The relationship between life satisfaction, self-consciousness, and the Myers-Briggs type inventory dimensions

Neural bases underlying the association between balanced time perspective and trait anxiety

The aims of present study were to investigate the association between balanced time perspective (BTP) and trait anxiety, and the neural substrates underlying this association using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) methods. 140 college students (83 females) ranging in age from 17 to 25 years were assessed on deviation from the balanced time perspective (DBTP) and trait anxiety. Behavioral analyses found BTP could significantly predict trait anxiety after controlling age and gender. Whole-brain VBM analyses found that DBTP was positively correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) and precuneus, while trait anxiety positively correlated with GMV in the PHG. Considering the overlapping region in the PHG, we further defined the overlapping region as the seed, and calculated seed-to-voxel-based functional connectivity in resting-state. RSFC results showed that DBTP was positively associated with the RSFC between the PHG and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and precuneus, whereas negatively correlated with the RSFC between the PHG and cuneus. Trait anxiety was also positively correlated with the RSFC between the PHG and PCC while negatively correlated with the RSFC between the PHG and cuneus. Mediation analysis further found GMV in the overlapping PHG and PHG-PCC, PHG-cuneus functional connectivity played significantly mediating roles in the relation between DBTP and trait anxiety. In sum, our research suggests the structural features of the PHG and its connectivity with PCC and cuneus may be the neural bases underlying the association between BTP and trait anxiety.

In-Depth Relationships between Emotional Intelligence and Personality Traits in Meditation Practitioners

Objective

Meditation can elicit trait-like changes in psychological and social styles, as well as enhancement of emotional regulatory capacity. We investigated the relation between personality traits and emotional intelligence in meditation practitioners.

Methods

Seventy-two long-term practitioners of mind-body training (MBT) and 62 healthy comparative individuals participated in the study. The participants completed emotional intelligence questionnaires and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

Results

The MBT group revealed higher scores on all five emotional intelligence factors than did those in the control group, such as emotional awareness and expression, empathy, emotional thinking, emotional application, and emotional regulation (all p≤0.001). MBT practitioners also had higher scores on the intuition of perceiving function (t=−2.635, p=0.010) and on the feeling of the judging function (t=−3.340, p=0.001) of the MBTI compared with those in the control group. Only the MBT group showed a robust relationship with every factor of emotional intelligence and MBTI-defined intuitive styles, indicating that higher scores of emotional intelligence were related to higher scores for intuition.

Conclusion

Emotional intelligence of meditation practitioners showed notable relationships with some features of personality trait. In-depth associations between emotional intelligence and personality traits would help to foster psychological functions in meditation practitioners.

Exploring Relationship Between Spiritual Intelligence, Religiosity and Life Satisfaction Among Elderly Pakistani Muslims

This study is an effort to explore the relationship between spiritual intelligence, religiosity and life satisfaction in elderly Pakistani Muslims. A non-probability purposive sampling technique is utilized in order to recruit a sample of 100 elderly people (n = 50 men; n = 50 = women). Standardized questionnaires were used for collecting data. Data analysis was carried out using Pearson product-moment correlation analysis and independent sample t test. Findings revealed a significant correlation between spiritual intelligence, religiosity and life satisfaction among Pakistani elderly Muslim people. Gender differences were considered while conducting the study, and findings are valid for both male and female elderly Pakistani Muslims. Some findings of this study endorse findings of some previous studies, and it adds latest insights to the existing body of knowledge on the subject.

Vocational Interest Themes and Personality Traits in Relation to College Major Satisfaction of Business Students

Based on 164 undergraduate business majors, we examined the relationship between satisfaction with major and Holland’s vocational interests and with the Big Five and narrow personality traits. Contrary to our hypothesis, enterprising scores were unrelated to major satisfaction. As hypothesized, using ipsative and normative scores, investigative, artistic, and realistic interests were negatively related to major satisfaction. As hypothesized, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and optimism were positively related to major satisfaction, as were extra-version and assertiveness. A stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that 49% of the variance in major satisfaction could be accounted for by a combination of vocational interest themes and personality traits. Implications were drawn for theory and practice, including support for Holland’s continuity principle, adding personality traits to Holland’s vocational theory, and using vocational interest and normal personality trait measures in student advising and career counseling. Study limitations and implications for future research were noted.

Extraverted children are more biased by bowl sizes than introverts

Extraverted children are hypothesized to be most at risk for over-serving and overeating due to environmental cues--such as the size of dinnerware. A within-subject field study of elementary school students found that extraverted children served themselves 33.1% more cereal in larger bowls (16-oz) than in smaller (12-oz) bowls, whereas introverted children were unaffected by bowl size (+5.6%, ns). However, when children were asked by adults how much cereal they wanted to eat, both extraverted and introverted children requested more cereal when given a large versus small bowl. Insofar as extraverted children appear to be more biased by environmental cues, this pilot study suggests different serving styles are recommended for parents and other caregivers. They should serve extraverts, but allow introverts to serve themselves. Still, since the average child still served 23.2% more when serving themselves than when served by an adult, it might be best for caregivers to do the serving whenever possible--especially for extraverted children.

