Genetic and environmental structure of Cloninger's temperament and character dimensions

The multivariate genetic and environmental structure of Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was investigated in a sample of 617 pairs of adolescent and young adult twins from Japan. Additive genetic factors accounted for 22% to 49% of the variability on all TCI temperament scales. Although the theory predicts lower heritability for the character scales, all character subscales had a substantial genetic contribution, and nonshared environmental influences accounted for the remainder. Multivariate genetic analyses showed that several subscales used to define one dimension shared a common genetic basis with subscales defining others. Using the degree of shared genetic influence as the basis to rearrange the TCI subscales into new dimensions, it was possible to create genetically independent scales. The implications for personality measurement, theory, and molecular genetic research are discussed.     

The relationship between the Big Five personality factors and burnout: a study among volunteer counselors

In the present study of 80 volunteer counselors who cared for terminally ill patients, the authors examined the relationship between burnout as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (C. Maslach, S. E. Jackson, & M. P. Leiter, 1996) and the 5 basic (Big Five) personality factors (A. A. J. Hendriks, 1997): extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and intellect/autonomy. The results of 3 separate stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that (a) emotional exhaustion is uniquely predicted by emotional stability; (b) depersonalization is predicted by emotional stability, extraversion, and intellect/autonomy; and (c) personal accomplishment is predicted by extraversion and emotional stability. In addition, some of the basic personality factors moderated the relationship between relative number of negative experiences and burnout, suggesting that personality may help to protect against known risks of developing burnout in volunteer human service work.     

Crowded and sparse domains in object recognition: consequences for categorization and naming

Some models of object recognition propose that items from structurally crowded categories (e.g., living things) permit faster access to superordinate semantic information than structurally dissimilar categories (e.g., nonliving things), but slower access to individual object information when naming items. We present four experiments that utilize the same matched stimuli: two examine superordinate categorization and two examine picture naming. Experiments 1 and 2 required participants to sort pictures into their appropriate superordinate categories and both revealed faster categorization for living than nonliving things. Nonetheless, the living thing superiority disappeared when the atypical categories of body parts and musical instruments were excluded. Experiment 3 examined naming latency and found no difference between living and nonliving things. This finding was replicated in Experiment 4 where the same items were presented in different formats (e.g., color and line-drawn versions). Taken as a whole, these experiments show that the ease with which people categorize items maps strongly onto the ease with which they name them.     

Interruption-similarity effects during discourse processing

We examined the effect of interruption on reading to determine if discourse processing is susceptible to similarity-based interference. Participants read pairs of passages, either one before the other (in the continuous condition) or with the sentences of the two passages interleaved (in the interruption condition). In addition, the similarity of the types of passages (narrative or expository) in a pair was manipulated. Performance was measured with self-paced reading time of the sentences and with accuracy in answering comprehension questions. In two experiments, interruption slowed the reading of text sentences; this effect of interruption was greatest when the interrupting text was of the same style as the primary text (an interruption-similarity effect). We discuss these results with respect to current models of the role of working memory in discourse processing.     

A comparison of health behaviours in lonely and non-lonely populations

Loneliness can be defined as perceived social isolation and appears to be a relatively common experience in adults. It carries a significant health risk and has been associated with heart disease, depression and poor recovery after coronary heart surgery. The mechanisms that link loneliness and morbidity are unclear but one of the mechanisms may be through poor health beliefs and behaviours. The aims of this cross-sectional survey of 1289 adults were to investigate differences in health behaviours (smoking, overweight, BMI, sedentary, attitudes towards physical activity) in lonely and non-lonely groups. Lonely individuals were more likely to be smokers and more likely to be overweight - obese. The lonely group had higher body mass index scores controlling for age, annual income, gender, employment and marital status. Logistic regression revealed no differences in sedentary lifestyles. Lonely individuals were significantly less likely to believe it was desirable for them to lose weight by walking for recreation, leisure or transportation. The findings provide support for an association between health behaviours, loneliness and excess morbidity reported in previous studies.     

Basis of recency and frequency judgements of novel faces: generalised strength or episode-specific memories?

Evidence for generalised and episode-specific strength in judgements of recency and frequency of novel faces was investigated in two experiments. Novel faces (created using an identikit program) were presented either once or three times in either of two study sets, separated by a 4 minute (Experiment 1) or 24 hour (Experiment 2) delay. In Experiment 2, the study-test phases were preceded by a familiarisation phase in which faces were presented either with or without an occupational label (some faces were not familiarised). In both experiments, judgements of recency were consistent with greater reliance on generalised strength (an amalgamation of recency and frequency of presentation), although there was some evidence for a contribution of episode-specific information. Familiarisation had opposite effects on judgements of recency and frequency, with familiarised faces judged as having been studied more frequently (three times), but less recently (yesterday) than unfamiliarised faces. The latter result is consistent with participants discounting generalised strength when episode-specific information is inadequate.     

Experimental manipulation of prior experience: Effects on item and associative recognition

Frequency of exposure to very low- and high-frequency words was manipulated in a three-phase (familiarisation, study, and test) design. During familiarisation, words were presented with their definition (once, four times, or not presented). One week (Experiment 1) or one day (Experiment 2) later, participants studied a list of homogeneous pairs (i.e., pair members were matched on background and familiarisation frequency). Item and associative recognition of high- and very low-frequency words presented in intact, rearranged, old-new, or new-new pairs were tested in Experiment 1. Associative recognition of very low-frequency words was tested in Experiment 2. Results showed that prior familiarisation improved associative recognition of very low-frequency pairs, but had no effect on high-frequency pairs. The role of meaning in the formation of item-to-item and item-to-context associations and the implications for current models of memory are discussed.     

Impact of face masks on perceptions of black and white targets during the COVID-19 pandemic

Although the use of face masks was widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic, their impact on social perceptions is unclear. Notably, research that has investigated the influence of masks on personality attributions has focused on a small set of characteristics with a focus on predominantly White targets, and only few studies examining more diverse groups. Because the race of targets has been found to impact impression formation processes in significant ways, it is important to examine diverse racial targets along with a wider range of personality traits. The goal of the present research therefore was to explore how face masks impact a variety of trait attributions for both White and Black targets. Our results indicate that masking faces has positive implications (i.e., more trustworthy, warm, competent, and less threatening) for White but not Black targets. Notably, both White and Black targets with masks compared to without masks were perceived as more attractive, but the effect was smaller for Black targets. Because COVID-19 continues to be a public health emergency of international concern, with infections and deaths occurring around the world and with mask mandates still being implemented in a variety of contexts, knowing how people differentially respond to targets of different races wearing masks remains relevant and important.