UNIVERSITY STUDENT READING PREFERENCES IN RELATION TO THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS

In this study 251 Australian university students, with a mean age of 26.46, indicated their preference for different types of reading material. A subset of 136 participants additionally reported how many hours per week they typically engage in recreational reading and non-recreational reading, indicated their motivation for recreational reading, completed a Big Five personality inventory, and kept a week-long reading log in which they recorded daily their recreational reading of different types of materials. A principal components analysis showed that reading preferences grouped into eight content areas. A set correlation analysis showed that overall the Big Five personality dimensions predicted reading preferences. Openness and conscientiousness in particular were good predictors of four specific types of content preferences. Preference for a certain type of material tended to predict time spent reading that material as reported in the week-long reading log. Further, the Big Five personality dimensions together predicted total amount of recreational reading, amount of reading of favorite material, and amount of non-recreational reading.     

Accuracy and differentiation in social prediction: A developmental perspective1

Two studies examined the accuracy and differentiation of 4–5-yearolds‘, 8–9-year-olds’, and undergraduates' predictions of the preferences of peers and nonpeers. In Study 1 each subject was presented with separate arrays of snacks, meals, and activities depicted on cards and were asked to select their own preferences and the preferences of peers and nonpeers (“grown-ups” for the children, and “4- to 5-year-olds” for the undergraduates). In Study 2 each subject selected his or her own preference, the preference of peers, and the preferences of both older nonpeers (“grown-ups”) and younger nonpeers (“2-year-olds”). For all age groups, including 4–5-year-olds: (1) the preference predictions differentiated peers from nonpeers, as well as older nonpeers from younger nonpeers; (2) it was very rare for a subject to select his or her own preferences for the preference predictions of both peers and nonpeers. There were no consistent developmental differences either in the tendency to select one's own preferences when predicting the preferences of others or in the tendency to differentiate predictions for peers and nonpeers. In contrast, there was a clear developmental increase in predictive accuracy, with 4–5-year-olds being relatively inaccurate in predicting the preferences of nonpeers. The inadequacy of constructs such as “assumed similarity” and “egocentrism” as explanations for the general accuracy in predicting peers' preferences and the 4–5-year-olds' inaccuracy in predicting nonpeers' preferences is discussed. Possible alternative variables underlying developmental increases in judgmental accuracy, such as “social reference,”“self reference,” and “social category knowledge,” are then proposed.     

A Social Dilemma Analysis of Commuting Preferences: The Roles of Social Value Orientation and Trust1

The current research advances a social dilemma analysis of commuting, examining the roles of preexisting personality differences in social value orientation (i.e., prosocial vs. proself orientation) and trust (i.e., a general belief in the honesty and cooperative intentions of others) in determining preferences for collectively desirable commuting options: preferences for commuting by public transportation (Study 1) and carpooling (Study 2). Consistent with predictions, both studies revealed that, relative to p of prosocials, preferences of proselfs were more strongly associated with beliefs about the relative efficiency of cars (i.e., an outcome affecting personal well-being). Also, greater preferences for collectively desirable actions were observed among prosocials with high trust—relative to prosocials with low trust and proselfs with high or low trust—providing support for the claim that 2 conditions (i.e., prosocial goals and trust in others) must be met to obtain collectively desirable commuting preferences.     

The Role of Face Familiarity in Judgments of Personality and Intelligence

Personality judgments based on facial features are a common occurrence. The face familiarity overgeneralization hypothesis states that people make judgments of unknown faces based on their similarity to known faces. However, there is a dearth of research regarding how face familiarity relates to perceptions of personality and intelligence in strangers. The current article used two studies to provide evidence for the relationship between face familiarity and judgments of personality and intelligence. Study 1 showed that photographs perceived as familiar by one set of participants were rated more positively regarding personality and intelligence by a second group of participants. Study 2 found that high perceived familiarity resulted in positive judgments of personality and intelligence, whereas familiarity based on exposure did not. These findings indicate both that perceived familiarity significantly impacts positive judgments of personality and intelligence and that the face familiarity overgeneralization hypothesis is a useful framework for this area of research.     

