scholarly journals A Longitudinal Examination of Social Support as a Mediator of the Personality-Health Relationship in a National Sample of African Americans

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 607-637
Author(s):  
Eddie M. Clark ◽  
Lijing Ma ◽  
Cheryl L. Knott ◽  
Beverly R. Williams ◽  
Crystal L. Park ◽  
...  

The present study investigated whether social support mediated the relationship between personality traits and health among African Americans over a 5-year period, filling a gap in the literature on longitudinal tests of the personality-health association. Data were collected from a national probability sample of African American adults ( N = 200). Personality was assessed at Time 1 (T1), social support was assessed 2.5 years later (T2), and physical functioning was examined 5 years (T3) after T1. Telephone surveys included measures of the five-factor model personality traits (T1), social support (T2), and physical functioning (T3). Results suggested that relationships between the T1 personality traits and T3 physical functioning were not mediated by T2 social support. Secondary analyses found that among all T1 personality traits, higher openness and lower neuroticism uniquely predicted higher T2 social support. Furthermore, among T1 personality traits, higher conscientiousness uniquely predicted better T3 physical functioning. This information may be useful to health care providers and community members in developing prevention and intervention strategies for African Americans.

2021 ◽  
pp. 009579842110379
Author(s):  
Eddie M. Clark ◽  
Lijing Ma ◽  
Beverly R. Williams ◽  
Crystal L. Park ◽  
Cheryl L. Knott ◽  
...  

The present study investigates whether social support mediates the relationship between personality traits and physical functioning among African Americans over 2.5 years. Data were collected from a national probability sample of African American adults (analytic sample N = 312). Telephone surveys included measures of the five-factor model personality traits, social support, and physical functioning. Personality traits were assessed at Time 1 (T1), and social support and physical functioning were assessed 2.5 years later at Time 2 (T2). Physical functioning was assessed using the SF-12 at T2. Results indicated that T2 social support mediated the relationship between T1 personality traits and T2 physical functioning for the traits of conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, but not for openness to experience. This information may be useful to healthcare providers and community members in developing strategies targeting personality traits in cultivating social support for health promotion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 339-375
Author(s):  
Eddie M. Clark ◽  
Randi M. Williams ◽  
Crystal L. Park ◽  
Emily Schulz ◽  
Beverly R. Williams ◽  
...  

Though associations between personality and health have been previously observed, less is known about why such relationships exist. The present study examines whether social support mediated the relationship between personality traits and health among African Americans. We hypothesized that social support would help explain the relationship between each of the five-factor model traits and physical functioning. Data were collected from a national probability sample of 803 African American adults using a telephone survey including measures of the five-factor model personality traits, social support, and physical functioning. Results of mediational analyses suggested that higher openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness, and lower neuroticism predicted higher social support. Higher openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and lower neuroticism, but not agreeableness, predicted higher physical functioning. The relationships between physical functioning and personality traits were at least partially mediated by social support. This study reinforces the importance of identifying the mechanisms underlying the personality-health relationship. This information may be useful to community members and health care providers in developing prevention and treatment strategies for African Americans.


2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Barceló

Domestic theories of democratization emphasize the role of values, interests, and mobilization/opportunities as determinants of regime change. This article takes a step back and develops a model of national personality and democratization to ascertain the indirect effect of national personality traits on worldwide variation of regime type. In particular, I theorize that personality traits influence a country’s regime type by shaping citizens’ traditional and self-expression values, which, in turn, influence the establishment and consolidation of democratic institutions. Data from McCrae and Terracciano’s assessment of the five-factor model from 47 countries allow me to assess this hypothesis empirically. Results reveal that countries whose societies are high in Openness to experience tend to have more democratic institutions, even after adjusting for relevant confounders: economic inequalities, economic development, technological advancement, disease stress, climate demands, and methodological characteristics of the national sample. Although the effect of Extraversion on a country’s democratic institutions is also significantly positive, the inclusion of confounders weakens the reliability of this association. In an exploration of the mechanisms of these associations, a mediation analysis shows that the relationship between national Openness and democratic institutions is channeled through secular and especially self-expression national values. The same analysis with the effect of Extraversion on democracy indicates that the association between this trait and democracy is only channeled through national self-expression values but not national secular values. In short, this article constitutes a first step toward a more complete understanding of the cross-cultural psychological roots of political institutions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 237796082098178
Author(s):  
Sumana Lama ◽  
Jintana Damkliang ◽  
Luppana Kitrungrote

Introduction Community integration is an essential component for rehabilitation among traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors, which yields positive outcomes in terms of social activities, community participation, and productive work. A factor that usually facilitates community integration among TBI survivors is social support, whereas physical environment and fatigue are most often found as barriers. Objectives This study aimed to (1) describe the level of community integration, fatigue, physical environment, and social support of persons after TBI, and (2) examine the relationship between community integration and these three factors. Methods This is a descriptive correlational study. One hundred and twenty TBI survivors living in the communities of Province Number Three, Nepal were enrolled using the stratified sampling technique. The data were collected using the Community Integration Questionnaire, Modified Fatigue Impact Scale, Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation were used to analyze the data. Results Community integration, fatigue, and physical environment showed a moderate level, while social support revealed a high level. Fatigue was significantly correlated with overall community integration, whereas physical environment was found to correlate with two subscales of community integration, home integration and productive activities. Conclusion To enhance the level of community integration among TBI survivors, health care providers, in particular rehabilitation nurses and community nurses, should plan and implement strategies such as follow-up appointments or continued rehabilitation at home.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtland S. Hyatt ◽  
Emily S. Hallowell ◽  
Max M. Owens ◽  
Brandon M. Weiss ◽  
Lawrence H. Sweet ◽  
...  

