Predicting Personality Stability Across the Life Span: The Role of Competence and Work and Family Commitments

Longitudinal studies suggest modest continuity in personality from adolescence to early adulthood and greater continuity over successive periods during the adult years. However, individual differences in personality stability do exist. We discuss potential sources of personality change, especially as they relate to development, role assumption and commitment, and loss of roles and commitments. Then, using data from the Intergenerational Studies, we employ measures of competence and of work and family commitments, assessed both in high school and adulthood, to predict personality stability from high school to early and late adulthood. Results indicate that personality stability can be successfully predicted with such measures. Greater personality stability is found for those determined to be more planfully competent, but additional family and work role variables also increase predictive power, in some instances. Using two alternate measures of competence—one from the California Q-sort and the other from the California Psychological Inventory—we replicated the finding that men with more disorderly careers show less personality stability, and that women who have experienced more divorces show less personality stability.     

Individual differences in relatedness and individuality: An exploration of two constructs

Sociotropy and autonomy are two personality dimensions that relate to an individual's vulnerability to depression. Independent and interdependent self-construals are two distinctive cognitive formulations of the self derived from cross-cultural research. Both of these sets of constructs reflect self and other orientations. The purpose of the present study was to empirically examine the various factors that emerge when these two constructs are integrated. 652 participants responded to the Personal Style Inventory [Robins, C. J., Ladd, J., Welkowitz, J., Blaney, P. H., Diaz, R. & Kutcher, G. (1991). The Personal Style Inventory: Preliminary validation studies of new measures of sociotropy and autonomy. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 16, 277–300.], the Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale [Clark, D. A. & Beck, A. T. (1991). Personality factors in dysphoria: A psychometric refinement of Beck's Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 13, 369–388.] and the Self-Construal Scale [Singelis, T. M. (1994). The measurement of independent and interdependent self-construals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 580–591.]. Four factors emerged from a factor analysis conducted on the items of the three scales measuring sociotropy-autonomy and independent and interdependent self-construal. These four factors are discussed in the context of vulnerability to depression.     

计划生育干部多种量表评定结果的相关分析

本研究采用DSQ、SCL－90、16PF问卷,对河南、陕西两省部分县（市）乡（镇）的计划生育专职机构的169名计生干部进行测试,结果发现：计生干部的防御方式、心理健康及个性特质三者存在着密不可分的内在联系。个性特征、心理健康状况影响制约着防御方式的动用;防御方式的使用影响行为后果及人的适应能力,进而作用于心理健康,心理健康状况又会重塑人格结构,影响防御方式的动用。     

Similarity between partners in real and perceived personality traits as measured by the Myers-Briggs type indicator

From 90 couples, 90 male and 90 female subjects, two sets of scores on the four personality dimensions measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) were obtained by letting each person answer each item twice, first in the ordinary way and then as he or she believed the partner would answer the item. Correlations between partners' self-reported scores were all close to zero, whereas the correlations between the partner-reported scores and the self-reported scores were high for both males and females and for all the four dimensions measured by the MBTI, thus indicating that partners were not similar in personality traits, but they had a realistic perception of each other. The results support the hypothesis that mating is random in terms of personality traits.     

The empirical relationships between standardized measures of religiosity and personality/mental health

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between standardized, factor-based measures of religiosity and personality/mental health. In a sample of 471 self-identified Christian subjects, 303 females and 168 males, 79 non-psychotic psychiatric in-patients and 392 non-patients, personal extrinsicness was partially positively correlated with the BCI Obsessive score. In multiple regression analyses some of the factor-based religious orientation indices related differently to the BCI Oral, Obsessive and Hysterical Scales and the SCL-90 Global Symptom Index as dependent variables. The religious orientations explained 8.8% of the variance of the BCI Oral Score, 4.2% of the BCI Obsessive score, 3.3% of the BCI Hysterical score, and 12.3% of the SCL-90 Global Symptom Index score. Of the doctrinal belief and morality indices only Moral conservatism was significantly related to the BCI Hysterical score, and then negatively.     

The intergenerational link to antisocial behavior: Effects of paternal contact

We investigated the relationship between paternal antisocial behavior and child conduct problems and we tested whether the degree of contact between father and child moderated the intergenerational link to antisocial behavior. Subjects were 92 children between the ages of 6 and 13 referred to an outpatient mental health clinic. There was a significant association between Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) in fathers and a diagnosis of conduct problems in their children. However, the relationship between paternal APD and conduct problems in offspring was not dependent on whether or not the father was in the home or on the degree of paternal contact with their child. The theoretical implications of these findings for explaining the intergenerational link to antisocial behavior in terms of observational learning were discussed.     

Personality disorders and response to outpatient treatment of chronic pain

As part of a comprehensive interdisciplinary evaluation conducted prior to participation in an outpatient chronic pain treatment program, the psychological status of 101 persons was assessed. The majority of participants was found to have a form of personality disorder, determined by conservative cutoff scores applied to their Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) profiles. DSM-III-R Cluster C disorders (i.e., Avoidant, Dependent, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Passive-Aggressive) were overrepresented in this sample. Subsequent analyses revealed that personality disorders were related to higher levels of self-reported distress and pain at both the beginning and the end of outpatient treatment. Differential responses to treatment were observed on self-report measures; however, few relations were found between personality disorder and physical therapist ratings of impairment and improvement. Implications for the assessment of personality disorders in outpatient pain treatment programs are discussed and appropriate intervention strategies are considered.     

人格特质与高温运动应激后免疫功能变化的关系

观察了１１名护士实习生在高温运动应激下免疫功能的变化及其与人格特质的关系。结果表明：（１）高温运动应激可导致Ｔ３、Ｔ４、淋巴细胞百分比明显降低,皮质醇、ＩＬ—１明显升高。人格特质变化组应激前后Ｔ３、Ｔ４及淋巴细胞变化明显,而ＩＬ—１上升幅度小,提示机体对应激源的低反应性和异常人格特质对免疫的抑制作用。（２）Ｔ３应激时的变化值与Ｘ２、Ｘ３、Ｙ１呈明显正相关,与Ｘ１、ＳＴＡＩ（２）、ＳＣＬ—９０明显负相关;Ｔ４变化值与ＳＣＬ－９０、ＳＴＡＩ（１）、ＳＴＡＩ（２）、ＳＤＳ呈明显负相关;ＩＬ—１与Ｙ１、Ｘ２呈明显正相关,与ＳＤＳ呈明显负相关;皮质醇变化与人格特质无显著性相关,Ｘ４与免疫功能变化无显著性相关。