International Society for the Study of Individual Differences

Program 2009

Program 2009

Chapter 5
Posters Posters will be presented on Sunday evening from 17:30 to 19:30 and Tuesday evening from 18:30 to 20:30. There will be a reception with food and drink with each poster session.

1  Poster Session 1 - Sunday 17:30-19:30

1.1  Birth Order, Birth Space and Sibling's Cognitive Development

Olga Alekseeva (Psychological Institute, Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, Russia)  
The present study is the part of the Moscow Sibling Study (MSS), which examines shared and nonshared environmental influences shaping differences in siblings in the same family. This research was supported by a grant from The Russian Foundation for Humanities (06-06-00227a). The aim of our study was to research links between birth order, birth space and sibling's cognitive development in two-child families. The subject was entered for 70 non-step families with two children. Average age of older siblings was 17.7 years, average of younger was 14.5 years. Methods of the study were: 1.Russian version of WAIS; 2. Russian version of WISC. It was found that cognitive traits of younger siblings depend on birth space. The lowest IQ score had younger children in sibling pairs with birth space 1-2 years and the highest IQ score in sibling pairs with birth space 5-6 years. On intelligence of the senior child the given variables do not render special influence.

1.2  Cognitive Determinants of Efficiency of Pilot's Behavior in Conditions of Spatial Disorientation

Hanna Bednarek (Faculty of Psychology, The Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland)  
This study examined efficiency of pilots' behavior in conditions of spatial disorientation. It has been assumed that visual illusion of false horizon tends to produce spatial disorientation. Efficiency of execution of flight's profile in conditions of spatial disorientation was analyzed in context of dependent vs independent style of perception. Additionally, efficiency of attention and working memory were analyzed. 29 pilots participated in the experiment (air-raid 1021.2; hours +/- 18.4). Efficiency of execution of flight profile has been defined on simulator YAPETUS based on indicators of course (high, velocity). Cognitive processes were researched by means of computer tasks. It appears that false horizon illusion influence the efficiency of pilot's behavior. In conditions of cognitive conflict: visual field - navigational instruments, pilots dependent on field were most strongly exposed to disorientation (lower efficiency of selective and divided attention, less resistance to distraction, weak mechanism of inhibition and higher susceptible to interference).

1.3  The Academic Achievement of Twins and the Size of Family

Y. Chertkova & N. Zyryanova (Department of Psychology, Moscow State University, Russia)  
This study is a part of comparative research of academic achievement in school-age twins and singletons, which was supported by a grant from the Russian Humanitarian Scientific Fund 04-06-00240.
Subjects and measures. In this study we received scholastic measures of 2282 twin pairs (2% of all twins in Russia) and more than 4000 singletons - twin's classmates (0,05% of all schoolchildren of Russian Federation) born from 1982 to 1997. All these children are students of comprehensive schools from 1st to 11th grades. Our sample is representative to Russian population of schoolchildren. We also gathered data about family structure, parents' educational status, leadership, etc.
Statistical Procedures - the comparison of groups by t- criterion.
Results. 1) Twins having no siblings have higher scholastic achievement than those who have siblings. 2) Decrease in educational progress appears from fourth child in family. 3) In families with higher educational status of parents, sibship size has less influence on scholastic achievement. 4) Birth order doesn't influence academic achievement of twins in families with 3 children.

1.4  Temperamental Differences in the Magnitude of the SNARC Effect

Krzysztof Cipora & Blazej Szymura (Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland)   
The decisions about relatively small numbers are made faster on the left-hand-side, whereas decisions about relatively big numbers are made faster on the right-hand-side. This phenomenon has been called the Spatial - Numerical Association of Reaction Codes (SNARC) effect (Dehaene et. al. 1993). In the SNARC tasks (parity judgment or number classification) no speed-accuracy trade-off effect is observed. Instead, the significant positive correlation between speed and accuracy is usually reported (Fisher, 2003). Lately, Gevers et. al. (2006) showed that subjects who were slower performing the SNARC task reveal the stronger SNARC effect. Temperamental traits (anxiety, impulsivity, extraversion and neuroticism) are related to the speed of reactions as well as to the magnitude of speed-accuracy trade off effect (e.g.: E: Brebner, 1983; N: Larson & Saccuzzo, 1986; P: Jakes & Hemsley, 1986; Anx: Terelak, 1990; Imp: Dickman & Meyer, 1988). Thus, it has been hypothesized that the magnitude of the SNARC effect is differentiated with regard to temperamental variables. The subjects (N=40) fulfilled EPQ-R, STAI and BIS/BAS questionnaires. They also performed the SNARC tasks. Data is just being analyzed.

1.5  Neuroticism, Anxiety Sensitivity Thoughts, and Anxiety Symptomatology: An Experience-Sampling Study

Ryan Y. Hong (Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore)  
Relations among Neuroticism, anxiety sensitivity (AS) thoughts, and anxiety symptoms were examined in this study using an experience-sampling methodology. Daily AS thoughts and anxiety symptoms arising from naturally-occurring negative events were assessed among 100 college students over a one-month period. Neuroticism moderated the relation between anxiety symptoms and AS thoughts such that individuals high on Neuroticism reported more AS thoughts on days in which high (versus low) anxiety is experienced compared to individuals low on Neuroticism. Consistent with previous research, elevated levels of AS thoughts on any particular day were associated with increased subsequent anxiety symptoms. This supports the idea that AS is a vulnerability factor for anxiety symptoms. The present findings highlight the importance of elucidating psychopathological processes associated with AS and anxiety not only at the interindividual level, but also at the intraindividual level.

1.6  Differential Parental Treatment and Personality Development of Siblings

Irina Kozlova (Psychologial Institute, Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, Russia)  
In this poster we analyze the results, obtained in research of differential parental treatment in two-child families. The aim of the study was to estimate influence of parental differential treatment on personality development of siblings.
Subjects: 254 nonstep families with two children. Siblings' age ranged from 8-21 yers old.
Methods: Parent-child interaction questionnaire (Markovskaya). Personality questionnaires: EPI (Eysenck, Russian version). Sensation Seeking Scale (Zuckerman, Russian version), Locus of Control questionnaire (Russian version). A dissimilarity was found between older and younger siblings in structure of correlations between personality traits and features of differential parental treatment. It has been shown that in a case when parents are emotionally closer to one child of sibling pair, it positively influences personality characteristics of the older child, and negatively - on the younger child.

