Psychology Commons^™

“Say From Whence You Owe This Strange Intelligence”: Investigating Explanatory Systems Of Spiritualist Mental Mediumship Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Elizabeth C. Roxburgh, Chris A. Roe

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Walsh and Vaughan (1993) defined transpersonal experiences as those “in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche or cosmos” (p. 203). One population who regularly report such experiences are mediums. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten spiritualist mediums to explore their lived experience, such as how they communicate with the deceased, the meaning of spirit guide phenomena, and the role of mediumship, regardless of the actual ontology of mediumship. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) identified three themes: explanatory systems of mediumship, spirit guides as transcendental …

Exploring The Structural Relationships Between Personality And 360-Degree Feedback, Cole N. Napper

Doctoral Dissertations

The process of using multiple sources or raters (i.e., self, supervisor, peers, subordinates, and others) in the assessment of managerial performance has been used pervasively in organizations with the primary goal of motivating behavioral change through feedback (Bracken, Timmrick, & Church, 2001). Multi-source or 360-degree feedback programs are especially suited to help measure behaviors related to performance and assess outcomes, such as leadership, interpersonal relationships, coaching, and communication (London & Smither, 1995). Typically, 360-degree feedback dimensions are measured by meta-categories of behavior called competencies.Bartram (2005) stated that these competencies could be defined as the search for characteristics that separate …

Depression Symptoms In Early Childhood Teachers: Do Personality, Social Support, And School Climate Play A Role?, Jessica Mclaughlin

Wayne State University Dissertations

Depression among early childhood teachers has received little attention within the United States. For the present study, early childhood teachers were asked to participate in an online survey to investigate the rate of high depression symptoms among teachers, and whether personality, social support, and school climate are related to teachers' depression symptoms. Results showed that 32% of early childhood teachers in the sample were high in depression symptoms, which is significantly higher than rates of depression in the general population. Lower levels of neuroticism and higher levels of extroversion were related to fewer depression symptoms. Perceived social support from an …

The Role Of Memory, Personality, And Thought Processes In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Carissa Lynn Broadbridge

Wayne State University Dissertations

Abstract

The autobiographical memory model of PTSD posits that the memory for the traumatic experience is influential in development of the disorder (Rubin, Berntsen, & Bohni, 2008). In particular, Berntsen & Rubin (2006) argue that the degree of event centralization, the incorporation of the memory into the individual's sense of self and life story, is directly related to the degree of PTSD symptoms exhibited by the individual. The present series of studies systematically analyzes event centralization and its relationship to PTSD, while taking into account other variables such as cognitive and emotion variables, as well as individual differences.

Study one …

The Life Individual Resilience Scale And Cognitive Reflection Test : Predictive Utility In Special Forces Selection, Anthony Moffitt

Theses : Honours

The use of psychometric testing by the military in the screening and selection of its personnel has played a significant role in test development (Aiken, 1997). Several studies have demonstrated the utility of such tests to identify and select elite Special Forces personnel specifically for their employment in complex and dangerous environments (Picano, Roland, Williams, & Rollins, 2006). Research of additional discrete personal attributes beyond traditional cognitive ability and personality traits has inspired studies into the measurement of specific aspects of performance, including perseverance, hardiness and decision-making (e.g., Beal, 2010; Temby & Drobnjak, 2010). However, the empirical evidence for these …

The Impact Of Personality, Mindfulness, And Symptoms On Response To Brief Meditation, Miranda Westbrook

Online Theses and Dissertations

Mindful awareness is described as: (1) awareness "in the moment"; (2) that involves acceptance/non-judgment; and (3) is intentional (Kabat-Zinn, 1984). This awareness has gained popularity for use in therapeutic settings, based on consistent findings that mindfulness-based interventions have a beneficial effect on psychological and physical functioning (Baer, 2003; Grossman, et al., 2004). However, the factors that predict the extent to which one may enter into and benefit from an inducted mindful state have not been thoroughly investigated. The current study sought to investigate such factors, including personality characteristics, psychological symptoms, and dispositional mindfulness.

Using Personality Traits To Select Customer-Oriented Security Guards, Tracy Marie Shega

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The customer orientation of current security guards was assessed using both the newly developed Customer Orientation Scale and IPIP items. Specifically, the Big Five factors of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability were measured. Scores on these two customer orientation scales were compared to measures of job satisfaction and perceived job-ability fit.

