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Farming communities are becoming more heterogeneous and multifunctional due to various structural and environmental changes. However, it is not known if farmers' values have also become more heterogeneous. We wanted to explore potential heterogeneity in farmers' value priorities in detail across different farmer groups in Finland using the refined Schwartz theory of 19 basic human values. A representative sample of 4,401 Finnish farmers responded to a survey in 2018. The data were analysed with multidimensional scaling, confirmatory factor analysis and one-way analysis of variance. The results show that farmers' values were heterogeneous, and differences were associated with socio-demographic characteristics. Our findings confirmed the motivational continuum structure of values, with the exception of societal-value. Security-societal was the most important value for the Finnish farmers. The theory of 19 values proved useful in uncovering value priorities in detail. The security-societal value is more a part of national identity rather than a personal motivational value in the Finnish farming community. The heterogeneity of farmers' values should be considered in more targeted policy planning.

Finland changed from an industrial society to an information society in 1991-2015. Due to economic fluctuations, diffusion of digitalization and media turbulence the period changed Finnish society a lot. We studied the impact of this on basic human values with Schwartz’s approach, and concentrated on zeitgeist effects. We developed a definition of zeitgeist effects and a set of hypotheses, based on the literature, to study how major societal changes influence values. Also, we found theoretical similarities between value consensus, democratization and the fragmentation of media use that we analyzed. Data (N = 7.172) were collected in five waves. We measured changes in the ten values, and used the two value dimensions based on factor analysis, also. Moreover, we used the Schwartz value map to illustrate value changes in social groups. The combination of the latter two methods offer a parsimonious way to get an overview of value change over a longer period of time, but single values suit better for the analysis of short-term changes. Our hypotheses received support regarding overall change that is small, as well as regarding zeitgeist effects in the 1990s, the disappearance of them in the new millennium, and how the values of social groups started to change in different directions in the era of social media. The above changes including the disappearance of zeitgeist effects in the new millennium were linked to societal events, e.g. fragmentation of media use. Moreover, we found that in a complex society zeitgeist effects might mirror simultaneous impact of several events.

Sociometric status, the regard that other group members confer to an individual, is one of the most ubiquitous and behaviourally relevant attributes assigned to the person by the social environment. Despite this, its contribution to personality development has received little attention. The present three–wave longitudinal study, spanning the age range 7–13 years ( n = 1222), sought to fill this gap by examining the transactional pathways between peer sociometric status (measured by peer nominations) and Five–Factor personality traits (measured by self–ratings and parent and teacher ratings). Sociometric status prospectively predicted the development of extraversion. By contrast, agreeableness and neuroticism prospectively predicted the development of sociometric status. Furthermore, individual–level stability in extraversion was associated with individual–level stability in sociometric status. The results were robust across different sources of personality ratings. We argue that peer sociometric status in the school classroom is the type of environmental effect that has potential to explain personality development. Because of its stability, broadness, and possible impact across a variety of personality processes, sociometric status can both repetitiously and simultaneously influence the network of multiple inter–correlated micro–level personality processes, potentially leading to a new network equilibrium that manifests in changes at the level of the broad personality trait. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology

We investigated determinants of liking at zero-acquaintance, focusing on individual differences in perceivers’ reactions to appearance cues. Perceivers (N = 385) viewed portrait photographs of Targets (N = 146). Perceiver’s Agreeableness and Extraversion were uniquely associated with liking targets. Targets who expressed positive emotions, looked relaxed, were physically attractive, and looked healthy and energetic, were the most liked. There were individual differences in how perceivers were influenced by almost all appearance cues, and traits could explain some of these differences. High Openness was, as expected, associated with liking targets who looked less traditional, more distinctive, and less well prepared. Physical attractiveness made more (less) of an impression on those high in Extraversion (Openness). Perceivers rated targets who displayed non-Duchenne (fake) smiles less favorably than targets who did not smile or targets who displayed Duchenne (authentic) smiles. High Neuroticism and high Conscientiousness were associated with viewing non-Duchenne smiles even more negatively.

Schwartz et al. (J Pers Soc Psychol 103(4): 663–688, 2012) recently proposed a refined theory that describes universal aspects in the content and the structure of human values. We propose a bi-factor model in order to model the common method variance (CMV) imposed by people's response styles, which has been ignored in previous tests for measurement invariance in the revised Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-R). Four unique samples were used—two from Estonia ( N = 1954, 82% female, M age = 31.2 years, SD age = 13.2, online mode; N = 1309, 69% female, M age = 28.2 years, SD age = 9.6, paper-and-pencil mode), one from Finland ( N = 250, 80% female, M age = 24.6 years, SD age = 6.7), and one from Ethiopia ( N = 253, 26% female, M age = 21.8 years, SD age = 5.0)—allowing assessment of the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the value circle, as well as the effect of the increasingly common mixed-mode data collection method. After taking CMV into account, the refined value structure holds relatively well in the Estonian and Finnish samples, but not in the Ethiopian context. PVQ-R data collected through paper-and-pencil and online modes can be combined, while there exist small limitations for the comparison of relationships and latent means across Estonian and Finnish samples.

