Psychometric Properties of a New Stress-Related Personality Scale: The Virtual Inventory of Behavior and Emotions (VIBE)

BackgroundPersonality traits are important factors with regard to the tendency to experience and response to stress. This study introduces and tests a new stress-related personality scale called the Virtual Inventory of Behavior and Emotions (VIBE).MethodsTwo samples totaling 5512 individuals (with 66% between the ages of 18 and 34) completed the VIBE along with other measures of personality, stress, mood, and well-being. Results: Exploratory factor analyses revealed a four-factor structure for the instrument with dimensions labelled: 1) stressed; 2) energetic; 3) social; and 4) disciplined. Confirmatory factor analytic procedures on the final 23-item version showed good psychometric properties and data fit while machine learning analyses demonstrated the VIBE’s ability to distinguish between groups with similar patterns of response. Strong convergent validity was suggested through robust correlations between the dimensions of the VIBE and other established rating scales.ConclusionOverall, the data suggest that the VIBE is a promising tool to help advance understanding of the relations between stress, personality, and related constructs.

Child Sex Offenders' Cognitive Distortions and Related Personality Traits

<p>Research has identified that child sex offenders hold thematically distinct cognitive distortions, which Ward and Keenan (1999) call Implicit Theories. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between offenders' Implicit Theories and their personality related cognitions. The variables were measured using the Implicit Theory Questionnaire and Millon's (1990) MCMI-III personality scales. Participants comprised 28 male child sex offenders serving a custodial sentence in New Zealand, who elected to have treatment. Majority of participants' personality scale scores reached the clinical threshold. Results identified dependant, depressive and schizoidal personality traits to significantly correlate with three Implicit Theories. Significant personality scale score differences were also revealed between Maori and NZ/European offenders. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.</p>

Child Sex Offenders' Cognitive Distortions and Related Personality Traits

<p>Research has identified that child sex offenders hold thematically distinct cognitive distortions, which Ward and Keenan (1999) call Implicit Theories. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between offenders' Implicit Theories and their personality related cognitions. The variables were measured using the Implicit Theory Questionnaire and Millon's (1990) MCMI-III personality scales. Participants comprised 28 male child sex offenders serving a custodial sentence in New Zealand, who elected to have treatment. Majority of participants' personality scale scores reached the clinical threshold. Results identified dependant, depressive and schizoidal personality traits to significantly correlate with three Implicit Theories. Significant personality scale score differences were also revealed between Maori and NZ/European offenders. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.</p>

Temporal Coordination in Piano Duet Networked Music Performance (NMP): Interactions Between Acoustic Transmission Latency and Musical Role Asymmetries

Today’s audio, visual, and internet technologies allow people to interact despite physical distances, for casual conversation, group workouts, or musical performance. Musical ensemble performance is unique because interaction integrity critically depends on the timing between each performer’s actions and when their acoustic outcomes arrive. Acoustic transmission latency (ATL) between players is substantially longer for networked music performance (NMP) compared to traditional in-person spaces where musicians can easily adapt. Previous work has shown that longer ATLs slow the average tempo in ensemble performance, and that asymmetric co-actor roles and empathy-related traits affect coordination patterns in joint action. Thus, we are interested in how musicians collectively adapt to a given latency and how such adaptation patterns vary with their task-related and person-related asymmetries. Here, we examined how two pianists performed duets while hearing each other’s auditory outcomes with an ATL of 10, 20, or 40 ms. To test the hypotheses regarding task-related asymmetries, we designed duets such that pianists had: (1) a starting or joining role and (2) a similar or dissimilar musical part compared to their co-performer, with respect to pitch range and melodic contour. Results replicated previous clapping-duet findings showing that longer ATLs are associated with greater temporal asynchrony between partners and increased average tempo slowing. While co-performer asynchronies were not affected by performer role or part similarity, at the longer ATLs starting performers displayed slower tempos and smaller tempo variability than joining performers. This asymmetry of stability vs. flexibility between starters and joiners may sustain coordination, consistent with recent joint action findings. Our data also suggest that relative independence in musical parts may mitigate ATL-related challenges. Additionally, there may be a relationship between co-performer differences in empathy-related personality traits such as locus of control and coordination during performance under the influence of ATL. Incorporating the emergent coordinative dynamics between performers could help further innovation of music technologies and composition techniques for NMP.

