Ioannis Tsaousis

Circadian preferences and personality traits: A meta-analysis

In this study we report results of a meta‐analysis of studies linking personality to circadian rhythms. A total of 35 independent samples, 96 correlations and 8589 participants were included. Results showed that conscientiousness is the personality dimension that mostly related to morningness (r = .29). Agreeableness was also related to morningness although to a lesser degree (r = .13). Openness to experience, extraversion and neuroticism, contribute to a very small degree (i.e. −.09, −.06 and −.07, respectively). Furthermore, moderation analyses suggested effects of personality measure (big five vs. other) and sample (students vs. workers). Average age of participants had no significant impact on the relationship between morningness and personality, apart from a very trivial influence on openness to experience. Copyright

The Factor Structure of Greek Personality Adjectives

Personality descriptors--3,302 adjectives--were extracted from a dictionary of the modern Greek language. Those terms with the highest frequency were administered to large samples in Greece to test the universality of the Big-Five dimensions of personality in comparison to alternative models. One- and 2-factor structures were the most stable across variable selections and subsamples and replicated such structures found in previous studies. Among models with more moderate levels of replication, recently proposed 6- and 7-lexical-factor models were approximately as well replicated as the Big Five. An emic 6-factor structure showed relative stability; these factors were labeled Negative-Valence/Honesty, Agreeableness/Positive Affect, Prowess/Heroism, Introversion/Melancholia, Even Temper, and Conscientiousness.

The traits personality questionnaire (TPQue): A Greek measure for the five factor model

Abstract In this paper we present a new questionnaire for the measurement of the big five personality dimensions in the Greek language. The development of the Traits Personality Questionnaire (TPQue) is based on Costa and McCraes definitions of the most acceptable factors in the five factor theory (extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness), taking into account, simultaneously, the specific ethnic and cultural characteristics of the Greek population. The development of the items was based on both rational and factor analytic techniques. The final version of the TPQue, consists of 180 items measuring the five broad dimensions of personality, as well as 30 items measuring social desirability responses. Each factor consists of 36 items and each facet of 6 items. The various steps in the development of the questionnaire involved more than 1000 students from various universities around Greece. Finally, in order to investigate the factor structure of the new instrument, we applied factor analytic techniques. The results revealed psychometric evidence [e.g. internal validity-factorial structure, content validity, construct validity (i.e. convergent and discriminant), internal and temporal stability], which supports the existence of the big-five in Greece and justifies the inventory (TPQue) as a valid measure of the model.

Cross-Cultural Differences in a Global “Survey of World Views”

We know that there are cross-cultural differences in psychological variables, such as individualism/collectivism. But it has not been clear which of these variables show relatively the greatest differences. The Survey of World Views project operated from the premise that such issues are best addressed in a diverse sampling of countries representing a majority of the world’s population, with a very large range of item-content. Data were collected online from 8,883 individuals (almost entirely college students based on local publicizing efforts) in 33 countries that constitute more than two third of the world’s population, using items drawn from measures of nearly 50 variables. This report focuses on the broadest patterns evident in item data. The largest differences were not in those contents most frequently emphasized in cross-cultural psychology (e.g., values, social axioms, cultural tightness), but instead in contents involving religion, regularity-norm behaviors, family roles and living arrangements, and ethnonationalism. Content not often studied cross-culturally (e.g., materialism, Machiavellianism, isms dimensions, moral foundations) demonstrated moderate-magnitude differences. Further studies are needed to refine such conclusions, but indications are that cross-cultural psychology may benefit from casting a wider net in terms of the psychological variables of focus.

Parental Influences on Greek Adolescents’ Career Decision-Making Difficulties: The Mediating Role of Core Self-Evaluations

The purpose of the study was to explore the influence of family characteristics (family function and parental authority styles) and core self-evaluations (CSE), in adolescents’ career formation. Drawing on the relational framework of Cutrona and Russell, the study examined the mediating role of CSE on the relationship between family and parental variables and adolescents’ career decision-making (CDM) difficulties. Using a sample of 289 Greek students, it was found that for male students the permissive and authoritarian parenting styles and the family cohesion contributed significantly to the prediction of CDM difficulties. Males’ decision-making difficulties were not influenced by CSE. Females’ decision-making difficulties were influenced negatively only by the parents’ authoritarian style. Contrary to males, CSE fully mediated the relationship between the authoritarian style and females’ decision-making difficulties. The specific findings are discussed in reference to gender differences in adolescents’ personality development. Implications for research and adolescents’ career counseling are also discussed.

