Autotelic personality through a five-factor lens: Individual differences in flow-propensity

Autotelic personality represents an individual difference factor believed to have an increased propensity to experience flow. In 316 young adults, we administered the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2; Jackson & Eklund, 2002) targeted to general life activities to capture cross-situational consistency in the propensity to experience flow, and a well-established measure of the Five Factor Model of personality (i.e., the NEO Personality Inventory Revised; NEO-PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992). NEO-PI-R domains of Neuroticism (−), Extraversion (+), Agreeableness (−), and Conscientiousness (+) predicted global flow propensity, accounting for 38% of the measured variance. Canonical correlation analysis highlighted these domains in relation to DFS-2 components of flow with the first canonical correlation (R = .73) accounting for 53.4% of the shared variance between NEO domains and DFS-2 subscales. Individually, DFS-2 subscales were variously predicted by NEO domains (e.g., Time Transformation at 4%; Clear Goals at 44%). NEO Openness was notably lacking in predicting flow components. These findings emphasize the strong and substantial relationship of FFM personality traits to flow-propensity.     

Flow and outdoor adventure recreation: Using flow measures to re-examine motives for participation

Adventure participants have traditionally been viewed as having thrill or risk-seeking motives, and this perception remains despite empirical research suggesting that other motives may drive participation. This study was conducted to extend understanding of participation motives of adventure recreation participants in relation to Csiksentmihalyi’s nine-dimension model of flow and other proposed motivational constructs. Participants (n = 199) who had typically engaged in their adventure recreation activity (i.e., highlining, rock climbing, downhill mountain biking, freefalling, snow sports) regularly, and with considerable competence, took part in this investigation by completing self-report measures of dispositional flow (The Dispositional Flow Scale; DFS-2), state flow (The Short Flow State Scale; SFSS), and participation motives in their adventure recreation environments. Support was observed in confirmatory factor analytic procedures for the factorial validity of DFS-2 and SFSS data obtained from adventure recreation participants. Mean scores from measures on participant experience of flow in adventure recreation were generally found to be significantly higher than previously observed in other physical activity domains, with some differences also being observed among adventure recreation subgroups. Contrary to traditional explanations of adventure recreation participation, risk-seeking was not supported as a key underlying motive by participants in this study. Mastery of one’s adventure recreation activity, perceived connection to one’s activity, and trust in one’s skills, were identified as important participation motives. This study demonstrated that the DFS-2 and SFSS were able to satisfactorily assess flow constructs in adventure recreation, and supported recent research demonstrating flow to be a relevant experience to this setting. The implications of these findings for theory, practice, and future research directions in adventure recreation are discussed.     

Components of Mindfulness in Patients with Chronic Pain

Methods of mindfulness are gaining increasing popularity within the behavioral and cognitive therapies and appear helpful for a range of clinical problems. The purpose of this study was to examine cognitive and behavioral processes underlying mindfulness. One hundred fifty patients seeking treatment for chronic pain completed a battery of questionnaires, including the 15-item Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown and Ryan, J Pers Soc Psychol 84:822–848, 2003). Preliminary analyses supported reliability and validity of the MAAS for patients with chronic pain. A confirmatory factor analysis provided incomplete support for a singe factor structure from the items of the MAAS. In turn, an exploratory factor analysis yielded a four-factor solution: Acting with Awareness, Present Focus, Responsiveness, and Social Awareness. Correlation and regression analyses indicated that the Acting with Awareness and Present Focus subscales were significantly related to measures of patient emotional, physical, and social functioning. Further research that explores and validates models of mindfulness-based processes is recommended.     

Factor Structure of the Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) With an Offender Sample

One thousand two hundred inmates were given the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI; Millon, 1984) in a midwestern reception and diagnostic center. Two groups of 600 were randomly divided, and their test results were subjected to a principal components factor analysis. Four factors were derived in both groups and were similar, indicating successful cross-validation. Three of the four factors bore similarity to factors found in other samples (drug abusers, psychiatric population, Viet Nam veterans), and the fourth was unique to the offender population.     

Factor structure of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) with an offender sample

One thousand two hundred inmates were given the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) in a midwestern reception and diagnostic center. Two groups of 600 were randomly divided, and their test results were subjected to a principal components factor analysis. Four factors were derived in both groups and were similar, indicating successful cross-validation. Three of the four factors bore similarity to factors found in other samples (drug abusers, psychiatric population, Viet Nam veterans), and the fourth was unique to the offender population.     

