At any given moment in time, there are people complying with fraudulent requests (i.e. scams) on the Internet. While the incidence rates are low (between five and ten percent of the population becoming victims on a yearly basis), the financial and emotional consequences can be high. In this Thesis we composed a unified theory of which factors made individuals more likely to comply with scams and what psychological mechanisms are unwittingly employed by con-men to make their (illegitimate marketing) offers more enticing. The strongest overall predictor of scam compliance (i.e. the extent to which an individual is likely to comply with fraudulent requests) was the level of self-control, regardless of the observed stage of a scam. On the basis of previous research, we postulated and have empirically shown that falling for a scam is a 3-stage process (i.e. assessing a scam to be plausible - plausiblity, responding to scammers - responded and, finally, losing utility to them – lost out). Taking this paradigm into account, we analysed the three stages in separate investigations and tested the viability of various psychological factors that play a role in them. We hypothesized that attitudes towards risky choices would play a role in finding an Internet scam plausible and thus started our investigation by transferring one of the classic economic psychological theories (i.e. Prospect Theory) into a virtual setting and demonstrated that risk preferences remain unchanged between concrete and virtual settings. Our investigation showed that attitudes towards risk are similar across virtual and concrete domains, but did not yield a reliable psychometric scale measuring risk preferences. As a corollary, in Chapter 3, we investigated psychological mechanisms that influence risky preferences as applied to all three stages of scam compliance. The empirical investigation in Chapter 3 of the present Thesis focused on social psychological mechanisms of persuasion. A scale of susceptibility to persuasion was developed, validated and then applied to the phenomena of scam compliance in two studies. Four reliable factors contributing to susceptibility to persuasion emerged: influence of authority, social influence, self-control and the need for consistency. The susceptibility to persuasion scale was then used to predict overall lifetime (study 1) and time-limited (study 2) scam compliance across the three stages of scams. Social Influence weakly predicted the plausibility stage in study 1, while strongly predicting the response stage in study 2. The need for consistency strongly predicted response stages in both studies. While compliance with requests from authorities did not predict responses to any of the stages in study 1, it weakly predicted the plausibility of a scam and strongly predicted responding to it in study 2. Weak self-control was a significant predictor of losing funds in study 1 and a strong predictor of responding to scams in study 2. As lack of self-control (as a personality trait) emerged as one of the significant predictors of scam compliance, this led us to infer that there were other personality traits that would contribute to understanding scam compliance. That became the topic of Chapter 4 of the present Thesis. In Chapter 4, we used the five factor model of personality, a brief self-control scale and the UPPS impulsive behaviour scale to measure the impact of personality traits on scam compliance in the response stage. Results showed that extraversion, openness, self-control, premeditation, sensation seeking and (negative) urgency had an influence on the response rates to fraudulent offers. Lack of self-control (as a personality trait) again emerged as a strong predictor of overall scam compliance, which led us to infer that self-control as a cognitive state would also contribute to measuring scam compliance in general and in specific types of fraud. The investigation reported in Chapter 3 showed fraudulent Internet auctions to be an effective scam. As a consequence of these two findings, in Chapter 5, we investigated the impact of self-regulatory fatigue on compliance with fraudulent Internet auctions. In the empirical investigation in Chapter 5 180 respondents in two groups were exposed to a cognitive task designed to be ego-depleting and then to a constructed fraudulent Internet auction. They were asked a series of questions concerned with the likelihood of them purchasing a desired item (i.e. the third stage of a scam) and its appeal to them. We found no evidence that lowered self-control (as a state) had any impact on the appeal of fraudulent offer or the likelihood of purchasing it. We also demonstrated that the perception of risk in the fraudulent Internet auctions is most strongly influenced by the feedback mechanisms and the sellers’ ability to use correct English. In the conclusion to the present Thesis we discussed the implications of our empirical investigations and constructed a fictional fraudulent offer that would be effective according to our research. It should, for example, be based on the advance fee schemes and should be delivered over the Internet to reach the most potential victims. Once we had created an outline of an effective scam, we used that as our starting point to suggest mechanisms that would be effective in resisting it. For example, individuals could employ heuristics in a better way or conduct reality checks; and software toolkits that would help in resisting scams could be developed on the basis of our findings. We also discussed future research directions (obtaining larger samples, focusing on specific types of scams and specific populations; and others) and general implications of our findings.

Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att belysa hur olika personlighetsdrag och motiv har inflytande på yrkesvalet till att bli sjuksköterska med fokus på medberoendeproblematik. Detta med anledning av att personer med en problematisk uppväxt tenderar att välja ett omvårdnadsyrke där behovet av att ta hand om andra kan uppfyllas. Metod; en allmän litteraturöversikt vilken består av 10 kvalitativa studier från år 2008 till 2016. Resultatet identifierades genom fyra teman: Viljan att hjälpa andra, Påverkan från andra, Olika personlighetsdrag, Praktiska anledningar och tidigare erfarenheter. Slutsatser; studien har svarat på syftet om varför man väljer att bli sjuksköterska och vad som kan influera valet. Huruvida olika personlighetsdrag har påverkat valet besvarades till viss begränsning. Författarna anser att studien möjliggör en inblick i vilka faktorer som påverkar individers motiv att välja yrket, detta kan komma att ge vårdpersonal och patienter en bättre förutsättning att mötas i en god vårdrelation. Funna teman har sammanvägts med begreppen caring och medberoende, vilket har genomsyrat arbetet. Förslag på fortsatt forskning är ytterligare undersökningar om personlighetsdrag hos de som väljer att bli sjuksköterska och om yrket är passande för alla personligheter. / The aim of this study was to highlight the different personality traits and the motives of wanting to become a nurse with a focus on co-dependency. Due to that people with a problematic childhood tend to choose the nursing profession in which the need to care for others can be satisfied. The used method is a literature review consisting of 10 qualitative studies from the years 2008 to 2016. The results were identified by four themes: The desire to help others, the influence from others, various personality traits, practical reasons and previous experience. Conclusions; the study answered the aim of why one chooses to become a nurse and what can influence the choice. Whether the different personality traits influenced the choice was answered to some limitation. The authors believe that the study allows an insight into the factors that influence an individual's motives for choosing the profession, this may provide healthcare professionals and patients a better condition to meet in a good care relationship. The findings are weighted with the concepts caring and co-dependency, which has permeated the work. Suggestions for future research is to investigate further about the personality traits of those who choose to become a nurse and if the profession is suitable for all personalities.

Selon plusieurs auteurs, l’intelligence générale et les traits de personnalité sont des construits fondamentaux nécessaires à l’adaptation psychosociale des individus. Bien que plusieurs études menées à partir d’échantillons d’adultes aient démontré des liens significatifs entre ces deux construits, peu d’entre elles ont tenté de vérifier si ces relations pouvaient être observées aussi chez les adolescents. De plus, un nombre très restreint d’études ont étudié la question de savoir si les relations entre l’intelligence générale et les traits de personnalité étaient significatives de façon prospective avec un intervalle de temps entre les évaluations. Enfin, les études disponibles ne permettent pas de déterminer si les relations entre l’intelligence générale et les traits de personnalité sont différentes selon le sexe. La présente étude visait à combler ces vides. Les objectifs étaient, d’une part, de déterminer s’il existe des relations prédictives concurrentes et prospectives entre l’intelligence générale et les traits de personnalité chez les adolescents et, d’autre part, de vérifier si ces relations sont différentes entre les garçons et les filles. Les données utilisées proviennent de l’étude longitudinale de la Stratégie d’intervention agir autrement (SIAA). Un large échantillon d’adolescents évalués une première fois en secondaire un et réévalués à nouveau quatre ans plus tard en secondaire cinq a été employé. À la première vague de collecte de données, seule l’intelligence générale a été évaluée, tandis qu’à la deuxième vague, autant l’intelligence générale que les traits de personnalité l’ont été. La modélisation par équations structurales sur des variables latentes a été utilisée pour tester les différentes hypothèses de recherche. Les résultats ont démontré que, sur le plan concurrent, l’intelligence générale et tous les traits de personnalité considérés sont reliés significativement de façon positive, ce qui va partiellement à l’encontre des données obtenues à partir des échantillons d’adultes. Sur le plan prospectif, les résultats ont confirmé que les corrélations diminuent avec le temps, et ce, pour presque tous les traits étudiés. Finalement, les modèles d’équations structurales multi-groupes ont confirmé la présence de différences significatives entre les garçons et les filles pour certains traits de personnalité. Dans l’ensemble, bien que plusieurs résultats de la présente étude obtenus à partir d’un échantillon d’adolescents soient conformes à ceux observés auprès d’échantillons d’adultes, certaines différences intéressantes sont observées. / According to several scholars, general intelligence and personality traits are fundamental constructs that are necessary for individuals’ psychosocial adjustment. Even though several studies showed significant relations between these constructs in adults’ samples, very few attempted to demonstrate if these relations can be observed in adolescents’ samples. Moreover, very few studies verified if these relations between general intelligence and personality traits were also significant prospectively with a time interval between assessments. Furthermore, the available studies do not allow determining if the relations between general intelligence and personality traits are different across gender. This study aimed at filling these gaps. The objectives were to determine if there were concurrent and prospective relations between general intelligence and personality traits in adolescents, as well as to determine if these relations were different across boys and girls. Data were drawn from the New Approaches New Solutions (NANS) longitudinal study. A large sample of adolescents first assessed in grade one, and re-assessed four years later in grade 5 was used. At the first wave of data collection, only general intelligence was assessed, while at the fifth wave, both general intelligence and personality were assessed. Structural equation modeling on latent variables was used to test the different research hypotheses. The results demonstrated that concurrently, general intelligence and all personality traits considered are significantly positively related, which partially contradict data from adults’ samples. Prospectively, the results confirmed that correlations decreased over time for almost all personality traits. Finally, multiple-group structural equations models confirmed there are significant differences between boys and girls for some personality traits. Overall, despite several results converge with those observed with adults’ samples, some interesting differences can be observed when adolescents are studied.