Personality Traits and Perceptions of Major Life Events

Research examining the associations between major life events and personality trait development is mixed. Work that evaluates perceptions of life events and how those perceptions are themselves associated with personality traits may help clarify the existing literature. We used a large student sample ( N = 1,509) and a demographically diverse sample from a Qualtrics panel ( N = 552) to conduct exploratory analyses examining the associations between the big five personality traits and perceptions of life events. Results suggested that (a) associations between personality and beliefs about event-related personality change differ between students and more representative samples, (b) associations between personality and event perceptions are often nuanced, and (c) event perceptions are not merely proxies for personality traits. These studies highlight the importance of subjective event perceptions in the study of major life events and personality.

Personality and Sexual Development in Adolescence: Selection, Corresponsive Effects, and Genetic and Environmental Influences

Though sexuality and personality are related domains of personhood, the dynamics of their co-development remains relatively unexplored, especially during adolescence when partnered sexual behaviors tend to emerge. We examined the co-development between personality and sexuality at phenotypic and genetic levels of analysis from middle childhood to late adolescence (ages 11, 14, and 17) using a longitudinal twin sample (N = 3762). In terms of selecting into sexual experiences, extraversion was associated with more normative sexual behaviors (e.g., dating) while low agreeableness, low conscientiousness, and neuroticism were associated with more non-normative sexual behaviors (e.g., sexual intercourse, pregnancy, earlier age of initiation in general). We also found evidence of corresponsive effects, specifically, sexual experiences were associated with subsequent increases in extraversion and neuroticism and decreases in agreeableness. Genetic influences accounted for associations between normative sexual behaviors and extraversion, and between sexual behaviors and emotion-related personality traits. Shared environmental influences largely accounted for associations between non-normative sexual behaviors and personality, and between sexual behaviors and traits related to behavioral control. These findings identify distinct personality processes—one genetically mediated via emotionality and the other through shared environmental influences on behavioral control processes—that contribute to and are shaped by sexual development in adolescence.

Construct Validity of the E-LSRP in a Correctional Sample

The Expanded–Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (E-LSRP) was developed by Christian and Sellbom to improve on the psychometric properties of scores on the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale. The current study investigated the construct validity of scores on the E-LSRP in 393 male inmates. Results provided support for the reliability and construct validity of E-LSRP scores. Specifically, confirmatory factor analysis results demonstrated support for a three-factor model. Additionally, correlation and multiple regression results provided evidence supporting the convergent and discriminant validity of E-LSRP scores against scores on measures assessing psychopathy-related personality traits (e.g., antagonism, disinhibition) and symptoms of internalizing disorders, respectively. Overall, these findings extend those of previous research by establishing that E-LSRP scores demonstrate validity in assessing psychopathy in correctional settings and thus, may be a useful tool for the assessment of psychopathy in these settings.

The Phenotypic Profile Associated With the FMR1 Premutation in Women: An Investigation of Clinical-Behavioral, Social-Cognitive, and Executive Abilities

The FMR1 gene in its premutation (PM) state has been linked to a range of clinical and subclinical phenotypes among FMR1 PM carriers, including some subclinical traits associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study attempted to further characterize the phenotypic profile associated with the FMR1 PM by studying a battery of assessments examining clinical-behavioral traits, social-cognitive, and executive abilities in women carrying the FMR1 PM, and associations with FMR1-related variability. Participants included 152 female FMR1 PM carriers and 75 female controls who were similar in age and IQ, and screened for neuromotor impairments or signs of fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome. The phenotypic battery included assessments of ASD-related personality and language (i.e., pragmatic) traits, symptoms of anxiety and depression, four different social-cognitive tasks that tapped the ability to read internal states and emotions based on different cues (e.g., facial expressions, biological motion, and complex social scenes), and a measure of executive function. Results revealed a complex phenotypic profile among the PM carrier group, where subtle differences were observed in pragmatic language, executive function, and social-cognitive tasks that involved evaluating basic emotions and trustworthiness. The PM carrier group also showed elevated rates of ASD-related personality traits. In contrast, PM carriers performed similarly to controls on social-cognitive tasks that involved reliance on faces and biological motion. The PM group did not differ from controls on self-reported depression or anxiety symptoms. Using latent profile analysis, we observed three distinct subgroups of PM carriers who varied considerably in their performance across tasks. Among PM carriers, CGG repeat length was a significant predictor of pragmatic language violations. Results suggest a nuanced phenotypic profile characterized by subtle differences in select clinical-behavioral, social-cognitive, and executive abilities associated with the FMR1 PM in women.