Assessing the Utility of Compound Trait Estimates of Narrow Personality Traits

It has been argued that approximations of narrow traits can be made through linear combinations of broad traits such as the Big Five personality traits. Indeed, Hough and Ones (2001 Hough, L. M., &; Ones, D. S. (2001). The structure, measurement, validity, &; use of personality variables in industrial, work, and organizational psychology. In N. Anderson, D. S. Ones, H. K. Sinangil, &; C Viswesvaran (Eds.), Handbook of industrial, work, and organizational psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 233–277). London, UK: Sage.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) used a qualitative analysis of scale content to arrive at a taxonomy of how Big Five traits might be combined to approximate various narrow traits. However, the utility of such compound trait approximations has yet to be established beyond specific cases such as integrity and customer service orientation. Using data from the Eugene-Springfield Community Sample (Goldberg, 2008 Goldberg, L. R. (2008). The Eugene-Springfield community sample: Information available from the research participants. Eugene: Oregon Research Institute. [Google Scholar]), we explore the ability of linear composites of scores on Big Five traits to approximate scores on 127 narrow trait measures from 5 well-known non-Big-Five omnibus measures of personality. Our findings indicate that individuals' standing on more than 30 narrow traits can be well estimated from 3 different types of linear composites of scores on Big Five traits without a substantial sacrifice in criterion validity. We discuss theoretical accounts for why such relationships exist as well as the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners.     

Animacy increases second target reporting in a rapid serial visual presentation task

Attentional blink occurs when two target items, T1 and T2, are presented within brief moments of each other in a series of rapidly presented items and participants fail to report T2. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of characteristics of T2 on T2 reporting. Participants (N = 67) completed 4 blocks of 40 trials. Each trial consisted of 15 images, two of which were designated as T1 and T2. T2 was manipulated in three ways: animacy (animate or inanimate), threat (threatening or nonthreatening), and lag (200 ms or 400 ms after T1). The results indicated that more T2s were reported at the longer lag and that animate objects were reported more often than inanimate objects at both lags. Threat did not have a significant effect on T2 reporting although it interacted with lag: threatening objects were reported more frequently than nonthreatening objects at lag 2 but this trend reversed at lag 4. The results were consistent with the animate monitoring hypothesis, which claims that animate objects, because of their importance in ancestral environments, attract attention more easily than inanimate objects. Animate objects appear to capture attention more easily than inanimate objects as second targets in a rapid serial visual presentation task. This result is similar to animacy advantages reported with other attention tasks and with memory tasks.     

The problem of evil and the suffering of creeping things

Even philosophers of religion working on the problem of non-human animal suffering have ignored the suffering of creatures like insects. Sensible as this seems, it’s mistaken. I am not sure whether creatures like these can suffer, but it is plausible, on both commonsensical and scientific and philosophical grounds, that many of them can. If they do, their suffering makes the problem of evil much worse: their vast numbers mean the amount of evil in the world will almost certainly be increased by many, many orders of magnitude, the fact that disproportionately many of them live lives which are nasty, brutish, and short means that the proportion of good to evil in the world will be drastically worsened, and their relative lack of cognitive sophistication means that many theodicies, including many specifically designed to address animal suffering, would apply to their suffering only with much greater difficulty, if at all. Philosophers of religion should therefore more seriously investigate whether these beings can suffer and what, if anything, could justify God in allowing as much.     

Mastery goal orientation and cognitive ability effects on performance in learner‐guided training

To conserve resources, organizations are increasingly turning to learner‐guided training methods in which workers are given control over when, how, and what they cover in the learning process. However, the impact of individual differences such as goal orientation and cognitive ability has not been adequately addressed in learner‐guided training. This study seeks to advance our knowledge of how these differences affect performance through previously unexplored pathways. Specifically, we examined the indirect effects of mastery goal orientation and cognitive ability on post‐training performance in a learner‐directed training context. Findings indicate that off‐task thoughts mediate the positive effect of mastery goal orientation on post‐training performance, while declarative knowledge mediates the positive effect of cognitive ability on post‐training performance.     

