Good Character at College: The Combined Role of Second-Order Character Strength Factors and Phronesis Motivation in Undergraduate Academic Outcomes

A renewed interest in the study of character and virtue has recently emerged in the fields of Education and Psychology. The latest research has confirmed the association between virtuous consistent behaviours and academic positive outcomes. However, the motivational dimension of character (the intentions underlying the patterns of observed behaviours) has received little attention. This research aims to extend the knowledge on this topic by examining the predictive relationships between the behavioural and motivational dimensions of character, with reference to academic engagement, career self-doubt and performance of Spanish university students. A total of 183 undergraduates aged 18–30 (142 of whom were women) from the north of Spain completed specific parts of self-report questionnaires, including the Values in Action VIA-72, a Spanish translated and validated version of the Moral Self-Relevance Measure MSR, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Student Scale UWES-S9. The collected data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. The behavioural dimension of character (character strength factors of caring, self-control and inquisitiveness) showed positive associations with academic engagement and performance. The motivational dimension of character (phronesis motivation), was negatively related to career self-doubt. For the first time, the present study has provided support for the contribution of both dimensions of character to undergraduate academic outcomes.

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Role of Healthy Work Environments in Sustainability of Goal Achievement; Ethical Leadership, Intention to Sabotage, and Psychological Capital in Jordanian Universities

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10103559 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 3559 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shadi Mohammad Altahat ◽

Tarik Atan

Keyword(s):

Ethical Leadership ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Psychological Capital ◽

Critical Role ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Goal Achievement ◽

Self Control ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Healthy Environment ◽

The North

(1) Background: Long-term competitiveness and sustainability of goal achievement are constantly being sought out by organizations. This study examined the link between ethical leadership, intention to sabotage, and psychological capital in Jordanian universities and how they provide a healthy environment conducive to goal achievement sustainability. The literature indicated gaps in knowledge regarding the correlation between these variables in non-western countries, which this study intends to fill. The study drew from social learning theory and self-control theory. (2) Methods: Data was obtained by collecting survey questionnaires from a sample of 376 employees in different universities in the north of Jordan, and was analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Structural Equation Modeling. (3) Results: A significant and direct negative relationship was found between both ethical leadership and psychological capital on employees’ intention to sabotage. Also, a significant and direct positive effect was found between ethical leadership and psychological capital. Furthermore, it was found that psychological capital mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ intention to sabotage. (4) Conclusions: Leaders have a critical role in increasing employee psychological capital and decreasing intention to sabotage. Many implications indicated by the study’s findings, both theoretical and practical, were discussed.

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Relational Aggressiveness in Adolescence: Relations With Emotional Awareness and Self-Control

Social Psychological Bulletin ◽

10.32872/spb.v13i4.28302 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Marcin Moroń ◽

Agnieszka Doktor ◽

Karolina Glinka

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation ◽

Emotional Awareness ◽

Self Control ◽

Self Report ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Relationally Aggressive ◽

Mood Repair ◽

Emotional Clarity ◽

Two Factors ◽

Repair Ability

Involvement in relationally aggressive conduct is an important contributor to maladaptive functioning in both childhood and adulthood. Decreased emotional awareness and impairments of self-control are risk factors for relational aggressiveness, while emotional awareness can also be treated as an important prerequisite for proper self-control. The aim of the study was to examine the associations between dimensions of emotional awareness (attention to emotions and emotional clarity), self-control, and relational aggressiveness. Self-control was also examined as a mediating variable between emotional awareness and relational aggressiveness. Self-report measures of trait meta-mood, alexithymia, self-control, and relational aggressiveness were completed by 214 adolescents (129 females), aged 15–23. The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed two factors of emotional awareness: (1) inattention to emotions (reflecting low attention to emotions and externally oriented thinking) and (2) a lack of emotional clarity (reflecting difficulties in identifying emotion, difficulties in describing emotion, and low clarity of emotion). Self-control and mood repair ability inversely correlated with proactive and reactive relational aggressiveness, whereas the clarity component of the meta-mood trait only inversely predicted reactive relational aggressiveness. Structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that direct relationships between inattention to emotions and relational aggressiveness, as well as between lack of emotional clarity and relational aggressiveness were non-significant. Nevertheless, a lack of emotional clarity was indirectly and significantly associated with relational aggressiveness through decreased self-control.

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Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, identity integration and self-control related to criminal behavior

BMC Psychology ◽

10.1186/s40359-021-00697-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

S. Bogaerts ◽

C. Garofalo ◽

E. De Caluwé ◽

M. Janković

Keyword(s):

Criminal Behavior ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Self Control ◽

Self Report ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Systematic Research ◽

