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This study provides the first examination of the frequency, characteristics, and dynamics surrounding daily experiences of OCD-relevant intrusions among non-clinical participants (N = 54, Nobs = 2314) using ecological momentary assessment. It also examines the extent to which self-related constructs-participants' feared-self beliefs and their tendency to conceal aspects of self-relate to such intrusive phenomena. Participants completed a baseline questionnaire before reporting state depressed mood and intrusions up to five times per day (at semi-random intervals) for 14 days. Results suggest that questionnaire measures may result in underreporting of the frequency of intrusions, with most participants (80%) reporting at least one intrusion across the momentary observations, and 20% of observations indicating intrusive phenomena experienced since the previous momentary report. Baseline factors including OCD-related beliefs and feared self were related to the proportion of intrusions experienced, whereas self-concealment was not. Within the moment, state feared-self predicted intrusion-related distress, duration, perceived importance, the urge to act, and the need to control thoughts. The urge to conceal within the moment was significant but negatively related to perceived importance and the urge to act. Overall, this study provides evidence for the relevance of momentary measures of intrusions, and adds to evidence for self-beliefs in the dynamics of the disorder.

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Researchers have long sought to mitigate the detrimental effects of socially desirable responding on personality assessments in high-stakes contexts. This study investigated the effect of reducing the social desirability of personality items on response distortion and criterion validity in a job applicant context. Using a 2 × 2 repeated measures design, participants (n = 584) completed standard (International Personality Item Pool) and less evaluative (Less Evaluative Five Factor Inventory) measures of Big Five personality in a low-stakes context and then several weeks later in a simulated job applicant context. Self-report criteria with objective answers, including university grades, were also obtained. In general, the less evaluative measure showed less response distortion than the standard measure on some metrics, but not on others. Declines in criterion validity in the applicant context were smaller for the less evaluative measure. In the applicant context, however, validities were similar across the two measures. Correlations across contexts for corresponding traits (e.g., low-stakes extraversion with high-stakes extraversion) were also similar for both measures. In summary, reducing socially desirable item content might slightly reduce the substantive content required to predict criteria in low-stakes contexts, but this effect appears to be partly offset by reduced response distortion for less evaluative measures in applicant contexts.

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We re-oriented the HEXACO personality dimensions to approximate the Big Five, using two measures of the Big Five as targets in a derivation sample and then in cross-validation samples. The HEXACO approximations of Big Five Agreeableness represented blends of HEXACO Agreeableness, Emotionality, and Honesty-Humility. The HEXACO approximations of Big Five Neuroticism represented blends of Emotionality with low Agreeableness and low Extraversion. The residual sixth dimension, unrelated to the Big Five, contrasted Honesty-Humility with HEXACO Agreeableness. We then examined, in additional samples, some correlates of the original and re-rotated HEXACO dimensions. In the original HEXACO factor space, Honesty-Humility was the strongest correlate of unethical behaviors (selfishness and cheating), participant age, and "assumed similarity" to a friend or partner. Upon re-rotation of the HEXACO factors, associations involving these variables were divided between Big Five Agreeableness and the residual sixth dimension. Sex differences were mainly associated with Emotionality but after re-rotation of the HEXACO factors were divided between Big Five Agreeableness and Neuroticism. We discuss the relative merits of the original and Big Five-targeted HEXACO dimensions with reference to the practical utility of Big Five Agreeableness and Neuroticism and the simplicity and theoretical interpretability of the original HEXACO factors.

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The objective of this study was to examine the associations between personality, general and diabetes-specific well-being and self-efficacy, and weight management indicators, among adults with type 2 diabetes. In addition, to examine whether personality provides incremental explanation of variance in weight management indicators. Australian adults with type 2 diabetes (N = 270; 56% women; age: 61±12 years) were recruited via the national diabetes registry. An online survey included measures of: personality (HEXACO-PI-R), weight management indicators (physical activity, healthy diet, body mass index [BMI]), general well-being (WHO-5), general self-efficacy (GSE), diabetes distress (DDS) and diabetes self-efficacy (DMSES). Analyses included bivariate correlations and linear regression, adjusted for demographic, clinical, and psychological variables. All six personality domains showed significant correlation with at least one weight management indicator: physical activity with extraversion (r = .28), conscientiousness (r = .18) and openness (r = .19); healthy diet with honesty-humility (r = .19), extraversion (r = .24), and agreeableness (r = .14); and BMI with emotionality (r = .20) and extraversion (r = -.20). The strongest associations with general and diabetes-specific well-being and self-efficacy were apparent for extraversion, emotionality and conscientiousness (range: r = -.47-.66). Beyond covariates, personality domains explained additional variance for physical activity (Adjusted R2 = .31, R2 difference = .03, p = .03; openness: ß = .16, p = .02, emotionality: ß = .15, p = .04) and healthy diet (Adjusted R2 = .19, R2 difference = .03, p = .02; honesty-humility: ß = .20, p = .002, extraversion: ß = .19, p = .04) but not BMI. This study shows that personality is associated with weight management indicators and psychological factors among adults with type 2 diabetes. Further research is needed, including objective measurement of weight management indictors, to examine how personality influences the experience of type 2 diabetes.

