Body image and personality: associations between the Big Five Personality Factors, actual-ideal weight discrepancy, and body appreciation

Studies have suggested associations between personality dimensions and body image constructs, but these have not been conclusively established. In two studies, we examined direct associations between the Big Five dimensions and two body image constructs, actual-ideal weight discrepancy and body appreciation. In Study 1, 950 women completed measures of both body image constructs and a brief measure of the Big Five dimensions. In Study 2,339 women completed measures of the body image constructs and a more reliable measure of the Big Five. Both studies showed that Neuroticism was significantly associated with actual-ideal weight discrepancy (positively) and body appreciation (negatively) once the effects of body mass index and social status had been accounted for. These results are consistent with the suggestion that Neuroticism is a trait of public health significance requiring attention by body image scholars.

Personality differences between tattooed and non-tattooed individuals

This study examined differences between tattooed and non-tattooed individuals on a range of personality and individual difference measures. A community sample of 540 individuals from the southern German-speaking area of central Europe completed a survey consisting of measures of the Big Five personality factors, Need for Uniqueness, Self-esteem, sensation seeking, Religious and Spiritual Beliefs, Attitudes Toward Tattoos, tattoo possession, and demographics. Preliminary analyses showed that 22% of the total sample possessed at least one tattoo. Further analyses showed that, compared with non-tattooed (n = 420) individuals, tattooed participants (n = 120) had significantly higher scores on Extraversion, Experience Seeking, Need for Uniqueness, and held more positive Attitudes Toward Tattoos, although effect sizes of these group differences were generally small- to medium-sized. These results are considered in relation to the contemporary prevalence of tattoos in socioeconomically developed societies.

Suicide rates in the national and expatriate population in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

BACKGROUND

Reports on suicide from the Gulf region are scarce. Dubai is a city with a large expatriate population. However, total and gender-specific suicide rates for the national and expatriate populations are not known.

AIMS

To investigate total and gender-specific suicide rates in the national and expatriate population in Dubai and to elicit socio-demographic characteristics of suicide victims.

METHODS

Registered suicides in Dubai from 2003 to 2009, and aggregated socio-demographic data of suicide victims were analysed. Suicide rates per 100,000 population were calculated.

RESULTS

Suicide rate among expatriates (6.3/100,000) was seven times higher than the rate among the nationals (0.9/100,000). In both groups, male suicide rate was more than three times higher than the female rate. Approximately three out of four expatriate suicides were committed by Indians. The majority of suicide victims were male, older than 30 years, expatriate, single and employed, with an education of secondary school level and below.

CONCLUSION

Further research on risk factors for and protective factors against suicide, particularly among the expatriate population, is needed. Epidemiological monitoring of suicide trends at the national level and improvement of UAE suicide statistics would provide useful information for developing suicide prevention strategies.

Academic workload, research productivity, and end of life: a single-case historiometric study

Fourteen years of biographical time-series data were analyzed quantitatively retrospectively using the historiometric approach. The data were descriptions of self-recorded daily working hours for one academic researcher's career and life. The researcher's unexpected death was preceded by a notable decline in daily working hours and conference travels commencing two years before. Well-known calendar effects (week and academic year) as well as effects of increased academic rank and duties on working hours were all discernible in these unobtrusive data. However, effort (total working hours) did not predict concurrent or near-future research output, even when teaching load was controlled for.

Predictors of suicide and suicide attempt in subway stations: a population-based ecological study

Suicidal behavior on the subway often involves young people and has a considerable impact on public life, but little is known about factors associated with suicides and suicide attempts in specific subway stations. Between 1979 and 2009, 185 suicides and 107 suicide attempts occurred on the subway in Vienna, Austria. Station-specific suicide and suicide attempt rates (defined as the frequency of suicidal incidents per time period) were modeled as the outcome variables in bivariate and multivariate Poisson regression models. Structural station characteristics (presence of a surveillance unit, train types used, and construction on street level versus other construction), contextual station characteristics (neighborhood to historical sites, size of the catchment area, and in operation during time period of extensive media reporting on subway suicides), and passenger-based characteristics (number of passengers getting on the trains per day, use as meeting point by drug users, and socioeconomic status of the population in the catchment area) were used as the explanatory variables. In the multivariate analyses, subway suicides increased when stations were served by the faster train type. Subway suicide attempts increased with the daily number of passengers getting on the trains and with the stations' use as meeting points by drug users. The findings indicate that there are some differences between subway suicides and suicide attempts. Completed suicides seem to vary most with train type used. Suicide attempts seem to depend mostly on passenger-based characteristics, specifically on the station's crowdedness and on its use as meeting point by drug users. Suicide-preventive interventions should concentrate on crowded stations and on stations frequented by risk groups.

