Core self-evaluations interact with cognitive ability to predict academic achievement

Extant research suggests that core self-evaluations (CSE) is associated with various work-related criteria, but such research often focuses on main effects when predicting subjective outcomes. Drawing upon psychological theories involving self-concept and motivation, we investigated both the main and interactive effects of CSE and cognitive ability when predicting an objective outcome. Specifically, results indicated that high CSE strengthened the positive relation between cognitive ability and academic achievement. Study contributions and limitations are discussed.     

DNA markers associated with general and specific cognitive abilities

Multivariate quantitative genetic research suggests a hierarchical model of cognitive abilities where genetic effects are largely general, cutting across most cognitive abilities. Some genetic effects, however, are specific to certain cognitive abilities. These results lead to a hypothesis for molecular genetic research: Although most genes associated with one cognitive ability will be related to other cognitive abilities, some genes will be specific to a particular cognitive ability. The current research explored this hypothesis in an analysis of data in specific cognitive abilities from 86 children from 6 to 12 years of age from a larger allelic association study of general cognitive ability. Eight DNA markers were entered simultaneously in separate multiple regression analyses predicting each of four specific cognitive ability factors (Verbal, Spatial, Perceptual Speed, Memory), as well as WISC-R subtest scores. Four marjers (CTGB33, EST00083, HLA, and SOD2) showed similar effects across the cognitive ability scales, suggesting that they are related to general cognitive ability (g). These associations became negligible when the effects of ‘g’ (WISC-R IQ) were removed. Three markers (ADH5, DM, and NGFB) continued to be significantly associated with specific cognitive ability scales after the effects of ‘g’ were removed. Although preliminary, these molecular genetic results support the hierarchical model predicted by quantitative genetic research.     

A comparison of general and work-specific measures of core self-evaluations

During the past decade, considerable research attention has been given to core self-evaluations (CSEs). Although this research has found that CSE is related to several important work-related outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction, job performance), we believe that researchers’ reliance on general rather than work-specific CSE has resulted in underestimates of the importance of CSE. Based on the literature on frame-of-reference effects in personality assessment, we predict that work-related CSE will yield stronger relationships with work-related criteria than general CSE will and that work-specific CSE will be related to work-specific criteria after general CSE has been controlled. Using two independent samples, we found that when compared with general CSE, work-specific CSE generally failed to yield significantly stronger zero-order relationships with work-related criteria. However, we found several instances in which work-specific CSE predicted incremental variance in work-related criteria after the effects of general CSE were controlled.     

The moderation of conscientiousness by cognitive ability when predicting workplace safety behavior

Research and industry practice emphasize the usefulness of personality-based assessment, particularly measures of conscientiousness, for predicting workplace rule compliance and safety behavior. However, recent research suggests that it may also be valuable to consider potential moderators of the personality – safety relationship. Accordingly, this study uses a field sample (N = 219) to examine the degree to which cognitive ability moderates conscientiousness when predicting workplace safety behavior. As hypothesized, we found that those individuals with higher levels of cognitive ability were more likely to demonstrate higher safety behavior regardless of level of conscientiousness. In contrast, conscientiousness was a stronger predictor of safety behavior for individuals with lower levels of cognitive ability. Implications for understanding the way cognitive ability and conscientiousness interact are discussed.     

Moderators of the Relationship Between Cognitive Ability and Performance: General Versus Context–Specific Achievement Motivation1

Despite positing a multiplicative model of performance, 3 recent studies failed to find support for a theoretically meaningful interaction between cognitive ability and trait motivation in predicting performance. We suggest that it is important to consider that these studies used trait–motivation constructs that are general in nature, rather than context–specific. Yet, existing theory and research suggests that it may be beneficial to use trait–motivation constructs that are expressly contextual, especially when investigating a multiplicative performance model. This study, therefore, compared general versus context–specific achievement motivation as moderators of the relationship between cognitive ability and performance. The proposition that only context–specific achievement motivation should interact with cognitive ability in predicting performance was supported. Implications are discussed.     