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Our aim was to explore the association between COVID-19 pandemic-related product shortages and symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression in Australian families, concurrently and longitudinally, while controlling for demographic, health, and psychological characteristics. This prospective study used two waves of data (baseline, Time 0 = April 2020; Time 1 = May 2020) from a longitudinal cohort study of Australian parents of a child aged 0-18 years. Parents were surveyed at baseline about whether they had experienced product shortages related to COVID-19. DASS21 was used to measure symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress at both waves. The sample included 2,110 participants (N = 1,701, 80.6% mothers). About 68.6% of the respondents reported being impacted by one or more shortages. Product shortages correlated significantly with higher combined and individual scores for anxiety, depression, and stress (r = 0.007 to 0.18, all p < 0.001) at baseline. At Time 1, parental emotion regulation explained 4.0% of the variance (p < .001). Our findings suggest a role for improving parental emotion regulation in coping with stressors, such as shortages and lockdowns.

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Aims: Managing weight in the context of type 2 diabetes presents unique hormonal, medicinal, behavioural and psychological challenges. The relationship between weight management and personality has previously been reviewed for general and cardiovascular disease populations but is less well understood in diabetes. This systematic review investigated the relationship between personality constructs and weight management outcomes and behaviours among adults with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Medline, PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO and SPORTDiscus databases were searched to July 2021. Eligibility: empirical quantitative studies; English language; adults with type 2 diabetes; investigation of personality-weight management association. Search terms included variants of: diabetes, physical activity, diet, body mass index (BMI), adiposity, personality constructs and validated scales. A narrative synthesis, with quality assessment, was conducted. Results: Seventeen studies were identified: nine cross-sectional, six cohort and two randomised controlled trials (N=6,672 participants, range: 30-1,553). Three studies had a low risk of bias. Personality measurement varied. The Big Five and Type D personality constructs were the most common measures. Higher emotional instability (neuroticism, negative affect, anxiety, unmitigated communion and external locus of control) was negatively associated with healthy diet and physical activity, and positively associated with BMI. Conscientiousness had positive associations with healthy diet and physical activity and negative associations with BMI and anthropometric indices. Conclusions: Among adults with type 2 diabetes, evidence exists of a relationship between weight management and personality, specifically, negative emotionality and conscientiousness. Consideration of personality may be important for optimising weight management and further research is warranted. Systematic review registration: www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42019111002.

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Emotion regulation has been proposed as a mechanism for the development of problematic smartphone use. In addition to examining the relationship between emotion regulation difficulties and problematic smartphone use, the current study sought to be the first to examine the relationship between subscales of emotion regulation difficulties and problematic smartphone use. It also sought to determine whether emotion regulation difficulties provide incremental prediction of problematic smartphone use over and above personality. Participants were 692 Australian university students (81% female; age in years M = 25.23, SD = 7.48). They completed a measure of problematic smartphone use, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and a measure of Big Five personality (IPIP 120). Overall emotion regulation difficulties (r = 0.40) and impulse control difficulties (r = 0.42) were moderately associated with problematic smartphone use, as were the Big Five factors of neuroticism (r = 0.43) and conscientiousness (r = -0.38). Although emotion regulation difficulties predicted problematic smartphone use, they did not provide incremental prediction over and above the Big Five. Findings indicate that personality is a robust predictor of problematic smartphone use. Emotion regulation difficulties, such as impulsivity, offer insights into the specific ways that personality is expressed in problematic smartphone use.

