The advent of digital typography has seen the printed letter permeate many aspects of our world, due to its function as the visual manifestation of verbal language. However, few scientific researchers have paid attention to these innocuous and ubiquitous characters. Furthermore, existing typeface research has generally been divided into two strands: For nearly ninety years, communicators (writing, marketing, business, and design professionals) have made attempts to investigate how typefaces of different classes and styles might indicate different personalities to the viewer, and explored the notion of typeface appropriateness. More recently, psychologists have taken advantage of word processing software to manipulate perceptual fluency by changing the fonts of different documents, finding several interesting effects. In this study, two experiments were conducted, with the aim of acknowledging and synthesizing both lines of inquiry. In Experiment 1, a restaurant menu was printed with either an easy-to-read, fluent font or a difficult-to-read, disfluent font. It was expected that reading the disfluent font would influence participants’ (n = 110) choices from the menu as well as certain judgments about the dishes. However, there was only one significant effect, whereby participants who read the disfluent font expected to enjoy their chosen dessert less than those who read the fluent font. In Experiment 2, participants (n = 94) judged a person of the opposite sex using the Big Five Inventory, a measure of human personality. The target photograph was paired with a name set in one of two fonts (familiar and unfamiliar). Female participants rated the target higher on the factor of Openness when the name was printed in the novel font. The results of the current study indicate that to some extent, document designers may safely continue selecting typefaces through intuition, and do not necessarily need the supplementation of additional empirical research.

In the media, one type of prejudice is often discussed as isolated from other types of prejudice. For example, after Breivik’s massacre, intolerance toward Muslims was intensely debated (for good reasons). However, his manifesto also disclosed extreme attitudes towards women and gays, a fact which passed without much notice. Still, in understanding why some individuals are so extremely intolerant compared to others, the psychological unity underlying different kinds of prejudice (e.g., racism, sexism) needs to be considered. This psychological unity, referred to as generalized prejudice, provided the starting point for personality theories on prejudice because it suggests that some people are simply more biased than other people in principle. Today it is well known that two basic personality characteristics, agreeableness and openness to new experiences, are powerful predictors of prejudice. However, more precisely what these variables can, versus cannot, explain has received little attention. Consequently, the aim of this thesis was to provide a more fine-grained analysis of generalized prejudice and its personality roots. Paper I demonstrated that personality mainly accounts for variance shared by several prejudice targets (generalized prejudice) whereas group membership mainly predicts unique variance in prejudice towards a particular target group. Thus, personality and group membership factors explain prejudice for different reason, and do not contradict each other. Paper II demonstrated, across three studies, that agreeableness and openness to experience are related to self-reported (explicit) prejudice, but not automatically expressed (implicit) biases. Personality seems informative about who chooses to express devaluing sentiments, but not who harbors spontaneous biases. Finally, Paper III examined the assumption that personality explains (explicit) generalized prejudice because some people simply favor their own group over all other groups (ethnocentrism). Providing the first direct test of this assumption, the results from three studies suggest that while agreeableness and openness to experience explain generalized prejudice, they do not account for purely ethnocentric attitudes. This indicates a fundamental difference between ethnocentrism and generalized prejudice. All in all, self-reported personality seems to have little to do with spontaneous group negativity or simple ingroup favoritism. However, personality strongly predicts deliberate and verbalized devaluation of disadvantaged groups. / I