Influences of lateral preference and personality on behaviour towards a manual sorting task

Differences in task behaviour between left- and right-handers and left- and right-eared individuals have been reported (e.g.  and ) with left-handers taking longer to begin a task and right-eared individuals having a more disinhibited approach. Personality measurements are also important when examining approach behaviour. Jackson (2008) reported that those with higher neuroticism levels and a right-ear preference react faster to tasks. The current study investigated the effects of lateral preference and personality on behaviour towards a manual sorting task. Eighty-five participants completed laterality and personality scales and a card-sorting task. Degree of hand preference was found to influence behaviour towards the task with strong left-handers taking longer to begin. Those with a left congruent lateral preference (left-hand, left-ear) took significantly longer to begin the task than those with a right congruent preference. Neither neuroticism nor extraversion influenced task approach. We concluded that hand preference, and more specifically a strong left-hand preference is a good predictor of a longer initiation time on a manual task. Ear preference on its own does not predict initiation time.     

A study of the relationship between personality traits and theoretical orientation preferences

This study explored the relationship between personality and theoretical orientation preferences in two separate samples of psychotherapy practitioners and students. A total of 493 participants (274 practitioners and 219 students) completed a web‐based survey. Preference for theoretical orientation was assessed using a measure adapted from the Theoretical Orientation Profile Scale‐Revised, while personality was assessed with the HEXACO Personality Inventory. After controlling for the effects of gender, profession, and degree type, personality was found to predict preference for the humanistic/existential, cognitive‐behavioural, psychodynamic, and feminist theoretical orientations across both samples. Personality also predicted preference for the multicultural, family systems, and neuropsychological orientations, although these findings were applicable to only one sample. Implications for future research, psychotherapy training, and practice are discussed.     

The face of personality: Adaptive inferences from facial cues are moderated by perceiver personality and motives

Humans have historically been interested in understanding stable individual differences in behavioral tendencies, often referred to as personality traits. Recent work suggests that between‐person personality variability may be adaptive insofar as certain variations in personality constellations facilitate survival and reproduction across various types of groups and ecological niches. While past research has demonstrated that personality can be accurately inferred from self‐reports, other‐reports, and targets' past behavior, we discuss a more contemporary, yet understudied, means of personality inference: facial structure. We summarize research on personality traits that can be accurately inferred from facial structure, as well as how aspects of individuals' own personality, chronically accessible motives, and acutely activated goals lead to preferences for facially communicated personality that would aid in the satisfaction of these goals (e.g., higher need to belong predicts a stronger preference for faces whose structure communicates greater extraversion). We also discuss limitations of current approaches to understanding the relationship between perceiver personality and motives and their relation to perceptions of facially communicated personality as well as fruitful directions for future research.     

Individual differences in cognitive strategy and personality traits as measured by the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire

The relationship between personality and preference for use of the right or left hemisphere of the brain in cognitive processing was investigated. Lateral eye movements were recorded as 50 female and 20 male right-handed subjects considered questions requiring reflection. The questions were not obviously "verbal" or "spatial" in nature but did require differing levels of reflection. Questions requiring higher levels of reflection produced a higher rate of lateral eye movement responses. Percent right eye movement for individual subjects was then correlated with scores on the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, using both first-order factors and the second-order factor Cortertia, which has some face validity as describing the personality generally ascribed to those who produce mostly right lateral eye movements. No correlation was found between the preferred directions of eye movements and 16 PF factors, which suggests that the lateral eye movements reflect thinking and problem-solving strategies but are not associated with personality styles.     

Personality characteristics that are valued in teams: Not always “more is better”?

