How young adults imagine their future? The role of temperamental traits

Abstract Relatively few empirical studies have addressed the psychological dimensions involved in the imagination of the future. The present study aimed to verify the hypothetical link between the temperament traits of young adults and their attitudes towards the future. Through an online panel, 246 subjects aged 20 to 30 years (M = 26.07 ± 2.36), of whom 54.5% were female, answered a protocol consisting of an identity record, a specially designed tool called the Future Thinking Questionnaire, and the Temperament and Character Inventory developed by Cloninger. The data were analysed through linear regression, Student's t test, and the Kruskall-Wallis test. Results show that specific temperament traits, such as Reward Dependence and Harm Avoidance, significantly predict the perception of Uncertainty, the sense of Helplessness, the attitude of Persistence, and Fantasy regarding external solutions. Findings suggest that the view of the future is influenced by a temperamental and hence hereditary disposition

Neurocognitive Evidence for Different Problem-Solving Processes between Engineering and Liberal Arts Students

Differences exist between engineering and liberal arts students because of their educational backgrounds. Therefore, they solve problems differently. This study examined the brain activation of these two groups of students when they responded to 12 questions of verbal, numerical, or spatial intelligence. A total of 25 engineering and 25 liberal arts students in Taiwan participated in the experiment. The results were as follows. (i) During verbal intelligence tasks, differences between the two groups were observed in the information flows of verbal message comprehension and contextual familiarity detection in the problem-identifying phase, whereas no significant differences were found in the resolution-reaching phase. (ii) During numerical intelligence tasks, differences between the two groups were observed in the information flows of mental calculation and message comprehensionin the problem-identifying phase and those of verbal perception and analogical reasoning in the resolution-reaching phase. (iii) During spatial intelligence tasks, differences between the two groups were observed in the information flows of spatial relation integration and spatial context memory retrieval in the problem-identifying phase and those ofspatial attentionand contextual relation integration in the resolution-reaching phase

The Mediating Roles of Generative Cognition and Organizational Culture between Personality Traits and Student Imagination

Using science majors as an example, we analyzed how generative cognition, organizational culture, and personality traits affect student imagination, and examined the mediating effects of generative cognition and organizational culture. A total of 473 undergraduates enrolled in physical, chemical, mathematical, and biological science programs participated in this empirical study. The traits of openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and neuroticism had various effects on student imagination. Openness proved to be the most influential factor on initiating, conceiving, and transforming imagination. Extraversion was the second best predictor of initiating imagination, and conscientiousness was the second best predictor of conceiving and transforming imagination

Interaction of Psychological Factors in Shaping Entrepreneurial Intention Among Computer and Electrical Engineering Students

Numerous technopreneurs start their ventures at college age, but the entrepreneurship of computer and electrical engineering (CEE) students remains under-studied. This study analysed both the combined and interactive effects of psychological factors on the entrepreneurial intentions of CEE students. In this study, entrepreneurial intention comprised two dimensions, conviction and preparation. Regarding the direct effects, the results indicated that self-efficacy affected entrepreneurial conviction the most, followed by negative emotion, intrinsic motivation, and metacognition. Negative emotion affected entrepreneurial preparation the most, followed by self-efficacy and positive emotion. The results also revealed several crucial interactive effects resulting from psychological factors. An increase in cognitive load increased the entrepreneurial intention of students exhibiting high intrinsic motivation and reduced the intention of students exhibiting low intrinsic motivation. An increase in metacognition increased the entrepreneurial conviction of students exhibiting either high or low intrinsic motivation. An increase in positive emotion reduced the entrepreneurial intention of students exhibiting high negative emotion and increased the intention of students exhibiting low negative emotion. An increase in self-efficacy increased the entrepreneurial intention of students exhibiting either high or low negative emotion.Przedsiębiorcy w dziedzinie zaawansowanych technologii (techno-przedsiębiorcy) często rozpoczynają aktywność już w okresie studiów, jednak działalność przedsiębiorcza studentów wydziałów elektronicznych i informatycznych nie została do tej pory dostatecznie zbadana. W tym badaniu analizowano wpływ czynników psychologicznych na intencje przedsiębiorcze tych studentów w oparciu o dwa wymiary, przekonanie i przygotowanie. W odniesieniu do skutków bezpośrednich, wyniki wskazują, że poczucie własnej skuteczności wpływa najbardziej na przekonanie o przedsiębiorczości, a kolejnymi czynnikami są negatywne emocje, motywacja wewnętrzna oraz meta-poznanie. Negatywne emocje najmocniej wpłynęły na przygotowanie do podjęcia działań przedsiębiorczych, a następnie na poczucie własnej skuteczności i na pozytywne emocje. Wyniki wykazały również kilka ważnych efektów interakcji wynikających z czynników psychologicznych. Wzrost obciążenia poznawczego wzmocnił intencje przedsiębiorcze studentów, którzy wykazywali znaczącą motywację wewnętrzną, a osłabił intencje studentów ze słabą wewnętrzną motywacją. Wzrost meta-poznania zwiększył intencje przedsiębiorcze zarówno studentów wykazujących mocną jak i słabą motywację wewnętrzną. Wzrost pozytywnych emocji wpłynął na osłabienie intencji przedsiębiorczości u studentów wykazujących wysoki poziom emocji negatywnych oraz podniósł intencję u studentów z niskim poziomem negatywnych emocji. Wzrost poczucia własnej skuteczności wzmocnił intencje przedsiębiorczości u studentów wykazujących zarówno wysoki jak i niski poziom negatywnych emocji

