Impulsive personality traits have been found to be robust predictors of substance use and problems in both cross-sectional and longitudinal research. Studies examining the relations of substance use and impulsive personality over time indicate bidirectional effects, where substance use is also predictive of increases in later impulsive personality. The mechanism(s) accounting for the impact of substance use on later personality remain unknown. The present study sought to explore the bidirectional relations of alcohol use with the impulsive personality traits over three time points, and to examine two potential mechanisms that could account for the impact of alcohol use on personality: the development of alcohol-related problems and social norms for substance use. Participants were 525 college students (48.0% male, 81.1% Caucasian), who completed self-report measures assessing personality traits and a structured interview assessing past and current substance use. Data collection took place at three different time points: the first occurred during participants’ first year of college (T1), and follow-ups took place approximately one-year (T2) and two-years (T3) later. Bidirectional relations were examined using structural equation modeling to control for the relations among the variables of interest within time points and the stability of the variables across time. T1 sensation seeking and lack of premeditation predicted higher levels of alcohol use at T3, and T1 alcohol use predicted higher levels of all three impulsive traits at T3. T2 friend norms for drug use were found to significantly mediate the relation between T1 alcohol use and T3 sensation seeking, and T2 alcohol problems were found to significantly mediate the relation between T1 alcohol use and T3 negative urgency. Findings provide greater resolution in characterizing the bidirectional relation between impulsive personality traits and substance use, and demonstrate that sensation seeking and negative urgency are impacted through distinct mechanisms.

Asmenybės pokyčių analizė visada buvo svarbi klinikinės psichologijos sritis, kuri tampa ypač aktuali permainų laikotarpiu. Visuomeninių pokyčių sėkmė priklauso ne tik nuo susiklosčiusių sąlygų, bet ir nuo individo psichologinių ypatumų bei jo paties vidinių pokyčių. Habilitacijai pateiktuose darbuose yra analizuojami vidiniai ir išoriniai veiksniai, nulemiantys asmenybės pokyčius. Pirmųjų grupę sudaro patologiniai veiksniai , o taip pat vidiniai struktūriniai asmenybės dariniai, antrųjų –išorinių intervencijų (daugeliu atvejų psichoterapijos) poveikio analizė ypatingą dėmesį skiriant traumos padarinių išgijimo analizei. Psichoterapinis poveikis priklauso nuo terapinio santykio ypatumų. Publikacijose yra analizuojama terapinio santykio formavimosi sąlygos, struktūra ir mechanizmai, kurie yra būtini veiksmingai psichoterapijai. Habilitacijos procedūrai yra pateikti darbai, kuriuose nagrinėjami kai kurie metodologiniai tyrimų aspektai- atvejo analizės taikymas moksliniuose tyrimuose, kiekybinių ir kokybinių tyrimų derinimas klinikinėje psichologijoje – šie klausimai yra pakankamai nauji Lietuvoje, tad jų naudojimo galimybių aptarimas taip pat svarbus. Asmenybės pokyčių tyrimai yra perspektyvi sritis, kurios plėtotė galėtų apimti ir tolesnius psichoterapijos veiksmingumo tyrimus, ir daugialypę tapatumo dinamiškumo analizę. / Analysis of personality changes always was important field of clinical psychology. It has a special meaning in modern times, as global changes depend not only on circumstances, but on the changes of individual too. Inner factors such as pathological conditions and inner personality structures are analyzed in the perspective of personality transformation. Depth presumptions of personality changes, outer factors and psychotherapy process are important part of our research which is represented for the habilitation procedure. Special attention is paid for trauma experience and its healing process. Effective psychotherapy depend on successful therapeutic relationship. Conditions of formation, structure and processes of therapeutic relationship are one more subject of our research. We discuss some methodological questions in our publications (case analysis and scientific research, combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis)- those questions are new in Lithuanian clinical psychology. Personality changes and its research is interesting and perspective field – we suppose its development could include further research of effectiveness of psychotherapy and dynamic of personality identity.