This study investigates the relationships between personality traits and contributions to teamwork that are often assumed to be linear. We use a theory‐driven approach to propose that extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness have inverted U‐shaped relationships with contributions to teamwork. In a sample of 220 participants asked to perform a creative task in teams, we found that extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness were curvilinearly associated with peer‐rated contributions to teamwork in such a way that the associations were positive, with a decreasing slope, up to a peak, and then they became negative as personality scores further increased. We replicated the results concerning the non‐linear association between extraversion, conscientiousness and peer‐rated contributions to teamwork in a sample of 314 participants engaged in a collaborative learning exercise. Our results support recent claims and empirical evidence that explorations of personality–work‐related behaviours relationships should move beyond the linearity assumptions. We conclude by discussing the implications of our research for personnel selection.     

Personality and self-reported preference for music genres and attributes in a German-speaking sample

Research of music preferences yielded consistent results about the relationship of music preference, biographic variables, and personality. This study replicates some of these findings in a German-speaking sample (N = 1329). We conducted an online study using self-report assessments. We confirmed the five-factor structure of music genre preference and the three-factor structure of music attribute preference using EFA and CFA. In addition to previous research, we showed that the three-factor structure of music attribute preference is also replicated in self-reported assessments. We examined the relationships of personality and music preferences using SEM. This study contributes to the overall picture of music preference research and provides additional insights into the little-examined field of the relationship of music attribute preference and personality.     

主动性人格与员工行为的关系：政治技能视角下有中介的调节模型

本研究通过两时点纵向问卷调查,探讨主动性人格与组织公民行为、任务绩效之间的关系,考察主动社会化行为在其中的中介作用,以及政治技能的调节作用。结果表明：（1）主动社会化行为在主动性人格和组织公民行为、任务绩效之间起中介作用;（2）政治技能对主动社会化行为在主动性人格和组织公民行为、任务绩效之间的中介效应起调节作用：当政治技能水平上升,主动性人格通过主动社会化行为对组织公民行为及任务绩效的预测更加明显。     

主动性人格与员工行为的关系：政治技能视角下有中介的调节模型

本研究通过两时点纵向问卷调查,探讨主动性人格与组织公民行为、任务绩效之间的关系,考察主动社会化行为在其中的中介作用,以及政治技能的调节作用。结果表明：（1）主动社会化行为在主动性人格和组织公民行为、任务绩效之间起中介作用;（2）政治技能对主动社会化行为在主动性人格和组织公民行为、任务绩效之间的中介效应起调节作用：当政治技能水平上升,主动性人格通过主动社会化行为对组织公民行为及任务绩效的预测更加明显。     

The effect of usage situation on Korean consumers' brand evaluation: The moderating role of self‐monitoring

The objective of this research is to test the theoretical conceptualizations of the self – the malleable self‐concept – by examining the interplay of brand personality and social situation in determining brand preference and evaluation. This research also aims to assess the moderating influence of self‐monitoring in the relationship. Two experimental studies were conducted in Korea. Findings suggest that the congruency of brand personality traits and social situations leads to a more positive brand attitude. This research also supported theory‐based interactions in which situation congruity was enhanced for high versus low self‐monitors. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Left Hemispheric Lateral Preference and High Neuroticism Predict Disinhibition in Two Go/No‐Go Experiments

Although disinhibition is widely implicated in impulse‐control‐related psychopathologies, debate remains regarding the underlying approach and avoidance processes of this construct. In two studies, we simultaneously tested three competing models in which varying levels of extraversion, neuroticism, and hemispheric lateral preference are associated with disinhibition. In both studies (Study 1, N = 92; Study 2, N = 124), undergraduate students were randomly allocated to one of two versions of the go/no‐go task: one where participants were primed through reward to make more “go” responses and another where no such priming occurred. Neuroticism, extraversion, and hemispheric lateral preference measures were also collected. Across both studies, disinhibition was greatest in individuals who reported both a left hemispheric lateral preference and high neuroticism. This pattern was only found for those who were primed through reward to make more “go” responses. There was no association with extraversion. Contrary to previous research, our results suggest that left hemispheric asymmetry and neuroticism and not extraversion drive disinhibited approach, following the establishment of a prepotent approach response set. This has salient implications for the theoretical understanding of disinhibited behavior, as well as for the study of continued maladaptive approach behavior.     

