Factor structure and measurement invariance of a short measure of the Big Five personality traits

The main purpose of this study is to assess the factor structure and the measurement invariance of the Mini-International Personality Item Pool (Mini-IPIP; Donnellan, Oswald, Baird, & Lucas, 2006). The Mini-IPIP is a brief instrument evaluating personality traits according to the Big Five models. Two samples were collected comprising nearly 800 participants. Confirmatory factor analyzes revealed a five-factor solution consistent with the Big Five model. Measurement invariance analyses showed that the Mini-IPIP was reasonably invariant across samples, genders and age groups. Overall, results pointed to a satisfactory factorial structure and an adequate invariance of the measure.     

What role does neuroticism play in the association between negative job characteristics and anxiety and depression?

Many studies have established an association between job characteristics and anxiety and depression and noted that personality characteristics such as neuroticism likely play a role in creating or modifying these associations. Few studies, however, have explicitly tested or compared these possible alternative roles. In this study, we tested several specific hypotheses about neuroticism and its effects on job characteristics, anxiety and depression and their association in a series of structural equation models. Participants (N = 372) completed the Big Five Inventory, Job Contents Questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire. We tested (a) whether neuroticism is likely to be an important confounder of the association between job characteristics and anxiety and depression and (b) whether neuroticism moderates the association between job characteristics and anxiety and depression. Results indicated large attenuations by neuroticism of the association between job characteristics and anxiety and depression but there remained significant effects of psychological demands on anxiety, and social support on depression independent of neuroticism. Evidence was also found for interaction effects between neuroticism and decision latitude, with those lower in neuroticism being at higher risk for depression under conditions of low control.     

The General Factor of Personality and peer-rated social status: A rejoinder to de Vries (2011)

In a previous study we showed that self-reported Big Five scores and the General Factor of Personality (GFP) were related to peer-ratings of likeability and popularity (van der Linden, Scholte, et al., 2010). de Vries (2011a) re-analyzed our data and concluded that (i) there was no evidence of a GFP, and (ii) the GFP we used was latent factor of Extraversion. In this rejoinder I present arguments that compromise the re-analysis and conclusions as described by de Vries (2011a) and emphasize the relevance of the GFP.     

Big Five personality dimensions in Italian and Dutch adolescents: A cross-cultural comparison of mean-levels, sex differences, and associations with internalizing symptoms

In the present cross-national comparison, self-reported Big Five personality data on large samples of Dutch (N = 1521) and Italian (N = 1975) adolescents were employed. Results suggest that the personality of Dutch and Italian adolescents can be described by the same Big Five traits, but that these might have slightly different meanings to the Dutch and Italian adolescent respondents. Supplementary analyses uncovered that sex differences are largest among Italian adolescents. Further comparisons reveal subtle cross-national differences in personality-psychopathology relationships, with stronger associations of Emotional Stability with depression for Italian when compared to Dutch adolescents. Results underscore that cross-national comparisons of personality may be alluring to use in research, however the findings of these comparisons should be interpreted with caution.     

Measurement equivalence of the Big Five: Shedding further light on potential causes of the educational bias

Rammstedt, Goldberg, and Borg (2010) demonstrated that the Big Five factor structure is sensitive to educational bias and that this bias seems to be due to a more pronounced tendency for acquiescent responding among less well-educated respondents. The present follow-up study investigated whether using an interview assessment mode in which the item presentation is standardized and thus differences in reading ability are controlled for, reduces the bias in the factorial structures. Results based on a large and heterogeneous sample clearly contradict this assumption: The findings unambiguously replicate those reported by Rammstedt et al. in that lower educated respondents have a higher and more variable tendency for acquiescent responding which directly affects the factor structure of the Big Five measure.     

Perceived influence in groups over time: How associations with personality and cognitive ability can change over time

The ability of personality and cognitive ability to predict perceptions of group influence in small work groups are assessed both in initial and advanced stages of group formation. Extraversion is found important to initial perceptions of intra-group influence, which is partially mediated by peer-perceived social-emotional usefulness. After a few months, reputations are established and everyone has met; now work needs to get done efficiently and accurately and cognitive ability predicts increases in perceived group influence, which is partially mediated by perceived intelligence. After even more time, other Big Five personality traits become important to changes in perceived group influence, with positive associations with openness to experience, and negative associations with neuroticism and conscientiousness. The study findings and implications are discussed.     

The ubiquity of common method variance: The case of the Big Five

The factor structures of the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) and NEO-FFI Big Five questionnaires were examined via confirmatory factor analyses. Analyses of IPIP data for five samples and NEO data for one sample showed that a CFA model with three method bias factors, one influencing all items, one influencing negatively worded items, and one influencing positively worded items fit the data significantly better than models without method factors or models with only one method factor . With the method factors estimated, our results indicated that the Big Five dimensions may be more nearly orthogonal than previously demonstrated. Implications of the presence of method variance in Big Five scales are discussed.     

Imagine There Is a War and No One Turns Up! A Response to the Commentaries

In this response to the commentaries, we make one concession and try to clarify two critical points raised by the commentators. The concession is about the common stock of knowledge on which social representations approaches draw in general, and the model outlined in our article in particular. The two points we attempt to clarify concern the importance of both an intergroup perspective and of the structural components of power to our model of social representations.     

癫痫儿童的智力结构及适应行为特点的初步研究

探讨癫痫儿童的智力结构及适应行为特点并进行相关因素分析。应用中国-韦氏儿童智力测验量表及儿童适应行为评定量表,进行智力测验及适应行为评定。结果癫痫儿童易出现智力及适应行为能力的缺陷,对于癫痫儿童的临床治疗,除积极控制癫痫发作外,应注重认知功能的保护,其中言语智力的开发及训练应给予特别关注,同时,也应注意社会心理因素对儿...     

高校毕业生可雇佣能力的因素、结构与测量

该研究在文献理论分析、招聘广告词频分析、专家反馈、焦点团队访谈和半开放式问卷调查的基础上,编制了高校毕业生可雇佣能力问卷,并对已签订就业协议的930名高校毕业生进行了施测。探索性和验证性因素分析结果表明高校毕业生可雇佣能力是一个多层次多维度的结构,主要包括15个基本因素,分别归属于5个二阶维度和一个三阶维度,量表的信、效度指标均达到心理测量学要求。