A General Factor of Personality in a sample of inmates: associations with indicators of life-history strategy and covitality

Author(s): Daliborka Kujacic,Janko Mededovic / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

This study looked for a General Factor of Personality (GFP) in a sample of male convicts (N=226; mean age 32 years). The GFP was extracted from seven broad personality traits: FFM factors, Amoralism (the negative pole of the lexical Honesty-Humility factor) and Disintegration (operationalization of Schizotypy). Three first-order factors were extracted, labeled Dysfunctionality, Antisociality and Openness, and GFP was found through the hierarchical factor analysis. The nature of the GFP was explored through analysis of its relations with markers of fast Life-History strategy and covitality. The results demonstrated that the GFP is associated with unrestricted sexual behavior, medical problems, mental problems, early involvement in criminal activity and stability of criminal behavior. The evidence shows that the GFP is a meaningful construct on the highest level of personality structure. It may represent a personality indicator of fitness-related characteristics and could be useful in research of personality in an evolutionary context.

A Response to Tomáš Urbánek

Author(s): Petra Anýžová / Language(s): English / Issue: 03/2017

A six-factor model of brand personality and its predictive validity

Author(s): Marko Živanovic,Sofija Cerovic,Jovana Bjekic / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2017

The study examines applicability and usefulness of HEXACO-based model in the description of brand personality. Following contemporary theoretical developments in human personality research, Study 1 explored the latent personality structure of 120 brands using descriptors of six personality traits as defined in HEXACO model: Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness. The results of exploratory factor analyses have supported HEXACO personality six-factor structure to a large extent. InStudy 2 we addressed the question of predictive validity of HEXACO-based brand personality. Brand personality traits, but predominantly Honesty-Humility, accounted for substantial amount of variance in prediction of important aspects of consumer-brand relationship: attitude toward brand, perceived quality of a brand, and brand loyalty. The implications of applying HEXACO-based brand personality in marketing research are discussed.

A study on the relationship between compulsive exercise, depression and anxiety

Author(s): Aviv Weinstein,Yitzhak Weinstein,Gavriel Maayan / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2015

Exercise and physical activity are beneficial both physically and psychologically but a few individuals use exercise excessively resulting in physical and even psychological damage. There is evidence for bidirectional relationship between exercise with depression and anxiety showing that exercise can reduce anxiety and depression, whereas a lack of exercise is associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. Methods: This study used questionnaires assessing compulsive exercise, anxiety and depression among 20 professional regular exercisers and 51 recreational regular exercisers. Results: Results showed that ratings of compulsive exercise were associated with ratings of anxiety and depression among individuals who exercise for professional and recreational purpose. Secondly, individuals who exercise for professional purpose were more depressed than individuals who exercise for recreational purpose, but did not exhibit higher trait anxiety ratings. Thirdly, individuals who exercise for recreational purpose showed an association between ratings of compulsive exercise and depression but not with ratings of trait anxiety. Discussion: Individuals who exercise for professional and recreational purpose may use it as a means for alleviating depression and anxiety although this small sample of recreational and professional sportsmen showed clinical levels of anxiety and depression that may require further clinical treatment.

A THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF TECHNICAL DOCUMENTS: THE COLLECTION AND FORMALIZATION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO THE NEEDS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Author(s): Mabrouka El Hachani,Omar Larouk / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2017

This article addresses the issue of technical documents and the impact their structuring has on professionals working in the field of disability. A model was developed to accompany users with disabilities when entering information; it was based on the linguistic analysis of an assortment of technical documents (institutional forms). We studied the problems related to technical documents by using a methodological approach which was based on a combination of complementary studies. The first was a terminological study, which aimed to look for relevant themes. It was complemented by a second one, which analyzed the discourse that was transmitted by the texts and which was centered on exploring the logical links between propositions and paragraphs. We completed these two studies with a final one, the logico-cognitive analysis. This which allowed us to look for contextual clues, which were produced by the texts in the documentary environment. It was therefore possible to formalize information and communication operations thanks to the reference discourse’s targeted environment in view of designing an automated information system.

