Primate diversity, habitat preferences, and population density estimates in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that different types of gender-related personality attributes are associated with a past history of different types of childhood maltreatment. METHOD: A survey was administered to 1,060 male soldiers and 305 female soldiers in the U.S. Army. The survey instrument included the Extended Personal Attributes Questionnaire (EPAQ) which is a self-assessment instrument of personality characteristics associated with gender, and includes measures of positive masculinity (self-assertive/instrumental traits), positive femininity (expressive/interpersonal traits), negative masculinity (hyper masculine/macho traits), and negative femininity (subordination of self to others). The survey instrument also included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which contains scales measuring sexual abuse, physical-emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect, and four questions on childhood sexual abuse developed for a national survey of U.S. adults. RESULTS: Negative masculinity was predicted by male gender, younger age, and childhood physical-emotional abuse. Negative femininity was predicted by physical-emotional abuse and sexual abuse. The relationship to sexual abuse was mainly evident for males. Positive femininity was positively correlated with sexual abuse for females and negatively correlated with sexual abuse for males. Positive masculinity was negatively correlated with emotional neglect for males but not for females. Positive femininity was negatively correlated with emotional neglect for both genders. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood abuse was associated with the presence of negative gender-related attributes; childhood neglect was associated with absence of positive gender-related attributes. Childhood physical abuse was associated with negative masculine attributes in both genders. Childhood sexual abuse was associated with positive feminine attributes in females, and negative feminine attributes in males. The finding for females is counterintuitive, and is discussed in the light of the clinical literature on certain types of adaptation to incest.     

Forty years on: Teachers' assessments of children's personality traits predict self-reported health behaviors and outcomes at midlife.

A life span health-behavior model was investigated in this longitudinal study of personality influences on health. Teachers assessed 963 elementary schoolchildren on traits that formed scales assessing the dimensions of the five-factor (Big Five) model of personality. Smoking, alcohol use, body mass index (BMI), and self-rated health were assessed 40 years later in midlife. Childhood personality traits were significantly associated with all 4 outcomes, and the effects were consistently larger for women than men. For men and women, childhood Conscientiousness was associated with less adult smoking and better adult self-rated health and, for women only, with lower adult BMI. Mediation analyses suggested that the effects of Conscientiousness on self-rated health were partially mediated by smoking and BMI. These findings add to the growing evidence that childhood personality traits predict adult health outcomes and are discussed in terms of future testing of the life span health-behavior model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mechanisms by which childhood personality traits influence adult health status: Educational attainment and healthy behaviors.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test a life span health behavior model in which educational attainment and health behaviors (eating habits, smoking, and physical activity) were hypothesized as mechanisms to account for relations between teacher ratings of childhood personality traits and self-reported health status at midlife. Design: The model was tested on 1,054 members of the Hawaii Personality and Health cohort, which is a population-based cohort participating in a longitudinal study of personality and health spanning 40 years from childhood to midlife. Outcome: Childhood Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Intellect-Imagination influenced adult health status indirectly through educational attainment, healthy eating habits, and smoking. Several direct effects of childhood traits on health behaviors and health status were also observed. Conclusion: The model extends past associations found between personality traits and health behaviors or health status by identifying a life-course pathway based on the health behavior model through which early childhood traits influence adult health status. The additional direct effects of personality traits indicate that health behavior mechanisms may not provide a complete account of relations between personality and health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A first large cohort study of personality trait stability over the 40 years between elementary school and midlife.

This report provides some initial findings from an investigation of the relations between childhood Big Five personality traits assessed by elementary school teachers and similar traits assessed 40 years later by self-reports at midlife (N = 799). Short-term (1-3 years) test-retest reliabilities were lower (.22-.53) in childhood when personality was developing than they were in adulthood (.70-.79) when personality stability should be at its peak. Stability coefficients across the 40-year interval between the childhood assessment and the 2 measures of adulthood personality were higher for Extraversion (e.g., .29) and Conscientiousness (e.g., .25) than for Openness (e.g., .16), Agreeableness (e.g., .08), and Neuroticism (e.g., .00). Construct continuity between childhood and adulthood was evaluated by canonical analysis and by structural equation modeling and indicated continuity at both a broad, two-dimensional level and at the level of the Big Five. The findings are discussed in relation to A. Caspi, B. W. Roberts, and R. L. Shiner's (2005) principles of rank-order personality stability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Big Five dimensions and ADHD symptoms: Links between personality traits and clinical symptoms.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adulthood is conceptualized as originating in childhood. Despite considerable theoretical interest, little is known about how ADHD symptoms relate to normal personality traits in adults. In 6 studies, the Big Five personality dimensions were related to ADHD symptoms that adults both recalled from childhood and reported concurrently (total N=1,620). Substantial effects emerged that were replicated across samples. First, the ADHD symptom cluster of inattention-disorganization was substantially related to low Conscientiousness and, to a lesser extent, Neuroticism. Second, ADHD symptom clusters of hyperactivity-impulsivity and oppositional childhood and adult behaviors were associated with low Agreeableness. Results were replicated with self-reports and observer reports of personality in community and clinical samples. Findings support theoretical connections between personality traits and ADHD symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental perspective on personality in emerging adulthood: Childhood antecedents and concurrent adaptation.

