Do daily interaction patterns differ between empty nesters and non-empty nesters? The role of different interaction partners in a Chinese sample

The empty nest is a phase of life that most parents will experience when their children grow up and leave home. However, little attention has been given to changes that take place in empty nesters' daily patterns of interaction. This study aimed to examine the differences between empty nesters and non-empty nesters in relation to their daily interactions and the affect of various social partners. A total of 208 participants were recruited via convenience sampling; they were asked to record their daily interactions using the Rochester Interaction Record and to rate their affect after each interaction using the Positive Affect-Negative Affect Scale. The results showed that daily interactions were related to a higher increase of positive affect in empty nesters than in non-empty nesters when interactions were with adult children. In contrast, daily interactions of non-empty nesters were related to a higher decrease in negative affect when the interactions were with friends, neighbors, and strangers. These findings indicate that the patterns of daily interactions differ between empty nesters and non-empty nesters. Specifically, the daily interactions of empty nesters were seen to be more related to a higher increase in positive affect, whereas the daily interactions of non-empty nesters were seen to be more related to a higher decrease in negative affect. This study showed the differences in daily interaction patterns between empty and non-empty nesters across diverse social partners. The findings on the daily interaction patterns have some implications for older adults: (1) empty nesters can improve daily interaction with adult children, relatives, and colleagues for a higher positive affect; (2) non-empty nesters can improve daily interactions with friends, neighbors, and strangers to relieve their negative affect.

Alternating time spent on social interactions and solitude in healthy older adults

Time spent on being with others (social interactions) and being alone (solitude) in day to day life might reflect older adults' agentic regulatory strategies to balance the needs to belong and to conserve energy. Motivated from a joint lifespan psychological and social relationship theoretical perspective, this study examined how time spent on social interactions and solitude alternatively unfolds within individuals in daily life, relating to individual differences in trait-level well-being and fatigue. Over 21 days, a total of 11,172 valid records of social interactions were collected from 118 older adults (aged 65-94 years) in a smartphone-based event-contingent ambulatory assessment study in Switzerland. On average, a social interaction episode lasted 39 min and a solitude episode lasted 5.03 hr. Multilevel models showed that, at the within-person level, a longer-than-usual social interaction preceded and was followed by a longer-than-usual solitude episode. Moderator analyses showed that older adults with higher trait life satisfaction and lower trait fatigue spent even more time in social interactions after longer solitude episodes, amplifying the solitude-then-interaction association. Our findings suggest that whereas social interaction is a means to improve well-being, solitude is also an integral part in older adults' daily life supporting energy recovery.

Personality Traits, Personal Values, and Life Satisfaction among Polish Nurses

Nurses' life satisfaction (LS) predicts their health and the level of care they provide to patients, thus policies for promoting quality of nurses' work require actions to increase their LS. The aim of this study was to examine relations between LS and two levels of personality (traits and values) among Polish nurses, including joint effects of traits and values in a model integrating all variables to check whether meta-values can mediate trait-LS relationships. Nurses (N = 155) aged 23-64 completed the NEO-FFI, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and PVQ40. LS correlated with all traits, with openness higher than usual (0.34), and positively associated with meta-values: openness to change (0.23), self-transcendence (0.30), and ('unhealthy') conservation (0.19). Trait-value consistency was insufficient to explain some trait-value associations. In the SEM analysis, 23.3% of LS variance was explained. LS was related directly to neuroticism negatively and positively not only to extraversion, but also to openness, and self-transcendence meta-value (that increased value-environment congruence), and indirectly positively (through self-transcendence) to openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and even neuroticism. These results indicate that promoting nurses' health and quality of work by enhancing their LS requires supporting and increasing their identification with self-transcendence values and encourage research on factors that can increase it.

Daily social interactions and momentary loneliness: The role of trait loneliness and neuroticism

OBJECTIVES

Loneliness has been linked to poor mental and physical health outcomes in later life. Little is known about how daily social interactions relate to older adults' everyday experiences of loneliness. This study examined the dynamic associations between social interactions and the momentary feelings of loneliness in older adults' daily lives. We further examined whether individual differences in trait loneliness and neuroticism influenced the extent to which daily social interactions were related to moment-to-moment change in loneliness.

METHOD

Participants were 317 community-dwelling older adults (aged 70-90 years) who reported their social interactions and momentary feelings of loneliness 5 times daily for 14 consecutive days using smartphones.

RESULTS

Having more frequent, more pleasant, and in-person social interactions, as well as interactions with family and friends specifically, significantly predicted lower momentary loneliness a few hours later. Higher levels of momentary loneliness, in turn, predicted less likelihood of engaging in these types of social interactions subsequently. In addition, older adults with higher (vs. lower) trait loneliness and neuroticism experienced greater decreases in momentary feelings of loneliness after having more frequent or pleasant social interactions, or interactions with family members.

DISCUSSION

These results expand our understanding of the dynamic associations between daily social interactions and loneliness in later life and provide insights to inform future research, including the possibility of behavioral interventions that target social interactions to reduce the risk for loneliness.

