The United States is experiencing a severe shortage of Emergency Medical Service (EMS) paramedics. The job outlook for paramedics (EMT-P) for the years 2012-2022 is predicted to increase by 23%-33%, which is much faster than the 4% average increase of other first-response professions. The average tenure of paramedics is less than 4 years. There is a significant gap in the literature concerning paramedic personality traits and tenure. The primary objective of the current study is to provide empirical data on the personality traits possessed by long-term paramedics (5+ years), and compare them to those with shorter tenure (< 5 years). Using Allport's Trait Theory, I predicted that personality would affect paramedic longevity. The 6 personality traits tested were warmth, reasoning, emotional stability, liveliness, social boldness and openness to change. A socio-demographic questionnaire, determined the length of their EMS career, while the 16PF® Assessment, tested their personality traits. Using t tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, and a set of regression analyses, data were examined to determine if length of career and personality traits predicted paramedic tenure. The research sample consisted of long term paramedics and former paramedics. The results showed that of the 6 personality traits, only warmth was a significant predictor of paramedic tenure. A logistic regression showed for every additional point in warmth, the odds of leaving EMS prior to 5 years increased by a factor of 2.77. This study provides support for positive social change by helping EMS to learn how to increase recruitment and tenure. It also helps by advising EMS agencies to attend to the mental and emotional health of their paramedics by being aware of the level of their warmth personality trait.

Thesis (M.A. (Clinical psychology) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / The purpose of this study was to describe the influence of family resilience on teenagers’ adaptation following parental divorce. Quantitative and qualitative, descriptive research was conducted to determine if there was a relationship between family resilience and teenagers’ adaptation. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires. Affected teenagers, n=60 and their families (n=60), were sampled using a screening tool at three schools in Capricorn district in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Data was collected using family resilience scales and coping scales: Ways of Coping (WCS). The data was analysed in line with ABCX-model to choose subscales that correlated significantly with adaptation scale of family resilience as potential resilience factors; and coping by avoidance, behavioral and cognitive strategies using (WCS). The study highlighted potential family resilience factors and specific ways of coping used by teenagers among families with teenagers following parental divorce. The findings have revealed that there are family characteristics which enable teenagers to cope following parental divorce. Teenagers who cope have been found to mostly use behavioural and cognitive strategies and less of avoidance strategies. Family resilience factors among the families of these teenagers were effective communication (Family Problem Solving and Communication-FPSC), family hardiness (Family Hardiness Index-FHI) and, the problem solving and behavioural strategies utilised by families in crisis situations (Family Crisis Oriented personal Evaluation Scales-F-COPES). Further research should focus on longitudinal and context-specific that tracks family and teenagers’ adaptation to stressful events as a process that unfolds over time and those that recognises bi-directional and, transactional influences among fa

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mentor characteristics (i.e., motivational tendencies, personality traits), mentoring provided, and protégé outcomes. A motivational approach was taken, in the sense that motives to mentor, as well as personality characteristics of the mentor, were considered in regard to their ability to predict the type of mentoring provided and outcomes for the protégé. Specifically, the potential relationships between personality traits (Intrinsic Motivation, Learning Goal Orientation, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Machiavellianism) and mentor motives, as well as the provision of career and psychosocial mentoring, were examined. In addition, the current study examined the ability of mentor characteristics to predict several protégé outcomes. Ninety-one mentors (i.e., college juniors and seniors) were paired with 91 protégé (i.e., college freshmen) and were asked to meet for a half hour each week for four consecutive weeks. Self-report measures were collected from both mentors and protégés before the mentoring sessions began (T1) and after (T2) they were completed to determine the effect of having a mentor on various outcomes. All mentoring sessions were videotaped so that trained raters could code the type of mentoring behaviors that occurred within a given session. Results were analyzed via correlational analyses, exploratory regression analyses, and hierarchical regression analyses. Individuals who were generally more intrinsically motivated and learning goal oriented reported being more motivated to mentor others for intrinsic satisfaction reasons. Mentors who were more extraverted and agreeable than their peers reported being more motivated to mentor in order to benefit others. In addition, having a mentor who provided career mentoring reduced school-related stress for a protégé. The key findings of the current study provide support for the view that personality and motivational characteristics of the mentor affect the type of mentoring provided, albeit indirectly in some cases. In addition, it is important to consider multiple sources of mentoring data provided (i.e., mentor, protégé,independent rater) rather than just the protégé's point of view because this will provide a more well-rounded picture of the mentoring relationship, as well as identify potential gaps in perception that may exist between mentors and protégés.