L’élaboration de programme d’interventions propres aux fraudeurs soulève la question de la particularité de leur personnalité. Des écrits suggèrent que la personnalité des fraudeurs présenterait des similitudes avec les traits psychopathiques. L’objectif de l’étude est donc de décrire et d’explorer ces traits chez des fraudeurs spécialisés incarcérés, et ce, à l’aide des questionnaires Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) et Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS). Trois groupes de détenus (35 hommes, 17 femmes) ont rempli les questionnaires: fraudeurs spécialisés (n=23), autres délinquants sans crimes violents (ASV, n=19) et autres délinquants avec crimes violents (AAV, n=10). Un groupe d’étudiants (n=430) a aussi complété le PPI, permettant ainsi d’ajouter un groupe de comparaison. Les analyses ont permis de constater que le groupe de fraudeurs diffère peu des autres groupes quant à leurs traits psychopathiques. Cependant, ils sont moins enclins que le groupe d’AAV à adopter des pensées criminelles, fréquentes chez les psychopathes. / Developping specific intervention programmes for frauds raises the issue of personality characteristics. Studies suggest that the personality of fraudsters presents certain similarities with psychopathic traits. The goal of the study is to describe and explore the personality of incarcerated specialized fraudsters by using psychometric tests such as the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) and the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS). Three groups of inmates (35 men, 17 women) completed the questionnaires: fraud specialists (n = 23), offenders who committed non-violent crimes (n = 19) and offenders who committed violent crimes (n= 10). A group of students (n = 430) also completed the PPI, thereby adding a comparison group. Analyses revealed few differences between the psychopathic traits of fraudsters and those of the other groups' respondents. However, it was revealed that fraudsters were less likely to adopt criminal thoughts, common in psychopaths, than are the respondents from the AAV group.

