Personality traits and personal values : an investigation into the importance of each in the prediction of behaviour /

Personality traits and personal values are two important domains of individual differences. Traits are enduring and distinguishable patterns of behaviour whereas values are societally taught, stable, individual preferences that guide behaviour in order to reach a specific end state. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relations between self and peer report within the domains of personality traits and values, to examine the correlations between values and traits, and to explore the amount of incremental validity of traits and values in predicting behaviour. Two hundred and fiftytwo men and women from a university setting completed self and peer reports on three questionnaires. In order to assess personality traits, the HEXACO-PI (Lee & Ashton, 2004) was used to identify levels of 6 major dimensions of personality in participants. To assess values, the Schwartz Value Survey (Schwartz, 1992) was used to identify the importance each participant placed on each of Schwartz's 10 value types. To measure behaviour, a Behavior Scale, created by Bardi and Schwartz (2003), consisting of items designed to measure the frequency of value-expressive behaviour was used. As expected, correlations between self and peer reports for the personality scales were high indicating that personality traits are easily observable to other people. Correlations between self and peer reports for the values and behaviour scales were only moderate, suggesting that some goals, and behaviours expressive of those goals, may not always be observable to others. Consistent with previous research, there were many strong correlations between traits and values. In addition to the similarities with past research, the present study found that the personality factor Honesty-Humility was correlated strongly with values scales (with five correlations exceeding .25). In the prediction of behaviour, it was found that both personahty and values were able to account for significant and similar amounts of variance. Personality outpredicted values for some behaviours, but the opposite was true of other behaviours. Each domain provided incremental validity beyond the other domain. The impUcations for these findings, along with limitations, and possibilities for future research are also discussed.

Information processing in sleep-onset insomnia : a test of the neurocognitive model /

The present thesis study is a systematic investigation of information processing at sleep onset, using auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) as a test of the neurocognitive model of insomnia. Insomnia is an extremely prevalent disorder in society resulting in problems with daytime functioning (e.g., memory, concentration, job performance, mood, job and driving safety). Various models have been put forth in an effort to better understand the etiology and pathophysiology of this disorder. One of the newer models, the neurocognitive model of insomnia, suggests that chronic insomnia occurs through conditioned central nervous system arousal. This arousal is reflected through increased information processing which may interfere with sleep initiation or maintenance. The present thesis employed event-related potentials as a direct method to test information processing during the sleep-onset period. Thirteen poor sleepers with sleep-onset insomnia and 1 2 good sleepers participated in the present study. All poor sleepers met the diagnostic criteria for psychophysiological insomnia and had a complaint of problems with sleep initiation. All good sleepers reported no trouble sleeping and no excessive daytime sleepiness. Good and poor sleepers spent two nights at the Brock University Sleep Research Laboratory. The first night was used to screen for sleep disorders; the second night was used to investigate information processing during the sleep-onset period. Both groups underwent a repeated sleep-onsets task during which an auditory oddball paradigm was delivered. Participants signalled detection of a higher pitch target tone with a button press as they fell asleep. In addition, waking alert ERPs were recorded 1 hour before and after sleep on both Nights 1 and 2.As predicted by the neurocognitive model of insomnia, increased CNS activity was found in the poor sleepers; this was reflected by their smaller amplitude P2 component seen during wake of the sleep-onset period. Unlike the P2 component, the Nl, N350, and P300 did not vary between the groups. The smaller P2 seen in our poor sleepers indicates that they have a deficit in the sleep initiation processes. Specifically, poor sleepers do not disengage their attention from the outside environment to the same extent as good sleepers during the sleep-onset period. The lack of findings for the N350 suggest that this sleep component may be intact in those with insomnia and that it is the waking components (i.e., Nl, P2) that may be leading to the deficit in sleep initiation. Further, it may be that the mechanism responsible for the disruption of sleep initiation in the poor sleepers is most reflected by the P2 component. Future research investigating ERPs in insomnia should focus on the identification of the components most sensitive to sleep disruption. As well, methods should be developed in order to more clearly identify the various types of insomnia populations in research contexts (e.g., psychophysiological vs. sleep-state misperception) and the various individual (personality characteristics, motivation) and environmental factors (arousal-related variables) that influence particular ERP components. Insomnia has serious consequences for health, safety, and daytime functioning, thus research efforts should continue in order to help alleviate this highly prevalent condition.

