The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of an individual difference variable (the Type A/B coronary prone behavior pattern) on intergroup conflict reduction. Undergraduates were first characterized as Type A/B based on a pretest. They then participated in a study that consisted of the presentation of two conflict-inducing tasks to each of two groups homogeneous with respect to the A/B dimension. There were three conditions in the study: sessions in which the groups were composed exclusively of "A"'s or "B"'s, and sessions which consisted of "A"'s and "B's. The two groups competed with one another on these tasks with the assumption that the group that produced the best product would be awarded extra credit. This conflict-inducing stage was followed by the presentation of two superordinate tasks, which required both groups to work together in order to gain a reward. Questionnaires were administered before and after the presentation of the superordinate tasks. These questionnaires assessed interpersonal attraction, tasks, and general processes. It was hypothesized that groups composed of Type "A"s would have less increase in attraction scores after completing the superordinate task than would groups composed of Type "Bs or groups composed of Type "A"'s and Type "B"s. In other words, the superordinate goal would be less effective in reducing intergroup conflict with Type "A" groups than Type "B" groups. Although no significant differences were found in attraction or cooperation ratings among the three conditions (AA, AB, BB), the trend of the group means offered some support for the initial hypothesis. However, AA conditions did indicate the perception that they were in more control during the study than did AB or BB conditions. This finding is consistent with the results found in studies assessing Type "A"'s perceptions of control (e.g. Sanders and Malkis, 1981). The clearest finding was that the superordinate goal was effective in reducing intergroup conflict. For example, all groups increased their ratings of outgroup members over time. Finally, the effect that individual difference variables can have on intergroup conflict and on the functioning of groups is discussed.

In a recent model of employability, Hogan, Chamorro-Premuzic, and Kaiser (2013) defined employability as the ability to gain and maintain employment and find new employment when necessary. The authors presented employability as a formative construct containing an ability dimension (the ability to do the job), a social skills dimension (being rewarding to work with), and a motivational dimension (being willing to work hard). There is no question as to whether these three dimensions affect one’s level of employability; research is abundant on the positive relationships between intelligence, social and emotional skills, motivation and career success. However, little research has been conducted to empirically test employability models in their entirety. Thus, the purpose of this research was to test the RAW model of employability, using various indicators of the three RAW dimensions of employability using structural equation modelling. Surveys were administered electronically eliciting both a student and community sample. Marginal support was found for the hypothesized model with post hoc modifications producing an acceptable fitting model. Findings suggest that having the ability and motivation to do the job are related to being employable. However, being rewarding to work may not impact levels of employability, suggesting that employers may be asking for one thing while rewarding another.

Due to curiosity about the "individual" vs. "social" intervention argument in the profession of social work, the authors of this study attempted to answer the question, “Do personality characteristics of Social Work Graduate Students influence their choice of social work practice?" Our hypothesis was that Introverts would be more inclined to focus on the individual in social work practice as opposed to Extraverts who would see societal change as a more pressing practice issue. Although our study identified no correlation between Introversion and Extraversion and social work practice orientation, there were some suggestions for further study. There appeared to be some indication that Intuition and Feeling might be more important variables. The idea was also raised that the conflict among social workers might be more a result of the nature of their personality type than a real dichotomy in the field.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether closemindedness is related to decision-making behaviors. The decision-making variables in this study were: Pieces of Information, Decision Change, Decision Confidence, Decision Accuracy and, post hoc, Decision Appropriateness. The measures of decision-making behaviors were obtained from four decision situations developed by the experimenter. Closemindedness was assessed using Rokeach's (1960) Dogmatism (D) scale.

The relationship between perfectionism and religiosity is clarified when the adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of both constructs are compared. Literature in both areas implicates the idea of a rigid and inflexible personality style as a possible mediator in the relationship. This investigation examined the relationship of perfectionism and religiosity, using adaptive and maladaptive dimensions, as mediated by psychological inflexibility. Measures of perfectionism, religiosity, and psychological inflexibility were given to 376 undergraduate college students in an anonymous online survey. Adaptive perfectionism was found to be significantly correlated with adaptive religiosity. Maladaptive perfectionism was found to be significantly correlated with maladaptive religiosity. Psychological inflexibility was found to be significantly correlated with the maladaptive dimensions of both perfectionism and religiosity. It was also shown to mediate the relationship between maladaptive religiosity and maladaptive perfectionism using the test of mediation proposed by Baron and Kenny. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Career satisfaction has become an important research topic in both psychological and business research. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between general managers’ career satisfaction, the Big Five personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion, and openness), as well as narrow personality traits. An archival data source was used consisting of a sample of 6,042 general managers and 48,726 non-managers from various industries. I investigated the relationship between personality variables and general manager’s career satisfaction. Results indicated that several personality traits were significantly related to managers’ career satisfaction. For example, emotional resilience, extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, optimism, and work drive were significantly related to general managers’ career satisfaction. Among all the personality traits, emotional resilience and optimism had the highest correlations with general manager’s career satisfaction. The difference between managers and non-managers were compared. Implications for future research and practice were discussed.

