Individual differences in self-enhancement and self-protection strategies: an integrative analysis

Research has identified a large number of strategies that people use to self-enhance or self-protect. We aimed for an empirical integration of these strategies. Two studies used self-report items to assess all commonly recognized self-enhancement or self-protection strategies. In Study 1 (N = 345), exploratory factor analysis identified four reliable factors. In Study 2 (N = 416), this model was validated using confirmatory factor analysis. The factors related differentially to the key personality variables of regulatory focus, self-esteem, and narcissism. Expanding this integrative approach in the future can reveal a great deal about the structure and dynamics of self-enhancement and self-protection motivation

Personality and Cognitive Ability as Predictors of Job Search and Separation Among Employed Managers

Traditional models and research on employee job search and separation focus on situationally-specific variables, those that change with time or between particular employment situations. More enduring individual characteristics, such as personality and cognitive ability, may create predispositions that affect search and separation in consistent ways across different situations. The research reported here extends traditional turnover models by incorporating two enduring individual characteristics – personality and cognitive ability – into the search and separation process. This extended model is then tested on a sample of executives. Cognitive ability as well as the personality dimensions of agreeableness, neuroticism and openness to experience related positively to job search. The effects of cognitive ability and the personality dimensions of agreeableness and openness to experience on job search were partially mediated by the array of situational factors, while the effect of neuroticism on job search was fully mediated. The relationship between extraversion and job search became significant in the presence of situational factors, suggesting a suppressor effect. With regard to separation, a similar suppressor effect was found for extraversion. Implications for future research and practice are discussed

Personality, Technology, and Learning

Computers continued encroachment on today’s society can be seen in a college lecture hall, where a growing number of students use laptops for their academic needs. Current academic laptop use research predominantly makes broad generalizations across users, indicating that laptop use in the classroom has negative influences on academic outcomes. However, this research neglects to take into account possible individual differences in the users. It is hypothesized that students\u27 levels of conscientiousness and impulsivity would moderate the relationship between laptop use and academic performance, while a student’s multitasking experience would mediate this same relationship, forming a moderated mediation model. Using an online sample of college aged students (N= 195), the hypothesized moderated mediation model was not supported. Students\u27 levels of conscientiousness or impulsivity do not moderate the relationship between laptop use and academic performance, and a student’s multitasking experience does not mediate this same relationship

Search, Effort, and Locus of Control

We test the hypothesis that locus of control – one's perception of control over events in life – influences search by affecting beliefs about the efficacy of search effort in a laboratory experiment. We find that reservation offers and effort are increasing in the belief that one's efforts influence outcomes when subjects exert effort without knowing how effort influences the generation of offers but are unrelated to locus of control beliefs when subjects are informed about the relationship between effort and offers. These effects cannot be explained by locus of control's correlation with unmeasured human capital, personality traits, and the costs of search – alternative explanations for the relationships between locus of control and search behavior that cannot be ruled out using survey data – as the search task does not vary across treatments, which leads us to conclude that locus of control influences search through beliefs about the efficacy of search effort. Our findings provide evidence that locus of control measures can be used to identify job seekers at risk of becoming "discouraged" and abandoning search.locus of control, reservation wages, labor market search, experiment

“You’re Nobody ‘til Somebody Loves You”: The Use of Job Search for Bargaining Leverage

The purpose of this research is to investigate a previously overlooked yet important objective for an employee engaging in job search – seeking alternative employment to obtain leverage against the current employer. We focus specifically on how employees conduct job search to obtain leverage, and then turn to the question of what motivates employees to adopt this objective. Using a sample of high-level managers, our results indicate the leverage-seeking job search predicts both preparatory and active search beyond the more traditional reason for engaging in job search (i.e., to change jobs). However, as expected, leverage-seeking search was a weaker predictor of the job search processes compared to searching to leave and was not significantly related to job satisfaction. Hierarchical level, perceived alternatives, financial independence, and the meaning attached to money significantly predicted leverage-seeking search, while compensation level, equity, and career plateau showed little effect. Implications for practice and future research on job search and employee retention more generally are discussed

Effects of Personality, Cognitive Ability, and Fit on Job Search and Separation Among Employed Managers

The present study attempted to provide a constructive replication and extension of a study on managerial job search completed by Bretz, Boudreau, and Judge (1994). Beyond examining the same variables as Bretz et al. (1994), the effects of personality, cognitive ability, challenge and hindrance related job stress, and fit on job search and turnover also were examined. Data were collected from a 1995 survey of employed U.S. managers and a 1996 follow-up survey of respondents. Results based on a sample of 1,886 managers generally replicated the Bretz et al. results. Furthermore, hindrance related stress, cognitive ability, extraversion, openness to experience, and agreeableness were associated with search and/or separation

The Influence of Regret Proneness, Evidence Strengthening, and Perceived Responsibility on Verdict Preference

In the present study, we investigated perceived responsibility, evidence strengthening, and defendant gender in the context of a criminal trial involving DNA. Evidence was introduced post-trial and varied as strengthening the defendant’s guilt v. innocence. We also examined perceptions of perceived responsibility for verdict in order to more closely evaluate the role of regret in decision-making. Results indicated that DNA evidence is perceived as reliable, regardless of whether it strengthened guilt or innocence. In addition, greater confidence in verdict was observed when evidence strengthened the guilt of a female defendant vs. a male defendant. Finally, jurors experiencing high levels of regret perceived DNA evidence more selectively compared to jurors with low levels of regret, supporting the importance of identifying individual difference factors prior to trial

Neuropsychiatric disturbances in atypical Parkinsonian disorders

Multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and corticobasal degeneration (CBD) are the most common atypical parkinsonisms. These disorders are characterized by varying combinations of autonomic, cerebellar and pyramidal system, and cognitive dysfunctions. In this paper, we reviewed the evidence available on the presence and type of neuropsychiatric disturbances in MSA, PSP, and CBD. A MedLine, Excerpta Medica, PsycLit, PsycInfo, and Index Medicus search was performed to identify all articles published on this topic between 1965 and 2018. Neuropsychiatric disturbances including depression, anxiety, agitation, and behavioral abnormalities have been frequently described in these disorders, with depression as the most frequent disturbance. MSA patients show a higher frequency of depressive disorders when compared to healthy controls. An increased frequency of anxiety disorders has also been reported in some patients, and no studies have investigated apathy. PSP patients may have depression, apathy, disinhibition, and to a lesser extent, anxiety and agitation. In CBD, neuropsychiatric disorders are similar to those present in PSP. Hallucinations and delusions are rarely reported in these disorders. Neuropsychiatric symptoms in MSA, PSP, and CBD do not appear to be related to the severity of motor dysfunction and are one of the main factors that determine a low quality of life. The results suggest that neuropsychiatric disturbances should always be assessed in patients with atypical parkinsonisms