<p>Social phobia is a disabling, lifelong disorder characterised by fear in social settings.</p><p>The aim of the present study was to gain more knowledge about diagnostic, neurobiologic and epidemiologic aspects of social phobia.</p><p>Thirty-two individuals were assessed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I and II psychiatric disorders, the Karolinska Scales of Personality and the Temperament and Character Inventory. Social phobia was accompanied by concurrent axis I disorders in about 28% of individuals, lifetime axis I disorders in 54%, personality disorders in 60%, and avoidant personality disorder (APD) in 47%. This suggests that there is a high comorbidity between social phobia and APD according to the DSM-IV criteria. The personality profiles associated with social phobia were dominated by anxiety-related traits that were primarily related to social phobia itself and not to the presence of concurrent personality disorders.</p><p>Eighteen subjects with social phobia and eighteen controls were investigated with positron emission tomography and the radiolabeled serotonin precursor, [3 -11C]–5-HTP (5-HTP). Individuals with social phobia demonstrated proportionally lower regional relative whole brain accumulation of 5-HTP in areas of the frontal and temporal cortices as well as the striatum, but higher accumulation in the cerebellum. This suggests that there are imbalances in presynaptic serotonin function in individuals with social phobia, although this could only be confirmed in men, and not in women.</p><p>By means of a postal survey, distributed to 2000 randomly selected individuals, social phobia in Sweden was found to be common, with a point prevalence of 15.6%.</p>

Social phobia is a disabling, lifelong disorder characterised by fear in social settings. The aim of the present study was to gain more knowledge about diagnostic, neurobiologic and epidemiologic aspects of social phobia. Thirty-two individuals were assessed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I and II psychiatric disorders, the Karolinska Scales of Personality and the Temperament and Character Inventory. Social phobia was accompanied by concurrent axis I disorders in about 28% of individuals, lifetime axis I disorders in 54%, personality disorders in 60%, and avoidant personality disorder (APD) in 47%. This suggests that there is a high comorbidity between social phobia and APD according to the DSM-IV criteria. The personality profiles associated with social phobia were dominated by anxiety-related traits that were primarily related to social phobia itself and not to the presence of concurrent personality disorders. Eighteen subjects with social phobia and eighteen controls were investigated with positron emission tomography and the radiolabeled serotonin precursor, [3 -11C]–5-HTP (5-HTP). Individuals with social phobia demonstrated proportionally lower regional relative whole brain accumulation of 5-HTP in areas of the frontal and temporal cortices as well as the striatum, but higher accumulation in the cerebellum. This suggests that there are imbalances in presynaptic serotonin function in individuals with social phobia, although this could only be confirmed in men, and not in women. By means of a postal survey, distributed to 2000 randomly selected individuals, social phobia in Sweden was found to be common, with a point prevalence of 15.6%.

Human being, as an individual, is a basic element of social organization and plays different roles within different organizations such as family, school, and working setting. During the process of role-taking, individuals are influenced by three factors: personality traits, organization, and interpersonal relationship within working environment. Given that, the purpose of this study is to understand the association of personal, organizational and environmental factors and ¡§perceptions of organizational politics¡¨(POPs). 29 organizations participated in this study and , from which, 1524 valid respondents were collected and analyzed through methods of ¡§factor analysis¡¨, ¡§validity & reliability test¡¨, ¡§correlation analysis¡¨ and ¡§hierarchical regression¡¨. After applying ¡§factor analysis¡¨ of the POPs, it was categorized by three dimensions analysis: ¡§(1) behaviors of superior and subordinate; (2) go along and get ahead; (3) difference between the policies of compensation and promotion and actual practices. The results of this study in summary are: 1.Personal factor has effects on POPs with respect to all its three dimensions. 2.Organizational factor has effects on POPs with respect to all its three dimensions. 3.Environmental factor has effects on POPs with respect to all its three dimensions.