While the overall stability of personality across the lifespan has been well-documented, there is also evidence of meaningful personality change. This is particularly true when individuals are going through periods of developmental transition. Over time, one sees incremental changes not just in behavior but in basic personality as well. 1,906 early adolescents were assessed for urgency scores, levels of maladaptive behavior engagement (drinking, smoking, and binge eating), and pubertal status every six months for four years. Zero-Inflated Poisson structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the model of reciprocal influence between behavior and personality. Across most six-month intervals over the course of the four-year study, urgency predicted increased engagement in the maladaptive behaviors. Strikingly, the reverse was true as well: engagement in behaviors predicted subsequent increases in urgency, which is otherwise a stable personality trait. This study is the first to find reciprocal prediction between engagement in maladaptive, risky behaviors and endorsement of the maladaptive personality trait of urgency during the early adolescent years. One implication of these findings is the apparent presence of a positive feedback loop of risk, in which maladaptive behaviors increase high-risk personality traits, which in turn further increase the likelihood of maladaptive behaviors.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Linguistics & Psychology, Department of Psychology, 2004. / Bibliography: p. 478-485. / Overview of introductory chapters -- Loevinger's conception of ego development -- How might ego stage change happen? -- Theories of sudden change -- Summary of introductory theory -- Aims of the study -- Method -- Preliminary results -- Stages 1-2: analysis of themes in stories of moments of insight -- Stage 3: analysis of story themes by ego level -- Stage 4: examining stories for evidence of ego level change -- Looking for signs of ego level change in case studies -- Case study 1: Sarah -- Case study 2: Louise -- Case study 3: Kasandra -- Case study counter example: Philip -- Revisiting three theoretical tenets of ego development -- Discussion. / Moments of insight - dramatic shifts in perspective in how a person sees him or herself or the world - may provide us with glimpses of how accelerated change might happen in Loevinger's (1976) stages of ego development. Identifying moments of insight as potentially being structural phenomena, and the marrying of them into ego development theory is original to this thesis. -- Ego development proceeds in successive stages that Loevinger described as "self-paradigms", somewhat like Kuhn's (1962) view of paradigms. If this metaphor holds, then at least sometimes, people would be expected to experience sudden, revolutionary paradigm-style changes in their stage of ego development. However only one substantial theory exists as to how stage-changes happen, and that is a theory of gradual change (Kegan, 1979), which is likely the most common form of change. A theory of sudden, revolutionary, paradigm-style change, then, would seem to address a theoretical gap in the concept of how ego development proceeds. This thesis seeks to address that gap. -- A total of 80 participants were tested in regard to their ego development level and a range of secondary measures, and invited to tell stories of their moments of insight: 15 through the medium of interviews (3 of whom became "case studies" and a fourth, a "counter example"), while 65 wrote their stories in questionnaires. -- Analysis was conducted through theoretical argument, through qualitative analysis backed by evidence from story data, and by quantitative analysis of the common themes apparent in the moment of insight stories. Criteria were developed from the data for identifying prototypical examples of moment of insight stories, and criteria for judging ego level change in transcripts were Loevinger's (1976) empirically derived stage descriptions. -- It was shown that these prototypical experiences were those most readily linked with, and potentially indicative of the connection between moments of insight and ego level advancement. The counter example case study also powerfully revealed the conflict felt, even at a high ego level, when there is no "crystallisation of integration" afforded by a moment of insight experience. -- The evidence suggests that moments of insight may indeed be times of sudden ego development change. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / xiii, 485 p

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Linguistics & Psychology, Department of Psychology, 2004. / Bibliography: p. 478-485.

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a significant exposure (six months) to a State School environment on selected personality traits and identity factors of adolescent girls. A second objective was to ascertain whether greater change takes place early in the period of residency (three months) or in a later stage. A third aim was to determine whether there is a significant difference in the degree of change between girls showing fewer pathological signs and healthier identity than those who show a greater number of such signs and a stronger delinquent identification.

A question addressed in this study is; how are identities of children constructed using narratives and photographs in humanitarian discourse? This study is a sociological exposition of ethical issues that arise from representations of children within humanitarian discourse. Humanitarian discourse is treated as a special type of cultural representation. This discourse entails uses of a special form of language that constructs represents and portrays stereotypical identities of children. Such cultural representation illustrates how children’s identities are socially constructed realities. Constructions of realities of children are shaped, influenced and ‘controlled’ by intentions of humanitarian professionals as social actors. Humanitarian professionals’ actions as agents are also located within socio-cultural structures and contexts that give rise to the humanitarian discourse. This means reality is not ‘unified’ but a product of intentional and conscious inter-subjective human actions in specific contexts. Such is an assumption of phenomenological sociological theory that situates this study. This assumption also influenced qualitative research methods of this study. Qualitative methods emphasise the significance of individual perceptions and interpretations when analysing social issues. Identified ethical issues arise from practical program situations causing humanitarian professionals to collect children’s narratives and photographs in the first instance. Those situations include; conducting child focused researches, designing children’s programs, writing child rights advocacy articles and policy briefs, marketing children’s issues, media publishing, writing project proposals, monitoring and evaluating projects. Ethical issues that arise from the above include; violations of children’s privacies, lack of informed consent to collect and use children’s narratives and photographs, uses of enticements to induce information from children, disclosures of sensitive data, exaggerations, sensationalising and manipulations of children’s identities. Based on study findings, knowledge or academic contribution situated within phenomenological sociology is proposed. The study’s knowledge contribution is that constructions of children’s identities reveal how perceptions and interpretations of identities create socially determined realities within humanitarian discourse. / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)