media diskuteras ofta fördomar mot en viss grupp som helt skilda från fördomar mot andra grupper. Efter Breivik’s massaker debatterades till exempel intolerans mot muslimer i stor utsträckning, men det diskuterades inte mycket kring att han även uttryckt extrema åsikter om kvinnor och homosexuella. Likväl är den gemensamma nämnaren i sådana attityder av yttersta vikt för att förstå varför vissa individer är mer intoleranta än andra. Tidigare forskning visar att personer som är mer rasistiska än andra också tenderar att vara mer sexistiska, samt nedvärdera till exempel, handikappade människor. Den gemensamma nämnare i sådana attityder kallas generaliserad fördomsfullhet och utgör grundbulten i personlighetsteorier om fördomar då det pekar på att somliga alltid tycks ogilla/nedvärdera utsatta grupper. Idag är det även välkänt att två personlighetsvariabler, vänlighet och öppenhet för nya erfarenheter, beskriver vem som uttrycker mer fördomar än andra. Däremot har det inte ägnats mycket kraft åt frågan vad exakt det är som dessa variabler förklarar, respektive inte förklarar. Syftet med avhandlingen var därmed att erbjuda en mer detaljerad analys av kopplingen mellan personlighet och generaliserad fördomsfullhet. Artikel I visade att personlighet förklarar den gemensamma nämnaren i olika typer av fördomar, medan grupptillhörighet (exempelvis kön) förklarar skillnader som är unika för fördomar mot en viss grupp (kvinnor). Personlighet och grupptillhörighet kompletterar alltså varandra som förklaringar snarare än att vara motsägelsefulla, såsom vissa forskare menat. Tre studier från Artikel II visade att vänlighet och öppenhet till nya erfarenheter hänger samman med viljekontrollerade fördomar, men inte spontana negativa associationer. Målet med Artikel III var att undersöka om personlighet förklarar fördomar av anledningen att vissa alltid favoriserar sin egen grupp över andra grupper (så kallad etnocentrism). Denna tanke har tagits för givet inom forskning om fördomsfullhet, men antagandet har inte testats empiriskt. Resultaten från tre studier pekar på att, till skillnad från generaliserad fördomsfullhet, så visar etnocentrism i sig inte på några starka samband med personlighet. Sammanfattningsvis så hänger varken vänlighet eller öppenhet ihop med spontan gruppnegativitet eller att ogilla ”de andra”. Däremot så pekar personlighetsfaktorer i stor utsträckning på vem som väljer att uttryckligen nedvärdera utsatta grupper.

Recent research in economics and psychology has examined the childhood noncognitive skills which predict future economic success. However, there has been relatively little research on whether these skills predict future unemployment. This thesis uses data from four cohort studies (total N = 47,328) from Great Britain and the United States to examine how lifetime trajectories of unemployment are affected by childhood differences in self-control (chapter 3), conscientiousness (4), and mental health (5-6). These are some of the first studies to examine how pre-labor market measures of these psychological characteristics prospectively predict future unemployment. Chapters 3, 5 and 6 are the first studies to examine how early psychological characteristics interact with recessions to produce differential unemployment outcomes. After adjusting for cognitive ability and key sociodemographic indicators (e.g. gender, SES), all three of these psychological characteristics are found to predict future unemployment. The effects are statistically significant and economically meaningful, comparable in magnitude to the effects of intelligence. Chapter 3 shows that childhood with poor self-control were disproportionately more likely than their more self-controlled peers to become unemployed during the 1980s UK recession, and chapters 5 and 6 find a similar effect for children with high psychological distress compared to their less distressed peers during the 1980s UK recession and 2007 US recession. These studies demonstrate the value of using psychological research to examine economic outcomes. The chief policy implication is that interventions which improve childhood levels of self-control, conscientiousness and mental health may be an effective way to reduce future population unemployment levels. In the short term, remediation programs which take into account individual psychological differences may improve the efficacy of unemployment interventions, particularly during recessions when certain groups are more likely than others to become unemployed.