Metacognitive beliefs and psychological well-being in paranoia and depression

INTRODUCTION

Despite the growing interest in the effects of metacognitive beliefs and psychological well-being on psychiatric conditions, little is known about how these two variables interact in clinical samples. The central aim of this study was to investigate the role of some metacognitive beliefs in the relationship between psychological well-being dimensions and psychopathology.

METHODS

Fifty-five participants with persecutory delusions diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, 38 participants with a major depressive episode, and 44 healthy controls completed the 30-item short form of the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30) and the 54-item form of the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being (PWB).

RESULTS

MANCOVA analyses revealed group differences on four subscales of PWB (self-acceptance, autonomy, personal growth, and environmental mastery), as well as on three subscales of MCQ-30 (uncontrollability of worry, need to control thoughts, and lack of memory confidence). Moderation analyses showed the interaction between persecutory thinking and cognitive self-consciousness to be a predictor of psychological well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that psychological well-being is particularly compromised in participants with a high level of persecutory thinking when they have low levels of cognitive self-consciousness.

The effect of personal character on the results of clinical performance skill tests

PURPOSE

Even though many studies have indicated that the personality of medical students affects learning style and academic achievement, the effect of personality types on the performance skill tests has not been well known in the medical field due to the rarity of published papers. Thus, the aim of this study was to reveal the effect of personal traits on clinical skill performance tests.

METHODS

Fifty-seven fourth-grade medical students were enrolled in this study. They had all completed clinical performance tests. To assess personality types, we used the Korean version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

RESULTS

Fifty-five of 57 senior medical students responded completely to the MBTI questionnaire. The proportion of four paired MBTI dimensions was Introversion (I)-Extroversion (E) (67.3% vs. 32.7%), Sensing (S)-Intuition (I) (76.4% vs. 23.6%), Thinking (T)-Feeling (F) (61.8% vs. 38.2%), and Judging (J)-Perception (P) (56.4% vs. 43.6%). The dominant personality types were ISTJ (23.6%), ESTJ (14.5%), and ISTP (10.9%). The first objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) test showed higher scores in Extraversion, Judging, and Sensing-Judging types compared to the counterparts (p<0.05), but this effect was not observed in the second OSCE test. On the clinical performance examination, Extraversion, Sensing, and Judging types had a higher score, as measured by standardized patients.

CONCLUSION

Specific personal traits affect the test scores of the clinical performance skill examinations. So, personality measurement might be a useful tool for understanding a student who has difficulty in performance tests. We hope this study will give valuable information to examiners when they instruct and counsel students about clinical performance tests.

Assessment of self-esteem in mid-aged women

OBJECTIVE

To assess self-esteem and affecting factors in a middle-aged Ecuadorian female population using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES).

STUDY DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study in which 149 women (40-59 years) were requested to fill out the RSES and a general socio-demographic form containing personal and partner data.

RESULTS

Mean age of sample was 47.6+/-5.5 years, a 67.8% had less than 12 years of schooling and 33.6% were postmenopausal. At the moment of the survey 2.7% were on hormone therapy, and 2% were taking psychotropic drugs. Mean total RSES score was 26.6+/-3.1 (median 26, range 17-35). A 35.6% and 18.1% of women respectively presented total RSES scores below 26 (median) and 25 (25th percentile) suggesting lower self-esteem. Total scores did not differ when comparing older age, menopausal phases or time since the menopause. Logistic regression analysis determined that women with lower parity and an unhealthy partner were related to lower total RSES scores (below the 25th percentile) suggesting lower self-esteem.

CONCLUSIONS

In this mid-aged series lower self-esteem was not related to the aging process per se yet to socio-demographic female/male aspects. More research is needed in this regard that incorporates other sociological aspects.

Private Self-Consciousness Factors: Relationships With Need for Cognition, Locus of Control, and Obsessive Thinking in Iran and the United States

The authors measured Internal State Awareness (ISA) and Self-Reflectiveness (SR) factors from the Private Self-Consciousness Scale in Iranian (N = 325) and U.S. (N = 401) university students. In both societies, positive correlations with Need for Cognition and Internal Control and negative correlations with external control and obsessive thinking confirmed ISA as an adaptive form of self-consciousness. In partial correlations in which the authors controlled for ISA, SR was associated cross-culturally with greater Obsessive Thinking. This outcome conformed with the authors' expectations that SR would have negative mental health implications, but other data revealed complexities in the SR association with adjustment. Differences between samples failed to yield any simple support for F. Fukuyama's (1992) suggestion that Iranians might be more "alienated" (pp. 236-237) in their psychological functioning. The present study most importantly offered cross-cultural evidence in favor of the claim that better measures of an introspective self-awareness need to be developed.