How to Administer the Initial Preference Task

Individuals like their name letters more than non–name letters. This effect has been termed the Name Letter Effect (NLE) and is widely exploited to measure implicit (i.e. automatic, unconscious) self–esteem, predominantly by means of the Initial Preference Task (IPT). Methodological research on how to best administer the IPT is, however, scarce. In order to bridge this gap, the present paper assessed the advantages and disadvantages of different types of IPT administrations with two meta–analyses ( k = 49; N = 11,514) and a follow–up experiment ( N = 449). As a result, a new type of administration is recommended which (1) treats the effects of the first and the last name initials separately, (2) uses a duplicate administration for reliability reasons, (3) uses the likability as well as the attractiveness item wording and (4) exploits not only letters but also numbers (i.e. birthday number effect) to measure implicit self–esteem. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Investigating dimensionality of Eskin's attitudes toward suicide scale with Mokken scaling and confirmatory factor analysis

Attitudes toward suicide are often investigated by means of questionnaires, most of which are overly long or of low psychometric quality. Eskin's ( 2004 ) Attitudes Towards Suicide Scale is short and first investigations suggest good psychometric properties, but its factor structure has scarcely been explored. Hence, we examined this instrument by a data-analytic approach that combines Mokken scaling and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results revealed 6 factors, of which 1 possessed only weak measurement properties. CFAs indicated only borderline fit of models found in prior research, but adequate fit for the scale structures revealed by Mokken scaling. Psychometric properties of these scales were satisfactory. Both the instrument as well as the methodological approach presented here can be recommended for further research.

The Influence of Facial Piercings and Observer Personality on Perceptions of Physical Attractiveness and Intelligence

The primary aim of the present study was to examine the influence of facial piercings on observer ratings of physical attractiveness and intelligence. A total of 440 women and men rated a set of stimuli that depicted a female and a male model, respectively, with varying numbers of facial piercings. Participants also completed measures of the Big Five personality factors and sensation seeking, and provided information of their own piercings. Results indicated that, controlling for participants’ own piercings, stimuli with piercings were rated as less physically attractive and intelligent than those without piercings, with multiple piercings being accorded the most negative ratings. In addition, men with piercings were rated more negatively than women with piercings. Further results showed that participants’ openness to experience and sensation seeking were associated with more positive ratings of pierced individuals, and that greater number of participant piercings was correlated with the Big Five personality factors of Emotional Stability, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness, and sensation seeking. These results are discussed in relation to the extant literature on body modifications.

A cross-cultural investigation of suicidal behavior and attitudes in Austrian and Turkish medical students

PURPOSE

This cross-cultural study investigated the prevalence of suicidal behavior and attitudes towards suicide and reactions to suicidal individuals in 320 Austrian and 326 Turkish medical students.

METHODS

Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire consisting of sections on demographic information, suicidal behavior, current mood, religiosity, attitudes towards suicide, and reactions to suicidal individuals.

RESULTS

More Austrian (37.8%) than Turkish (27.3%) students reported life-time, past 12-month, or current suicidal ideation, while more Turkish (6.4%) than Austrian (2.2%) students reported life-time or past 12-month suicide attempts. Austrian students had more permissive and liberal attitudes towards suicide, while those of Turkish students were more rejecting. Conversely, attitudes of Turkish medical students towards an imagined suicidal close friend were more accepting than those of Austrian medical students. Comparisons of suicidal versus nonsuicidal students showed that those reporting suicidal ideation or suicide attempts generally were more accepting of suicide and viewed suicide as a solution to a greater extent than the nonsuicidal group.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that cultural factors play a role in observed country differences in suicidal ideation and behavior and in attitudes towards suicide and reactions to suicidality among Austrian and Turkish medical students.

