Interactions in predicting mood from extraversion and neuroticism.

Many researchers have found evidence that, when only marginal distributions are examined, extraversion is related primarily to positive affect, whereas neuroticism is related primarily to negative affect. Recent findings have suggested that extraversion and neuroticism interact in predicting mood so that marginal relations could be misleading. The present study used extraversion (and its components, sociability and impulsivity) along with neuroticism in regression equations including interactive and curvilinear components to predict measures of positive and negative affect among 384 undergraduates. Results confirm earlier findings that extraversion and neuroticism interact in predicting both positive and negative affect. The interaction pattern was similar to previous findings: Both positive and negative affect were strongly related to extraversion only among neurotic Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Purposes of punishment: Effects of utilities of criminal sanctions on perceived appropriateness.

Examined 5 commonly discussed purposes of punishment (incapacitation, retribution, rehabilitation, general deterrence, and special deterrence) in 2 experiments. The experiments were designed to study how the perceived usefulness of penalties in serving these purposes changes with seriousness and type of crime, and how these perceived utilities affect judgments about the appropriateness of penalties for various crimes. In Exp I, 72 undergraduates completed a Just World Scale and then rated the usefulness of 30 possible penalties (including fines, probation terms, and imprisonment terms) in serving these purposes for 4 crimes. In Exp II, 6 judges rated the penalties for all 4 crimes. Importance weights derived from the data indicate retribution to be the most influential for all crimes among the judges and for all crimes except murder among the students. Results concerning deterrence indicate that Ss believe that more serious crimes are more difficult to deter than minor offenses. Results suggest that it is important to distinguish between what decision makers say the most important considerations ought to be and how their decisions actually appear to depend on these factors. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of latent variable models for detecting discrimination in salaries.

A major criticism of the direct regression approach to detecting employment discrimination has been that when qualifications are not perfectly measured, one could be misled by the well-known bias associated with using fallible covariates with nonequivalent groups—sometimes called the "errors in variables" problem. With regard to salary discrimination, a number of solutions to this "problem" have been proposed. I argue that this bias should be treated as irrelevant and that the proposed solutions are misleading. In order to sustain the argument against direct regression (or its nonparametric analogue), one must be willing to assume that true quality of performance influences salary over and above the influence of measures of performance. This involves postulating a latent variable, often labeled "qualifications," that has a direct effect on salary. For several reasons it may be undesirable to make this assumption. Other problems with the regression approach, however, do require serious consideration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sentencing strategies and justice: Effects of punishment philosophy on sentencing decisions.

Examined the cognitive processes underlying sentencing decisions made by college students in a judicial decision-making experiment. Ss were asked to follow 1 of 3 punishment strategies (retribution, rehabilitation, or deterrence). In addition, the type of crime and the physical attractiveness of the offender were systematically varied. Length of recommended prison term, Ss' judgments of seriousness of the crime, likelihood of recidivism, and blame attributed to offender and victim were examined. The pattern of strategy effects on prison term recommendations was generally consistent with that found in other studies involving real judges in their actual cases. Deterrence group sentences were the most severe for all crimes, whereas the rehabilitation group sentences were the least severe for serious crimes only. The rehabilitation group Ss consistently blamed the victim of the crime more than did the other groups. This finding is discussed with respect to belief in a just world and defensive attribution. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactive effects of extraversion, neuroticism, and social relationships on subjective well-being.

Previous research has indicated that there is a relation between extraversion and subjective well-being (SWB), and that the sociability component of extraversion primarily accounts for this relation. Interactive effects of extraversion and social relationship variables on SWB were hypothesized and found in Study 1 using the Extraversion scale from the 16 PF, the Well-Being subscale of the Differential Personality Questionnaire, and several social relationship scales administered to 291 college students. Several multiple regression analyses indicated that strength of social relationships was a strong predictor of SWB only for introverted individuals. Study 2 replicated these findings with the Eysenck Personality Inventory and revealed important interactive relations between extraversion, neuroticism, and social relationships in predicting SWB. A strong relationship between extraversion and SWB occurred only among individuals who were highly neurotic or who had poor social relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On detecting sex bias in salaries.

Comments that the model used by M. H. Birnbaum (1979, 1981) to derive his diagnostic test makes the implausible assumption that salary depends only on true quality of performance and is not influenced at all by common measures of merit (e.g., number of publications, years of experience). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)