Personality disorder and antisocial deviance: comments on the debate on the structure of the psychopathy checklist-revised

The recent debate on the structure of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R: Hare, 1991; 2003) has been presented primarily as a statistical issue, but underlying it are longstanding conceptual issues about the relationship of personality concepts to deviant behavior and of psychopathy to criminality and personality disorder. I discuss these issues in this paper. The antisocial items of the PCL-R seem to reflect a propensity to commit crimes that has long been of interest to criminology. This disposition overlaps with, but differs conceptually from personality dispositions, but these surface dispositions do not provide a causal account of criminality. I present data that indicate that the core personality characteristics of psychopathy are more closely related to narcissistic and histrionic personality disorders than to antisocial personality disorder. Overemphasis on involvement in crime has obscured the nature of psychopathy as a disorder of personality characterised by interpersonally harmful behavior that need not necessarily take criminal form.     

Is risk-taking propensity associated with unethical behaviors? An experimental study

Are risk-takers more likely to engage in unethical behaviors? We examined the relationship between risk-taking propensity and cheating in two experimental studies. In Study 1, we examined the relationship between subjects’ risk-taking propensity and their actual self-serving dishonesty using a gambling-like task. The results suggested that risk-taking propensity, measured using a behavioral approach, was positively correlated with actual self-serving dishonest behavior. In Study 2, we measured participants’ performances using a matrices test and found that the positive correlation still held. We found that participants with high risk-taking propensity reported a lower perceived probability of being detected, which might drive their dishonest behavior.     

Adolescents' music preferences and personality characteristics

The present paper examined the structure of Dutch adolescents' music preferences, the stability of music preferences and the relations between Big‐Five personality characteristics and (changes in) music preferences. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of music‐preference data from 2334 adolescents aged 12–19 revealed four clearly interpretable music‐preference dimensions: Rock, Elite, Urban and Pop/Dance. One thousand and forty‐four randomly selected adolescents from the original sample filled out questionnaires on music preferences and personality at three follow‐up measurements. In addition to being relatively stable over 1, 2 and 3‐year intervals, music preferences were found to be consistently related to personality characteristics, generally confirming prior research in the United States. Personality characteristics were also found to predict changes in music preferences over a 3‐year interval. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Dark Side” Personality Styles as Predictors of Task,Contextual, and Job Performance

Many meta‐analyses and hundreds of primary studies have been carried out on the criterion‐oriented validity of personality measures for predicting job performance. The Five‐Factor Model of personality has been used as a frame for analyzing the empirical evidence. However, the research in industrial, work and organizational psychology has not examined the relationship between the dysfunctional tendencies of personality and the personality disorders as described in DSM‐IV (Axis II) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and job performance. The present paper examines the relationship between job performance and the dysfunctional personality styles included in a non‐clinical personality inventory developed to assess personality tendencies related to the dysfunctional (normal) personality styles and the personality disorders in work settings. This inventory assesses 14 dysfunctional personality styles and was given to a sample of 85 applicants. The job performance was rated by the direct supervisor 8 months later, and three measures were obtained: task performance, contextual performance, and overall job performance. The results showed that the seven dysfunctional personality styles (suspicious, shy, sad, pessimistic, sufferer, eccentric, and risky) predicted the three measures of job performance. The egocentric personality style negatively predicted contextual performance. Finally, the submitted style predicted task performance. With the exception of the risky personality style, the rest of the styles mainly consisted of Neuroticism. Implications for the research and practice of personnel selection are discussed.     

