The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between false memory and trait anxiety, depression and personality characteristics with emotionally valenced material (positive, depression related, threat related and neutral). Participants were 131 Middle East Technical University students. Four groups (depressed, anxious, mixed and control) were formed in order to differentiate the effects of trait anxiety and depression. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Trait Form of State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-I) were administered. In order to measure false memory creation, a variant of Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm was used. It was hypothesized that the anxious group would produce more false memories for threat related words as compared to other groups. In addition, the depressed group was expected to display higher levels of false memory for depression related words as compared to other groups. One-way MANOVA was used to analyze the data. The results showed that there was a group difference only in terms of threat related words&rsquo / accuracy. Also people were categorized as &ldquo / low&rdquo / and &ldquo / high&rdquo / in the six personality characteristics as measured by Big Five Questionnaire. It was hypothesized that people high in openness to experience would commit less false memories as compared to people low in the trait. This was true for only positive material. Further, other personality characteristics were analyzed in order to discover the relationship between false memory and personality. The results were discussed in terms of relevant literature.

Forskningen kring sambandet mellan ADHD och olika personlighetsdrag är fortfarande begränsad. Syftet med den föreliggande studien var att undersöka skillnader inom de fem personlighetsdimensionerna (Big Five) mellan personer med en ADHD diagnos och de utan diagnos i Sverige. De personer med ADHD förväntades uppvisa lägre grad av Conscientiousness och Agreeableness samt högre grad av Neuroticism än de utan denna diagnos. Totalt 140 unga vuxna med eller utan ADHD problematik fyllde i ett Big Five test. Resultaten visade att de med ADHD rapporterade signifikant lägre grad av Agreeableness och Conscientiousness men högre grad av Neuroticism än de utan denna nedsättning. Resultaten var i linje med tidigare forskning och studiens begränsningar diskuterades samt förslag på vidare studier inom detta område.

A plethora of personality constructs have been proposed, and associated measures developed, to capture behavioral tendencies relevant to academic achievement. For example, individual differences in aspects of motivation, curiosity, studying behaviors and evaluations of the importance of school have been linked with achievement. However, there is little understanding of whether and how different achievement-relevant personality measures (APMs) relate to one another or to broader dimensions of personality. The current project examined the dimensionality of achievement-relevant personality constructs, their associations with the Big Five personality traits, and associations with academic performance. In Study 1, 214 college students were measured on 36 independent APMs along with a well-established, measure of the Big Five traits. Factor analytic results supported the convergent and discriminant validity of five latent dimensions: performance and mastery approaches to learning, self-doubt, effort, and hungry mind. Each factor and the individual scales that composed the factors possessed a distinctive pattern of associations with the Big Five. Conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience had the most consistent associations with APMs. Based on the results of the first study, we next constructed a more efficient scale of APMs – the Multidimensional Achievement-Relevant Personality Scale (MAPS). In Study 2, we replicated the factor structure of the MAPS and its associations with the Big Five in a sample of 359 individuals. Additionally, we validated the MAPS with four indicators of academic performance. Although the factors assessed by the MAPS overlap somewhat with general indicators of personality, there was some evidence of incremental prediction of achievement. / text

With the propagation of individuals' presence in various online environments from social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) and dating websites (e.g., Match.com, eHarmony.com) to personal blogs (e.g., WordPress.com) and employment websites (e.g., linkedIn.com), the need to understand online social dynamics has grown. In many cases, people are experiencing introductions online rather than in-person. In the absence of non-verbal information, one potentially important source of information available in virtual environments and communication is in the way people use language. With the development of computerized word count tools, it has become increasingly feasible to analyze large samples of text-based stimuli (e.g., Ireland, et al., 2011; Mehl, Gosling, & Pennebaker, 2006; Pennebaker, Mehl, & Niederhoffer, 2003; Tausczik & Pennebaker, 2010). These analyses have been able to reliably reveal a number of traits (e.g., Big Five, gender) and states (e.g., depression) about the authors of the texts. In a study of approximately 500 dyads, participants were asked to spend 10 minutes in an online chat room getting to know an individual for whom they were unacquainted. Participants then rated one another on a number of personality and individual difference traits. Analyses focused on sample-level, pair-level, and trait-level self-other agreement within the sample. Additionally, linguistic mediators of the self-other agreement were investigated. A Brunswick Lens Model was employed in order to interpret the relationship between linguistic cues and overall judgmental accuracy. Results revealed that self-other agreement in the online chat environment was achieved slightly above chance. Traits that were perceived accurately included Extraversion, Political Liberalism, and Tradition. Results also revealed that there were a number of valid linguistic markers to predicting accurate personality judgment. These cues, however, were rarely utilized to achieve accuracy. Also, counter to hypotheses, linguistic style matching (or the degree to which individuals were mimicking each other linguistically) was not predictive of self-other agreement. It was, however, significantly related to interaction quality. Taken together, the findings revealed that computer-mediated environments are a valid context for forming impressions. However, valid cues are either not available or not detected by perceivers. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed as well as areas for future research. / text