The Role of Active Assortment in Spousal Similarity

Previous research has established the existence of active assortment, that is, a preference for similarity in a potential mate. Few studies, however, have directly related mate preferences to dyadic similarity by examining them in the same participants. We collected both similarity and mate preference data in two studies: undergraduate students (N = 519) and newlyweds (N = 335). In both studies, women placed a higher value on desirable personality characteristics (e.g., higher Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, lower Neuroticism) than did men. Nevertheless, our data also provided strong evidence of consensual mate preferences: Men and women both desired partners who were agreeable, conscientious, emotionally stable, intelligent, and physically attractive; furthermore, participants desired partners who were better (e.g., more agreeable and attractive) than they were. In contrast, attitudinal variables such as religiousness and political orientation displayed much weaker consensus but showed significant dyadic similarity in both samples; similarity coefficients for personality tended to be positive, but lower. Finally, analyses revealed a direct link between actual and desired similarity: Couples displayed the strongest similarity on those variables for which participants expressed the strongest preference for similarity. Our findings strongly suggest that active assortment is partly responsible for dyadic similarity.     

The effects of time perspective and level of construal on social distance

Psychological causes of social distance were examined from the perspective of Construal Level Theory (CLT; Liberman, Trope, & Stephan, 2007), which predicts that temporal distance from and abstract construal of a social target would create perception of social distance. Our studies demonstrate that expectations for temporally remote (versus proximal) social interaction produce greater social distance from a target person, measured as reduced familiarity (Study 1) and as reduced similarity to the self (Study 2). We also show that a more abstract, higher level construal of a social target results in less familiarity (Study 3) and in less allocation of resources (Study 4). The research sheds light on how social closeness can be promoted or hindered by previously unaddressed psychological factors.     

How shared preferences in music create bonds between people: values as the missing link

How can shared music preferences create social bonds between people? A process model is developed in which music preferences as value-expressive attitudes create social bonds via conveyed value similarity. The musical bonding model links two research streams: (a) music preferences as indicators of similarity in value orientations and (b) similarity in value orientations leading to social attraction. Two laboratory experiments and one dyadic field study demonstrated that music can create interpersonal bonds between young people because music preferences can be cues for similar or dissimilar value orientations, with similarity in values then contributing to social attraction. One study tested and ruled out an alternative explanation (via personality similarity), illuminating the differential impact of perceived value similarity versus personality similarity on social attraction. Value similarity is the missing link in explaining the musical bonding phenomenon, which seems to hold for Western and non-Western samples and in experimental and natural settings.     

智力水平与人格类型特征对高中生学业负担态度形成的影响

以829名高中生为对象,对“瑞文标准推理测验”、“加利福尼亚人格调查表”和“中学生学业负担态度量表”的测试数据进行聚类分析和F检验,探讨学生智力水平与人格类型特征对其学业负担态度形成的影响。结果显示,不同智力水平学生对待学业负担的态度无显著差异,但积极进取型学生与固执冲动型及消极退缩型学生间的差异显著。积极进取的人格类型特征有助于形成学生对待学业负担的积极态度,而消极人格类型特征导致学生对待学业负担更为消极的态度。     

ON MOTIVATED ROLE SELECTION: GENDER BELIEFS, DISTANT GOALS, AND CAREER INTEREST

Despite widespread changes in occupational opportunities, men and women continue to show divergent preferences for careers. This research invoked a motivational framework to explain sex-differentiated career interest. From a role congruity perspective ( Diekman & Eagly, 2008 ), the internalization of gender roles leads people to endorse gender-stereotypic goals, which then lead to interest in occupations that afford the pursuit of those goals. Three studies provided evidence for the hypotheses. Study 1 found that male- and female-stereotypic careers were perceived to afford different goals. Studies 2 and 3 found that men and women endorsed different goals and that this gender-normative goal endorsement predicted gender-stereotypic career interest. In addition, structural equation modeling (Study 3) indicated that internalization of gender roles fully accounted for sex-differentiated goal endorsement. These findings thus extend the social role theory framework to consider processes related to self-selection into specific social roles.     