The influence of personality and cognitive failures on distracted driving behaviors among young adults

Distracted driving is a major safety concern. This paper explores the role personality traits and self-reported cognitive failures play in the propensity towards distracted driving behavior (DDB) among young adults in the United States. Two independent time-separated studies (study 1 with 522 participants; study 2 with 314 participants) confirm the role of cognitive failures as a mediator between specific personality traits and DDB propensity among young adult drivers. The results of this study suggest drivers’ personality traits such as extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism have a direct impact on DDB propensity. In addition, there is evidence that cognitive failure mediates the relationship between these three personality traits and DDB propensity. Lastly, based on the results, agreeableness moderates the relationship between cognitive failure and DDB propensity. Together, these findings suggest that personality traits should be considered in conjunction with driver’s cognitive failure in explaining DDB propensity. Future research using a combination of self-reported, naturalistic and simulation studies may provide additional insight into the relationships between personality traits, cognitive failures, and the propensity towards DDB.     

A link between altruism and sexual selection: Genetic influence on altruistic behaviour and mate preference towards it

Altruistic behaviour raises major questions for psychology and biology. One hypothesis proposes that human altruistic behaviour evolved as a result of sexual selection. Mechanisms that seek to explain how sexual selection works suggest genetic influence acting on both the mate preference for the trait and the preferred trait itself. We used a twin study to estimate whether genetic effects influenced responses to psychometric scales measuring mate preference towards altruistic traits (MPAT) and the preferred trait (i.e., ‘altruistic personality’). As predicted, we found significant genetic effects influencing variation in both. We also predicted that individuals expressing stronger MPAT and ‘altruistic personality’ would have mated at a greater frequency in ancestral populations. We found evidence for this in that 67% of the covariance in the phenotypic correlation between the two scales was associated with significant genetic effects. Both sets of findings are thus consistent with the hypothesized link between sexual selection and human altruism towards non‐kin. We discuss how this study contributes to our understanding of altruistic behaviour and how further work might extend this understanding.     

TAKING STOCK OF CHILDREN'S PREFERENCES IN HUMOROUS LITERATURE

Abstract

Studies show children rank humorous stories very high on lists of preferred readings. Many variables exist regarding children's sense of humor, among them are age, sex, socio‐economic background, personality and intelligence. This research study examines the relationship between grade level and the sex of children and their preference for and perception of select elements of humor. Classroom teachers can take advantage of the findings as they develop reading activities for their students as well as the bibliographical references of humorously written material for children of different ages.     

Complexity preference in substance abusers and controls: relationships to diagnosis and personality variables

To assess the relationship between complexity preference as measured by the Barron-Welsh Revised Art Scale and models of arousal and personality, 36 male substance abusers and 24 community controls were given this tool as well as a battery of personality tests. Some support was found for the notion that emotionality, as measured by the Test of Emotional Styles, was associated with preference for complexity. Relevant neurobiological models of affective expression and hemispheric asymmetry are discussed in light of these findings.     

Complex Relationships Among Personality Traits,Job Characteristics,and Work Behaviors

The aim of the study was to investigate the additive, mediating, and moderating effects of personality traits and job characteristics on work behaviors. Job applicants (N=161) completed personality questionnaires measuring extraversion, neuroticism, achievement motivation, and experience seeking. One and a half years later, supervisors rated the applicants' job performance, and the job incumbents completed questionnaires about skill variety, autonomy, and feedback, work stress, job satisfaction, work self‐efficacy, and propensity to leave. LISREL was used to test 15 hypotheses. Perceived feedback mediated the relationship between achievement motivation and job performance. Extraversion predicted work self‐efficacy and job satisfaction. Work stress mediated the relationship between neuroticism and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction and experience seeking were related to propensity to leave. Autonomy, skill variety, and feedback were related to job satisfaction.     

Transliminality and Creativity

Using 50 psychology undergraduates, an attempt was made to find positive correlations between, on the one hand, transliminality (psychological material crossing thresholds into or out of consciousness), and on the other hand, (item‐corrected) creative personality, and figure‐complexity preference (as given by the Revised Barron‐Welsh Art Scale: a measure of creativity). Only the correlation between transliminality and creative personality was significant. There was also a significant and high test‐retest reliability coefficient for the Transliminality Scale, as well as a significant positive correlation between creative personality and paranormal belief.