The Traits Personality Questionnaire 5 (TPQue5)

Abstract: Researchers and practitioners alike increasingly seek short, reliable, and valid measures in order to evaluate personality structure. This paper outlines the development of a short form of a full-length personality questionnaire. The Traits Personality Questionnaire 5 (TPQue5) consists of 75 statements measuring the Big Five dimensions (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience) in addition to 26 statements evaluating social desirability responses. In order to elicit the 75 items, principal components analysis was performed on the scores of 1054 individuals from the normative sample. Reliability and validity data was collected on a new sample of 735 university students. Like the Traits Personality Questionnaire (TPQue), the TPQue5 factor scales displayed excellent internal consistency, and good test-retest reliability. Convergent and discriminant validation of the TPQue5 was demonstrated through comparison with other personality measures, while the a...

Validation of a Greek adaptation of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale

BACKGROUND The purpose of the current investigation was (1) to test whether the 3-factor structure of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) corresponding to the theoretical conceptualization of the alexithymia construct could be recovered in a Greek translation of the scale (the TAS-20-G), (2) to assess if a 3-factor structure provides a better fit to the TAS-20-G compared with the recently proposed alternative factor structures, and (3) to evaluate the internal reliability of the TAS-20-G. METHODS The English version of the TAS-20 was translated into Greek and then back-translated and modified until cross-language equivalence was established. The Greek version was then administered to 340 university students. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted, and 4 different factor structure models were compared. Internal consistency and item-to-scale homogeneity of the TAS-20-G and its factor scales were also evaluated. RESULTS The 3-factor model provided a good fit to the data and proved superior to alternative 1-, 2-, and 4-factor models. Apart from a coefficient alpha below the recommended range for the externally oriented thinking factor, the TAS-20-G and its factor scales demonstrated adequate internal consistency and homogeneity. CONCLUSION The TAS-20-G is a valid and reliable measure of alexithymia in university students and may be suitable for investigations of alexithymia in other Greek-speaking population samples.

The structure of schizotypal personality traits: a cross-national study

BACKGROUND Schizotypal traits are considered a phenotypic-indicator of schizotypy, a latent personality organization reflecting a putative liability for psychosis. To date, no previous study has examined the comparability of factorial structures across samples originating from different countries and cultures. The main goal was to evaluate the factorial structure and reliability of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) scores by amalgamating data from studies conducted in 12 countries and across 21 sites. METHOD The overall sample consisted of 27 001 participants (37.5% males, n = 4251 drawn from the general population). The mean age was 22.12 years (s.d. = 6.28, range 16-55 years). The SPQ was used. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Multilevel CFA (ML-CFA) were used to evaluate the factor structure underlying the SPQ scores. RESULTS At the SPQ item level, the nine factor and second-order factor models showed adequate goodness-of-fit. At the SPQ subscale level, three- and four-factor models displayed better goodness-of-fit indices than other CFA models. ML-CFA showed that the intraclass correlation coefficients values were lower than 0.106. The three-factor model showed adequate goodness of fit indices in multilevel analysis. The ordinal α coefficients were high, ranging from 0.73 to 0.94 across individual samples, and from 0.84 to 0.91 for the combined sample. CONCLUSIONS The results are consistent with the conceptual notion that schizotypal personality is a multifaceted construct and support the validity and utility of SPQ in cross-cultural research. We discuss theoretical and clinical implications of our results for diagnostic systems, psychosis models and cross-national mental health strategies.

Can Parental Bonding Be Assessed in Children? Factor Structure and Factorial Invariance of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) Between Adults and Children

This study examined the factorial structure of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) in the Greek population. Using confirmatory factor analysis different proposed models of the basic dimensions of PBI were evaluated. The results indicated that Kendler’s three-factor (i.e. care, protectiveness and authoritarianism) solution was found to be more satisfactory than the other competing two-, three- and four-factor models. A second aim was the investigation of the factorial invariance of the PBI across different age groups (adults vs. children). The results revealed that PBI can be used in children samples (measurement invariance) but it seems that PBI latent variables may be perceived differently across different age groups (not structural invariance). The authors conclude that further research is needed in order to understand whether the differences are due to actual developmental changes in children’s perceptions of the parent–child relationship or conceptual problems regarding the children’s ability to conceive the PBI’s theoretical constructs.

The Relationship of Patient and Spouse Personality to Cardiac Patients’ Health: Two Observational Studies of Mediation and Moderation

BackgroundLittle is known about the ways that personality is related to patient health, although there is some evidence that illness self-regulation as well as partner personality play a significant role.PurposeThe aim of the two present studies was to examine the intra-personal (i.e., through illness representations) and the inter-personal (i.e., partner) effects of personality on cardiac patients’ subjective health.MethodsOne hundred fifteen patients participated in study 1; 75 patients and their spouses participated in study 2.ResultsThe representations of illness consequences, personal control, and the attribution of illness to emotional causes mediated the relation of personality to health (first study). The relations of patients’ extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness to their health were statistically significant at the higher levels (+1 SD) of spouse corresponding traits (second study).ConclusionPersonality affects patients’ health through illness representations (intrapersonal level), as well as by interacting with partner personality (interpersonal level).