Reciprocal relationships between personality traits and psychological well-being

This study used an American sample collected over a period of approximately 2 decades (at 3 time points) to examine the temporal relationships between psychological well-being and personality traits (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience). The random-intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to separate between-person and within-person sources of variation. Between-person correlations were comparable to those of previous studies. New insights were gained at the within-person level. There were reciprocal relationships between psychological well-being and openness and extraversion, suggesting the joint development of plasticity-related traits and well-being over time. The relationships between psychological well-being and conscientiousness and agreeableness were unidirectional, with psychological well-being preceding these traits. Despite a strong between-person association between neuroticism and psychological well-being, the two were not related at the within-person level.     

Psychometric Properties of the Beck Depression Inventory–II in Low-Income,African American Suicide Attempters

The construct of perfectionistic cognitions is defined as a state-like construct resulting from a perfectionistic self-schema and activated by specific situational demands. Only a few studies have investigated whether and how perfectionistic cognitions change across different situations and whether they reflect stable between-person differences or also within-person variations over time. We conducted 2 studies to investigate the variability and stability of 3 dimensions of perfectionistic cognitions while situational demands changed (Study 1) and on a daily level during a highly demanding period of time (Study 2). The results of both studies revealed that stable between-person differences accounted for the largest proportion of variance in the dimensions of perfectionistic cognitions and that these differences were validly associated with between-person differences in affect. The frequency of perfectionistic cognitions increased during students' first semester at university, and these average within-person changes were different for the 3 dimensions of perfectionistic cognitions (Study 1). In addition, there were between-person differences in the within-person changes that were validly associated with concurrent changes in closely related constructs (unpleasant mood and tense arousal). Within-person variations in perfectionistic cognitions were also validly associated with variations in unpleasant mood and tense arousal from day to day (Study 2).     

How Do Job Insecurity and Organizational Justice Relate to Depressive Symptoms and Sleep Difficulties: A Multilevel Study on Immediate and Prolonged Effects in Swedish Workers

Drawing on stress and justice literature, we argue that perceptions of job insecurity induce feelings of low procedural justice, which has immediate and prolonged negative effects on health (depressive symptoms, sleep difficulties). Moreover, we explore whether the strength of the job insecurity–justice relationship differs between individuals as a function of their average level of job insecurity over time. Finally, we explore whether the procedural justice–health relationship differs between individuals as a function of variability in justice perceptions over time. We analyzed Swedish panel data from permanent workers over four consecutive waves (with a two-year time lag between waves) using multilevel analysis, separating within- and between-person variance. Results showed that job insecurity associated negatively with procedural justice at the same time point for all waves. Prolonged effects were less stable. We found immediate (but not prolonged) indirect effects of job insecurity on health outcomes via procedural justice. Average levels in job insecurity over time moderated the within-person job insecurity–justice relationship. However, variability in procedural justice over time did not moderate the within-person justice–health relationship. In conclusion, disentangling within- and between-person variability of job insecurity and justice perceptions contributes to the understanding of health effects.     

Poor emotion regulation ability mediates the link between depressive symptoms and affective bipolarity

People's relationship between positive and negative affect varies on a continuum from relatively independent to bipolar opposites, with stronger bipolar opposition being termed affective bipolarity. Experiencing more depressive symptoms is associated with increased bipolarity, but the processes underlying this relation are not yet understood. Here, we sought to replicate this link, and to examine the role of two potential mediating mechanisms: emotion regulation ability, and trait brooding. Drawing from the Dynamic Model of Affect, we hypothesised that (a) a poor ability to regulate negative emotion, and (b) the tendency to brood over one's depressed feelings would predict stronger affective bipolarity, and mediate the relationship between depressive symptoms and affective bipolarity. To measure affective bipolarity, we calculated within-person affect correlations using two weeks of experience sampling data from a community sample (n?=?100). Mediation analyses indicated that baseline assessments of an inability to regulate negative emotions in general, but not brooding specifically, mediated the relation between depressive symptoms and affective bipolarity. These findings highlight an initial mechanism through which depressive symptoms are associated with lower emotional complexity and flexibility.     