ACTUAL TENDENCY IN INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Author(s): Andreea Szalontay,Alina Mihaela Pascu,Andreea Teodorescu,Dan Minea,Petru IFTENI / Language(s): English / Issue: 51/2015

Patients with schizophrenia requiring long-term institutionalization represent cases with poor outcome, often leading to high costs for patients and family and constituting a huge economical burden for society if patients are young. The aims of the study were identification of characteristics and predictors of institutionalization in schizophrenia. Retrospective study of all institutionalized patients with schizophrenia in Brasov County, Romania, with a DSM-IV-TR lifetime diagnosis of schizophrenia institutionalized between 1995 and 2014. Institutionalized patients between 2005 and 2014 (n=172) had lower age (51.15 vs. 57.08, p<0.05) and lower age at institutionalization compared with patients admitted between 1995 and 2004. Lower education level (8.23 vs. 13.22, p<0.05), only one parent, multiple antipsychotics treatments and suboptimal response under first generation long acting antipsychotics are predictors for institutionalization. Our study showed a tendency to institutionalize patients with schizophrenia at the younger age compared with other periods. Early intervention in psychosis, controlled treatment with SGAs should be solutions to avoid institutionalization of young patients with schizophrenia.

An Analysis of the Barriers to Inclusion of Children with Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties (besd) in the Contexts of Greece and England

Author(s): Katerina Lykourgioti / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

Children with Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties (BESD) are at high risk of experiencing exclusion in both England and Greece. However, this particular category of Special Educational Needs (SEN) has so far received relatively little academic or political attention in comparison to other SEN. This paper attempts to point out the barriers that may prevent the inclusion of children with BESD both in terms of the theoretical conceptualisation of the category itself and in terms of the policies and practices that England and Greece may implement. In order to achieve a further yet coherent picture of the current situation, this paper has identified three different types of factors that may negatively influence inclusion. Therefore, by discussing the possible ideological, structural, and practical challenges, the paper aims to highlight the crucial need for further theoretical insight that would be able to inform and promote the establishment of a more cohesive and efficient legislative framework for pupils with BESD in both countries.

An investigation into problematic smartphone use: The role of narcissism, anxiety, and personality factors

Author(s): Zaheer Hussain,Mark D. Griffiths,David Sheffield / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2017

Over the last decade, worldwide smartphone usage has greatly increased. Alongside this growth, research on the influence of smartphones on human behavior has also increased. However, a growing number of studies have shown that excessive use of smartphones can lead to detrimental consequences in a minority of individuals. This study examines the psychological aspects of smartphone use particularly in relation to problematic use, narcissism, anxiety, and personality factors. Methods: A sample of 640 smartphone users ranging from 13 to 69 years of age (mean = 24.89 years, SD = 8.54) provided complete responses to an online survey including modified DSM-5 criteria of Internet Gaming Disorder to assess problematic smartphone use, the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory. Results: The results demonstrated significant relationships between problematic smartphone use and anxiety, conscientiousness, openness, emotional stability, the amount of time spent on smartphones, and age. The results also demonstrated that conscientiousness, emotional stability, and age were independent predictors of problematic smartphone use. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that problematic smartphone use is associated with various personality factors and contributes to further understanding the psychology of smartphone behavior and associations with excessive use of smartphones.

Analysis of the hostile family environment as a predictor of aggression during adolescence

Author(s): Boris Tilov / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2015

Anxiety of Students Preparing for the University Entrance Exam towards Math Lessons

Author(s): Yildirim Bayazit / Language(s): English / Issue: 5/2017

It is known that one of the crucial factors affecting the students’ success at math lessons negatively is math anxiety. In most general meaning, math anxiety may be defined as an anxiety and fear emerging in relation to certain math situations. The aim of this study is to find out the reasons of math anxiety observed among students attending privet courses. To collect the needed data of the study an anxiety scale was administered to 450 students attending different private courses in the city of Kırklareli, Turkey. The obtained data was processed by data processing soft-ware. After the required data interpretation steps were concluded, students’ math anxiety reasons were determined and in relation some solutions were suggested.

Apie Filosofines Dailės Terapijos Ištakas Ir Taikymo Galimybes

Author(s): Vaida Asakaviciute / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 89/2016

The article reviews the philosophical and psychological origins of Art Therapy and its practical application possibilities. A special focus is given to the influence of the views based on philosophical and psychological ideas of art therapy functions, methods and practical significance. The article aims to highlight the positive benefits of the adoption of art therapy techniques and their effects on health of a human soul and body as well as a self-cognition. The focus is on a creative process, which is considered to be one of the most important elements of art therapy. The advantages of art therapy, such as a self-expression through colours, the personality in self-creation, the education of the personal creativeness and spirituality, are concisely presented in the paper.

Asmenybé Maxo Schelerio Aksiologijoje

Author(s): Loreta Anilionyte / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 57/2008

The article considers the concept of personality as it is presented in the phenomenology of German philosopher Max Scheler, who elaborated this concept within the frameworks of his axiological ethics in polemics with Kant’s rationalistic approach to man. Also the article indicates the differences in the concept of personality noticeable in the early and late Scheler’s writings.