Personlighet är per definition relativt stabila mönster av tankar, känslor och beteenden men det finns även klara belägg för att personlighet kan ändras under hela livsloppet. Exakt hur stabil personligheten är och vilka förändringar som sker hos äldre individer är däremot inte klarlagt. Mognadsprincipen säger att förändring i personlighetsdrag med ökad ålder speglar en funktionell mognad. Nyligen har det föreslagits att sådan mognad i personlighet hos de äldsta individerna skiljer sig från den förändring som sker hos unga vuxna och i medelåldern. Den föreliggande uppsatsen hade två syften. Det första var att undersöka rangordningsstabiliteten i personlighet hos äldre och det andra var att undersöka medelvärdesförändring i personlighetsdrag hos äldre utifrån mognadsprincipen. En longitudinell design användes i ett material av 341 individer mellan åldrarna 60–78 år vid baslinjemätning, över en tidsperiod av 12 år. Personlighet mättes med hjälp av femfaktormodellen (The Big Five). Resultaten visade att: (1) rangordningsstabiliteten var moderat till hög i alla fem personlighetsdrag, (2) Conscientiousness och Extraversion minskade för hela gruppen medan Agreeableness och Openness endast minskade för de yngre deltagarna, (3) Neuroticism visade en icke-signifikant trend av att öka hos de äldsta individerna. Uppsatsens resultat ger stöd för att personlighet är relativt stabil även bland äldre. De förändringar i personlighet som sker verkar skilja sig från trenderna som tidigare påvisats hos unga vuxna och i medelåldern och därmed spegla en annorlunda mognad. / Personality is by definition relatively stable patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviour but there is also clear evidence that personality can change during the entire life span. Exactly how stable personality is and what kind of changes occur in the elderly, however, is not clear. The maturity principle states that change in personality traits with increased age reflects a functional maturity. Recently it has been proposed that such maturation of personality among the oldest individuals is different from the changes that happen in young adults and in middle age. The current study had two purposes. The first was to examine the rank-order stability of personality in the elderly and the second was to examine mean level change in personality based on the maturity principle. A longitudinal design was used in a sample of 341 individuals between the ages of 60-78 at baseline, over a time period of 12 years. Personality was measured using the five-factor model (The Big Five). The results showed that: (1) the rank-order stability was moderate to high in all five personality traits, (2) Conscientiousness and Extraversion decreased in the entire sample while Agreeableness and Openness decreased only in the younger participants, (3) Neuroticism showed a non-significant trend of increasing in the oldest participants. The results of the thesis support the notion that personality is relatively stable even among the elderly. The changes in personality that do occur seem to deviate from the trends that have been established in young adulthood and middle age and thereby reflect a different maturation.

A question addressed in this study is; how are identities of children constructed using narratives and photographs in humanitarian discourse? This study is a sociological exposition of ethical issues that arise from representations of children within humanitarian discourse. Humanitarian discourse is treated as a special type of cultural representation. This discourse entails uses of a special form of language that constructs represents and portrays stereotypical identities of children. Such cultural representation illustrates how children’s identities are socially constructed realities. Constructions of realities of children are shaped, influenced and ‘controlled’ by intentions of humanitarian professionals as social actors. Humanitarian professionals’ actions as agents are also located within socio-cultural structures and contexts that give rise to the humanitarian discourse. This means reality is not ‘unified’ but a product of intentional and conscious inter-subjective human actions in specific contexts. Such is an assumption of phenomenological sociological theory that situates this study. This assumption also influenced qualitative research methods of this study. Qualitative methods emphasise the significance of individual perceptions and interpretations when analysing social issues. Identified ethical issues arise from practical program situations causing humanitarian professionals to collect children’s narratives and photographs in the first instance. Those situations include; conducting child focused researches, designing children’s programs, writing child rights advocacy articles and policy briefs, marketing children’s issues, media publishing, writing project proposals, monitoring and evaluating projects. Ethical issues that arise from the above include; violations of children’s privacies, lack of informed consent to collect and use children’s narratives and photographs, uses of enticements to induce information from children, disclosures of sensitive data, exaggerations, sensationalising and manipulations of children’s identities. Based on study findings, knowledge or academic contribution situated within phenomenological sociology is proposed. The study’s knowledge contribution is that constructions of children’s identities reveal how perceptions and interpretations of identities create socially determined realities within humanitarian discourse. / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)

Helen Martins devoted approximately the last thirty years of her life to converting her family home into a unique fantasy world which she named the Owl House. Since her death in 1976 the Owl House has become a national monument and museum in South Africa. Throughout her life Helen was considered by most of the surrounding villagers to have been strange, and she withdrew increasingly from society. However, she appeared to have contained a desire for human connection. There are several instances in which she expressed this desire, such as through the numerous letters which she wrote to fellow artists. The existing body of literature on Helen illustrates the complex nature of her personality; however the question of which personality style she best typifies has remained unanswered. In order to answer this question a psychobiography was conducted on Helen. Psychobiographies entail a biographical representation of a person's life history to which a psychological theory is applied. The psychological theory utilised within the current study was Millon's (1969/1996) Biosocial- Learning Theory. Thus, the chief objective of this study was to describe and interpret Helen's personality style through the use of Millon's (1969/1996) Biosocial-Learning Theory. Alexander's model of data extraction and Miles and Huberman's three step approach were implemented in order to reduce, organise and analyse the data. The findings of this study reflected that Helen deteriorated from one of Millon's (1969/1996) proposed personality styles to another as she aged. The current findings may illuminate Helen's motives for obsessively devoting her life to the creation of her fantasy world.