Mindful-Gratitude Practice Reduces Prejudice at High Levels of Collective Narcissism

This research tested the hypothesis that mindful-gratitude practice attenuates the robust association between collective narcissism and prejudice. In Study 1 (a between-subjects study using a nationally representative sample of 569 Polish adults; 313 female), 10 min of mindful-gratitude practice-compared to mindful-attention practice and control-did not decrease prejudice (anti-Semitism), but weakened the positive link between collective narcissism and prejudice. In Study 2 (a preregistered, randomized, controlled-trial study using a convenience sample of 219 Polish adults; 168 female), a 6-week mobile app supported training in daily mindful-gratitude practice decreased prejudice (anti-Semitism, sexism, homophobia, anti-immigrant sentiment) and its link with collective narcissism compared to a wait-list control. The hypothesis-consistent results emphasize the social relevance of mindful-gratitude practice, a time- and cost-effective intervention.

App-based mindfulness training supported eudaimonic wellbeing during the COVID19 pandemic

A randomized-controlled-trial study (N = 219) tested two pre-registered hypotheses that mobile-phone app-based mindfulness training improves wellbeing and increases self-transcendent emotions: gratitude, self-compassion, and awe. Latent change score modeling with a robust maximum likelihood estimator was used to test how those changes are associated in the training versus the waiting-list group. The training increased wellbeing and all self-transcendent emotions regardless of interindividual variance in the changes across time. Changes in all self-transcendent emotions were positively associated with changes in wellbeing. The strength of those associations was comparable in the waiting-list group and the training group. More studies are needed to test whether the effects of mindfulness practice on wellbeing are driven by increases in self-transcendent emotions. The study was conducted over 6 weeks during the COVID19 pandemic. The results indicate that the mindfulness training can be an easily accessible effective intervention supporting eudaimonic wellbeing in face of adversity.

The shape of the change: Cumulative and incremental changes in daily mood during mobile-app-supported mindfulness training

Understanding of the exact trajectories of mood improvements during mindfulness practice helps to optimize mindfulness-based interventions. The Mindfulness-to-Meaning model expects mood improvements to be linear, incremental, and cumulative. Our findings align with this expectation. We used multilevel growth curve models to analyze daily changes in positive mood reported by 190 Polish participants during 42 days of a mobile-app-supported, mindfulness-based intervention. The daily positive mood increased among 83.68% of participants. Participants who started the training reported worse mood improved more and faster than participants with better mood at the baseline. Dispositional mindfulness and narcissism - individual difference variables associated with high vs. low emotion regulation ability, respectively - were not associated with mood improvement trajectories. A small group of participants (16.32%) showed a steady decline in positive mood during the intervention. The results underscore the importance of a more comprehensive understanding of individual variability in benefiting from mindfulness-based interventions.

Disentangling language-related item biases in stress research with people of Turkish origin in Germany: An application of the CCT procedure

Psychological stress experiences play a major role in the development of ethnic health disparities. Investigating such relationships often requires the use of questionnaires in different languages, however, this involves the risk of biased measurements. Such biases may be even more likely to occur the closer the construct being measured is to cultural experiences. We adapted the culture, comprehension, and translation bias (CCT) procedure (Bader et al., 2021) to test three language-related item biases in the measurement of stress experience among people of Turkish origin in Germany (i.e., language choice, comprehension, and translation bias) in the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory (MASI). One thousand three hundred four adult persons of Turkish origin living in Germany participated in an online survey with a quasi-experimental design: participants either chose the German version, were assigned the German version, or were assigned the Turkish version of the study questionnaire. Participants completed the 10-item PSS, 25-item MASI, and other measures, and provided sociodemographic data. The adapted CCT procedure revealed none of the language-related biases for the PSS, whereas for the MASI a language choice bias could be demonstrated for one item, a comprehension bias for one item, and a translation bias for five items. The results suggest that language-related item biases are trait-specific and that the CCT procedure is suitable for testing other item biases beyond those tested by Bader et al. Testing such item biases may improve the study of stress experiences in the context of ethnic health disparities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Measuring Domain-Specific Knowledge: From Bach to Fibonacci