Attention as a Factor in the School Performance of Adolescents

Author(s): Radmila Milovanovic / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2017

Attention represents a core of cognitive activity, it is an essential element of meaningful information processing and a key factor in self-regulation which is necessary for academic success. Despite this, there is only a small number of studies that examine the relationship between attention and school performance of adolescents. The aim of this research is an attempt to identify the components of attention which are relevant for academic achievement in adolescence. In addition, the aim of the research is also to determine potential differences with regard to the respondents’ gender. The sample included 350 adolescents, aged between 14 and 16 years (M=15.2), matched for their intelligence quotient, from different towns in Serbia. The following instruments were used – the Digit Span Test, Digit Symbol-Coding, the Trail Making Test, the Stroop Test, the Concentration Achievement Test (for measuring the components of attention), Raven’s Progressive Matrices (as a measure of intelligence). The results indicate that academic achievement is highly significantly associated with a certain configuration of components of the function of attention (goal-oriented selectivity, resistance to distractions, attention maintenance and concentration), and that the performance of students with poor academic achievement differs significantly from the performance of students with better academic achievement (p < 0.01). The results imply that the academic achievement or failure of adolescents cannot be interpreted without taking into account the characteristics of their attention. In addition, the results also indicate the necessity to establish an educational program with an aim to encourage the development of the assessed components of attention, in order for adolescents to attain academic achievements adequate to their intellectual capabilities.

Attitudes toward globalization and identity styles

Author(s): Alicja Senejko,Zbigniew Los / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2016

The main aim of the article is to show the possible relations between attitudes toward globalization as described by Senejko and Łoś and the specificity of identity styles as described by Berzonsky. The participants were 601 people aged 16-26 – school students, university students, and working people from the Dolnośląskie Voivodeship, Poland. We used the following instruments: The World–I Questionnaire (measuring attitudes toward globalization) and the Identity Style Inventory (ISI-5). The results obtained in correlational analyses and cluster analyses show that people with a strongly manifested accepting attitude toward globalization are characterized mainly by the informational style and the least strongly by the normative and diffuse-avoidant styles. As the results showed, the critical attitude toward globalization occurs in the form of two clusters: (1) with strong critical and accepting attitudes (people with this configuration of attitudes exhibit a strongly expressed informational identity style and commitment and a weakly expressed normative style); (2) with strong critical and fearful attitudes (individuals with this configuration of attitudes mainly exhibit the normative identity style and commitment). People with a strongly expressed fearful attitude toward globalization typically use the diffuse-avoidant or normative styles, while the least strongly expressed identity style in this group is the informational style and commitment. Cluster analysis made it also possible to distinguish people with a distanced attitude toward globalization, characterized by fairly strong identity commitment.

Autismus jako společenskovědní téma

Author(s): Michael Geisler / Language(s): Czech / Issue: 1/2016

Knowledge on autism has undergone a rapid development over the past few decades, as well as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis rates increasing dramatically. These changes emphasize the need for increased services and wider specialised support for people with ASD and their families. Autism is not only a medical, psychological or special pedagogical topic it is also a social issue. There have been several sociological studies on the topic conducted abroad, however the Czech case is specific in several aspects due to the political-cultural context of the country. Apart from a few exceptions, the topic has not been reflected in Czech social science. The present paper will introduce five approaches to autism based on research which has been conducted abroad and will also discuss to which extent they are applicable in the Czech Republic. The ideas presented are a multidisciplinary combination of sociology of knowledge, historical sociology, sociology of health and illness, cultural anthropology and disability studies. The subtopics discussed include: the social construction of autism, the development of knowledge on autism, social movements related to autism, autism across cultures and lastly, causes of the increasing prevalence of autism.

Autoritarnost kao medijator efekta osobina ličnosti na predrasude studenata prema homoseksualnim osobama

Author(s): Barbara Kalebic Maglica,Anja Vukovic / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 3/2016

Negative attitudes toward homosexuals are just one of many that are often expressed toward various minority groups. There are numerous determinants of negative attitudes towards stigmatized groups, and personality traits are certainly one of them. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the Big Five personality traits, authoritarianism and attitudes against homosexuals. The study included 583 students (443 female and 139 male) of different universities in the Republic of Croatia, with an average age of 21 years. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that examined the Big Five personality traits, an Authoritarianism scale and also a Scale of attitudes toward homosexuals. The results show a significant negative correlation of openness to experience and negative attitudes towards homosexuals and a positive one between conscientiousness and authoritarianism and the negative attitudes. Also, authoritarianism is a mediating variable in the relationship between openness and conscientiousness and attitudes toward homosexuals. The obtained results are discussed in the context of existing models and research results.

