Coping with cancer: The role of different sources of psychosocial support and the personality of patients with cancer in (mal)adaptive coping strategies

ObjectivesCancer is a serious event in a person's life. However, certain coping strategies in relation to selected social, emotional and personality factors appear to manage the disease.MethodsSources of social support were tested in cancer survivors (N = 696) using hierarchical linear regression. Selected personality variables in terms of sociodemographic, clinical, and emotional factors were used as predictors of adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies.Results It was found that adaptive coping strategies were more frequent in younger patients, in patients who attended cancer support groups and those with a greater level of optimism. Maladaptive coping was related to the higher level of experience of pain and sadness, neuroticism, and pessimism. The absence of a relapse and the time since the disease had been diagnosed were also important factors in coping with cancer.Conclusions The results point to the importance of considering various individual factors in the process of intervention to facilitate adaptive coping and to reduce maladaptive coping.

Personality characteristics and competitive anxiety in individual and team athletes

The purposes of this study were to investigate differences in personality and competitive anxiety depending on types of sports and gender, and to determine the influence of personality on competitive anxiety. Participants included 237 athletes (134 men and 103 women) who participated in the Thailand University Games, 2020. They were classified as individual (n = 114) and team (n = 123) athletes. Personality characteristics and competitive anxiety were assessed by using NEO five-factor inventory and sport competitive anxiety test. Differences between individual and team athletes and between gender were tested by using independent t-test. Relationships between personality and competitive anxiety were analyzed by using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Moreover, multiple regression analysis was used to measure the contributions of personality on competitive anxiety. The results showed that competitive anxiety was significant difference between individual and team athletes (p = 0.03, d = 0.28). However, there was no difference in personality between groups. When compared between gender, there were significant differences in competitive anxiety (p < 0.001, d = 0.52) and the agreeableness (p = 0.04, d = -0.26) component of personality between female and male athletes. From the correlation analyzes, four characteristics of personality showed significant associations with competitive anxiety including neuroticism (r = -0.472, ρ < 0.001), extraversion (r = 0.184, ρ = 0.005), agreeableness (r = 0.147, ρ = 0.024), and conscientiousness (r = 0.202, ρ = 0.002). Among five personality factors, the neuroticism had minimally negative effect on competitive anxiety (β = -0.52) with percentage of prediction of 22%. These can be concluded that types of sport and gender are the important factors affecting personality and competitive anxiety. The athletes with certain personality traits were more susceptible to competitive anxiety. Importantly, the neuroticism could serve as a prediction of the competitive anxiety in all collegiate athletes.

Motivation and personality factors of Generation Z high school students aspiring to study human medicine

Background A new generation of medical students, Generation Z (Gen Z), is becoming the predominant population in medical schools and will join the workforce in a few years’ time. Medicine has undergone serious changes in high-income countries recently. Therefore, it is unclear how attractive the medical profession still is for high school students of Gen Z. The aim of this study was to investigate what motivation leads Gen Z students in their choice to study human medicine, and how they see their professional future. Our study was guided by motivation theory and the influence of personality traits and other personal factors on students’ choice of university major. Methods In a cross-sectional online survey, we included third- and fourth-year high school students in Northern Switzerland. We examined the importance of criteria when choosing a university major: personality traits, career motivation, life goals, and other considerations influencing the choice of human medicine versus other fields of study. Results Of 1790 high school students, 456 (25.5%) participated in the survey (72.6% women, mean age 18.4 years); 32.7% of the respondents aspired to major in medicine at university. For all respondents, the foremost criterion for selecting a field of study was ‘interest in the field,’ followed by ‘income’ and ‘job security.’ High school students aiming to study human medicine attached high importance to ‘meaningful work’ as a criterion; supported by 36.2% of those students answering that helping and healing people was a core motivation to them. They also scored high on altruism (p < 0.001 against all groups compared) and intrinsic motivation (p < 0.001) and were highly performance- (p < 0.001) and career-minded (p < 0.001). In contrast, all the other groups except the law/economics group had higher scores on extraprofessional concerns. Conclusions Swiss Gen Z students aspiring to study human medicine show high intrinsic motivation, altruism, and willingness to perform, sharing many values with previous generations. Adequate work-life balance and job security are important issues for Gen Z. Regarding the current working conditions, the ongoing shortage of physicians, and recent findings on physicians’ well-being, the potential for improvement and optimization is high.