Along with crystallized intelligence (Gc), domain-specific knowledge (Gkn) is an important ability within the nomological net of acquired knowledge. Although Gkn has been shown to predict important life outcomes, only a few standardized tests measuring Gkn exist, especially for the adult population. Complicating things, Gkn tests from different cultural circles cannot simply be translated as they need to be culture specific. Hence, this study aimed to develop a Gkn test culturally sensitive to a German population and to provide initial evidence for the resulting scores’ psychometric quality. Existing Gkn tests often mirror a school curriculum. We aimed to operationalize Gkn not solely based upon a typical curriculum to investigate a research question regarding the curriculum dependence of the resulting Gkn structure. A set of newly developed items from a broad range of knowledge categories was presented online to 1450 participants divided into a high (fluid intelligence, Gf) Gf (n = 415) and an unselected Gf subsample (n = 1035). Results support the notion of a hierarchical model comparable to the one curriculum-based tests scores have, with one factor at the top and three narrower factors below (Humanities, Science, Civics) for which each can be divided into smaller knowledge facets. Besides this initial evidence regarding structural validity, the scale scores’ reliability estimates are reported, and criterion validity-related evidence based on a known-groups design is provided. Results indicate the psychometric quality of the scores and are discussed.

Only true and fabricated baseline statements combined might improve lie, but not truth, detection

OBJECTIVES

We tested the effect of true and fabricated baseline statements from the same sender on veracity judgments.

HYPOTHESES

We predicted that presenting a combination of true and fabricated baseline statements would improve truth and lie detection accuracy, while presenting a true baseline would improve only truth detection, and presenting a fabricated baseline would only improve lie detection compared with presenting no baseline statement.

METHOD

In a 4 × 2 within-subjects design, 142 student participants (M_age = 23.47 years; 118 female) read no baseline statement, a true baseline statement, a fabricated baseline statement, and a combination of a true and a fabricated baseline statement from 29 different senders. Participants then rated the veracity of a true or fabricated target statement from the same 29 senders.

RESULTS

Logistic mixed-effects models with senders and participants as random effects showed no significant differences in overall veracity judgment accuracy between the no-baseline (51%) and either the true-baseline (44%) or the fabricated-baseline (49%) conditions. Equivalence tests failed to show the predicted equivalence of these accuracy rates. Separate analyses of truth and lie detection rates confirmed the assumed improvement of lie detection in the combination-of-true-and-fabricated-baseline condition (accuracy = 39%-61%). No other truth or lie detection rate changed significantly except that, unexpectedly, a true baseline reduced truth detection accuracy (64%-49%).

CONCLUSIONS

Baseline statements largely did not affect judgment accuracy and, in the case of true baselines, even had a negative impact on truth detection. The rather small positive effect of two baseline statements on lie detection suggests an avenue for further research, especially with expert raters. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

You Are What You Eat and So Is Our Planet: Identifying Dietary Groups Based on Personality and Environmentalism

Behavioral change interventions promoting the reduction of animal product consumption are valuable tools to improve ecological sustainability as well as public health and help the mitigation of climate change. Recent findings revealed improved efficacy of interventions targeted at barriers (e.g., self-efficacy) of three different types of meat consumers over non-targeted interventions (e.g., completion of unrelated surveys). However, such interventions have yet to factor in the role of individual differences in personality. Therefore, in a first step, we performed segmentation analysis on barriers and benefits of reducing animal product consumption (e.g., meat attachment, environmentalism) with the inclusion of personality. In an online sample of N=1135 participants, latent profile analysis revealed five distinct dietary groups: “plant-based eaters”, “meat-reducers”, “medium-hindrance meat eaters”, “medium strong-hindrance meat eaters, and “strong-hindrance meat eaters”, based on inhibitors and facilitators of meat reduction. Groups differed in terms of consumption of different animal products (η2=0.08 to η2=0.80) as well as the Big Five (η2=0.08 to η2=0.80) and Dark Triad (η2=0.08 to η2=0.80). Strong-hindrance meat eaters were characterized by low Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness as well as high dark trait expression, implying new targets for future intervention design.

