Personality correlates of attributional style

Previous research, much of it based on the learned helplessness model of depression, suggested that a wide variety of personality variables might be related to attributional style. The Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Peterson et al., 1982) and Comrey Personality Scales (CPS; Comrey, 1970) were administered to 329 subjects, and their scores were subjected to correlational and multiple regression analysis. The CPS scales were also factor analyzed, and the resulting scores were correlated with ASQ scores. Results indicated that a variety of personality variables have statistically significant relationships with attributional style, that these variables show significant positive relationships with internal, stable, and global attributions for positive events and significant negative relationships with these same attributions for negative events, and that an Activity-Extraversion-Stability factor demonstrates the strongest relationships with attributional style. Findings are interpreted within a revised theoretical framework, and emphasis is placed on understanding the personality correlates of attributional style for adequate interpretation of the concept.     

Personality correlates of assertive behavior

The present research studied the relationships between assertive behavior and two personality variables: extroversion and need for approval (nApp). Assertive behavior was measured in two role-play situations: an authority situation and an equal situation. It was found that extroverts behaved more assertively than introverts. nApp was negatively related to assertive behavior for females, while for males no correlation was found between nApp and assertive behavior in the authority situation and a positive correlation was found in the equal situation. It was concluded that extroversion and nApp are contributing factors in assertive behavior and that nApp moderates assertiveness differentially for males and females.     

Personality correlates of physical fitness

In this article, I examine the relation between personality and physical fitness. One group (N = 97) of male adults completed the Hogan Personality Inventory and five nationally recognized physical fitness batteries. A second group (N = 35) completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and a set of medical and physical performance assessments. Results indicate that physical fitness must be defined in multidimensional terms and that fitness is related to self-confidence and self-discipline. Measures of psychopathology were unrelated to measures of health and fitness. These data suggest that the personal qualities associated with fitness are also those that promote and extend health.     

Personality correlates of dissociative experiences

This study investigated the prevalence of dissociative experiences in a normal British sample. The Dissociation Experiences Scale of Bernstein and Putnam was used to measure these experiences. The relationship between dissociative experiences and personality variables measured by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire was a major focus of the study. It was found that the degree of dissociative experiences was related to neuroticism, but not to any other variable.     

Personality correlates of life values

The present study sought to determine whether significant relationships exist between life value preferences and personality traits and to describe the nature of any relationships identified. Administered to 310 undergraduate and graduate students were the 16 PF personality inventory and a 55-item Life Values Inventory which assessed values governing life styles and orientations. A factor analysis of the Life Values Inventory resulted in the identification of 14 life values dimensions. Factor scores for these 14 dimensions were then employed in a canonical analysis and a factor analysis with the 16 PF scores. The canonical analysis yielded results significant at the .001 level. The factor analysis yielded 10 factors, many of which displayed shared common-factor variance between Life Values and 16 PF variables. The interpretation of that shared variance identified several personality correlates of life values that suggested causal and developmental interactions of some value in describing and explaining human behavior.     

Personality correlates of creativity among a sample of Jamaican adolescents

This exploratory research was designed to investigate personality correlates of creativity among a sample of 275 Jamaican adolescents, selected randomly from the fifth forms of eight high schools. A battery of 19 measures—8 tapping creativity and 11 tapping personality—was administered to this sample. Correlational analysis showed a number of significant relationships between the creativity and personality variables for the entire sample and few differences in the pattern of relationships when comparisons were made between the sexes. The outcomes of the investigation were in many ways supportive of international trends in creativity research.     

Personality and performance on a missing-letter measure of perceptual defence

Fifty-two Ss were required to make complete words from 20 neutral and 20 unpleasant ‘target’ words whose alternate letters had been removed. The four personality scales from the EPQ and the Psychoticism scale from the unpublished PEN inventory were employed as independent variables in repeated-measures analyses of variance in which the dependent variable was the number of neutral or bad target words produced in the missing-letter task. A significant two-way interaction was obtained between PEN Psychoticism and performance on the task, such that Ss scoring low on the personality scale hit significantly more neutral targets than Ss scoring high on the scale. These results did not support previous studies on the relationship between personality and perceptual defence and were interpreted within the framework provided by Mednick, whereby schizophrenia is characterized by a flattening of associative hierarchies.     

Personality correlates of logical and sociomoral judgment

This study examined the relation of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) to stages of logical and sociomoral judgment. Logical judgment was measured using adaptations of the pendulum and correlations tasks of Inhelder and Piaget; moral judgment was scored using the standard Kohlberg interview. In a sample of 143 adults, logical and sociomoral judgment were correlated .30 to .50 with most of the Class I (Factor 2) CPI scales, those capturing social poise and interpersonal adequacy, and Class III (Factor 3) CPI scales, those capturing achievement potential and intellectual efficiency. The findings offer support for a cognitive interpretation of competence and ego development.     

Personality correlates of self-appraised problem solving abilities

We examined the relations between the components of self-appraised problem solving abilities and personality constructs measured by a popular instrument. Results indicated that the Approach-Avoidance and Problem-Solving Confidence factors of the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI; Heppner, 1988) were significantly associated with the judging, perceiving, and feeling scales of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Myers & McCaulley, 1985) among 112 undergraduates. Our results elucidate the relations between problem-solving appraisal, emotional predispositions, Willfulness, and preferences for structure. Implications for theoretical models of social problem solving and counselling interventions are discussed.     

Personality correlates of type A coronary-prone behavior

The study investigates the relationship between Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern and self-concept, need for approval, extroversion, neuroticism, and trait anxiety. Eighty-eight undergraduate students completed the Jenkins Activity Survey, which measures the Type A personality; the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS; Fitts, 1965); the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale; the A-Trait Scale (Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970), and the Eysenck Personality Inventory. It was found that Type As scored lower on all the dimensions of self-concept except the physical. It was also found that Type Bs scored higher on need for approval, but only on its avoidance component. In addition, Type As scored higher on extroversion and on neuroticism. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Personality correlates of Benton's visual retention test

Bivariate correlations revealed that only L was highly significantly (negatively) correlated with the ability to retain and reproduce geometrical figures (Benton Visual Retention Test). Personality groups were generated using extreme cut-offs for E and N, as well as P and L. Extraverts produced similar error profiles to introverts. High trait N Ss tended to emit more errors of omission compared to low trait N persons, otherwise the performance profiles were not statistically different. Several E × N interactions emerged however, with stable introverts yielding significantly more correct reproductions and a lower error frequency than the other groups, with dysthymics (introverted neurotics) performing worst, the latter group further characterised by a greater number of perseveration and mislocation errors. High and low P-scoring Ss did not differ significantly in their ability to reproduce figures, with the exception of perseveration errors which were more common amongst P + Ss. L + individuals displayed inferior performance compared to L− Ss. An analysis of error categories revealed that L + emitted more distortion, left- and right-handed errors. There was no indication of any P × L interaction effect.     

Personality correlates of adjustment in isolated work groups

Twenty-five personnel from two Antarctic research stations spent the austral winter (February-October) confined in small, isolated stations located on the Antarctic ice cap. At the end of this confinement, they completed two questionnaires. The first asked about alcohol and marijuana use and self-rated adjustment to the living conditions; it also asked for nominations of others with whom each would most like and least like to spend another Antarctic tour. The second questionnaire was a recently developed personality inventory. Personality scale scores were correlated with self-rated adjustment and peer nominations. The results were consistent with previous research, and indicated that adjustment was a function of narrow interests and a low need for stimulation. More importantly, the findings also demonstrated that personality inventories are useful for predicting adjustment to working conditions in such isolated settings.