Intentional Faking of the Single Category Implicit Association Test and the Implicit Association Test

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) provides a relative measure of implicit association strengths between target and attribute categories. In contrast, the Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC–IAT) measures association strength with a single attribute category. This can be advantageous if a complementary category—as used in the IAT—cannot be composed or is undesired. If the SC–IAT is to be a meaningful supplement to the IAT, it should meet the same requirements. In an online experiment with a large and heterogeneous sample, the fakability of both implicit measures was investigated when measuring anxiety. Both measures were fakable through specific instruction (e.g., “Slow down your reactions”) but unfakable through nonspecific faking instruction even though nonspecific instruction was given immediately before the critical blocks (e.g., “Alter your reaction times”). When comparing the methodological quality of both implicit measures, the SC–IAT had lower internal consistency than the IAT. Moreover, with specific faking instructions, the SC–IAT was possible to fake to a larger extent than the IAT.

Declining autopsy rates and suicide misclassification: a cross-national analysis of 35 countries

CONTEXT

Suicides are prone to misclassification during death ascertainment procedures. This problem has generated frequent criticism of the validity of suicide mortality statistics.

OBJECTIVE

To employ an external measure of the validity of cause-of-death statistics (ie, national autopsy rates) and to examine potential misclassification of suicide across countries from Europe to Central and Northern Asia.

DESIGN

Cross-national analysis.

SETTING

Thirty-five countries.

PARTICIPANTS

Aggregated mortality data.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Data from 35 countries during the period from 1979 to 2007 were used to analyze the association of suicide rates with autopsy rates and death rates of undetermined and ill-defined causes, respectively. Analyses were cross-sectional and longitudinal.

RESULTS

Cross-sectionally, a 1% difference in autopsy rates among nations was associated with a suicide rate difference of 0.49 per 100,000 population. Longitudinally, a 1% decrease in the autopsy rate aligned with a decrease of 0.42 per 100,000 population in the suicide rate. These cross-sectional and longitudinal associations were robust after adjustment for unemployment, degree of urbanization, and prevalence of undetermined or ill-defined deaths. Associations strengthened when analyses were confined to 19 European Union member countries.

CONCLUSION

Autopsy rates may spatially and temporally affect the validity of suicide mortality statistics. Caution should be exercised in comparing international suicide rates and evaluating interventions that target suicide rate reduction.

Drawing and handedness of preschoolers: a repeated-measurement approach to hand preference

This study investigated handedness and drawing by preschoolers. An observational method for repeated measurement of hand preference is presented. A sample of 381 children (191 girls, 190 boys) ranging in age from 48 to 71 mo. was tested for drawing and hand preference on 14 tasks. Consistent hand preference was defined as always using a particular hand (left or right) for the same task. Girls with consistent hand preference showed better drawing scores compared to girls with inconsistent hand preference. The results showed the importance of a reliable method for measuring hand preference within a single task as early as preschool age.

Characteristics of police officer suicides in the Federal Austrian Police Corps

BACKGROUND

Suicide rates among police officers may be high because of strong occupational stressors.

AIMS

This study examined the suicide rate and suicide characteristics among police officers in the Federal Austrian Police Force.

METHODS

All suicides among policemen during the period 1996-2006 were analyzed retrospectively on the basis of personalized police record files from all Austrian police departments. Information on sex, age, marital status, children, region, method and place of suicide, suicide notes, position, and length of service was extracted from these files. The general Austrian population, adjusted for sex and age composition, served as the comparison group.

RESULTS

The suicide rate among male police officers was 30.2/100,000 (SD 11.0), which was comparable to the suicide rate in the adjusted general population (30.5/100,000; SD 2.9). The female police officer suicide rate was 1.8/100,000, while the corresponding suicide rate of the adjusted female general population was 12.5/100,000 (SD 1.7). Firearms were the most frequent suicide method (77.8%), and the incidence of suicide notes was 30.8%.

CONCLUSIONS

Suicide rates among police officers seem comparable to those of the age-adjusted general population. Given the healthy-worker effect, these results still suggest an increased risk of suicide among police officers. These findings should stimulate further research on stressors and risk factors for suicide among officers and should also encourage departments to increase awareness regarding suicidal signs among officers.

Association between Just World Beliefs and Perceptions of Counterproductive Workplace Behaviors

320 adults rated 48 counterproductive workplace behaviors (CWBs) on a 9-point scale, from petty to serious offense, and also completed the Just World Beliefs scale. Ratings of the seriousness of the CWBs indicated considerable variability in perceptions, with theft and physical violence rated most strongly. A factor analysis yielded five interpretable factors. Older participants were more likely to rate as more serious all counterproductive workplace behaviors.