Bringing Light Into the Dark: Associations of Fire Interest and Fire Setting With the Dark Tetrad

Fire setting is a significant problem for society, costing many human lives and causing great property damage. One important risk factor of fire setting observed in forensic samples is fire interest. However, less is known about the relationship of fire interest and fire setting to other variables such as personality traits in subclinical samples. In this study, we observed the relationship of potentially important personality traits with fire interest and fire setting in a sample of N = 222 students. In addition to zero-order correlations, we calculated path models and a logistic regression including all predictor variables. From the Dark Tetrad, consisting of psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and three facets of sadism, psychopathy, and physical sadism were found to be associated with fire interest and fire setting. Furthermore, vicarious sadism was associated with fire interest. The other Dark Tetrad traits and four sensation seeking facets did not substantially add to the predictions. This confirms the results of previous studies with clinical and forensic samples with psychopathy and sadism as relevant predictors for fire interest and fire setting. Our results also provide evidence for viewing sadism as the multidimensional construct discriminating between vicarious and other forms of sadism, for the distinction of psychopathy and Machiavellianism, and for the Dark Tetrad being linked to object related violence.

Cenozoic evolution of deep ocean temperature from clumped isotope thermometry

Characterizing past climate states is crucial for understanding the future consequences of ongoing greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we revisit the benchmark time series for deep ocean temperature across the past 65 million years using clumped isotope thermometry. Our temperature estimates from the deep Atlantic Ocean are overall much warmer compared with oxygen isotope-based reconstructions, highlighting the likely influence of changes in deep ocean pH and/or seawater oxygen isotope composition on classical oxygen isotope records of the Cenozoic. In addition, our data reveal previously unrecognized large swings in deep ocean temperature during early Eocene acute greenhouse warmth. Our results call for a reassessment of the Cenozoic history of ocean temperatures to achieve a more accurate understanding of the nature of climatic responses to tectonic events and variable greenhouse forcing.

The development of trait greed during young adulthood: A simultaneous investigation of environmental effects and negative core beliefs

Recent models of personality development have emphasized the role of the environment in terms of selection and socialization effects and their interaction. Our study provides partial evidence for these models and, crucially, extends these models by adding a person variable: Core beliefs, which are defined as mental representations of experiences that individuals have while pursuing need-fulfilling goals. Specifically, we report results from a longitudinal investigation of the development of trait greed across time. Based on data from the German Personality Panel, we analyzed data on 1,965 young adults on up to 4 occasions, spanning a period of more than 3 years. According to our results, negative core beliefs that have so far been proposed only in the clinical literature (e.g., being unloved or being insecure) contributed to the development of trait greed, indicating that striving for material goals might be a substitute for unmet needs in the past. Additionally, greedy individuals more often self-selected themselves into business-related environments, which presumably allow them to fulfill their greed-related need to earn a lot of money. Our results expose important mechanisms for trait greed development. Regarding personality development in general, core beliefs were identified as an important variable for future theory building.

Machine Learning and Prediction in Psychological Assessment

Abstract. Modern prediction methods from machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming increasingly popular, also in the field of psychological assessment. These methods provide unprecedented flexibility for modeling large numbers of predictor variables and non-linear associations between predictors and responses. In this paper, we aim to look at what these methods may contribute to the assessment of criterion validity and their possible drawbacks. We apply a range of modern statistical prediction methods to a dataset for predicting the university major completed, based on the subscales and items of a scale for vocational preferences. The results indicate that logistic regression combined with regularization performs strikingly well already in terms of predictive accuracy. More sophisticated techniques for incorporating non-linearities can further contribute to predictive accuracy and validity, but often marginally.

The Discriminatory Potential of Modern Recruitment Trends-A Mixed-Method Study From Germany

People from marginalized groups are often discriminated against in traditional recruitment processes. Yet as companies faced with skill shortages change their recruitment strategies, the question arises as to whether modern recruitment trends such as the use of professional social network sites, active sourcing, and recruitment assignment to external agencies are affected by implicit or explicit discrimination. In our mixed-method study, we first conducted expert interviews with different types of recruiters to explore the potential for discrimination in the modern recruitment process. We then analyzed panel data from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Germany to see whether there is quantitative evidence of discrimination in modern recruitment. A content analysis of the interviews shows that active sourcing and assignment of recruitment to private agencies are potentially affected by explicit discrimination. We identified three sources of discrimination in personnel selection: recruiters’ own attitudes, explicit instructions from managers, and the recruiters’ assumptions regarding companies’ preferred candidates. The results of mixed multilevel analyses with the company as a second level resonate with the qualitative findings: companies actively approach female employees, older employees, and employees who are born in Southern/Eastern Europe less often and offer women jobs less often. The effects for gender were still significant when we included far-right voting as a moderator variable on the employee level, but the interactions were not significant. Effects for gender and older people in active sourcing were also significant and robust when controlling for income, number of children, level of school completion, and educational background. Our findings suggest that current legislation may be insufficient to protect candidates who belong to marginalized groups from discrimination in modern recruitment.