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Shared Decision Making (SDM) in medical consultations has received significant attention in the literature over the past 10 years. Research indicates that patients’ desire both components of SDM, information sharing and behavioural involvement, to differing degrees (Flynn, Smith, & Vanness, 2006) and that matching medical care to these preferences may be associated with better patient health outcomes (Cvengros, Christensen, Cunningham, Hillis, & Kaboli, 2009). In this thesis, relationships between SDM preferences and patients’ personal characteristics (demographic factors and personality attributes) were investigated (Objective one), as well as associations between patient’s SDM preferences and the features of the health concern that they were seeking care for (Objective two). The current study used 158 Christchurch residents who were part of a longitudinal health and wellbeing study. They completed a questionnaire that measured their general SDM preferences, their demographic and personality characteristics and their preferences for SDM, given four hypothetical health complaints. These complaints varied in duration and perceived seriousness. Demographic variables and personality variables accounted for approximately the same amount of variance in participants’ general preferences for SDM, together describing 33% and 42% of the variance in information sharing and behavioural involvement. The strongest contributors were all three Health Locus of Control variables, sex and education level. Big Five personality traits and participant self-rated physical health did not account for a significant amount of variance in SDM preferences, once all variables were controlled for. In addition, the features of the health concern were marginally associated with participants’ SDM preferences for that specific consultation. Between-subjects analyses found that the duration or perceived seriousness of the health complaint were not associated with SDM preferences reported within the first scenario, once participants’ general SDM preferences were accounted for. Whereas, these two features described a significant amount of variance in participants’ information sharing preferences in the within-subjects analyses, when participants’ general SDM preferences were controlled for. Post-hoc analyses reported that chronic health complaints, that were perceived to be highly serious, elicited significantly greater preferences for information exchange than all other scenarios. No association occurred for participants’ preferences for involvement in final decision making across the four scenarios. The findings emphasise that differences occur in patients’ preferences for information sharing and behavioural involvement; both in regard to their general preferences and their specific preferences for these components of SDM within a given consultation. They also identify the central role that patients’ personality characteristics may play in determining their collaboration and involvement in healthcare; associations that are often overlooked by the SDM literature. The current findings contribute to our understanding of patient’s preferences for SDM and implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Background: When a company is employing new salespeople, much is expected from these. The company is hoping that the new candidate is going to perform well and contribute to the fullest. One of the big questions that the organization has to face is how to evaluate and sift through sales candidates in order to find the best suited one. Previous studies have shown to some extent that a person's personality can be connected to how well they are performing in different occupations. One commonly used framework for assessing personality is the Five Factor Model (FFM) which is able to account for different traits without overlapping. One way to assess a person's personality traits is by the use of the big five inventory questionnaire (BFI). Purpose: To describe if there is a correlation between personality traits and sales performance in the Swedish car dealership market.Method: The research was a quantitative study of two Swedish car dealerships, where 60 out of 72 employees at Hedin Bil & Holmgrens Bil answered the BFI questionnaire. The response rate was 83%. The survey was sent out by mail to the two companies whose responsible managers divided their sales staff in three different groups (good performing, average performing and bad performing) according to the company's organizational goals.Conclusion: The conclusion of this study is that one of the hypotheses was supported and four rejected by the salespeople participating. The only hypothesis that was supported was that Neuroticism would correlate negatively with sales performance.

