Search results for " traits"

Effect of river restoration on life-history strategies in fish communities

2019

Assessments of river restoration outcomes are mostly based on taxonomic identities of species, which may not be optimal because a direct relationship to river functions remains obscure and results are hardly comparable across biogeographic borders. The use of ecological species trait information instead of taxonomic units may help to overcome these challenges. Abundance data for fish communities were gathered from 134 river restoration projects conducted in Switzerland, Germany and Finland, monitored for up to 15 years. These data were related to a dataset of 22 categories of ecological traits describing fish life-history strategies to assess the outcome of the restoration projects. Restora…

Secure and sustainable but not as prominent among the ambivalent: Attachment style and proenvironmental consumption

2021

Abstract Human activity has degraded the environment and contributed to numerous public health hazards. Thus, the United Nations recently made an urgent call to develop sustainable consumption practices. Although existing literature has acknowledged attachment style as a potential predictor of certain consumption responses, its influence on proenvironmental consumption has not yet been examined. We conducted a large-sampled study (N = 1397) on this topic and found securely attached individuals to report significantly higher scores on a scale measuring proenvironmental consumption compared to people with anxious/ambivalent and avoidant attachment styles, respectively. The latter two groups d…

2018

This study investigated participants’ conceptions of the ideal mentor and mentee in the Finnish model of peer-group mentoring (PGM). Existing mentoring research emphasises dyadic practices, yet the...

Psychobehavioral Effects of Meditation

2017

Meditation is an increasingly popular psychobehavioral therapy. Various meditation techniques in use make it hard to objectively scrutinize the psychological benefits. Therefore, in this study we set out to examine the effects of two fundamentally different meditative techniques, Zazen, ‘seated meditation’, in which the body and mind are calmed, and Tai Chi, ‘meditation in motion’, based on energetic martial art performance. The aim was to compare the effects of both techniques on personality structure, emotional intelligence, mood, and coping with stress. The study was conducted in 48 healthy volunteers, aged 39–50, divided into those practicing Zazen, Tai Chi, and the non-meditating contr…

Predicting University Adjustment from Coping-Styles, Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy, and Personality: Findings from a Survey in a Sample of Italian Stude…

2021

Starting university life requires that students learn to cope with several personal, academic, and social challenges. A wide array of variables affects how students adjust to university life. This study was aimed to investigate which factors among coping styles, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and personality traits (i.e., diligence, relational availability, mental flexibility, activity, and emotional stability) best predicted the levels of university adjustment in a sample of university freshmen (N = 204, 63% women). Data were collected using self-report instruments. Multiple regressions analyses were conducted to identify the most significant predictors of adjustment to college. Our findings …

Identifying predictive factors in compliance with the COVID-19 containment measures: A mediation analysis

2021

Giusy Danila Valenti, Palmira Faraci Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, University of Enna “Kore”, Enna, ItalyCorrespondence: Giusy Danila ValentiCittadella Universitaria, 94100, ItalyEmail giusy.valenti@unikore.itIntroduction: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led governments to implement some containment measures to flatten the curve of the diffusion of the virus. The current study aims to investigate individual differences in compliance with these restrictive behaviors. In a sample of Italian individuals (N = 300), we examined whether sociodemographic factors, personality traits, fatalism, and fear could be considered as possible predictors.Methods: We performed a series o…

How personality traits and intrinsic personal characteristics influence the consumer's choice of reduced-calorie food

2012

Abstract Nowadays, the consumption of low-calorie foods is being taken into account as a tool for reducing the incidence of certain nutrition-related health disorders. In this context, several factors were used to model low-fat (LF), low-sugar (LS) and high-calorie (HC) food consumption behavior. These factors were: personality traits (neuroticism and conscientiousness), food choice motives (health and weight control) and intrinsic personal characteristics such as self-esteem and satisfaction with life. The results indicate a good fit for the proposed model. Weight control was the best predictor of consumption of this kind of product, and health was a less strong predictor. In addition, cor…

The Predictive Role of Ideological, Personality and Psychopathological Factors in Homonegative Attitudes in Italy

2021

Homonegativity refers to a series of prejudicial and discriminatory attitudes towards individuals perceived as homosexuals. Previous studies indicated that some person- ality traits (i.e., neuroticism, low openness to experience), as well as specific ideo- logical attitudes (i.e., conservatism, authoritarianism) and higher levels of psychopa- thology make individuals more prone to show homonegative attitudes. However, no studies have compared these three dimensions in order to identify their different role in homonegativity. For this reason, the aim of this study was to simultaneously eval- uate the association of ideological, personality, and psychopathological factors with homonegativity …

Achievement Orientations, School Adjustment, and Well-being: A Longitudinal Study

2007

This study set out to identify the kinds of achievement orientations that adolescents show, and to examine the kinds of antecedents and consequences the use of a particular orientation has. The participants were 734 Swedish adolescents (335 boys and 399 girls) who filled in questionnaires measuring their achievement beliefs and behaviors, depressive symptoms, engagement with school, and norm-breaking behavior. By using clustering-by-cases analysis, five achievement orientation groups were identified: optimism, defensive-pessimism, self-handicapping, and learned helplessness, and a group showing average levels of criteria variables. The results showed further that a decrease in depressive sy…

Entrepreneurship Training and Self-Employment among University Graduates

2012

In economies characterized by low labor demand and high rates of youth unemployment, entrepreneurship training has the potential to enable youth to gain skills and create their own jobs. This paper presents experimental evidence on a new entrepreneurship track that provides business training and personalized coaching to university students in Tunisia. Undergraduates in the final year of licence appliquee were given the opportunity to graduate with a business plan instead of following the standard curriculum. This paper relies on randomized assignment of the entrepreneurship track to identify impacts on labor market outcomes one year after graduation. The analysis finds that the entrepreneur…