Belgrade Adolescent Personality Inventory: Bridging the Gap between Personality Assessment in Children and Adults

Author(s): Tamara Džamonja Ignjatovic,Marko Milanovic ,Vesna Dukanac / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2014

Personality inventories for assessment and study temperament and character of adolescents, an age critical for the finalisation of both normal and pathological mental development, have not been specifically developed. In this paper, we introduce a new personality inventory based on Cloninger’s Psychobiological model of personality to assess adolescents from 14 to 18 years of age (the Belgrade Adolescent Personality Inventory – BAPI), which bridges the gap between personality assessment in children and adults. The BAPI is a 46-item Likert scale inventory derived from previous studies using the TCI and JTCI on the Serbian sample. The psychometric properties of the BAPI were tested on the sample of 535 secondary school students in Serbia, aged 15 to 16. In order to assess the fit of the model, the Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed. The differences between sexes were analysed by MANOVA, while the Latent class analysis (LCA) was applied in order to identify different adaptation profiles among adolescents. The BAPI scales had a satisfactory internal consistency (.66 – .80.) considering the small number of items (5–6) in each scale. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) generally supported the main dimensions of temperament and character, as postulated by Cloninger. The only exception was Novelty Seeking, which best fitted a two-factor solution, Explorative curiosity and Impulsivity, separating the “good” (curious, inquisitive, creative) and “bad” (impulsive, impatient, disorderly) facets of this trait. Such polarity of Novelty Seeking could be specific for personality development and behaviour disorders in adolescence. The LCA differentiated the personality profiles of well-adapted adolescents from those at risk for maladaptation that manifested low character traits, lack of Persistence and high Novelty seeking Impulsivity subscale. The results support the construct validity of the BAPI and thus provide the basis for its practical application in personality assessment of adolescents and contribute to the theoretical understanding of personality structure and the risk of psychopathology in adolescence.

Bipolar Spectrum Disorders in a Clinical Sample of Patients With Internet Addiction: Hidden Comorbidity or Differential Diagnosis?

Author(s): Klaus Wölfling,Manfred E. Beutel,Michael Dreier,Kai W. Müller / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2015

Behavioral addictions and bipolar disorders have a certain probability of co-occurrence. While the presence of a manic episode has been defined as an exclusion criterion for gambling disorder, no such exclusion has been formulated for Internet addiction. Methods: A clinical sample of 368 treatment seekers presenting with excessive to addictive Internet use was screened for bipolar spectrum disorders using the Mood Disorder Questionnaire. Psychopathology was assessed by the Symptom Checklist 90R and a clinical interview was administered to screen for comorbid disorders. Results: Comorbid bipolar disorders were more frequent in patients meeting criteria for Internet addiction (30.9%) than among the excessive users (5.6%). This subgroup showed heightened psychopathological symptoms, including substance use disorders, affective disorders and personality disorders. Further differences were found regarding frequency of Internet use regarding social networking sites and online-pornography. Discussion: Patients with Internet addiction have a heightened probability for meeting criteria of bipolar disorders. It is not possible to draw conclusions regarding the direction of this association but it is recommended to implement screening for bipolar disorders in patients presenting with Internet addiction. Conclusion: Similar to gambling disorder, it might prove necessary to subsume bipolar disorders as an exclusion criterion for the future criteria of Internet addiction.

Book Reviews

Author(s): Kata Mónok,Borbála Hende / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2015

The reviews of: -„Data analysis with Mplus“ by Christian Geiser; The Guilford Press, 2013, 305 pp. Paperback ISBN 9781462502455, Hardcover ISBN 9781462507825 -„Trichotillomania, skin picking, and other body-focused repetitive behaviours“ by J. E. Grant, D. J. Stein, D. W. Woods and N. J. Keuthen; American Psychiatric Publishing, Arlington, 2011, 268 pp. ISBN: 1585623989

Book Reviews

Author(s): Gyöngyi Kökönyei,Renáta Cserjési / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2015

The reviews of: -“Handbook of emotion regulation (second edition)” by James J. Gross (Editor); The Guilford Press, New York, London, 2014, 669 pp. ISBN 978-1-4625-0350-6 -“The behavioral addictions” by Michael S. Ascher (Author, Editor) and Petros Levounis (Editor); American Psychiatric Publishing, Arlington, 2014, 235 pp. ISBN: 1585624853