Personality, risky driving and accident involvement among Norwegian drivers

Despite the large body of studies, the role of personality in risk research still remains debatable and unclear. The objective of this study was to identify determinants of road user behaviour and accident involvement with the aim of developing effective accident countermeasures. Examining relationships between personality, risky driving and involvement in accidents can open up the possibility of early identification of those more likely to be involved in accidents. The aim is not to influence personality as such, but to develop measures constructed for specific groups. The results are based on a self-completion questionnaire survey carried out among a sample of Norwegian drivers in year 2000 and 2001 (n=2605). The Norwegian Directorate of Public Roads financed the study. The questionnaire included measures of risky driving, accident involvement, normlessness, sensation-seeking, locus of control and driver anger. Results showed that those who scored high on sensation seeking, normlessness and driver anger reported more frequent risky driving compared to those who scored low on these variables. They were more often involved in both speeding and ignorance of traffic rules. Respondents involved in risk taking-behaviour experienced near-accidents and crashes leading to both injuries and material damage more often than other drivers.     

Parental involvement in children's learning: Comparing parents of children with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

The present study examined involvement in children's learning among parents of 101 children between 8 and 12 years of age (53 parents of children with ADHD, 48 parents of children without ADHD). Compared to parents of children without ADHD, parents of children with ADHD reported lower self-efficacy in their ability to help their children, felt less welcome and supported by their children's schools and teachers, and perceived less time and energy for involvement in their children's academic lives. Mothers of children with and without ADHD reported similar types and levels of involvement behaviors in the home. Fathers of children with ADHD reported being more disengaged from their children's learning and using more coercive and punitive interactions regarding their children's achievement compared to fathers of children without ADHD. These findings underscore the difficulties in parent-supported learning practices and home-school collaboration initiatives faced by parents of children with ADHD and educators alike. Implications for school psychology practice are discussed.     

Nature and Nationhood: Danish Perspectives

In this paper, I shall discuss Danish perspectives on nature, showing the interdependence of conceptions of ‘nature’ and ‘nationhood’ in the formations of a particular cultural community. Nature, thus construed, is never innocent of culture and cannot therefore simply be ‘restored’ to some pristine, pre-lapsarian state. On the other hand, invocations of nature are effectively calls to action, often of a sort that involves a degree of (limited) restoration and conservation.     

Beyond “accident-proneness”: Using Five-Factor Model prototypes to predict driving behavior

Research on the association between personality traits and driving behavior as well as accident involvement has produced mixed results. In order to obtain empirical evidence for a consistent relation between personality and driving behavior, a prototype approach based on the Five-Factor Model (FFM) was applied. In two samples of drivers, cluster analyses of FFM scales revealed three prototypes that replicate previous ones. The prototypes, labeled Resilient, Overcontrolled, and Undercontrolled, were found to differ reliably in accident involvement and driving behavior, indicating differential accident liability. Undercontrollers are the most problematic drivers followed by Resilients, whereas Overcontrollers most consistently obey traffic rules and drive accordingly.     

It is Better to Receive than to Give: Advice Network Effects on Job and Work-Unit Attachment

Purpose  The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationship between advice-giving, advice-receiving, and employee work attitudes. We argue that (1) both advice-receiving and advice-giving will be positively related to job involvement; (2) advice-receiving will be more strongly associated with work-unit commitment than advice-giving; and (3) job involvement will mediate the relationship between advice-receiving and work-unit commitment. Design/methodology/approach  We conducted an empirical study of admissions department employees at a large university in southwest Pennsylvania in the United States. Respondents completed surveys which included questions related to demographics, social network ties, and attitudes. Findings  We found that while advice-giving and advice-receiving were positively related to job involvement, only advice-receiving was positively related to work-unit commitment. Job involvement fully mediated the relationship between advice-receiving and work-unit commitment. Implications  Our study (1) shows that advice-giving and advice-receiving are related to important work-related attitudes in organizations; (2) highlights the importance of the directionality of advice flow, as employees who received as opposed to provided advice tended to have higher levels of work-unit commitment; and (3) demonstrates that social network ties were related to work-unit attachment through job involvement. Originality/value   We examine job involvement and work-unit commitment using a social network analysis thus providing new insights about the relationships between advice-giving, advice-receiving and these important variables. An earlier version of this paper won the Best Paper Award at the 2005 Southwest Academy of Management Conference. The authors would like to dedicate this paper to Margie Jonnet.     

The effects of predictive ability information,locus of control,and decision maker involvement on decision aid reliance

This study examines several factors that influence decision makers' willingness to rely on mechanical decision aids. The first experiment examined the effects of predictive ability information and locus of control on decision aid reliance. The results indicate that decision makers were more likely to rely on a decision aid when its predictive validity was not disclosed. Further, decision makers with an external locus of control relied more on the decision aid than those with an internal locus of control. The second experiment expanded upon this result to examine the interactive effects of decision maker involvement and locus of control. The results suggest that involving decision makers in the aid's development enhanced reliance. However, decision makers with an internal locus of control were more strongly influenced by this form of involvement (in terms of increasing their reliance on the decision aid) than decision makers with an external locus of control. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What influences the quality of care in English playgroups?

In a study of the quality of care, interviews and observations of 45 playgroups in three areas of England were conducted. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale was used as a measure of quality. The influence of area, resources, management, size, space, staffing, training, support, parental involvement and staff dissatisfaction upon quality were considered. The major influence was playgroup leader training, and parental involvement was also associated with quality of care. Parental involvement and staff training were strongly linked, indicating the confounding of family and child care characteristics and the importance of understanding family and child care interrelationships. The applicability of the measures to English playgroups was discussed.     

A Longitudinal Assessment of Teacher Perceptions of Parent Involvement in Children's Education and School Performance

This study examines the ways in which parental involvement in children's education changes over time and how it relates to children's social and academic functioning in school. Teachers provided information on parent involvement and school performance for 1,205 urban, kindergarten through third-grade children for 3 consecutive years. They rated the following four dimensions of parent involvement: frequency of parent-teacher contact, quality of the parent-teacher interactions, participation in educational activities at home, and participation in school activites. As predicted, the frequency of parent-teacher contacts, quality of parent-teacher interactions, and parent participation at school declined from Years 1 to 3. Every parent involvement variable correlated moderately with school performance and parent involvement in Years 1 and 2, and accounted for a small, but significant amount of variance in Year 3 performance after controlling for initial performance level. Participation in educational activities at home predicted the widest range of performance variables. Results suggest that enhancing parental involvement in children's schooling relates to improvements in school functioning.     

Time to get a new mountain? The role of function in children's conceptions of natural kinds

Prior research indicates that young children are promiscuously teleological, attributing purpose not only to artifacts, but also to living and non-living natural entities. This study further examines the role of function in children's reasoning about different object kinds by indirectly probing children's intuitions about what types of entities can be rendered functionless. Specifically, children were asked to decide whether entities that could no longer perform certain activities should be fixed/replaced (e.g. "Do you need to get a new one?"). Results reveal that young children broadly view both artificial and natural kinds that can no longer perform certain activities as needing to be fixed or replaced. These findings suggest that the teleo-functional bias not only influences children's explanatory preferences but also their category judgments.