This paper reports on an empirical comparison of two prominent measures of individual risk attitudes - the Holt and Laury (2002) lottery-choice task and the multi-item questionnaire advocated by Dohmen et al. (2011) - with respect to their within-subject stability over time (one year) and their correlation with actual risk-taking behavior in the lab - here the amount sent in a trust game (Berg et al., 1995). Our results suggest that the two risk attitude measures are at best only weakly correlated. Only the questionnaire measure shows high test-retest stability, while virtually no such stability is found in the lottery-choice task. In addition, only the questionnaire measure shows the expected correlations with a Big Five personality measure and is correlated with actual risk-taking behavior. With respect to behavior in the trust game, we find a high retest stability of transfers. This supports the conjecture that trusting behavior has a component which itself is a stable individual characteristic. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)

The current study examines the extent to which religiosity account for ideological orientations in 16 countries from five continents (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Greece, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Results showed that religiosity was consistently related to right and conservative ideologies in all countries, except Australia. This relation held across different religions, and did not vary across participant’s demographic conditions (i.e., gender, age, income, and education). After controlling for basic personal values, the contribution of religiosity on ideology was still significant. However, the effect was substantial only in countries where religion has played a prominent role in the public sphere, such as Spain, Poland, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, and Turkey. In the other countries, the unique contribution of religiosity was marginal or small.

There is little research on how life transitions influence value priorities. Our purpose was to investigate, within the framework provided by Schwartz's Values Theory, the effects of entering parenthood on personal values. Study 1 (N = 12,850), employing cross-sectional European Social Survey data, showed that Finnish mothers, as compared to non-mothers, were closer to the Conservation pole of the value dimensions that opposes Conservation values with Openness to Change values. Study 2 longitudinally followed Finnish couples (N = 292) entering parenthood from the first weeks of pregnancy to three months after childbirth. Both self- and spouse-ratings of values showed that new mothers' value priorities shifted towards Conservation values. New mothers perceived a similar shift in new fathers' personal values, but no changes occurred in men's self-ratings. Neither study suggested change on the value dimension that opposes Self-Transcendence values with Self-Enhancement values. Across the cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, and across self- and spouse-ratings of values, our results consistently suggest that new mothers' shift their value priorities in the direction of increased Conservation over Openness to Change. These results are consistent with the notion that value change may facilitate adaptation to life events.

Spousal similarity and its consequences are widely studied, but methodologically challenging topics. We employed Response Surface Analysis to examine similarity along political attitudes, personal values, and personality traits. Opposite-sex couples (624 individuals) expecting a child were recruited. Spouses were highly similar regarding their political attitudes and moderately similar regarding trait Openness and the personal values Universalism and Tradition. Similarity for other traits and values was weak (e.g. Conscientiousness, Power values) or non-existent (e.g. Neuroticism, Benevolence values). Similarity in conservative vs. liberal attitudes was non-linear: a conservative-conservative union was most common. Women's relationship satisfaction was related to similarity in left-right and liberal-conservative political attitudes, and both partners' satisfaction was related to similarity in Self-Direction values. Similarity in personality traits was unrelated to relationship satisfaction.

The present study examined the associations of the Five-Factor Model personality dimensions with Degree (number of friends) and Transitivity (the likelihood that two of a person’s friends are friends with each other) of a person’s network on the social networking site Facebook. A Facebook application administered a personality questionnaire and objectively recorded properties of the participants’ (N = 5031; 65% female, mean age 33 years) social networks. As expected, Extraversion predicted Degree, whereas Openness to Experience and, among men, Agreeableness predicted more cross-sex friendships. Also as expected, Extraversion and, among men, Openness to Experience predicted lower Transitivity, but the former association was rendered insignificant when Degree was controlled for.

Using data from 28 countries in four continents, the present research addresses the question of how basic values may account for political activism. Study 1 (N = 35,116) analyses data from representative samples in 20 countries that responded to the 21-item version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-21) in the European Social Survey. Study 2 (N = 7,773) analyses data from adult samples in six of the same countries (Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Poland, and United Kingdom) and eight other countries (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, and United States) that completed the full 40-item PVQ. Across both studies, political activism relates positively to self-transcendence and openness to change values, especially to universalism and autonomy of thought, a subtype of self-direction. Political activism relates negatively to conservation values, especially to conformity and personal security. National differences in the strength of the associations between individual values and political activism are linked to level of democratization.

