The role of extraversion and neuroticism for experiencing stress during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Although long postulated, it has been scarcely researched how personality traits play out differently in distinct situations. We examined if Neuroticism and Extraversion, personality traits known to moderate stress processes, function differently in highly stressful situations requiring reduced social contact, that is, the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on past findings, we expected neuroticism to be associated with exacerbated perceptions of stress. In contrast to past findings, we expected extraversion, which usually ameliorates stress, to be associated with intensified perceptions of stress, especially in regard to the sociability facet. During the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, one-hundred-thirty adults (age M = 21.7 years) reported on their personality traits including their facets with the BFI-2, COVID-19-related stressors, and their perceived stress during the last month (using the PSS). Findings indicated that neuroticism was associated with higher perceived stress regardless of the COVID-19-related stressors experienced. Facet level analysis revealed differences for anxiety, depression, and volatility. Importantly, trait extraversion was unassociated with stress experiences, whereas specifically the facet of sociability was associated with higher perceived stress. Also, the facets of assertiveness and energy both moderated the relationship between COVID-19-related stressors and perceived stress. In line with the transactional theory of stress, our findings indicate that perceptions of stress were best understood by looking at the interaction of environmental stressors and personality differences. Furthermore, the study substantiates that facets of personality traits offer unique information beyond broad traits in specific contexts.

Anaclitic-sociotropic and introjective-autonomic personality dimensions and depressive symptoms: a systematic review

Sociotropy (anaclitic) and autonomy (introjective) are conceptualised as two personality dimensions that confer vulnerability to depression. According to Blatt and Beck’s theories, sociotropic individuals exhibit distinctive patterns of symptoms such as prominent anxiety, depressed mood, helplessness, crying and somatic concerns, while self-critical ones seem to exhibit a pattern of symptoms including prominent guilt, hopelessness, feelings of failure and worthlessness and other cognitive symptoms.This systematic review was performed with the aim of investigating whether and to what extent psychological dimensions of anaclitic-sociotropic and introjective-autonomy are related to a specific core of depressive symptoms. The search was conducted in three databases (PubMed, PsycINFO and Scopus) and 27 articles were selected.Results showed a weak association between somatic symptoms and dependent personality traits, while the relationship between self-criticism and cognitive symptomatology was significantly higher. These findings are discussed in the context of future research, necessary to corroborate the existence of a form of depression characterised by somatic features usually ignored by diagnostic criteria, essential to direct psychological treatments to these depressive personality differences.

Using Keeper Questionnaires to Capture Zoo-Housed Tiger (Panthera tigris) Personality: Considerations for Animal Management

Individual personalities affect animal experiences of zoo environments, impact on an animal’s coping ability and have potential implications for welfare. Keeper assessments have been identified as a quick and reliable way of capturing data on personality in a range of species and have practical application in improving animal welfare on an individual level. Despite widespread recognition of the importance of animal personality within a zoo environment, there is a paucity of research into tiger personality and the potential impact of this on tiger experiences within zoos. This research investigated the personality of 34 tigers (19 Amur and 15 Sumatran) across 14 facilities in the UK using keeper ratings and identified changes keepers made in animal husbandry to support tiger welfare. Reliability across keepers (n = 49) was established for nine adjectives and a principal component analysis identified three personality components: ‘anxious’, ‘quiet’ and ‘sociable’. When subspecies were combined, there was no relationship between tiger scores on the personality components and age or sex of tigers (p > 0.05). Subspecies of tiger was not related to scores on the ‘quiet’ or ‘sociable’ components (p > 0.05). Sumatran tigers scored more highly than Amur tigers on the ‘anxious’ component (mean ± SD, Sumatran: 3.0 ± 1.7, Amur: 1.8 ± 0.6, p < 0.05). Analysis within subspecies found that male Amur tigers were more sociable than females (mean ± SD, males: 5.5 ± 0.707; females: 4.15 ± 0.55). Amur tiger age was also negatively correlated with scores on the sociable personality component (R = −0.742, p < 0.05). No significant differences were seen in Sumatran tigers. Keepers reported a number of changes to husbandry routines based on their perceptions of their tigers’ personality/needs. However, there was no significant relationship between these changes and tiger personality scores (p > 0.05). Despite significant evolutionary differences between Amur and Sumatran tigers, there are no subspecies specific guidelines for zoo tigers. This research has highlighted the potential for these two subspecies to display personality differences and we advocate further research into this area. Specifically, we highlight a need to validate the relationship between tiger personality, management protocols and behavioural and physiological metrics of welfare. This will enable a fuller understanding of the impact of personality on zoo tiger experiences and will enable identification of evidence-based best practice guidelines.

Health Promotion through Monetary Incentives: Evaluating the Impact of Different Reinforcement Schedules on Engagement Levels with a mHealth App

Background: Financial rewards can be employed in mHealth apps to effectively promote health behaviors. However, the optimal reinforcement schedule—with a high impact, but relatively low costs—remains unclear. Methods: We evaluated the impact of different reinforcement schedules on engagement levels with a mHealth app in a six-week, three-arm randomized intervention trial, while taking into account personality differences. Participants (i.e., university staff and students, N = 61) were awarded virtual points for performing health-related activities. Their performance was displayed via a dashboard, leaderboard, and newsfeed. Additionally, participants could win financial rewards. These rewards were distributed using a fixed schedule in the first study arm, and a variable schedule in the other arms. Furthermore, payouts were immediate in the first two arms, whereas payouts in the third arm were delayed. Results: All three reinforcement schedules had a similar impact on user engagement, although the variable schedule with immediate payouts was reported to have the lowest cost per participant. Additionally, the impact of financial rewards was affected by personal characteristics. Especially, individuals that were triggered by the rewards had a greater ability to defer gratification. Conclusion: When employing financial rewards in mHealth apps, variable reinforcement schedules with immediate payouts are preferred from the perspective of cost and impact.