Naturally occurring fire coral clones demonstrate a genetic and environmental basis of microbiome composition

Coral microbiomes are critical to holobiont functioning, but much remains to be understood about how prevailing environment and host genotype affect microbial communities in ecosystems. Resembling human identical twin studies, we examined bacterial community differences of naturally occurring fire coral clones within and between contrasting reef habitats to assess the relative contribution of host genotype and environment to microbiome structure. Bacterial community composition of coral clones differed between reef habitats, highlighting the contribution of the environment. Similarly, but to a lesser extent, microbiomes varied across different genotypes in identical habitats, denoting the influence of host genotype. Predictions of genomic function based on taxonomic profiles suggest that environmentally determined taxa supported a functional restructuring of the microbial metabolic network. In contrast, bacteria determined by host genotype seemed to be functionally redundant. Our study suggests microbiome flexibility as a mechanism of environmental adaptation with association of different bacterial taxa partially dependent on host genotype.

Validation of the Short Dark Triad in a German Sample

Abstract. The structure, correlates, and assessment of the Dark Triad are widely discussed in several fields of psychology. Based on the German version of the Short Dark Triad (SDT), we add to this by (a) providing a competitive test of existing structural models, (b) testing the nomological network, and (c) proposing an ultrashort 9-item version of the SDT (uSDT). A sample of N = 969 participants provided data on the SDT and a range of further measures. Our competitive test of five structural models revealed that fit indices and nomological network assumptions were best met in a three-factor model, with separate factors for psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism. The results provided an extensive overview of the raw, unique, and shared associations of Dark Triad dimensions with narcissism facets, sadism, impulsivity, self-esteem, sensation seeking, the Big Five, maladaptive personality traits, sociosexual orientation, and behavioral criteria. Finally, the uSDT exhibited satisfactory psychometric properties. The highest overlap in expected relations between SDT and uSDT, and convergent and discriminant measures was also found for the three-factor model. Our study underlines the utility of a three-factor model of the Dark Triad, extends findings on its nomological network, and provides an ultrashort instrument.

The Post-Stroke Depression Risk Scale (PoStDeRiS): Development of an Acute-Phase Prediction Model for Depression 6 Months After Stroke

BACKGROUND

Depression after stroke is common but often undertreated as increasing depression prevalence and decreasing health care contacts diverge after the event.

OBJECTIVE

To develop an acute-phase prediction scale for prognosis of depression 6 months after stroke.

METHODS

Participants (N = 226) were consecutively recruited and assessed within the first week after ischemic stroke for history of depression, stroke severity (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale), and functional independence (Barthel Index). Early depressive symptoms were self-reported via the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 and external-rated by nurses via the Signs of Depression Scale. Six months later, 183 participants were assessed for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition diagnosis of depression. Significant predictors of depression were identified in multivariate logistic regression analysis and their coefficients transformed into a risk scale. Measurement precision was identified using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

RESULTS

Depression was diagnosed in 32 (17.5%) participants 6 months after stroke. History of depression, the Barthel Index, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 were significant predictors of depression. Transformation of the coefficients yielded the Post-Stroke Depression Risk Scale that demonstrated good discrimination (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.84; 95% confidence interval = 0.78/0.90). The optimum cutoff showed a sensitivity of 0.81, a specificity of 0.72, a positive predictive value of 0.38, and a negative predictive value of 0.95.

CONCLUSIONS

The Post-Stroke Depression Risk Scale accurately identifies people in the acute phase with low risk of depression 6 months later, which saves expendable psychiatric interviews in stroke patients. While the sensitivity indicates that recognition of people with later depression is adequate, positive results in the acute phase show low predictivity. Clinical and methodological reasons for these results as well as implications for future research to increase case-finding ability are discussed.

[Real-life experiences with Brolucizumab in recalcitrant neovascular age-related macular degeneration]

BACKGROUND

Pivotal clinical trials have proven brolucizumab to be a potent intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drug in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Therefore, it seems to be a promising drug also in patients with recalcitrant nAMD. This article presents the results of patients who were switched to brolucizumab due to persistent fluid under previous anti-VEGF treatment.

