Don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry: volitional choices to act or inhibit are modulated by subliminal perception of emotional faces

Volitional action and self-control—feelings of acting according to one’s own intentions and in being control of one’s own actions—are fundamental aspects of human conscious experience. However, it is unknown whether high-level cognitive control mechanisms are affected by socially salient but nonconscious emotional cues. In this study, we manipulated free choice decisions to act or withhold an action by subliminally presenting emotional faces: In a novel version of the Go/NoGo paradigm, participants made speeded button-press responses to Go targets, withheld responses to NoGo targets, and made spontaneous, free choices to execute or withhold the response for Choice targets. Before each target, we presented emotional faces, backwards masked to render them nonconscious. In Intentional trials, subliminal angry faces made participants more likely to voluntarily withhold the action, whereas fearful and happy faces had no effects. In a second experiment, the faces were made supraliminal, which eliminated the effects of angry faces on volitional choices. A third experiment measured neural correlates of the effects of subliminal angry faces on intentional choice using EEG. After replicating the behavioural results found in Experiment 1, we identified a frontal-midline theta component—associated with cognitive control processes—which is present for volitional decisions, and is modulated by subliminal angry faces. This suggests a mechanism whereby subliminally presented “threat” stimuli affect conscious control processes. In summary, nonconscious perception of angry faces increases choices to inhibit, and subliminal influences on volitional action are deep seated and ecologically embedded

Standardization of the NEO-PI-3 in the Greek general population

BACKGROUND: The revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-3) includes 240 items corresponding to the Big Five personality traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience) and subordinate dimensions (facets). It is suitable for use with adolescents and adults (12 years or older). The aim of the current study was to validate the Greek translation of the NEO-PI-3 in the general Greek population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study sample included 734 subjects from the general Greek population of whom 59.4% were females and 40.6% males aged 40.80 +/- 11.48. The NEO-PI-3 was translated into Greek and back-translated into English, and the accuracy of the translation was confirmed and established. The statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA), the calculation of Cronbach's alpha, and the calculation of Pearson product-moment correlations. Sociodemographics groups were compared by ANOVA. RESULTS: Most facets had Cronbach's alpha above 0.60. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable loading of the facets on their own hypothesized factors and very good estimations of Cronbach's alphas for the hypothesized factors, so it was partially supportive of the five-factor structure of the NEO-PI-3.The factors extracted with Procrustes rotation analysis can be considered reasonably homologous to the factors of the American normative sample. Correlations between dimensions were as expected and similar to those reported in the literature. DISCUSSION: The literature suggests that overall, the psychometric properties of NEO-PI-3 scales have been found to generalize across ages, cultures, and methods of measurement. In accord with this, the results of the current study confirm the reliability of the Greek translation and adaptation of the NEO-PI-3. The inventory has comparable psychometric properties in its Greek version in comparison to the original and other national translations, and it is suitable for clinical as well as research use

A Five-Factor Theory Perspective

Abstract. Five-Factor Theory (FFT) is a conceptualization of the personality system that identifies traits as abstract Basic Tendencies rooted in biology. In this chapter, FFT is examined in relation to recent findings in cross-cultural psychology reported in this volume. FFT correctly predicts the universality of personality structure, maturation, and gender differentiation. FFT suggests that differences in the mean levels of traits across cultures may be due to differences in the distribution of trait-related alleles, and that cultural dif-ferences may be the effect, rather than the cause, of trait level differences. Reports of substantial cohort and acculturation effects pose challenges to FFT and provide special opportunities for future research

On the relationship between circumplexes: Affect and Wiggins' IAS

This article offers a new method to describe the relationship between two circumplexes, illustrated empirically with Wiggins' (1995) Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS) and Yik, Russell, and Steiger's (2004) 12-Point Affect Circumplex Scales (12-PACS). Michael Browne's CIRCUM-extension procedure was used to place each circumplex within the other. Simulations showed this procedure can reveal the number of dimensions of overlap between the two and can estimate the magnitude and location of the overlap. The IAS space overlaps the 12-PACS space on one axis, which falls at 35degrees within the 12-PACS space (pleasant activated versus unpleasant deactivated) and at 71degrees within the IAS space, which is close to where Extraversion (Factor I of the Five Factor Model) also lies

