Befunde zu Einflüssen genetischer Variation auf Temperamentsunterschiede und die Entwicklung psychiatrischer Störungen haben in den letzten Jahren bedeutende Beiträge zum eingehenderen Verständnis neurobiologischer Grundlagen von Verhaltensunterschieden geleistet. Eine der am eingehendsten untersuchten genetischen Variationen ist ein Polymorphismus des Dopamin-D4-Rezeptor-Gens (DRD4 Exon III). Nichtsdestoweniger ist seine funktionelle und verhaltenswirksame Rolle bisher weitgehend unklar: Zwar wurden bestimmte Varianten des Polymorphismus mit einer höheren Ausprägung in der Temperamentsdimension Novelty Seeking in Verbindung gebracht, Nachfolgeuntersuchungen erbrachten jedoch inkonsistente Resultate. Angesichts der methodischen und demografischen Heterogenität der einzelnen Studien war es das Anliegen zweier erster Studien der Dissertation, die Ursprungsbefunde möglichst exakt zu replizieren. Während in einer Voruntersuchung bei 136 Studierenden signifikant höhere Werte in Novelty Seeking bei Vorliegen des DRD4 Exon III 7-Repeat-Allels bzw. des 4/7-Genotyps festgestellt wurde, ergaben sich in Studie I, in der 276 Personen der selben Population mit der selben Methodik untersucht wurden, keinerlei Effekte des Polymorphismus. Auch anhand von Meta-Analysen ist gegenwärtig davon auszugehen, dass derzeit keine ausreichende empirische Grundlage für einen Haupteffekt von DRD4 Exon III auf Novelty Seeking vorliegt. Allerdings stellt ein einzelner Polymorphismus nur einen von vielen endogenen und exogenen Einflussfaktoren auf Temperamentsunterschiede dar, und inzwischen liegen auch Befunde zu Interaktionseffekten von DRD4 Exon III mit weiteren Polymorphismen vor. Derartigen Interaktionen wurde in Studie II nachgegangen, bei der für die Stichprobe aus Studie I zusätzlich zwei weitere genetische Polymorphismen genotypisiert wurden, die direkt oder indirekt die Dopamin-Funktion beeinflussen (COMT, 5-HTTLPR). In Studie II konnten die Ergebnisse einer vorhergehenden Arbeit repliziert werden, die einen Effekt des DRD4 Exon III 7-Repeat-Allels nur für bestimmte Genotyp-Gruppierungen der anderen beiden Polymorphismen zeigte. Zudem kann anhand der Befunde eine Abhängigkeit des Effektes von DRD4 Exon III von tonischen Dopamin-Niveaus vermutet werden. Ein neuerer Ansatz für die Aufklärung der funktionellen Rolle genetischer Variation geht davon aus, dass die relativ geringen Effekte von Polymorphismen auf endophänotypischer Ebene, also der Ebene etwa psychophysiologischer Maße wie dem EEG, möglicherweise besser erfassbar sind als auf Fragebogen-Ebene. Daher wurde in Studie III der Einfluss des DRD4 Exon III Polymorphismus auf einen Endophänotyp der Responsivität gegenüber Neuheit unter Berücksichtigung tonischer Dopamin-Niveaus untersucht. Als ein plausibler solcher Endophänotyp wurde die Novelty P3 des akustisch evozierten Potenzials im EEG in einer Stichprobe von 72 Personen im Hinblick auf ihre Modulation durch DRD4 Exon III untersucht. Tonische Dopamin-Niveaus wurden über die spontane Lidschlagrate als einem indirekten Indikator der Dopamin-Aktivität erhoben. Es zeigten sich keine Haupteffekte von DRD4 Exon III oder Lidschlagrate auf die akustisch evozierte Novelty P3. Es fand sich hingegen eine signifikante Interaktion der beiden Faktoren: Unter den Personen mit niedriger Lidschlagrate (=niedrigen tonischen Dopamin-Niveaus) zeigten Personen mit dem DRD4 Exon III 4/7-Genotyp eine signifikant höhere Novelty P3 in Antwort auf abweichende Reize als Personen mit dem 4/4-Genotyp. Dieses Ergebnis legt nahe, dass der Effekt von DRD4 Exon III auf die Verarbeitung abweichender Information von tonischen Dopamin-Niveaus abhängig ist. Insgesamt eröffnen die Resultate der Dissertation auch weiter gehende Erklärungsmöglichkeiten für Befunde etwa zu einer Assoziation von DRD4 Exon III mit Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit/Hyperaktivitätsstörung sowie für Zusammenhänge zwischen kognitiven, motivationalen und temperamentsmäßigen Verhaltenstendenzen.