Activity engagement is related to level, but not change in cognitive ability across adulthood

It is unclear whether the longitudinal relation between activity participation and cognitive ability is due to preserved differentiation (active individuals have higher initial levels of cognitive ability), or differential preservation (active individuals show less negative change across time). This distinction has never been evaluated after dividing time-varying activity into its two sources of variation: between-person and within-person variability. Further, few studies have investigated how the association between activity participation and cognitive ability may differ from early to older adulthood. Using the PATH Through Life Project, we evaluated whether between- and within-person variation in activity participation was associated with cognitive ability and change within cohorts aged 20-24 years, 40-44 years, and 60-64 years at baseline (n = 7,152) assessed on three occasions over an 8-year interval. Multilevel models indicated that between-person differences in activity significantly predicted baseline cognitive ability for all age cohorts and for each assessed cognitive domain (perceptual speed, short-term memory, working memory, episodic memory, and vocabulary), even after accounting for sex, education, occupational status, and physical and mental health. In each case, greater average participation was associated with higher baseline cognitive ability. However, the size of the relationship involving average activity participation and baseline cognitive ability did not differ across adulthood. Between-person activity and within-person variation in activity level were both not significantly associated with change in cognitive test performance. Results suggest that activity participation is indeed related to cognitive ability across adulthood, but only in relation to the starting value of cognitive ability, and not change over time.     

Body-related emotions and subsequent physical activity behaviour: An ecological momentary assessment

Body-related shame and guilt are theorized to be time-varying affective determinants of physical activity, yet research has predominantly relied on self-report measures of physical activity and between-person associations. To address these limitations, the present study used ecological momentary assessment to examine within- and between-person associations between body-related shame and guilt, and subsequent time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) measured by continuously worn accelerometers. University students (n = 98; 79.6% female; m_age = 19.45) were prompted 49 times over seven days to report body-related shame and guilt, and wore activPAL accelerometers to monitor movement behaviours. Higher levels of within-person body-related guilt, but not shame, were associated with increased subsequent time spent in MVPA. Contrary to existing literature, neither body-related shame nor guilt demonstrated a significant association with average levels of MVPA between individuals. These findings support theoretical propositions that body-related guilt may impact engagement in physical activity in daily life.     

A within-person approach to the relation between quality of task motivation,performance and job satisfaction in everyday working life

Research generally shows that autonomous forms of motivation are associated with higher performance and job satisfaction, whereas controlled forms of motivation are linked to worse outcomes. These relationships are largely based on between-persons data from cross-sectional studies or longitudinal studies with few measurement points. However, motivation quality, performance, and job satisfaction can vary considerably from day to day and from task to task. It is unclear whether and how these experiences and behaviors covary over time within individuals at work in daily life. The present study assessed this using a diary approach. With a default protocol of 30 working days, an ecological momentary assessment application prompted 19 white-collar workers five times a day to report their autonomous and controlled motivation for work tasks and their productivity and job satisfaction at the end of each day. Fourteen participants gathered sufficient data to compute within-person relations and individual networks. At the between-person level, results were somewhat in line with prior survey-based research, whereas results at the within-person level present more nuanced findings and demonstrate that these will not inherently align with previous between-person findings. Individual network analyses indicated considerable interindividual heterogeneity, especially in the relationships between motivation and job satisfaction. In conclusion, these findings point to significant variability in the observed relations between task-related motivation, performance and job satisfaction in everyday life, and highlight the added value of a within person approach and individual networks in addition to between-persons approaches. The implications of these findings for occupational wellbeing research are discussed.