METHODS

In this study 21 eyes were retrospectively analyzed in which treatment was switched to brolucizumab due to persistent intraretinal (IRF), subretinal (SRF) and/or sub-retinal pigment epithelium (sub-RPE fluid) fluid despite long-term anti-VEGF treatment. Functional and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) data were investigated at diagnosis of nAMD (I), at switch to brolucizumab (II), 4 weeks after upload of brolucizumab (III) and at first reactivation of macular neovascularization (MNV, IV).

RESULTS

There were no significant changes in fluid distribution between (I) and (II). After upload of brolucizumab (III) a significant reduction of central subfield retinal thickness (CSRT, p = 0.0001), SRF (p = 0.004) and sub-RPE fluid (p = 0.04), but no visual acuity improvement (p = 0.56) were observed.

CONCLUSION

Intravitreal brolucizumab treatment can achieve significant reductions particularly of SRF and sub-RPE in patients refractory to previous anti-VEGF treatment. Future studies should further investigate the effects of brolucizumab in patients with recalcitrant nAMD.

The Nomological Network of the Short Dark Tetrad Scale (SD4)

Abstract. The present study examined the nomological network of the Short Dark Tetrad scale (SD4). The SD4 measures narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism. We translated the original English SD4 into German and used an online sample ( N = 594, 77% women) to investigate its nomological network with regard to the Big Five, honesty-humility, maladaptive personality traits, impulsivity, aggression, motives, values, sociosexual orientation, the octants of the interpersonal circumplex model, and self-esteem. The overall profile similarities between the observed and hypothesized nomological networks were very high. Few correlations differed concerning direction or magnitude. Hence, our study extends the nomological network of the Dark Tetrad in a meaningful way and suggests that the SD4 can be validly interpreted and used for the assessment of narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism.

Distinguishing simple and residual consistencies in functionally equivalent and non-equivalent situations: Evidence from experimental and observational longitudinal data

The current work examines consistencies of personality state scores across functionally equivalent and non-equivalent situations. We argue that simple consistency, defined as the correlation between state scores without taking people’s straits into account, needs to be distinguished from residual consistency that does account for traits. The existence of residual consistency reflects systematic interindividual differences in how people respond to situations, above and beyond what is expected from their traits. We examine the level and individual differences in all of these forms of consistency. In four micro-longitudinal studies (total N = 671), participants first provided trait self-ratings and then state ratings, either in response to two situation vignettes presented at separate testing occasions (Studies 1 and 2) or during experience sampling in daily life (Studies 3 and 4). In all studies, simple consistency was substantial, and the level of residual consistency varied with the level of functional equivalence of the situations. Further, individual differences in both simple and residual consistencies were only weakly correlated, suggesting no underlying general factor but only trait-specific consistencies. We conclude that there are consistent individual differences in how people respond to equivalent situations, even when their personality trait scores have been taken into account.

InterCarb: A Community Effort to Improve Interlaboratory Standardization of the Carbonate Clumped Isotope Thermometer Using Carbonate Standards

Increased use and improved methodology of carbonate clumped isotope thermometry has greatly enhanced our ability to interrogate a suite of Earth-system processes. However, interlaboratory discrepancies in quantifying carbonate clumped isotope (Δ47) measurements persist, and their specific sources remain unclear. To address interlaboratory differences, we first provide consensus values from the clumped isotope community for four carbonate standards relative to heated and equilibrated gases with 1,819 individual analyses from 10 laboratories. Then we analyzed the four carbonate standards along with three additional standards, spanning a broad range of δ47 and Δ47 values, for a total of 5,329 analyses on 25 individual mass spectrometers from 22 different laboratories. Treating three of the materials as known standards and the other four as unknowns, we find that the use of carbonate reference materials is a robust method for standardization that yields interlaboratory discrepancies entirely consistent with intralaboratory analytical uncertainties. Carbonate reference materials, along with measurement and data processing practices described herein, provide the carbonate clumped isotope community with a robust approach to achieve interlaboratory agreement as we continue to use and improve this powerful geochemical tool. We propose that carbonate clumped isotope data normalized to the carbonate reference materials described in this publication should be reported as Δ47 (I-CDES) values for Intercarb-Carbon Dioxide Equilibrium Scale.