Who Will Evaluate Me? Rater Selection in Multi‐Source Assessment Contexts

This study investigates the factors that motivate the preference of individuals, or ratees, participating in multi‐source assessment (MSA) processes for some raters over others. Two rater characteristics were assessed to attempt to identify these preferences: rater familiarity and the affect toward the rater. Two separate studies were conducted to assess the extent to which these characteristics are used. The extent to which the purpose of the appraisal (developmental vs. administrative) and the rating source (peer vs. subordinate) influenced the use of these characteristics was also investigated. Evidence from these two studies suggests that ratees selected their raters based on rater familiarity but not on affect. In addition, while the purpose of the appraisal did not influence selection patterns, the preference for peers was motivated by different factors than the preference for subordinates. The implications of these results for research and practice are discussed.     

Exploring personality preferences in relation to psychological career resources among managerial staff in the Western Cape fast food industry

The study explored the relationship between individuals' personality preferences (as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Form M) and their psychological career resources (as measured by the Psychological Career Resources Inventory) and whether the personality types differed significantly in terms of their psychological career resources. The participants were a non-probability sample (N?=?81; females?=?74%, blacks?=?78%) of managerial-level staff from five fast food franchise restaurants in the Western Cape, South Africa. Quantitative statistical procedures were used to explore the association between the participants' personality preferences and psychological career resources. Findings suggest introverted and extraverted personality type preferences to be significantly associated with the participants' psychological career resources. Major differences were observed for the introverted sensing feeling perceiving (ISFP), extraverted sensing feeling judging (ESFJ), introverted sensing feeling judging (ISFJ), extraverted sensing thinking judging (ESTJ) and introverted sensing thinking judging (ISTJ) personality types in their relationship to the career preference of variety/creativity, need for career growth/development, their self/other skills and social connectivity.     

Development of preferences for the human body shape in infancy

Two studies investigated the development of infants' visual preferences for the human body shape. In Study 1, infants of 12, 15 and 18 months were tested in a standard preferential looking experiment, in which they were shown paired line drawings of typical and scrambled bodies. Results indicated that the 18-month-olds had a reliable preference for the scrambled body shapes over typical body shapes, while the younger infants did not show differential responding. In Study 2, 12- and 18-month-olds were tested with the same procedure, except that the typical and scrambled body stimuli were photographic images. The results of Study 2 again indicated that only the 18-month-olds had a reliable preference for the scrambled body shapes. This finding contrasts sharply with infants' precocious preferences for human faces, suggesting that infants' learning about human faces and human bodies follow different developmental trajectories.     

Social exclusion and female mating behavior: Rejected women show strategic enhancement of short-term mating interest

Because cost asymmetries in sexual reproduction have historically enabled women to exchange sexual access for other resources, including social resources, we tested the possibility that social exclusion would lead women to display an elevated preference for short-term mating strategies in the service of reaffiliation. In Study 1, women were given false feedback to manipulate social inclusion or exclusion prior to indicating their endorsement of short and long-term mating behaviors. Socially excluded women indicated greater interest in short-term mating and reduced interest in long-term mating. In Study 2, women wrote about a social inclusion, social exclusion, or control experience and then indicated their preference for different male body types. Women in the social exclusion condition preferred more muscular male partners - a pattern of preference typical of short-term mating - than women in the other conditions. Collectively, these results are consistent with a social exchange theory of women's sexual behavior following social exclusion.     

