Understanding personality through preferences in popular mass media: An archetypal approach

In the Digital Age, it may be possible to assess personality in ways beyond those traditionally employed by psychologists. This work examines individual preferences in popular or mass culture media and what they say about people\u27s psychological processes. For example, knowing that someone likes romantic comedy movies and jazz music arguably paints a more useful picture of personality than saying that one is high in both extraversion and openness. In such cases, a media-based self-description provides a clear and tangible metric of individual interests. Here, we hypothesize that one reason such preferences may reflect personality is because media and the arts make frequent use of prototypical or archetypal themes and characters in the stories they relate to their audiences, and that people resonate---i.e., respond affectively---to these thematic elements in specific ways that reflect their personalities. Two studies were performed to test the general hypothesis that people\u27s tastes in popular and mass culture media largely inform their overall personalities and behaviors. In Study 1, two similar scales measuring resonance to archetypal media were compared and a five-factor model of archetypes in mass media was validated. In Study, 2, resonant media preferences were evaluated and compared with participants\u27 self-reported current concerns (including hobbies, group memberships, personal strivings, and possible selves) in order to identify possible archetypal life themes. Results supported the idea of archetypal life themes---that people\u27s mass media preferences are related to their everyday behaviors, goals, social interests, and self-concept. In the future, pop culture-based indicators of personality such as media preferences may be used more often as assessment tools; more pragmatically, they may serve to guide individuals\u27 overall personal development

Charge Screening, Large-N, and the Abelian Projection Model of Confinement

We point out that the abelian projection theory of quark confinement is in conflict with certain large-N predictions. According to both large-N and lattice strong-coupling arguments, the perimeter law behavior of adjoint Wilson loops at large scales is due to charge-screening, and is suppressed relative to the area term by a factor of $1/N^2$. In the abelian projection theory, however, the perimeter law is due to the fact that $N-1$ out of $N^2-1$ adjoint quark degrees of freedom are (abelian) neutral and unconfined; the suppression factor relative to the area law is thus only $1/N$. We study numerically the behavior of Wilson loops and Polyakov lines with insertions of (abelian) charge projection operators, in maximal abelian gauge. It appears from our data that the forces between abelian charged, and abelian neutral adjoint quarks are not significantly different. We also show via the lattice strong-coupling expansion that, at least at strong couplings, QCD flux tubes attract one another, whereas vortices in type II superconductors repel.Comment: 20 pages (Latex), 8 figures, IFUP-TH 54/9

Impact of the Great Recession on Social Assistance Programs in the Eau Claire Area

Color poster with text, images, and graphs.The economic downturn of 2008-09 was so severe that it has become known as The Great Recession and by most accounts the subsequent recovery has been slow to non-existent. National data reflects a continuing demand for social assistance programs. This suggests that, despite a modest recovery based on labor market measures such as employment and unemployment rates, there seems to be a continuing need for social assistance. This study presents data from a variety of local sources illustrating this prolonged hardship and strain on social service programs in the Chippewa Valley.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs; Xcel Energy-Eau Claire; Northwestern Bank-Chippewa Falls

Impact of the Great Recession on Total Employment and Unemployment Rates in the U.S.

Color poster with text, images, maps, and tables.The economic downturn of 2008-09 was so severe that it has become known as the Great Recession, and by most accounts the subsequent recovery has been relatively slow. The most basic method of judging the severity of a recession and the success of a recovery is to look at labor market information. In particular, the unemployment rate and the number of jobs (total employment) are often used for this purpose. This study presents data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2007, 2009 and 2011 using maps to describe the recession and recovery at a national level as well as compare the effects across states.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs; Xcel Energy-Eau Claire; Northwestern Bank-Chippewa Falls