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Domestic violence perpetrated by men against women persists as a major human rights issue in the United States and around the world with some estimates showing that one in four women will be victimized in their lifetimes. Victims face many obstacles when they try to leave their abusive partners. A major barrier faced by victims is secondary victimization. Secondary victimization is the process in which informal (e.g., family, friends, etc.) and formal (e.g., police officer, judges, etc.) supporters re-victimize the victim by questioning the validity of the abuse, excusing the perpetrator, and blaming the victim. Because most victims seek help from informal supporters first, predictive personality factors of supportive attitudes towards DV victims from informal supporters was the main focus of this study and a measure, the Support for the Victim scale, was developed for the current study based on a review of the literature and a consultation with a licensed psychologist. Using a sample of college students from Brigham Young University, an online survey was conducted to examine which factors are predictive of supportive attitudes towards DV victims.

The purpose of this study was to examine the patterns and discriminant utility of the five-factor model of personality ( "Big Five," consisting of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness factors) with depressed and anxious outpatients. One hundred two outpatients seeking services at a community mental health center in a small western community participated in the study. Subjects were 41 clients with a depressive disorder, 31 with an anxiety disorder, and 30 in a mixed clinical control group. Subjects completed the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness to Experience Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Results indicate that both depressed and anxious clients score in the "very high" range on neuroticism and "low" on extraversion. However , neither of these two factors is useful in discriminating between depression and anxiety since their mean scores are essentially equivalent . Conscientiousness is the crucial variable that discriminates between depressed and anxious clients. The mean score for the anxiety group is in the "very low" range, significantly lower than the depressed group whose mean is in the "low-average" range. Openness to experience contributes mildly to discriminant utility, with the mean score of the depressed group in the "high-average" range and the mean score of the anxiety group in the "average" range. The agreeableness variable contributes minimally to the discriminant function.

The problem of the present study was to discover the relationship of personality factors and certain psycho-social conditions related to the troublemaking behavior of normal institutionalized children.

Understanding the relation between personality characteristics, psychopathology, and sexual offenses can contribute to developing more effective treatment interventions. Previous research with sex offenders has focused on general personality traits or inconsistently classified sex offenders based on psychopathology. It was hypothesized that combining personality and psychopathological traits can assist in understanding sex offenders. The current study evaluated 88 male sex offenders in a court-mandated outpatient treatment program utilizing the NEO-PI-R and the MMPI-2. Three clusters of child molesters were examined for differences in personality characteristics and number of offenses. A second-order principle axis factor (PAF) analysis of personality and psychopathology traits revealed three factors: Psychological Distress, Excitement-Seeking, and Social Desirability. The potential clinical utility of these dimensions in predicting treatment compliance is examined.

Estudar a personalidade de artistas através do método de Rorschach é tarefa conhecida na psicologia clássica, observar evolução de fatores de personalidade, é tarefa rara, visto a necessidade de manter contato com os mesmos sujeitos, utilizar as mesmas metodologias, visando aprimorar o conhecimento de áreas específicas que fazem parte do desenvolvimento da criatividade, da psicologia e da arte. Com finalidade de caracterizar os fatores de personalidade e suas diferentes manifestações, sob a influência da maturidade, treino e experiência profissional e aspectos psicossociais, foi realizado o teste de Rorscharh em quatro artistas do sexo feminino, individualmente, em dois momentos distintos da vida das mesmas, 1988 e 2005. Em relação ao trabalho mental, foi observado um aumento da produtividade e da qualidade; assim como a percepção tornou-se mais prática e equilibrada. A adaptação para com a média intelectual diminuiu em contraposição ao aumento do contato com a realidade, da objetividade e da aceitação das normas grupais. Os indivíduos testados apresentaram personalidade flexível com múltiplos recursos: criatividade crescente, capacidade reflexiva, sensibilidade emocional crescente e evolução das respostas afetivas. Na análise do tipo de vivência observou-se maior introversão, e na dinâmica psíquica houve o predomínio do pólo intelectual em relação ao emocional. Interesses diversificados deslocando-se dos interesses centrais para os de cotidiano, primários e intelectuais. Outros resultados importantes destacados são: crescimento da atuação no meio e aumento da subjetividade, diminuição da impulsividade. Vale ressaltar que os indivíduos testados apresentaram grande número de mecanismos inusuais de reação nos dois momentos do estudo. A produtividade e outros sinais correlatos foram sensíveis à mobilização afetiva e ao tempo. A aplicação do teste de Rorscharch em artistas permitiu a elaboração de um conjunto de fatores representativos da personalidade dos mesmos. Evidenciou-se como contra-ponto marcante: produção criativa com estilo próprio versus forte subjetivação desadaptativa. / To study the artists personality by means of the Rorschach method is, for Classic Psychology, a known task. To observe the evolution of the factors related to the personality is very rare due to the need to keep in touch with the same individuals, and to employ the same methodologies, with the goal of enhancing the know-how of specific subjects that are connected to the development of creativity, psychology, and art. With the objective of characterizing personality traits and their distinct manifestations under the influence of: maturity, practice, professional experience and psychosocial aspects, four female artists, were individually submitted to the Rorschach Test, in two distinct moments of their lives: 1988 and 2005. An increase in productivity and quality was observed in regards to intellectual activities, with the individual having a more practical and balanced perception. As the contact with reality, objectivity, and acceptance of group guidelines increased there was a decrease in the adaptation of the average intellect. The individuals submitted to the test demonstrated to have a flexible personality with multiple resources: increased creativity, reasoning capacity, a growing emotional sensitivity, and an evolution of the affectionate responses. In analyzing this type of life we observed a greater introversion, and in the psychic dynamic there was a predominance of the intellect side in detriment of the emotional one. Diverse interests flowing from core ones to those related to: daily, primary, and intellectual ones. Other important results that are important to mention are: increased activity, increased subjectivity, and decrease in the impulsiveness. It is important to mention that the individuals, submitted to the test, demonstrated many unusual reaction mechanisms during the Studys two phases. The productivity and other corresponding signs showed sensitivity to the demonstration of affection and the passage of time. The application of the Rorscharch Test in Artists produced a group of factors that were representative of their respective personalities. A marked counterpoint became evident: creative productivity with own style versus a strong un-adaptive subjectivity.

