scholarly journals Individual Differences in Adolescent Coping: Comparing a Community Sample and a Low-SES Sample to Understand Coping in Context

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E. D. Perzow ◽  
Bethany C. Bray ◽  
Martha E. Wadsworth ◽  
Jami F. Young ◽  
Benjamin L. Hankin
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Adolescent Coping

The Affiliative Role of Empathy in Everyday Interpersonal Interactions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney R. Ringwald ◽  
Aidan G.C. Wright
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Interpersonal Behavior ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Student Sample ◽  
Ecological Momentary

Empathy theoretically serves an affiliative interpersonal function by satisfying motives for intimacy and union with others. Accordingly, empathy is expected to vary depending on the situation. Inconsistent empirical support for empathy’s affiliative role may be due to methodology focused on individual differences in empathy or differences between controlled experimental conditions, which fail to capture its dynamic and interpersonal nature. To address these shortcomings, we used ecological momentary assessment to establish typical patterns of empathy across everyday interactions. Associations among empathy, affect, and interpersonal behavior of self and interaction partner were examined in a student sample (N=330), then replicated in a pre-registered community sample (N=279). Multi-level structural equation modeling was used to distinguish individual differences in empathy from interaction-level effects. Results show people are more empathetic during positively-valanced interactions with others perceived as warm and when expressing warmth. By confirming the typically affiliative role of empathy, existing research to the contrary can be best understood as exceptions to the norm.

scholarly journals Individual Differences in Subphonemic Sensitivity and Phonological Skills

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Yin Chen Li ◽  
David Braze ◽  
Anuenue Kukona ◽  
Clinton L. Johns ◽  
Whitney Tabor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Reading Difficulty ◽  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Phonological Skills ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Phonological Categories ◽  
Phonemic Category ◽  
Phonological Abilities

Many studies have established a link between phonological abilities (indexed by phonological awareness and phonological memory tasks) and typical and atypical reading development. Individuals who perform poorly on phonological assessments have been mostly assumed to have underspecified (or “fuzzy”) phonological re- presentations, with typical phonemic categories, but with greater category overlap due to imprecise encoding. An alternative posits that poor readers have overspecified phonological representations, with speech sounds perceived allophonically (phonetically distinct variants of a single phonemic category). On both accounts, mismatch between phonological categories and orthography leads to reading difficulty. Here, we consider the implications of these accounts for online speech processing. We used eye tracking and an individual differences approach to assess sensitivity to subphonemic detail in a community sample of young adults with a wide range of reading-related skills. Subphonemic sensitivity inversely correlated with meta-phonological task performance, consistent with overspecification.

scholarly journals The Affiliative Role of Empathy in Everyday Interpersonal Interactions

2020 ◽  
pp. per.2286
Author(s):  
Whitney R. Ringwald ◽  
Aidan G.C. Wright
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Student Sample ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Multilevel Structural Equation

Empathy theoretically serves an affiliative interpersonal function by satisfying motives for intimacy and union with others. Accordingly, empathy is expected to vary depending on the situation. Inconsistent empirical support for empathy's affiliative role may be because of methodology focused on individual differences in empathy or differences between controlled experimental conditions, which fail to capture its dynamic and interpersonal nature. To address these shortcomings, we used ecological momentary assessment to establish typical patterns of empathy across everyday interactions. Associations among empathy, affect, and interpersonal behaviour of self and interaction partner were examined in a student sample ( N = 330), then replicated in a preregistered community sample ( N = 279). Multilevel structural equation modelling was used to distinguish individual differences in empathy from interaction–level effects. Results show that people are more empathetic during positively valenced interactions with others perceived as warm and when expressing warmth. By confirming the typically affiliative role of empathy, existing research to the contrary can be best understood as exceptions to the norm. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology

Neurobiological Functioning and the Personality Trait Hierarchy: Central Serotonergic Responsivity and the Stability Meta-trait