Chinese affect circumplex: I. Structure of recalled momentary affect

The structure of momentary affect among Cantonese-speaking Chinese was explored by developing questionnaire scales in four response formats. Scales can be scored for dimensions defined by Feldman Barrett and Russell; Thayer; Larsen and Diener; and Watson and Tellegen. In a study of recalled affect (N=487), the newly translated scales were found to support all but Watson and Tellegen's structural model originating from English. Results cross-validated well in a second sample (N=402). Affect dimensions were interrelated as found with English-speaking Canadians and they could be integrated into a two-dimensional bipolar space

Linking personality and values: The importance of a culturally relevant personality scale

The relationship between personality and values was studied in a Hong Kong Chinese university sample. Personality was assessed by the Sino-American Person Perception Scale which is composed of eight personality dimensions whose items had been culled from both the American and the indigenous Chinese written materials. Values were assessed by Schwartz's Value Survey, which taps ten universal value types. All personality dimensions were related to the value types either alone or in combination, but Openness to Experience was most frequently related. Results were discussed in terms of the usefulness of a culturally relevant personality scale in sketching the relationship between personality and values. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd

Predicting the big two of affect from the big five of personality

This article reports a study (N = 217) predicting self-reported momentary affect from personality. Affect was described with a two-dimensional space that integrates various affect models including the valence/arousal and the positive affect/negative affect models. Three models of personality were compared: Extraversion and Neuroticism, the Five Factor Model (which adds Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience), and Digman's Alpha and Beta. Both linear and nonlinear (interaction and quadratic) effects were examined. Results favored the Five Factor Model. Nonlinear effects were small. Personality was not linked to affect in a way consistent with the claim that certain dimensions (Positive Affect and Negative Affect) are more basic; indeed, neuroticism was maximally correlated with the Pleasant versus Unpleasant axis rather than with Negative Affect, (C) 2001 Academic Press

Patterns of shyness in East-Asian and European-heritage students

Reviews of the self-report literature suggest that shyness is more prevalent among East Asians than among those of European heritage. We evaluated the generalizability of that claim with four studies comparing students of Asian heritage (AH) and European heritage (EH). Study I (N = 897) confirmed a substantially higher rate of self-reported shyness among AH students (68\%) than among EH students (44\%). In Study 2 (N = 309), the ethnic difference in self-reported shyness was substantially higher for classroom than for social situations. In Study 3 (N = 213), the ethnic difference was strong for cross-ethnicity socializing but nil for same-ethnicity socializing. In Study 4 (N = 250), a behavioral index-classroom participation-was recorded and coded. The observed ethnic difference in participation rate showed a medium effect size comparable to the self-report difference. There was no ethnic difference, however, in the mean complexity and challengingness of the classroom participations or in final course grades. We conclude that the ethnic difference is maximal for classroom participation because the latter situation combines several key contributing factors to Asian shyness. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved

Do Chinese self-enhance or self-efface? It's a matter of domain

The assumption that Chinese tend to self-efface has mixed support in the scanty empirical literature. The conflicting findings may be attributable to measuring different domains in different studies. Therefore, we assessed self-enhancement across eight domains of person perception in a Hong Kong Chinese sample. Twenty-one groups of college students, after working together for 13 weeks on class projects, were asked to rate fellow group members on all eight domains. The degree of self-enhancement or self-effacement was determined by comparing self-ratings with mean peer ratings. Results showed an overall self-effacement effect, which was significant for five of eight personality dimensions. The exceptions were agentic traits such as Assertiveness, Openness to Experience, and Intellect. The overall rate of self-enhancers (43%) was substantially lower than the rate for a comparable North American sample (56%). Although those who self-enhanced most reported high self-esteem, they were not rated as better adjusted by their peers

Structure of self-reported current affect: Integration and beyond

Current affect has been described with various dimensions and structures, including J. A. Russell's (1980) circumplex, D. Watson and A. Tellegen's (1985) positive and negative affect, R. E. Thayer's (1989) tense and energetic arousal, and R. J. Larsen and E. Diener's (1992) 8 combinations of pleasantness and activation. These 4 structures each presuppose bipolar dimensions and have been thought of as interchangeable or 45 degrees rotations of one another, but past data were inconsistent. Huge but not perfect overlap among these four structures was found here in 2 studies of self-reported current affect (Ns = 198 and 217) that controlled for random and systematic errors of measurement. The 4 structures were integrated into a common space defined by 2 bipolar dimensions