We examined Finns' and bilingual Swedish-Finns' stereotypes regarding personality differences between Finns and Swedish-Finns and compared them with their respective self-ratings. Stereotype ratings by both groups converged on depicting Swedish-Finns as having a more desirable personality. In-group bias also influenced stereotypes. Contrary to predictions based on the Stereotype Content Model, out-group stereotypes were not compensatory. Consistent with the kernel of truth hypothesis of national stereotypes, Swedish-Finns' aggregate self-ratings resembled their stereotype of personality differences between the two groups, and their personality self-ratings were more desirable than Finns' self-ratings. Tentatively suggesting the occurrence of cultural frame shifting, the resemblance between Swedish-Finns' self-ratings and their stereotype of Swedish-Finns was, although only marginally statistically significantly, somewhat stronger when the self-ratings were provided in Swedish.

Returning to a sample of Ingrian Finnish migrants ( N = 136) in which postmigration change in personal values has previously been documented, we investigated the permanency of such value change. Personal values, measured within the framework provided by Schwartz’s (1992) values theory, were previously measured prior to migration and 1 year after migration. We now add a second follow-up, conducted 2 years after migration. At this time, the changes observed at the first follow-up were dissipating. Specifically, Universalism and Security values were now on the decline after having been elevated at the first follow-up (an inverted U-shape), and Achievement values were increasing in importance after having previously diminished (a U-shape). Personal values appear to react to changing social circumstances but then return close to their baseline levels. The results of the present research constitute the first longitudinal evidence for a rebound effect in personal values.

The present study examined how Big Five personality ratings of the same target individuals differ as a function of the power relation between the target and the judge. Our targets were 37 employees with leadership duties from two large organizations. The targets‘ subordinates (N = 352), peers (N = 186), and superiors (N = 62) constituted our groups of judges. The targets and judges also provided self–reports of personality. Subordinate judges showed higher consensus but not higher self–other agreement than peer or superior judges. Furthermore, the targets were judged as more extraverted, more emotionally stable, less agreeable, and less open to experience by their subordinates than by their superiors. The results suggest that (i) observer consensus, but not self–other agreement or assumed similarity varies as a function of real–life power; (ii) the effects of power on mean trait scores are mostly congruent with the previously observed effects of power on behaviour and on stereotypes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The current study examines the contribution of right-left (or conservative-liberal) ideology to voting, as well as the extent to which basic values account for ideological orientation. Analyses were conducted in 16 countries from 5 continents (Europe, North-America, South-America, Asia, and Oceania), most of which have been neglected by previous studies. Results showed that left-right (or liberal-conservative) ideology predicted voting in all countries except Ukraine. Basic values exerted a considerable effect in predicting ideology in most countries, especially in established democracies like Australia, Finland, Italy, UK, and Germany. Pattern of relations with the whole set of ten values revealed that the critical trade-off underlying ideology is between values concerned with tolerance and protection for the welfare of all people (universalism) versus values concerned with preserving the social order and status quo (security). A noteworthy exception was found in European post-communist countries, where relations of values with ideology were small (Poland) or near to zero (Ukraine, Slovakia).

Even though homophily (love of the same) is often thought of as a standard feature of friendships, the empirical evidence for attraction based on personality trait similarity is mixed at best. One reason for the inconsistent findings across studies could be variation in the large–scale social environment in which the studies have been conducted. We investigated whether diversity in the everyday social ecologies of 7– to 8–year–old children ( N = 549) moderates whether friendships are formed on the basis of similar personality traits and similar levels of Cognitive ability. Moderated polynomial regression and response surface analyses showed that classroom size moderated homophily based on Openness to Experience: children similar in Openness were more likely to form friendship ties, but only in larger classrooms. Moreover, we found homophily for Cognitive ability, especially among girls. The results for Openness and Cognitive ability were independent of each other. We discuss the social relevance of trait Openness and the notion that capacity to reciprocate underlies homophily based on Cognitive ability. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