Sometimes hot, sometimes not: the relations between selected situational vocational interests and situation perception

Vocational interests are traditionally conceived as stable preferences for different activities. However, recent theorizing suggests their intraindividual variability. This preregistered experience sampling study examined intraindividual variation in selected vocational interests states and related situation and person factors ( N = 237). Results indicate that the three interest dimensions Investigative, Artistic, and Social interests did vary intraindividually but less so than other phenomena’s dimensions (e.g., personality and happiness). At the within-person level, the focused interest states were related to specific situation characteristics, also after controlling for related personality dimensions and happiness. These relations were either specified a priori, based on the concept of congruence or person-environment fit, and tested in a strictly confirmatory manner, or identified using a more exploratory approach. Furthermore, aggregated states of the three selected interest dimensions mainly varied below their corresponding trait levels. This suggests that interest trait levels could represent an upper limit for aggregated interest states that could be due to method-related or construct-related reasons. The results demonstrate the situational character of interests and provide novel approaches for studying vocational interest in daily life.

Predicting academic success with the Big 5 rated from different points of view: Self‐rated, other rated and faked

Self‐ratings of personality predict academic success above general intelligence. The present study replicated these findings and investigated the increment of other‐ratings or intentionally distorted self‐ratings. Participants (N = 145) had to compile a personality questionnaire twice. First they were given neutral instructions. The second time they were asked to imagine a specific applicant setting. Furthermore, two peers rated each participant. Additionally, verbal, numerical and figural reasoning scores were obtained. Grades on a statistics exam obtained 2 months later served as the criterion. Results replicated prior findings and showed incremental validity for self‐ and other‐rated personality, which was stable after controlling for intelligence. Faking had no impact on the domain‐score level, but results on the facet‐score level were less encouraging. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Assessing Personality States: What to Consider when Constructing Personality State Measures

Repeated assessments of personality states in daily diary or experience sampling studies have become a more and more common tool in the psychologist's toolbox. However, and contrary to the widely available literature on personality traits, no best practices for the development of personality state measures exist, and personality state measures have been developed in many different ways. To address this, we first define what a personality state is and discuss important components. On the basis of this, we define what a personality state measure is and suggest a general guideline for the development of such measures. Following the ABC of test construction can then guide the strategy for obtaining validity and reliability evidence: (A) What is the construct being measured? (B) What is the intended purpose of the measure? And (C) What is the targeted population of persons and situations? We then conclude with an example by developing an initial item pool for the assessment of conscientiousness personality states. © 2020 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology

[Broad scope symptom questionnaires in psychotherapy: Comparing Brief Symptom Inventory and ICD-10 Symptom Rating]

Our study compared the psychometric properties of two broad scope symptom questionnaires, the Brief Symptom Inventory [7] and the ICD-10 Symptom Rating Scale [8], in a naturalistic data set of 507 patients in outpatient psychotherapeutic treatment. Reliability of total scores and subscale scores were estimated via internal consistency coefficients Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω. Measurement precision was operationalized via the uncertainty interval. Validity of the total scores as measures of symptom load was operationalized via convergence analysis with measures similar and dissimilar to that concept. Validity of the internal structure of each scale was operationalized via confirmatory factor analysis of multiple models established in literature. Reliability and measurement precision were comparable for the two questionnaires. The convergent and discriminant validity of both instruments appear to be similarly sufficient. The ISR clearly showed good factorial validity, whereas the BSI was found to have poor factorial validity. Due to its uncertain factorial structure, interpretation of the BSI subscales is not advised. In sum, the ISR and BSI have comparable reliability and measurement precision, but ISR has superior validity and better time efficiency and therefore can be considered a valid alternative to the BSI.

Bottom Up Construction of a Personality Taxonomy

Abstract. In pursuit of a more systematic and comprehensive framework for personality assessment, we introduce procedures for assessing personality traits at the lowest level: nuances. We argue that constructing a personality taxonomy from the bottom up addresses some of the limitations of extant top-down assessment frameworks (e.g., the Big Five), including the opportunity to resolve confusion about the breadth and scope of traits at different levels of the organization, evaluate unique and reliable trait variance at the item level, and clarify jingle/jangle issues in personality assessment. With a focus on applications in survey methodology and transparent documentation, our procedures contain six steps: (1) identification of a highly inclusive pool of candidate items, (2) programmatic evaluation and documentation of item characteristics, (3) test-retest analyses of items with adequate qualitative and quantitative properties, (4) analysis of cross-ratings from multiple raters for items with adequate retest reliability, (5) aggregation of ratings across diverse samples to evaluate generalizability across populations, (6) evaluations of predictive utility in various contexts. We hope these recommendations are the first step in a collaborative effort to identify a comprehensive pool of personality nuances at the lowest level, enabling subsequent construction of a robust hierarchy – from the bottom up.