Mixed Methods in Analysis of Aggressiveness and Attractiveness: Understanding PE Class Social Networks with Content Analysis

The aim of this study is to detect and analyze the relationship between verbal aggressiveness and interpersonal attractiveness using four secondary-school PE classes in central Greece (88 nodes). Content analysis of open-ended questions, social network analysis, Spearman test and PCA have been implemented. Main results: scientific and social attractiveness are interrelated with a subsequent emergence of power structures and negatively related to verbal aggressiveness. Targets of verbal aggressiveness receive aggressiveness consisting of hurt, irony, rudeness and threat. The general grade and students’ tendency for distinction are positively related to attractiveness and negatively related to verbal aggressiveness. Types of targets of interpersonal attractiveness are proposed (“the untargeted powerful” and “the targeted powerful”).

The role of personality traits in inpatient pulmonary rehabilitation response in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

BACKGROUND

The effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a critical issue for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. However, PR response is marked by a strong heterogeneity, partially unexplained to date. We hypothesized that personality traits defined by the Five-Factor Model could modulate the effect of inpatient-PR.

OBJECTIVE

The aim was to assess the associations between these five personality traits and PR outcomes.

METHODS

74 persons with COPD admitted for a 5-week inpatient PR program had a personality assessment at the start of the program (T1). Exercise capacity, quality of life, sensory and affective dyspnea dimensions were assessed at T1 and at the end of the program (T2). Their evolution was evaluated using the delta score between T2 and T1. PR response was defined using the minimal clinically important change score for each of them. A composite response was established distinguishing the poor responders' group, made of patients who responded to 0, 1 or 2 parameters and the good responders' group, with patients who responded on 3 or 4 indicators.

RESULTS

Logistic regressions analyses highlighted that those with a high level of openness [OR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.15-0.74, p < 0.01] were less likely to respond on quality of life, controlling for socio-demographic factors and the severity of the disease.

CONCLUSION

This study shows that the investigation of the personality constitutes an interesting perspective for better understanding the interindividual differences observed between patients in the PR response. Tailoring clinical intervention to the patient's personality could be a promising prospect for optimizing PR effectiveness.

The self-serving benefits of being a good host: A role for our micro-inhabitants in shaping opioids' function

Opioids are highly efficacious in their ability to relieve pain, but they are liable for abuse, dependence, and addiction. Risk factors to develop opioid use disorders (OUD) include chronic stress, socio-environment, and preexisting major depressive disorders (MDD) and posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD). Additionally, opioids reduce gut motility, induce loss of gut barrier function, and alter the composition of the trillions of microbes hosted in the gastrointestinal tract, known as the gut microbiota. The microbiota are significant contributors to the reciprocal communication between the central nervous system (CNS) and the gut, termed the gut-brain axis. They have strong influences on their host behaviors, including the ability to cope with stress, sociability, affect, mood, and anxiety. Thus, they are implicated in the etiology of MDD and PTSD. Here we review the latest studies demonstrating that intestinal flora can, directly and indirectly, by affecting sociability levels, responses to stress, and mental state, alter the responses to opioids. It suggests that microbiota can potentially be used to increase the resilience to develop analgesic tolerance and OUD.

A Longitudinal Field Investigation of Narcissism and Popularity Over Time: How Agentic and Antagonistic Aspects of Narcissism Shape the Development of Peer Relationships

Grandiose narcissism has been linked to initial popularity but to later unpopularity in peer groups and laboratory contexts. Do these effects on peer relationships also emerge in larger real-life contexts and what are the underlying behavioral processes (i.e., behavioral expressions, interpersonal perceptions)? Using data from the longitudinal CONNECT field study ( N = 126), we investigated effects of agentic and antagonistic aspects of grandiose narcissism on emerging popularity in a complete peer network. A cohort of psychology first-year students was assessed with a quasiexperimental, experience-sampling methodology involving online surveys, diaries, and behavioral observations. In contrast to previous laboratory research, narcissism was unrelated to popularity at the level of zero-order correlations. However, results indicated that (a) an agentic behavioral pathway fostered popularity across time, and an antagonistic behavioral pathway drove the long-term decline in popularity, and (b) the two pathways were differentially related to agentic (admiration) and antagonistic (rivalry) aspects of narcissism.

Explaining the longitudinal interplay of personality and social relationships in the laboratory and in the field: The PILS and the CONNECT study

Our personalities (who we are) influence our social relationships (how we relate to people around us), and our social relationships influence our personalities. However, little is known about the specific processes underlying the complex interplay of personality and social relationships. According to the PERSOC framework, the identification of underlying social interaction processes promotes the understanding of how personality and social relationships are expressed, develop, and influence each other over time. The aim of the present paper is twofold: First, we outline and discuss four methodological challenges that arise when trying to empirically realize a process approach to the personality-relationship interplay. Second, we describe two data sets that are designed to meet these challenges and that are open for collaborative investigations: a laboratory-based process approach (Personality Interaction Laboratory Study; PILS) and a field-based process approach (CONNECT). We provide detailed information on the samples (two student samples; PILS: N = 311; CONNECT: N = 131), procedures (longitudinal and multimethodological), and measures (personality and social relationships, appearance and behavior, interpersonal perceptions), for which we present descriptive information, reliabilities, and intercorrelations. We summarize how these studies' designs targeted the introduced methodological challenges, discuss the advantages and limitations of laboratory- and field-based process approaches, and call for their combination. We close by outlining an open research policy, aimed at accelerated collaborative efforts to further open the process black box, ultimately leading to a better understanding of the expression, development, and complex interplay of personality and social relationships.