The aim of this study was to construct a short, 30-item personality questionnaire that would be, in terms of content and meaning of the scores, as comparable as possible with longer, well-established inventories such as NEO PI-R and its clones. To do this, we shortened the formerly constructed 60-item "Short Five" (S5) by half so that each subscale would be represented by a single item. We compared all possibilities of selecting 30 items (preserving balanced keying within each domain of the five-factor model) in terms of correlations with well-established scales, self-peer correlations, and clarity of meaning, and selected an optimal combination for each domain. The resulting shortened questionnaire, XS5, was compared to the original S5 using data from student samples in 6 different countries (Estonia, Finland, UK, Germany, Spain, and China), and a representative Finnish sample. The correlations between XS5 domain scales and their longer counterparts from well-established scales ranged from 0.74 to 0.84; the difference from the equivalent correlations for full version of S5 or from meta-analytic short-term dependability coefficients of NEO PI-R was not large. In terms of prediction of external criteria (emotional experience and self-reported behaviours), there were no important differences between XS5, S5, and the longer well-established scales. Controlling for acquiescence did not improve the prediction of criteria, self-peer correlations, or correlations with longer scales, but it did improve internal reliability and, in some analyses, comparability of the principal component structure. XS5 can be recommended as an economic measure of the five-factor model of personality at the level of domain scales; it has reasonable psychometric properties, fair correlations with longer well-established scales, and it can predict emotional experience and self-reported behaviours no worse than S5. When subscales are essential, we would still recommend using the full version of S5.

The relationship between political conservatism and left–right orientation was examined in 15 Western European and 13 former communist Central and Eastern European countries using the data from European Social Survey Round 3 (N = 46,103) and Round 4 (N = 50,601). Cross-culturally validated values were used to measure the two potential aspects of conservatism: resistance to change and acceptance of inequality. Both of these aspects were positively related to right-wing orientation in Western countries. In the former communist countries, the relationships were positive, negative, and nonexistent; they differed between the countries and varied between 2006 and 2008. The results indicate that conservatism can be related to left-wing or right-wing orientation depending on the cultural, political, and economic situation of the society in question. The results also show that despite the shared communist past, former communist Central and Eastern Europe is a diverse region that should be treated as such also in research.

Using the Schwartz Value Model as a basis, the meaning of the value item, honor (sense of honor) was explored in eight samples in Finland ( N = 1877) and in five comparable samples of 15- to 17-year-old adolescents in Estonia, Finland, Italy, Russia, and Switzerland ( N = 1788). In Finland, honor was a self-enhancement value in all age and occupational groups, although its importance varied widely. An identical pattern was found for Estonian adolescents, but for Swiss adolescents honor was both a self-enhancement and a conservation value and for Italian and Russian adolescents, a pure conservation value. Male adolescents had higher regard for honor than female adolescents in Finland, Russia, and Switzerland, but no sex differences were found in Estonia, Italy or in the Finnish adult samples. In all adolescent samples, honor was associated with work-related values (e.g., hard work, conscientiousness).

We linked seven–year–old children's personality ( n = 406), as rated by both teachers and parents, to a wide array of cognitive ability measures. Besides (i) providing descriptive data on the associations between childhood personality and cognitive ability, we (ii) investigated the benefits of having multiple informants provide personality ratings and (iii) examined the recent proposition that the general factor of intelligence be partialled out of associations between personality and narrower domains of intelligence. In a regression model, the shared variance of teacher and parent ratings of personality explained 14% of the variance of cognitive ability. Both teacher and parent ratings of Openness to Experience (O) were positively associated with cognitive ability, and both explained unique variance in cognitive ability. Moreover, the associations were stronger the stronger the inter–rater agreement on O. When the unique variances of each perspective and the moderating effect of inter–rater agreement were added to the aforementioned regression model, personality explained 18% of the variance of cognitive ability. Controlling for the general factor of intelligence caused the correlations between personality and performance on the specific cognitive ability measures to diminish to near zero. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The authors examined the proposal that personality disorder categories may denote particular detrimental combinations of personality dimensions. A multiround economic exchange game (ten round trust game), conducted with university students pre-selected on basis of their personalities (N = 164), provided a framework within which to investigate inability to repair ruptured cooperation. This behavior, thought to be characteristic of patients diagnosed with DSM-IV borderline personality disorder, was predicted only by the combination of high Neuroticism and low Agreeableness. Our results highlight an advantage of the categorical approach, category labels being a much more economic means of description than the delineation of interactions between dimensions.

National Finns ( N = 286), as well as potential, Ingrian Finnish ( N = 229) and Russian ( N = 78) migrants from Russia to Finland rated their own personal values and the values of a typical Finn and Russian. Virtually all participants in our migrant samples, although still living in Russia, had been in frequent contact with Finns and Finland, suggesting that they could be considered expert judges regarding the values of Russians and Finns. Indeed, both samples were highly accurate in their descriptions of the typical Finn. However, Ingrian Finns’ ratings of the typical Russian were, perhaps due to past conflict-ridden intergroup relations, distorted by contrast effects. Specifically, the typical Russian was portrayed as opposite to how Ingrian Finns saw themselves and also to how they saw the typical Finn. Surprisingly, the Russian migrants, although they did not show any contrast effects, were also inaccurate in their ratings of the typical Russian. The sample of national Finns generally showed no accuracy in their ratings of the typical Finns or Russian, but did show a contrast effect between self-ratings and the ratings of a typical Russian. Contrary to previous research that has found even expert ratings of national stereotypes to be inaccurate, the current results suggest that bi-cultural individuals (the Ingrian Finns) and other experts (the Russian spouses of the Ingrian Finns) can provide accurate national stereotypes. However, individuals embedded within the one culture only may lack a reference point for rating their compatriots. One key difference to previous research is the use of personal values rather than personality traits to measure the accuracy of national stereotypes.