Unveiling an exclusive link: Predicting behavior with personality, situation perception, and affect in a preregistered experience sampling study

Affect and situation perception are intertwined in any given situation, but the extent to which both predict behavior jointly and uniquely has not yet been systematically examined so far. Using 2 studies with experience sampling methodology (ESM), we examine how trait-like variables (Big Six, trait affect, general situation experience) and state-like variables (momentary affect, happiness, and situation perception) account for variance in self-reported behavioral states of the Big Six. In Study 1, we reanalyzed data from Sherman, Rauthmann, Brown, Serfass, and Jones (2015) and found that situation perception explained variance in self-reported behavior in logically coherent ways, but only after considering happiness as an additional predictor. These results were replicated in preregistered Study 2, in which positive and negative affect were additionally assessed as distinct variables. Based on both studies, we conclude that personality traits, affect, and situation perception contribute uniquely to the explanation of self-reported behavior in daily life. Importantly, situation perceptions and affect do overlap, but they are neither the same nor redundant with each other. Indeed, theoretically justified and logically coherent links between situation perceptions and behavioral states remain intact once affect is controlled for, while the links not predicted by theory disappear. These results have implications for personality theories as well as appraisal theories of emotion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

How Information on a Motive to Lie Influences CBCA-Based Ratings and Veracity Judgments

We investigated how information on a motive to lie impacts on the perceived content quality of a statement and its subsequent veracity rating. In an online study, 300 participants rated a statement about an alleged sexual harassment on a scale based on Criteria-based Content Analysis (CBCA) and judged its veracity. In a 3 × 3 between-subjects design, we varied prior information (motive to lie, no motive to lie, and no information on a motive), and presented three different statement versions of varying content quality (high, medium, and low). In addition to anticipating main effects of both independent variables (motive information and statement version), we predicted that the impact of motive information on both ratings would be highest for medium quality statements, because their assessment is especially ambiguous (interaction effect). Contrary to our hypotheses, results showed that participants were unaffected by motive information and accurately reproduced the manipulated quality differences between statement versions in their CBCA-based judgments. In line with the expected interaction effect, veracity ratings decreased in the motive-to-lie group compared to controls, but only when the medium- and the low-quality statements were rated (truth ratings dropped from approximately 80 to 50%). Veracity ratings in both the no-motive-to-lie group and controls did not differ across statement versions (≥82% truth ratings). In sum, information on a motive to lie thus encouraged participants to consider content quality in their veracity judgments by being critical only of statements of medium and low quality. Otherwise, participants judged statements to be true irrespective of content quality.

The German Version of the Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory (MASI) for Turkish-Origin Immigrants -Measurement Invariance of Filter Questions and Validation

The Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory (MASI) is an established measure of acculturative stress for people of Mexican origin living in the United States that has been associated with mental health outcomes in this population. We translated the MASI into German and adapted it for use with Turkish-origin immigrants in Germany. The MASI includes filter questions asking if a potentially stressful event had actually occurred before reporting the stress appraisal of these situations. Measurement invariance testing has become a standard practice to evaluate questionnaire translations, however, measurement invariance of filter questions has been scarcely studied. In Study I, we evaluated measurement invariance of the filter questions between a German-based Turkish sample (N = 233) and the Mexican-origin sample from the original study (N = 174) and could show partial strong factorial invariance for three of the four factors. In Study II, a validation study, relations between the German MASI scores and measures of acculturation and stress indicated discriminant validity. This study contributes to research on measurement invariance of filter questions, thereby providing a measure of acculturative stress that can be used in future research to understand the etiology of health disparities in Turkish-origin immigrants in Germany.