A comparison of electrophysiological changes during the sleep onset period of psychophysiological insomniacs, psychiatric insomniacs and normal sleepers

The EEG of the sleep onset period of psychophysiological insomniacs, psychiatric insomniacs and controls was compared using power spectral analysis (FFT). Eighteen drug-free subjects were equally divided into three groups according to their responses in the Brock Sleep and Insomnia Questionnaire, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and the Sleep Disorders Questionnaire. Group 1 consisted of psychophysiological insomniacs, group 2 included insomniacs with an indication of psychiatric disturbances, and group 3 was a control group. EEG, EOG and EMG were recorded for two consecutive nights. Power spectral analysis (FFT) of EEG at C4 from the sleep onset period (defined as lights out to the first five minutes of stage 2) was performed on all standard frequency bands, delta: .5-4 Hz; theta: 4-8 Hz; alpha: 8-12 Hz; sigma: 12-15 Hz beta: 15-25 Hz. Psychophysiological insomniacs had less alpha during wakefulness than the other two groups and did not show the dramatic drop in alpha across the sleep onset period, which characterizes normal sleep. They also had less delta, especially during stage 2 on night 2. They also showed less delta in the last quartile of the chronological analysis of the sleep onset period. Psychiatric insomniacs showed lower relative beta power values overall while psychophysiological insomniacs showed higher relative beta power values during wakefulness. This microanalysis 11 confirms that the sleep onset period is generally similar for psychiatric insomniacs and normal sleepers. This may be due to the sample of psychiatric insomniacs being heterogeneous or may reflect a sleep onset system that is essentially intact. Psychophysiological insomniacs have higher cortical arousal during the sleep onset period than do the psychiatric insomniacs and the controls. Clear differences in the sleep onset period of psychophysiological insomniacs exist. The dramatic changes in power values in these two groups are not seen in the psychophysiological insomniacs, which may make the discrimination between wakefulness and sleep more difficult.

A model of personality and health : coping styles as a moderator in the perfectionism-health connection

The purpose of this study was to examine a model of personality and health. Specifically, this thesis examined perfectionism as a predictor of health status and health behaviours, as moderated by coping styles. A community sample of 813 young adults completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Coping Strategy Indicator, and measures of health symptoms, health care utilization, and various health behaviours. Multiple regression analyses revealed a number of significant findings. First, perfectionism and coping styles contributed significant main effects in predicting health status and health behaviours, although coping styles were not shown to moderate the perfectionism-health relationship. The data showed that perfectionism did constitute a health risk, both in terms of health status and health behaviours. Finally, an unexpected finding was that perfectionism also included adaptive features related to health. Specifically, some dimensions of perfectionism were also associated with reports of better health status and involvement in some positive health behaviours.

Construing social dimensions of personality development: nurses as educators

A convenience sample of twenty registered nurses was recruited from two' general hospitals and two community college nursing schools. Kelly's (1955) Personal Construct Theory provided the theoretical framework to discover how nurses perceived themselves as educators. The nurses completed a self-administered Self-Perception Inventory (Soares, 1983) to determine their perception of self as nurse and ideal self as nurse. In an interview, each of the nurses constructed a rank-order repertory grid adapted from Kelly's (1955) Role Repertory Construct Test. Twelve constructs derived from the Self-Perception Inventory (Soares, 1983) were ranked according to a list of ten elements common to a teaching situation. Rank order correlations among the constructs were determined with Spearman's rho. Using a dependent samples t-test, significant differences were found between perceptions of current and ideal self for staff nurses. Significant differences were also found between nurse educators' perceptions of self and ideal self as nurse. No significant differences were determined in perceptions of self as nurse and ideal self as nurse between the staff nurse and nurse educator groups with an independent samples t-test. However, observations of single constructs revealed that although several constructs are shared between the groups in the perception of self in a teaching situation, both groups hold constructs that operate exclusively in their separate domains. The nature and strength of the relationships between the common and unique constructs are different for each group. Nurses I self-perceptions appear to be influenced by the historical development of nursing, role socialization during nursing education, social expectations and gender issues in the health care system.

