Students’ Thinking About Effort and Ability: The Role of Developmental, Contextual, and Individual Difference Factors

Abstract Adherence to health behaviors is often poor, including adherence to at-home technology-based interventions. This study (N=120) explored adherence to a cognitive training intervention delivered via computer tablet, assessed adherence over a 4.5 month period, explored how individual difference factors shaped adherence, and tested the efficacy of message framing manipulations (positive vs. negative framing) in boosting adherence. Individual difference factors predicted adherence, including variations in self-efficacy and belief in the efficacy of cognitive training. Overall message framing had little impact. However, during the final portion of the study in which participants were asked to play as much or as little as they wanted instead of following a schedule, participants who received positively framed messages engaged with the intervention more. Implications for predicting and boosting adherence to home delivered technology-based interventions will be discussed.

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Human rights and ethnic attitudes in Spain: The role of cognitive, social status, and individual difference factors

International Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1080/00207590344000196 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 39 (2) ◽

pp. 106-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Edward Dumbar ◽

Amalio Blanco ◽

Megan Sullaway ◽

Javier Horcajo

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Social Status ◽

Individual Difference ◽

Ethnic Attitudes

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Concern about salient pathogen threats increases sensitivity to disgust

10.31234/osf.io/uvd9k ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shelby Boggs ◽

Benjamin Ruisch ◽

Russell Fazio

Keyword(s):

Individual Difference ◽

Political Ideology ◽

Strong Support ◽

Societal Implications ◽

Intergroup Attitudes ◽

Right Wing ◽

Disgust Sensitivity ◽

Local Ecology

Individuals vary substantially in their sensitivity to disgust—differences that have implications for intergroup attitudes, political ideology, and beyond. However, the source of this variability in disgust sensitivity remains a subject of debate. In this work, we test the hypothesis that sensitivity to disgust is "calibrated" by an individual's concern about disease threats in their local ecology. Leveraging the COVID-19 pandemic, we obtain strong support for this hypothesis, finding that disgust sensitivity increased following the COVID-19 outbreak and that the degree of this increase was moderated by an individual's subjective concern about contracting the disease. This work fills a longstanding theoretical gap regarding the sources of variability in disgust sensitivity, while challenging the view that disgust sensitivity is an immutable individual difference. Given the role of disgust in motivating intergroup prejudice and right-wing ideologies, we anticipate that these increases in disgust sensitivity are likely to have important downstream societal implications.

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A Neurocomputational Theory of Nightmares: The role of formal properties of nightmare images

SLEEP Advances ◽

10.1093/sleepadvances/zpab009 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Patrick McNamara ◽

Wesley J Wildman ◽

George Hodulik ◽

David Rohr

Keyword(s):

Individual Difference ◽

Parameter Space ◽

Computational Models ◽

Computational Simulation ◽

Time Varying ◽

Individual Difference Variables ◽

Image Characteristics ◽

Nightmare Disorder ◽

Formal Properties

Abstract Study Objectives To test and extend Levin & Nielsen’s (2007) Affective Network Dysfunction (AND) model with nightmare disorder (ND) image characteristics, and then to implement the extension as a computational simulation, the Disturbed Dreaming Model (DDM). Methods We used AnyLogic V7.2 to computationally implement an extended AND model incorporating quantitative effects of image characteristics including valence, dominance, and arousal. We explored the DDM parameter space by varying parameters, running approximately one million runs, each for one month of model time, varying pathway bifurcation thresholds, image characteristics, and individual-difference variables to quantitively evaluate their combinatory effects on nightmare symptomology. Results The DDM shows that the AND model extended with pathway bifurcations and image properties is computationally coherent. Varying levels of image properties we found that when nightmare images exhibit lower dominance and arousal levels, the ND agent will choose to sleep but then has a traumatic nightmare, whereas, when images exhibit greater than average dominance and arousal levels, the nightmares trigger sleep-avoidant behavior, but lower overall nightmare distress at the price of exacerbating nightmare effects during waking hours. Conclusions Computational simulation of nightmare symptomology within the AND framework suggests that nightmare image properties significantly influence nightmare symptomology. Computational models for sleep and dream studies are powerful tools for testing quantitative effects of variables affecting nightmare symptomology and confirms the value of extending the Levin & Nielsen AND model of disturbed dreaming/ND.