1.7  Predictive Validity of Ability Tests for Academic Achievement Similar for English-Language Learners and Non-ELL Students

Joni M. Lakin (Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations, The University of Iowa, USA), David F. Lohman (Belin-Blank Center and Iowa Testing Programs, The University of Iowa, USA)  
U.S. schools have observed a rapid rise in the number of English-language learner (ELL) students, increasing interest in the validity of tests used for this population. There is evidence that ELL students score lower on achievement and ability tests than their non-ELL classmates, but there is little evidence on the predictive validity of ability tests for ELL students. In this study, achievement and ability test scores were obtained for a sample of ELL and non-ELL students over the course of two years. In total, 192 ELL and 454 non-ELL students took the Cognitive Abilities Test, Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, Raven's Progressive Matrices, and a state achievement test. Correlations for the sample of ELL students were lower, but still showed significant predictive validity and similar patterns of correlations across ability and achievement tests. Specifically, nonverbal tests showed lower correlations with future achievement than quantitative and verbal reasoning ability, contradicting claims that they are better predictors for ELL students. For Math, ability and previous achievement accounted for 49% of variance in achievement for non-ELL students and 24% for ELL students. For Reading, the proportion was 44% and 49%, respectively. The most effective ability batteries sample multiple symbol systems required for classroom learning.

1.8  The Relationship of National Means of Personality Traits to Objective Criteria Is Not Always Straightforward

RenŽ M›ttus, JŸri Allik, Anu Realo (Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Estonia)  
Aggregate levels of basic personality traits have been interpreted as valid and informative characteristics of cultures. This conclusion is corroborated by the findings that mean personality test scores demonstrate geographic regularity and relate meaningfully to other psychological domains such as values or self-esteem (McCrae et al., 2005; Schmitt et al., 2007). Recently, however, some researchers have claimed that not all culture-level aggregate personality scores predict relevant objective criteria, thus casting doubt on their validity (Heine et al., 2008; Oishi & Roth, in press). In this study-employing new data previously unused for this purpose-we show that, indeed, mean self-rated Conscientiousness and its lower-level facets tend to have contrary to hypothesized relationships with a number of objective country-level criteria. We present preliminary evidence concerning potential mediators of these counterintuitive relationships.

1.9  Dichotomous Thinking and the Extreme Views of Others

Atsushi Oshio (Department of Psychology, Chubu University, Japan)  
Dichotomous thinking is an individual's propensity to think in terms of binary opposition. While this thinking style may be advantageous for quick decision-making, it has also been associated with negative psychological outcomes such as borderline personality disorder, narcissism, and perfectionism. Oshio (2008) developed the Dichotomous Thinking Inventory (DTI) to assess individual differences in attitudes and beliefs that emerge with this thinking style. This study examines whether individuals who think dichotomously hold extreme views of others with regard to their appearance. The participants in the study included 80 undergraduate students (45 males and 35 females). They were asked to evaluate the appearance of three women on the screen in front of them, after having completed the DTI. The faces presented to them differed in the level of beauty: the first face was at the intermediate level, and the subsequent faces of the beautiful and not-so-beautiful women were presented in a counter-balanced order. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the DTI further worsened the evaluations that the participants made of the not-so-beautiful women. This result indicates that dichotomous thinkers easily tend to undervalue an individual when they perceive that individual's negative aspects.

1.10  Individual Differences in Mate Preference for Altruistic Traits: Survey and Genetic Evidence for a Sexual Selection Hypothesis

Tim Phillips (School of Biology, University of Nottingham, UK), Eamonn Ferguson (School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, UK)  
Altruistic behavior raises major questions for biology and psychology, as it should not be favoured by natural selection. One, often overlooked, alternative is to hypothesize that altruism arose via sexual selection. The argument is that altruistic displays are linked to an ability to provide quality parental investment during human evolution and it is proposed that genes linked to such altruistic displays would have been favoured as a result. It is predicted, therefore, that individual differences in preference for mates with altruistic traits should be higher in females, correlated with spouses' self-reported altruism, and show significant genetic heritability. Furthermore, self-reported altruism should also be heritable. Using measures of individual differences in (1) preference for mates with altruistic traits and (2) altruistic personality across 3 studies (2 undergraduate samples of 380 and 398 and a sample of 170 couples from a twin registry) we show a consistently higher preference for altruistic traits in women (once social desirability and altruistic personality are controlled), a cross spouse correlation between preferred and self-reported altruistic traits, and significant heritability for both expressed preference for altruistic traits and self-reported altruism. The implications for current theories of altruism based on reciprocity and social norms are discussed.

1.11  Is Attentional Control Guided by Personality? Effects of Sex and Aggressiveness

M. A. Quiroga (Complutense University of Madrid, Spain), R. Colom & J. Botella (Autonoma University of Madrid, Spain), J. Privado (Cardenal Cisneros University College, Spain), F.J. Rom‡n (Complutense University of Madrid, Spain)  
This research focuses on individual differences in attentional control using neutral (numerical, verbal and spatial contents) and emotional stimuli (aggressive contents). Flankers and Simon tasks were created and computer administered. Aggressiveness was assessed with the Spanish version of Buss and Perry's (1992) questionnaire (Navascués & Quiroga, 1995). A sample of 327 university undergraduate students participated in the study (222 women and 97 men) with a mean age of 19.8 (SD = 1.5, range from 18 to 25). Findings show that (a) response time was longer for verbal and numerical than for spatial stimuli, (b) women had longer response times for neutral spatial stimuli than men, but no sex differences were found for emotional stimuli, and (c) attentional conflict for emotional stimuli decreases at higher levels of aggressiveness for men only. Some applications of these findings are discussed.
References
Buss, A.H. & Perry, M. (1992). The Aggression Questionnaire, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 2, 452-459. Navascués, V. & Quiroga, M.A. (1995). Assessment of Buss's seven temperament dimensions: Spanish Scales. Vlith Meeting of the ISSID, Warsaw.

1.12  Negative Outcomes of Discrepancies between Explicit and Implicit Self-Esteem

M. Schröder-Abé, A. Rudolph, A. Schutz (Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany)  
Implicit self-esteem (ISE) is taken into account to explain contradictory results concerning the adaptiveness of explicit self-esteem (ESE). For this purpose, congruent self-esteem (ISE and ESE correspond) is differentiated from discrepant self-esteem (ISE and ESE diverge). To date, research has focused on fragile self-esteem (high ESE, low ISE). It has been unclear, however, whether the second self-esteem discrepancy (low ESE, high ISE) is adaptive or not. One could argue that having high ISE and low ESE is better than having congruent low self-esteem (buffer hypothesis). However, one could also reason that discrepancies of any kind can be regarded as maladaptive, as they are similar to ambivalent attitudes and thus connected with emotional tension (stress hypothesis). We conducted two studies using the Single Category IAT as ISE measure. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the combination of low ESE and high ISE in particular is connected with impaired psychological and physical health, which was assessed through self-report (Studies 1 and 2) and friend report (Study 2). Dysfunctional emotion expression and emotion regulation strategies were identified as possible mediators. In sum, the results suggest that high ISE is not necessarily advantageous, but (in connection with low ESE) may be connected to dysfunctional outcomes.

