The current research examined the effects of the cost of sharing information and individual levels of agreeableness on participants' willingness to help out-of-the-loop individuals. In this study, 119 students from undergraduate psychology courses played the role of a CEO of a pharmaceutical company with three regional managers under their supervision. The participants were given the opportunity to give any number of facts to both in-the-loop managers and the single out-of-the-loop manager. Participants in the high-cost condition were informed that they would be required to spend an additional 2 minutes in the lab explaining the usefulness of the facts distributed for every fact they gave a general manager. Participants in the low-cost condition were told they would be required to spend an additional 10 seconds for each fact they gave a regional manager. After distributing facts among the three regional managers under their supervision, the participants were asked to complete an agreeableness scale, a conscientiousness scale, a needs assessment, and a demographics questionnaire. The results indicated that only the amount of time it would cost an individual to share facts dictated how many facts they would share. The results also found that neither condition nor individual level of agreeableness significantly influenced the difference between the number of facts individuals gave to out-of-the-loop individuals versus in-the-loop individuals.

Following interpersonal transgressions, victims? neuroticism and agreeableness have been previously associated with post-conflict anxiety and forgiveness. However, the perceptions that victims have about their transgressors? personalities have received little attention. The current investigation examined relationships between victims? neuroticism and agreeableness, their perceptions of their transgressors? agreeableness, and postconflict anxiety and affiliative motivation measured via plasma cortisol and oxytocin as well as self-reports of post-conflict anxiety and forgiveness in premenopausal women. Victims who perceived their transgressors as more agreeable reported lower post-conflict anxiety, experienced less plasma cortisol reactivity following a simulated speech to the transgressor, and more self-reported forgiveness. Exploratory analyses also revealed that forgiveness was negatively associated with oxytocin reactivity.

For over a century, the enigmatic nature of narcissism has been the source of debate across psychological, sociological, and developmental domains. Although much has been written in recent years about narcissism as a generational phenomenon, referencing data collected from university undergraduates, there is little to no applied research and discussion into the implications for teaching and learning with respect to the reciprocal interactions between narcissistic students and traditional undergraduate education. Recognizing this paucity in the literature, the manuscripts within this dissertation draw theoretical and empirical connections between narcissism and learning, highlighting significant relationships between narcissism as a dispositional construct and achievement goal orientation. Through the development of a theoretical Triarchic Model of Dispositional Narcissism and the empirical exploration of its viability, this dissertation is written in accordance with sentiments that suggest educational psychologists seek to improve learning through a more comprehensive recognition of the variables that contribute to cognitive processes. The theoretical design, research, and interpretations within this dissertation seek to provide a heuristic through which educators may develop proactive, interventive instructional models and pedagogies that will encourage all students to improve their learning by engaging in strategies that lead to deeper cognitive and metacognitive processing. / Ph. D.

The current dissertation employed a multi-method approach to examine gratitude as a mediator of the well-established relation between agreeableness and relationship quality. Study 1 examined this hypothesis in a sample of 158 same-sex best friend pair recruited from the Introductory Psychology subject pool at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. Each friend made self- and informant ratings of agreeableness and dispositional gratitude. Friends also made self-ratings of friendship quality. Structural equation model analyses with latent factors revealed that dispositional gratitude fully mediated the effects of agreeableness on friendship support, intimacy, and affection. Study 2 extended the findings of Study 1 by examining whether frequency of grateful affect was a more proximal mediator of the relation between agreeableness and marital quality. One hundred and ninety-seven family triads (student, mother and father) were recruited from the Introductory Psychology subject pools at the University of Toronto, St. George and Mississauga. Each member of the triad made self- and informant ratings of agreeableness, dispositional gratitude, frequency of grateful affect, and relationship quality. Structural equation model analyses with latent factors showed that frequency of spouses’ grateful affect fully mediated the effects of spouses’ agreeableness on marital support and intimacy and partially mediated the effect of agreeableness on marital companionship and affection. In sum, the findings of the current dissertation suggest that gratitude is one way in which agreeable individuals maintain good quality friendships and marital relationships. The implications of these results for current theories of gratitude as well as relationship research are discussed.

The current dissertation employed a multi-method approach to examine gratitude as a mediator of the well-established relation between agreeableness and relationship quality. Study 1 examined this hypothesis in a sample of 158 same-sex best friend pair recruited from the Introductory Psychology subject pool at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. Each friend made self- and informant ratings of agreeableness and dispositional gratitude. Friends also made self-ratings of friendship quality. Structural equation model analyses with latent factors revealed that dispositional gratitude fully mediated the effects of agreeableness on friendship support, intimacy, and affection. Study 2 extended the findings of Study 1 by examining whether frequency of grateful affect was a more proximal mediator of the relation between agreeableness and marital quality. One hundred and ninety-seven family triads (student, mother and father) were recruited from the Introductory Psychology subject pools at the University of Toronto, St. George and Mississauga. Each member of the triad made self- and informant ratings of agreeableness, dispositional gratitude, frequency of grateful affect, and relationship quality. Structural equation model analyses with latent factors showed that frequency of spouses’ grateful affect fully mediated the effects of spouses’ agreeableness on marital support and intimacy and partially mediated the effect of agreeableness on marital companionship and affection. In sum, the findings of the current dissertation suggest that gratitude is one way in which agreeable individuals maintain good quality friendships and marital relationships. The implications of these results for current theories of gratitude as well as relationship research are discussed.