Predictors of foster father’s engagement in foster family homes

Research background: Foster fatherhood is undoubtedly a specific kind of fatherhood, since the man, often being a husband and father to his biological offspring, makes the decision to play the role of a foster father, the performance of which requires a high level of engagement in the realization of caring-rearing as well as compensatory activities, which – in turn – call for constant raising of the competences of working with an orphaned child.Research aim: To learn about the factors which condition the level of involvement of foster fathers in the realization of parenting activity in family-run children’s homes in both the global and partial dimensions.Research method: In the study, the method of diagnostic survey and that of assessment were applied.Obtained results: The analyses proved that the level of engagement of foster fathers in the realization of parenting activity in family-run children’s homes is to a large extent conditioned by foster fathers’ personality factors; to a smaller degree it is influenced by sociodemographic factors or those which are based in the system of social welfare.Conclusions: The specific nature of tasks set for a family-run children’s home demands that foster fathers should engage in the realization of parenting activity to the highest possible degree. It is thus not only important for men to be prepared to play the role of a foster father, but it is also vital to constantly support them in this role.

Current Approaches, Typologies and Predictors of Deviant Work Behaviors: A Scoping Review of Reviews

This study provides a scoping review of the recent conceptual developments about the deviant work behavior and counterproductive work behavior constructs. It also examines the specific types of deviant work behavior that have been more consistently investigated in the last decade, and whether they cover the interpersonal or organizational type of deviant behavior. In addition, individual, group, and organizational predictors of deviant work behaviors are examined. A scoping review of reviews was conducted on Scopus and Web of Science databases and 54 studies published from 2010 to June 2021 were taken into account. Results show that more recent conceptualizations are based on well established models in the literature and consider the hierarchical structure of these two constructs. Recent reviews examine the relationships of deviant work behavior with job performance and ethical behavior constructs, the multilevel nature of deviant work behavior, and the consequences for the actor of the deviance. The specific types of deviant work behavior more frequently reviewed in the last decade are workplace abuse, incivility, ostracism, bullying and sexual harassment, and abusive and destructive leadership; this evidence suggests a much greater attention to interpersonal, rather than organizational, forms of deviant work behavior. Regarding antecedents, results show the continuing prevalence of personality factors antecedents. Limitations of the study and theoretical and practical implications for the field are also provided.

Does General and Specific Traits of Personality Predict Students’ Academic Performance?

Background and Objectives. This study examines whether personality profiles, personality factors, or clusters of personality factors are associated with academic success. Methods. The study includes all fifth-year dental students registered at the College of Dentistry, Ajman University, in 2019/2020. One hundred and seventy students were invited to complete personality and performance measures using the Big Five Inventory (BFI) scale; the weighted grade point average (GPA) was used to assess students’ academic performance. Results. Of the 170 participants, 60% were female and 40% were male. Participants ranged in age from twenty-four to twenty-seven years, with an average age of twenty-four years. There was a relationship between personality scores obtained for the students and their subsequent academic performance. The broad conscientiousness, competence, achievement, and dutifulness predicted academic and clinical success. The prediction accuracy of conscientiousness was improved by the inclusion of dutifulness, self-discipline, and deliberation. Conclusion. This study confirms that the students’ personality profile is a substantial predictor of academic performance and likely to help select future intakes of students, although a prospective study would be required for a definite answer to this question.

Analysis of the psychosocial profile of pre-service teachers

University students face many challenges that affect their mental health during this stage. Psychosocial aspects, such as resilience, help to address the imbalance they often experience in their daily lives. The aim is to find the relationship between students' resilience and their mental health, while analyzing the mediating role played by personality factors between these variables. To carry out this study, a sample of 692 university students belonging to different Degrees of Education answered three questionnaires voluntarily, one to measure resilience (RS-14), another to measure personality factors (Big Five) and another to measure mental health (MH-5). A mediational model based on Structural Equations was proposed for this analysis. The results indicate that resilience is able to significantly predict students' mental health directly and that it also predicts all personality components assessed in students. Furthermore, it was found that of all the personality factors examined, only neuroticism was found to be predictive of mental health. Furthermore, resilience is positioned as a mediating factor between mental health and personality factors. Specifically, resilience emerged as a significant mediator in the relationship between agreeableness, neuroticism and openness and mental health. Moreover, all other personality factors are directly related to resilience. In the same way, the results also confirm the need to train pre-service teachers in psychosocial factors in order to prevent future problems in their subsequent professional performance.