Introduction: Previous epidemiologic studies suggest that the personality of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients differs from that of controls, and laboratory evidence supports a potential common pathophysiology of personality traits and PD. One nested case-control study found that PD cases were significantly more anxious than controls before the clinical onset of the disease, and additional data suggest that certain occupations may be risk factors for the disease. Additionally, the latent period that precedes the onset of motor symptoms of PD is unknown. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the association of PD with objective indicators of current and pre-morbid personality, to determine the correlation of early-adult life personality indicators with current personality characteristics and to evaluate the role of personality as indicated by occupational choice and employment patterns in the risk for PD using the Dictionary of Occupational Titles job classification system. Methods: Eighty-nine cases and 99 controls completed in-person structured interviews. Assessments included measures of current personality characteristics and indicators of early-adult (ages 20-35 years) personality, such as activities and lifestyle patterns. Associations between these latent personality variables and current personality characteristics were studied using correlation, partialling out the effects of age, sex and education. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate the associations of early-adult personality and occupational characteristics and the risk for Parkinson's disease. Results: Cases with Parkinson's disease reported higher levels of neuroticism (OR=1.05 (95% CI 1.00-1.11)) and harm-avoidance (OR = 1.07 (95% CI 1.00-1.15)) compared with controls on measures of current personality. A stable association among many traits, particularly traits such as novelty-seeking, which are driven by dopaminergic function, was present not only among controls with presumably normal dopaminergic function throughout their lives, but also among cases. Early-adult life routinization was correlated with current levels of neuroticism (cases: r=0.33, p=0.01; controls: r=0.26, p=0.04), extraversion (cases: r=-0.33, p=0.01; controls: r=-0.33, p=0.04), novelty-seeking (cases: r=-0.33, p=0.015; controls: r=-0.34, p=0.007) and harm-avoidance (cases: r=0.47, p=0.0003; controls: r=0.45, p=0.0002) and for the association of early-adult life activity risks with harm-avoidance (cases: r=-0.47, p=0.0004; controls: r=-0.42, p=0.0006). Taking or wanting to take "activity risks," such as riding on roller coasters as a young adult was found to reduce the odds of Parkinson's disease (OR = 0.78 (95% CI 0.63-0.97)) in the entire sample, while higher levels of early-adult routinization were associated with a greater risk for Parkinson's disease among women (OR=1.63 (95% CI 1.05-2.53)). Parkinson's disease was inversely associated with the total number of jobs held (OR=0.87 (95% CI 0.75-0.99)) but not with the number of job categories or duration of the primary occupation. Increased complexity of work with people was associated with PD among women (OR=0.69 (95% CI 0.53-0.89), as was less complex work with things (OR=1.45 (95% CI 1.11-1.88). The complexity of work with data, people or things was not associated with the risk for PD among men or in the sample as a whole. Men with PD whose work involved greater complexity with data took fewer activity risks (r=0.32, p=0.02) and reported greater routinization (r=-0.34, p=0.01) as a young adult. Conclusions: This evaluation of early-adult risk factors advances current knowledge about the premorbid period of PD and supports the hypothesis that a long period of subclinical disease precedes the onset of motor symptoms. These findings validate the association of these early-adult personality traits and PD and support the idea that behaviors associated with PD personality exist many years before the presentation of motor symptoms. Dopaminergic aspects of personality were related to occupational choices and future consideration of this hypothesis is warranted. Since PD is a degenerative disorder, determining the age of onset of this illness is important in the search for modifiable risk factors and neuroprotective strategies.

The purpose of this study is to explore the differences within specific temperament traits on emotional processing bias. Participants with extremes in temperament traits Harm Avoidance and Novelty Seeking were categorised and their performance on a computerised neuropsychological test battery was investigated. First year psychology students at a residential university in South Africa were invited to participate in the original study. Processing of the data yielded a realised sample of 431 participants who completed the Emotions battery, which comprised of four tasks. The results show that processing of affective valence varies according to individual differences within specific temperament traits. The findings suggest a negative emotion processing bias in the High HA group in comparison to the low HA group. Furthermore, the impulsive and extroverted High NS group show an increased ability to process emotional faces in comparison to the low NS group. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of putative risk factors for psychopathological disorders. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Psychology / unrestricted

