain Personality Analysis of a Mentally Tough Athlete

The current study adopted McAdams' multilayer framework as the basis to develop a psychological portrait of an elite athlete who was identified as being particularly ‘mentally tough’. The aim was to use this single case as an exemplar to demonstrate the utility of McAdams' framework for understanding the complexity of sport performers across three domains of personality: dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations, and narrative identity. We operationalised these domains through the development of specific research questions and, subsequently, the collection and integration of the participant's Big Five traits, personal strivings, coping strategies, and response to a life story interview. The results offered a comprehensive insight into the nature of one athlete's personality that, in turn, informed conceptual perspectives of mental toughness in sport psychology literature and qualitatively supported emerging evidence of the validity of a three‐layer framework in personality psychology. Specifically, the study's design showed how a holistic approach to personality analysis can lead to a more complete psychological representation of competitors in sport, and people generally. It demonstrated how motivational, sociocultural, and meaning‐making aspects of personality can complement a trait profile to achieving a satisfying assessment of the whole person. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology     

对高校大学生心理健康教育教师队伍构建的思考

大学生是年龄、经历、文化程度都比较接近的特殊社会群体,其心理健康问题越来越受到社会和学校的关注。目前我国高等学校急需构建一支相对稳定的专兼职结合的大学生心理健康教师队伍,来帮助大学生提高心理健康水平,促进其人格的和谐发展,增强社会适应能力。该文就高校心理健康教育师资队伍的构建提出了一些看法。     

The contribution of temperament, childhood neglect, and abuse to the development of personality dysfunction: a comparison of three models

We examined the contribution of temperament, childhood neglect, and abuse to the development of personality dysfunction as postulated in three different but correlated models of personality: the psychobiological, Vaillant's psychoanalytic, and DSM psychopathology models. Character, defense style, and personality disorder symptomatology (the dependent variables), and temperament, childhood neglect, and abuse (the independent variables) were assessed in 168 depressed outpatients. High harm avoidance (temperament) tended to be the strongest and most consistent risk factor across the three models. Deficient parental care predicted personality dysfunction, however low care was not consistently predictive across all three models. Emotional/psychological abuse and actual physical abuse were risk factors for increasing personality disorder symptomatology only. Childhood sexual abuse was not as predictive of personality dysfunction as might be expected, thereby raising questions as to the importance placed on child sexual abuse as a general risk factor for personality psychopathology.     

On Energy, Personality, and Health: Subjective Vitality as a Dynamic Reflection of Well-Being

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine subjective vitality, a positive feeling of aliveness and energy, in six studies. Subjective vitality is hypothesized to reflect organismic well-being and thus should covary with both psychological and somatic factors that impact the energy available to the self. Associations are shown between subjective vitality and several indexes of psychological well-being; somatic factors such as physical symptoms and perceived body functioning; and basic personality traits and affective dispositions. Subsequently, vitality is shown to be lower in people with chronic pain compared to matched controls, especially those who perceive their pain to be disabling or frightening. Subjective vitality is further associated with self-motivation and maintained weight loss among patients treated for obesity. Finally, subjective vitality is assessed in a diary study for its covariation with physical symptoms. Discussion focuses on the phenomenological salience of personal energy and its relations to physical and psychological well-being.