Psychology Commons^™

The Gordon Personal Profile-Inventory As A Selection Instrument, Patrick Y. Fisher

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The present study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of the Gordon Personal Profile Inventory (GPP-I) selection instrument in predicting success of applicants at a behavioral health center. Case managers (N = 47; 15 = males, 32 = females) served as subjects and completed the GPP-I. Each subject had a total of nine personality scale scores. The scales were Ascendancy, Responsibility, Emotional Stability, Sociability, Cautiousness, Original Thinking, Personal Relations, Vigor, and Self-Esteem. Each scale score was converted into a percentile score and correlated with the subject’s most recent performance evaluation score. Based upon results of correlation and regression analyses it …

Personality Factors Linked To Workplace Aggression As Measured By The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Mbti), Scott A. Cottrell

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The present study examined the relationship between the personality dimensions assessed by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and perceptions of workplace behaviors and the readiness to exhibit various forms of workplace aggression. College students with at least part-time work experience 129 (75 females and 54 males) completed the MBTI and a survey which asked participants to provide ratings of; (1) to which they would label various forms of workplace behavior as aggressive, and (2) the extent to which they have personally witnessed and exhibited various forms of workplace aggression. The results indicated that Men were less likely " indirect" workplace …

Attachment And The Development Of Eating Disorders As Measured By The “Apdq”, Colleen D. O'Pell

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The impact of family of origin dynamics on the development and maintenance of eating disorders is well documented in the literature. This study sought to investigate the attachment relationships and personality characteristics of eating disordered subjects by administering the Attachment and Personality Dynamics Questionnaire (APDQ). It was hypothesized that the eating disordered subjects would show a pattern of insecure attachments to primary caregivers and significant others in comparison to controls. A total of 23 eating disordered females and 297 female control subjects completed the APDQ. The t tests for the 29 scales of the APDQ revealed lower means for the …

A Repertory Grid Assessment Of Traitedness And Its Relation To The Validity Of The Neo Pi-R Conscientiousness Scale, Susan Nancy Heidal-Schiltz

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Since Allport (1937) first introduced the idea that traits may vary in their relevance for particular individuals, several investigators have explored ways to operationalize the construct of traitedness in order to improve the criterion-related validity of a trait-based approach to personality assessment. Specifically, these investigators have examined the utility of traitedness indicators as moderators of trait-criterion correlations, seeking to separate those individuals who are predictable on a given trait dimension from those who are not. This study attempted to determine whether the criterion-related validity of the Conscientiousness scale from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992) …

Coping Processes Used By Mothers Of Triplets, Susan Mullen Kaplan

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the coping processes used by mothers of triplets. Using a descriptive design, interpersonal comparisons of 92 mothers of triplets attending a national meeting of families of higher order multiples were made. Variables, in addition to sociodemographic characteristics, included coping processes, levels of depression, perceived availability of social support, and current stress levels. Coping processes were measured using the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988), derived from their cognitive-phenomenological theory of stress and coping. Level of depression was measured using the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (Zung, 1965). Perceived availability …

Problems With Political Types, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The editor discusses and evaluates the concept of typology in the context of political psychology, including those who use typology as a tool.

Dissonance In The Mideast, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The editor discusses political violence and the concept of cognitive dissonance in the context of Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East.

Psychobiography And Politics, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The editor discusses how voters base their voting preferences and behaviors on the meaning given to a single event in the lives of the candidates in U.S. presidential elections.

Leadership And Psychopathy, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The editor discusses what makes for a successful leader, and whether such a leader can be psychopathic.