Within the psychological literature two main approaches can be identified as influential factors in the increase of well-being, defined in this thesis as Hedonic (SWB) vs. Eudaimonic Well-Being (PWB). One of the key qualities of the human mind is its ability to think about and act upon the future. The first approach emphasises the role of psychological strengths related to the utilisation of foresight and planning in such a way as to influence the consequences of current actions. The second approach focuses on the function of basic personality traits in the setting of goals and mental functioning. To integrate these approaches, this thesis brings together two lines of research: future-orientation and personality traits. Two longitudinal studies investigate the predictive qualities of future-orientated constructs in relation to personality traits, while also focusing on their contribution to the setting and attainment of goals and the perception of well-being. In the first study two cognitive-motivational scales, Hope and Personal Growth Initiative (PGI), were administered to measure two hundred and sixty four participants’ future-orientation. The first aim of this study was to examine the distinctiveness of these two scales in predicting well-being. Results from factor analyses cast doubt on the uniqueness of Hope and PGI, while regression analyses demonstrate Hope to be the strongest, most significant predictor of PWB and SWB. A further aim of the study was to ascertain if future-orientation could account for additional variance in the prediction of well-being, after the influence of the Eysenck’s Personality traits have been controlled for. It was indicated that individuals’ Hope levels do account for residual variance in PWB and SWB. The last aim of the study was to determine if future-orientation could contribute to long-term goal attainment and well-being. The results indicate that participant’s Hope levels did not significantly contribute to long-term goal attainment, however it had a direct, significant effect on long-term PWB. The second study, utilising 117 participants, replicated prior findings that demonstrate Hope, instead of PGI, to be the strongest, most significant predictor of both PWB and SWB. The study also extents prior research by utilising the Big-Five traits in the prediction of PWB and SWB. Factor analyses results indicate Hope to share an underlying factor structure with Openness and Conscientiousness, while PGI share an underlying factor structure with Agreeableness. It was further indicated that participants’ Hope, but not PGI, accounts for residual variance in the prediction of PWB, after controlling for the Big-Five traits. Conversely, Hope and PGI did not account for any residual variance in the prediction of SWB, instead almost 60% of the variance can be attributed to the Big-Five personality traits. Extending the first study, the aim of the second study was to ascertain attainment through independent verification and not participant self-assessment. The results indicate that participants who demonstrate greater levels of Openness and PGI tend to set higher quantitative goals. Although not predictive of goal attainment, participants with greater Openness showed higher performance on the goals. Overall, the results question the distinctiveness of Hope and PGI in the prediction of well-being. It adds to our knowledge of how psychological strengths such as future-orientation can contribute variance to the prediction of well-being after basic personality traits have been controlled for. Finally the results also add to our understanding of how personality traits, as well as, Hope and PGI independently contribute to the setting of goals.

Recent organisational changes have refocused attention on the productivity and performance of sales representatives and consequently brought about a re-evaluation of the QWL these employees experience, as well as their trust in the organisation to support them. Responses to an internet-based survey methodology were analysed using quantitative techniques and structural equation modelling. Results confirm a positive relationship between Managerial Practices and Organisational Trust, and a lower relationship between the dimensions of Personality and Organisational Trust. A positive relationship was noted between QWL and Managerial Practices, and a lower relationship between QWL and the Personality constructs. This study accentuates the importance of management to be aware of the trust employees have in the organisation as well as their experience of QWL, as it seems as though the Personality traits and Managerial Practices of managers influences both the trust relationship and QWL experienced by employees. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