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Gender Differences in English Proficiency among Early, Middle and Late Immersion Undergraduate Students: The Role of Individual Difference Factors

Global Journal of Foreign Language Teaching ◽

10.18844/gjflt.v8i1.3433 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 29-42

Author(s):

Olusiji Lasekan

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Second Language ◽

Individual Difference ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

English Proficiency ◽

Future Research ◽

Self Confidence

AbstractA number of s tudies conducted a cross di fferent levels of educa tion ha ve reported tha t female learners’ capa city to lea rn second language successfull y is hi gher than male lea rners ’. However, few wri ters ha ve been able to question and investi gate the effects of di fferent levels of immersions and va rious indi vidual fa ctors on male a nd female lea rners ’ English proficiency at uni versity level . The aim of this study is to exa mine how gender differences in English profi ciency is influenced by individu al di fference fa ctors among ea rl y, middle and late immersion undergradua te students . Both quali tati ve and quanti tati ve methods were used in i nves tiga ting 221 undergraduate s tudents from va rious colleges in the ci ty of Gulba rga , India. The resul ts reveal tha t the female lea rner’s hi gher English proficien cy compa red wi th the male learners’ is pa rtl y caused by their s tronger a tti tude towa rd English langua ge educa tion and self -confidence to lea rn the langua ge successfull y. Implica tions of the resul ts and future research di rections a re also presented.

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“What’ve I done to deserve this?” The role of deservingness in reactions to being an upward comparison target

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships ◽

10.1177/0265407515619043 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 3-25

Author(s):

Erika J. Koch ◽

Shawnee F.M. Totton

Keyword(s):

Positive Affect ◽

Individual Difference ◽

Self Report ◽

Individual Difference Variables ◽

Upward Comparison ◽

Report Measure ◽

Comparison Target

Outperforming others may be an ambivalent experience, simultaneously evoking pride and discomfort. Two experiments examined the role of deservingness in reactions to being an upward comparison target. Study 1 took place online and experimentally manipulated deservingness by modifying a self-report measure of Sensitivity about Being the Target of a Threatening Upward Comparison (STTUC). Participants predicted more distress and less positive affect under conditions of undeserved (vs. deserved) success; several individual difference variables moderated these effects. Study 2 systematically varied a confederate’s effort to manipulate the perceived deservingness of an outperformed person. Participants were especially likely to downplay their score in the presence of a confederate who appeared to work hard on a task but nevertheless performed poorly. Collectively, findings suggest that people respond most strongly to STTUC when a mismatch exists between deservingness and outcomes.

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Who is playing that wonderful music? Exploring predictors of playing a musical instrument

Psychology of Music ◽

10.1177/0305735618816178 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 48 (5) ◽

pp. 642-656

Author(s):

Stanislav Treger

Keyword(s):

Individual Difference ◽

Need For Cognition ◽

Musical Instrument ◽

Musical Instruments ◽

Openness To Experience ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Individual Difference Variables ◽

Number Of Factors ◽

Almost All

Music is a phenomenon enjoyed by almost all people. Although music fans may believe that music is an important part of their lives, not every music appreciator decides to venture further by making music themselves. The purpose of this research was to investigate potential variables that may be associated with whether one plays a musical instrument. Specifically, I investigated the role of four individual difference variables that have previously been correlated with a number of factors related to music: openness to experience, self–music overlap (SMO), curiosity, and need for cognition (NFC). Results from two cross-sectional investigations ( ns = 369 and 295) revealed that all four variables were positively related to whether one plays a musical instrument. SMO mediated the relation between openness and whether one plays a musical instrument in all studies. Unlike hypothesized, curiosity and NFC did not serve as mediators to the openness–music link. Collectively, this research sheds light on the underexplored question of who plays musical instruments.

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The Big Five, aesthetic judgment styles, and art interest

Europe’s Journal of Psychology ◽

10.5964/ejop.v14i4.1479 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 764-775 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Reza Afhami ◽

Shahin Mohammadi-Zarghan

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

Individual Difference ◽

Big Five ◽

Openness To Experience ◽

Aesthetic Judgment ◽

General Interest ◽

Big Five Personality ◽

Regression Analyses ◽

Future Directions

The current study aimed to examine the associations between the Big Five personality dimensions, aesthetic judgment styles, and art interest. Participants (N = 253) were university students in Tehran, Iran. All participants completed measures of personality, aesthetic Judgment styles, and general interest in art. Results suggested that Openness to Experience was related to advanced styles of art judgment and interest in art-related activities. Regression analyses showed that sex (β = .18, t = 3.18, p = .002), Emotional Stability (β = .14, t = 2.47, p = .01), Openness to Experience (β = .18, t = 3.14, p = .002), symbolic aesthetic judgment style (β = .31, t = 4.63, p < .001), and concrete aesthetic judgment style (β = -.19, t = -3.25, p = .001) significantly predicted art interest. The role of personality and individual difference constructs in aesthetic judgment and art interest is discussed and future directions are outlined.

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