Temperament and ovarian reproductive hormones in women: evidence from a study during the entire menstrual cycle

Personality and temperament were hypothesized to function as important factors affecting life history strategies. Recent research has demonstrated the association between temperamental traits and reproduction in humans, however, the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. This study presents evidence for an association between temperamental traits and woman's fecundity, as indicated by levels of ovarian steroid hormones during the menstrual cycle. On a large sample of urban, reproductive age women (n = 108) we demonstrated that activity, endurance and emotional reactivity are associated with levels of estrogen and with a pattern of change of progesterone levels. Women high in activity, high in endurance and low in emotional reactivity had up to twice as high estradiol levels and more favorable progesterone profiles as women low in activity, low in endurance and high in emotional reactivity. The temperamental traits we measured highly overlap with extraversion, neuroticism and negative emotionality that were reported to correlate with reproductive success. Our findings thus suggest a possible explanation for these relationships, linking personality and women's reproductive success through a hormonal pathway.     

Personality Predictors of Successful Development: Toddler Temperament and Adolescent Personality Traits Predict Well-Being and Career Stability in Middle Adulthood

The aim of the study was to predict both adaptive psychological functioning (well-being) and adaptive social functioning (career stability) in middle adulthood based on behaviors observed in toddlerhood and personality traits measured in adolescence. 83 people participated in an ongoing longitudinal study started in 1961 (58% women). Based on children’s behavior in toddlerhood, three temperamental dimensions were identified – positive affectivity, negative affectivity and disinhibition. In adolescence, extraversion and neuroticism were measured at the age of 16 years. Various aspects of well-being were used as indicators of adaptive psychological functioning in adulthood: life satisfaction, self-esteem and self-efficacy. Career stability was used as an indicator of adaptive social functioning. Job careers of respondents were characterized as stable, unstable or changeable. Extraversion measured at the age of 16 proved to be the best predictor of well-being indicators; in case of self-efficacy it was also childhood disinhibition. Extraversion in adolescence, childhood disinhibition and negative affectivity predicted career stability. Findings are discussed in the context of a theoretical framework of higher order factors of the Big Five personality constructs, stability and plasticity.     

Are atypical depression,borderline personality disorder and bipolar II disorder overlapping manifestations of a common cyclothymic diathesis?

The constructs of atypical depression, bipolar II disorder and borderline personality disorder (BPD) overlap. We explored the relationships between these constructs and their temperamental underpinnings. We examined 107 consecutive patients who met DSM-IV criteria for major depressive episode with atypical features. Those who also met the DSM-IV criteria for BPD (BPD+), compared with those who did not (BPD-), had a significantly higher lifetime comorbidity for body dysmorphic disorder, bulimia nervosa, narcissistic, dependent and avoidant personality disorders, and cyclothymia. BPD+ also scored higher on the Atypical Depression Diagnostic Scale items of mood reactivity, interpersonal sensitivity, functional impairment, avoidance of relationships, other rejection avoidance, and on the Hopkins Symptoms Check List obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, anger-hostility, paranoid ideation and psychoticism factors. Logistic regression revealed that cyclothymic temperament accounted for much of the relationship between atypical depression and BPD, predicting 6 of 9 of the defining DSM-IV attributes of the latter. Trait mood lability (among BPD patients) and interpersonal sensitivity (among atypical depressive patients) appear to be related as part of an underlying cyclothymic temperamental matrix.     

Personality assessment in the gorilla and its utility as a management tool

Goals of the Gorilla Species Survival Plan (SSP) include increased captive propagation, maintenance of genetic diversity, and consideration of the psychological well-being of the population. The SSP Propagation Group has attempted to accomplish these goals through recommendations based on assessment of genetic, behavioral, and demographic variables. A need is recognized for the development of a methodology to assess behavioral variables that contribute to the success of animal moves. Personality profiles have been used in the past to aid animal management decisions in laboratory settings. This paper describes personality assessment techniques, reviews historical perspectives on primate personality assessment, and reports on a study to assess gorilla personality. The Gorilla Behavior Index (GBI), a subjective assessment instrument consisting of behaviorally based adjectives, was completed for 298 of 303 captive gorillas over 1 year of age. The results were subjected to common factor analysis, resulting in the identification of four main factors: extroverted, dominant, fearful, and understanding. Frequency distributions were calculated illustrating the ranges of each factor. Potential management uses for the GBI scores are discussed. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

HSP70 polymorphisms in first psychotic episode drug-naïve schizophrenic patients

Aims

The aim of this study is to investigate differences in HSPA8 polymorphisms between first-episode psychotic (FEP) schizophrenic patients and healthy participants after adjustment for temperamental personality traits.