Adaptability of Family Therapy Modalities in the Treatment of Lesbian and Gay Clients with Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa (BN) has becoming an increasingly common form of eating disorder, particularly with gay and lesbian populations. The lack of current literature on this particular topic, as well as the limited resources for recommendations of treatment adaptations for this population is evident by the disproportionate number of sexual minorities that present for treatment. This paper discusses the possible reasons for the lack of literature and resources, and provides clinicians with the adaptations of Emotion Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Structural Family Therapy, and Internal Family Systems when working with lesbian and gay populations who are suffering from BN. This paper aims to contribute more to the limited research in the area of sexual minorities in hopes to broaden the understanding of the treatment of individuals, as well as family functioning. We attempt to adapt these therapy modalities to be more inclusive of these nuanced presenting concerns, and to provide clinicians from all scopes of practice a thorough look into the treatment of a sexual minority population.     

Development, reliability, and validity of the Measure of Sexual Identity Exploration and Commitment (MOSIEC)

Four studies were conducted on the development and validation of the Measure of Sexual Identity Exploration and Commitment (MoSIEC). Exploratory factor analysis of an initial item pool yielded a 22-item measure with 4 distinct factors assessing commitment, exploration, sexual orientation identity uncertainty, and synthesis/integration. Exploratory factor analysis findings support the argument that sexual identity is a broad, multidimensional construct and that the MoSIEC assesses the construct of sexual identity in a manner consistent with J. E. Marcia's (1966) model of identity development. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated the stability of the MoSIEC factor structure, providing evidence of construct validity. Test-retest stability, internal consistency, and validity coefficients supported the use and continued development of the MoSIEC. Significant differences in levels of exploration and sexual orientation identity uncertainty were found among different sexual orientation identity groups, establishing the criterion-related validity of the MoSIEC. Implications for further development and use of the MoSIEC are discussed.     

Clinical utility of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales in therapeutic assessment: a case study

In the following article, we provide a case study on a 25-year-old man who was released from a crisis stabilization unit following a suicide attempt. After completing a diagnostic intake, the client participated in a Therapeutic Assessment (Finn, 1996, 2003), which included the MMPI-2 (Butcher et al., 2001) and the Incomplete Sentences Blank (Rotter & Rafferty, 1950). In particular, in the article, we focus on how the Restructured Clinical (RC; Tellegen et al., 2003) scales can be used to form a personological conceptualization of the client. The RC scales measure important personality and affective trait dimensions including demoralization and both positive and negative affect, which allows for a clear explanation of the underlying etiological factors that influence a client's negative emotional experience. In this article, we highlight how explaining these underlying personality characteristics to the client within the framework of therapeutic assessment allowed for an increase in his insight.     

Bidirectional Associations between Parenting Practices and Conduct Problems in Boys from Childhood to Adolescence: The Moderating Effect of Age and African-American Ethnicity

This study examined the bidirectional relationship between parent and teacher reported conduct problems in youth and parenting practices using a longitudinal sample of boys assessed from 6 to 16 years of age. Analyses tested whether these bidirectional associations changed across development and whether the nature of these associations varied across African-American and Caucasian families. Overall, the results supported a bidirectional relationship between conduct problems and all parenting practices examined from childhood to adolescence. The influence of conduct problems on changes in parenting behaviors was as strong as the influence of parenting behaviors on changes in conduct problems across development. Changes in the bidirectional relationship across development were found in some, but not all, models. While corporal punishment was more strongly related to changes in teacher-reported conduct problems for African-American boys compared to Caucasian boys, more similarities than differences were found between the ethnic groups in terms of the bidirectional associations examined.     

A hierarchical investigation of personality and behavior: Examining Neo-Socioanalytic models of health-related outcomes

Based on proposed hierarchical relations derived from the Neo-Socioanalytic Theory of personality [Roberts, B. W., & Wood, D. (2006). Personality development in the context of the Neo-Socioanalytic Model of personality. In D. K. Mroczek & T. D. Little (Eds.), Handbook of personality development (pp. 11–39). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers], the present study examined the relationships between trait and motivation constructs and health-related outcomes. Participants (N = 201) completed a Big Five measure of personality traits, parallel exercise and diet behavioral identity trait measures, measures of personal values, exercise and diet-related personal strivings, and exercise and diet self-reports. Participants also completed a physical activity assessment and were weighed on a calibrated electronic scale from which body fat percentage could be determined. It was expected that contextualized trait and motivation constructs would mediate the relations between broad trait and motivation constructs and the health-related outcomes. The patterns of relations across trait and motivation constructs also were explored. The trait domain exhibited the expected pattern of hierarchical relations, but the motivation domain showed a more complex pattern of relations. The results are discussed in relation to a hierarchical model of personality and behavior that brings together trait and motivation constructs at multiple levels of analysis.