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This study reports the most comprehensive assessment to date of the relations that the domains and facets of Big Five and HEXACO personality have with self-reported subjective well-being (SWB: life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) and psychological well-being (PWB: positive relations, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, self-acceptance, and personal growth). It presents a meta-analysis (n = 334,567, k = 462) of the correlations of Big Five and HEXACO personality domains with the dimensions of SWB and PWB. It provides the first meta-analysis of personality and well-being to examine (a) HEXACO personality, (b) PWB dimensions, and (c) a broad range of established Big Five measures. It also provides the first robust synthesis of facet-level correlations and incremental prediction by facets over domains in relation to SWB and PWB using 4 large data sets comprising data from prominent, long-form hierarchical personality frameworks: NEO PI-R (n = 1,673), IPIP-NEO (n = 903), HEXACO PI-R (n = 465), and Big Five Aspect Scales (n = 706). Meta-analytic results highlighted the importance of Big Five neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness. The pattern of correlations between Big Five personality and SWB was similar across personality measures (e.g., BFI, NEO, IPIP, BFAS, Adjectives). In the HEXACO model, extraversion was the strongest well-being correlate. Facet-level analyses provided a richer description of the relationship between personality and well-being, and clarified differences between the two trait frameworks. Prediction by facets was typically around 20% better than domains, and this incremental prediction was larger for some well-being dimensions than others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

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OBJECTIVE: The current study provides a comprehensive analysis of the overlap between trait emotional intelligence (EI) and personality. This overlap was examined using the HEXACO personality framework at both the domain and the facet levels, and through varying methods of deriving a general factor of personality (GFP). METHOD: A sample of 1,370 Australian adults (51% male, age in years M = 45.5, SD = 11.7, range: 21-71) completed the 200-item HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised and the Modified Assessing Emotions Scale measure of self-reported Trait EI. RESULTS: The strongest domain correlations with Total EI emerged for Extraversion (r = .67) followed by Openness (r = .39), Conscientiousness (r = .35), and Agreeableness (r = .26). Large adjusted multiple correlations were obtained when predicting Total EI from HEXACO domains (.74) and facets (.81). The correlations of the GFP and Total EI ranged from .53 to .64 depending on how the GFP was operationalized. CONCLUSION: Trait EI is largely captured by the HEXACO personality framework, whereby Extraversion or the GFP provides a rough initial approximation, but composites of domains and facets provide progressively better representations.

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The current study examined the degree to which applicants applying for medical internships distort their responses to personality tests and assessed whether this response distortion led to reduced predictive validity. The applicant sample (n = 530) completed the NEO Personality Inventory whilst applying for one of 60 positions as first-year post-graduate medical interns. Predictive validity was assessed using university grades, averaged over the entire medical degree. Applicant responses for the Big Five (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) and 30 facets of personality were compared to a range of normative samples where personality was measured in standard research settings including medical students, role model physicians, current interns, and standard young-adult test norms. Applicants had substantially higher scores on conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness, and extraversion and lower scores on neuroticism with an average absolute standardized difference of 1.03, when averaged over the normative samples. While current interns, medical students, and especially role model physicians do show a more socially desirable personality profile than standard test norms, applicants provided responses that were substantially more socially desirable. Of the Big Five, conscientiousness was the strongest predictor of academic performance in both applicants (r = .11) and medical students (r = .21). Findings suggest that applicants engage in substantial response distortion, and that the predictive validity of personality is modest and may be reduced in an applicant setting.

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While researchers have often sought to understand the learning curve in terms of multiple component processes, few studies have measured and mathematically modeled these processes on a complex task. In particular, there remains a need to reconcile how abrupt changes in strategy use can co-occur with gradual changes in task completion time. Thus, the current study aimed to assess the degree to which strategy change was abrupt or gradual, and whether strategy aggregation could partially explain gradual performance change. It also aimed to show how Bayesian methods could be used to model the effect of practice on strategy use. To achieve these aims, 162 participants completed 15 blocks of practice on a complex computer-based task-the Wynton-Anglim booking (WAB) task. The task allowed for multiple component strategies (i.e., memory retrieval, information reduction, and insight) that could also be aggregated to a global measure of strategy use. Bayesian hierarchical models were used to compare abrupt and gradual functions of component and aggregate strategy use. Task completion time was well-modeled by a power function, and global strategy use explained substantial variance in performance. Change in component strategy use tended to be abrupt, whereas change in global strategy use was gradual and well-modeled by a power function. Thus, differential timing of component strategy shifts leads to gradual changes in overall strategy efficiency, and this provides one reason for why smooth learning curves can co-occur with abrupt changes in strategy use. (PsycINFO Database Record