1.13  Emotional Dilution of the Classic Stroop Effect with Highly-Anxious and Non-Anxious Individuals

Assi Schupak & Eran Chajut (Department of Psychology and Education, The Open University of Israel)  
The notion that emotional stimuli capture attention in anxious individuals is widely accepted yet the most popular tool used to gauge the emotional induced bias, the emotional Stroop effect, does not conclusively show the involvement of attention. Consequently, we developed a new tool that imports the classic Stroop effect into the realm of measuring attention under emotion. The results of two experiments showed that the Stroop effects were smaller with emotion than with neutral words, showing the power of emotion items to capture attention. This emotional dilution effect was particularly robust with highly anxious participants. These findings support the conclusion that the modulation of the classic Stroop effect by emotion is a valid measure of the bias of attention wrought by threat stimuli in anxious people. The emotional dilution of the Stroop effect opens up new avenues for generating test items for various clinical populations within a new conceptual framework.

1.14  T-data, Why Not? On R.B. Cattell's Steps

Pei-Chun Shih, Agustin Martinez-Molina, Mariana S. Leone, Jose Santacreu (Departamento de Psicologia Biologica y de la Salud, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain)  
A theoretical and empirical alternative to assess personality using self-report questionnaires it is possible with behavioral measures by means T-data instruments (Cattell & Warburton, 1967). The aim of this poster is to present the main results obtained in our research about objective assessment of personality during the last ten years. 12 studies with 10 different samples (n = 83 to n = 1998) were carried out to analyse the reliability and validity of eight computerized behavioral tests of personality*: Risk Tendency, Cooperation and Conscientiousness. Results have shown good ranges of reliability and validity indices: internal consistency as Cronbach's alpha or split-halves (.590 to .947), temporal stability (1-year test-retest: .430 and .508), concurrent validity (correlations between tests: .131 to .545), and predictive validity (coefficient of determination = .549). Therefore, following Cattell, we consider T-data computerized instruments as a very interesting psychological assessment method that will allow us to improve our scientific knowledge in personality psychology.
*The assistants of the congress will be able to play the eight computerized behavioral tests on our laptops.
Reference: Cattell, R.B., & Warburton, F.W. (1967). Objective personality and motivation tests: A theoretical introduction and practical coompendium. Champaign, IL, US: University of Illinois Press.

1.15  Individual Differences in Fearfulness (Flight Fight Fear System, FFFS) as a Predictor of Emotional Empathy

Anya Skatova, David Clarke, Eamonn Ferguson (School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, UK)  
Sensitivity to punishment (FFFS, Gray & McNaughton, 2000) is hypothesised as a key personality trait to differentiate pro- and anti-social behaviour. Findings in personality psychology demonstrate that individuals high in psychopathic traits are less sensitive to punishment and are likely to exhibit anti-social behaviour. Experimental evidence from economics suggests that cooperation (i.e., pro-social behaviour) is predominantly regulated by sanctions, while sanctions are in turn related to the possibility of punishment. Behavioral economic games have identified individual differences in behaviour under the presence of punishment: some cooperate, while others free-ride (are anti-social). It is, therefore, hypothesised that those who are high in sensitivity to punishment should also score high on other pro-social related behaviour traits, including empathy.
In a cross-sectional study of 793 students we observed a significant positive correlation (.219) between FFFS and emotional empathy. While sensitivity to punishment has been extensively studied in the context of anti-social behaviour, there is less empirical work on its role in pro-social behaviour and the results reported in this study help us to understand how fearfulness and empathy may be related. The results are, therefore, discussed in relationship to the bio-social theories of motivational traits, behavioral economics and social norms.

1.16  Adolescent Perceptions of Parental Marital Quality and Identity Development: The Mediating Role of Family Functioning

H. Utsunomiya (Department of Psychology, Ritsumeikan University, Japan)  
Relatively little is known about how adolescents perceive their interparental commitment. This study examined associations between adolescent perceptions of interparental commitment, family differentiation, and identity achievement. A self-report questionnaire survey was carried out among 271 Japanese adolescents (77 males and 194 females), 18 to 24 years of age (mean=20.0 years, SD=1.2). Path analysis indicated that perceptions of interparental commitment had direct effects on identity achievement. In addition, they had indirect effects that were mediated by differentiation in the family system. These results highlight the importance of considering parental marital quality when investigating identity development in late adolescence.

1.17  Genetic and Environmental Influences on Aggression: A Meta-Analysis of Twin Studies

L. Veselka & P. A. Vernon (Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, Canada)  
This poster presentation reports a meta-analysis of the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in aggressive behaviours among humans. It combines 91 twin studies spanning 42 years of research, from the mid-1960s to the present. Findings are based on a total of 41,011 monozygotic twin pairs, 31,694 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs, and 18,088 opposite-sex dizygotic twin pairs, with ages ranging from 9 months to 90 years. Studies included in the meta-analysis are grouped into three categories of aggression. The overt category centres upon interpersonal conflict and includes minor, physical, and violent aggression. The covert category includes antisocial behaviours such as vandalism and theft. The third öther" category captures clinical-level manifestations of aggression, self-harm, and measures of aggression that combine both interpersonal and antisocial behaviours. Although virtually all studies show evidence of genetic and primarily non-shared environmental factors contributing to individual differences in aggression, a wide range of effect sizes exists. Additional analyses revealed that individual differences in more violent aggressive behaviours showed consistent evidence of being more heavily attributable to genetic factors.

1.18  A Behavioural Genetic Study of Mental Toughness and Personality

L. Veselka (Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, Canada), V. Horsburgh (Faculty of Law, University of Windsor, Canada), J. A. Schermer (Management and Organizational Studies, University of Western Ontario, Canada), P. A. Vernon (Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, Canada)  
This poster presentation reports the first behavioural genetic (BG) investigation of mental toughness, as measured by the 48-item mental toughness (MT48) questionnaire, as well as the first BG investigation of relationships between mental toughness and the Big-5 factors of personality. Participants were 219 pairs of adult monozygotic and dizygotic twins from across North America. Twin study methodology was used to determine the extent to which genes and/or environmental factors contributed to individual differences in mental toughness, and to assess the genetic and/or environmental basis of any relationship between mental toughness and personality. Univariate BG analyses revealed that individual differences in mental toughness (as well as in personality) were largely attributable to genetic and nonshared environmental factors. Bivariate BG analyses revealed that phenotypic correlations between mental toughness and personality were largely attributable to common genetic and common nonshared environmental factors.