Identity Integration ◽

Grandiose Narcissism ◽

Vulnerable Narcissism ◽

Negatively Associated

Abstract Background Although systematic research on narcissism has been conducted for over 100 years, researchers have only recently started to distinguish between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism in relation to criminal behavior. In addition, there is some evidence suggesting that identity integration and self-control may underlie this association. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop a theory-driven hypothetical model that investigates the complex associations between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, identity integration, self-control, and criminal behavior using structural equation modeling (SEM). Methods The total sample (N = 222) included 65 (29.3%) individuals convicted of criminal behavior and 157 (70.7%) participants from the community, with a mean age of 37.71 years (SD = 13.25). Criminal behavior was a grouping variable used as a categorical outcome, whereas self-report questionnaires were used to assess grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, self-control, and identity integration. Results The overall SEM model yielded good fit indices. Grandiose narcissism negatively predicted criminal behavior above and beyond the influence of identity integration and self-control. In contrast, vulnerable narcissism did not have a direct significant effect on criminal behavior, but it was indirectly and positively associated with criminal behavior via identity integration and self-control. Moreover, grandiose narcissism was positively, whereas vulnerable narcissism was negatively associated with identity integration. However, identity integration did not have a direct significant effect on criminal behavior, but it was indirectly and negatively associated with criminal behavior via self-control. Finally, self-control was, in turn, negatively related to criminal behavior. Conclusions We propose that both subtypes of narcissism should be carefully considered in clinical assessment and current intervention practices.

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Trait Self-Control and Self-Discipline: Structure, Validity, and Invariance Across National Groups

10.31234/osf.io/9egbx ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Martin S Hagger ◽

Eva-Maria Kangro ◽

Francis Ries ◽

John C. K. Wang ◽

Brody Heritage ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Binge Drinking ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Discriminant Validity ◽

Structural Equation Models ◽

Self Control ◽

Self Report ◽

Dimensional Structure ◽

Control Scale ◽

Total N ◽

Two Samples

The aim of the present study was to test the validity of the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS; Tangney, Baumeister and Boone 2004) including its dimensional structure based on competing one- and two-factor models, discriminant validity from the conceptually-related self-discipline construct, invariance across multiple samples from different national groups, and predictive validity with respect to health-related behaviors. Samples of undergraduate students (total N = 1282) from four national groups completed the brief self-control scale, the self-discipline scale from the NEO-PI-R, and self-report measures of binge drinking, exercise, and healthy eating. Confirmatory factor analytic models supported a two-factor structure of self-control encompassing restraint and non-impulsivity components. The model exhibited good fit in all samples and invariance of factor loadings in multi-sample analysis. The restraint and non-impulsivity components exhibited discriminant validity and were also distinct from self-discipline. Structural equation models revealed that non-impulsivity predicted binge drinking in three of the samples, and restraint predicted exercise in two samples, with no role for self-discipline. Results point to a multi-dimensional structure for trait self-control consistent with previous theory separating impulsive- and control-related components.

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Validation and Prediction of the School Psychological Capital Among Chinese College Students

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.697703 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Xia Kang ◽

Yajun Wu ◽

Lisheng Li

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Academic Engagement ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Psychological Capital ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Self Report ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Chinese College Students ◽

Achievement Emotions ◽

Predictive Effect

This study validated the school psychological capital (PsyCap) scale in the Chinese context and examined the predictive effect of PsyCap resources on academic engagement and achievement emotions. Self-report data for PsyCap resources, student engagement, enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom toward English learning were collected from 1,000 sophomores. Item-level analyses and confirmatory factor analysis were used to verify the validity of the school PsyCap scale, and structural equation modeling was applied to reveal the predictive effect of school PsyCap resources on academic engagement and achievement emotions. Results showed that the school PsyCap scale retained superior psychometric properties. Besides, PsyCap resources were demonstrated to have a positive relationship to academic engagement and enjoyment, and a negative relationship to anxiety and boredom. The effectiveness of the school PsyCap scale was verified among Chinese college students, and besides the traditional predictors, school PsyCap is also critically important for students’ academic engagement and achievement emotions. Limitations and implications are discussed.

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Low Self-Control of Emotions as an Antecedent of Self-Reported Physical Symptoms: A Longitudinal Perspective

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027//1016-9040.6.1.26 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 26-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Marja Kokkonen ◽

Lea Pulkkinen ◽

Taru Kinnunen

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Physical Symptoms ◽

Self Control ◽

Personality Characteristics ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire ◽

Positive Direction ◽

Data Collections ◽

Low Self Control

The study was part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, underway since 1968, in which children's low self-control of emotions was studied using teacher ratings at age 8 in terms of inattentiveness, shifting moods, aggression, and anxiety. The study was based on data from 112 women and 112 men who participated in the previous data collections at ages 8, 27, and 36. At age 27, the participants had been assessed in Neuroticism (N) using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire , and at age 36 they filled in several inventories measuring, among others, conscious and active attempts to repair negative emotions in a more positive direction as well as physical symptoms. The present study used structural equation modeling to test the hypothesis that personality characteristics indicating low self-control of emotions at ages 8 and 27 are antecedents of self-reported physical symptoms at age 36; and that this relationship is indirect, mediated by attempts to repair negative emotions in a more positive direction. The findings showed, albeit for men only, that inattentiveness at age 8 was positively related to self-reported physical symptoms at age 36 via high N at age 27 and low attempts to repair negative emotions at age 36. Additionally, N at age 27 was directly linked to self-reported physical symptoms at age 36. The mediation of an active attempt to repair negative emotions was not found for women. Correlations revealed, however, that shifting moods and aggression in girls were antecedents of self-reported physical symptoms in adulthood, particularly, pain and fatigue.