Personality and competence were examined in a community sample of 205 children ages 8-12 yrs old who were followed up 10 yrs later in emerging adulthood (ages 17-23 yrs old). Adult Positive Emotionality (PEM), Negative Emotionality (NEM), and Constraint (CON) were presaged by childhood personality. PEM was associated with current success in social and romantic relationships. Low CON was associated with childhood and current antisocial conduct. NEM was broadly linked to childhood and current maladaptation, consistent with the possibility that failure in major developmental tasks increases NEM. Findings highlight the pervasive linkage of NEM to maladaptation and suggest that adult personality may develop from processes embedded in childhood adaptation as well as childhood personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dynamics of childhood and adolescent personality traits and adolescent drug use.

Examined the relative impact of childhood and adolescent personality/behavioral attributes on the adolescent's stage of drug use. Mothers of 356 youngsters were interviewed concerning their child's personality, behavior, development and childrearing techniques, family structure, family health, and demographics when the child was 5–20 yrs of age (Time 1 [T1]) and again when the child was 13–18 yrs old (Time 2 [T2]). Adolescents also completed a self-report questionnaire concerning their personalities, behavior, and drug use at T2. As hypothesized, findings support a mediational model as best depicting the interrelation of the domains of childhood and adolescent personality and stage of drug use. Childhood personality attributes were related to adolescent personality attributes, which in turn were related to adolescents' stage of drug use. Across-time personality correlations suggested that substantial continuity exists in personality traits. However, there was also some evidence for the malleability of these traits. Results suggest the positive effects of protective (i.e., nondrug-conducive) personality traits in children can be weakened by the presence of risk factors during adolescence, leading to higher T2 drug stage, and that the negative impact of childhood risk personality traits can be ameliorated by protective personality traits during adolescence, resulting in lower drug stage. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting adult occupational environments from gender and childhood personality traits.

To test aspects of a theory of the role of personality and gender on the development of vocational interests and their subsequent effects on adult occupational choices, the authors of this study examined associations among childhood personality traits, gender, and occupational environments more than 40 years later. Participants (N = 587) were assessed on the Big Five by their teachers when the participants were between 6 and 12 years old. In middle-age (late 40s), the participants reported their occupation. Holland's (1997) RIASEC vocational types (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional) were used to characterize the job environments of reported occupations. Childhood Openness/Intellect and Conscientiousness, but no other Big Five traits, were associated with occupational environments. For the most strongly sex-typed work environments, associations with Openness/Intellect were moderated by gender. These findings suggest that the roots of the strongest gender-stereotyping effects in occupations may be found not only in the social factors associated with gender but also in the individual differences of children related to Openness/Intellect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting personality pathology among adult patients with substance use disorders: effects of childhood maltreatment

The purpose of this study was to examine predictive relationships between types of childhood maltreatment and personality disorders in a substance-abusing population. Three hundred thirty-nine drug- or alcohol-dependent patients completed a reliable and valid retrospective measure of childhood trauma, the CTQ, and a self-report inventory that assesses the entire range of DSM-III-R personality disorders, the PDQ-R. As a preliminary step, factor analyses were used to group personality disorders into the three DSM-III-R Axis II clusters (Clusters A, B, and C), although some diagnostic subclusters were also found. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed several significant paths between types of maltreatment and personality disorder clusters (and subclusters). Physical abuse and physical neglect were related to a subcluster of "psychopathic" personality disorders consisting of childhood and adult antisocial personality traits and sadistic traits. Emotional abuse emerged as a broad risk factor for personality disorders in Clusters A, B, and C. Emotional neglect was related to the traits of schizoid personality disorder, which formed its own subcluster. Finally, sexual abuse, which had been expected to predict borderline personality disorder traits, was unrelated to any personality disorder cluster. These findings support the view that child maltreatment contributes to the high prevalence of co-morbid personality disorders in addicted populations.     