La psychoéducation de même que plusieurs approches théoriques en psychologie clinique suggèrent que l’intervenant constitue un élément actif fondamental des interventions auprès des individus en difficulté. Parmi l’ensemble des caractéristiques des intervenants qui sont utiles de considérer, les attitudes et préférences éducatives des intervenants apparaissent importantes puisqu’elles peuvent être reliées à un bon appariement avec un milieu d’intervention donné, au sentiment d’efficacité professionnelle et, ultimement, à l’efficacité d’une intervention. Or, très peu d’instruments psychométriques d’évaluation validés existent pour évaluer ces construits importants. Cette étude visait principalement à effectuer un examen préliminaire des propriétés psychométriques de la version française du Questionnaire d’attitudes et de préférences des intervenants (QAPÉI; Jesness & Wedge, 1983; Le Blanc, Trudeau-Le Blanc, & Lanctôt, 1999). Le premier objectif de la présente étude était d’évaluer si la structure théorique originale était reproductible empiriquement ou si une structure factorielle alternative était nécessaire. Le deuxième objectif était d’évaluer si les attitudes et préférences éducatives des intervenants étaient reliées à leurs traits de personnalité. L’échantillon utilisé était composé d’intervenants faisant partie de Boscoville2000, un projet d’intervention cognitive-comportementale en milieu résidentiel pour les adolescents en difficulté. Des analyses factorielles exploratoires ont démontré que la structure théorique originale n’était pas reproduite empiriquement. Une structure alternative en cinq facteurs a été recouvrée. Cette structure alternative était plus cohérente sur le plan conceptuel et démontrait une bonne adéquation aux données. Les facteurs identifiés ont été nommés Distance affective, Évitement thérapeutique, Exaspération, Permissivité et Coercition. Des analyses corrélationnelles ont démontré que ces échelles d’attitudes et de préférences éducatives étaient reliées de façon conceptuellement cohérente aux traits de personnalité des intervenants, ce qui appuie la validité de critère de la nouvelle structure de l’instrument. / Psychoeducation and several clinical psychology theoretical approaches suggest that the interventionist constitute a fundamental active ingredient of psychosocial interventions for individuals with adjustment problems. Among the various characteristics of interventionists there are useful to consider, attitudes and preferences in interventions are important because they can be related to an adequate matching in a given intervention milieu, to professional self-efficacy and, ultimately, to the intervention efficacy. However, there are very empirically-validated psychometric instrument to asses these important constructs. The main aim of this study was to make a preliminary evaluation of the psychometric properties of the French-Canadian version of the Counselors’ AIttitudes and Preferences Questionnaire (“Questionnaire d’attitudes et de préférences éducatives des intervenants”, QAPÉI; Jesness & Wedge, 1983; Le Blanc, Trudeau-Le Blanc, & Lanctôt, 1999). The first objective was to assess if the original theoretical structure could be reproduced empirically, or if an alternative factor structure was necessary. The second objective was to assess if interventionists’ attitudes and preferences were related to their personality traits. The sample that was used was composed of interventionists from Boscoville2000, a residential cognitive-behavioral intervention program for adolescents with serious adjustment problems. Exploratory factor analyses demonstrated that the original theoretical structure was not reproduced empirically. An alternative five-factor structure was recovered. This alternative structure was more conceptually coherent and provided a better fit to the data. The identified factors were labeled Affective distance, Therapeutic Avoidance, Exasperation, Permissiveness, and Coercion. Correlational analyses demonstrated that attitudes and preferences scales were related in a conceptually coherent way to interventionists’ personality traits, which supported the criterion-related validity of the instrument new structure.

Recently, multi-source feedback has been a popular way of providing performance-related feedback to individuals in many organizations. Many who use multi-source feedback consider Rating Convergence, others seeing target individuals as they see themselves, to be a positive outcome of this process. However, the variables that account for Rating Convergence are not known. This study investigated whether the personality factor Extroversion and Behavioral Consistency, acting as a moderator variable, could account for Self-other Rating Convergence, particularly the Convergence between self and peer Ratings. The sample consisted of 235 mid-level managers from a variety of industries who were participants in individual career development workshops. Using structural equation modeling, the results indicated that a model consisting of a single Extroversion factor could account for the convergence of self-peer ratings. This finding calls into question the significance of Rating Convergence when using multi-source rating instruments that provide feedback on trait characteristics since it may be heavily influenced by a single personality factor rather than observers' comprehensive understanding of the ratee's performance.

The purpose of this study was to identify the personality traits of effective elementary bilingual/ESL teachers, to identify the personality traits of effective traditional elementary teachers, and to compare the two groups.

The major purpose of this descriptive study was to determine common characteristics and influences among women who were serving as public school superintendents of independent districts in Texas during the 1988-89 school year. Commonalities were determined in (1) personal characteristics, (2) personality traits, and (3) perceived barriers to career mobility. A seventy-item survey was developed, validated, and mailed to the thirty-three women superintendents in Texas. Data from the survey were analyzed to determine if commonalities existed among women superintendents. Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions seem justified: (1) Commonalities in personal characteristics which exist among women superintendents include age, ethnicity, marital status, parenthood, positive attitudes toward being both mothers and superintendents, preference for husbands in the field of education, demonstration of early leadership traits, and self-perceptions of being assertive and risk-taking; (2) Most women superintendents share common views on subjective measures concerning their own personalities, and they rated themselves highest in areas which include self-esteem, general daily activity level, independence, job satisfaction, ability to operate under pressure and practicality; and (3) Most women superintendents perceive similar internal and external barriers to their career mobility; a lack of professional network and employers' negative attitudes toward women are the most common external barriers.

