A model for personality at three levels

People differ. How and why they differ are the fundamental questions for personality psychologists. In this article we address three levels at which people differ: within individuals, between individuals, and between groups of individuals. A dynamic model of personality is considered where traits are seen as rates of change in states in response to environmental cues. Within individuals, motivational and behavioral states show inertial properties and lead to an analysis of rates of change and latencies of behavior. Between individuals, the analysis is one of frequency and duration of choices. When individuals self select into groups reflecting shared interests and abilities, the structure of these group differences reflects the consequences of the self selection. Examples of the dynamic model are given for each level of analysis.     

What if your partner…? A situated decision-making approach to romantic competence in young adulthood

Individuals are likely to vary in their abilities to enact appropriate relationship behavior. With the aim of quantifying such differences, young adult participants were asked to rate the likelihood that they would respond to simulated relationship challenges in different ways and such responses were transformed into a Romantic Competence-Behavioral Tendency (RC-BT) metric through the use of several innovations. Three studies (total N = 496) then showed that higher RC-BT scores were predictive of prosocial feelings for the partner in combination with lesser aggression. Further, both participants and their partners were more satisfied and committed to their relationships with higher RC individuals. The findings provide support for a new way of thinking about romantic competence that builds on situated decision-making processes.     

Untangling the Theory of Planned Behavior's auxiliary assumptions and theoretical assumptions: Implications for predictive and intervention studies

It has been asserted that the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is better at behavioral prediction than it is behavioral change. However, the performance of a theory depends not only on the theoretical propositions, but the auxiliary assumptions attached to the theory. It is because of such auxiliary assumptions, which are required to bridge the gap between nonobservational terms at the level of theory and the observational terms at the level of the empirical hypothesis, that we believe critiques of the TPB's utility are misguided. We argue that a failure to separate theoretical assumptions from auxiliary assumptions leads to this false assumption. We suggest the importance of distinguishing between the auxiliary assumptions required for prediction studies and the auxiliary assumptions required for intervention studies. We believe that in attaching sound auxiliary assumptions to intervention studies, the TPB is equally effective at facilitating behavior change as it is behavior prediction.     

The Battle of the Screens: Unraveling Attention Allocation and Memory Effects When Multiscreening

Multiscreening, the simultaneous usage of multiple screens, is a relatively understudied phenomenon that may have a large impact on media effects. First, we explored people's viewing behavior while multiscreening by means of an eye‐tracker. Second, we examined people's reporting of attention, by comparing eye‐tracker and self‐reported attention measures. Third, we assessed the effects of multiscreening on people's memory, by comparing people's memory for editorial and advertising content when multiscreening (television–tablet) versus single screening. The results of the experiment (N = 177) show that (a) people switched between screens 2.5 times per minute, (b) people were capable of reporting their own attention, and (c) multiscreeners remembered content just as well as single screeners, when they devoted sufficient attention to the content.     

自我嗓音吸引力的评价偏向及抑郁的作用

探讨自我嗓音吸引力评价的积极偏向及抑郁因素的作用。以34名女性和32名男性大学生为被试,采用主观评定法分别对自我、熟人和陌生他人的嗓音吸引力进行评价,同时施测贝克抑郁量表。结果显示:男性和女性被试均对自我嗓音表现出更高评价,随着抑郁分数的增高,女性对自我嗓音吸引力的评价会随之降低。结果提示嗓音吸引力评价的自我积极偏向具有稳定性并与抑郁关系密切,女性抑郁程度越高,自我嗓音吸引力评价越低。     

Using an infotainment system while driving – A continuous analysis of behavior adaptations

Despite the fact that drivers are performing a lot of distracting tasks while driving (e.g. usage of infotainment systems) they are usually able to manage difficult situations. Drivers often seem to be able to adapt and effectively regulate their behavior according to the demands of the driving situation. Not much is known about the functional behavior that allows drivers to successfully regulate their intentional demands. The current study aims to investigate these adaptations and provides a methodological approach to do so. 38 participants performed a simulated driving task while using an In-Vehicle Infotainment System. Driving data and activity data for the secondary task were recorded and analyzed continuously over time. Participants permanently adapted their driving behavior and particularly reduced their secondary task activity when approaching critical driving situations. Following that, drivers should be regarded as active managers of their workload capacities, who actively frame a driving situation and adjust their operating behavior to the environment. To measure these adjustments, a continuous analysis of both driving as well as secondary task behavior is essential.     

Multi‐Criteria Ratios: What is the Unit?

When Analytic Hierarchy Process ratios are normalized to sum to unity, the unit of measure becomes obscure. This paper investigates this obscurity and whether ratio measurement is possible when there is no prior knowledge of the measurement unit. Initially, we look at ratio scales of tangible attributes of objects with well‐known measures. Then, ratio scales of unknown intangible attributes of objects are analysed. We discover that natural zero and a specific unit of measure are not necessarily used explicitly in deriving ratio scale measures. Nevertheless, the derived scale does have a derived unit of measurement. We conclude that although composite multi‐criteria answers are possible in ratio form, it is important to know that a unit of measure exists if ambiguities are to be avoided. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.