The role of familiarity in dietary development

The rise in inadequate and unhealthily diets in children has led investigations to examine the development of food preferences. This review outlines the ways in which children choose between foods made available to them and the subsequent shaping of their own habitual diet. Children are liable to form preferences to certain hedonic foods, and to exhibit neophobic reactions to the unfamiliar. Unfamiliar foods can elicit anxiety and suspicion. Trust and liking of a once novel food can be gained through exposure, increasing familiarity towards that food. This review examines: visual familiarity (awareness of foods within their environment); taste familiarity (knowledge and experience of the taste of foods); contextual familiarity (knowledge of how foods should be presented); and categorical familiarity (which family foods belong to). The influence of familiarity is also explained with regards to both positive and negative associative learning. These associations are influenced by the specific presentation and the social environment of a novel food. The potential benefits of understanding the nature of children’s learning and preference development for the promotion of healthy nutrition to both parent and child are discussed.     

Preference for news as a function of familiarity

The study was designed to test the hypothesis that interest in information reaches a maximum when something novel is predicted about a well-known subject. The hypothesis predicts that news will be considered more attractive the more familiar its source or theme. This was confirmed in two experiments, where Norwegian and British students were asked to state their interest in reading news from thirty countries of varying familiarity (Experiment 1) or from correspondents in twenty-six capital cities (Experiment 2). Subjects also stated their preferences for reading general information about the same countries or cities, and indicated from which of these they would prefer to receive postcard greetings. The results show preference for news to be closely related to familiarity of country or city ( r =0.93 and r =0.91). General information and postcard preferences were as predicted, less directly related to familiarity.     

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.     

Antecedents of educational/career preferences and choices

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of social reinforcement, modeling, direct reinforcement, and words and images on the acquisition of career-related preferences. The study also examined the mediating role of career decision-making skills (CDMS) on the factors influencing preference. Finally, the combined influence of career-related preferences and CDMS on certainty about career choices was investigated. A total of 47 college students completed a questionnaire describing antecedent factors influencing their preference for a major or a career and evaluating the degree of influence of each factor. Students' scores on a vocational maturity inventory were the basis for dividing them in high and low groups. Students identified social reinforcement as the most important antecedent for their career preference. Results indicated that CDMS mediate the influence of models and direct reinforcement on career preference. Career-related preference was a better predictor of career certainty among low than high maturity students. Findings support and extend a social learning theory of career development.     

Music preferences and personality among Japanese university students

Little research has been conducted outside of the European-North American cultural area concerning the personality-based determinants of musical genre preferences The present research investigated the personality profiles and general music genre preferences of 268 Japanese college students. Six dimensions and 24 facets of personality, and 12 music genres, were assessed. Results indicated that, consistent with much previous research, openness (to experience) and particularly the facet of "aesthetic appreciation" were associated with a preference for "reflective" music (jazz, classical, opera, gospel, enka), while one extraversion facet (sociability) was associated with the preference for pop music. Other personality dimensions were less consistently associated with musical preferences, pointing to cultural differences and the need to assess both personality and music genres at more specific levels.     

Regional Variation in Preferences for Vernacular Houses

This paper tests 2 theories of relevance to design review and design guidelines. In Study I. a between-subjects design. III college students in Connecticut and 93 college students in Ohio judged goodness of example, familiarity, or preference for 6 houses. The results failed to uncover differences in response related to local experience, suggesting that global features of the houses may overcome local experience. In Study 2, a within-subjects design, 110 students from Connecticut and 49 from Ohio rated goodness of example, familiarity, and preference for the same 6 houses. Results indicate minor effects of goodness of example and familiarity on preference. The results show preference as multidimensional, reflecting knowledge structure, physical features, and connotative meanings.     

Music fan personality stereotyping in a sample of South African young adults

This study aimed to elicit stereotypes about personality characteristics of young adults residing in South Africa, based solely on music genres. Participants were 941 undergraduate students at a South African university. They responded to a number of surveys about music genre preferences and personality traits. Data were analysed for trends and patterns in personality attributions based on music genre preferences. The results indicated that participants hold distinct stereotypes about the personality traits, so that those with who preferred Classical, Blues and Jazz music were seen to display higher openness to experience than comparison groups with other music genre preferences. Those with Rap, Reggae and Folk music genre preferences were stereotyped as artistic and unconventional. Young South African adults appear to use musical preference to define personality.