1.19  Cognitive Inhibition Reaction Time Distributions and their Correlations with Intelligence

Paul Wilson, Colin Cooper, Margaret McRorie (School of Psychology, The Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland)  
We investigated the relationship between cognitive inhibition and intelligence. Research has highlighted the inadequacy of 'traditional' normal-distribution descriptions of reaction-time (RT). Alternative models propose to account for common features of RT distributions not described by the normal-distribution (skew) and to have a theoretical cognitive rationale. Three such models were applied to RTs from young adults performing common cognitive inhibition tasks. The Stroop Colour-Word Task was used; however, because of the arbitrary mode of response (buttons assigned to a particular colour) a directional-stroop task was also used. Correct responses were given via hand held switches in the left and right hands and foot pedals positioned one in front of the other emulating the directions up/down. By changing the arbitrary array of response choices to a more ergonomic array, we hypothesised a reduction in `response-requirement' loading on working memory. A third task used negative priming to elicit inhibition during blocks displaying direction-words by oscillating instructions between responding with the congruent or incongruent (axial opposite) response switches. IQ was measured using the Wide Range Intelligence Test. Performance across tasks was compared and RT-model parameters were correlated to IQ. Adaptability to negative priming in the final task was also assessed and correlated with IQ.

1.20  Nonshared Environmental Effects on Behavior

S. Yamgata & Y. Takahashi (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science & Faculty of Letters, Keio University, Japan), K. Ozaki (Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan), K.K. Fujisawa (Faculty of Letters, Keio University, Japan), K. Nonaka (Department of Human Development, Wako University, Japan), J. Ando (Faculty of Letters, Keio University, Japan)  
The present study examined nonshared environmental association between body weight (BW) and head circumference (HC) at birth, 3 months, and 9 months, and later behavior problems.
Data of 300 monozygotic twins who entered a Tokyo Twin Cohort Project (ToTCoP) were analyzed. BW and HC were measured at birth, 3 months, and 9 months. Maternal report on Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire was used to assess conduct problems, emotional problems, hyperactivity, and peer problems at 36 months and 42 months.
When the association of BW and HC with behavior problems at 36 months was analyzed, only conduct problems were associated with BW or HC at birth. Conduct problems were only associated with HC at birth, but not with HC at 3 months or at 9 months. When the association of BW and HC with behavior problems at 42 months was analyzed, only conduct problems were associated with BW or HC at birth. Conduct problems were associated with both BW and HC at birth, but their effects get weaker for 3 months and 9 months. These results suggest that prenatal environmental factors that influence BW and HC at birth are also responsible for later conduct problems.

1.21  Individual Characteristics in Visual and Auditory Processing of Emotional Material

Anna M. Zagórska (Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland), Magorzata Fajkowska (Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland), Izabela Szumska (University of Finance and Management, Warsaw, Poland)  
Angry voice prosody activates similar regions in the brain as threatening visual stimuli and processing of emotional material in both these modalities engages mainly structures in the right hemisphere. Moreover, processing of fear, expressed by both face and voice, activates OFC (orbitofrontal cortex) when voluntary attention is included. We assumed that, processing of emotional material in these two modalities depends probably on the emotion that is attended and on the individual characteristics related to effortful and extensive evaluation, such as arousal/activation or attentional control. Thus, two studies aimed at investigating how visual and auditory systems process emotional material were conducted. The goal of the first study was to examine whether the threat or happiness favor in processing visual emotional cues would also occur if auditory stimuli were utilized. The aim of the second study was to analyze the contribution of individual differences and attentional control to processing of emotional material. In the first study, participants took the Emotional Version of Moron's Attention Test with Ekman's faces as the signals. They were instructed to detect (by crossing out) the signals (friendly, sad, angry) as quickly as possible in the matrix of faces within 2 minutes. Next day, they completed the Emotional Prosody Test in which they had to indicate the emotional intonation of spoken pointless sentences pronounced with three different intonations: friendly, sad, and angry. In the second study, apart from taking Emotional Version of Moron's Attention Test and Emotional Prosody Test subjects had to complete 3 questionnaires: Attentional Control Scale, Activation-Deactivation Adjective List, and EPQ-R. The results of the first study showed happiness superiority in processing of facial expressions and surprisingly sadness superiority in processing of emotional prosody. The second study has revealed different pattern of processing emotional material depending on the level of arousal/activation and attentional control.

1.22  Do Auditory Temporal Discrimination Tasks Measure Temporal Resolution of the CNS?

Ian T. Zajac & Nicholas R. Burns (School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Australia)  
Recent research has proposed that temporal resolution of the CNS is partly responsible for higher order cognitive functioning and that Auditory Temporal Discrimination (ATd) tasks provide a measure of CNS resolution. This study addressed whether ATd tasks might be better interpreted as measures of working memory, rather than temporal resolution as proposed. This was achieved by assessing the relationship between performance on auditory and visual discrimination tasks and measures of speed of processing and working memory (WM), respectively, and through a re-analysis of ATd data presented in previous publications. Analyses of performance by N = 66 undergraduates showed that temporal discrimination performance did not predict performance on speed of processing tasks. However, there was some evidence of a relationship between temporal discrimination tasks and a measure of WM. Furthermore, re-analysis of previously published data showed that the relationship between ATd and other cognitive abilities is mediated through Working Memory. This study provides preliminary evidence that ATd tasks do not measure temporal resolution of the CNS as proposed, but might still prove useful in the measurement and exploration of WM functions.
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1.23  Polymorphism of DAT Gene Associated with Over-Reproduction of 1-Second Interval, and Increased Alpha Rhythms Frequency

Olga V. Sysoeva & Galina V. Portnova (Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia), Natalia V. Maluchenko & Alexandr G. Tonevitsky (Biological Faculty, Moscow State University, Russia), Alexey M. (Ivanitsky Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences)  
Inter-individual differences in time perception might be the basis for temperament. Psychopharmacological and neuroimaging studies suggest that perception of short duration is related to dopaminergic system. The link between brain rhythms and time perception is also described. The aim of the current study was to investigate the association between polymorphisms of DAT gene, reproduction of short durations (1-12 s) and resting EEG activity in healthy men. Thirty right handed male subjects (18-32 years old) took part in the experiment. Half of them had 10/10 DAT VNTR gene polymorphism. EEG was measured during 4 minute resting period of eyes open/close conditions. Individual alpha frequency (IAF) was determined as the frequency with maximum spectral power from 7-13 Hz at Pz electrode. It was found that carries of 10/10 genotypes of DAT VNTR gene over-reproduce 1 second interval (produce it as being longer than 1 second) compared to carries of other genotypes (10/9 and 9/9), who were more accurate. Carries of 10/10 genotypes of that gene also had higher IAF. IAF and reproduction of 1-second interval was found to be correlated. Therefore, the following chain from DAT gene through the brain activity (IAF) to the behaviour (reproduction of 1 second) may be suggested.