Impulsivity Like Traits And Risky Driving Behaviors Among College Students, Matthew R. Pearson, Elaine M. Murphy, Ashley N. Doane

Psychology Faculty Publications

The present study examined the predictive effects of five impulsivity-like traits (Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, Negative Urgency, and Positive Urgency) on driving outcomes (driving errors, driving lapses, driving violations, cell phone driving, traffic citations, and traffic collisions). With a convenience sample of 266 college student drivers, we found that each of the impulsivity-like traits was related to multiple risky driving outcomes. Positive Urgency (tendency to act impulsively when experiencing negative affect) was the most robust predictor of risky driving outcomes. Positive Urgency is a relatively newly conceptualized impulsivity-like trait that was not examined in the driving literature previously, suggesting a …

Development Of A Pilot Selection System For A Midwestern University Aviation Program, Kathryn Wilson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This paper discusses the evaluation of an existing selection system for a Midwestern University's Aviation Program and attempts to find significant predictors of pilot performance using personality measures including the Five Factor Scale, Cockpit Management Attitudes Questionnaire, Self Monitoring Scale, an Integrity Scale, and cognitive measures including Block Counting, Rotated Blocks and Numerical Reasoning. Data from 24 student pilots was examined with bivariate correlations and stepwise regression and results indicate personality plays a role in predicting successful pilot performance. The CMAQ, extraversion and block counting measures were positively correlated with facets of performance including decision making in-flight, consistently arriving on-time …

Impulsivity As A Correlate Of Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking, Dinah Ayna

Wayne State University Theses

Waterpipe tobacco smoking has become increasingly popular in the past decade, yet no studies examined personality predictors of its use. This study is the first to assess impulsivity as a potential correlate for waterpipe tobacco smoking use and frequency. 43.2% reported ever using the waterpipe, with 64% of those reporting use less than once a month. Arab students were 3-5 times more likely to have used a waterpipe. Arab ethnicity moderated the relationship between waterpipe smoking and impulsivity such that self-reported (but not laboratory) impulsivity predicted lifetime waterpipe smoking for non-Arabs, but not for Arabs. Waterpipe users were also more …

The Role Of Personality And Cultural Intelligence In The Desire To Study Abroad, Tara Katrina Luchkiw

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Study abroad during undergraduate education is believed to be a means by which students develop intercultural skills and cultural competence. Previous studies have examined benefits of study abroad and report growth in the areas of cross-cultural skills, global understanding, intercultural development, and intercultural connectedness. However, students who choose to go abroad may have different characteristics than students who do not choose to go. Such characteristics may predispose students to the development of the above-mentioned cultural skills. The current study assessed personality and Cultural Intelligence, two constructs that have been implicated in the success of and interest in international travel, in …

Neurobiological Correlates Of Personality And Emotional Expression In Traumatic Brain Injury, Christina G. Wong

Wayne State University Theses

Many individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) experience cognitive, emotional, and functional deficits, all of which can contribute to chronic stress. Unfortunately, individuals with TBI often engage in less effective coping than non-brain-injured individuals, which has negative implications for rehabilitation. Differences in personality traits have been linked to individual differences in coping styles, physiological stress reactivity, and emotional disclosure. Research on personality and coping after TBI has been sparse. Thus, the present study examined the influence of TBI on the pattern of the relationships between personality, emotional expression, and stress reactivity. Eighty-one adults who sustained moderate to severe TBI and …

Personality Correlates Of Spinal Stimulation Surgery Success, Philip Gloninger

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The current paper examines personality factors of individuals who received an electrical pain intervention called spinal stimulation surgery. The patients suffered from chronic pain and sought a number of medical interventions before being recommended for this advanced surgical procedure. The research suggests that there are a number of personality factors that are related to success and failure with a number of medical procedures. The research on personality factors and spinal stimulation surgery, particularly research using an updated behavioral health inventory, is limited and inconclusive. The Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic is a valid and reliable behavioral health instrument that provides additional …

The Association Of Psychosocial Factors On Hiv/Aids Disease Progression, Melissa Margolis

Scripps Senior Theses

Despite a rise in the number of studies looking at the relationship of psychosocial factors (coping style, personality type, and social support) on HIV/AIDS severity, there remains a lack of conclusive answers about the specific association between these factors. This study used a meta-analytic method of analysis to address these issues in the post anti-retroviral treatment modality world. A systematic search of major psychology and medical computerized databases led to 110 studies used in the meta-analysis. Social support was found to have the strongest relationship with HIV progression. Structural social support had greater protective effect on HIV progression than functional …

Evaluating The Discriminant Validity Of The Metaphors Test, Daniel N. Erosa

McNair Poster Presentations

The Metaphors Test (Barchard, Hensley, Anderson, & Walker, 2013) is a new test of emotion per­ception in which test takers indicate the extent to which various emotions are conveyed by metaphors. In order for the Metaphors Test to be considered a valid test of emotion perception, it must have dis­criminant validity. The Five-Factor Model (McCrae & John, 1992), also known as the Big Five Model, is one of the most well-known frameworks for personality. Based upon theory and previous research, the Metaphors Test should have low correlations with the Big Five. Conscientiousness had a moder­ate correlation with the Metaphors Test. …