     

When Good Feelings Turn Mixed: Affective Dynamics and Big Five Trait Predictors of Mixed Emotions in Daily Life

In this study, we examine how daily life fluctuations in positive affect (PA) and negative afect (NA) relate to mixed emotions—that is, simultaneous positive and negative feelings. We utilised three experience sampling studies (total N = 275), in which participants reported their affect 10 times each day for up to 14 days. Because people generally experience fairly stable moderate levels of PA in daily life, we proposed that mixed emotions would typically occur when NA increases and overlaps with, but does not entirely eliminate, PA. Accordingly, within individuals, we found that mixed emotions in daily life were more strongly predicted by changes in NA and the occurrence of negative events than by changes in PA and positive events. At the between-person level, individuals with more variable NA, more stable PA, and higher trait Neuroticism scores experienced higher average levels of mixed emotions. Further, we found evidence that the average magnitude of NA increases may partially mediate the association between Neuroticism and mixed emotions. We also found that positive predictors of mixed emotions are negative predictors of individuals' within-person PA/NA correlations—that is, affective synchrony. Our findings elucidate trait predictors and affective dynamics of daily life mixed emotions, which appear closely intertwined with NA variability. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology     

A procedure for evaluating sensitivity to within-person change: can mood measures in diary studies detect change reliably?

The recent growth in diary and experience sampling research has increased research attention on how people change over time in natural settings. Often however, the measures in these studies were originally developed for studying between-person differences, and their sensitivity to within-person changes is usually unknown. Using a Generalizability Theory framework, the authors illustrate a procedure for developing reliable measures of change using a version of the Profile of Mood States (POMS; McNair, Lorr, & Droppleman, 1992) shortened for diary studies. Analyzing two data sets, one composed of 35 daily reports from 68 persons experiencing a stressful examination and another composed of daily reports from 164 persons over a typical 28-day period, we demonstrate that three-item measures of anxious mood, depressed mood, anger, fatigue, and vigor have appropriate reliability to detect within-person change processes.     

Examining the between- and within-person effects of relative deprivation: Results from a 7-year longitudinal panel sample

Despite the extensive literature on relative deprivation theory, few studies have examined the longitudinal effects of individual- and group-based relative deprivation (IRD and GRD, respectively) on individual- and group-based outcomes, nor has research investigated the between-person and within-person effects of these constructs. Using two random intercept cross-lagged panel models, we address these oversights by estimating the between-person and average annual within-person associations IRD and GRD have with psychological distress and collective action support in a nation-wide longitudinal panel sample (N = 64,607). As expected, IRD and GRD were more strongly associated with psychological distress and collective action support, respectively, at the between-person level and contemporaneously at the within-person level. However, contrary to expectations, temporary departures in IRD and GRD predicted within-person increases in collective action support and psychological distress, respectively. These results raise questions about how and when people respond to inequality and provide the foundations for future longitudinal research.     

Affect and alcohol use: an ecological momentary assessment study of outpatients with borderline personality disorder

Alcohol use may be viewed as an attempt (albeit maladaptive) to regulate negative emotional states. We examined associations between both negative and positive affects and alcohol use in outpatient women diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD; n=74), a prototype of emotional dysregulation, as well as a psychiatric control group of women with current depressive disorder (major depressive disorder/dysthymic disorder [MDD\DYS]; n=50). Participants completed randomly prompted reports of mood and alcohol use up to six times a day over a 28-day period using electronic diaries. Mean levels of either positive or negative affects did not distinguish between drinkers and nondrinkers in either diagnostic group. However, levels of both negative and positive affects were positively associated with alcohol use at the momentary level in BPD drinkers. More robust findings were obtained with respect to within-person affective variability, which was related to alcohol use in multiple ways. BPD drinkers showed higher within-person variability for most negative affects than BPD nondrinkers; MDD\DYS drinkers in general showed less within-person variability than MDD\DYS nondrinkers for negative affects. Multilevel lagged analyses for BPD drinkers indicated that alcohol use was positively related to variability in all affects, concurrently, but fewer significant effects of affect variability on the next day's drinking or significant effects of alcohol use on the next day's affect variability were observed. Among MDD\DYS drinkers, we observed more significant associations between affect variability on next day's alcohol use and of alcohol use on next day's affect variability. We discuss theoretical and methodological issues relevant to these findings as well as implications for future research.     