1.24  Personality and Vocational Interest Factors

J.A. Schermer (Management and Organizational Studies, The University of Western Ontario, Canada)   The relationships between personality and vocational interest factors were examined. Adults (N = 528) completed both a short-form version of the Jackson Vocational Interest Survey (JVIS) and a 20 Adjective checklist. For each measure, five factors were extracted. The vocational interest factors included business, science, liberal arts, work styles, and working with people. The personality adjective factors resembled the Big Five factors. Extraversion was positively related to an interest in business and surprisingly negatively related to an interest in working with people. Openness to experience was correlated with business, science, and liberal arts interests. Agreeableness was positively related to liberal arts, work styles, and working with people. Conscientiousness was positively related to work styles. Neuroticism was not found to correlate significantly with the vocational interest factors. The results build upon previous work with the short form JVIS and in the area linking personality and vocational interests.

1.25  Personality and Politics: A Behaviour Genetic Study

J.A. Schermer (Management and Organizational Studies, The University of Western Ontario, Canada), E. Bell (Sociology Department, Brescia University College, Canada), P.A. Vernon (Psychology Department, The University of Western Ontario, Canada)  
The phenotypic (observed), genetic, and environmental correlations between the Big Five personality factors and interest in politics, probability of voting, self-placement on a left-right political continuum, and six political attitude scales were examined. Participants were 496 adults from Canada and the USA, including 161 MZ twin pairs and 54 DZ same sex pairs. At the phenotypic level, neuroticism was negatively related to interest in politics and probability of voting and positively related to attitudes on toward economic equality and state activism. Interest in politics was positively related to the other four personality dimensions. Extraversion had a positive correlation with attitudes toward competition/business. Openness was associated with a left-wing orientation, pro-environmentalism, economic equality, and pro-minorities. Agreeableness was positively correlated with probability of voting and religiosity/social conservatism. Conscientiousness was found to have a positive correlation with voting probability. Many of the significant phenotypic correlations were found to be due to common genetic factors with significant genetic correlations found between the scales.

2  Poster Session 2 Tuesday 18:30 - 20:30

2.1  Self-Regulation of Mood Using Exercise and Music in Jazzercise Sessions

Joaquin Castro & Robert E. Thayer (Department of Psychology, California State University, Long Beach, USA)  
From 32 all-inclusive categories of behaviors that people use to self-regulate mood, exercise was found to be the best, and music was the second best (Thayer, Newman & McClain, 1994). To assess elements of these two methods of mood regulation together, the present research utilized 37 male and female participants (means age = 49) engaged in Jazzercise, an exercise program that incorporates dance routines set to popular music during one-hour sessions. Before and after four Jazzercise sessions, participants completed an Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List (AD ACL) a measure of transitory mood states that assesses Energy, Tension, Tiredness and Calmness (Energetic Arousal and Tense Arousal). Based on past research involving moderate exercise and mood it was hypothesized that participants engaged in Jazzercise sessions would report increased energy and calmness and reduced tension and tiredness. Analyses of difference scores confirmed our hypotheses for Energy, Tiredness and Calmness. However, contrary to our hypothesis, Tension increased, perhaps because of the anaerobic activity associated with the last half of Jazzercise sessions. Individual differences showed no effect.
Reference: Thayer, R.E., Newman, J.R., & McClain, T.M. (1994). The self-regulation of mood: Strategies for changing a bad mood, raising energy, and reducing tension. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 910-925.

2.2  Individual Differences and the Decoding of Facial Expressions of Emotion: Incorporating Naturalistic Stimuli

Christopher Edgar, M. McRorie, I. Sneddon (School of Psychology, Queen's University, Belfast, UK)  
Previous research has highlighted both theoretical and empirical links between measures of personality/emotional intelligence and our ability to accurately decode facial expressions of emotion. This study aimed to expand on previous findings by incorporating naturalistic stimuli as opposed to photographs of emotional archetypes used in previous research. Fifty participants, 24 Male and 26 Female (mean age of 24 years) completed questionnaires assessing personality and self-report EI. Using novel software, participants then continuously rated the changes in emotional intensity expressed in a series of 12 video clips. Participants watched and rated each video clip twice to provide a means of testing decoding consistency. There were a number of significant results, as hypothesised self-report EI correlated positively with decoding consistency (r=.27, p=.03). Exploratory analysis also revealed a link between decoding consistency and the range of the scale utilised to rate expressed emotional intensity. From the results it was concluded that EI plays a mediating role in our ability to consistently judge emotions in others; on-going research is assessing the role of personality traits in the variation of decoding of emotional expression.

2.3  Extraversion and the Tendency to Engage in Arousal Procrastination

Erin K. Freeman, Luz-Eugenia Cox-Fuenzalida, Ilea Stoltenberg (Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, USA)  
This study investigated the relationship between arousal procrastination and the personality dimension of extraversion. Arousal procrastination can be defined as a tendency to seek stimulation or thrill from the increasing pressure of delaying work on a task. While there is increasing interest in this type of procrastination, our understanding of underlying explanatory mechanisms remains quite limited. The present study examines the relationship between extraversion, a theoretically arousal-based trait (Eysenck, 1967), and individual differences in arousal procrastination. Specifically, it was hypothesized that extraverts would be more likely to engage in arousal procrastination than introverts. Participants consisted of 34 undergraduates who were randomly selected from a larger participant pool. Participants completed a series of counterbalanced questionnaires measuring extraversion and the tendency to engage in arousal procrastination. A linear regression was conducted and results indicated that extraversion predicts the engagement in arousal procrastination, b = .37, t(31) = 2.30, p=.03. Specifically, the results of this study suggest that the more extraverted a person, the more likely he/she is to engage in arousal procrastination. The findings may have important implications for many real world jobs, including safety sensitive occupations, where procrastinating could have deleterious consequences.

2.4  The Impact of Heart Rate Variability on Well-Being Is Mediated by Emotion Regulation

F.C. M. Geisler, N. Vennewald, T. Kubiak, H. Weber (Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Germany)  
The capacity to regulate emotion is vital for well-being. Heart rate variability (HRV) could be an index for the capacity to regulate emotional responding (Applehans & Luecken, 2006). We tested the hypotheses that resting HRV is associated with well-being and that its impact on well-being is mediated by cognitive and behavioral emotion regulation. 125 students filled in questionnaires to assess well-being and the habitual use of emotion regulation strategies. Resting HRV was computed from a five minute beat-to-beat heart rate measurement by employing time (RMSSD) and frequency domain methods (HF). Well-being (calculated from scales assessing general mood, life satisfaction, and social integration) was associated with resting HRV, r RMSSD = .24, p < .05; r HF = .25, p < .01. Results from a Structural Equation Model pointed to a better fit of the mediation model. We interpret our results as a backup for the use of resting HRV as an index for the capacity to regulate emotional responding. Our further research aims at examining in more detail which aspects of emotion regulation are associated with resting HRV.  