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidan G.C. Wright ◽  
Kasey Creswell ◽  
Janine Flory ◽  
Matthew Muldoon ◽  
Stephen N. Manuck
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Personality Trait ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Five Factor Model ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Serum Prolactin ◽  
Component Traits ◽  
Shared Variance ◽  
Prolactin Response ◽  
The Stability

Trait domains of the five-factor model (FFM) are not orthogonal, and two meta-traits have often been estimated from their covariation. Here we focus on the Stability meta-trait, which reflects shared variance in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism (inversely). It has been hypothesized that Stability manifests, in part, due to individual differences in central serotonergic functioning. We explore this possibility in a community sample (N=441) using a multiverse analysis of multi-informant FFM traits and Stability predicting individual differences in central serotonergic functioning, as assessed by change in serum prolactin concentration following intravenous infusion of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, citalopram. Results were mixed, showing that trait neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, as well as the Stability meta-trait, are significantly associated with prolactin response, but that these findings are contingent on a number of modeling decisions. Specifically, these effects were non-linear, emerging most strongly for those highest (lowest for neuroticism) on the component traits.

Functions of Turkish evidentials in early child–caregiver interactions: a growth curve analysis of longitudinal data

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 878-899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berna A. UZUNDAG ◽  
Süleyman S. TAŞÇI ◽  
Aylin C. KÜNTAY ◽  
Ayhan AKSU-KOÇ
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Growth Curve ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Curve Analysis ◽  
Informational Content ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Growth Curve Analysis ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Child Caregiver

AbstractIn languages with evidential marking, utterances consist of an informational content and a specification of the mode of access to that information. In this first longitudinal study investigating the acquisition of the Turkish evidential marker −mIş in naturalistic child–caregiver interactions, we examined six children between 8 and 36 months of age. We charted individual differences in child and caregiver speech over time by conducting growth curve analyses. Children followed a similar course of acquisition in terms of the proportion of the marker in overall speech. However, children exhibited differences with respect to the order of emergence of different evidential functions (e.g., inference, hearsay), where each child showed a unique pattern irrespective of the frequency in caregiver input. Nonfactual use of the marker was very frequent in child and caregiver speech, where high-SES caregivers mostly produced the marker during story-telling and pretend play, and low-SES caregivers for regulating the child's behavior.

scholarly journals Neurobiological Functioning and the Personality-Trait Hierarchy: Central Serotonergic Responsivity and the Stability Metatrait

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1413-1423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidan G. C. Wright ◽  
Kasey G. Creswell ◽  
Janine D. Flory ◽  
Matthew F. Muldoon ◽  
Stephen B. Manuck
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Personality Trait ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Five Factor Model ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Serum Prolactin ◽  
Component Traits ◽  
Shared Variance ◽  
Prolactin Response ◽  
The Stability

Trait domains of the five-factor model are not orthogonal, and two metatraits have often been estimated from their covariation. Here, we focus on the stability metatrait, which reflects shared variance in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and (inversely) neuroticism. It has been hypothesized that stability manifests, in part, because of individual differences in central serotonergic functioning. We explored this possibility in a community sample ( N = 441) using a multiverse analysis of (a) multi-informant five-factor-model traits and (b) stability as a predictor of individual differences in central serotonergic functioning. Differences in serotonergic functioning were assessed by indexing change in serum prolactin concentration following intravenous infusion of citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Results were mixed, showing that trait neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, as well as the stability metatrait, were significantly associated with prolactin response but that these findings were contingent on a number of modeling decisions. Specifically, these effects were nonlinear, emerging most strongly for participants with the highest levels (or lowest, for neuroticism) of the component traits.

scholarly journals RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BASIC EMOTIONS AND REPRODUCTIVE FITNESS ARE MODERATED BY SEX AS AN INTERNAL STATE

1970 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-26
Author(s):  
Janko Međedović ◽  
Boban Petrović
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Reproductive Value ◽  
Mating Frequency ◽  
Basic Emotions ◽  
Online Study ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Emotional Systems