På dagens arbetsmarknad bedöms arbetssökanden i stor utsträckning utifrån sitt CV, trots att arbetsgivare i allt större utsträckning efterfrågar personliga egenskaper likt stresstålighet och förmåga att hantera komplexa situationer. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka om personlighetsfaktorer eller rekryteringsfaktorer har högst prediktiv validitet för självskattad grad av resiliens i arbetslivet. I syfte att besvara studiens frågeställning tillämpades en kvantitativ ansats. Ett digitalt frågeformulär sammanställdes för att snabbt och smidigt nå ut till deltagare online. Mätinstrumenten IPIP30, COPSOQ II och The Resilience Scale användes för att mäta personlighet, upplevd stress, kvantitativa krav i arbetet, risk för utbrändhet och resiliens. Även data gällande ålder, kön, utbildningsnivå, betyg, tid i nuvarande tjänst och yrkesområde samt total arbetslivserfarenhet efterfrågades med avseende att motsvara vanligt förekommande rekryteringsfaktorer. Data har analyserats från 252 yrkesverksamma deltagare i åldrarna mellan 17-62 (M = 34, SD = 10) år, 62% kvinnor och 38% män. Deltagarnas utbildningsnivå utgjordes främst av gymnasieutbildning eller kandidatexamen, där majoriteten vid undersökningstillfället arbetade heltid och närmare hälften hade en total arbetslivserfarenhet på över tio år. Till att beräkna predicerbarhet för respektive faktorer tillämpades en hierarkisk regressionsanalys i två steg. Studiens resultat visade att personlighetsfaktorer kan predicera en individs förmåga att hantera arbetsrelaterad stress mer tillförlitligt än de vanligt förekommande rekryteringsfaktorerna. Vår analys indikerade även att vanligt förekommande rekryteringsmetoder som CV-granskning inte kan bidra med någon tillförlitlig personlighetsbedömning. Förhoppningsvis kommer vårt resultat bidra till att framtida rekrytering lägger större vikt vid personlighetsfaktorer. / In the Swedish labor market jobseekers are largely judged based on their CV, despite the fact that employers increasingly require personal qualities like resistance to stress and ability to handle complex situations. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether personality factors or common recruitment factors have the highest predictive validity for resilience in work life. A digital questionnaire was compiled to quickly and easily reach respondents online. Measuring instruments IPIP30, COPSOQ II and The Resilience Scale were used to measure personality, perceived stress, quantitative requirements at work, risk of burnout and resilience. Data regarding age, sex, education level, grades, time in current employment and occupational area as well as total work experience were collected in order to collect classical recruitment factors. Data was analyzed from 252 professionals in the ages 17-62 (M = 34, SD = 10), 62% women and 38% men. At the time of the study the majority of the respondents worked full-time and their education level was primarily a secondary education or a bachelor's degree. To calculate the predictability for the current factors, a two-step hierarchical linear regression analysis was implemented. Results showed that personality factors can predict an individual's ability to handle work-related stress more reliably than common recruitment factors. Our analysis also indicated that classical recruitment methods such as CV review could not contribute with a reliable resilience assessment. Hopefully, our results could help enhancing

Att besöka olika typer av evenemang har blivit ett alltmer vanligt sätt att förgylla vardagen. Ofta är det ett fåtal personer som ligger bakom planeringen av ett evenemang, men för att lyckas genomföra det på ett framgångsrikt sätt krävs det mer personal, och detta ofta i form av volontärer. Då dessa ställer upp utan finansiell ersättning, är det lätt hänt att det råder en brist på motivation. Avhopp av volontärer är vanligt förekommande och kan ge evenemanget ödesdigra konsekvenser, så det ligger i arrangörens intresse att försöka få dem att stanna och detta genom att hålla dem motiverade. I denna studie har det undersökts vad som skiljer olika personlighetstyper åt när det kommer till motivation. Genom att låta ett antal studenter genomföra ett personlighetstest baserat på modellen The Big Five och sedan genomföra intervjuer med 14 av dem, har det bildats enklarare uppfattning kring hur olika individer motiveras på bästa sätt. Efter att intervjuerna analyserats med hjälp av två personlighetsklassificeringsmodeller samt två motivationsteorier, har vissa skillnader funnits. Studien har fått fram både väntade samband mellan vilken personlighetstyp respondenten klassificerats som och vad denna anser sig motiveras av, men även somliga mer oväntade resultat. / It has become more and more common to visit different kinds of events as a way to glorify the everyday life. Usually, it is only a few people working with planning an event, but to get a successful result more staff is required, and in many cases these are consisting by volunteers. Since these people are helping without any monetary compensation, it can be hard to keep the volunteers motivated, which can be a devastating consequence for the event. Therefore, it is very much in the interest of the arrangers to keep the motivation high throughout the whole event. In this study it has been examined what differs the different personality types when it comes to motivation. By letting a number of students fill out a personality test which was based on The Big Five model and then letting 14 of them go through an interview, a clearer picture has been formed about how different individuals are getting motivated the best way. When the interviews had been analyzed through two different personality models and two motivation theories, some differences have been found. This study has found some relationships between which personality the respondent has been classified as and what they consider themselves to be motivated by. Some findings have been expected while others have been more surprising.