2.5  Invariance of the Short and Abbreviated Versions of Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire

Rapson Gomez (School of Psychology, University of Tasmania, Australia)  
This study used the mean and covariance structures analysis approach to examine if there is measurement and construct invariance across the common items of the abbreviated (JEPQRA) and short (JEPQRS) versions of Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised (JEPQR). Participants were adolescents, between 15 and 17 years of age. One group of 439 participants completed the JEPQRA, while another group of 466 participants completed the JEPQRS. The findings showed equivalency for factor structure, loadings, variances, covariances, and mean scores. In contrast, the item intercepts and error variances were different for like items lower down the list of items in the JEPQRA and JEPQRS, thereby raising the possibility of bias position effects. Implications for the development of shorter questionnaires from their longer counterparts are discussed.

2.6  Validity of the Spanish Version of the ITQ (Interpersonal Trust Questionnaire), a New Measure of Social Support

Leticia Guarino (Dpto. de Ciencia y Tecnolog’a del Comportamiento, Universidad Sim—n Bolivar, Venezuela) & Victor Sojo (Escuela de Psicologia, Facultad de Humanidades y Educacion, Universidad Central de Venezuela)  
The present paper reports on the results of the adaptation and validity of the Spanish version of the Interpersonal Trust Questionnaire (ITQ ? Forbes & Roger, 1999), conducted with a sample of Venezuelan college students. The original 48 items scale measures the capacity of individuals to use social support effectively, through three different dimensions: Fear of Disclosure (FOD), Social Coping (SC) and Social Intimacy (SI). The scale, jointly with other personality questionnaires, was administered to a sample of 292 university students from three different universities in Caracas-Venezuela. Results from the factor analysis resembled only two of the three dimensions of the questionnaire, comprising 46 items with high internal consistencies in each. The concurrent validity study showed the dimensions to be related in the expected way, while the predictive validity study conducted with a different sample of 328 unemployed people revealed the FOD to be positively related to a poor general health status and the SC to be protective of the individual's psychological health.

2.7  Unraveling the Three Faces of Self-Esteem: A New Information-Processing Sociometer Perspective

Sarah HirschmŸller & Mitja D. Back (University of Leipzig, Germany), Sascha Krause (Westfalische Wilhelms-University Munster, Germany), Boris Egloff (University of Leipzig, Germany), Stefan C. Schmukle (Westfalische Wilhelms-University Munster, Germany)  
Based on an integration of sociometer theory and information-processing models, the present study investigated the predictive validity of three self-esteem measures: self-report, an implicit association test, and an affective priming task. In a first session, self-esteem measures were obtained from 93 participants. After an interval of four weeks, interpersonal perception ratings were collected in small round-robin groups. Participants were requested to briefly introduce themselves to the group before evaluating one another and indicating how they expected to be evaluated by the others (meta-perceptions). As hypothesized, all three self-esteem measures independently predicted the perception of being valued (PBV) in a real-life situation. In sum, the present study shows that three independent faces of self-esteem can fruitfully be distinguished, a finding that has important implications for the measurement and understanding of self-esteem.

2.8  The Frankfurt Acculturation Scale (FRAKK): A Questionnaire for the Measurement of Immigrants' Acculturation

Augustin Kelava, Stephan Bongard, Helfried Moosbrugger (Institute of Psychology, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Germany)  
The Frankfurt Acculturation Scale (FRAKK) uses a behavioural oriented conceptualisation of acculturation. In a previous study, a 15 item version of the FRAKK-scale showed ambiguous psychometric properties. In a recent study, a new extended 36 item version of the FRAKK-scale was administered to 305 immigrants from Bosnia, Iran, and Korea. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggest a two factorial structure with the dimensions "Orientation towards the Culture of Origin" (CO) and "Orientation towards the Host Culture" (HC). The two dimensions have high consistencies and correlate at .47. In this contribution, we report on new developments and analyses with latent item response models.

2.9  Emotional Intelligence, Mood-Regulation and EEG Response

A.Kustubayeva (Department of Ethnic and Pedagogical Psychology, Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan), G. Matthews (Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, USA), A. Tolegenova & S. Jakupov (Department of Ethnic and Pedagogical Psychology, Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan)  
Emotional intelligence (EI) may support the successful implementation of strategies for regulating the expression of emotion, such as reappraisal and suppression. These strategies may be expressed in changes in frontal brain activation. The present study aimed to investigate how trait EI relates to EEG activity while participants attempted to regulate their emotional response to a fear-inducing film. Participants were 150 students. EI was measured by the Russian version of Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS; Salovey et al., 1995), consisting of three subscales: Attention to Feelings, Clarity of Feelings, and Ability to Repair mood. Subjects were randomly allocated to one of three experimental groups: control, reappraisal instruction or suppression instruction. EEG was recorded during a sequence of three situations: (1) baseline (open eyes), (2) fear induction task (watching the film), (3) fear regulation task (watching the film after mood-regulation instruction). Spectral Power Density of EEG rhythms in 10 bands (2-45 Hz) was analyzed. The Repair subscale correlated positively with power in frontal gamma and theta-2 bands, in the reappraisal condition only. Correlations between Repair, Clarity and several EEG bands in the baseline condition are also reported. Reappraisal may be linked to trait EI (Repair) and to individual differences in frontal functioning.

2.10  Cross-Cultural Study in Sport (France-China): Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Coping Strategies

S. Laborde (UFR STAPS, EA 4260, University of Caen, France), M. You & A. Salinas (UFR Psychologie, CeRReV, University of Caen, France)  
Emotional Intelligence (EI) and coping strategies are relevant concepts in sport, to understand athlete's tendency to choke under pressure. Objectives: (1) To realize a cross-cultural comparison between EI profiles of Sport Science students in France and China and (2) to establish a relationship between EI scores and coping strategies. Methods: (1) EI of Sport Science students in China (N=166) and in France (N=121) was assessed with the long form of the TEIQue (Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire). (2) Coping strategies related to a stressful event in a specific sport (i.e.: table tennis) were then investigated with the CICS (Coping Inventory for Competitive Sport). Results: (1) Gender and Cultural significant differences were found in EI scores, and (2) coping strategies were moderately related to culture. Conclusion: Stress and emotion management program in sport should take into account both cultural and gender differences.