M. Tech. (Department of Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Counterfeiting is a global phenomenon in developed and developing countries, causing a threat to national economies and societies. It negatively harms new investment and progressively endangers public health and safety as well. Known and famous brands are often targeted for counterfeiting. This phenomenon is primarily driven by consumers’ aspiring attitudes, social media pressures and the need to differentiate oneself. The aim of the study is to examine the influence of materialism, hedonic consumption motive, utilitarian consumption motive, personal gratification and novelty-seeking on attitudes and the influence of attitudes on willingness to purchase counterfeit sportswear products at a selected HEI. The study is grounded within the positivist philosophy, in which a quantitative research approach was followed, since positivists prefer an analytic and factual interpretation of quantitative data. An online structured questionnaire was used to collect data through an online survey. The study sample was conveniently selected from a population of registered students at a selected HEI in Southern Gauteng in the 2020 academic year. Data were collected on demographic variables, materialism (MAT), hedonic motivation (HED), utilitarian motive (UTL), personal gratification (PGT), novelty-seeking (NOS), attitude towards counterfeits (ATC) and willingness to purchase (WTP) counterfeit sportswear. A total of 327 questionnaires were completed and used in the final data analysis. Descriptive statistics techniques, correlations and regression analysis were used to evaluate perceptions and relationships between the study constructs. The research results revealed the existence of significant positive associations amongst the study constructs. Of the five antecedents, two of the five predictor variables, namely, UTL and NOS showed significant predictive relationships with attitudes towards counterfeit sportswear purchases. Attitudes towards counterfeits (ATC) also emerged as a significant predictor of students’ WTP counterfeit sportswear. Since NOS and UTL seem to predict a positive attitude towards counterfeit sportswear, the study recommends that brand owners develop awareness about ethical purchasing behaviour. They should also educate consumers on the social and economic downside of buying counterfeit products and that seeking novelty when purchasing counterfeit products may soon wane and wear off, leading to regret and cognitive dissonance. Further, brand marketers should also emphasise the utility value inherent in the purchase of authentic branded products instead of buying counterfeits. Since consumers cannot often readily distinguish between genuine and fake sportswear, it is therefore critical for marketers of branded products to promote the contrast of originals and fakes and to underline the quality, longevity, and dependability of their authentic products in the market. These results make a valuable contribution to academics, brand managers and marketers, as the results reveal that consumer buying can be influenced by personality and social interests of different individuals. The study notes that laws only cannot prohibit the sale and purchase of counterfeit products. It requires the stricter implementation thereof. Further, there is a need for behavioural change strategies to counter the effects of counterfeiting. Nudges such as promotions and loyalty programmes may encourage the purchase of authentic products as opposed to the purchase of counterfeits.