Personality type and self-directed learning

This correlational study was designed to investigate the relationship between self-directed learning and personality type. A sample of 133 graduate and undergraduate education students completed the MBTI and the SDLRS. Two hypotheses were examined: (a) scores on the intuitive scale will account for a significant amount of the variance in the prediction of selfdirected learning readiness and, (b) scores on the introverted scale will account for a significant amount of the variance in self-directed learning readiness. Stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that psychological type accounts for 28% of the variance in self-directed learning. Support for the first hypothesis was found with 15% of the variance in selfdirected learning accounted for by intuition. The second hypothesis was not supported. Introversion accounted for 13% of the variance but in a negative manner. Results of this study indicate that personality type does influence the ability of the learner to be self-directed in studies. These findings add another dimension for the adult educator to consider when attempting to develop self-directedness in learners.

Self-directedness, personality type and success in self- employment

The new economy has spirited a transformation ofwork organizations from big business structures into smaller, more flexible enterprises, many of which are launched as self-employment initiatives. The growing trend towards increasing selfemployment in Canada demands aeritical review of how educational programs support and encourage entrepreneurship and self-employment opportunities for students ofpost-secondary and adult training programs. The focus ofthis study was threefold. First, the study examined whether a relationship exists between self-directedness and success in self-employment. Secondly, the purpose of this research was to determine whether a relationship exists between psychological type as defined by Jung and success in selfemployment. Finally, this research effort attempted to develop a model for identifying individual potential for self-employment based on combined factors of self-directedness and psychological type. Success was measured in three stages: 1) Did the subject start a selfemployment initiative? 2) Did the business survive six months? 3) Did the business survive one year? The research went beyond classroom training activities to determine whether individuals actually started a business enterprise while participating ina self-employment program designed for individuals who were unemployed. Given that many people initiate a self-employment venture.without actually operating the business beyond the initial start-up, this research effort measured success based on a commitment of at least one year to the selfemployment initiative. Results ofthe study revealed that individuals with a high level of selfdirected learning readiness tended to be more likely to succeed in business in terms ofbusiness starts, survival for six months, and survival for one year. In addition, it was discovered that individuals who were extraverted intuitive types succeeded more often in business at all three levels than any other type. These findings supported a model using the SDLRS and the PET Type Check as predictors for success in entrepreneurial ventures.

A journey into narrative inquiry : one teacher's lived experience with eating disorders /

In "A Journey Into Narrative Inquiry: One Teacher's Lived Experience With Eating Disorders," an elementary teacher searches for answers regarding how education can help prevent eating disorders by journeying into her own experience of having had such a disorder. This qualitative study is a personal narrative based on an individual's experience, a method appropriate to the sharing of personal voices and stories told in education research. It is an attempt to address the gap found in the research on this topic by offering a subjective and unique perspective of what it is like to live within the nightmare of an eating disorder and by sharing the wisdom gained from having survived such an experience. This narrative inquiry explains how a teacher found herself at a stage where she was willing and ready to share her experience for the sake of research. The story of having had an eating disorder, consisting of both anorexia and bulimia, for over a decade is shared in a genuine, reflective manner. The researcher then shares the analysis of her own story, unpacking the themes of journeying toward voice, self-esteem, self-acceptance, and self and the completion of an M.Ed. degree. Bridges are made which connect these themes to the personal and professional life of the researcher, to the schools in terms of both curriculum and climate, to research directions, and to the larger culture. Suggestions are made for possible changes in educational settings that may help teachers in providing students with some tools and strategies to prevent turning to eating disorders as coping mechanisms. A literature review of eating disorders is included as well, as a guide for others to use when undertaking such qualitative studies.

A naturalistic observation of the play behaviour of children with autism spectrum disorders /

Cognitive and social levels of play engaged in by four-to-eight-year-old children with autism spectrum disorders were examined in naturalistic classroom settings. In addition, play at home was compared with play at school via parent and educator interviews. Seventeen school-age children, their educators and caregivers participated in the study. The most frequently observed play behaviours included parallel-functional play, adult interactions and solitary-functional play. The play of the children in the current study was consistent with that of typically-developing preschoolers. Mothers and educators did not differ significantly in their perspectives of the participants' play behaviours. In general, educators' and caregivers' reports were positively related to researcher observations of participants' play behaviours. Methodological considerations and practical implications for the findings are discussed.

