Proactive Personality Heterophily and the Moderating Role of Proactive Personality on Network Centrality and Psychological Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study

Purpose

In a social network study, this research investigates proactive personality dissimilarity as a basis for friendship ties over time. It also examines the moderating role of proactive personality on the relationship between network centrality and satisfaction/stress.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Longitudinal network data (two periods) were collected from business students (T1, n = 197; T2, n = 212). We captured the early stages of network formation and observed the changes in network structure over time.

Findings

Findings demonstrate proactive individuals develop ties with less proactive individuals over time, providing evidence of personality heterophily. In addition, proactive personality positively moderates the relationship between network centrality and satisfaction/stress. Interestingly, people’s perceptions of their network position (out-degree ties) were more strongly associated with their personal outcomes than their number of ties as nominated by others.

Originality/Value

This research is among the first to provide evidence of personality heterophily over time (relationships form because of differences in personality). Moreover, proactive personality is important to both the benefits and costs associated with network participation, pointing to paradoxical effects of proactive personality.     

Attentional Performance in Children and Adolescents with Tic Disorder and Co-Occurring Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: New Insights from a 2 × 2 Factorial Design Study

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of both tic disorder (TD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on attentional functions. N = 96 children and adolescents participated in the study, including n = 21 subjects with TD, n = 23 subjects with ADHD, n = 25 subjects with TD+ADHD, and n = 27 controls. Attentional performance was tested based on four computerized attention tasks (sustained attention, divided attention, go/nogo and set shifting). The effect of TD as well as ADHD on attentional performance was tested using a 2 × 2 factorial approach. A diagnosis of TD had no negative impact on attentional functions but was associated with improved performance in the set shifting task. By contrast, regardless of a diagnosis of TD, subjects with ADHD were found to perform worse in the sustained attention, divided attention and go/nogo task. No interaction effect between the factors TD and ADHD was revealed for any of the attention measures. Our results add to findings from other areas of research, showing that in subjects with TD and ADHD, ADHD psychopathology is often the main source of impairment, whereas a diagnosis of TD has little or no impact on neuropsychological performance in most cases and even seems to be associated with adaptive mechanisms.     

Motor control accuracy: a consequential probe of individual differences in emotion regulation

Two studies (total N = 147) sought to model emotion-regulation processes in cognitive-motoric terms. Hostile or nonhostile thoughts were primed and, immediately following, individuals held a joystick as accurately as possible on a presented visual target. Study 1 revealed that the activation of hostile thoughts impaired motor control at low levels of agreeableness but facilitated motor control at high levels of agreeableness, consistent with emotion-regulation views of this trait. Study 2 did not assess the trait of agreeableness but rather sought to determine whether better motor control following activated hostile thoughts would predict lesser reactivity to stressors in an experience-sampling protocol. It did, and relevant results are reported for daily anger, negative affect, and positive affect. In addition, and consistent with the agreeableness findings of Study 1, better motor control that follows hostile thoughts predicted greater empathy on high-stress days. Motor control probes of the present type thus appear consequential in understanding emotion-regulation processes and successes in emotion regulation.     

Changes in Work Motivation During Transition: A Case from Slovenia

A longitudinal study of work motivation based on the VIE model was conducted in a Slovenian iron and steel organisation in five-year intervals from 1979 to 1994. During this period we can observe some changes in the importance of values and changes in the perceptions of the work environment. Results were interpreted as context-specific reflections of the macrosocietal changes that have occurred during the transition in Eastern and Central Europe. The results also indicate that meaningful changes in organizational culture and climate occurred long before the actual political and economic change happened. Limitations related to the nature of the research design and to the cross-level nature of transitional changes are discussed.