摘要 本研究從新奇追求動機探討遊客對旅遊產品的態度會被什麼因素所影響。許多學者提到，遊客對於新奇追求的差異，會影響他們選擇不同觀光活動及旅遊目的地的決策，因此旅遊行程有否提供遊客新奇的體驗（亦即新奇屬性）或是基於旅遊產品本身的新奇性，應能吸引不同新奇追求程度的遊客前往旅遊。然而以往關於新奇屬性的研究多針對實體產品，鮮少從服務性產品的面向做探討，文獻中對旅遊產品新奇性的描述亦甚少著墨，因此本研究藉由操弄新奇屬性和產品新奇性，從旅遊產品的角度觀察對於不同新奇追求程度的遊客之態度會產生什麼影響。 研究結果發現，旅遊行程加入新奇屬性或是產品新奇性較高的旅遊產品並不一定能讓遊客對有較好的印象。當面對無新奇屬性的旅遊行程或低新奇性產品（團體旅遊）時，低新奇追求的遊客相較於高新奇追求的遊客有更好的態度，但其同時對有新奇屬性的旅遊行程及高新奇性產品（自由行）也抱持同樣的好感；而面對有新奇屬性的旅遊行程或高新奇產品（自由行）時，高新奇追求的遊客則相對較有提升好感的趨勢。值得注意的是，當旅遊產品為高新奇性（自由行）並同時搭配具有新奇屬性的旅遊行程後，反而會使消費者發生資訊過載的情形進而提高學習成本，導致消費者對產品的評價混淆甚至產生負面態度。 因此，如果廠商想要在市場上推出新產品，以適度的新奇性做為產品設計的主軸是較為理想的選擇，例如自由行對於高、低新奇追求程度的消費者都具有一定的吸引力，或是團體旅遊搭配具有新奇屬性的旅遊行程亦是保險的組合方式。要注意的是，過多的新奇資訊同時也會增加消費者的學習成本，一旦造成消費者的資訊超載，反而會造成負面的效果。 / This research focuses on what factors based on novelty seeking will be influencing tourists’ attitude toward the tourism product. Many scholars have already mentioned that different degree of novelty seeking among tourists may influence their choices of different sightseeing activities and trip destination. Therefore, whether the travel programs provide novel experiences to the tourists(namely novel attributes) or any novelty of the product itself should be able to attract tourists with different degree of novelty seeking. However, researches on novel attributes in the past mostly put emphasis on substantial products and seldom discussed on service products. In addition, there is a lack of literature regarding product novelty as well. For these reasons, the purpose of this research is to observe the factors which influence attitudes of tourists with different degree of novelty seeking by means of manipulating novel attributes and product novelty. The result of this research shows that travel journey with novel attributes or just a tourism product with high degree of novelty don’t necessarily make better impressions on tourists. When facing travel journey with no novel attributes or just a product with low degree of novelty (package tour), tourists with low degree of novelty seeking show more favor towards the product than those with high degree of novelty seeking, but they as well have positive attitude when there is travel journey with novel attributes or just a product with high degree of novelty (semi-independent travel). On the other hand, the tourists with high degree of novelty seeking comparatively tend to show preference for the travel journey with novel attributes or just a product with high degree of novelty (semi-independent travel). Here what calls our attention is that, when the tourism product is with high degree of novelty (semi-independent travel) and is combined with the travel journey with novel attributes at the same time, it may cause information overload for consumers thus raise their learning cost instead. This even causes consumers to produce negative or confused attitude when evaluating the product. Hence, for the (tourism product) suppliers who want to release new products to the market, I suggest that product design should be emphasize on adding appropriate novelty. For example, semi-independent travel attracts consumers with both high and low degree of novelty seeking; tour package with novel attributes is also safe for tourists. What we should be aware of is that too much novel information increases consumer’s learning cost, and once it causes consumer’s information to overload, it may cause negative effect instead.

Recent studies have suggested a role of two polymorphisms of the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4 exon III and –521C/T) in the modulation of personality traits such as ‘novelty seeking’ or ‘extraversion’, which are supposed to be modulated by individual differences in dopaminergic function. However, several replication studies have not provided positive findings. The present study was performed to further investigate whether DRD4 exon III and –521C/T are associated with individual differences in personality. One hundred and fifteen healthy German volunteers completed the NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and were genotyped for the two DRD4 polymorphisms. We found no association between DRD4exon III and –521C/T, respectively, and estimated novelty seeking, NEO-FFI extraversion or other personality factors. Our findings are in line with several earlier studies which have failed to replicate the initial association results. Hence, our data do not provide evidence for a role of DRD4 exon III and the –521C/T polymorphism in the modulation of novelty seeking and extraversion. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

This study is focused on the dopamine D2 receptor and the linkage between TaqIA and - 141C Ins/Del polymorphisms in DRD2 gene and novelty seeking behaviour, as well as the linkage between Val158Met polymorphism in COMT gene and novelty seeking behaviour. Novelty seeking behaviour is characterized as a personality trait with a tendency to look for novel stimulation and extravagances at any cost of legal, physical and social risk to reward cues. DRD2 and COMT genes are associated with the function of dopamine, which is essential for motoric function and reward-motivated behaviour. Therefore, the aim of this study is to ascertain the potential linkage among the three studied polymorphisms and novelty seeking behaviour.

Recent studies have suggested a role of two polymorphisms of the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4 exon III and –521C/T) in the modulation of personality traits such as ‘novelty seeking’ or ‘extraversion’, which are supposed to be modulated by individual differences in dopaminergic function. However, several replication studies have not provided positive findings. The present study was performed to further investigate whether DRD4 exon III and –521C/T are associated with individual differences in personality. One hundred and fifteen healthy German volunteers completed the NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and were genotyped for the two DRD4 polymorphisms. We found no association between DRD4exon III and –521C/T, respectively, and estimated novelty seeking, NEO-FFI extraversion or other personality factors. Our findings are in line with several earlier studies which have failed to replicate the initial association results. Hence, our data do not provide evidence for a role of DRD4 exon III and the –521C/T polymorphism in the modulation of novelty seeking and extraversion. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.