Most past research on interpersonal forgiveness has emphasized qualities of the betrayed partner (e.g. trait forgiveness, dispositional empathy, narcissism) or relationship factors (e.g., relational closeness) in predicting forgiveness. However, research has rarely considered characteristics of the offender as predictors of forgiveness, as when a victim comes to wish the offender well and feel warmth toward him/her, and unforgiveness, as when a victim avoids or retaliates against an offender. Therefore the current project sought to assess the unique contribution of offenders’ personality over and above the aforementioned established predictors of forgiveness and unforgiveness outcomes on the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations (TRIM) inventory. It was expected that offender variables (such as high narcissism, low dispositional empathy, low honesty-humility, and high agreeableness) would account for additional, unique variance in predicting forgiveness beyond the known correlates of forgiveness and unforgiveness (e.g., high relational closeness to offender, low betrayal severity, high trait forgiveness, low narcissism). Results for TRIM Benevolence and Avoidance, but not TRIM Revenge, were consistent with the study’s hypothesis, such that offender variables contributed significant unique variance above established predictors. Implications for the study of offender variables are discussed, as well as future directions research might consider.

The current study was conducted to examine whether priming for a need for assimilation or the need for differentiation influences an individual’s identification with a particular team. Team Identification is defined as “the level of psychological attachment felt by a sports fan toward his or her favorite team” (Kim & Kim, 2009; Wann, Melnick, Russell, & Pease, 2001). Participants for the current study included 80 undergraduate psychology students, recruited through Study Board at Western Kentucky University. Participants completed the Sport Fandom Questionnaire (SFQ) and were randomly assigned one of two scenarios where they were asked to transcribe two memories based upon their scenario. Then participants filled out the Need for Affiliation Scale (nAff) to assess whether the scenarios elicited a need for affiliation. Following the nAff, participants filled out the Fan Scale (FS) for both teams based on which team they were going to cheer for to win a fictional football game. The participants finished by filling out two Sport Spectator Identification Scales (SSIS), one for the underdog football team and one for the favored football team, to measure how identified they were with each team. Results indicated that the hypotheses were not supported. There were no significant differences between condition for the Fan Scale or the Sport Spectator Identification Scale. However, it was found that, regardless of condition, participants were more likely to cheer for the underdog football team than they were the favored football team. There were no significant differences between the need for affiliation and the need for differentiation and their influences on team identification. The finding that participants were more likely to cheer for the underdog football team than they were the favored team has added another stepping stone for examining motives for team identification.

Members of 26 MySpace social groups for self-injury (SI) provided data for this study investigating knowledge of SI, friends’ perceptions of SI, and the impact of online activity on SI. This study proposes that people who have belonged to these online SI groups for longer periods have higher levels of SI knowledge than those group members who have recently joined. In addition, the study proposes that individuals who self-injure have higher levels of SI knowledge than professionals who work with individuals who self-injure. An additional purpose of this study is to explore information regarding the reasons why people belong to online SI groups, the outcomes of participating in them, and their perceptions of their online peers’ and face-to-face peers’ attitudes regarding SI. A convenience sample of 101 members solicited from SI social groups on MySpace completed the survey, which consisted of five sections including the following: demographics, experiences with SI, knowledge of SI, activities related to SI in MySpace groups, and perceptions of online and face-to-face peers’ attitudes regarding SI. The knowledge section of the survey contains a 20 item measure previously used by Jeffrey and Warm (2002). A knowledge score was created based on participants responses to these 20 items. This score was used in the analysis of both hypotheses one and two. Results indicate that participants have a good understanding of SI, based on their mean knowledge score. In addition, results reveal that the current sample’s mean SI knowledge level is higher than are four of the seven groups' mean knowledge scores. Length of membership on online SI groups is not significantly greater for individuals who score higher on the knowledge of SI measure as assessed through independent t tests. Descriptive information indicates that participants perceive their online friends to react more positively to their self-injurious behaviors than they do their face-to-face friends. In addition, the sample does not indicate that participation in online SI groups has an impact on the frequency of their self-injurious behaviors, which is consistent with prior research (Murray & Fox, 2006). Limitations discussed include sample size and solicitation, survey length, and the lack of a thorough assessment of online activity.