Personality and Job Performance in Financial Services Managers

This article presents research in which the Five Factor Model of personality was tested as a predictor of job performance. 125 financial services managers who had enrolled in a potential evaluation programme were given the NEO-FFI, a questionnaire designed for measuring the Big Five. Job performance was assessed using nine rating scales and they were grouped into two components: job problem-solving ability and job motivation. Also, one single scale for measuring global job performance was used. The results show that Neuroticism and Conscientiousness correlated with the two components and with the global measure of job performance. Extraversion, Openness and Agreeableness are correlated with one facet or with the global rating of job performance. Taken together, the results suggest that the Five Factor Model is a valid predictor of job performance. The implications of the results for practice and future research are discussed.     

Development and validation of a scale to assess positive youth development values

This paper describes the development of a self-report scale for adolescents to assess positive youth development values. It presents a substantial number of psychometric results performed on a sample of 2,400 adolescents (1,068 boys and 1,332 girls) from 12 to 17 years ( M = 14.73, SD = 1.25), who were studying secondary education in Western Andalusia. The results provide evidence of the psychometric quality of items, cross-validity of a structure of eight first-order factors and three second-order factors, obtained through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and adequate reliability. This study concludes that the scale presents adequate evidence of validity and reliability that allows assessment, especially in school contexts, of a broad set of values of particular relevance to positive youth development.     

‘We are the good guys but they are not bad’. In‐group positivity and cognitive performance in preschoolers

The general purpose of this study was to analyse the developmental relations between the early forms of ethnic attitudes, and the classification abilities of the young child. We designed new cognitive tasks within a detection paradigm adapted to preschoolers and attitudinal tasks that were presented as games in a computer screen. Participants were 75 majority‐group children of 3, 4, and 5 years of age. Children's preferences and positive/negative attitudes towards the in‐group (Spaniards) and three out‐groups (Latin‐Americans, Africans, and Asians) were measured. The results showed a remarkable preference and positivity for the in‐group, but not out‐group derogation. Children's cognitive performance, to a greater extent than their age, was positively associated with in‐group favouritism and positivity. On the other hand, we found some interesting differences and developmental changes in children's positive orientation to the out‐groups that are discussed in the last section.     

Life satisfaction and perception of happiness among university students

The aim of this essay has been the evaluation of three orientations towards happiness: pleasure, meaning and engagement, as well as their relation to life satisfaction and the perception of happiness in a sample of 320 university students. The results show that the most used kind of orientation towards happiness is pleasure, followed by meaning, and finally engagement. It has also been found that pleasure is the orientation most closely associated to happiness while engagement seems to be more related to life satisfaction. These findings aim to the distinction between the concepts of happiness and life satisfaction and lead the attention to the actions which can improve the levels of happiness.     

Assessment of the efficacy of a psychological treatment for women victims of violence by their intimate male partner

This study evaluates the long-term efficacy of a brief psychotherapeutic cognitive-behavioral program in group format for female victims of violence by their intimate partner. 53 battered women were randomized into one of two intervention programs: one including among others exposure technique (n = 28) and another one in which exposure procedures were substituted by communication skills training (n = 25). Additionally, both programs included: psycho-education, breath control, training to improve self-esteem, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving, planning pleasant activities, and relapse prevention. The treatment was carried out in 8 weekly sessions. Measures of posttraumatic symptoms, anxiety, depression, self-esteem and anger expression were analyzed at pre- and post-treatment, and at 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-months follow-ups. Results show a pronounced decrease of posttraumatic, depressive and anxiety symptoms, which maintained in the different measure moments, with scarce difference between the two programs. The results and their clinical implications are discussed.     

Brief version of the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale - Straightforward Items (BFNE-S): psychometric properties in a Spanish population

The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Brief version of the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale - Straightforward Items (BFNE-S) in a non-clinical Spanish population. Rodebaugh et al. (2004) recommend the use of this scale composed of 8 straightforwardly-worded items, instead of the 12-item version of the BFNE. The sample consisted of 542 undergraduate students, 71.3% of whom were women and 28.7% were men; the mean age was 21.71 (4.78) years. Exploratory factor analysis produced one factor which accounted for 51.28% of variance. The internal consistency of the scale was alpha = .89. The BFNE-S correlated with the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (r = .44), the Personal Report of Confidence as Speaker Modified (r = .44), the Public Speaking Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (r = -.38) and both subscales of the Self-Statements during Public Speaking (SSPS-P r = -.22; SSPS-N r = .53). ANOVAs revealed significant differences in the BFNE-S amongst a non-clinical population, persons suffering from specific social phobia, non-generalized social phobia and generalized social phobia.     

Implementation of Response to Intervention (RtI) Model in Spain: an example of a collaboration between Canarian universities and the department of education of the Canary Islands

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of second tier intervention at-risk readers within the context of a Response to Intervention approach. The study was conducted in the Canary Islands (Spain), directed by research team ¨Dificultades de Aprendizaje, Psicolingüística y Nuevas Tecnologías¨ (DEA&NT) from University of La Laguna, and supported by the Government of the Canary Islands. A sample of 1.123 Spanish children from fourteen schools districts were given the Spanish adaptation of The Hong Kong Specific Learning Difficulties Behavior Checklist and children who scored at or above the 75th percentile on the test were classified as "at risk" for early reading difficulties. Half of the students were randomly assigned to a project-based intervention condition where they received small group supplementary intervention for 30 minutes daily using the Prevención de las Dificultades Específicas de Aprendizaje (PREDEA) curriculum from mid to late December and continued until mid June. The other half received whatever remedial services were available at their schools. Results indicated that children who received the PREDEA curriculum had higher scores on the Early Grade Reading Assessment Test (EGRA) on initial sound identification, listening comprehension, letter sound knowledge and oral reading fluency compared to the control group.     

Stability of the factor structure of Barrat's Impulsivity Scales for children across cultures: a comparison of Spain and Colombia

Despite the great importance of impulsivity in many childhood and adolescence disorders, there are few self-reports on child impulsivity. Recently, a modified version of Barratt's BIS-11 questionnaire adapted for children has been developed, which may be useful in assessing this personality dimension. The present study reports an adaptation of this questionnaire in a different culture (Colombia) and assesses the degree of convergence between the factor structures of both adaptations using consensus oblimin rotation. The results indicate not only that the factor structure of the test remains stable across both adaptations, and that two of the three scales in the Colombian version show acceptable reliabilities, but also that cultural and linguistic issues are important in test adaptation even when the same language is used.     

Adaptation of the "Recovery Experience Questionnaire" in a Spanish sample

The aim of this work was to examine the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the "Recovery Experience Questionnaire" developed by Sonnentag and Fritz. The sample was made up of 941 professionals from the security sector. Results from the exploratory factor analysis suggested the possibility of considering a four-factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the four-factor model with three correlated items each provided the best fit to the data (CFI=0.97, GFI=0.96, NNFI=0.96, RMSEA=0.05 y AIC=171.76). Therefore, the questionnaire maintains the four recovery experiences -psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery experiences and control over leisure time--but with 12 items instead of 16 items as in the original scale. Reliability analysis showed good internal consistency for this scale with Cronbach alpha coefficients for the factors ranging from .75 to .88. Significant correlations were found between the recovery experiences and various external variables, providing evidence of construct validity. Thus, this Spanish version shows adequate psychometric properties and may help to achieve a better understanding of this topic.