Psychopathy As A Disorder Of Communion: Investigating An Overlooked Deficit, Emily Dubose Sherman

Open Access Theses

Psychopathy is a personality disorder that is robustly linked to interpersonal difficulties, delinquency, aggression, and general antisocial conduct. Previous research has explored a number of potential deficits underlying these behaviors including reduced fear, impaired emotional responding, and poor response modulation. Drawing from extant personality work that has demonstrated the importance of interpersonal antagonism as a core feature of psychopathy, the present project examines deficits in social closeness as potential core features of the disorder. This possibility was examined in 195 undergraduate students (49% male) via a multi-method approach. In addition to several psychopathy instruments, participants completed self-report measures of social …

Personality's Influence On Burnout: An Unfinished Puzzle, David Andrew Periard

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between emotional exhaustion-the main component of burnout-and several facets of the Big Five Factors of personality. Previous research has found small relationships between the Big Five Factors and emotional exhaustion. I hypothesized that the facets of trust, cooperation, orderliness, and self-discipline will have curvilinear relationships with emotional exhaustion. The facets of vulnerability and depression were also hypothesized to moderate the curvilinear relationships between orderliness and self-discipline and emotional exhaustion. Regression analyses only found a curvilinear relationship between order and personal burnout when vulnerability was controlled for. A significant quadratic-by-linear interaction was found between order and …

The Correlation Of Music Preference And Personality, Christopher L. Knowles

A with Honors Projects

The research behind the relationship between one's music preference and personality.

Personality Factors, Age, And Aggressive Driving: A Validation Using A Driving Simulator, Jose Vazquez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between age, personality factors and aggressive driving behavior. In Study 1, 1122 volunteers completed an online survey that included questionnaires on demographic data, personality factors, and driving behavior. Personality factors were measured using the Revised Competitiveness Index, the Sensation Seeking Scale, the Big Five Inventory, and the Cook Medley Hostility Scale, whereas aggressive driving behavior was measured using the Aggressive Driving Behavior Scale (ADBS). The majority of the volunteers were female (786 versus 336), while ages ranged from 18 to 87. In Study 2, 98 volunteers from Study 1 were recruited to …

Variance In Faking In High-Stakes Personality Assessment As An Indication Of Job Knowledge, Timothy Ryan Dullaghan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the personality trait elevation between honest and applicant contexts that has been widely seen throughout the personality and selection research is merely universal, blatant trait elevation, or whether something else is underlying this faking behavior. By obtaining both honest and applicant context personality responses in which respondents were provided with focal job knowledge, this study determined that while there is near-universal trait elevation across seven personality traits, there is, in fact, some trait differentiation between jobs. As such, this study provided some evidence of knowledgeable faking, defined as distortion of personality …

Personality And Religiosity: The Influence Of Normative Personality On Black Sunni Muslims' Religious Attitudes And Practices, Halim Khidher Naeem

Dissertations

There is a dearth of literature on Black Sunni Muslims in the field of psychology. More so, there is no literature specifically analyzing the influences upon Black religiosity. The literature has established that personality has significant influence upon religiosity. The literature also says that females are more religious than their male counterparts. The present study analyzed the influence of personality, gender and social class upon religiosity for Black Sunni Muslims. The following hypothesis was investigated: Personality, gender, and social class will affect religious attitudes and practices.

A canonical regression analysis using SPSS revealed that personality, gender and social class had …

Sex Differences And Within-Family Associations In The Broad Autism Phenotype, Jessica Klusek, M Losh, G Martin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Personality As A Source Of Individual Differences In Cognition Among Older African Americans, Adrienne T. Aiken-Morgan, Jacqueline Michelle Bichsel, Jason C. Allaire, Jyoti Savla, Christopher L. Edwards, Keith E. Whitfield

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Previous research suggests that demographic factors are important correlates of cognitive functioning in African Americans; however, less attention has been given to the influence of personality. the present study explored how dimensions and facets of personality predicted individual variability in cognition in a sample of older African Americans from the Baltimore Study of Black Aging. Cognition was assessed by verbal learning and attention/working memory measures. Personality was measured by the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised. Linear regressions controlling for demographic factors showed that Neuroticism, Openness, and Agreeableness were significant regression predictors of cognitive performance. Individual facets of all five personality dimensions were …