Main methods

This study included fifty drug-naive schizophrenic patients with an FEP and fifty healthy participants who served as controls. Genotyping of HSPA8 polymorphisms was performed in patients and healthy subjects as well. Personality characteristics were assessed using the standardized Greek version of the Alternative Five-Factor Zuckerman–Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ).

Key findings

Our results showed that FEP patients presented a polymorphism differentiation related to the HSPA8 gene (rs1136141), and a higher frequency of T carriers compared to healthy controls was observed. The HSP8A polymorphism and the levels of Neuroticism as measured by the Alternative Five-Factor ZKPQ were the variables most closely and independently associated with FEP in multiple logistic regression analysis, and the odds of being assessed with a FEP was 2.8 times greater in T carriers compared to non-carriers.

Significance

Present findings indicate a role of HSP8A in FEP and underline the importance of including personality traits in the study of the factors associated with the development of schizophrenia.     

The etiology of personality function: the University of British Columbia Twin Project.

The UBC Twin Project is an on-going study of personality and personality disorder that has collected personality data on approximately 1000 adult volunteer twin pairs. The primary purpose of the study is to develop and validate measures of the major forms of personality disorder as a quantitative alternative to the classificatory system first proposed by the DSM-III using the standard methods of personality and behavioural genetics research. To date, the study has explored the univariate and multivariate relationships between the major personality and personality disorder inventories, and their relationships to other psychopathologies including the mood and anxiety disorders and key psychological variables, such as cognitive ability, attachment and attitudes. The results have several implications for personality and personality disorders, most notably a rationalized diagnostic/nosological system to enhanced measurement instruments that index and reflect the influence of specific genetic and environmental influences.     

Personality development in psychotherapy: a synergetic model of state-trait dynamics

Theoretical models of psychotherapy not only try to predict outcome but also intend to explain patterns of change. Studies showed that psychotherapeutic change processes are characterized by nonlinearity, complexity, and discontinuous transitions. By this, theoretical models of psychotherapy should be able to reproduce these dynamic features. Using time series derived from daily measures through internet-based real-time monitoring as empirical reference, we earlier presented a model of psychotherapy which includes five state variables and four trait variables. In mathematical terms, the traits modulate the shape of the functions which define the nonlinear interactions between the variables (states) of the model. The functions are integrated into five coupled nonlinear difference equations. In the present paper, we model how traits (dispositions or competencies of a person) can continuously be altered by new experiences and states (cognition, emotion, behavior). Adding equations that link states to traits, this model not only describes how therapeutic interventions modulate short-term change and fluctuations of psychological states, but also how these can influence traits. Speaking in terms of Synergetics (theory of self-organization in complex systems), the states correspond to the order parameters and the traits to the control parameters of the system. In terms of psychology, trait dynamics is driven by the states—i.e., by the concrete experiences of a client—and creates a process of personality development at a slower time scale than that of the state dynamics (separation of time scales between control and order parameter dynamics).     

The Cultural-Historical Foundations of the Zone of Proximal Development

This theoretical article attempts to locate the concept of a zone of proximal development within the holistic context of cultural-historical theory. In order to analyze the psychological content of processes taking place within the zone of proximal development, special content of personality and mental development has been singled out. We propose methodologically correlating the concept "zone of proximal development" and personality development. It has been demonstrated that neoformations and leading activity, which serve as indicators of child development, also define the zone of proximal development at each specific psychological age. The article argues that only education that influences the zone of proximal development's boundaries is developmental education (as understood by L. S. Vygotsky).     

Typology of the nervous system and personality

The paper deals with structural organization of psycho-physiological and psychological characteristics of personality. The following characteristics were estimated: psychomotor, intellectual, creative abilities, features of imagination as well as basic properties of personality: extraversion--introversion, and neuroticism. Using the Q-technique of factor analysis of the 1-st, 2-nd and 3rd orders, the authors singled out three types of psychophysiological and psychological human organization. Each type was given a generalized interpretation. Conclusion is made that these types reflect more generalized processes than factors derived with R-technique of factor analysis.     

The Study of Personality Disorders in Epileptics

Studies on the pathopsychology of personality generally concentrate on emotional-volitional disorders and the influence of motives and needs on the processes of memory, thought, and perception in the mentally ill. Yet the psychological patterns underlying the actual formation of the various personality disorders are still relatively obscure.     