The social effects of anger in international negotiations: The role of self-regulation and bargaining power

<p>This thesis addresses recent calls to investigate the influence of individual differences in a negotiation context. Specifically, I investigate the impact of the personality difference, action orientation versus state orientation, on concessionary behaviour in international negotiations. This personality difference was chosen because it measures a negotiator’s capacity to self-regulate (control their behaviour) in a cognitively demanding situation like an international negotiation. I propose that action oriented negotiators will display superior self-regulation ability, compared to state oriented negotiators. Specifically, action oriented negotiators will be able to adapt their response and concede less than state oriented negotiators, when a foreign counterpart displays anger. In two online studies, I measure how action oriented and state oriented negotiators respond to a display of anger from a foreign counterpart in an international negotiation. The first study of 159 negotiators showed that action oriented individuals conceded fewer points than state oriented individuals, regardless of whether the counterpart displayed anger. The second study of 260 negotiators showed that action oriented individuals can adapt their behaviour according to their level of power in an international negotiation when facing an angry counterpart. As far as I am aware, this research is one of the first to propose and test the salience of action orientation versus state orientation on displays of anger in international negotiations. My findings highlight the value of incorporating individual differences in negotiation studies and I propose their inclusion into the dominant theoretical framework of how negotiators respond to anger. In addition to extending the model, I discuss how understanding these personality differences can be useful for multinational companies and their international negotiators.</p>

The social effects of anger in international negotiations: The role of self-regulation and bargaining power

<p>This thesis addresses recent calls to investigate the influence of individual differences in a negotiation context. Specifically, I investigate the impact of the personality difference, action orientation versus state orientation, on concessionary behaviour in international negotiations. This personality difference was chosen because it measures a negotiator’s capacity to self-regulate (control their behaviour) in a cognitively demanding situation like an international negotiation. I propose that action oriented negotiators will display superior self-regulation ability, compared to state oriented negotiators. Specifically, action oriented negotiators will be able to adapt their response and concede less than state oriented negotiators, when a foreign counterpart displays anger. In two online studies, I measure how action oriented and state oriented negotiators respond to a display of anger from a foreign counterpart in an international negotiation. The first study of 159 negotiators showed that action oriented individuals conceded fewer points than state oriented individuals, regardless of whether the counterpart displayed anger. The second study of 260 negotiators showed that action oriented individuals can adapt their behaviour according to their level of power in an international negotiation when facing an angry counterpart. As far as I am aware, this research is one of the first to propose and test the salience of action orientation versus state orientation on displays of anger in international negotiations. My findings highlight the value of incorporating individual differences in negotiation studies and I propose their inclusion into the dominant theoretical framework of how negotiators respond to anger. In addition to extending the model, I discuss how understanding these personality differences can be useful for multinational companies and their international negotiators.</p>

Personality differences between sex and sexual orientation group

It has been argued that because some biological underpinnings affecting personality occur in a continuum (e.g. hormonal exposure), personality scores in a given population should also occur in a continuum. Personality sex differences have been widely studied but these do not allow to study personality as a continuum. To tackle this limitation, Lippa (2001) suggested using sexual orientation. The Shift and the Inversion Hypotheses have been proposed to predict how the personality scores of homosexual participants would differ from their heterosexual counterparts. However, these efforts have been largely ignored. This study used a large UK sample to compare these hypotheses using personality scores at the facet and domain level. The results suggested that there was evidence for the Shift and the Inversion Hypotheses at the facet level, but these patterns were obscured at domain level where groups tended to cluster according to sexual orientation. Moreover, Neuroticism was often responsible for the largest differences across groups at facet and domain level.

Do personality sex differences mirror personality differences across occupations?

It has been argued that the sex segregation of the labor market reflects personality sex differences. So far, few studies have used actual occupational titles. This study aims to tackle these limitations as well as to expand previous research by operationalizing occupations as occupational field (i.e. STEM vs. Non-STEM) and as occupational orientation (i.e. Prediger’s people-things dimension). We replicated our analyses in three independent samples (Estonia, China, and UK) and, although there was no evidence that personality sex differences mirrored personality differences between occupational fields or between occupational orientations, results suggested that personality could be more relevant when choosing occupational orientation rather than occupational field.

Personality Associations With WhatsApp Usage and Usage of Alternative Messaging Applications to Protect One’s Own Data

Data protection became an increasingly important topic in today’s digital society. With regard to messaging applications, WhatsApp especially has been at the center of discussion. Despite the existence of alternative messaging applications seemingly protecting one’s data more than WhatsApp does, individuals seem to rarely use these alternatives. The present study, therefore, investigated personality differences between individuals using WhatsApp versus alternative messaging applications which are deemed more protective of one’s data. A total of N = 7,874 individuals ( n = 3,992 men) participated in the present online survey. All of them provided information on whether they used WhatsApp and/or an alternative messaging application because WhatsApp was deemed to be non-data-protective. Additionally, they completed the Big Five Inventory. Most participants (69.27%) reported using WhatsApp but no alternative messaging application due to data protection concerns. This group showed the lowest scores on Openness. The group using neither WhatsApp nor another messaging application due to data protection concerns regarding WhatsApp showed the lowest scores on Extraversion. The highest scores on Agreeableness were found in the group using WhatsApp and at least one alternative messaging application due to WhatsApp-related data protection concerns. These results reveal initial insights into who is using seemingly data protective versus non-data-protective messaging applications. Personality may not be the only factor influencing the decisions about data protective messaging application use.