One of the key features of personality is the existence of inter-individual differences in motivation, emotions and behavior. Individual differences may be maintained in a population if personality traits are linked to states – conditions which affect the fitness-related outcomes of personality. We tested this assumption using the participants' sex as an internal state. Personality was operationalized via basic emotional systems: FEAR, ANGER, SADNESS, SEEKING, PLAYFULNESS and CARE. We measured several fitness-related outcomes like reproductive success, residual reproductive value, reproductive timing, the onset of sexual activity and short- term mating frequency. The data were collected in a community sample via an online study (N = 635; Mage = 29.4; 69.4% females). We used linear regression to predict fitness-related outcomes by basic emotions and tested interactions between sex and emotions to the prediction of these criteria measures. Predictable sex differences in basic emotions were obtained: males had lower scores on CARE, FEAR and SADNESS traits. Findings also showed that basic emotions can have an adaptive role in a biological sense – this was particularly true for CARE and ANGER traits. Finally, five interactions were detected, which showed that the adaptive benefits of emotional traits are different for males and females in a conceptually expected manner. Research results showed that personality traits operationalized as basic emotional systems can contribute to evolutionary fitness. These results furthermore expand the knowledge of human personality as a state-dependent behavior.

scholarly journals Age Differences in the Longitudinal Relationship between Work-Family Conflict and Alcohol Use

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Wolff ◽  
Kathleen M. Rospenda ◽  
Judith A. Richman
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Family Conflict ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Mail Survey ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Problematic Alcohol Use ◽  
The Relationship

Research on the relationship between work-family conflict and alcohol use has generally shown small effects possibly due to failure to include important individual differences relevant to the experience of work-family conflict and alcohol use, notably age. This study examined whether the relationships between aspects of work-family conflict and alcohol use variables differed by age. Participants were 543 individuals (51.2% women) from a community sample of working adults in the greater Chicagoland area who responded to a mail survey at three time points. Results showed important differences between age groups in several predictors of alcohol use. Strain versus time-based conflict had different effects on drinking, and strain-based forms of work-family conflict were related to increased problematic alcohol use depending on age. This study indicates that individual differences, particularly age, should be systematically accounted for when studying the relationship between work-family conflict and alcohol use.

Contexts as Moderators of Observed Interactions: A study of Costa Rican Mothers and Infants from Differing Socioeconomic Backgrounds

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgit Leyendecker ◽  
Michael E. Lamb ◽  
Axel Schölmerich ◽  
Delia Miranda Fricke
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Maternal Response ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Object Play ◽  
The Impact

Twenty first-born infants from low SES families and 20 first-born infants from middle SES families in Costa Rica were observed for 12 hours when they were 14 weeks old. The goals of this study were to: (1) study the impact of length of observation and context on our measures of interactional engagement; and (2) compare the interactional experiences of the infants in the two groups in various functional (e.g. feeding, object play) and social (e.g. with mother, with mother and others) contexts. Attuned and disharmonious interactions, as well as the frequency of positive affect, soothing, and vocalisation, varied considerably across the functional contexts. In addition, disharmonious interactions increased and interactional engagement decreased when mothers and infants were joined by others. Highly unstable measures of individual differences were obtained when observations were limited to 45-minute blocks, but stability increased considerably as the duration of the observations expanded. The groups did not differ with respect to amounts of time spent in various functional and social contexts, in attuned or disharmonious states, or in high levels of interactional engagement. Within some of the functional contexts, however, significant group differences in levels of attuned interactions, infant vocalisation, and maternal response vocalisation were found. Overall, functional and social contexts clearly moderated interactional experiences. SES effects on verbal and other interactional measures were limited to some contexts and may thus represent the infants’ overall experiences quite poorly. Consequently, comparisons based on a single context may be inadequate for studies of subjects from differing socioeconomic backgrounds.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document