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PURPOSE: Existing research suggests that the decision to grant or deny workplace accommodations for people with disabilities is influenced by a range of legal and nonlegal factors. However, less is known about how these factors operate at the within-person level. Thus, we proposed and tested a multilevel model of the accommodation decision-making process, which we applied to better understand why people with psychological disabilities often experience greater challenges in obtaining accommodations. METHOD: A sample of 159 Australian adults, composed mostly of managers and HR professionals, read 12 vignettes involving requests for accommodations from existing employees. The requests differed in whether they were for psychological or physical disabilities. For each vignette, participants rated their empathy with the employee, the legitimacy of the employee's disability, the necessity for productivity, the perceived cost, and the reasonableness, and indicated whether they would grant the accommodation. RESULTS: Multilevel modeling indicated that greater empathy, legitimacy, and necessity, and lower perceived cost predicted perceptions of greater reasonableness and greater granting. Accommodation requests from employees with psychological disabilities were seen as less reasonable and were less likely to be granted; much of this effect seemed to be driven by perceptions that such accommodations were less necessary for productivity. Ratings on accommodations were influenced both by general between-person tendencies and within-person appraisals of particular scenarios. CONCLUSIONS: The study points to a need for organizations to more clearly establish guidelines for how decision-makers should fairly evaluate accommodation requests for employees with psychological disabilities and disability more broadly. (PsycINFO Database Record

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In this study, we investigated the validity of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF; Petrides, 2009) in the context of task-induced stress. We used a total sample of 225 volunteers to investigate (a) the incremental validity of the TEIQue-SF over other predictors of coping with task-induced stress, and (b) the construct validity of the TEIQue-SF by examining the mechanisms via which scores from the TEIQue-SF predict coping outcomes. Results demonstrated that the TEIQue-SF possessed incremental validity over the Big Five personality traits in the prediction of emotion-focused coping. Results also provided support for the construct validity of the TEIQue-SF by demonstrating that this measure predicted adaptive coping via emotion-focused channels. Specifically, results showed that, following a task stressor, the TEIQue-SF predicted low negative affect and high task performance via high levels of emotion-focused coping. Consistent with the purported theoretical nature of the trait emotional intelligence (EI) construct, trait EI as assessed by the TEIQue-SF primarily enhances affect and performance in stressful situations by regulating negative emotions.

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Children's disclosures of sexual abuse during forensic interviews are fundamental to the investigation of cases. Research examining the relationship between age and disclosure has shown mixed results; the aim of the current study was to clarify and extend our knowledge by modeling linear, quadratic, and interaction effects of age on disclosure. Child sexual abuse reports made by children, their caregivers, or mandated reporters over a 12-month period to police in one state of Australia were examined. Of the 527 children (age range 3-16 years) offered a forensic interview, 81% disclosed abuse during it. The other 19% did not disclose or refused the interview. Age had both linear and quadratic effects, whereby disclosure increased with age until 11 years, after which disclosure decreased with age to 16 years. The effect of age on disclosure was moderated by five variables: abuse severity, the child-suspect relationship, suspects' violence histories, delay of report to police, and children's previous disclosures. Particular groups of children had lower likelihoods of disclosing abuse in forensic interviews than others, such as adolescents who alleged abuse against suspects with histories of violent offending. By identifying these groups, targeted strategies may be developed to help increase their disclosure rates.

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BACKGROUND: This study explores the possibility that religious fundamentalism (RF) may be linked to deficits in personality structure, which is in contrast to the general assumption that religiosity and spirituality are positively related to mature personality development. SAMPLING AND METHODS: To test this hypothesis, 327 (232 female) college students completed the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious/Spiritual Well-Being together with the Innsbrucker Religious Fundamentalism Scale. In addition, the 'vulnerable dark triad' of personality ('vulnerable narcissism', subscale of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory; 'secondary psychopathy', subscale of Levenson's Self-Report Psychopathy Scale; 'borderline personality', of the Borderline Personality Inventory) was assessed. RESULTS: In general, the relation between spirituality and healthy personality functioning was confirmed. In addition to greatly overlapping with 'general religiosity' (p < 0.001), RF was also relevantly predicted by narcissistic ('hiding the self') and borderline ('primitive defenses') personality facets (p < 0.05 for both). CONCLUSIONS: Based on these preliminary data, we conclude that specific structural deficits in personality might lead to more rigorous variants of religious/spiritual beliefs such as RF. Further research in clinical surroundings as well as in religious extremist groups is recommended.