A new approach to the construction of short questionnaires is introduced: ‘comprehensive single items’ (CSI) are developed with the intention to match expert descriptions of a construct as closely as possible. Based on this idea, a 60–item questionnaire, the ‘Short Five’ (S5) is constructed for measuring 30 facets of the Five–Factor Model. Studies in Estonian, Finnish, English, and German showed that the S5 domain scales had correlations over 0.8 with their counterparts in longer questionnaires, and that the factor structure was similar to that of the normative US NEO–PI–R sample. The S5 can be recommended for large–scale studies where participants’ time is limited. The CSI approach can be successfully used in short scale development, in addition to more traditional methods. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Agreement between multiple informants on child personality has received limited attention. Focusing on factor structure, gender differences and the influence of socially desirable responding (SDR), we compared parent and teacher Big Five personality ratings of around 600 7–year olds. Although parent ratings were more desirable than teacher ratings, differential agreement was generally similar to that found for adults, and especially high for ratings of boys. The more evaluative the personality item, the larger the mean–level difference between parents and teachers on that item. However, undesirable items showed the highest levels of differential agreement. In parent ratings, the two poles of Agreeableness formed separate factors. To view Pro–sociality as independent of Antagonism could enable parents to view their child more positively. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study examined the role of value patterns of potential migrants from Russia to Finland (N = 229) in predicting expectations of post-migration socio-cultural adaptation. Furthermore, the fit between migrants' personal values and the values they expect to encounter in the new home country (i.e. perceived value congruence) was hypothesized to predict anticipated socio-cultural adaptation (ASCA). The study took into account perceived cultural distance variables as well as socio-demographic controls traditionally related to adaptation outcomes among migrants. According to the results, familiarity with the host country (i.e., the number of Finnish friends/relatives in Finland), the openness to change value and perceived value congruence significantly predicted potential migrants' ASCA. When using four sub-scales (interpersonal relations, cognitive understanding, impersonal perils and bureaucracy) of the ASCA-scale, a more complex picture emerged. The results suggest that future work should include values, particularly perceived value congruence, in the analysis of the cultural fit hypothesis, as well as find better means of supporting immigrant adjustment starting at the pre-migration stage. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We report on two studies in which we measured army cadets' tendencies to engage in two types of self-enhancement: communal self-enhancement (a moralistic bias in self-presentation) and agentic self-enhancement (an egotistic bias in self-presentation). These self-presentation styles were then related to their selection and performance as military leaders. In Study 1, scores on self-enhancement questionnaires were used to predict selection decisions for 206 applicants to an army officer training program. We found that applicants who were higher in either communal or agentic self-enhancement were more likely to be accepted for leadership training. In Study 2, we evaluated peer and superior ratings of 94 military cadets' leadership, reflecting leadership emergence and leadership effectiveness, respectively. We found that communal self-enhancement negatively predicted leadership emergence, with those ratings becoming more negative over a 3-year time-span, whereas agentic self-enhancement positively predicted leadership effectiveness. Our results imply that, at least in the present military context, people making selection decisions should be particularly aware of the relations between (a) applicant self-enhancement tendencies and those decisions, and (b) high communal self-enhancement in officer trainees and negative evaluations by their cadet peers.

We examined the interactive effects of personal values and situational power on proposer and responder behavior in an ultimatum bargaining game. The current literature suggests that situational power could moderate the influence of personal values on behavior. For proposers ( N = 107), high scores on the Self-Transcendence vs. Self-Enhancement value dimension predicted higher proposals, but only among participants told that they were in a powerful position. For responders ( N = 95), high scores on the Self-Transcendence vs. Self-Enhancement value dimension predicted accepting smaller proposals, but again only among participants told that they were in a powerful position. Our results support the idea that high situational power elicits behavior more consistent with one’s standing on the Self-Transcendence vs. Self-Enhancement value dimension.