2.11  Emotion Regulation Strategies in Difficult Life Situations: The Modifying Role of Temperament and Depressive Tendencies

Magdalena Marszal-Wisniewska (Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities and Institute of Psychology of Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland)  
Current research on cognitive emotion regulation strategies has generally ignored the type of difficult situation and cross-situational variability of those strategies in people differing in stable personality traits.
The presented research is meant to answer two questions: 1) Does the type of difficult life situations (loss, failure) influence the use of specific cognitive emotion regulation strategies?, and 2) How do temperament and depressive tendencies modify the frequency of the use of those strategies in the analyzed situations? 139 participants completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (twice with different instructions for the situation of loss and the situation of failure), the Formal Characteristic of Behavior - Temperament Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory. The results showed that a) the use of nonadaptive emotion regulation strategies (mainly catastrophizing, rumination, self-blame) is related with the type of difficult life situations- regardless of individual differences in temperament and depressive tendencies, b) the situation-related use of some strategies is modified by temperament, e.g. low perseveration (temperament trait) increases the frequency of the strategy of acceptance only in a situation of loss, but decreases - in a situation of failure. The results do not support the hypothesis that people with depressive tendencies are "stiff" in using nonadaptive strategies in all difficult situations.

2.12  Stability of Personality in Adolescents Using the JS NEO-S

J. Moya , M.I. Ib‡–ez, M.A. RuipŽrez, H. Villa, L. Mezquita, G. Ortet (Department of Basic and Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universitat Jaume I, Spain)  
The present research examined personality continuity during adolescence using the Short form JS NEO (Ortet et al., 2007). One hundred and ninety-four adolescents (74 boys and 120 girls) were first assessed when they were 12 years old and reassessed three years later (when they were aged 15). Analyses of the five broad dimensions indicated rank-order stability with correlations between 0.43 and 0.54. In relation to normative change (mean-level), adolescents showed no significant differences in Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, and Agreeableness, but decreased in Conscientiousness. Facet analyses presented rank-order stability with correlations between 0.23 and 0.50; however 17 out of 30 facets presented significant mean-level changes, most of them with a small effect size. When gender differences were studied, we only found that neuroticism decreased in boys, but increased in girls. The results replicated the main findings of stability and change of personality characteristics from previous researches. Moreover, this study gives additional evidence that the JS NEO-S is a sound measure of the five factors of personality in adolescents.
Ortet, G. et al. (2007) Adaptation for adolescents of the Spanish version of the NEO PI-R). Psicothema, 19, 263-268.

2.13  Psychological Status of Mood Regulation Strategies

Magdalena Nowicka (Department of Psychology of Individual Differences, Warsaw School of Social Psychology, Poland)  
Mood regulation refers to ability to modify or maintain one's mood state. The author examined the ability of 160 subclinically depressed and normal participants to regulate their mood in an automatic versus controlled way. Those processes were analyzed by manipulating both mood states and the level of cognitive loading. The lexical decision task (emotional version) and the UMACL were used to control mood change during different conditions. As results showed, normal individuals were generally less likely than depressed individuals to use downward mood regulation. Participants with dispositional tendency to mood improvement were able to repair negative moods or maintain positive ones during both parallel task and easy condition. The results suggest that there are differences between depressed and normal individuals in automatic mood regulation processes. In depressed individuals no automatic upward mood regulation takes place. Although depressed individuals can probably use controlled strategies leading to mood improvement, their negative mood is maintained as a consequence of automatic downward mood regulation. These results support the hypothesis that depression is related to inhibitory dysfunctions in the processing of negative stimuli.

2.14  Assortative Mating for Personality

Oxana Parshikova (Department of Psychology , Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia), Olga Alexeeva (Psychological Institute of Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, Russia)  
The degree of assortative mating was investigated among 189 married couples (M=37.6 years,s = 11.8). The couples were assessed on a broad range of personality characteristics and some relationship quality indicators. We found sizable assortative mating for three dimensions of locus of control (0.16 - 0.22, p<0.05), for two dimensions of Sensation Seeking (0.23; 0.34, p<0.05) and for Programming as one aspect of self-regulation of behavior (0.17, p<0.05). There was no similarity between spouses on such personality traits as Extraversion and Neuroticism, and on the level of Machiavellism. Implications of present findings will be useful for behavior genetics studies where assortative mating regarded as an effect of genotype-environment covariation.

2.15  Exploring the Factor Structure of the Spanish Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue)

J.C. Perez-Gonzalez (Faculty of Education, UNED, Madrid, Spain), M» J. Sanchez-Ruiz (Faculty of Psychology, UAM, Madrid, Spain), Petrides, K. V. (Department of Psychology, UCL, London, UK)  
Trait EI (TEI) has been recognized to be the most prevalent model of EI being used for research purposes and in educational and organizational settings, and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) (Petrides, 2009) is maybe the most robust instrument designed for comprehensively covering the TEI sampling domain. A number of empiric and cross-cultural studies supporting the reliability and construct validity of TEIQue has been carried out in the last few years. Nevertheless, so far empiric research on the factor structure of TEIQue is scant.
In this study we explored the factor structure of the Spanish TEIQue long forms (versions 1.0 and 1.5) in two samples of University Students (Na=289 & Nb=680, respectively). Concerning the version 1.0 and the first sample, the four oblique factors structure reported by Petrides (2009) was replicated in our data: well-being, self-control, emotionality, sociability. With regard to the version 1.5 and the second sample, an alternative three factors structure was found: sociability/well-being, emotionality, self-control. Further exploratory factor analysis splitting the second sample in three independent sub-samples (Nb1=172; Nb2=183; Nb3 =325) showed three alternative although similar factor structures. Finally, the above four oblique factors structure was confirmed again in the data from the third sub-sample.

2.16  Screening for Borderline Personality Disorder in an Undergraduate Sample

Kathy Smolewska, Jonathan Oakman, Marta Szepietowska (Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Canada)  
In this study, the validity of three self-report measures assessing the DSM-IV criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD) was examined in a nonclinical sample. Fifty-six undergraduate students (6 males, 50 females; mean age = 20.9 years) completed a series of self-report measures that included the Borderline Personality Questionnaire (BPQ), International Personality Disorder Examination DSM-IV Screening Questionnaire (IPDE-SQ) and the McLean Screening Instrument for BPD (MSI-BPD). In addition, the BPD section of the IPDE DSM-IV Interview and the Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB-R) were administered to each participant. The screeners were highly correlated (r = .65 to .84) and scores on each were positively associated with global indices from the DIB-R (r = .51 to .73) and IPDE interview (r = .59 to .68). Results from hierarchical regression analyses suggest that scores on the MSI-BPD accounted for a significant portion of the variance in both interview indices (R-squared = .46 and .54); the inclusion of the IPDE-SQ and BPQ scores did not result in a significant improvement in either regression. Data from additional studies conducted in our lab will be incorporated into the discussion of implications and limitations associated with screening for BPD within an undergraduate sample.