Submitted by Viviane Lima da Cunha (viviane@biblioteca.ufpb.br) on 2017-06-22T14:15:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3580242 bytes, checksum: 63c3a2cbda0197a7117739490979581d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-22T14:15:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3580242 bytes, checksum: 63c3a2cbda0197a7117739490979581d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Usually, the people are well understood by somebody else, considering adjectives who describe their behaviour. This description or characterization is consider a singularity of these personality under your pairs. Some theoretical share the idea that traits are fundamental units of personality, presenting a high range of dispositions for answer the questions in certain ways. Therefore, the personality is a construct which strong influence under the behaviours, with influence in behaviours associate to healthy too. The Five Big Factors Associated with the Personality is considered a model well understood and with great replicability in many countries, who subsidized the formulation of instruments for personality rating. Taking this big concept for make a psicological evaluation, is necessary to use instruments that are not too long and whose items are easily understand by the subjects evaluated. Considering this needs and the importance of personality evaluation, the goal of this study was development and get evidences valid for a construct of a instrument for personality evaluation. Comparisons were made between two types of scale, one based on the Likert method and the other on the semantic differential method and another in differential semantic method. The research was count with a living togheter sample of 247 people in the Pilot Study and 571 attendees in the Final Study, of the both sexes and college students. The scales passed through semantic analysis with 10 subjects of lower extract of the population. It was also carried out the analysis of judges with three experts. In the Final Study were held 7 Factor Analyses (AF) for each scale, was also calculated Cronbach's alpha for each facet and dimensions in order to verify the reliability of the instruments. From the found psychometric results, it opted for the Semantic Differential scale to perform the analyzes of the items by the Item Response Theory. Therefore, the Semantic Differential Scale presented construct evidence of construct validity of as well as evidence of accuracy, be appropriate for personality evaluation. / Normalmente os indivíduos são caracterizados por outrem, levando em consideração adjetivos que descrevam seu comportamento. Essa descrição ou caracterização é considerada uma particularidade da personalidade daquele sujeito perante seus pares. Alguns teóricos compartilham a ideia de que os traços são unidades fundamentais da personalidade, representando disposições amplas para responder de determinadas maneiras. Dessa forma, a personalidade é um construto que tem forte influência sobre os comportamentos, influenciando também comportamentos em saúde. O modelo dos Cinco Grandes Fatores de Personalidade tem subsidiado a elaboração de instrumentos de avaliação da personalidade por ser considerado um modelo compreensivo de considerável replicabilidade em vários países. Para realizar uma avaliação psicológica levando em consideração este amplo conceito, faz-se necessária a utilização de instrumentos que não sejam demasiadamente longos, bem como instrumentos cujos itens sejam de fácil compreensão por parte dos sujeitos avaliados. Dadas as demandas e a relevância da avaliação da personalidade, o objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver e obter evidências de validade de construto de um instrumento para a avaliação da personalidade. Foram realizadas comparações entre dois tipos de escalas de resposta, sendo uma baseada no método Likert e a outra no método do diferencial semântico. A pesquisa contou com uma amostra de conveniência de 247 sujeitos no Estudo Piloto e 571 participantes no Estudo Final, sendo eles sujeitos de ambos os sexos e universitários. Foi realizada a análise semântica das versões iniciais dos instrumentos com 10 sujeitos do extrato educacional mais baixo da população alvo. Também foi realizada a análise de juízes com três especialistas. O Estudo Piloto resultou na exclusão de itens a partir da análise do poder discriminativo dos itens. No Estudo Final foram realizadas 7 Análises Fatoriais (AF) para cada escala; também foi calculado o alfa de Cronbach para cada faceta e as dimensões com o objetivo de verificar a fidedignidade dos instrumentos. A partir dos resultados psicométricos encontrados, optou-se pela Escala de Diferencial Semântico para realizar as análises dos itens por meio da Teoria de Resposta ao Item. Dessa forma a Escala de Diferencial Semântico apresentou evidências de validade de construto, bem como evidências de precisão, sendo a mesma adequada para avaliação da personalidade.