Effects Of Goal Orientation Profile Types On Organizational Outcoms In Veterinarians, Kathleen Arnold

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Goal orientation and work avoidance dimensions and profiles were studied in relationship to performance, satisfaction, self-efficacy, commitment and tenure. It was found that dimensions were the only significant predictors of satisfaction and self-efficacy. Still, there was evidence that the profiles were related to outcomes and, specifically, profiles were a stronger predictor of tenure. In addition, the dimension of work avoidance appears to provide additional information to the emerging profile types. These results provide important evidence of the emerging common goal orientation profile types. These groups were found to have different outcomes, most notably in performance and tenure. This research provides …

Effectiveness Of Ceo Blogs As A Recruiting Tool: Impact Of Message Congruence With Applicant Personality And Implicit Leadership Theories, Rebekkah Beeco

All Dissertations

Organizational recruitment websites have become an important tool for both recruiters and job seekers. The structural characteristics of such websites (e.g., aesthetics, usability) have received some attention but less research has examined the content of these websites. A weblog (or blog), specifically a leader or CEO blog, is one novel way that organizations can impact recruitment through their website. Although research is limited, anecdotal evidence suggests that blogs may be a powerful recruiting tool.
In line with research that suggests followers prefer leaders who are similar to themselves (e.g., Keller, 1999), the effectiveness of leader blog messages for recruitment purposes …

Patient Perceptions Of Comorbid Depression In Heart Disease, Rebecca Lynn Reese Akcakaya

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Depression is a risk factor for the development of heart disease, as well as for poor prognosis among patients with existing disease. However, clinical trials of treatment of depression in patients with heart disease have not resulted in improved cardiac outcomes, and have demonstrated modest effects on depression. The nature of depression in heart patients must be better understood in order to improve treatment and health outcomes. In samples of patients with medical illness as well as in patients with depression, illness perceptions have been useful in predicting both treatment outcomes and self-management behaviors such as coping and adherence. This …

Blood Cortisol Concentrations Predict Boldness In Juvenile Mulloway (Argyosomus Japonicus), Vincent Raoult, Culum Brown, Amina Zuberi, Jane E. Williamson

Sentience Collection

There is a growing interest in animal personality because individual variation is the substrate of the evolutionary process. Despite revelations that personality traits affect key fitness variables, little is known about the proximate mechanisms generating consistent behavioural differences between individuals. Boldness, the propensity to take risks, is one of the most widely studied aspects of personality in fishes. We assessed the position of juvenile Argyosomus japonicus on the ‘‘boldness–shyness’’ continuum by repeatedly recording the time taken to exit a refuge and explore a novel environment. Stress-related hormone concentrations after exposure to a mild stressor were analysed 1 month before behavioural …

Personality Assessment In African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana), Kristina Marie Horback

Dissertations

The following study assessed personality in twelve African elephants using both observational behavior coding and standardized trait rating methods, thus demonstrating consistent individual differences across time and contexts. During the summer of 2010 and 2011, over 640 hours of behavioral data were collected onsite at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, CA. Four coding-based personality traits were determined after analysis: PLAYFUL, CURIOUS, TOLERANT, and, AGGRESSIVE. This data was then compared to survey ratings completed by the animal keeper staff during both summers. Four rating-based personality traits resulted from this analysis: PLAYFUL, CURIOUS, TIMID, and, AGGRESSIVE. All eight composite …

A Typology Of Preadolescent Sexual Abusers Based On The Emerging Personality Patterns In The Millon Preadolescent Clinical Inventory, Sam Wallace

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a personality-based typology of preadolescents with sexual behavior problems based the Emerging Personality Patterns in the Millon Preadolescent Clinical Inventory (M-PACI, Millon et al., 2005). Grounding a typology in a theory driven personality system may offer clarity and specificity in understanding preadolescents with sexual behavior problems in a manner that has not yet been explored. A personality and theory driven typology could provide a more comprehensive framework for assessing and treating children who sexually abuse than any of the current taxonomic models.

The study used an ex post facto design with test …

Achievement Motivation: Examination Of Explicit And Implicit Measurements In Two Studies, Jessica L. Deslauriers

Dissertations

Two theories that seek to explain personality are explicit traits (Allport, 1937) and implicit motives (Murray, 1938; McClelland, 1951). The present research investigates both implicit and explicit cognitions (specifically cognitions related to achievement motivation). Scores on three implicit measures, one explicit measure, and cognitive ability were obtained (N = 294) as well as performance on an attention task. Study 1 examined the theoretical similarities and differences among the implicit measures, as well as their relationship with an explicit measure. No significant correlations were observed among the implicit measures, and only the IAT correlated with the explicit measure. Factor analysis revealed …