Few studies have investigated the relationships among resilience, optimism, and personality traits with U.S. college students; although some work has been done with Chinese university students. The current study explores the relationship between resilience, optimism and the Big Five personality traits. A sample of 251 undergraduate students completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the 9-item version of the Personal Optimism & Self-Efficacy Optimism Scale (POSE-E), and the NEO- Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Results indicate a significant positive relationship between resilience and optimism. The results also indicate positive significant relationships between resilience and extraversion, as well as resilience and conscientiousness. A significant negative significant relationship between resilience and neuroticism was found. The results of this study helpful identify characteristics of students who are at-risk following life stressors and traumas.

Scholars have long been interested in the complex relationships between personality and motivation. However, much of their understanding has been limited to The Big Five personality factors (namely, Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism), and a proliferation of motivation constructs emanating from a large number of different theories and sub-theories. This study adds to the body of personality psychology and motivation science literature by examining the relationships between The Big Five personality factors and The MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation (MMAM) components (i.e., eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Caring). The MMAM is comprised of five components that summarize the many instructional implications derived from motivation theories and research to provide instructors with a holistic, conceptual understanding of them. The results of this study may provide evidence as to whether or not the personality traits of college students influence their academic motivation beliefs. To obtain data, I surveyed college students using two self-report instruments. The first instrument, the Big Five Inventory (BFI), measured college students on The Big Five personality factors. The second instrument, the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation Inventory (MMAMI), measured the academic motivation beliefs of college students as related to the MMAM. Data were obtained from 305 college students at a single university in southwest Virginia enrolled in an online course. Exploratory Factory Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to answer the following research question: To what extent do the Five Factor Model factors relate to the MMAM components? Due to the lack of substantiated knowledge regarding the relationships between The Big Five personality factors and the MMAM components, specific hypotheses were not generated. The measurement models for the Big Five personality factors and the MMAM fit well. However, the structural model, in which the Big Five factors were modeled to predict the MMAM components, did not adequately fit the data for these college students. Yet, there were a number of significant pathways between The Big Five personality factors and the MMAM components. Openness and Conscientiousness had a significant, negative impact on eMpowerment, while Extraversion had a significant, positive impact on eMpowerment, Usefulness, and Interest. Additionally, Agreeableness had a significant, positive impact on Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Caring, while Neuroticism had a significant, negative impact on Success. Findings indicated that personality factors can relate to or predict academic motivation. In other words, students' academic motivation beliefs are, to a certain degree, influenced by some of their personality traits, and these differences in traits may manifest themselves in the classroom. In the future, researchers could examine the extent to which students with different personality traits display varying preferences as to the types of pedagogical methods or strategies that motivate them academically. / Ph. D.

<p dir="ltr">The current research took a new look at social influence by considering how personality may predict different types of conformity and the mediating motivational mechanisms involved. Across three studies (<i>N</i> = 2,121), I established whether agreeableness and conscientiousness predicted two different forms of conformity and whether each of these relationships were mediated by different motives. First, I hypothesized that agreeableness would predict conformity mediated by the motivation to affiliate, suggesting that it may be related to normative influence. Second, I hypothesized that conscientiousness would predict conformity mediated by the motivation to be accurate, suggesting that it may be related to informational influence. Study 1 tested whether there was an initial correlational relationship among agreeableness, conscientiousness, and self-reported conformity. Study 2 explored the effect of the mediators, the motives to affiliate and to be accurate, in predicting normative and informational influence, respectively. Finally, Study 3 tested the full mediational model of agreeableness and conscientiousness predicting conformity mediated by the motives to affiliate and to be accurate, respectively. The findings showed that agreeableness and conscientiousness significantly predicted conformity as measured behaviorally and by self-report. The results were less clear, however, about the role of the mediators of the motivation to affiliate and be accurate in these relationships. These findings extend the social influence literature beyond its traditional situational focus by examining how personality shapes conformity and the possible mechanisms involved in those relationships.</p>