Personlighet påverkar många livsaspekter. Tidigare forskning har visat att politik är en av dessa aspekter. Forskning inom området har konstaterat ett samband mellan personlighet och riktningen av personers politiska orientering samt mellan personlighet och Känsla av sammanhang (KASAM). Däremot fanns en forskningslucka kring relationen mellan KASAM och politik. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka relationen som de fem grundläggande personlighetsdimensionerna och KASAM har till Politiskt intresse samt Politisk inriktning, men även relationen mellan personlighetsdimensionerna och KASAM. Hundrafemtiofem studenter deltog varav 37 män. Datainsamling gjordes via enkät, som bestod av BFI-44, SOC-13 samt självrapportering av Politiskt intresse och inriktning. Databearbetningen skedde via korrelationsanalys samt regressionsanalys. Studiens resultat visade att personlighet hade ett samband med politik samt KASAM och att KASAM hade ett samband med en högerorienterad politisk inriktning. Eftersom relationen mellan KASAM och politik var relativt outforskad kan resultatet av denna studie ses som ett intressant ämne för framtida forskning.

Burnout is a psychological syndrome caused by occupational stress, which often manifests in mental health professionals who experience demanding and emotionally charged relationships with clients. Guided by the equity theory, this study examined the relationship between spiritual transcendence and burnout in psychologists and social workers who work with severely mentally ill patients after accounting for specific personality traits. Constructs were measured via the Spiritual Transcendence scale (STS), Maslach Burnout inventory (MBI), and the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Sixty eight psychologists and social workers were selected from psychiatric hospitals, community centers, and private practice in Nevada to participate in the study. A quantitative approach using hierarchical regression was used for statistical analysis. The results suggest that, after controlling for the NEO-FFI scales, STS was not significantly related to burnout. The results also suggest that, as the personality factor of neuroticism increases, burnout rates also increase and as the personality factors of extraversion and agreeableness increase, burnout tends to decrease. The social change implication of this research is identifying personality factors that contribute to, or are protective factors of, burnout. For example, individuals who score high on neuroticism scales can be aware of their susceptibility to burnout, and those with high scores on agreeableness and extraversion can be conscientious of those factors and potentially put protective factors in place. These findings are beneficial to employers of mental health professionals, program developers, and mental health professionals themselves.

This study examined the importance of the Big-Five personality traits and work values for the prediction of entrepreneurial intent. Data were collected from a sample of 261 undergraduate students at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Results of a hierarchical regression analysis revealed that none of the Big-Five personality factors predicted entrepreneurial intent; however, the importance individuals attached to achievement and social-affective work values accounted for 9% of the variance in entrepreneurial intent, above and beyond personality. The results lend support to the argument that entrepreneurship is a cultural phenomenon and that entrepreneurs are ‘made’ as opposed to ‘born’. Consequently, the implications of culture and gender characterization are discussed in relation to entrepreneurial intentions. Finally, a dynamic model of entrepreneurial emergence is proposed and suggestions for future research are discussed.

There is a lacuna in the field of positive psychology as far as the conceptualisation of influences of environmental contexts on psychological well-being is concerned, and there is also a lack of credible empirical findings on the dynamics of processes involved. The aim of the current study was to test various models on the possible mediating role of subjective perceptions of health, personality factors and spirituality in the dynamics of context and psychological well-being. Psychological well-being was conceptualised and measured multi-dimensionally as defined from a general psychological well-being, hedonic, and eudaimonic perspective. Context was defined in terms of the historical stratification in South African society by socioeconomic differentials pertaining to race, socioeconomic indices and infrastructural resources. An availability sample of 5 14 participants from Potchefstroom (n=384) and Mafikeng (n=130) completed questionnaires on psychological well-being, subjective perceptions of health, personality factors and spirituality after informed consent was obtained. Psychological well-being was measured with the Affectometer 2 (Kammann & Flett, 1983), the Sense of Coherence Scale (Antonovsky, 1987) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Larsen and Griffin, 1985). General psychological well-being was defined and operationalised in terms of the degree of sense of coherence, satisfaction with life and affect balance; hedonic well-being in terms of the degree of satisfaction with life and affect balance, and eudaimonic well-being in terms of the degree of sense of coherence and satisfaction with life. Subjective perceptions of physical health was measure with the General Health Questionnaire of Goldberg and Hillier (1979); Agreeableness and Extraversion as personality factors with the NEO- Personality Inventory - Revised of Costa and McCrae (1992); and Spirituality with the Spiritual Well-being Scale of Paloutzian and Ellison's (1979). The findings indicate, firstly, that perceptions of physical health (article I), personality factors (article 2) and spirituality (article 3) mediate the relationship between contexts and psychological well-being. Secondly, that the hedonic model of psychological well-being (albeit variably conceptualised in article 1 and articles 2 and 3) overall, yielded the highest amounts of variance. Thirdly, the results also indicated differences among the two predominantly black and white samples in terms of the roles played by subjective perceptions of health, personality factors and spirituality in the relationship between contexts and psychological well-being. It is concluded that due consideration must be given to social context and the dynamics of interaction between social ecology and individual factors in order to make a meaningful contribution to the understanding and promotion of psychological well-being. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are indicated. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.