Avoidant Personality Disorder versus Social Phobia: The Significance of Childhood Neglect

Objectives

Avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) and social phobia (SP) are common disorders both in the community and in clinical settings. Whether the two disorders represent different severity levels of social anxiety disorder is currently in dispute. The relationship between AvPD and SP is probably more complex than previously assumed. Several environmental, temperamental, and constitutional factors may play a role in the etiology of AvPD and SP. Better knowledge about childhood experiences may shed light on similarities and differences between the two disorders. The aim of this study was to compare self-reported childhood experiences in AvPD and SP patients.

Design

This is a cross-sectional multi-site study of 91 adult patients with AvPD and/ or SP. We compared patients with AvPD with and without SP (AvPD group) to patients with SP without AvPD (SP group).

Methods

The patients were examined using structured diagnostic interviews and self-report measures, including Child Trauma Questionnaire, Parental Bonding Instrument, and Adult Temperament Questionnaire.

Results

Both AvPD and SP were associated with negative childhood experiences. AvPD patients reported more severe childhood neglect than patients with SP, most pronounced for physical neglect. The difference between the disorders in neglect remained significant after controlling for temperamental factors and concurrent abuse.

Conclusions

The study indicates that childhood neglect is a risk factor for AvPD and may be one contributing factor to phenomenological differences between AvPD and SP.     

A note of the generalizability of assortative mating coefficients for personality.

While numerous studies have reported differential assortative mating coefficients for personality traits, little research has centered on cross-sample comparisons to determine their degree of generalizability. The present investigation examines the assortative mating coefficients for scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) from five separate studies. An examination of these patterns of significant coefficients offers little support for this cross-sample generalizability. No significant correlations resulted between these studies in their coefficients, even when the unreliability of the different measures was controlled. It is concluded that there is little evidence to support statements of differential importance in assortment for personality variables beyond the sample under investigation.     

Therapeutic abortion and its psychological implications: the Canadian experience.

Approximately 9 months after a legal therapeutic abortion, 188 Canadian women were interviewed. One half were single and the rest were married, separated or divorced. They were matched closely for a number of demographic variables with control women who had not had abortions. Neurotic disturbance in several areas of personality functioning was assessed from questionnaire responses. Out of 27 psychological scales, differences between the abortion and control groups were found on only 3: in general, women who had had abortions were more rebellious than control women, abortion tended to be associated with somewhat greater depression in married women, and single women who had had abortions scored higher on the shallow-affect scale. However, all the personality scores were well within the normal range. Perceived social support was strongly associated with favourable psychological reactions after abortion. Use of contraceptives improved greatly after the abortion, when over 90% of women reported using contraceptives regularly.     

Dimensions of Temperament Modulate Cue-Controlled Behavior: A Study on Pavlovian to Instrumental Transfer in Horses (Equus Caballus)

Pavlovian to instrumental transfer (PIT) is a central factor in how cues influence animal behavior. PIT refers to the capacity of a Pavlovian cue that predicts a reward to elicit or increase a response intended to obtain the same reward. In the present study, using an equine model, we assessed whether PIT occurs in hoofed domestic animals and whether its efficacy can be modulated by temperamental dimensions. To study PIT, horses were submitted to Pavlovian conditioning whereby an auditory–visual stimulus was repeatedly followed by food delivery. Then, horses were submitted to instrumental conditioning during which they learned to touch with their noses an object signaled by the experimenter in order to obtain the same reward. During the PIT test, the Pavlovian conditioned stimulus was presented to the animal in the absence of reward. At the end of the experiment, a battery of behavioral tests was performed on all animals to assess five temperamental dimensions and investigate their relationships with instrumental performance. The results indicate that PIT can be observed in horses and that its efficacy is greatly modulated by individual temperament. Indeed, individuals with a specific pattern of temperamental dimensions (i.e., higher levels of gregariousness, fearfulness, and sensory sensitivity) exhibited the strongest PIT. The demonstration of the existence of PIT in domesticated animals (i.e., horses) is important for the optimization of its use by humans and the improvement of training methods. Moreover, because PIT may be implicated in psychological phenomena, including addictive behaviors, the observation of relationships between specific temperamental dimensions and PIT efficacy may aid in identifying predisposing temperamental attributes.     

Was das Gehirn zum Lernen braucht

“Neuro‐tips” for school. How does neurocognitive insight help teaching and learning? School aims at mediating knowledge such that it is stored effectively in long‐term memory. From a psychological‐neurobiological perspective, long‐term storage largely depends – besides intelligence and giftedness – on the following factors: (a) personality of the teacher, (b) attention, (c) connection of the learning content to previous knowledge, (d) motivation and reward expectation, (e) diversity of teaching and learning methods and classroom management, (f) diligence and repetition. The author has been organizing and accompanying classroom projects in which new teaching and learning methods are realized based on psychological and neurobiological insight presented here.     