Stability Analysis and Reinforcement of the Existing Karst Cave Passing through Yujingshan Tunnel

High-speed Railway tunneling in karst terrain presents a huge challenge to the engineer including the identification, stability analysis and reinforcement of the karst cavities. The Cheng-Gui high-speed railway tunnel had to pass through the largest karst cave discovered in tunnel construction. To guaranteeing the tunnel construction safety, a series of corresponding prevention and control measures are put forward. To begin with, geological drilling, electromagnetic method and surface electrical resistivity tomography are adopted to detect and delineate the underground karst zone. Based on the detection results, this paper has put forward strategies to make the pre-support of karst cave and the main technical of those strategies include: the side-walls or in the crown was applied with shotcret (C40 steel fiber concrete); use expanding-shell pre-stressed hollow anchor rod and pre-stressed cable reinforcement; fix steel-mesh-bolting; the shotcrete sealing was applied. Moreover, if instabilities would develop in the side-walls, it should be sufficient to stabilize the cavities, to do dental cleaning of the broken rocks, and fill the voids with shotcrete or pumped lean concrete. At last, systematic grouting treatment around the excavated section, and was excavated with the layer-step method. The solutions presented here may provide guidance for the design and construction of high-speed railway tunnels to be implemented affected by karst processes. The technical validation of the proposed solutions was demonstrated by the successful completion of the Yujingshan tunnel. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Revisiting the Antecedents of Social Entrepreneurial Intentions in Hong Kong

This study examined how empathy, moral obligation, social entrepreneurial self-efficacy, perceived social support, and prior experience with social problems are associated with social entrepreneurial intentions. Through a survey, a sample of 252 Hong Kong students was used for analyses. Factor analyses supported that the antecedents of social entrepreneurial intentions could be divided into dimensions of empathy, moral obligation, social entrepreneurial self-efficacy, perceived social support, and prior experience with social problems. Multiple regression analysis results indicated that perceived social support was the most prominent antecedent of social entrepreneurial intentions, followed by moral obligation, empathy, and prior experience with social problems. Notably, moral obligation was revealed to be negatively associated with social entrepreneurial intentions.

A New Runway for Journalists: On the Intentions of Journalists to Start Social Enterprises

Journalists have been facing a variety of challenges and are even being laid off in the face of changing media ecosystems in the age of digital convergence. Sharing similar characteristics with entrepreneurs, numerous journalists have worked together to develop social enterprises, attaining social change through business approaches. The present study explores the intentions of former and current journalists to establish social enterprises, using questionnaires focused on personality traits, creativity, and social capital. Results reveal that creativity was found to have a significant influence on the social entrepreneurial intentions of journalists, as does having higher bridging-type social capital

Holocene sediment source analysis and paleoclimatic significance of core KZK01 from the eastern part of the Beibu Gulf

Identifying the sources of sediments is of great significance in reconstructing Holocene paleoclimate evolution in the Beibu Gulf and in understanding the characteristics of regional responses to changes in global climate. The Holocene paleoclimatic evolutionary history of the Beibu Gulf was investigated by chronological, geochemical, and mineralogical means using the sediments of Core KZK01 from the eastern part of the Beibu Gulf. The rare earth element (REE) distribution curves, (Gd/Yb)N and (La/Yb)N discriminant diagram, and (Gd/Lu)N and ∑LREE/∑HREE discriminant diagram indicated that the detrital materials in the eastern part of the Beibu Gulf primarily originated from Hainan Island and its proximal sources, with considerable contributions from Taiwan and Pearl River materials. Source analysis of clay minerals showed that Luzon Island was the main source of smectite, followed by Hainan Island. Rivers in Taiwan were the main sources of illite in the study area, followed by the Red River. The Red River was the main contributor of chlorite, followed by the Pearl River. Kaolinite mainly originated from Hainan Island and Guangxi. Coastal currents, surface currents, and warm currents were the main drivers of material transport. Paleoclimatic variations since the Holocene in the Beibu Gulf were divided into three stages: 12–9 cal kyr BP, 9–1.3 cal kyr BP, and 1.3 cal kyr BP to the present. During different stages of climatic evolution, drought was often accompanied by cold and humidity coexisted with warmth, and cold-dry-warm-humid alternation is characterized by significant phases. The illite crystallinity clearly recorded the extreme cold events, such as Bond Events (except Bond6) and the Younger Dryas, and the change trend was essentially consistent with the regional climate record, reflecting the control of global climate change on the process of land–sea interaction in the tropical region. Furthermore, it highlights the great potential of illite crystallinity as a proxy indicator for reconstructing the surface chemical weathering processes of the region