Validity and Stability of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory in a Nonforensic Sample of Young Adults

Scores were obtained for 103 Subjects on the Sixteen Personality Factor test, Form C; the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule; the Otis Quick Scoring Test, Form G; Raven's Progressive Matrices, Sets A-E; and on 47 handwriting variables. First, personality and intelligence variables, then handwriting variables were factored and rotated, after which factor scores were obtained. Through a regression of handwriting from personality and intelligence factor scores, it was found that 6 of 16 handwriting factors could be predicted by 5 of 10 personality and intelligence factors. These results and their relation to graphology are discussed.     

Voices from the Street: How Structural and Individual Factors Influence Homelessness

This study compared structural and individual factors related to persons who are homeless and how these factors affected their ability to utilize and benefit from available services. A qualitative case study design was used to conduct in-depth interviews with two participants receiving hospice care in a residence for the homeless. Results support previous findings that chronic homelessness is the result of multiple structural and individual factors that occur over time. Contrary to the literature on chronic homelessness, however, both participants were unique in their history of employment and strong desire to work, despite having limited work skills. Responses from both participants underscored the value of daily structure and meaningful occupation in residential addiction treatment.     

Coping mediates relationships between reinforcement sensitivity and symptoms of psychopathology

Limited research has evaluated whether coping strategies mediate the relationships between reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) and symptoms of psychopathology. Undergraduates (n = 293) completed questionnaires assessing RST, coping, and symptoms of psychopathology. Consistent with our hypotheses, bootstrapping analyses indicated that emotion- and avoidance-focused coping mediated the relationship between high Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and depression, anxiety, and worry. Less problem-focused coping mediated the relationship between low Behavioral Approach System (BAS) and depression. Avoidance-focused coping mediated the effects of high BIS on drug and alcohol use whereas high BAS directly predicted alcohol and drug use. Unexpectedly, emotion-focused coping mediated the relationship between BAS and anxiety and worry. These results provide support for the hypothesis that personality variables are associated with psychopathology partially through coping.     

Social problem solving in early childhood: Developmental change and the influence of shyness

The purpose of this study was to examine developmental change and the influence of shyness on social problem-solving (SPS). At 24, 36, and 48 months, children (N = 570) were observed while interacting with an unfamiliar peer during an SPS task and at 24 months, maternal report of shyness was collected. Results showed that across the full sample, children displayed low but stable levels of withdrawn SPS and increasing levels of SPS competence over development. In addition, results showed multiple trajectories of withdrawn and competent SPS. Shyness was associated with high-increasing and high-decreasing withdrawn SPS trajectories compared with the low-increasing withdrawn SPS trajectory. Shyness was also associated with the low-increasing compared with the high-increasing SPS competence trajectory. Findings demonstrate the development of SPS competence over early childhood, and the influence of early shyness on this developmental course, with some shy children showing improvement in SPS skills and others continuing to show SPS difficulties over time.     

The Moderating Effect of Machiavellianism on the Psychological Contract Breach–Organizational Identification/Disidentification Relationships

Purpose

We explore whether Machiavellianism—a personality trait which describes the extent to which individuals ignore values and ethical considerations when the ends justify the means—will influence their responses to their employing organizations’ failure to fulfil promised obligations (psychological contracts). Specifically, we draw on psychological contracts theory and the group value model to argue that Machiavellianism will moderate the relationships between psychological contract breach and (1) organizational identification; and (2) organizational disidentification.

Design/Methodology/Approach

We tested our hypotheses in a study of 262 employees from various organizations at two points in time.

Findings

We found that psychological contract breach was negatively related to organizational identification and positively related to organizational disidentification. Furthermore, employees with higher levels of Machiavellianism tended to disidentify with their organizations to a greater extent (at Time 2) in response to psychological contract breach (at Time 1) than did employees with low levels of Machiavellianism. Machiavellianism did not moderate the relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational identification.

Implications

Our study contributes to extant research exploring the importance of Machiavellianism in the workplace. Specifically, we show that employees with high levels of Machiavellianism are more likely to disidentify in response to psychological contract breach but do not tend to identify to a lesser degree.

Originality/Value

This study builds on the extant research exploring individual differences in the psychological contract dynamics by considering Machiavellianism as a moderator of the breach–outcome relationship.     

I Will Always Love You: Dispelling Marital Myths Through Applications of Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy

Couples often enter relationships with a certain amount of naivety, expecting that just because they are in love, all problems in the relationship will be solved. In fact, love is just a small percentage of what it takes to have a successful relationship. This article will address myths and misconceptions that are critical for couples to recognize and address. In addition, the author will describe numerous cognitive, emotive, and behavioral interventions that have proven to be successful in couple counseling.     

Life Meaning Following Combat Among Air Force Security Forces Personnel

An active duty Air Force ground combat unit (n = 189) completed surveys about trauma and combat exposure, mood symptoms, and meaning in life. Two dimensions of deployment-related traumas were assessed: combat (e.g., firing weapons, being fired upon) and aftermath (e.g., seeing dead bodies, injury). Results of regression analyses indicated that Airmen who experienced more intense combat reported less presence of meaning in life, although the significant interaction with gender suggested declines in meaning in life were especially pronounced among males with higher combat intensity. In contrast, more intense aftermath exposure was associated with slightly stronger meaning in life, with no differences by gender. Intensity of combat exposure might differentially affect perceived meaning in life for male versus female combatants.     

Flexible Mediation Analysis in the Presence of Nonlinear Relations: Beyond the Mediation Formula

In the social sciences, mediation analysis has typically been formulated in the context of linear models using the Baron &; Kenny (1986) Baron, R. M. and Kenny, D. A. 1986. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51: 1173–1182. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] approach. Extensions to nonlinear models have been considered but lack formal justification. By placing mediation analysis within the counterfactual framework of causal inference one can define causal mediation effects in a way that is not tied to a specific statistical model and identify them under certain no unmeasured confounding assumptions. Corresponding estimation procedures using parametric or nonparametric models, based on the so-called mediation formula, have recently been proposed in the psychological literature and made accessible through the R-package mediation. A number of limitations of the latter approach are discussed and a more flexible approach using natural effects models is proposed as an alternative. The latter builds on the same counterfactual framework but enables interpretable and parsimonious modeling of direct and mediated effects and facilitates tests of hypotheses that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to test. We illustrate the approach in a study of individuals who ended a romantic relationship and explore whether the effect of attachment anxiety during the relationship on unwanted pursuit behavior after the breakup is mediated by negative affect during the breakup.