Examining the Incremental Validity and Adverse Impact of Cognitive Ability and Conscientiousness on Job Performance

Using archival data from a large home improvement organization, the current study examined the incremental validity of conscientiousness over cognitive ability in predicting different performance criteria. Also, the study examined the effects of conscientiousness and cognitive ability on adverse impact. Results indicated that conscientiousness provided incremental validity over cognitive ability in the prediction of several performance criteria. Specifically, conscientiousness had the highest increases in validity over cognitive ability in the prediction of contextual performance factors (e.g., contextual performance, customer service orientation, dealing with others). However, the addition of conscientiousness failed to ameliorate the adverse impact associated with cognitive ability. In addition, limitations of the study and future directions of research are addressed.     

核心自我评价研究的反思与展望

核心自我评价是一种潜在的、宽泛的人格结构, 被定义为个体对自我能力和价值所持有的最基本的评价和估计。在过去十余年里, 核心自我评价的研究重点从早期关注结构的验证与测量、探讨核心自我评价在工作领域中的功能, 到近期开始转向探讨与心理健康、学业行为等变量的关系。另外, 核心自我评价的预测作用和调节作用可从动机、图式、能力、应对与获益和自我验证五种机制进行解释。核心自我评价的起源、过高核心自我评价是好是坏、核心自我评价还应包括或排除哪些因素、核心自我评价是否只有高低之分、“参照框架”对核心自我评价的预测力有何影响等涉及核心自我评价性质的问题目前仍没有得到解决。未来的研究可着眼于扩大研究领域、解决与核心自我评价性质有关的问题以及对核心自我评价进行本土化研究。     

Positive mood effects on delay discounting

Delay discounting is the process by which the value of an expected reward decreases as the delay to obtaining that reward increases. Individuals with higher discounting rates tend to prefer smaller immediate rewards over larger delayed rewards. Previous research has indicated that personality can influence an individual's discounting rates, with higher levels of Extraversion predicting a preference for immediate gratification. The current study examined how this relationship would be influenced by situational mood inductions. While main effects were observed for both Extraversion and cognitive ability in the prediction of discounting rates, a significant interaction was also observed between Extraversion and positive affect. Extraverted individuals were more likely to prefer an immediate reward when first put in a positive mood. Extraverts thus appear particularly sensitive to impulsive, incentive-reward-driven behavior by temperament and by situational factors heightening positive affect.     

The Validity of Conscientiousness for Predicting Job Performance: A meta‐analytic test of two hypotheses

This study examined two hypotheses regarding the moderating effects of job characteristics on the validity of personality. Using meta‐analytic techniques, the authors explored the extent to which the structural characteristics and cognitive ability requirements of jobs influence the role of conscientiousness in predicting performance. The results suggest that conscientiousness is a stronger predictor of performance in jobs that are highly routinized, and a weaker predictor of performance in jobs with high levels of cognitive ability requirements. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.     

成败反馈对大学生核心自我评价的影响：任务重要性、外向性的调节作用

该研究以247名大学生为被试,采用2（反馈类型：成功、失败）×2（任务重要性：重要任务、不重要任务）×2（外向性：内向、外向）组间设计探讨成败反馈对大学生核心自我评价的影响,以及任务重要性和外向性在其中的调节作用。结果表明：（1）反馈类型、任务重要性和外向性对核心自我评价变化的主效应及三者的交互作用效应均显著。（2）成败反馈与任务重要性对核心自我评价变化存在显著的交互作用;简单效应分析表明,在失败反馈条件下,执行重要任务被试核心自我评价的下降幅度显著大于执行不重要任务被试核心自我评价的下降幅度。（3）成败反馈与外向性对核心自我评价变化存在显著的交互作用;简单效应分析显示,在失败反馈条件下,外向被试核心自我评价的下降幅度显著小于内向被试。（4）在失败反馈条件下,任务重要性和外向性对核心自我评价的变化存在交互作用。     

Social identity threat and consumer preferences

Although marketers often link brands with an aspect of consumer social identity, the current research demonstrates that such brand-identity linkages may sometimes have negative consequences. Consumers motivated to protect and maintain feelings of individual self-worth alter their product evaluations and choices to avoid a threatened aspect of their own social identity. Whereas those low in collective self-esteem (CSE) tend to exhibit such identity avoidance effects, those high in CSE maintain associations with an identity-linked brand even when that social identity is threatened. Moreover, when the consumer feels positively about the self via self-affirmation, the effect among low CSE consumers is mitigated. Finally, it is demonstrated that differences in the use of identity as a resource underlie the effects.     