2.17  Facebook Profiles Reflect Actual Personality not Self-Idealization

Juliane M. Stopfer & Mitja D. Back (Department of Psychology, University of Leipzig, Germany), Simine Vazire (Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, USA), Sam Gaddis (Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, USA), Stefan C. Schmukle (Department of Psychology, Westfalische Wilhelms University Munster, Germany), Boris Egloff (Department of Psychology, University of Leipzig, Germany), Samuel D. Gosling (Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, USA)  
Almost 600 million people worldwide now have profiles on Online Social Networking sites (OSNs), such as MySpace and Facebook. OSNs have become seamlessly integrated into the milieu of modern-day social interactions and are widely used as a primary medium for communication and networking. Despite the staggering number of people engaging in OSN activities and despite the increasing integration of OSN activity in everyday life there has been virtually no research on this still rapidly growing phenomenon. Here we test the most fundamental question about these OSN profile-do they convey an accurate impression of the profile owners? We investigate this question using 236 profiles from the most popular OSNs in the US (Facebook) and Germany (StudiVZ, SchülerVZ). Unacquainted observers examined these profiles and rated each profile owner on the Big Five personality dimensions (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness). Observer ratings were then aggregated and compared to the profile owners' actual personality and their ideal-personality. Results show that, in contrast to widespread belief, OSN profiles do not reflect self-idealization. Instead, they provide information about social partners that is more valid than most other sources, including face-to-face encounters.

2.18  A Very Brief Scale for Measuring the BIS/BAS Traits

Y. Takahashi & S. Yamagata (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Keio University, Japan), K. Shigemasu Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan), J. Ando (Faculty of Letters, Keio University, Japan)  
To measure briefly the Big Five traits, Gosling et al. (2003) designed 5-item and 10-item personality inventories (i.e., FIPI and TIPI), and they reported their adequate reliability and validity. For now, to our knowledge, no very brief scale for measuring Gray's BIS and BAS temperamental traits. The purpose of the present study is to develop and evaluate the very brief version of the BIS/BAS scales (BIS/BAS-VBV). We first picked up the BIS/BAS items that properly describe their constructs from personality traits item pool, repeatedly analyzed preliminary data, and finally selected 12 items to represent the BIS and BAS traits. A total of 91 undergraduates completed the questionnaire booklet including the BIS/BAS-VBV (12 items, 7-point Likert scaling). It only took them about one minute to fill out this scale. Exploratory factor analyses revealed that the BIS/BAS-VBV showed robust two-factor structures. The scale was also evaluated on the basis of psychometric properties: internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and external correlations. The results of these evaluations showed this scale reached adequate reliability and validity. The present study suggested that the BIS/BAS-VBV worked effectively as a one-minute measurement, when time and space were limited.

2.19  The Good Judge: Does Emotional Intelligence Moderate the Accuracy of Zero-acquaintance Judgements?

H. Wall & P.J. Taylor (Psychology Department, Lancaster University, England, UK), K. Williams & S.M. Conchie (Psychology Department, Liverpool University, UK  
There has recently been renewed interest into the accuracy of personality judgments and potential correlates of the Good Judge. Such research has increased our understanding of the individual difference variables related to zero-acquaintance judgments (i.e., judgments betweens strangers), which the present study aims to extend. Given that relationships have been reported between intelligence and accuracy for the judgment of non-emotional traits (e.g., Conscientiousness), we propose that it is important to explore the construct of trait emotional intelligence (EI), which may have implications for the judgment of emotional traits (e.g., Neuroticism) that have achieved comparatively little accuracy in zero-acquaintance situations. Therefore, the present study explored the relationship between EI and zero-acquaintance judgments. Specifically, Observers (N = 30) rated their level of trait EI, and watched video footage of one participant chatting to another person (i.e., Interactants) unknown to them. Each Observer then rated the Interactants personality along the Big-5 dimensions, which were compared with Interactants-self-ratings. Importantly, accuracy was found for Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness. Median-split-analyses found that those high in EI were less accurate for the emotional personality traits. Findings suggest that those high in trait EI may engage in more complex cognitive processing, which appears to hinder accuracy at zero-acquaintance

2.20  Cognitive Control of Obsessional Thoughts

Williams, A. D. & Grisham, J. R. (Department of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)  
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been linked to unsuccessful attempts to suppress unwanted thoughts. Recent evidence of individual differences in ability to control intrusive thoughts may inform our understanding of failures of cognitive control in OCD. In addition, recent theorists have suggested a link between the cognitive processes involved in thought suppression and rumination. The current study investigated several cognitive styles that are potentially associated with OCD and may influence response to unwanted thoughts. Undergraduate students (N = 168) completed self-report measures of OCD symptoms, perceived thought control, tendency to thought-suppress, and tendency to ruminate. They were then presented with a distressing target thought and completed a standard thought suppression paradigm. Controlling for anxiety and depression, OCD symptoms were positively associated with rumination and the tendency to suppress thoughts while inversely associated with perceived thought control ability. In addition, OCD symptoms were associated with higher levels of distress and greater spontaneous efforts to suppress the target thought during the baseline period. Finally, results of the experimental manipulation confirmed that individuals assigned to suppress experienced more target thoughts than those in the control group during the recovery period. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

2.21  Mental Toughness as a Mediator between Temperament Traits and Optimism about the Personal, Local and Global Future

Anna M. Zalewska (Faculty of Psychology, Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland), Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz (Faculty of Social Science, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland)  
This study examined relations between temperament traits, mental toughness and optimism about the future: personal, local (of local environment) and global (of the world). It was based on the following premises: High optimism facilitates undertaking difficult tasks, coping with failures and achieving successes. Optimism is probably associated with mental toughness (MT) because MT means ability to deal with challenges, pressure and difficulties, that enables us to achieve best results. Temperament traits are basic personality characteristics that influence the whole person's experience and forming the other traits. In accordance with aforementioned premises a general hypothesis has been put that MT will be a mediator between temperament traits and optimism. 268 students (110 boys) aged 11-14-17 were investigated with: Questionnaire MTQ48, Formal Characteristics of Behavior - Temperament Inventory and Questionnaire "What do you think about the future?". Results of hierarchical regression analyses with controlled demographic variables confirmed the general hypothesis. Temperament traits explained 46% of MT variability. They also predicted levels of 3 forms of optimism. However, including MT into analyses reduced the impact of temperament. Results also showed that personality resources explained optimism about own personal future to a higher degree than optimism about the local or global future.


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On 26 Apr 2009, 16:10.