学业不良大学生的人格特征分析

大学生学业不良主要是指由于焦虑等心理因素影响大学生学习潜力的发挥,造成学习效果不理想的状况,并且学习成绩未达到在读高校的既定标准。学习成绩结果具有暂时性、可逆性、具体性、社会性等特征。近年来,学业不良大学生的队伍不断扩大,学者们开始关注这个特殊群体。研究表明,学生的学习成绩与人格存在一定的相关。本文从学业不良的定义入手,分析了国内外对学业不良的研究现状,然后,着重对学业不良大学生的人格特征方面的研究进行综述,并提出一些相关建议。     

Parameters of the spatial of organization of EEG in persons with various individual characteristics

The relationships between some characteristics of EEG topographic maps and personality traits (extraversion-introversion, sensation-intuition, thinking-feeling, judging-impulsiveness) by the Keirsey's Type Inventory were studied in 46 17-20-year-old men). The most considerable distinctions in the spatial organization of the EEG were observed between the functions sensation and intuition. The high-sensation responders were characterized by higher EEG power in the theta 1, 2 and alpha 1-bands in all derivations and higher coherence (especially in the theta 1, 2 bands most expressed in the frontoparietal areas) as compared with the high-intuition responders. The expression of extraversion was positively correlated with coherence values in the theta 1, 2 and negatively correlated with coherence in the alpha 1, 2 bands. Characteristic EEG patterns for other types of personality traits were also described. The results suggest that some characteristics of brain maps reflect the individual psychological features determined on the basis of Jung's typology.     

Biological principles of individual differences of children of the second half-year of life: Communication II. The nature of individual differences in temperamental features

This work is the second fragment of the investigation of the nature of individual differences in physiological principles of infant temperament. The aim of this stage of the study was to estimate the contribution of genotypic and environmental factors to the formation of individual differences in childhood temperament of the second half-year of life. The experimental group consisted of 172 infants from mono- and dyzygotic twin pairs, aged 8–12 months. The estimations of the level of psychomotor development (by Bayley’s Scales) of all the children were normal. The temperament was estimated by Balleyguier’s Questionnaire, which has a number of substantial advantages over other questionnaires. The contribution of genetic and environmental factors was statistically analyzed by model fitting at the levels of individual temperamental features (questionnaire scales) and integral dimensions (the basic factors of the factor structure of estimations by the scales). It was shown that the nature of individual differences in the temperamental features of children of the second half-year of life markedly differs. The features such as activity, irritability, aggression, and negative emotional background in neutral everyday situations are under rigid genetic control. The sensitivity to punishment signal is to an equal extent determined genetically and by the factors of shared (family) environment, while the individual differences in sociability are predominantly determined by the family environment. A significant discordance between the observed phenomena and the data of recent literature is discussed.     

Personality and Dream Recall Frequency: Still Further Negative Findings

In order to investigate the relationship between dream recall frequency and personality, 116 college undergraduates kept a dream log for 21 consecutive nights and completed self-report measures assessing fantasy-proneness, psychological absorption, and imaginative involvement. Consistent with most previous literature in this area, with one exception, there were no significant associations found between dream recall and the personality measures. The one exception to this pattern was for fantasy proneness and this correlation was of a small magnitude and only obtained for women. We conclude that dream recall frequency is largely independent from stable personality traits and can better be understood in terms of expectancy and attitudinal factors.     

La personalidad premórbida como factor de riesgo en la aparición de síntomas psicológicos y conductuales de la demencia: revisión sistemática

The aetiology of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) is defined by a diversity of factors, and recent studies suggest that premorbid personality could be a risk factor for BPSD. This study aimed to review studies on the relationship between premorbid personality and BPSD.Studies were identified using PsycInfo, MedLine, and PubMed. The searches combined terms for premorbid personality, dementia and BPSD. Ten studies have been included in this review.Eight out of ten studies show a relationship between premorbid personality and BPSD. Neuroticism is associated with behavioural disturbances and anxiety. Extraversion is associated with wandering. Low agreeableness is associated with affective disturbance and aggression-related behaviours and high agreeableness is associated with wandering. The studies found no congruent results for openness and conscientiousness.In conclusion, premorbid personality may increase the risk of developing BPSD during the course of the disease. Even so, the relationship between personality and BPSD is complex due to multifactorial aetiology.