On the relative independence of thinking biases and cognitive ability

In 7 different studies, the authors observed that a large number of thinking biases are uncorrelated with cognitive ability. These thinking biases include some of the most classic and well-studied biases in the heuristics and biases literature, including the conjunction effect, framing effects, anchoring effects, outcome bias, base-rate neglect, "less is more" effects, affect biases, omission bias, myside bias, sunk-cost effect, and certainty effects that violate the axioms of expected utility theory. In a further experiment, the authors nonetheless showed that cognitive ability does correlate with the tendency to avoid some rational thinking biases, specifically the tendency to display denominator neglect, probability matching rather than maximizing, belief bias, and matching bias on the 4-card selection task. The authors present a framework for predicting when cognitive ability will and will not correlate with a rational thinking tendency.     

Core Self-Evaluations and Work Success

ABSTRACT— Core self-evaluations (CSE) is a broad, integrative trait indicated by self-esteem, locus of control, generalized self-efficacy, and (low) neuroticism (high emotional stability). While only a decade old, research on CSE suggests that it explains much of the overlap among these trait measures, while also predicting many work and other applied outcomes better than the individual traits. Individuals with high levels of CSE perform better on their jobs, are more successful in their careers, are more satisfied with their jobs and lives, report lower levels of stress and conflict, cope more effectively with setbacks, and better capitalize on advantages and opportunities. Though research on individual self-concept traits such as self-esteem and locus of control should continue, researchers interested in these traits should consider the advantages of CSE in its relation to success in work and in life.     

大学生核心自我评价对生活满意度的影响：水平和稳定性的作用

核心自我评价水平与生活满意度的关系一直受到研究者的关注,但目前仍没有实证研究探讨核心自我评价稳定性与生活满意度的关系。本研究以193名大学生为被试,采用纵向研究设计于三个时间段分别测量被试的核心自我评价水平、核心自我评价稳定性以及生活满意度,以探讨三者之间的关系。结果发现,核心自我评价水平与稳定性的相关关系不显著;核心自我评价水平能够显著预测生活满意度,但稳定性对生活满意度的预测作用不显著;调节效应检验结果表明,核心自我评价稳定性在核心自我评价水平与生活满意度之间存在调节作用。     

Using personality and cognitive ability to predict academic achievement in a young adult sample

This study examined the relationship between cognitive ability, personality, and academic achievement in post-secondary students, using latent variable models. Testing both simple and complex relationships, we found that cognitive ability and personality predicted reading achievement independently, but that they interact when predicting math achievement - at least in the Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience domains.     

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ERROR MANAGEMENT TRAINING WITH WORKING-AGED ADULTS

Low structure training that includes instructions about the benefits of errors typically enhances learning for college-student samples. Changes in abilities and skills that occur with age suggest that these findings may not necessarily generalize to working adults. Three training conditions, varying in structure and instructions, were examined in a sample of working-aged adults (N = 161, M_age= 39.7 years). Significant main effects of condition, cognitive ability, and age were found for training performance. An age × cognitive ability × error management instruction interaction indicated that error management instructions in high structure training were beneficial for older learners, especially when higher in ability. The importance of examining aptitude–treatment interactions in training research with working-aged adults is highlighted.     