Replicability and 40-year predictive power of childhood ARC types.

We examined 3 questions surrounding the undercontrolled, overcontrolled, and resilient—or Asendorpf–Robins–Caspi (ARC)—personality types originally identified by Block (1971). In analyses of the teacher personality assessments of over 2,000 children in 1st through 6th grade in 1959–1967 and follow-up data on general and cardiovascular health outcomes in over 1,100 adults recontacted 40 years later, we found bootstrapped internal replication clustering suggesting that Big Five scores were best characterized by a tripartite cluster structure corresponding to the ARC types. This cluster structure was fuzzy rather than discrete, indicating that ARC constructs are best represented as gradients of similarity to 3 prototype Big Five profiles; ARC types and degrees of ARC prototypicality showed associations with multiple health outcomes 40 years later. ARC constructs were more parsimonious but, depending on the outcome, comparable or slightly worse classifiers than the dimensional Big Five traits. Forty-year incident cases of heart disease could be correctly identified with 67% accuracy by childhood personality information alone and stroke incidence with over 70% accuracy. Findings support the theoretical validity of ARC constructs, their treatment as continua of prototypicality rather than discrete categories, and the need for further understanding the robust predictive power of childhood personality for midlife health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality–relationship transaction in young adulthood.

Personality and social relationships were assessed twice across a 4-year period in a general population sample of 489 German young adults. Two kinds of personality–relationship transaction were observed. First, mean-level change in personality toward maturity (e.g., increase in Conscientiousness and decrease in Neuroticism) was moderated by the transition to partnership but was independent of other developmental transitions. Second, individual differences in personality traits predicted social relationships much better than vice versa. Specifically, once initial correlations were controlled for, Extraversion, Shyness, Neuroticism, self-esteem, and Agreeableness predicted change in various qualities of relationships (especially with friends and colleagues), whereas only quality of relationships with preschool children predicted later Extraversion and Neuroticism. Consequences for the transactional view of personality in young adulthood are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

EAS temperaments during the last half of the life span: Twins reared apart and twins reared together.

In this first behavioral genetic study of personality in the last half of the life span, results are reported using the powerful adoption/twin design that compares identical and fraternal twins reared apart and identical and fraternal twins reared together. Traits studied were the EAS temperaments (emotionality, activity level, and sociability), traits that show substantial genetic influence in childhood. It was hypothesized that the EAS traits would also show significant genetic influence later in life and that most of the environmental variation would be nonshared—that is, twins reared together would show no greater resemblance for the EAS traits than twins reared apart. Both hypotheses are supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Longitudinal Relationship of Personality Traits and Disorders.

Personality disorders are presumed to be stable because of underlying stable and maladaptive personality traits, but while previous research has demonstrated a link between personality traits and personality disorders cross-sectionally, personality disorders and personality traits have not been linked longitudinally. This study explores the extent to which relevant personality traits are stable in individuals diagnosed with 4 personality disorders (schizotypal, borderline, avoidant, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders) and examines the assumption that these personality disorders are stable by virtue of stable personality traits. This assumption was tested via the estimation of a series of latent longitudinal models that evaluated whether changes in relevant personality traits lead to subsequent changes in personality disorders. In addition to offering large consistency estimates for personality traits and personality disorders, the results demonstrate significant cross-lagged relationships between trait change and later disorder change for 3 of the 4 personality disorders studied. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in nonverbal behavior: Dimensions of style.

Style, which is also known as expressive movement, refers to the way in which behavior is performed. Two studies were conducted to develop measures of style, explore their dimensionality, and assess the validity of the dimensions. In the 1st study, Ss' style was rated by peers in everyday situations. A factor analysis produced 4 dimensions—Expressiveness, Animation, Expansiveness, and Coordination—which were internally consistent, stable over time, and stable across raters. In the 2nd study, style was assessed both by trained raters and by peers. There was evidence for the convergent validity of the dimensions: Within-trait, cross-method correlations were of a magnitude similar to those typically found in personality research. Sex differences and relationships with other personality traits, including masculinity–femininity, were also examined. Implications for person perception are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood emotional abuse and attachment processes in the dyadic adjustment of dating couples.