Implementation And Evaluation Of Parental Involvement Programs, Cindy Tucker Harbour

Graduate Theses

This report examines many recent cultural and family unit changes that have affected the home-school relationship. It addresses reasons for implementing parental involvement, the different programs available and assessment procedures. There are several key components in a parental involvement program: promoting parents as educators, training teachers to cooperate with families, promoting cooperation among families, involving the larger community and presenting family learning activities. These aspects have shown significant benefits to school staff members, students, and parents. How these relate to each other, identifies the positive expectation of the responsibility of education for all concerned. There are a variety of ways …

Personality Characteristics Of Successful Applicants To The Priesthood, Thomas G. Plante, Gerdenio Manuel, Jeannette Tandez

Psychology

This study investigated personality characteristics of successful pastoral candidates to a major Catholic religious order. Personality measures (i.e., MMPI-2 and 16PF) were administered to 21 male applicants between 1990 and 1994 who subsequently entered into religious life. Results suggest that these clergy applicants were generally well-adjusted, socially responsible, and interpersonally sensitive. However, results also suggest a tendency for defensiveness. Coping with perceived negative impulses (i.e., anger and hostility) may also be an issue for many. Implications for future research are offered.

A Review Of Literature And Application Of Neurolinguistic Programming To The Treatment Of Stress In Educators, Richard W. Denney

Graduate Theses

A literature review of the work related and individual factors involved in educator stress was completed. The study of stress among educators is a growing field of study. Intervention strategies that have been successful are mentioned. A literature review of the counseling approach Neurolinguistic Programming was completed. An explanation of seven neurolinguistic programming techniques was completed. Each technique was modified in dialogue form to give examples of how each could be used in the treatment of stress in educators.

The Relationship Of Autonomy Sociotropy And Depression To The Recall Of Autobiographical Memories, Jennifer Sue Cheavens

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Past research in the area of dysphoria and depression has examined two personality constructs known as autonomy and sociotropy. These personality constructs have been studied as predispositions to dysphoria and depression. The current study focused on the ability of Autonomy and Sociotropy, measured by the Personal Style Inventory (PSI), to predict both participants' and raters' autonomous and sociotropic ratings of autobiographical life events. The study also examined the differences in classifications of events as either sociotropic or autonomous when the classifications were made by both participants and objective raters. Participants were 72 female and 43 male undergraduate students enrolled in …

A Comparison Of The Political Personalities Of 1996 U.S. Presidential Candidates Bill Clinton And Bob Dole, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper employs the conceptual framework of Theodore Millon to examine and compare the political personalities of President Bill Clinton and Senator Bob Dole. Information pertaining to President Clinton and Senator Dole was gathered from published material and employed to generate a personality profile using the Millon-Type Political Personality Checklist (MPPC).

The assessment revealed that President Clinton’s primarily personality patterns were Asserting/self-promoting and Outgoing/gregarious, with secondary features of the Complaining/discontented, Controlling/forceful, and Agreeing/cooperative patterns. Senator Dole’s primarily personality patterns were Controlling/aggressive and Conforming/regimented, with secondary features of the Asserting/self-promoting and Complaining/negativistic patterns.

The personality profiles yielded by the MPPC are …

Rape Survivors: The Effects Of Post-Traumatic Stress And Locus Of Control On The Hoping Process, David Lester Rhoads

Graduate Theses

The current study examined the relationship between hope. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and locus of control in a sample, of 18 rape survivors and 18 non-raped females over 18 years of age. Instruments utilized were Herth Hope Scale, Structured Interview for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Impact of Events, and Locus of Control Scales. It was hypothesized that rape survivors would exhibit a lower level of hope, higher levels of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and an external locus of control. Independent t-tests revealed that rape trauma impacts Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Independent t-tests were inconclusive among the hope, impact of events, …

Criteria Used In Assigning A Diagnosis Of Passive-Aggressive Personality Disorder, Laura J. Hunsucker

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Passive-aggressive personality disorder has a long history in the literature and has been present in all versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, there have been many different conceptualizations of the disorder over time, and there is not a clear consensus concerning what symptoms constitute the disorder. The purpose of this study was to examine the criteria that clinicians consider most representative of a prototypic patient with passive-aggressive personality disorder. This research also examined differences in symptom presentation of male versus female passive-aggressive individuals. Finally, this study examined symptom overlap with other personality disorders. A list …

Sex Differences In Television Viewing And Attention: Do Males Really Channel Surf More Than Females?, Melissa Morrison