This study is a description and analysis of change in selected personality characteristics of junior-level undergraduates in the first phase of the curriculum for the Guidance Associate degree at North Texas State University.

Title: An essay based on the “Big Five” theory. The purpose of this essay is to examine and analyze how different personality traits relate to different phases and strategies of negotiation.   Level: Final assignment for a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration    Authors: Kamila Crafoord and Malin Larsson   Supervisor: Jonas Kågström    Date: 2019 – June   Aim: The aim of this essay is to examine and analyze how different personality traits relate to the different phases and strategies of negotiation.   Method: We have used a quantitative research method, based on a deductive approach. The data were obtained via a questionnaire, subsequently analyzed in the statistical programme “Jamovi”, using descriptive analysis, reliability analysis and factor analysis. The respondents were students of business administration at Högskolan i Gävle.   Results & Conclusions: The results show that the personality traits ”openness”, “conscientiousness” and ”agreeableness” are recurrent in the pre-bargaining as well as in the bargaining phase. “Conscientiousness” is linked to distributive strategies. The traits “agreeableness” and “openness” are associated with integrative strategies. We have made new findings concerning “openness” in particular, which is prominent in both the initial phase and the negotiation phase.   Contribution of the thesis: The study shows that certain personality types have a greater penetration power in different phases of negotiation. This knowledge can be useful, for example when putting together a negotiation team, where a dividing up of negotiators can be done based on the negotiation phases. Thus, the individual strengths of the team are used in the best possible way. The study has not been conducted in a specific line of business, and the results may be used in many situations where negotiations take place.   Suggestions for future research: The number of respondents in this study is limited. We believe that a more comprehensive study could contribute to a more in-depth knowledge concerning different lines of trade. In order to contribute to new knowledge of negotiation and its phases, it would be fruitful to compare senior negotiators to less experienced ones (students) within the field of Business Economics. It would also be interesting to stage negotiations with a group of participants, and compare their self-assessed views through a BFI-44 to the actual measured results of the negotiations.   Keywords: “negotiation”, “negotiation phases”, “initial phase”, “pre negotiation”, “bargaining phase”, “distributive”, “integrative”, “The Big Five”, “personality traits”, “individual differences”. / Titel: En studie baserad på femfaktorteorin i relation till förhandlingsfaser och -strategier.   Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi   Författare: Kamila Crafoord och Malin Larsson   Handledare: Jonas Kågström    Datum: 2019 - juni    Syfte: Studien avser att analysera hur olika personlighetsdrag förhåller sig till förhandlingsfaser och strategier.   Metod: Studien utgår från en kvantitativ metod med utgångspunkt i ett deduktivt förhållningssätt. Data har samlats in genom en enkätundersökning och har bearbetats i statistikprogrammet Jamovi med deskriptivanalys, reliabilitetsanalys och faktoranalyser. Vi har vänt oss till studenter i företagsekonomi på Högskolan i Gävle.   Resultat & slutsats: Resultatet visar att personlighetsdragen ”openness”, ”conscientiousness” och ”agreeableness” är återkommande både i den initiala fasen och förhandlingsfasen. ”Conscientiousness” kan kopplas samman med distributiva strategier och ”agreeableness” och ”openness” kan kopplas samman med integrativa strategi. Vi har gjort nya fynd gällande att ”openness” är framträdande inom den initiala fasen och förhandlingsfasen. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien visar att vissa personlighetstyper har en mer optimal genomslagskraft i olika faser. Dessa kunskaper är bra att nyttja och kan exempelvis gå att implementera på ett förhandlingsteam, där en uppdelning av förhandlare kan göras utefter de båda förhandlingsfaserna. På så sätt nyttjas de styrkor som finns inom teamet på bästa sätt. Studien har inte utförts i en specifik bransch och resultaten kan användas i de många situationer där förhandlingar äger rum.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Studiens respondenter har varit begränsade i antalet, att utföra en mer omfattande undersökning tror vi skulle bidra till en fördjupad kunskap inom olika branscher.För att kunna bidra till ökad kunskap inom förhandling och dess faser skulle en jämförelse mellan erfarna förhandlare gentemot studenter inom företagsekonomi vara givande. Det skulle även vara intressant att låta en experimentgrupp utföra förhandlingar och låta dem genomföra en BFI-44. Det skulle möjliggöra att jämföra deras självskattade uppfattning baserat på BFI-44 med resultatet av förhandlingarna.