Hello from the Other Side: Can We Perceive Others' Darkness? Observers' Accuracy of the Dark Triad

The current study builds on research concerning self-other agreement, specifically the Trait-Reputation-Identity (TRI) Model, and combines this theoretical approach and recent advances from multitrait-multimethod research, specifically the CTC(M-1) and the latent difference model. This combination was applied to avoid statistical problems associated with latent trait models of the type previously used in TRI Model research. A further aim was to fully exploit the TRI Model's potential by simultaneously modeling more than one trait in one psychometric model. This makes it possible to explore whether raters use similar information to assess different traits or whether this information is observer-specific, as well as whether the traits themselves can shape an individual's Reputation. All analyses were based on a data set capturing the Dark Triad. As the Dark Triad has only rarely been examined from different rater perspectives before, the study also provides new insights into this network of maladaptive traits. A sample of 290 students, their best friends, and one parent were asked to fill out the NPI, Mach IV, and SRP-III. The results suggest that accuracy is high only for narcissism. Moreover, a dark halo could be observed among each of the other-raters for Machiavellianism and psychopathy; target's standings on these two traits were also underestimated by the other-raters. The study's combined use of the TRI Model and modern structural equation methods highlights the usefulness of the TRI Model and adds to the debate about the specific nature of Dark Triad traits.

Developing a Diagnostic Algorithm for the Music-Based Scale for Autism Diagnostics (MUSAD) Assessing Adults with Intellectual Disability

Initial studies have presented the Music-based Scale for Autism Diagnostics (MUSAD) as a promising DSM-5-based observational tool to identify autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adults with intellectual disability (ID). The current study is the first to address its clinical utility in a new sample of 124 adults with ID (60.5% diagnosed with ASD). The derived diagnostic algorithm differentiated well between individuals with and without ASD (sensitivity 79%, specificity 74%, area under the curve = 0.81). Inter-rater reliability, assessed by the scorings of four independent experts in 22 consensus cases, was excellent (ICC = 0.92). Substantial correlations with scores from other ASD-specific measures indicated convergent validity. The MUSAD yields accurate and reliable scores, supporting comprehensive ASD diagnostics in adults with ID.

Social-Scientific Research Competency

Abstract. Although the development of research competency is an important goal of higher education in social sciences, instruments to measure this outcome often depend on the students’ self-ratings. To provide empirical evidence for the utility of a newly developed instrument for the objective measurement of social-scientific research competency, two validation studies across two independent samples were conducted. Study 1 ( n = 675) provided evidence for unidimensionality, expected differences in test scores between differently advanced groups of students as well as incremental validities over and above self-perceived research self-efficacy. In Study 2 ( n = 82) it was demonstrated that the competency measured indeed is social-scientific and relations to facets of fluid and crystallized intelligence were analyzed. Overall, the results indicate that the test scores reflected a trainable, social-scientific, knowledge-related construct relevant to research performance. These are promising results for the application of the instrument in the evaluation of research education courses in higher education.

How Openness Enriches the Environment: Read More

The recently proposed OFCI model and specifically the Environmental Enrichment Hypothesis state that Openness positively influences the development of cognitive abilities (Ziegler et al., 2012). It is assumed that Openness leads to engagement in more learning activities through creating an enriched environment (e.g., reading). However, despite positive evaluations of the OFCI model in general, there is little empirical research on this specific hypothesis. The current paper used a longitudinal design to test the positive impact of Openness on the frequency of reading activities in general and in the specific case of periods of unemployment. PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) data were used to fit structural equation models. The results show that Openness fosters greater engagement in reading activities over 3 years; a buffering function in case of unemployment could not be found. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Measuring Job Crafting Across Cultures: Lessons Learned From Comparing a German and an Australian Sample

Job crafting refers to the act of employees actively altering work aspects to better suit their values and interests. Slemp and Vella-Brodrick (2013) proposed a Job Crafting Questionnaire (JCQ) in English consisting of three facets: task crafting, cognitive crafting, and relational crafting. This is in line with the original conceptualization of job crafting by Wrzesniewski and Dutton (2001). However, there has not yet been an evaluated German translation of this measure. Therefore, this paper aims at evaluating the psychometric properties of scores from a German translation of the JCQ, using the original Australian dataset and a German sample of 482 employees. Our findings showed first evidence for the reliability and validity of the scores. We also extend prior research and include creative self-efficacy in the nomological network of job crafting. Importantly, strong factorial measurement invariance was demonstrated, allowing for comparisons between the job crafting scores of German- and English-speaking samples. Based on this example, we highlight the importance of enriching measurement invariance tests by including other key constructs. Our results suggest that the German JCQ is an acceptable tool for measuring job crafting, as originally conceptualized by Wrzesniewski and Dutton (2001).