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Channel surfing is often thought of as a male-dominated pastime; however, previously there was no objective data supporting this conclusion. In the present study television viewing and channel surfing were monitored in 44 college students who simultaneously performed an auditory vigilance task. In addition, a survey was administered to determine self-reported individual television viewing habits. Results showed that males channel surfed at almost twice the rate of females. In addition, after the first test tone they generally detected more tones in the vigilance task than females. It was concluded the high channel surfing rate of males reflected lower levels of …

Attitudes About Mental Illness : How Strong Is The Stigma When Given A Label?, Michele George

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The differences in attitudes toward those with a mental illness was investigated, and the demographic factors that may be common among those who tend to reject the mentally ill was also investigated. Subjects read one of four vignettes which varied only by having no mental illness label (Just symptoms), having a mental illness label, having a mental illness label while seeking psychotherapy, or having a physical illness label. The subjects responded to statements in three different categories about the individual in the vignette: social distance, perceived dangerousness, and perceptions of society. Subjects also responded to statements about their level of …

The Destructive Narcissistic Pattern, Nina W. Brown

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

Identifying characteristics of the Destructive Narcissistic Pattern (DNP) in the workplace are presented. The DNP is most easily recognized by the reactions of those who have to work with him/ her. Characteristics are derived from the literature on pathological narcissism which differs only in intensity and degree. Strategies to develop constructive working relationships with the DNP are presented.

A Comparison Of Personality Correlates Of Self-Identified And Nonidentified Adult Children Of Alcoholics, Patti K. Hampsten

Masters Theses

This study compared personality traits of adult children of alcoholics with adults who did not come from alcoholic home environments, for the purpose of developing treatment protocols. It was hypothesized that 1) there would be differences between clinical ACOA's and non-clinical ACOA's, 2) clinical ACOA's would differ from non-ACOA's, 3) non-clinical ACOA's would differ from non-ACOA's. Four groups were used in the comparison, adult children of alcoholics in treatment, adult children of alcoholics with no treatment history, non-adult children of alcoholics in treatment, and non-adult children of alcoholics with no treatment history. The fifty-two female participants were administered the Children …

The Effects Of A Sense Of Humour On Empathic-Responses : Testing Positive And Negative Affect As Mediating Variables, Michael Francis Sheehan

Theses : Honours

Research investigating individual differences in empathy-related responding has shown sympathy (an other oriented response involving concern) and perspective taking (the psychological adoption of another's point of view) to be related to emotional regulation and more positive affect, and personal distress (an egoistic reaction to another's distress) to be associated with overarousal and more negative affect Separate research investigating the stress-moderating effects of humour has linked coping humour to reduced negative affect and the maintenance of positive affect. The present study tested a model that hypothesised that coping humour would have an indirect affect on each empathy-related variable through positive and …

Personality As It Relates To Performance Among Primary Flight Students At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Caroline F. Farmer

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship of primary flight students' performance as it relates to personality. Previous research has provided the basis for the relationship between what an individual accomplishes and personality traits. The individual performance of 30 students were evaluated by two different techniques during an observer flight. One was an evaluation form developed by the researcher and the other, the flight instructor's (P.I.C.) evaluation. The performance data gathered by the researcher was collected in order to provide a secondary set of performance data in case there was no discriminability amongst the flight instructor's evaluation. …

Mmpi And Rorschach Findings Of Individuals Approved For Gender Reassignment Surgery, Gregory Ralph Caron

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Both clinical experience and empirical data from psychological tests present a picture of extreme clinical variation among those individuals who request gender reassignment surgery. Results of past empirical studies utilizing the MMPI and the Rorschach Test have tended to be equivocal regarding the level and nature of psychopathology associated with samples of gender dysphorics. These past studies are considered limited particularly in terms of methodological problems related to statistical power. This present study examined the nature and degree of psychopathology in a sample of candidates approved for gender reassignment surgery as reflected on their MMPI-2 clinical scale values and scores …

Moral Judgment In Abusive Relationships: Implications For Interventions, Robert Marshall Masterson