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Measuring the Big Five in Self-Report and Other Ratings

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027//1015-5759.16.1.31 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 31-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Claudio Barbaranelli ◽

Gian Vittorio Caprara

Keyword(s):

Big Five ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Structural Equation Models ◽

Error Variance ◽

The Self ◽

Self Report ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Third Person ◽

Fit Indexes ◽

Response Modes

Summary: The aim of the study is to assess the construct validity of two different measures of the Big Five, matching two “response modes” (phrase-questionnaire and list of adjectives) and two sources of information or raters (self-report and other ratings). Two-hundred subjects, equally divided in males and females, were administered the self-report versions of the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ) and the Big Five Observer (BFO), a list of bipolar pairs of adjectives ( Caprara, Barbaranelli, & Borgogni, 1993 , 1994 ). Every subject was rated by six acquaintances, then aggregated by means of the same instruments used for the self-report, but worded in a third-person format. The multitrait-multimethod matrix derived from these measures was then analyzed via Structural Equation Models according to the criteria proposed by Widaman (1985) , Marsh (1989) , and Bagozzi (1994) . In particular, four different models were compared. While the global fit indexes of the models were only moderate, convergent and discriminant validities were clearly supported, and method and error variance were moderate or low.

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The Influence of Cognitive and Affective Reactions to Feedback on Subsequent Goals

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000011 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 121-131 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Remus Ilies ◽

Timothy A. Judge ◽

David T. Wagner

Keyword(s):

Performance Feedback ◽

Business School ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Emotional Reactions ◽

Equation Model ◽

Proposed Model ◽

And Performance ◽

Dispositional Measure ◽

The Relationship ◽

Reactions To Feedback

This paper focuses on explaining how individuals set goals on multiple performance episodes, in the context of performance feedback comparing their performance on each episode with their respective goal. The proposed model was tested through a longitudinal study of 493 university students’ actual goals and performance on business school exams. Results of a structural equation model supported the proposed conceptual model in which self-efficacy and emotional reactions to feedback mediate the relationship between feedback and subsequent goals. In addition, as expected, participants’ standing on a dispositional measure of behavioral inhibition influenced the strength of their emotional reactions to negative feedback.

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Inhibition tasks are not associated with self-regulation outcomes in healthy college students

10.31234/osf.io/uwbdg ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Curtis David Von Gunten ◽

Bruce D Bartholow ◽

Jorge S. Martins

Keyword(s):

Latent Variable ◽

Convergent Validity ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Poor Performance ◽

Self Control ◽

Self Report ◽

Life Outcomes ◽

Variable Level ◽

Cast Doubt ◽

The Individual

Executive functioning (EF) is defined as a set of top-down processes used in reasoning, forming goals, planning, concentrating, and inhibition. It is widely believed that these processes are critical to self-regulation and, therefore, that performance on behavioral task measures of EF should be associated with individual differences in everyday life outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to test this core assumption, focusing on the EF facet of inhibition. A sample of 463 undergraduates completed five laboratory inhibition tasks, along with three self-report measures of self-control and 28 self-report measures of life outcomes. Results showed that although most of the life outcome measures were associated with self-reported self-control, none of the life outcomes were associated with inhibition task performance at the latent-variable level, and few associations were found at the individual task level. These findings challenge the criterion validity of lab-based inhibition tasks. More generally, when considered alongside the known lack of convergent validity between inhibition tasks and self-report measures of self-control, the findings cast doubt on the task’s construct validity as measures of self-control processes. Potential methodological and theoretical reasons for the poor performance of laboratory-based inhibition tasks are discussed.

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https://imsciences.edu.pk/files/journals/vol12_2/New%201%20MA.864.pdf

Business & Economic Review ◽

10.22547/ber/12.2.2 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 19-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Muhammad Siddique ◽

Shandana Shoaib ◽

Zahoor Jan

Keyword(s):

Organizational Performance ◽

Structural Equation ◽

High Performance ◽

Service Sector ◽

Performance Outcomes ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Relational Coordination ◽

Multiple Sources ◽

And Performance ◽

High Level

A key aspect of work processes in service sector firms is the interconnection between tasks and performance. Relational coordination can play an important role in addressing the issues of coordinating organizational activities due to high level of interdependence complexity in service sector firms. Research has primarily supported the aspect that well devised high performance work systems (HPWS) can intensify organizational performance. There is a growing debate, however, with regard to understanding the “mechanism” linking HPWS and performance outcomes. Using relational coordination theory, this study examines a model that examine the effects of subsets of HPWS, such as motivation, skills and opportunity enhancing HR practices on relational coordination among employees working in reciprocal interdependent job settings. Data were gathered from multiple sources including managers and employees at individual, functional and unit levels to know their understanding in relation to HPWS and relational coordination (RC) in 218 bank branches in Pakistan. Data analysis via structural equation modelling, results suggest that HPWS predicted RC among officers at the unit level. The findings of the study have contributions to both, theory and practice.

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