In an effort to improve understanding of the mechanisms that link early maltreatment to later outcomes, this study investigated the mediation effects of adult attachment processes on the association between childhood emotional abuse and later romantic relationships among heterosexual couples. College students and their dating partners (N = 310; 155 couples) completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Experiences in Close Relationship Scale, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006), multilevel modeling results indicated that memories of childhood emotional abuse reported by both students and their partners were significantly associated with attachment strategies, as well as romantic relationship quality. Findings supported hypothesized mediation effects of attachment anxiety and avoidance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent personality as a prospective predictor of parenting: An interactionist perspective.

This study examined personality during adolescence as a predictor of later parenting of toddler-aged offspring. On the basis of empirical research on the timing of parenthood and the interactionist model (Conger & Donnellan, 2007), we examined age at parenthood and family socioeconomic status (SES) as mediators of the relation between personality and parenting. Participants were 228 emerging adults from an ongoing longitudinal study of the transition to adulthood. Later entry into parenthood and higher SES accounted for the association between personality characteristics and lower levels of harsh parenting and higher levels of positive parenting. Consistent with the interactionist model, both personality characteristics and SES-linked variables were related to interpersonal processes in families. The findings suggest that promoting adaptive personality traits during childhood and adolescence may help delay early entry into parenthood, promote higher SES, and, indirectly, foster more positive parenting of young children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceiver effects as projective tests: What your perceptions of others say about you.

In 3 studies, we document various properties of perceiver effects—or how an individual generally tends to describe other people in a population. First, we document that perceiver effects have consistent relationships with dispositional characteristics of the perceiver, ranging from self-reported personality traits and academic performance to well-being and measures of personality disorders, to how liked the person is by peers. Second, we document that the covariation in perceiver effects among trait dimensions can be adequately captured by a single factor consisting of how positively others are seen across a wide range of traits (e.g., how nice, interesting, trustworthy, happy, and stable others are generally seen). Third, we estimate the 1-year stability of perceiver effects and show that individual differences in the typical perception of others have a level of stability comparable to that of personality traits. The results provide compelling evidence that how individuals generally perceive others is a stable individual difference that reveals much about the perceiver's own personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult attachment in a nationally representative sample.

The explosion of adult attachment research in the last decade has been limited by its reliance on college student and distressed samples. Using a large nationally representative sample of American adults, the authors examined the relation of sociodemographics, childhood adversity, parental representations, adult psychopathology, and personality traits to adult attachment in an effort to replicate previous findings and extend the theory. Distribution of adult attachment styles was similar to that in prior studies: 59% secure, 25% avoidant, and 11% anxious. Adult attachment was associated with several sociodemographic variables (e.g., income, age, race) not previously studied. Childhood adversities of an interpersonal nature were strongly related to insecure adult attachment. Various types of adult psychopathologies and personality traits were also strongly related to adult attachment. Implications for adult attachment theory and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interpersonal problems of the socially avoidant: Self and peer shared variance.

We demonstrate a means of conservatively combining self and peer data regarding personality pathology and interpersonal behavior through structural equation modeling, focusing on avoidant personality disorder traits as well as those of two comparison personality disorders (dependent and narcissistic). Assessment of the relationship between personality disorder traits and interpersonal problems based on either self or peer data alone would result in counterintuitive findings regarding avoidant personality disorder. In contrast, analysis of the variance shared between self and peer leads to results that are more in keeping with hypothetical relationships between avoidant traits and interpersonal problems. Similar results were found for both dependent personality disorder traits and narcissistic personality disorder traits, exceeding our expectations for this method. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-cultural personality correlates of intensity and content category of positive experiences.

Investigated the relationship between teenagers' personality traits and 2 aspects of their most positive remembered experiences (MPREs)—intensity and content—across cultures expected to differ on these variables. 192 male and 159 female Israeli Arabs, 166 male and 191 female Israeli Jews, and 195 male and 191 female US Christians (aged 14–15 yrs) completed a high school personality questionnaire (HSPQ) and a positive experience questionnaire (PEQ). MPREs elicited by the PEQ were rated on a 4-point intensity scale and then classified as with external world, with self, or interpersonal. Results indicate that, despite cultural differences in mean intensities and content-category distributions, 9 of the HSPQs' 14 personality factors correlated (beyond the effect of culture) with either intensity, content category, or both. Content categories exhibited sharply differentiated personality factor tendencies. Intensity-linked personality factor tendencies seemed consistent with self-actualizer characteristics described by A. H. Maslow (1971). (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)