Multilevel factor analysis and structural equation modeling of daily diary coping data: Modeling trait and state variation

The current study used multilevel modeling of daily diary data to model within-person (state) and between-person (trait) components of coping variables. This application included the introduction of multilevel factor analysis (MFA) and a comparison of the predictive ability of these trait/state factors. Daily diary data was collected on a large (n = 366) multiethnic sample over the course of five days. Intraclass correlation coefficient for the derived factors suggested approximately equal amounts of variability in coping usage at the state and trait levels. MFAs showed that Problem-Focused Coping and Social Support emerged as stable factors at both the within-person and between-person levels. Other factors (Minimization, Emotional Rumination, Avoidance, Distraction) were specific to the within-person or between-person levels, but not both. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) showed that the prediction of daily positive and negative affect differed as a function of outcome and level of coping factor. The Discussion section focuses primarily on a conceptual and methodological understanding of modeling state and trait coping using daily diary data with MFA and MSEM to examine covariation among coping variables and predicting outcomes of interest.     

Multilevel Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling of Daily Diary Coping Data: Modeling Trait and State Variation

This study used multilevel modeling of daily diary data to model within-person (state) and between-person (trait) components of coping variables. This application included the introduction of multilevel factor analysis (MFA) and a comparison of the predictive ability of these trait/state factors. Daily diary data were collected on a large (n = 366) multiethnic sample over the course of 5 days. Intraclass correlation coefficient for the derived factors suggested approximately equal amounts of variability in coping usage at the state and trait levels. MFAs showed that Problem-Focused Coping and Social Support emerged as stable factors at both the within-person and between-person levels. Other factors (Minimization, Emotional Rumination, Avoidance, Distraction) were specific to the within-person or between-person levels but not both. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) showed that the prediction of daily positive and negative affect differed as a function of outcome and level of coping factor. The Discussion section focuses primarily on a conceptual and methodological understanding of modeling state and trait coping using daily diary data with MFA and MSEM to examine covariation among coping variables and predicting outcomes of interest.     

Quarrelsomeness in Daily Life

ABSTRACT It is common in studies of interpersonal characteristics to examine personality variables as static predictors. Yet in recent years it has also become possible to examine personality and related interpersonal processes as they unfold over time in association with event specific cues. The present article reviews research that (1) identifies behaviors that reflect the occurrence of hostile-irritable-quarrelsome traits in daily life, (2) demonstrates both the stability and within-person variability of these behaviors over time, (3) documents event-level interpersonal cues that are systematically associated with within-person variation in quarrelsome behavior, and (4) describes how dispositional level agreeableness and irritability moderate the associations of event-level cues with quarrelsome behavior. The influence of the neurotransmitter serotonin on quarrelsome behavior is also considered. The studies indicate that quarrelsome individuals have reduced affective reactivity to engaging in quarrelsome behavior, increased behavioral reactivity to perceptions of quarrelsomeness in others, and greater responsiveness to change in serotonin levels.     

A daily process approach to individual differences in stress-related alcohol use

In our research we have used a variety of daily designs (paper-and-pencil or Internet-based daily diaries, experience sampling via palmtop computers) to examine how individual differences in coping styles, alcohol-outcome expectancies, and drinking motives predict stress-related and negative affect-related alcohol use. Our work has furthered research in this area in two ways. First, we have examined how these risk factors are associated with within-person associations among temporally proximal reports of stressors, negative affect, and alcohol use. Second, we have examined whether purportedly stable individual-difference factors demonstrate meaningful within-person variation and thus also might be conceptualized as important process variables. Our findings from this line of research, along with those from new data that we present, indicate some disparities between the results found at the within-person versus the between-person levels of analysis. More importantly, this line of research offers insights into questions that could not be addressed using traditional cross-sectional or long-term longitudinal designs. Limitations and future directions are discussed.     

Toward a Unified Framework for the Study of Between-Person and Within-Person Structures: Building a Bridge Between Two Research Paradigms

The vast majority of empirical research in the behavioral sciences is based on the analysis of between-person variation. In contrast, much of applied psychology is concerned with the analysis of variation within individuals. Furthermore, the mechanisms specified by psychological theories generally operate within, rather than across, individuals. This disconnect between research practice, applied demands, and psychological theories constitutes a major threat to the conceptual integrity of the field. Following groundbreaking earlier work, we propose a conceptual framework that distinguishes within-person (WP) and between-person (BP) sources of variation in psychological constructs. By simultaneously considering both sources of variation, it is shown how to identify possible reasons for nonequivalence of BP and WP structures as well as establishing areas of convergence. For this purpose, we first introduce the concept of conditional equivalence as a way to study partial structural equivalence of BP and WP structures in the presence of unconditional nonequivalence. Second, we demonstrate the construction of likelihood planes to explore the causes of structural nonequivalence. Third, we examine 4 common causes for unconditional nonequivalence—autoregression, subgroup differences, linear trends, and cyclic trends—and demonstrate how to account for them. Fourth, we provide an empirical example on BP and WP differences in attentiveness.     