The role of personality and situational factors in forgiveness /

This study deals with personality and situational variables that influence forgiveness. The relations between empathy and forgiveness were studied, followed by the examination of the relation of these two variables to the Big Five personality traits, as well as honesty, absorption, the propensity to mystical experiences, and dissociation. Empathy was then tested as a mediating variable between the personality variables and forgiveness. Empathy and forgiveness were then studied in relation to childhood maltreatment. Finally, the effects of six different motivations to forgive were examined in relation to the personality variables. Participants were 142 undergraduate students recruited from the ftrst year psychology class at Brock University; 75% were either 18 or 19 years of age, and 84% were female. All of the variables were measured using self-report questionnaires. The relation between empathy and forgiveness was only partially replicated. In terms of personality, forgiveness was found to be related to honesty, emotionality, and agreeableness. Empathy at least partially mediated the relations between forgiveness and agreeableness, honesty and emotionality. Childhood maltreatment was negatively related to forgiveness, and positively related to openness to experience, absorption, and dissociation from reality, but not to the propensity for mystical experiences. Six different motivations for forgiveness emerged from an exploratory factor analysis. Out of these, Forgiveness to Promote Reconciliation was related to emotionality and dispositional empathy. Religious Forgiveness was related to honesty, emotionality, and mystical experiences. Forgiveness to Feel Better was related to honesty, emotionality, agreeableness, conscientiousness, absorption, mystical experiences, and empathy. Forgiveness to Assert Moral Superiority over the Injurer was negatively related to honesty, empathy, and positively related to extraversion. Forgiveness out of Fear was related to agreeableness. Finally, Altruistic Forgiveness was related to honesty, emotionality, and agreeableness, absorption and the propensity to mystical experiences. Altruistic Forgiveness correlated most highly with all the measures of forgiveness, followed by Forgiveness to Feel better. Altruistic forgiveness was also the motivation for forgiveness that correlated the highest with absorption.

Self-presentational motives in eating disorders : a known groups difference approach

Self-presentation reflects the processes by which individuals attempt to monitor and control the impressions others form of them (Schlenker & Leary, 1982). Concerns over impressions conveyed have been linked to numerous health behaviors (Crawford & Eklund, 1994; Martin, Leary, & O'Brien, 2001). The present study investigated the role of cognitive manifestations of dispositional and situational self presentational motivation (SPM) in 131 females with known groups differences on a measure of eating disorders. Participants were classified as in-treatment (IN = 39); at risk (AT = 46); and not at risk (NOT = 46) for eating disordered behaviour. Each participant completed The Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNE; Leary, 1983), the Public Self-Consciousness Scale (PSC; Fenigstein, Sheier, & Buss, 1975), and the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPA; Hart, Leary, & Rejeski, 1989), as measures of dispositional SPM. Situational SPM was assessed through Self-Presentational Efficacy (SPE; Gammage, Hall, & Martin, 2004), and the Exercise Motivation Inventory-2 (Markland & Ingeldew, 1997). Significant differences emerged on the measure of eating disorder behaviour between AT and NOT. To determine if group differences existed on measures of trait SPM an ANOVA was conducted. Results indicated that the NOT group experienced less FNE, PSC and SPA than the IN and AT groups, and the AT group experienced less FNE and PSC than the IN group. Pearson bivariate correlations were conducted on measures of trait SPM and EMI-2 subscales theoretically linked to SPM. It was found that FNE, PSC and SPA were all positively correlated with weight management for the NOT group. To determine if group differences existed on selfpresentational exercise motives independent samples I-tests were conducted. Results revealed that the AT group was more motivated to exercise for weight management, and appearance, and social recognition than the NOT group. To determine if group differences existed on the state measure of self-presentational efficacy a series of ANOVA's were conducted. Results revealed that the NOT group experienced significantly greater self-presentational efficacy expectancy and self-presentational outcome value than the AT group. Finally, a discriminant function analysis was conducted to determine if trait SPM would predict group membership. Results revealed that 63.4% of participants were correctly classified, with SPA, PSC, and FNE differentiating the NOT group from the AT and IN groups and FNE and PSC differentiating the AT group from the IN group. Thus self-presentation motivation appears to have an influence on females who have an eating disorder and those at risk for an eating disorder. Potential applications of the influence of self-presentational motives on eating disorders and future research directions are discussed.