Graduate Theses

Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Interview and parallel dilemmas depicting abusive domestic situations were used to compare moral development of two groups of couples. Twenty men from a program for abusive men and their wives were compared to 20 couples selected by convenience sampling from university students, two church congregations, and friends. The Conflict Tactics Scale for couples was used to determine the validity of the responses of the male partner. No differences in Global Stage Scores were found between abusive or non-abusive men. None were found between genders. Weighted Average Scores on traditional Kohlberg stories and spousal abuse dilemmas were similar …

Effects Of Cognitive Complexity And Individuating Information On Evaluations Of Other-Race Members, Kenneth G. Weigand

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social cognition research has examined the variables involved in stereotyping out-group members. The degree of an individual's domain-specific cognitive complexity has been identified as a mediator. Studies have also examined the tempering effects of individuating versus categorical information upon evaluations of out-group members. Most of the related research had defined out-groups according to gender, age and occupational differences. This study defined group membership according to race, and examined the effects of cognitive complexity and individuating information upon the extremity of evaluations made toward other-race members in a sample of 51 White and 46 Black male college subjects. It was hypothesized …

Hardiness And Sensation Seeking As Potential Moderating Variables In The Stress-Illness Relationship, William N. Campbell Jr.

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

One hundred and fifteen undergraduate psychology students participated in a study designed primarily to investigate the personality styles characterized by "hardiness" and "sensation seeking" as potential moderators in the stress illness relationship. Subjects completed inventories measuring life-event stress, perceived stress, and illness experienced during the previous year, as well as questionnaires measuring hardiness, sensation seeking, and maladjustment. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive relationships between life-event stress and illness and perceived stress and illness as well as a significant negative relationship between hardiness and maladjustment.

Multiple regression analyses showed that life-event stress, perceived stress, and the two measures used together significantly …

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Parents Of Traumatic Brain Injury Patients, Carol Farr

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) produces cognitive, behavioral, and affective deficits with resulting problems such as improper social behavior, increased aggression, emotional, personality and characterological changes. The impact upon the survivor, the sibling, as well as the parental subsystem has been well documented in the literature. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been diagnosed in several different types of trauma survivors, although rarely have individual psychological symptoms been studied in parents.

This research examined the possible vulnerability factors that are associated with TBI and their potential influence upon PTSD symptomology. Questionnaires were mailed to 266 parents of TBI patients with a response …

Martial Adjustment Among Nontraditional Graduate Students, Virginia Siegfried

Graduate Theses

This study used a pretest-posttest design to examine the marital adjustment of 108 nontraditional graduate students as-compared with 42 adults in the general population. Participants' scores on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale showed no significant differences between the two groups, contrary to the study hypothesis. It was also hypothesized that the marital adjustment of graduate students would be better at the beginning of the semester term rather than at the end of the term, and that male graduate students would have a higher level of marital adjustment than female graduate students. Neither of these hypotheses were supported by the data. Overall, …

Development Of A K-Correction Factor For The Mmpi-A, Jody Jacobson Alperin

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

In 1992, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - Adolescent (MMPI-A) was developed to meet the unique experiences and needs of adolescents. Despite evidence that adolescents often demonstrate response biases in taking the MMPI-A, currently there is no method to systematically "correct" for the effect of test-taking attitude on profile configuration with this age group. The K-correction factor has been widely used to correct for defensiveness or underreporting of symptomatology on the MMPI among adult respondents, although results of cross-validation research on the effectiveness of the K-correction factor have been inconclusive. The present study derived age-appropriate K-weights to determine the degree …

An Assessment Of The Descriptors And Determinants Of Academic Success Of Selected Allied Health Students In Virginia, Theodora Christine Gordon

Health Services Research Dissertations

This study assessed the relationship of cognitive and noncognitive variables in relationship to academic success of students from selected allied health majors: respiratory therapist (RTT), radiologic technology (RT), surgical technology (ST) and medical records technician (MRT) from hospital based and community college programs in Virginia. Student academic success was defined as academic (classroom) grade point average, clinical grade point average, cumulative grade point average and passing status. The cognitive variables were preclinical (high school) grade point average, academic, clinical and cumulative grade point averages. The noncognitive variables were character type, temperament type/preference for learning style, and the Sedlacek Noncognitive Questionnaire …