The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale: Confirmatory Factor Analytic Findings

The psychometric properties of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) have recently been heavily examined. Specifically, a number of researchers have been interested in determining the factor structure of this scale to find whether it best forms a one, two, or three factor model. The present study continued this examination by considering different scaling models using confirmatory factor analysis with a sample of individuals diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). One hundred and forty-six individuals diagnosed with OCD participated and were administered the Y-BOCS and scales measuring depression (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) and anxiety (Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale). It was found that the Y-BOCS forms two different two-factor models. One model consisted of an obsessions and compulsions factor; the other composed of disturbance and symptom severity factors. It was likewise found that depression and anxiety were related to both factors in one model (disturbance and symptom severity). The finding that depression was related to obsessions and anxiety to compulsions was found, as in a previous factor analysis of the Y-BOCS. These findings suggest that OCD may be best characterized as a multidimensional syndrome that may not be adequately examined by a single unitary factor as described in the Y-BOCS.     

Higher‐Order Factor Structures and Intercorrelations of the 16PF5 and FIRO‐B

This study investigated the intercorrelations and the independent and combined factor structures of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire Fifth Edition (16PF5) and the Fundamental Interpersonal Orientation‐Behaviour Scale (FIRO‐B). Four thousand four hundred and fourteen U.S. participants completed these measures as part of executive assessments between 1994 and 2003. Exploratory factor analyses supported the five‐factor higher‐order structure of the 16PF5; however, the three‐component structure for the FIRO‐B was not supported. A six‐factor structure was found to underlie the variance in the measures in combination. Five of these were close to the 16PF5 higher‐order structure, but a sixth factor labelled Social Independence also emerged. This new factor consisted of the 16PF5 primaries of Liveliness and Social Boldness, and the FIRO‐B Wanted Control scale.     

Flow experience in physical activity: Examination of the internal structure of flow from a process-related perspective

Considering the phenomenology of flow experience reflects attentional processes, Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi (Handbook of positive psychology, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002) classified the components of flow experience into proximal conditions and the characteristics of a subjective state while being in flow. The present study was conducted to clarify the concept of flow through examination of the interrelationships among the components from a process-related perspective. A total of 1,048 participants completed the Japanese versions of the Flow State Scale-2 (Kawabata et al. in Psychol Sport Exerc 9:465–485, 2008), and based on their scores, 591 respondents were considered to be in a flow state during their physical activity. A proposed higher-order confirmatory factor model and a full structural equation model were tested for the flow respondents. The results of the higher-order model indicated that the 9 flow factors were empirically classified into the flow state and its proximal condition. Furthermore, the outcomes of the full structural model preliminarily supported the hypothesized sequential relationships among flow factors.     

The factor structure of the Eysenck Personality Profiler in Russia

One hundred and seventy seven males and 399 females completed a translated short version of the Eysenck Personality Profiler (EPP-S). Two hundred and ninety four Ss also completed the EPQ. By means of item analysis, further shortening of the EPP was achieved, while retaining adequate psychometric characteristics and convergent validity with EPQ scales. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the Eysenck hierarchical model of personality with three basic dimensions and showed stability of the EPP factor structure across genders and sub-samples of different origin. However, CFA showed that only E and P were independent, while N was correlated with E and P.     

The Structure of Anxiety and Depression in a Normative Sample of Younger and Older Australian Adolescents

It has been reported that depression and anxiety have overlapping symptoms and are conceptually interrelated. One of the most prominent theoretical developments that explain this association is Clark and Watson’s tripartite model (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100:316–336, 1991) that posits these two disorders and negative emotions share a latent component of negative affect (NA). The current study had two aims, (a) to compare a tripartite factor structure against competing models by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21) (Lovibond and Lovibond 1995), and (b) explore the psychometric properties of the DASS-21. The DASS-21 was completed by a representative sample of 4039 young Australians, aged 12–18 years, as part of the South Australian Youth Mental Health Survey (SAYMHS), South Australia, Australia. The best fitting model for the data consisted of anhedonic depression, physiological hyperarousal, and general NA. The psychometric properties of the DASS-21 were excellent with a stable and interpretable factor structure and good internal consistency. The results of the current study suggest that the theoretical tripartite structure of depression and anxiety is robust and applicable among Australian youth. The diagnostic, clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Job Evaluation and Gender: The Case of University Faculty

This study examined the effects of students' and professors' sex on student evaluations of professors' teaching effectiveness. Ratings of over four hundred faculty made by over nine thousand students were analyzed. After controlling for a large number of variables, the main results showed that (a) male faculty were given significantly higher evaluations on global teacher effectiveness and academic competence than female faculty; (b) when controlling for extraneous variables, female faculty were not found to be rated as more sensitive to student needs than male faculty; and (c) when making overall, global judgments of faculty performance, students seem to place more weight on academic competence for male faculty than for female faculty.     

