The development of the rank-order stability of the Big Five across the life span.
Several studies have suggested that the rank-order stability of personality increases until midlife and declines later in old age. However, this inverted U-shaped pattern has not consistently emerged in previous research; in particular, a recent investigation implementing several methodological advances failed to support it. To resolve the matter, we analyzed data from two representative panel studies and investigated how certain methodological decisions affect conclusions regarding the age trajectories of stability. The data came from Australia (N = 15,465; Study 1) and Germany (N = 21,777; Study 2), and each study included four waves of personality assessment. We investigated the life spa…
Investigating Measures of Achievement Motivation(s)
After a long debate there is now growing agreement that implicit and explicit achievement motivation can be seen as distinct constructs. One of their major differences lies in their predictive validity, which supposedly differs depending on the setting. Empirical evidence exists to the effect that different explicit measures based on different theoretical concepts build one construct. For implicit measures, however, such evidence is lacking. Thus, scores on three implicit and three explicit achievement motivation measures, an intelligence test, and a Big 5 questionnaire were obtained (N = 150) as well as two criteria. The explicit achievement motivation measures were classified as being ba…
Accuracy of Self-Esteem Judgments at Zero Acquaintance.
Objective Perceptions of strangers’ self-esteem can have wide-ranging interpersonal consequences. Aiming to reconcile inconsistent results from previous research that had predominantly suggested that self-esteem is a trait that can hardly be accurately judged at zero acquaintance, we examined unaquainted others’ accuracy in inferring individuals’ actual self-esteem. Method Ninety-nine target participants (77 female; Mage = 23.5 years) were videotaped in a self-introductory situation, and self-esteem self-reports and reports by well-known informants were obtained as separate accuracy criteria. Forty unacquainted observers judged targets' self-esteem on the basis of these short video sequence…
Unreliability of the dot probe task
The dot probe task is a widely used measure of attention allocation to threatening stimuli. The present two studies examine the reliability of different versions of this task using words as well as pictures as stimulus material. Estimates of both internal consistency and retest reliability over one week lead to the conclusion that the dot probe task is a completely unreliable measure of attentional allocation in non‐clinical samples. This unreliability may explain the inconsistent findings for the dot probe task as reported in the literature. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Avoidant coping, verbal-autonomic response dissociation and pain tolerance
Higher autonomic reactivity relative to self-reported discomfort, often found in repressors and avoidant copers might be associated with a diminished perception of bodily symptoms. This study aimed at relating such so-called verbal-autonomic response dissociation to pain tolerance. Eighty-five volunteers underwent a public speaking task and a cold pressor test. Heart rate and negative affect in response to the speech, and pain ratings and facial muscle responses for the cold pressor were obtained. A dissociation score was calculated for each individual in response to speech, thereby subtracting standardized changes in negative affect from standardized changes in heart rate. Response dissoci…
A Cautionary Note on Incremental Fit Indices Reported by LISREL
Abstract. Incremental fit indices (IFIs) are regularly used when assessing the fit of structural equation models. IFIs are based on the comparison of the fit of a target model with that of a null model. For maximum-likelihood estimation, IFIs are usually computed by using the χ2 statistics of the maximum-likelihood fitting function (ML-χ2). However, LISREL recently changed the computation of IFIs. Since version 8.52, IFIs reported by LISREL are based on the χ2 statistics of the reweighted least squares fitting function (RLS-χ2). Although both functions lead to the same maximum-likelihood parameter estimates, the two χ2 statistics reach different values. Because these differences are especi…
Das Inventar „State-Trait-Operations-Angst” (STOA): Konstruktion und empirische Befunde
This article reports on the construction and empirical evaluation of an instrument for the measurement of surgery-related state and trait anxiety. The inventory "State-Trait Operation Anxiety" (STOA) separately assesses surgery-related anxiety as a comparatively stable personality trait as well as the cognitive and affective components of state anxiety. Results of explorative and confirmatory factor analyses corroborated the unifactorial structure of trait anxiety and the two-factorial structure of state anxiety. Internal consistencies of all scales were highly satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha around 0.90). External relationships of the STOA with trait anxiety, dispositional and actual coping…
The relationship between positive and negative affect in the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule
Abstract The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988 ) is one of the most widely used affect scales. Nevertheless, the relation between its two scales, positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), is still controversial. Previous results that suggest independence between NA and PA were limited to manifest variables. In this study, the relation between PA and NA for both state and trait instructions was analyzed by means of structural equation modeling. Two hundred ninety-two participants responded to the PANAS at three occasions of measurement. No association was found between trait PA and NA, but significant negative correlations between state PA and…