We investigated the process of value change in a migration context. Specifically, in a longitudinal panel design with around 19 months between measurement points, 145 Ingrian–Finnish migrants from Russia to Finland completed the same measures of personal values both before and after migration. As expected, the importance of both Universalism and Security values increased after migration, whereas the importance of Power and Achievement values decreased. Although this pattern of value change was reliable at the level of the group, any two migrant’s value change profiles shared only 2% of their variance, suggesting divergent patterns of value change across migrants. At the level of the individual, the structure of value change was similar to the typical between-subjects structure of values.

The authors investigated how the presence or absence of monetary incentives in a prisoner’s dilemma game may influence research outcomes. Specifically, the predictive power of the Big Five personality traits on decisions in an incentivized (N = 60) or hypothetical (N = 60) prisoner’s dilemma game was investigated. Participants were less generous in the incentivized game. More importantly, personality predicted decisions only in the incentivized game, with low Neuroticism and high Openness to Experience predicting more cooperative transfers. The influence of Neuroticism on behaviour in the incentivized game was mediated by risk attitude. The results are consistent with other results suggesting that the Big Five are relevant predictors of moral behaviour, and with results suggesting that the determinants of hypothetical decisions are different from the determinants of real decisions, with the latter being more revealing of one’s true preferences. The authors argue that psychologists, contrary to prevailing praxis, should consider making their participants’ decisions more real. This could allow psychologists to more convincingly generalize laboratory findings into contexts outside of the laboratory.

This study reports results from the first International Body Project (IBP-I), which surveyed 7,434 individuals in 10 major world regions about body weight ideals and body dissatisfaction. Participants completed the female Contour Drawing Figure Rating Scale (CDFRS) and self-reported their exposure to Western and local media. Results indicated there were significant cross-regional differences in the ideal female figure and body dissatisfaction, but effect sizes were small across high-socioeconomic-status (SES) sites. Within cultures, heavier bodies were preferred in low-SES sites compared to high-SES sites in Malaysia and South Africa ( ds = 1.94-2.49) but not in Austria. Participant age, body mass index (BMI), and Western media exposure predicted body weight ideals. BMI and Western media exposure predicted body dissatisfaction among women. Our results show that body dissatisfaction and desire for thinness is commonplace in high-SES settings across world regions, highlighting the need for international attention to this problem.

Previous studies have demonstrated that university students hold several paranormal beliefs and that paranormal beliefs can be best explained with core knowledge confusions. The aim of this study was to explore to what extent university students confuse the core ontological attributes of lifeless material objects (e.g. a house, a stone), living organisms (e.g. plants), and mental states (e.g., thoughts); whether some core knowledge confusions are more common than others; whether the confusions differ between students from different fields of study, and to replicate the finding that paranormal beliefs increase together with core knowledge confusions. The results showed that half of the participants considered at least four, and one quarter of the participants considered 8–30 confusion statements to be literally true and that the confusions were strongly and positively associated with the amount of paranormal beliefs. The findings indicate that university education does not abolish the misconceptions that characterize children’s thinking.

Cognitive ability has been shown to moderate the relations between emotional stability and self‐reports of well being. The present study examined whether this interaction effect generalizes to non‐self‐report measures of well being. Male conscripts (N = 152) completed an emotional stability scale and a cognitive ability test. Several indicators of their general adjustment and competence were derived from self‐ and superior‐ratings, a psychiatric interview and from military archives. Cognitive ability moderated the association of emotional stability with both self‐report and non‐self‐report indicators of adjustment and competence. Low emotional stability was related to adverse outcomes only among low cognitive ability individuals. The results support the idea that cognitive ability buffers the influence of emotional stability on well being. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Altogether, 1448 individuals from six neighbouring countries of Russia in the Baltic Sea region (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Belarus) described a ‘typical’ member of their own nation and a ‘typical’ Russian, as well as rated their own personality, using the National Character Survey (NCS). Results suggest that national character stereotypes are widely shared, temporally stable and moderately related to assessed personality traits, if all assessments are made using the same measurement instrument. In all studied countries, agreement between national auto‐stereotypes and assessed personality was positive and in half of the samples statistically significant. Although members of the six nations studied had a relatively similar view of the Russian national character, this view was not related with self‐rated personality traits of Russians but moderately with the Russian auto‐stereotype. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The present studies sought connections between two highly influential, but separate motivational systems: the regulatory foci and personal values. Study 1 (N = 173) showed that promotion focus was positively associated with Achievement and negatively with Tradition values, whereas prevention focus was positively associated with Conformity and Security values, and negatively with Self-Direction and Stimulation values. Furthermore, interdependent self-construal moderated trait prevention focus' associations with Power, Benevolence, Universalism, and Conformity values. Study 2 (N = 150) showed that a promotion-framed message evoked more compliant behavior among those scoring high on Stimulation, Achievement, and Self-Direction values, but that a prevention-framed message evoked more compliance among those high in Conformity values. The results suggested that the regulatory foci are associated with certain values, and that these values may increase motivation in promotion- versus prevention-relevant situations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate alternative hypothetical models that could clarify the relationship between depressive symptoms and serum cholesterol fractions, i.e., high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). It was hypothesized that the impact of the depressive symptoms on cholesterol fractions is mediated through health behavior and body mass index, and at the same time there would be a direct link from depression to cholesterol. METHODS: The study sample consisted of 893 middle-age men who participated in a trial aimed at preventing the metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Serum cholesterol was measured by the enzymatic method. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing health behavior and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Depressive symptoms consistently correlated statistically significantly with adverse lifestyle factors and, as hypothesized, positively with HDL. Path analyses supported the parallel existence of two main pathways: from depression through adverse health behavior to unfavorable cholesterol fraction balance, and a direct physiological link indicative of beneficial effect of depression on cholesterol levels. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that, among a sample of men, depressive symptoms are linked to cholesterol fractions through two different pathways. An adverse relationship of depression with serum lipids HDL-LDL balance is partly mediated through harmful health behaviors. At the same time, the results indicate a direct, physiological link between depressive symptoms and cholesterol that has a beneficial influence on the HDL-LDL balance.