Relationships between mindfulness,flow dispositions and mental skills adoption: A cluster analytic approach

ObjectivesThis study examines the relationships between mindfulness, flow dispositions and mental skills adoption.DesignCluster analytic approach.MethodsParticipants in this study were 182 university student athletes. They were administered the Mindfulness/Mindlessness Scale [MMS; Bodner, T., & Langer, E. (2001). Individual differences in mindfulness: The Langer Mindfulness Scale. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, Toronto, Ont., Canada], Dispositional Flow Scale 2 [DFS-2; Jackson, S. A., & Eklund, R. C. (2004). The flow scale manual. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology] and Test of Performance Strategies [TOPS; Thomas, P. R., Murphy, S. M., & Hardy, L. (1999). Test of performance strategies: Development and preliminary validation of a comprehensive measure of athletes’ psychological skills. Journal of Sports Sciences, 17, 697–711].ResultsFour distinctive mindfulness clusters were found based on their response on the MMS using cluster analysis. Marked differences in flow dispositions and mental skills adoption habits were observed between the high and the low mindfulness clusters. Those in the high mindfulness cluster scored significantly higher than the low mindfulness clusters in challenge–skill balance, merging of action and awareness, clear goals, concentration and loss of self-consciousness scores of the DFS-2 [Jackson, S.A., & Eklund, R.C. (2004). The flow scale manual. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology]. The high mindfulness clusters also scored significantly higher compared to the low mindfulness cluster in terms of attentional control, emotional control, goal setting and self-talk sub-scales of the TOPS.ConclusionsThis study suggests that athletes’ flow dispositions and mental skills adoption could be differentiated using mindfulness. The findings have implications towards the understanding of flow and mental skills adoption within sport psychology.     

Happiness and Unhappiness in the Developing World: Life Satisfaction Among Sex Workers, Dump-Dwellers, Urban Poor, and Rural Peasants in Nicaragua

Little in-depth research exists on subjective well-being (SWB) in the developing world, especially among the poor and extremely poor. Biswas-Diener and Diener (Soc Indic Res 55:329–352, 2001) employed a study design in the slums of Calcutta, India to address this gap in SWB research. They found slightly negative global SWB but slightly positive domain specific satisfaction in their sample. The current study employs the same paradigm and investigates the SWB of female sex workers, city dump dwellers, and urban and rural poor in Nicaragua, Central America. The current study was able to replicate the Biswas-Diener and Diener (Soc Indic Res 55:329–352, 2001) finding of slightly negative SWB for marginalized urban groups. In addition, an overall model for predicting SWB was constructed using personality dispositions, objective income, social support, and social rootedness as predictors. Social support and objective income were the only significant predictors in the model but more zero order relations existed. Additionally, this study contrasted urban poor versus rural poor and found no significant SWB differences.     

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Structure in Chinese Adolescents Exposed to a Deadly Earthquake

This present study examined the structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a large sample of Chinese adolescents exposed to a deadly earthquake. A total of 2,800 middle school students aged 12 to 18 years participated in the study 6 months after the “Wenchuan Earthquake”. Results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a five-factor intercorrelated model composed of intrusion, avoidance, numbing, dysphoric arousal, and anxious arousal, fit data significantly better than both the four-factor numbing model King et al. (Psychological Assessment 10:90–96, 1998) and the four-factor dysphoria model Simms et al. (Journal of Abnormal Psychology 111:637–647, 2002). Further examination of the external convergent and discriminant validity revealed that except for the dysphoric arousal factor, the remaining four PTSD factors yielded significantly different correlations with external measures of anxiety vs. depression. The findings add to the limited literature on the factor structure of PTSD in youths and on the five-factor PTSD model. In addition, they provide more detail into the latent psychopathological processes of PTSD, and inform the forthcoming DSM-5.     

The psychometric properties of the Hebrew version of Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire

The Hebrew Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire was administered to over a thousand individuals in the community, 16–78 years of age. Factor analysis was run first on individual items, and then on the 12 sub-scales described by [Cloninger, C.R., Pryzbeck, T.R., & Svrakic, D.M. (1991). The TPQ: US normative data. Psychological Reports, 69, 1047–1051)]. The factor analyses were restricted to four orthogonal factors in order to attempt confirmation of the corrected four-factor solution [Stallings, M.C., Hewitt, J.K., Cloninger, R.C., Heath, A.C., & Eaves, L.J. (1996). Genetic and environmental structure of the TPQ: three or four temperament dimensions? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70 (1), 127–140)]. In the individual item analysis four orthogonal factors recognizable as Novelty Seeking, Reward Dependence, Harm Avoidance and Persistence emerged. However only up to half of the items originally ascribed to each factor loaded sufficiently and exclusively on the appropriate factor. When the 12 sub-scales were entered into factor analysis the four orthogonal factors were produced, and the structure satisfactorily confirmed. A few exceptions to orthogonality were observed. The data were analyzed for sex differences and age effects. Women scored higher than men did on most sub-scales of Harm Avoidance and Reward Dependence. The younger group (up to 21 years of age) scored higher on Novelty Seeking and Reward Dependence and lower on Harm Avoidance than the older group, but no sex by age interaction was detected. Preliminary normative Israeli data are supplied, and implications of the group differences discussed.     