Zooming into Real-Life Extraversion – how Personality and Situation Shape Sociability in Social Interactions

What predicts sociable behavior? While main effects of personality and situation characteristics on sociability are well established, there is little evidence for the existence of person-situation interaction effects within real-life social interactions. Moreover, previous research has focused on self-reported behavior ratings, and less is known about the partner’s social perspective, i.e. how partners perceive and influence an actor’s behavior. In the current research, we investigated predictors of sociable behavior in real-life social interactions across social perspectives, including person and situation main effects as well as person-situation interaction effects. In two experience-sampling studies (Study 1: N = 394, US, time-based; Study 2: N = 124, Germany, event-based), we assessed personality traits with self- and informant-reports, self-reported sociable behavior during real-life social interactions, and corresponding information on the situation (categorical situation classifications and dimensional ratings of situation characteristics). In Study 2, we additionally assessed interaction partner-reported actor behavior. Multilevel analyses provided evidence for main effects of personality and situation features, as well as small but consistent evidence for person-situation interaction effects. First, extraverts acted more sociable in general. Second, individuals behaved more sociable in low-effort/positive/low-duty situations (vs. high-effort/negative/high-duty situations). Third, the latter was particularly true for extraverts. Further specific interaction effects were found for the partner’s social perspective. These results are discussed regarding their accordance with different behavioral models (e.g., Trait Activation Theory) and their transferability to other behavioral domains.

Evaluating the role of functional impairment in personality psychopathology

DSM-5's Section III Alternative Model for Personality Disorder (AMPD) model states that an individual must show impairment in self and interpersonal functioning for PD diagnosis. The current study investigated dimensional personality trait associations with impairment, including differential patterns of impairment across specific PDs, and whether traits have improved our assessment of functional impairment in PDs. Two-hundred and seventy-seven participants were administered measures of Antisocial PD, Avoidant PD, Borderline PD, Narcissistic PD, Obsessive-Compulsive PD, and Schizotypal PD from the perspectives of Section II (PDQ-4) and Section III (PID-5) PD models, as well as measures of functional impairment in interpersonal and intrapersonal domains. Pearson correlations showed associations between ratings of impairment and most Section II and Section III PDs and trait facets, with the exception of narcissistic PD. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that Section III PDs added predictive validity beyond Section II PDs in predicting impairment, except narcissistic PD. These findings provide support both for the impairment criterion in the AMPD and for the association between trait-based PDs and impairment, and suggest that this trait-based measurement adds uniquely to the understanding of functional impairment.

Social Contact and Cognitive Functioning: The Role of Personality

Objectives

Social contact has been shown to be positively associated with cognitive functioning. It is unclear, however, whether all individuals can equally benefit from social contact with regard to their cognitive functioning. The goal of this study was to examine whether the beneficial effects of social contact are affected by individual differences in personality.

Method

We examined the Big Five personality traits as moderators of the associations between social contact and episodic memory and executive functioning using the second wave of the Midlife in the U.S. study (N = 3,524, M(age) = 55.8).

Results

High levels of Extraversion and low levels of Openness to Experience strengthened the association between social contact and memory and executive functioning. High levels of Neuroticism and Agreeableness weakened the association of social contact with memory but not with executive functioning. The results are consistent across adulthood.

Discussion

Personality modifies the social contact-cognition association. Whereas extraverts may need social contact for cognitive stimulation, those who are high on Openness gain their stimulations elsewhere. The highly neurotic might experience contact as stressful and hence as less beneficial. Emotional rather than cognitive motivation might be the reason that the highly agreeable benefit less from social contact with regard to their cognitive functioning.

Personality traits across cultures

Current questions in the study of personality traits across cultures include (a) the universality versus cultural uniqueness of trait structure, (b) cultural differences in trait levels, (c) the consistency and validity of traits and their measures across cultures, and (d) the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural contexts of personality. Although the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality continues to find cross-cultural support, new research suggests that the model may be difficult to replicate in less educated or preliterate groups and that indigenous social-relational concepts may be distinguishable from the FFM in some cultures. In lexical studies, two or three broad dimensions may replicate better across cultures than alternative models. Substantial evidence suggests that mean trait profiles of cultures may be reasonably accurate. Nonetheless, research on response styles and measurement invariance raises questions about cross-cultural trait comparisons. Findings regarding cultural differences in trait-related consistency and validity are mixed. Researchers are offering innovative theory and research on the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural contexts of personality.