Core self-evaluation moderates distinctive similarity preference in ideal partner’s personality

This research investigated the moderation effects of core self-evaluation (CSE) on singles’ ideal partner preference, concerning distinctive similarity in personality. The data were collected from singles from three countries (i.e., China, Denmark, and US), and modelled in a multilevel profile analysis. The results show that CSE moderated distinctive profile similarity preference in that people high in CSE preferred higher distinctive profile similarity with their ideal partner. In addition, CSE moderated distinctive trait similarity preference in Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness in that people high in CSE preferred their ideal partner to share higher distinctive similarity on these four traits. Implications and limitations of the research and findings are also discussed.     

INTERNATIONAL VALIDITY GENERALIZATION OF GMA AND COGNITIVE ABILITIES: A EUROPEAN COMMUNITY META-ANALYSIS

This article reports on a series of meta-analyses into the criterion validity of general menatl ability (GMA) and specific cognitive ability tests for predicting job performance ratings and training success in the European Community (EC). Meta-analyses were computed on a large EC database examining the operational validity of GMA and other specific cognitive abilities, including verbal, numerical, spatial-mechanical, perceptual and memory ( N ranged from 946 to 16,065) across 10 EC member countries. The results showed that tests of GMA and specific cognitive ability are very good predictors of job performance and training success across the EC. Evidence for the international validity generalization of GMA and specific cognitive abilities was presented. The results for the EC meta-analyses showed a larger operational validity than previous meta-analyses in the U.S. for predicting job performance. For training success, the European and American results are very similar. Implications for the international generalizability of GMA test validities, practical use of cognitive ability tests for personnel selection, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Cognitive ability, personality, and academic performance in adolescence

Does positive thinking predict variance in school grades over and above that predicted by cognitive ability? Six hundred and thirty nine high school students participated in a three-year longitudinal study that predicted grades using cognitive ability and three positive thinking variables – self-esteem, hope, and attributional style. Hope, positive attributional style and cognitive ability predicted higher grades, whilst self-esteem was a less consistent predictor of academic performance. Structural equation modelling revealed significant paths from cognitive ability, gender, and a second order positive thinking factor to grades. The results suggest that intelligence, gender, and positive thinking each play a unique role in predicting academic performance in youth. Some suggestions for further research are made.     

Prediction of Chinese life satisfaction: Contribution of collective self‐esteem

Psychologists try hard to better predict life satisfaction and happiness using different predictors. The general public, especially in the Western culture, appreciates the importance of individual self‐esteem in ordinary human functioning. Therefore, high individual self‐esteem was suggested to be the most powerful predictor of life satisfaction ( 19 Diener, 1984) and this claim was supported by empirical studies (e.g., 8 Campbell, Converse, & Rodgers, 1976; 40 Neto, 1993). However, taking the importance of collective self‐esteem (CSE) in collective cultures, this investigation evaluated whether CSE has added value in prediction of life satisfaction beyond established predictors, i.e., demographic predictors, personality predictors, and individual self‐esteem. Participants were 1347 Mainland Chinese across three generations (aged from 14 to 88 years, 52.3% female). They finished the General Life Satisfaction Scale ( 31 Leung & Leung, 1992), Life Domain Satisfaction Scale (revised from 36 Michalos, 1985), Self‐Esteem Scale ( 43 Rosenberg, 1965), Collective Self‐Esteem Scale ( 34 Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992), and Simplified Chinese Version of NEO‐FFI ( 12 Costa & McCrae, 1992). Hierarchical regression analysis and dominance analysis were used to evaluate the contribution of CSE. The result indicated that CSE added 1% explained variance to general life satisfaction and 3% explained variance to life domain satisfaction beyond demographic variables, individual self‐esteem, and personality traits. The result also revealed that, when predicting general life satisfaction, 26% of the predicted variance was attributed to CSE among the four best predictors (individual self‐esteem, CSE, extraversion, and openness to experience). When predicting life domain satisfaction, 20% of the predicted variance was attributed to CSE among the five best predictors (individual self‐esteem, neuroticism, CSE, extraversion, and agreeableness). Among two self‐esteems and the Big Five personality traits, CSE was the second most powerful predictor of life satisfaction. These results suggested that CSE might be important in helping people cope with threat, reduce uncertainty, and achieve a high level of subjective well‐being.