The present study utilizes European Social Survey (ESS) data to introduce European norms and equations for computation of the Self-Transcendence—Self-Enhancement and Conservation—Openness to Change value dimensions, as measured with the 21-item Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ). Our analysis of ESS round 1 and 2 data suggest that the two-dimensional structure and the equations based on this structure are extremely robust. Presenting the two value dimensions besides the 10 basic values offers the advantages of (a) heightened reliability, (b) control of response tendency, and (c) possibility to present results in two-dimensional space. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A sample of male military conscripts in the Finnish Defence Forces ( N = 74) completed the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire [Cattell, R. B., Eber, H., & Tatsuoka, M. (1970). Handbook for the sixteen personality factor questionnaire . Champaign, Illinois: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing, Inc.] at age 20 and again as civilians at age 35. Although we found evidence of the continuity of personality over the 15-year span, changes were also observed in the direction of greater maturity. More important, we found considerable, predictable, individual differences in ipsative personality stability coefficients in our sample. Personality stability was predicted by indicators of psychosocial functioning at age 20, including psychiatrist ratings, military records, and self-reports, but not by cognitive ability or social desirability response tendencies. The data support our contention that the more psychologically adjusted is the individual at a young age, the higher is the long-term stability of his behavior dispositions.

The relations of value priorities (the Schwartz Value Survey) to guilt, shame (Tangney’s Test of Self-Conscious Affect) and empathy (Davis’ Interpersonal Reactivity Index) were examined in two samples, one of 15–19-year-old secondary school students (N = 207), and the other of military conscripts (N = 503). As hypothesized, guilt-proneness was, in both samples, positively related to valuing universalism, benevolence, tradition, and conformity, and negatively related to valuing power, hedonism, stimulation, and self-direction. The results for empathic concern and perspective-taking were similar, but their relation to the openness–conservation value dimension was weaker. Shame and personal distress were weakly related to values, suggesting that voluntary control is less important for these tendencies. In general, self-transcendence and conservation values seem compatible with prosocial tendencies, whereas self-enhancement and openness do not.

We evaluated Big Five personality factor differences between research volunteers and nonvolunteers. In the first study, 158 military officers were asked to participate in a mail survey. The personality scores of the officers were available from an archival data set. In our second study, adult siblings from large families were invited to participate in extensive clinical epidemiological evaluations. The personality scores of volunteers (N = 55) and nonvolunteers from the same families (N = 29) were estimated from sibling ratings made by those who participated in the study. In both studies, respondents, compared to nonrespondents, were found to be significantly lower in Neuroticism and higher in Conscientiousness. The second study further indicated respondents as being higher in Extraversion and Agreeableness. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This research was designed to investigate Paulhus' communion management (CM) and self‐deceptive enhancement (SDE), socially desirable responding (SDR) scales as measures of general SDR, communal bias and agentic bias. The CM and SDE scales, as well as the Schwartz values survey (SVS), were administered to four samples drawn from different cultures and subcultures (N = 900). Participants completed the questionnaires in ‘honest’ and ‘fake good’ conditions. Although conceptions of which values were desirable varied strongly between samples and instructional sets, the CM scale was consistently related to general SDR and to communal bias. In contrast, the SDE scale was only related to general SDR. Contrary to expectations, neither scale could identify participants who ‘faked good’ under normal instructions. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the moderating effect of Conformism values on the relations between other values and behavior. The authors expected people low, but not high, in Conformism to behave in a manner that is consistent with their personal values related to self-transcendence versus self-enhancement. In Study 1 (N = 199), such values predicted actual altruistic behavior, as estimated by other-reports, but only if Conformism values were low. In Study 2 (N = 189), only people who considered Conformism values to be relatively unimportant showed expected connections between self-transcendence values and anticipated regret in hypothetical scenarios having negative consequences. The data are interpreted as supporting the view that (a) anticipated regret motivates value-consistent behavior, (b) self-transcendence values in particular are connected to altruistic behavior and to anticipated regret, but (c) conformity to social norms moderates these connections.