The present study investigated the role of anxiety and avoidance dimensions of attachment and big five personality traits in adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism. A pilot study was carried out with 408 (260 males and 148 females) preparatory school students of Middle East Technical University (METU) for the adaptation studies of Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R). The results of the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded a 21 item scale with three factors / Standards, Discrepancy and Order. The results of convergent and divergent and criterion-related validity studies revealed evidence for the adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism. As for the main purpose of the study, three questionnaires, namely APS-R, Relationship Scales Questionnaire and Big Five Inventory were administered to 604 (377 males and 227 females) preparatory school students of METU. The results of three multiple regression analysis revealed that adaptive perfectionism as measured by Standards scores was significantly predicted by Conscientiousness, Openness and Extraversion. Maladaptive perfectionism as measured by Discrepancy scores was predicted by Neuroticism, Anxiety and Avoidance dimensions of attachment. Order scores used as an additional analysis were found to be predicted by Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Extraversion and Openness.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships among pre-service science teachers&rsquo / personality, self-regulation, and teaching self-efficacy by proposing and testing a comprehensive conceptual model. In the model, it was hypothesized that personality traits are directly linked to pre-service science teachers&rsquo / self-efficacy and academic self-regulation, and pre-service science teachers&rsquo / academic self-regulation is directly related to their self-efficacy. A total of 1794 pre-service science teachers (876 males and 905 females) from 27 education faculty partic ipated in the study. Self-efficacy (i.e. self-efficacy for student engagement, for instructional strategies, and for classroom management), academic self-regulation (i.e. achievement goals, task value, control of learning beliefs, test anxiety, metacognitive self-regulation, effort regulation, and peer learning), and personality trait (i.e. Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) were assessed by self-report instruments. The results of the path analysis revealed that agreeableness, neuroticism, performance approach goals, and use of metacognitive strategies were positively linked to different dimensions of self-efficacy, namely self-efficacy for student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. In general, while agreeableness and neuroticism were found to be positively associated with different facets of academic self-regulation and self-efficacy, openness was found to be negatively linked to these adaptive outcomes.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between parental acceptance-rejection/control, personality constructs and symptoms of psychopathology. In this regard, 801 university students (440 females and 361 males) between the ages of 18 and 47 (M = 21.85, SD = 2.59) participated in the present study. The data of the study were collected by a package of questionnaires consisting of Demographic Information Sheet, Mother Form of Parental Acceptance-Rejection/ Control Questionnaire, Father Form of Parental Acceptance-Rejection/ Control Questionnaire, Basic Personality Traits Inventory, Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Locus of Control Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Trait form of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory and Trait form of the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory, respectively. Prior to main analyses, factor structure of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale was investigated in a university student sample. Similar to the original formulation and theoretical background, a six-factor solution was utilized including concern over mistakes, doubts about actions, personal standards, organization parental criticism and parental expectations factors. Later on, various MANOVAs were conducted to examine the influence of demographic variables on the measures of the study. Accordingly, socio-economic level and gender were indentified to have influence on parental behaviors, personality constructs and trait anxiety. Afterwards, two sets of hierarchical analyses were conducted to examine the paths between personality constructs and symptoms of psychopathology. As expected, negative parental behaviors predicted maladaptive personality constructs and symptoms of psychopathology. Furthermore, multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the mediator role of perfectionism on the relationship between parental rejection/control and symptoms of psychopathology. Accordingly, perfectionism was identified as a mediator on the relationship between both maternal and paternal rejection and symptoms of psychopathology. On the other hand, in terms of parental control, only the relationship between paternal control and trait anger was mediated by the perfectionism. Later on, results of the current study were discussed within the related literature findings. Finally, clinical implications and suggestions for future research were stated.

The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship of posttraumatic growth with basic personality traits and locus of control, and the mediator role of coping strategies in these relationships. One hundred and fourteen women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy/radiotherapy treatment or come to the hospital for their post-operational follow-up appointments were recruited. Seventy two mediation models were performed for posttraumatic growth and its factors as dependent variables. The independent variables were basic personality traits (extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and negative valence) and locus of control. The mediators were coping strategies that is problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and seeking social support (indirect coping). The results suggested that problem-focused coping was a significant mediator in PTG&mdash / some basic personality traits (extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, agreeableness) and PTG&mdash / external locus of control relationships. Moreover, emotion-focused coping was a significant mediator in the relationship of PTG with some personality traits (conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience) and external locus of control. Seeking social support did also mediate PTG&mdash / external locus of control relationship. The implications of the findings, and the strengths and limitations of the study were also discussed in the light of the literature.