A within-person theoretical perspective in sales research: outlining recommendations for adoption and consideration of boundary conditions

Abstract

In the sales literature it is standard practice for researchers to collect cross-sectional data from multiple salespeople, and to compare those salespeople on the data obtained. This between-person approach is suitable for research aiming to draw conclusions between salespeople. However, many salesperson processes are dynamic and vary within salespeople over time, requiring datasets with repeated-measures. This article highlights the need to adopt a within-person theoretical perspective in sales research. Critically, the article shows how our present understanding of boundary conditions may change depending on whether a between-person or within-person level of analysis is adopted. Using examples from the sales literature, we show how the practical implications from between-persons research designs do not necessarily generalize to the within-person level. Further, we explain the methodological and analytical considerations that researchers must account for when undertaking within-person research. Furthermore, the article provides decision criteria that help to identify when within-person analysis should be conducted, outlining analysis tools that are capable of correctly estimating within-person effects without bias. Examples of how within-person research can enhance theory within future sales research, and how within-person research may influence management implications are also discussed. Finally, potential remedies to within-person research barriers are given.     

The effect of state core self-evaluations on task performance,organizational citizenship behaviour,and counterproductive work behaviour

Although the personality–performance relationship has been studied extensively, most studies focused on the relationship between between-person differences in the Big Five personality dimensions and between-person differences in job performance. The current paper extends this research in two ways. First, we build on core self-evaluations (CSEs): an alternative, broad personality dimension that has proven to be a good predictor of job performance. Second, we tested concurrent and lagged within-person relationships between CSEs and task performance, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and counterproductive work behaviour (CWB). To this end, we conducted two experience sampling studies; the first one assessing the relationship between state CSEs and levels of momentary task performance and OCB, and a second study in which employees reported on their level of state CSEs and momentary CWB. Results showed that there is substantial within-person variability in CSEs and that these within-person fluctuations relate to within-person variation in task performance, OCB, and CWB towards the organization, and CWB towards the individual. Moreover, CSEs prospectively predicted within-person differences in task performance and CWB towards the organization, whereas the reversed effect did not hold. These findings tentatively suggest that state CSEs predict performance, rather than the other way around.     

Examining the within-person effect of affect on daily satisfaction

Assessments of global life satisfaction capture beliefs about overall well-being; state satisfaction assessments focus on short-term or “in-the-moment” appraisals of current life circumstances. Prior research has examined how trait measures of life satisfaction and affect are related at between-person and within-person levels of analysis. At the state level, however, a lack of clarity exists about the nature and magnitude of the association between satisfaction and affect. In a diary study involving assessments of both affect and satisfaction at the daily level (N = 350 with 6024 assessments), we found a consequential effect of affect on state satisfaction due to greater within-person variance over time.     

A dynamic view of coach transformational leadership: How leadership perceptions relate to task cohesion and team potency

We examined whether athletes’ perceptions of coach transformational leadership across time related to task cohesion and team potency beliefs. Across multiple time points, we collected 384 observations (M = 5.41 observations per athlete) from competitive youth athletes via a mobile application designed to examine team dynamics. Multilevel structural equation modelling revealed intraindividual variation in athletes’ evaluations of coach transformational leadership across time. Further, we observed robust support for a positive relation between perceptions of coach transformational leadership and task cohesion over time at both the between- and within-person levels. The relation between coach transformational leadership and team potency was significant at the between-person level, however, we did not find support for this relation at the within-person level. These results provide insight into how the ebb and flow of coach transformational leadership over time connects to team cohesion, highlighting the need for more intensive longitudinal designs that capture the dynamic nature of leadership.