Some 200 military cadets rated themselves and other members of their platoons on a variety of variables, including the quality of their leadership behaviors. They also completed standardized personality questionnaires measuring the positive and negative aspects of narcissism. Strong predictions were found for variables related to the two sides of that construct. The best rated leaders exemplified the bright side of narcissism while suppressing the dark side-emergent leaders were measured to be high in egotism and self-esteem but low in manipulativeness and impression management. Big Five personality factors were only marginally successful in predicting emergent leadership in this study. The data are discussed in terms of their relevance to identifying potentially destructive leaders in a group.

The two-dimensional value structure postulated in Schwartz's (1992) theory has previously found support in samples of teachers and university students, but groups with other professions or low educational level have been understudied. The current study employed the 40-item Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ; Schwartz et al., 2001), multidimensional scaling, and transformation analysis to test the universality of the value structures among manual workers (n=815) and white-collar workers (n=459) in a Finnish steel company. Also, the validity of the instrument was confirmed by comparing the current PVQ sample of Finnish university students (n=309) and a previous sample of Finnish university students (n=615) studied with the original Schwartz Value Survey. The value structures of the steel workers followed Schwartz's theoretical model, regardless of the educational level, except for the security value.

The horrific terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, left an indelible mark on perceptions of security and threat across the world. This paper uses Schwartz's (1992) value circumplex model to examine value change across matched high school and university student samples in Finland, questioned before and after the World Trade Center (WTC) and associated attacks. In Study 1 (N=419), security values of adolescents were higher the day following the WTC attacks than before, but fell back toward pre-attack levels in the subsequent two samples. In contrast, levels of stimulation were lower following the terrorist incidents. In Study 2 (N=222), security levels of students were also higher following the WTC attacks, but again were closer to pre-attack levels in a subsequent cohort.

In a sample of 7– to 8–year–old children (N = 760), we examined the associations between personality traits, oral fluency and sociometric popularity. Extending upon research conducted with older populations, we found parent ratings of extraversion at age 7 to predict popularity one year later. More importantly, we expected and found teacher–rated oral fluency to partially mediate the positive association between extraversion and popularity. This mediation effect was independent of psychometrically assessed working memory, academic skills and gender. Our results can be interpreted as suggesting that a Matthew effect, similar to the one proposed for early reading skills and cognitive ability, may be operating in the domain of social competence. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

Do the political values of the general public form a coherent system? What might be the source of coherence? We view political values as expressions, in the political domain, of more basic personal values. Basic personal values (e.g., security, achievement, benevolence, hedonism) are organized on a circular continuum that reflects their conflicting and compatible motivations. We theorize that this circular motivational structure also gives coherence to political values. We assess this theorizing with data from 15 countries, using eight core political values (e.g., free enterprise, law and order) and ten basic personal values. We specify the underlying basic values expected to promote or oppose each political value. We offer different hypotheses for the 12 non-communist and three post-communist countries studied, where the political context suggests different meanings of a basic or political value. Correlation and regression analyses support almost all hypotheses. Moreover, basic values account for substantially more variance in political values than age, gender, education, and income. Multidimensional scaling analyses demonstrate graphically how the circular motivational continuum of basic personal values structures relations among core political values. This study strengthens the assumption that individual differences in basic personal values play a critical role in political thought.

Associations of value priorities with socially desirable responding (SD) might be due to a stylistic bias that distorts self-reported value ratings or to a substantive relationship between valued goals and needs. We hypothesize that, as a stylistic bias, SD would increase (a) the importance people attribute to values in general and (b) lead people to match own value ratings to those of importance in their social environment. As a substantive variable, SD would correlate positively with value types that emphasize social harmony (conformity, security, benevolence, tradition) and negatively with value types that challenge social conventions and harmony (hedonism, stimulation, self-direction, achievement, power). In separate studies, 207 Israeli adults and 131 Finnish social work students completed the Marlow—Crowne SD scale and a value survey. Both studies supported the substantive hypotheses. There was weak evidence for the first stylistic hypothesis, but none for the second.