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OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to develop a predictive model of how Type D personality influences health behaviours, social support and symptom severity and assess its generalisability to a range of chronic illnesses. DESIGN: Participants were classified as either healthy (n = 182) or having a chronic illness (n = 207). Participants completed an online survey measuring Type D and a range of health-related variables. Chronic illness participants were classified as having either a functional somatic syndrome (i.e. chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia), where the underlying pathological processes were unclear, or illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, where the causes are well understood. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcome measures were health behaviours, social support and both physical and psychological symptoms. RESULTS: The rate of Type D was higher in chronic illness participants (53%) than in healthy controls (39%). Negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI) both correlated with outcome measures, although NA was generally the stronger predictor. Using NA and SI as independent subscales led to superior prediction of health outcomes than using categorical or continuous representations. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that the relationship between Type D and health outcomes may generalise across different chronic illnesses.

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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Following observations in the literature that obsessions often contain or imply negative evaluative information about the self, Aardema et al. (2013) recently developed a measure of feared-self relevant to OCD. The current study aimed to provide further examination of the relevance of such feared self-beliefs to obsessive compulsive processes - in particular whether they partially underlie doubt in OCD-relevant situations. METHOD: Nonclinical participants (N = 463; 291 females; Mage = 25.17, SD = 7.47), were presented with three vignettes, related to washing, checking and non-OCD relevant themes, which assessed doubt through providing alternating sensory and possibility-based information. RESULTS: Higher levels of OCD symptoms and feared-self beliefs both significantly predicted both higher baseline levels of doubt and greater fluctuation in levels of doubt in both the contamination and checking scenarios, and to a much lesser extent in the control scenario. Feared-self beliefs did not predict fluctuation in doubt over-and-above OCD symptoms, consistent with a mediation model. LIMITATIONS: The main limitation was the use of a non-clinical sample, although this allowed sufficient participant numbers to test hypotheses. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provided further experimental support for reasoning processes in OCD, and suggested that feared self-beliefs may make individuals vulnerable to experiencing doubt. Additionally, these results suggested that individuals with high OCD symptoms and those with high feared self-beliefs are unable to recognise the improbable nature of possibility-based statements. Implications for treatment and theory are discussed.

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The current study used Bayesian hierarchical methods to challenge and extend previous work on subtask learning consistency. A general model of individual-level subtask learning was proposed focusing on power and exponential functions with constraints to test for inconsistency. To study subtask learning, we developed a novel computer-based booking task, which logged participant actions, enabling measurement of strategy use and subtask performance. Model comparison was performed using deviance information criterion (DIC), posterior predictive checks, plots of model fits, and model recovery simulations. Results showed that although learning tended to be monotonically decreasing and decelerating, and approaching an asymptote for all subtasks, there was substantial inconsistency in learning curves both at the group- and individual-levels. This inconsistency was most apparent when constraining both the rate and the ratio of learning to asymptote to be equal across subtasks, thereby giving learning curves only 1 parameter for scaling. The inclusion of 6 strategy covariates provided improved prediction of subtask performance capturing different subtask learning processes and subtask trade-offs. In addition, strategy use partially explained the inconsistency in subtask learning. Overall, the model provided a more nuanced representation of how complex tasks can be decomposed in terms of simpler learning mechanisms.

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The study aimed to examine the factor structure of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ), the most widely used measure of dysfunctional beliefs in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Multiple exploratory methods (exploratory factor analysis, cluster analysis by variable, multidimensional scaling) were used to examine the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analyses were also performed in two large nonclinical samples from Australia (N = 1,234) and Israel ( N = 617). Our analyses suggested a four-factor solution with 38 items, where threat and responsibility formed separate dimensions (the "OBQ-TRIP"). This version had superior fit statistics across the two divergent confirmatory samples, when compared with four alternative models suggested by previous authors. Of the OBQ dimensions, the threat scale correlated most strongly with OCD symptom measures, even when controlling for depression. A short, 20-item version of the scale is offered for further study. Implications and limitations are discussed.

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Despite considerable research on personality and "hedonic" or subjective well-being, parallel research on "eudaimonic" or psychological well-being is scarce. The current study investigated the relationship between the Big Five traits and subjective and psychological well-being among 211 men and women. Results indicated that the relationship between personality factors and psychological well-being was stronger than the relationship between personality factors and subjective well-being. Extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness correlated similarly with both subjective and psychological well-being, suggesting that these traits represent personality predispositions for general well-being. However, the personality correlates of the dimensions within each broad well-being type varied, suggesting that the relationship between personality and well-being is best modeled in terms of associations between specific traits and well-being dimensions.

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