Andersson, B. (2014). Modernt Ledarskap. C-uppsats i Pedagogik. Högskolan i Gävle, akademin för utbildning och ekonomi Den undersökta myndigheten uttrycker sig sträva mot att utveckla ett modernt ledarskap och genom detta strävar myndigheten mot att bli utsedd till Sveriges modernaste myndighet vilket är en utmärkelse som samtliga statliga myndigheter kan erhålla. I teorier om ledarskap uttrycks vanligtvis att ledarskapet är en viktig faktor för en väl fungerande organisation. Det transformella- och kommunikativa ledarskapet, samt Big Five-modellen valdes efter en genomförd litteratursökning av nyare forskning om ledarskap som exemplifieringar av det som beskrivs som ett modernt ledarskap. Detta jämfördes sedan i studien gentemot hur personal på myndigheten själva uttryckte sin syn på ett modernt ledarskap med hjälp av en insamlad enkät. Syftet med studien var att undersöka om myndighetens ledarskap är "modernt" i den meningen att den har likheter med de ledarskapsteorier som beskrivs som moderna i nyare ledarskapslitteratur. Metoden var huvudsakligen kvantitativ i form av en enkät med kvalitativa inslag där fritextfält kopplades till utvalda frågor. Enkäten skickades ut till 200 chefer med personalansvar. Svarsfrekvensen blev cirka 46 procent där respondenterna svarade på ett antal frågor kring rådande chefspolicy, samt vilka färdigheter och egenskaper de menar att ett modernt ledarskap innehåller. Urvalet av respondenter begränsades till en specifik svensk myndighet och de medarbetare som där är chefer med personalansvar. Resultatet av undersökningen antyder att rådande chefspolicy har visst stöd i modernare ledarskapsforskning (exemplifierat genom likheter och skillnader gentemot det tranformella- och kommunikativa ledarskapet, samt Big Five-modellen). Cheferna känner till den rådande policyn. Cheferna på myndigheten pekar på aspekter som att kunna kommunicera, ta beslut, skapa dialog och delaktighet, stötta och skapa entusiasm samt ge feedback som de viktigaste färdigheterna för det de kallar ett modernt ledarskap. De personliga egenskaperna som lyfts fram som de viktigaste är att vara stöttande/coachande, ha självinsikt och en positiv människosyn. Både färdigheterna och egenskaperna har tydliga kopplingar till de valda moderna ledarskapsteorierna som myndighetens personals åsikter jämfördes gentemot.

Darbe tiriamas ryšys tarp vadovų asmenybės savybių, vertintų Didžiojo Penketo Asmenybės Klausimynu, bei jų turimų galios rūšių ir naudojamų įtakos taktikų, taip pat atsižvelgiant į demografinius kintamuosius bei kitas vadovų / pavaldinių charakteristikas. Tokiu būdu siekiama giliau perprasti galios ir įtakos pasireiškimo mechanizmus, kadangi jie labai svarbūs organizacijų veikloje, o ypač dėl to, kad gali nulemti vadovavimo efektyvumą. Tyrime dalyvavo 46 vadovai ir 246 jų pavaldiniai, iš savo perspektyvos vertinę savo vadovų galią ir įtaką. Dalyviai pildė anketas. Nustatyta, kad įtakos taktikos ir galios rūšys – susiję konstruktai. Daugiausiai vadovai naudojasi racionaliomis įtakos taktikomis ir ekspertine galia, tačiau asmenybės savybės yra susijusios su kietomis įtakos taktikomis (su jomis koreliavo sąžiningumas ir ekstraversija) bei pozicijos galia (su ja koreliavo intelektualumas ir sąžiningumas). Tuo tarpu racionalios įtakos taktikos yra susijusios su emociniu stabilumu ir intelektualumu. Darbe aptariamos ir vadovų lyties, užimamo statuso bei kitų charakteristikų sąsajos su galia bei įtaka. / The relationship between manager‘s Big Five personality traits and their power bases and influence tactics was investigated, also taking into consideration demographic variables and other characteristics of managers and their subordinates. In that way an attempt to go deeper into mechanisms of power and influence was made – these are very important in organizational practice, especially because they may determine leadership effectiveness. The participants were 46 managers and 246 subordinates who evaluated their manager‘s power and influence. All of them filled in questionnaires. The results showed that power bases and influence tactics are interrelated constructs. Most frequently used were rational influence tactics and expert power, however, manager‘s personality characteristics mostly were related to hard influence tactics (those had correlations with conscientiousness and extraversion) and position power (it had correlations with openness to experience and conscientiousness). Rational influence tactics had correlations with emotional stability and openness to experience. The effects of managers‘ gender, status and other characteristics on power and influence use were also discussed.

Leadership studies and leadership development have become increasingly popular in recent years. However, much of this popularity has been focused on leadership in adults. This thesis explores the emergence and development of leadership skills in children as they gain experience from play, athletics, and school. The definition of leadership is examined as well as the skills needed for proficient leadership. The skills are structured around the Big Five personality factors. Each of the areas discussed – play, athletics, and school – gives children many opportunities to interact with their peers allowing for valuable development. Overall, this thesis asserts that leadership and its development can occur at the beginning of an individual’s lifetime and does not need to be restricted to adulthood.