Predicting psychological and subjective well-being from personality: incremental prediction from 30 facets over the Big 5

This study investigated the relationship between the Big 5, measured at factor and facet levels, and dimensions of both psychological and subjective well-being. Three hundred and thirty-seven participants completed the 30 Facet International Personality Item Pool Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Positive and Negative Affectivity Schedule, and Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-Being. Cross-correlation decomposition presented a parsimonious picture of how well-being is related to personality factors. Incremental facet prediction was examined using double-adjusted r2 confidence intervals and semi-partial correlations. Incremental prediction by facets over factors ranged from almost nothing to a third more variance explained, suggesting a more modest incremental prediction than presented in the literature previously. Examination of semi-partial correlations controlling for factors revealed a small number of important facet-well-being correlations. All data and R analysis scripts are made available in an online repository.

A duration analysis of the time from prospectus to listing for Australian initial public offerings

A finding of the Australian Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) literature is that the time from prospectus registration to listing is related to the level of informed demand. This makes the understanding of time to listing an important matter. This study analyses the time to listing for 834 IPOs in Australia over the period 1994 to 2004. The study finds that a shorter time to listing is associated with higher issue prices, and the use of an underwriter or Big 5 independent accountant. In contrast, IPOs offering share options take longer to list. The significant role of variables associated with the degree of certainty about a listing is consistent with informed demand hypotheses about the time to listing.

Audit quality : earnings management in the context of the Asian crisis

This study assumes that evidence regarding audit quality can be derived from the level of earnings management reflected in reported abnormal or discretionary accruals. Given this assumption, audit quality is examined in the context of the 1997 Asian financial crisis using data from Malaysia. Examining audit quality in its association with earnings management across differential macroeconomic periods provides insights that may be otherwise masked. The period of the crisis is partitioned between pre-crisis (1994-1996), crisis (1997-1998) and post-crisis (1999). Using a robust approach to the measurement of abnormal accruals, the association of Big 5/non-Big 5 and Industry Specialist/Industry non-specialist auditors with both the levels of, and change in levels of, abnormal accruals is investigated across and within the crisis sub-periods from 1994-1999. Audit quality is found to be associated with abnormal accruals, and differentially so across macroeconomic period with greater constraint evident post-crisis.

Audit quality : earnings management in the context of the 1997 Asian crisis

This study assumes that evidence regarding audit quality can be derived from the level of earnings management reflected in reported abnormal or discretionary accruals. Given this assumption, audit quality is examined in the context of the 1997 Asian financial crisis using data from Malaysia. Examining audit quality in its association with earnings management across differential macroeconomic periods provides insights that may be otherwise masked. The period of the crisis is partitioned between pre-crisis (1994-1996), crisis (1997-1998) and post-crisis (1999). Using a robust approach to the measurement of abnormal accruals, the association of Big 5/non-Big 5 and Industry Specialist/Industry non-specialist auditors with both the levels of, and change in levels of, abnormal accruals is investigated across and within the crisis sub-periods from 1994-1999. Audit quality is found to be associated with abnormal accruals, and differentially so across macroeconomic period with greater constraint evident post-crisis.

Type D personality and the Five-Factor Model : a facet-level analysis

Objective: This study assessed the degree to which NEO-PI-R facets contribute to understanding of Type D personality over and above the Big 5. Method: Healthy participants (n = 268) completed the DS14 and the NEO-PI-R. In addition to analyzing the Type D subscales of social inhibition and negative affectivity, we computed a continuous measure of Type D scored as the sum of the two subscales. Results: Facets provided moderate incremental prediction of Type D subscales. The facets of assertiveness, self- consciousness, and positive emotion provided incremental prediction of negative affectivity, and warmth, activity, and gregariousness provided incremental prediction of social inhibition. Facets provided minimal incremental prediction of continuous Type D. The Big 5 explained substantially more variance in continuous Type D (71%) than negative affectivity (59%) or social inhibition (61%). Conclusions: Overall, the facet-level analysis provided additional insights into the nature of Type D. The incremental prediction of the Type D subscales by facets supported the idea that Type D scales are narrower constructs than the Big 5. However, the strong prediction of continuous Type D by the Big 5 and the lack of incremental prediction by facets points to the overall Type D construct being well represented by the Big 5.

Investigating the effects of personality traits on pair programming in a higher education setting through a family of experiments

Evidence from our systematic literature review revealed numerous inconsistencies in findings from the Pair Programming (PP) literature regarding the effects of personality on PP's effectiveness as a pedagogical tool. In particular: i) the effect of differing personality traits of pairs on the successful implementation of pair-programming (PP) within a higher education setting is still unclear, and ii) the personality instrument most often used had been Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), despite being an indicator criticized by personality psychologists as unreliable in measuring an individual's personality traits. These issues motivated the research described in this paper. We conducted a series of five formal experiments (one of which was a replicated experiment), between 2009 and 2010, at the University of Auckland, to investigate the effects of personality composition on PP's effectiveness. Each experiment looked at a particular personality trait of the Five-Factor personality framework. This framework comprises five broad traits (Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism), and our experiments focused on three of these - Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness. A total of 594 undergraduate students participated as subjects. Overall, our findings for all five experiments, including the replication, showed that Conscientiousness and Neuroticism did not present a statistically significant effect upon paired students' academic performance. However, Openness played a significant role in differentiating paired students' academic performance. Participants' survey results also indicated that PP not only caused an increase in satisfaction and confidence levels but also brought enjoyment to the tutorial classes and enhanced students' motivation.