The articles studies the frequency and purpose of Internet use, the indicators of risk for Internet addiction and the persona lit y of 66 university students from a private university in Lima. These variables are analyzed together with the dimensions and facets of the NEOPI-R, based in the big five model. An association was found between the facets values (04) and actions (06), which belong to the Openness dimension (O), and the risk of Internet addiction. A deeper analysis reveals a positive relationship between the number of symptoms of Internet addiction and the Neuroticism (N) dimensiono Additionally, there is a negative relationship between the number of symptoms and the Consciousness (C) dimension,especially on the facets self-discipline (CS), dutifulness (C3), achievement-striving (C4) and deliberation (C6). / Se analizan los hábitos de consumo en Internet: frecuencia y finalidad de uso; los indicadores de riesgo de adicción al Internet, y la personalidad de 66 estudiantes de una universidad particular de Lima Metropolitana. Estas variables se analizan junto con las dimensiones y facetas del Inventario de Personalidad NEO-PI-R a partir del modelo de los cinco factores . Se encuentra una asociación entre las facetas valores (04) y acciones (06), pertenecientes a la dimensión Apertura (O), y el riesgo de adicción al Internet. Un análisis más profundo revela una relación positiva entre el número de síntomas de adicción al Internet y la dimensión Neuroticismo (N). Existe también una relación negativa entre el número de síntomas de adicción al Internet y la dimensión Conciencia (C), especialmente con las facetas autodisciplina (CS), sentido del deber (C3), motivación de logro (C4) y reflexión (C6).

Personality of software engineering professionals has been a continuous element of interest in academic research. Researchers have applied different models of personality analysis in various software engineering areas to identify improvement points, to promote job satisfaction and to better organize teams. Among these models, we can highlight the MBTI and BIG Five. This work aims to conduct a study to evaluate personality models applied in software engineering and to understand how human personality influences software quality. Two controlled experiments were performed, the first in industry, in IT department of a private higher education institution and the second in an advanced programming discipline in academy. For both experiments, the quality of software individually produced by each participant was evaluated using software metrics for object-oriented paradigm languages. As a result, there is evidence that developers with different personalities do not develop software of equal quality. As the experiments were run in a single geographic location with an own software development culture, additional studies need to be performed to determine any real link between personality and software quality. / A personalidade dos profissionais de engenharia de software tem sido um elemento contínuo de interesse na pesquisa acadêmica. Os pesquisadores aplicaram diferentes modelos de análise de personalidade em várias áreas de engenharia de software para identificar pontos de melhoria, promover a satisfação no trabalho e organizar melhor as equipes. Entre esses modelos destacamos o MBTI e BIG Five. Esta dissertação objetiva realizar um estudo para avaliar modelos de personalidade aplicados em engenharia de software e compreender como a personalidade humana influencia a qualidade do software. Dois experimentos controlados foram realizados, o primeiro na indústria, no departamento de TI de uma instituição privada de ensino superior e o segundo em uma disciplina de programação avançada na academia. Para ambas as experiências, a qualidade do software produzido individualmente por cada participante foi avaliada utilizando métricas de software para linguagens de paradigma orientadas a objetos. Como resultado, há evidências de que desenvolvedores com personalidades diferentes não desenvolvem software de qualidade igual. Como os experimentos foram realizados em uma única localização geográfica com uma cultura de desenvolvimento de software própria, estudos adicionais precisam ser realizados para determinar qualquer ligação real entre personalidade e qualidade de software.