Psychometric Validation of the Temptation and Restraint Inventory in Two Samples of College Drinkers1

Drinking restraint, commonly measured by the Temptation and Restraint Inventory (TRI; Collins & Lapp, 1992), refers to a cycle of temptation to drink alcohol and attempts to control alcohol use that results in excessive consumption. Recent research has examined college drinkers using the TRI, however, it has been validated only in adult samples. This study validated the TRI in two samples of college drinkers, designated as “hazardous” (n = 480) and “harmful” (n = 231) drinkers. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the previously reported higher order two-factor structure was identified in both samples. In addition, multiple regression analyses using derived component scores demonstrated that TRI performance was associated with degree of alcohol dependence in both samples. These data support the use of the TRI in college samples.These data were previously presented in November 2002 at the 36th annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Reno, NV     

Cognitive Error Questionnaire (CEQ): Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure of the German Translation

A central component of Beck et al.’s (1979) cognitive theory of depression is faulty information processing reflected by so-called cognitive errors. These cognitive errors are the reason why depressed individuals systematically misinterpret the significance of events in a negative way. They are usually assessed with the application of the Cognitive Error Questionnaire (CEQ). This study examines the psychometric properties and factor structure of the German version of the CEQ in a sample of 796 volunteers at a German university. Results confirmed that the German CEQ has satisfactory to very good psychometric properties, like the American original. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that a hierarchical four-factor model with four subscales and 1 s order factor fits the data best. Therefore, besides using the German CEQ in studies with German-speaking samples, the similarities in psychometric properties of the American and German CEQ allow for cross-cultural studies.     

Value tradeoffs propel and inhibit behavior: Validating the 19 refined values in four countries

We assess the predictive and discriminant validity of the basic values in the refined Schwartz value theory by examining how value tradeoffs predict behavior in Italy, Poland, Russia, and the USA. One thousand eight hundred and fifty‐seven respondents reported their values and rated their own and a partner's behavior. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis supported the distinctiveness of the 19 values and the 19 self‐rated and other‐rated behaviors. Multidimensional scaling analyses supported the circular motivational order of the 19 values. Findings affirmed the theorizing that behavior depends upon tradeoffs between values that propel and values that inhibit it. Across four countries, value importance, behavior frequency, and gender failed to moderate the strength of value–behavior relations. This raises the question of the conditions under which the widely cited assumption that normative pressure weakens value–behavior relations holds.     

The Perceived Stress Scale: Evaluating Configural, Metric and Scalar Invariance across Mental Health Status and Gender

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24: 385–396, 1983) and its derivatives are among the most commonly used self-report measures of subjective global stress. Several factorial models of the PSS have been proposed; however, which of these structures reliably measures individuals with mental illness remains unclear. Moreover, despite the detection of gender differences in perceived stress, factorial invariance between genders has not yet been tested with the PSS. Confirmatory factor analysis evaluating six prevailing factorial models of the PSS among a large sample of psychiatric patients and a matched community sample supported a two-factor model. Multiple group analysis established configural, metric and scalar invariance of this model across gender, but only configural invariance across samples differing by mental health status. Implications are that gender differences can be cautiously interpreted as true mean differences rather than artifacts of measurement bias; however, mean perceived stress factor scores should not be compared directly across psychiatric and non-psychiatric samples.     

Assessing Dimensions of Parental Discipline

This study examines the advisability to distinguish dimensions of discipline, by evaluating the Dimensions of Discipline Inventory (DDI, Straus and Fauchier 2007) in a sample of Belgian undergraduate students (N = 371) who retrospectively reported on their mothers’ and fathers’ discipline behaviors aimed at correcting child misbehavior at age 10. First, confirmatory factor analyses showed that a model with nine factors fitted the data best, but also a model with four second-order factors was acceptable. Second, a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis with a Belgian and a U.S. sample (N = 633) provided additional evidence for the nine-factor structure. Correlations between DDI scales and other parenting related variables demonstrated meaningful relations. Additionally, some DDI subscales were associated with measures of current problem behavior. To conclude, the present study illustrated that it is both useful and possible to differentiate between discipline constructs.