Comparison of the personality traits of male and female BASE jumpers

BASE jumping is an extreme adventure sport which consists of jumping from a fixed object with specially adapted parachutes. A few studies of the personality of BASE jumpers have been conducted, but little is known about how the women in this sport compare to the men. The purpose of this study is to compare the personality traits among a sample of men and women who are experienced BASE jumpers, as this provides an interesting and important opportunity to better understand the motivation for extreme sports. Eighty-three participants completed the Temperament and Character Inventory the day before the jump at the New River Gorge Bridge Day BASE Jumping event, West Virginia, United States. The sample included 64 men and 19 women. Results show that men and women BASE jumpers shared similar personality traits both in terms of temperament and character, except for the character trait of cooperativeness on which women scored higher than men. This suggests that the basic drive for participation in extreme sports is self-regulation of personal emotional drives and needs for self-actualization, rather than to oppose social pressure or cultural bias against female participation. These findings are discussed in relation with other studies conducted among extreme athletes and in terms of congruence between personality and activity

Student engagement with school and personality: a biopsychosocial and person-centered approach

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Moreira, P. A. S., Richard A. Inman, Kevin M. Cloninger, and C. Robert Cloninger. “Student Engagement with School and Personality: A Biopsychosocial and Person-Centred Approach (2021). British Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 691–713, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12388. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Prof. Paulo Moreira, Instituto de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade Lusíada, Rua de Moçambique 21 e 71, Porto 4100-348, Portugal. Email: [email protected]: Engagement with school is a key predictor of students’ academic outcomes, yet little is known about its association with personality. No research has considered this association using Cloninger’s biopsychosocial model of personality. This model may be particularly informative because it posits the structure of human personality corresponds to three systems of human learning and memory that regulate associative conditioning, intentionality and self-awareness, all of which are relevant for understanding engagement. Aims: To test for defined personality phenotypes and describe how they relate to student engagement. Sample: 469 adolescents (54.2% female) attending the eighth (Mage = 13.2, SD = .57) or 11th (Mage = 16.5, SD = .84) grades. Methods: Students completed self-report measures of personality and engagement. We used mixture models to identify latent classes defined by common (a) temperament profiles, (b) character profiles, and (c) joint temperament-character networks, and then tested how these classes differed in engagement. Results: Latent class analysis revealed three distinct joint temperament-character networks: Emotional-Unreliable (emotionally reactive, low self-control and low creativity), Organized-Reliable (self-control but not creative), and Creative-Reliable (highly creative and prosocial). These networks differed significantly in engagement, with the emotional-unreliable network linked to lower engagement. However, the magnitudes of these differences across engagement dimensions did not appear to be uniform. Conclusions: Different integrated configurations of the biopsychosocial systems for associative conditioning, intentionality and self-awareness (differences in personality) underlie student engagement. Our results offer a fine-grained understanding of engagement dimensions in terms of their underlying personality networks, with implications for educational policies and practices

The complex genetics and biology of human temperament : a review of traditional concepts in relation to new molecular findings

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have shown that temperament is strongly influenced by more than 700 genes that modulate associative conditioning by molecular processes for synaptic plasticity and long-term learning and memory. The results were replicated in three independent samples despite variable cultures and environments. The identified genes were enriched in pathways activated by behavioral conditioning in animals, including the two major molecular pathways for response to extracellular stimuli, the Ras-MEK-ERK and the PI3K-AKT-mTOR cascades. These pathways are activated by a wide variety of physiological and psychosocial stimuli that vary in positive and negative valence and in consequences for health and survival. Changes in these pathways are orchestrated to maintain cellular homeostasis despite changing conditions by modulating temperament and its circadian and seasonal rhythms. In this review we first consider traditional concepts of temperament in relation to the new genetic findings by examining the partial overlap of alternative measures of temperament. Then we propose a definition of temperament as the disposition of a person to learn how to behave, react emotionally, and form attachments automatically by associative conditioning. This definition provides necessary and sufficient criteria to distinguish temperament from other aspects of personality that become integrated with it across the life span. We describe the effects of specific stimuli on the molecular processes underlying temperament from functional, developmental, and evolutionary perspectives. Our new knowledge can improve communication among investigators, increase the power and efficacy of clinical trials, and improve the effectiveness of treatment of personality and its disorders.Peer reviewe

Identifying the dominant personality profiles in medical students: Implications for their well-being and resilience

Purpos

The psychobiological model of personality and its association with student approaches to learning : Integrating temperament and character

This document is the authors’ version of the final accepted manuscript published in 2020 by Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00313831.2020.1739137Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Prof. Paulo Moreira, Instituto de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade Lusíada, Rua de Moçambique 21 e 71, Porto 4100-348, Portugal. Email: [email protected] results from the complex interactions among multiple learning and memory systems. There is a need to examine the personality-learning association using a personality model that captures this complexity: Cloninger’s psychobiological model. The study addresses this need using a person-centered approach. In total, 686 adolescents completed the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI) and a measure of approaches to learning. Students with a ‘steady’ temperament showed a preference for the deep approach. Students with high character coherence also had this preference. A temperament profile-by-character profile interaction was crucial for understanding students’ preferred approach to learning. These findings imply that adaptive learning approaches result from an integration of major systems of learning and memory, as measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory

Humor and personality : temperament and character have different roles

Article available on the publisher's page at : https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/19485506211066369Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Prof. Paulo Moreira, Instituto de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade Lusíada, Rua de Moçambique 21 e 71, Porto 4100-348, Portugal. Email: [email protected] study aimed to test how sense of humor is dependent on the complex and dynamic interactions between the emotional (temperament) and sociocognitive (character) components of personality. Specifically, we examined the relationship of temperament and/or character profiles to overall humor potential and comic style. In total, 665 adults responded to Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and the Comic Style Markers. Temperament profiles were associated with overall humor potential but not comic styles. People with positive development of all three character traits had the highest levels of fun, benevolent humor, and wit. Sense of humor depended on integrated profiles of both temperament and character. We conclude that temperament energizes overall humor potential while character shapes the comic styles. This study advances research by directing focus to the causal within-person psychobiological processes that underlie sense of humor