Living between two cultures : personality and adaptation in Chinese immigrant youth /

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between shyness and acculturation modes of Chinese immigrant youth in Canada and whether shyness moderates the relationship between acculturation and adaptation. In addition, I examined whether shyness, in conjunction with sociability, moderates the relationship between acculturation and adaptation. Ninety-nine young Chinese immigrants (42 men), ranging in age from 16 to 26 years old, completed a questionnaire that assessed their demographic information, acculturation modes, shyness, sociability, psychological adaptation Oife satisfaction, self-esteem, and depression), and socio-cultural adaptation. Results showed that Chinese orientation was significantly and negatively correlated with age, generation status, English proficiency, and length of residence in Canada. In contrast, Canadian orientation was significantly and positively correlated with generation status, English proficiency, and length of residence in Canada. Canadian orientation was also significantly and negatively correlated with shyness and positively correlated with sociability and psychological and socio-cultural adaptation. Participants who were shyer were more likely to have poorer psychological and socio-cultural adaptation, and to report lower life satisfaction and self-esteem and higher depression. Results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that Chinese immigrant youth who were separated had higher scores on shyness than those who were integrated and assimilated. There were no significant differences in shyness between youth who were separated and youth who were marginalized, nor were there differences between youth who were integrated and those who were assimilated. Furthermore, integrated Chinese youth reported significantly higher scores in sociability than those who were separated and marginalized but not significantly higher than those who were assimilated.' Shyness did not moderate the relationship between acculturation modes and psychological and socio-cultural adaptation. Unfortunately, the hypothesis to examine if shyness, in combination with sociability, moderated the relationship between acculturation and psychological adaptation could not be tested in the present study because of limitations in cell sizes. The findings suggested that how Chinese immigrant youth acculturate in the receiving country might not be the crucial factor in determining their adaptation. Instead, other factors, such as personality characteristics and nature of the acculturating group, may playa more crucial role. Shyness may have important ramifications for the acculturation and adaptation of young Chinese immigrants to a new society.

Electrocortical responses in reward paradigms and their variation related to personality

This thesis was conducted in order to investigate two issues: (1) how sensitive event related potentials (ERPs), and more specifically the medial frontal negativity and the P3 components, are to the valence and magnitude of reward-related stimuli, and (2) whether individual differences have an effect on the sensitivity of these ERP components to these characteristics. This was investigated using two reward-related paradigms. In the "pure gambling task" participants were asked to choose between two cards, each containing varying dollar amounts (large or small). The outcome of the choice (i.e., win or loss) was revealed after the choice was made. Additionally, participants were shown whether the non-chosen card would have been a win or a loss. In the "simple response task", participants were presented with five cues (large win, large loss, small win, small loss or zero) that labelled the trial as either a potential win, a potential loss or no change. Following the cue, a target appeared on the screen and the participant's task was to press the response key while the target was still visible. A success led to a win (gain in money) or no loss (no change) depending on the cue. Thirty participants completed both tasks; afterwards they filled out a set of questionnaires measuring personality and other individual differences relating to risk-taking behaviour. The results of both tasks showed that ERP components can differentiate between the valence and magnitude of reward-related stimuli, although no single component was uniquely related to either of the characteristics as previous suggested in the literature. Additionally, the context of the stimulus presentation (e.g., the task structure, condition within the task) affected the relationships between the ERP components and stimulus characteristics.

A comparison of functional behaviour assessment rating scales in a sample of children and youth with autism spectrum disorders

This study sought to compare the results of the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS; Durand & Crimmins, 1988), Questions About Behavior Function Scale (QABF; Matson & Vollmer, 1996) and Functional Analysis Screening Tool (FAST; Iwata & Deleon, 1996), when completed by parent informants in a sample of children and youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who display challenging behaviour. Results indicated that there was low agreement between the functional hypotheses derived from each of three measures. In addition, correlations between functionally analogous scales were substantially lower than expected, while correlations between non-analogous subscales were stronger than anticipated. As indicated by this study, clinicians choosing to use FBA questionnaires to assess behavioural function, may not obtain accurate functional hypotheses, potentially resulting in ineffective intervention plans. The current study underscores the caution that must be taken when asking parents to complete these questionnaires to determine the function(s) of challenging behaviour for children/youth with ASD.