Studien undersöker hur olika personlighetsdrag samvarierar med andelen stress vi upplever under Covid-19 pandemin, samt hur dessa personlighetsdrag samvarierar med copingstrategier och hur väl restriktionerna efterföljs. Urvalet bestod av 105 vuxna svenska personer. Formuläret bestod av Ten Item Personality Inventory, Perceived stress scale 10, sex frågor hämtade från Brief cope samt fyra frågor gällande deltagarnas compliance gällande Covid-19 pandemin som konstruerades utifrån Asselmann et al. (2020).Multipla regressioner utfördes för att undersöka det dubbelriktade sambandet mellan personlighetsdrag, stress och coping. Även de demografiska faktorerna ålder, kön, samt boendesituation undersöktes. Analyser av compliance resulterade i takeffekter, vilket gjorde att variabeln uteslöts från multipla regressioner. Resultaten av variabeln compliance var genomgående höga, vilket indikerar att samtliga deltagare, oavsett personlighetsdrag anser sig följa restriktionerna i hög utsträckning. Resultaten från de multipla regressionerna visade ett moderat negativt samband mellan PSS-10 och emotionell stabilitet (β=.53). Även ett svagt positivt samband mellan agreeableness och coping hittades (β=.24). Ett ytterligare fynd var ett svagt positivt samband mellan coping och boendesituation (β=.21), vilket indikerar att personer som bor ihop med andra använder sig av en mer funktionell coping, samt tillämpar dysfunktionella copingstrategier i lägre grad. Fortsatt forskning inom området behövs för att undersöka kopplingar mellan personlighetsdrag, stress, compliance och copingstrategier i relation till Covid-19 pandemin. / The present study investigates the relationship between personality traits, the amount of stress we experience due to the Covid-19 pandemic and how different personality traits covariates with coping strategies as well as compliance to the announced restrictions. The sample consisted of 105 Swedish participants over the age of 18. The questionnaire consisted of Ten Item Personality Inventory, Perceived stress scale 10, six questions were taken from Brief cope and four questions regarding the participants compliance concerning the Covid-19 pandemic which was constructed based on Asselmann et al. (2020). Multiple regressions were performed to investigate the bidirectional relationship between personality traits and stress, and coping. The demographic variables age, gender and housing situations were examined. The analyses of compliance resulted in roof effects, which excluded the variable from multiple regressions. The results of the variable compliance were consistently high, which indicates that all participants, regardless of personality traits, considered themselves to follow the restrictions to a large extent. The results from the multiple regressions showed a moderate negative relationship between PSS-10 and emotional stability (β=.53). A weak positive relationship between agreeableness and coping was also found (β=.24). A further finding was a weak positive relationship between coping and housing situations (β=.21), which implies that people in shared households have more functional coping and tend to use dysfunctional coping to a lower degree. Further research in this area is needed to investigate links between personality traits, stress, compliance and coping strategies in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Med hjälp av personlighetstester och genom att känna till individers personlighet har forskning visat att man i viss mån kan förutsäga beteende och upplevd mental hälsa. Föreliggande studie syftade till att undersöka om och hur personlighetsdraget agreeableness (svenskans välvillighet) samverkar med upplevt välmående hos personer med en ledarroll. I en ledarroll förväntas personen kunna hantera beslutsfattande och konfrontationer. Furnham, Richards och Paulhus (2013) menar att Dark Triad, socialt avvikande personlighetsdrag, är en förlängning av agreeableness. Därför användes Dark Triad i studien och även för att eventuellt finna ytterligare samband med välmående i rollen som ledare. Mätinstrument som användes var IPIP-NEO-120 (α=.87) utifrån Big Five teorin vilken är den vanligaste teorin bland forskning om personlighet. För att mäta Dark Triad användes Dirty Dozen (α=.86). För att mäta välmående användes GHQ-12 (General Health Questionnaire) (α=.87). Studien utfördes med en online-enkät som besvarades av respondenter som har eller har haft en ledarposition (N=99). Respondenternas ålder varierade mellan 25-67, könsfördelningen var 54% män och 46% kvinnor. Insignifikanta resultat återfanns mellan agreeableness och upplevt välmående. Signifikanta resultat återfanns mellan Dark Triad och upplevt välmående (r=.22*) vilket vidare kan tolkas som att personer tenderar att må bättre om de besitter socialt avvikande personlighetsdrag. En rimlig slutsats av resultatet är därmed att det inte går att predicera hur välmående upplevs hos personer med en ledarroll med hjälp av agreeableness, dock i viss mån med hjälp av Dark Triad. / With the help of personality tests and by knowing the individual's personality, research has shown that it's possible to predict behavior and perceived mental health to some extent. The present study aimed to examine whether and how the personality trait agreeableness relates to perceived well-being among leaders. Furnham, Richards and Paulhus (2013) argue that Dark Triad, socially deviant personality traits, is an extension of agreeableness. Therefore Dark Triad was used in this study and in order to possibly obtain more connections for perceived well-being. Instruments used were IPIP-NEO-120 (α=.87), based on the Big Five theory, the most common theory among personality research. To measure Dark Triad traits Dirty Dozen (α=.86) was used. To measure well-being GHQ-12 (General Health Questionnaire) (α=.87) was used. The study was conducted by an online survey that was answered by respondents who have or have had a leader position (N=99). Respondents age ranged from 25-67, the gender distribution was 54% male and 46% female. Insignificant results were found between agreeableness and perceived well-being. Significant results were found between Dark Triad and perceived well-being (r=.22*), which is further interpreted to mean that people tend to feel better if they possess deviant personality traits, and particularly narcissism. A reasonable conclusion from the study is that it's not possible, based on our sample, to predict how well-being is perceived in the role of leader with agreeableness but to some extent with the help of Dark Triad.