Abstract Quantitative models of psychopathology (i.e., HiTOP) propose that personality and psychopathology are intertwined, such that the various processes that characterize personality traits may be useful in describing and predicting manifestations of psychopathology. In the current study, we used data from the Human Connectome Project (N = 1050) to investigate neural activation following receipt of a reward during an fMRI task as one shared mechanism that may be related to the personality trait Extraversion (specifically its sub-component Agentic Extraversion) and internalizing psychopathology. We also conducted exploratory analyses on the links between neural activation following reward receipt and the other Five-Factor Model personality traits, as well as separate analyses by gender. No significant relations (p < .005) were observed between any personality trait or index of psychopathology and neural activation following reward receipt, and most effect sizes were null to very small in nature (i.e., r < |.05|). We conclude by discussing the appropriate interpretation of these null findings, and provide suggestions for future research that spans psychological and neurobiological levels of analysis.


Assessment ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 107319112110061
Author(s):  
Jared R. Ruchensky ◽  
M. Brent Donnellan ◽  
Christopher J. Hopwood ◽  
John F. Edens ◽  
Andrew E. Skodol ◽  
...  

Structural models of personality traits, particularly the five-factor model (FFM), continue to inform ongoing debates regarding what personality attributes and trait domains are central to psychopathy. A growing body of literature has linked the constructs of the triarchic model of psychopathy (boldness, meanness, disinhibition) to the FFM. Recently, researchers developed both item and regression-based measures of the triarchic model of psychopathy using the NEO Personality Inventory–Revised—a popular measure of the FFM. The current study examines the correlates of these two FFM-derived operationalizations of the triarchic model using data from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study. The two approaches had strong convergent validity coefficients and similar patterns of criterion-related validity coefficients. Meanness related to greater personality pathology characterized by exploitation of others and poor attachment, whereas disinhibition related to indicators of greater negative affect and poor behavioral constraint. Boldness related to reduced negative affect and greater narcissistic personality traits. Although the item and regression-based approaches showed similar patterns of associations with criterion-variables, the item-based approach has some practical and psychometric advantages over the regression-based approach given strong correlations between the meanness and disinhibition scores from the regression approach.


2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 91-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Kożusznik ◽  
Anita Pollak ◽  
Dominik Adamek ◽  
Damian Grabowski

Abstract Our article presents work on the development and validation of Influence Regulation and Deinfluentization Scale (DEI-beh). Reviewing concepts regarding its influence constitutes an introduction to the original deinfluentization concept coined by Barbara Kożusznik. The author’s theory has provided the basis for creating a diagnostic tool. The elaborated DEI-beh method consists in evaluating conditions which determine managerial effectiveness and shape reciprocal influences among team members. Our article describes this tool’s creation and its validation procedure. Positive relationships between DEI-beh’s individual dimensions and temperament characteristics, defined in Pavlov’s concept (1952), and selected personality traits, proposed in the Five-Factor Model Personality by Costa and McCrae (1992), confirm the tool’s external validity.


2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarete Vollrath ◽  
Markus A. Landolt ◽  
Karin Ribi

Previous studies based on a variety of behaviour, temperament, and personality measures identified a pattern of over‐activity, impulsiveness, emotional instability, and aggressiveness in children who are prone to accidents. The present study is the first to study accident‐prone children by means of a comprehensive test for the assessment of the Five Factor model (Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC) (Mervielde & De Fruyt, 1999). 118 children, aged 6–15 years, who were hospitalized due to an accident‐related injury, were contrasted with 184 school‐children of the same age. Lower socio‐economic status was under‐represented in both groups. Children who were exposed to accidents had higher scores on the facets of energy, optimism, and non‐shyness (Extraversion domain), and lower scores on the facets of concentration and achievement striving (Conscientiousness domain). There was no indication of higher aggressiveness, impulsiveness, or emotional instability in the group exposed to accidents, and there were no gender‐by‐accident interactions. Results suggest that there is a relatively benign pattern of personality traits that is related to greater accident hazard in children. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 293-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uwe Wolfradt ◽  
Jörg Felfe ◽  
Torsten Köster

This study examines the relationship between self-perceived emotional intelligence (EI) measured by the Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) [1] and other personality measures including the five-factor-model. The EI construct has lately been re-defined as the ability to think intelligently about emotions and to use them to enhance intelligent thinking [2]. Two studies provide support that self-reported EI is mainly associated with personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, self-perceived creativity), life satisfaction and thinking styles with only a low relation to verbal intelligence. Furthermore, persons higher in the EI dimension “emotional efficacy” produced more creative performances than persons low in this domain. These findings suggest that self-reported EI cannot be considered as a rational form of intelligence so that it does qualify to fit into the framework of personality traits.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document