Personality Characteristics of Hare Krishnas

Personality characteristics of 132 males and 94 females of the Hare Krishna movement were assessed using the Comrey Personality Scales (CPS). Subjects were sampled from eight U.S. sites. Their age averaged about 30 years, and their time in the movement averaged 8.6 years. The most prominent and surprising finding is the hallmark characteristic of the Hare Krishna personality, a strong compulsivity trait common to both genders, which is slightly stronger in males. Reduced trust in society was exhibited by both gender averages, with slightly less trust among females. Both these averages, however, were within the normal range for individuals. With the exception of compulsivity, average male CPS scores were within the normal psychological range but differed significantly from the normative male group indicating idiosyncratic traits. Average female CPS scores did not differ significantly from the normative female group except for compulsivity and trust. Study of CPS score distributions about group means supported these findings.     

Conversion and the Family: Chinese Hare Krishnas

The multi-cultural and multi-religious context of the globalised world often results in unlikely interactions between the triad of people, cultures, and religion. The result may be that people embrace divergent systems of beliefs. This article explores the dynamics of such interaction within the private domain of the family, when ethnic Chinese adopt an alien faith, that of the Hare Krishna. Four typologies of interactions between convert and family members are proposed, ranging from the most volatile to the most harmonious. These are categorised as contentious, neutral, accommodative, and supportive. The combinations of factors that lead to each type of interaction, such as family–convert relationship, religious identity of family member, residence of the convert, family members’ perception of the Hare Krishna, and the extent of external practices adopted by the converts, are discussed. In particular, qualitative comparative analysis is applied to investigate how these variables combine to lead to each typology.     

Personality characteristics of opiate addicts

18 Ss dependent on opiate drugs completed three personality trait questionnaires, and were compared with 18 controls matched for demographic variables. The drug dependent sample were significantly higher than controls in psychoticism, but lower in extraversion and telic dominance. No difference between the groups was found in locus of control. These data are compared with existing research.     

Personality characteristics of delinquent subtypes

A group of juvenile delinquents, classified as neuroticdisturbed, unsocialized-psychopathic, and socializedsubcultural, were compared on the MMPI. The results provided support for the initial classification and yielded MMPI profiles suggestive of two personality types: a conflicted, weakego delinquent with considerable intrapsychic conflict, and a more traditional psychopathic type, with little apparent anxiety or neurotic symptomatology. These results were replicated with a crossvalidation sample.     

Personality characteristics of research volunteers

We evaluated Big Five personality factor differences between research volunteers and nonvolunteers. In the first study, 158 military officers were asked to participate in a mail survey. The personality scores of the officers were available from an archival data set. In our second study, adult siblings from large families were invited to participate in extensive clinical epidemiological evaluations. The personality scores of volunteers (N = 55) and nonvolunteers from the same families (N = 29) were estimated from sibling ratings made by those who participated in the study. In both studies, respondents, compared to nonrespondents, were found to be significantly lower in Neuroticism and higher in Conscientiousness. The second study further indicated respondents as being higher in Extraversion and Agreeableness. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised

The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is among the most frequently used instruments for the assessment of psychopathic traits. In the scope of the German adaptation of the PCL-R, normative data were collected from a sample of adult male offenders. Based on these data the factor structure and reliability of the German language version of the PCL-R are discussed in the first section of the article. The assessment of a model with four facets and two superordinate factors showed a very good agreement with the empirical data. In addition, examination of interrater agreement and internal consistency indicated that the PCL-R is a reliable measure. In the second part of the paper recommendations are provided for the correct application of the PCL-R. The focus lies on the correct performance, evaluation and interpretation of PCL-R test results with respect to key indices and the dimensional structure of the psychopathy construct.     

Personality characteristics of young adult migraineurs

Young adults with migraine headaches and nonmigraineurs were compared by means of two questionnaire batteries (the 16 P-F and PRF) and sets of specific measures focused on stimulation-seeking and independence. A number of low correlations were obtained but overall, results tend to contradict the existence of a "migraine personality" as a measureable entity.     

Personality characteristics of sheep and goats

A great deal of parapsychological research has investigated the effect, upon extrasensory perception (ESP), of the so-called ‘sheep-goat variable’ (SGV), that is, belief in the existence of ESP, either in the abstract or with respect to one's own psychic ability. However, very little purely psychological research has examined the question of possible personality differences between ‘sheep’ (the ‘believers’) and ‘goats’ (the ‘disbelievers’). Personality factors are important both as potentially confounding variables, and as independent predictors of psi-scoring which could be used in combination with the SGV.This paper reports two sets of experiments of the pilot-confirmation type: a grand total of 552 subjects were administered various personality tests plus one or other of two ‘sheep-goat scales’. Replicated results indicated that the SGV was related to extraversion-introversion and to conservatism-radicalism: sheep tend to be more extraverted and more conservative than goats, who tend towards introversion and intellectual skepticism.