Are youth mentoring programs good value-for-money? An evaluation of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Melbourne program

Background : The Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) program matches vulnerable young people with a trained, supervised adult volunteer as mentor. The young people are typically seriously disadvantaged, with multiple psychosocial problems.

Methods : Threshold analysis was undertaken to determine whether investment in the program was a worthwhile use of limited public funds. The potential cost savings were based on US estimates of life-time costs associated with high-risk youth who drop out-of-school and become adult criminals. The intervention was modelled for children aged 10–14 years residing in Melbourne in 2004.

Results : If the program serviced 2,208 of the most vulnerable young people, it would cost AUD 39.5 M. Assuming 50% were high-risk, the associated costs of their adult criminality would be AUD 3.3 billion. To break even, the program would need to avert high-risk behaviours in only 1.3% (14/1,104) of participants.

Conclusion : This indicative evaluation suggests that the BBBS program represents excellent 'value for money'.

What is wrong with a big house?

ln Australia in the 1950s, the average house size was approximately 100 mz. By 2008, the average size of a new house had risen to approximately 238 mz i.e. an increase of nearly 140%. Over the same period, occupancy levels have fallen by nearly one third from 3.7 to 2.5 persons per household. The aim of this paper is to contrast the total and per capita resource demand (direct and embodied energy, water and materials) for two houses typical of their respective era and draw some conclusions from the results. Using the software Autodesk Revit Architecture and drawings for typical 1950 and 2009 houses, the material quantities for these dwellings have been determined. Using known coefficients, the embodied energy and water in the materials have been calculated. Operating energy requirements have been calculated using NatHERS estimates. Water requirements have been calculated using historical and current water data. The greenhouse gas emissions associated with the resource use have also been calculated using established coefficients. Results are compared on a per capita basis. The research found that although the energy to operate the modern house and annual water use had fallen, the embodied energy and associated greenhouse gas emissions from material use had risen significantly. This was driven by the size of the house and the change in construction practices.

Toka boot/the big jam : making music in rural East Timor

This article discusses a community music project in rural East Timor. Australian musician Gillian Howell lived for three months in the isolated town of Lospalos as an Asialink artist-in-residence, where she worked with local community members and visiting Australian musicians to share music and ideas, and to communicate across cultures. Three activities are described in detail: a songwriting project, a large-scale community music event and a series of informal jam sessions, particularly with respect to the context, teaching and learning models used. An evaluation of the impact of the project on participants, other community members and visiting musicians, indicated that stakeholders valued the project highly for a range of different reasons. These included fun and enjoyment, maintenance of cultural heritage, creative expression, English language learning and cross-cultural exchange. Learnings and recommendations for future similar cross-cultural collaborations include the value of integrating local music traditions with new participatory arts approaches.

Interview 1 on a big backyard

Interview with host Nick Renwick about the Boston Bombing and how Stony Brook Journalism School, New York, taught the media coverage in its aftermath.

Interview 2 on a big backyard

Interview about  the role of social media and 'trial by media' in current high profile cases involving child molestation charges against celebrities.

A little movement orientated to the geomagnetic field makes a big difference in strong flows

Whilst a range of animals have been shown to respond behaviourally to components of the Earth’s magnetic field, evidence of the value of this sensory perception for small animals advected by strong flows (wind/ocean currents) is equivocal. We added geomagnetic directional swimming behaviour for North Atlantic loggerhead turtle hatchlings (Caretta caretta) into a high-resolution (1/4°) global general circulation ocean model to simulate 2,925-year-long hatchling trajectories comprising 355,875 locations. A little directional swimming (1–3 h per day) had a major impact on trajectories; simulated hatchlings travelled further south into warmer water. As a result, thermal elevation of hatchling metabolic rates was estimated to be between 63.3 and 114.5% after 220 days. We show that even small animals in strong flows can benefit from geomagnetic orientation and thus the potential implications of directional swimming for other taxa may be broad.

Corporate social responsibility programs of big food in Australia: a content analysis of industry documents

OBJECTIVE: To examine Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) tactics by identifying the key characteristics of CSR strategies as described in the corporate documents of selected 'Big Food' companies. METHODS: A mixed methods content analysis was used to analyse the information contained on Australian Big Food company websites. Data sources included company CSR reports and web-based content that related to CSR initiatives employed in Australia. RESULTS: A total of 256 CSR activities were identified across six organisations. Of these, the majority related to the categories of environment (30.5%), responsibility to consumers (25.0%) or community (19.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Big Food companies appear to be using CSR activities to: 1) build brand image through initiatives associated with the environment and responsibility to consumers; 2) target parents and children through community activities; and 3) align themselves with respected organisations and events in an effort to transfer their positive image attributes to their own brands. IMPLICATIONS: Results highlight the type of CSR strategies Big Food companies are employing. These findings serve as a guide to mapping and monitoring CSR as a specific form of marketing.