Nebi Sümer

PERSONALITY AND BEHAVIORAL PREDICTORS OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS: TESTING A CONTEXTUAL MEDIATED MODEL

A contextual mediated model was proposed to distinguish the distal (i.e. personality factors) and proximal (i.e. aberrant driving behaviors) factors in predicting traffic accident involvement. Turkish professional drivers (N=295) answered a questionnaire including various measures of personality factors, driver behaviors, and accident history. Results of the latent variable analysis with LISREL indicated that latent variables in the distal context (i.e. psychological symptoms, sensation seeking, and aggression) predicted at least one of the proximal elements (i.e. aberrant behaviors, dysfunctional drinking, and preferred speed) with relatively high path coefficients. While aberrant driver behaviors yielded a direct effect on accident involvement, psychological symptoms yielded an indirect effect mediated by driver behaviors. Further analyses revealed that personality factors had an impact on road accidents via their effects on actual driving-related behaviors although the path coefficients in predicting accidents were relatively weaker than those predicting risky driving behaviors and habits. Results were discussed considering the implications for classifying the accident correlates in a contextual framework and binominal-poisson distribution of self-reported accidents.

Using a personality-oriented job analysis to identify attributes to be assessed in officer selection.

The purpose of this research was to identify personality constructs to be assessed in the selection of officers in the Turkish Armed Forces by using a personality-oriented job analysis approach. Personality-oriented job analytic interviews were conducted with currently employed and former officers (N = 78). Content analysis of the interviews led to the identification of a list of attributes presumed to be relevant. The attributes were then rated by a group of officers (N = 447) for relevance and importance. Principal component analysis of the weighted ratings (i.e., Relevance × Importance) resulted in 5 personality dimensions considered to be relevant to the job of military officer: Conscientiousness–Self-Discipline, Military Factor, Self-Confidence, Agreeableness–Extraversion, and Leadership. Finally, using a confirmatory approach, we tested the 5-factor structure against 1-factor and 2-factor solutions. Results suggest that the 5-factor solution has significantly better fit than the alternative models, providing some initial evidence for construct validity.

Symmetric Relationship Between Self and Others in Aggressive Driving Across Gender and Countries

Objective: It was hypothesized that the combination of self-reported aggressive behaviors committed by the driver himself/herself (“self” scale) and perceiving himself/herself as an object of other drivers’ aggressive acts (“other” scale) increases road accident involvement risk across gender and countries. The aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate this symmetric relationship between aggressive driving of self and other and its relationship on accident involvement among British, Dutch, Finnish, and Turkish drivers. Methods: Survey studies of 3673 drivers were carried out in four countries; that is in Finland, Great Britain, The Netherlands, and Turkey. Analyses were conducted separately for men and women. Results: Overall, the interaction among aggressive warnings, hostile aggression, and revenge factors indicated that aggressive warnings might have a potential to release anger and escalate aggression both “within drivers” and “between drivers.” Symmetric interpersonal aggression between aggressive warnings and hostile aggression and revenge factors of self and others created a serious risk for road accident involvement in every country except among British male and Finnish female drivers. Conclusions: The other drivers aggressive behavior is significantly associated with increased accidents, except for Turkish male drivers. It seems that another drivers aggressive behavior can be important in predicting crashes—even more important than aggressive behavior on the part of the driver him- or herself.

Predicting friendship quality with rejection sensitivity and attachment security

We examined the interplay between friends’ rejection sensitivity (RS) and attachment security in predicting friendship quality. Three competing hypotheses were tested concerning friendship quality, the unique effects of attachment anxiety, avoidance, and RS, as well as the moderating and mediating effects of RS. Results from emerging adults in Turkey (N = 407) revealed that unlike attachment anxiety and avoidance, RS had neither a unique nor a mediated effect on friendship quality. However, RS moderated the effect of attachment avoidance on friendship quality. These findings’ implications are discussed considering the role of RS in the link between attachment security and friendship quality.

Personality attributes as predictors of psychological well-being for NCOs.

The authors examined the nature of the relationships between job-specific personality dimensions and psychological well-being for noncommissioned officers (NCOs) in the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF). A job-specific personality inventory, comprising measures of 11 personality dimensions was developed for selection purposes. The inventory was administered to a representative sample of 1,428 NCOs along with a general mental health inventory developed by the authors, which consisted of 6 dimensions of psychological well-being. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested existence of a single factor underlying the 6 psychological well-being dimensions, Mental Health, and 2 latent factors underlying the 11 personality dimensions, Military Demeanor and Military Efficacy. The 2 personality constructs explained 91% of the variance in the Mental Health construct. A stepwise regression indicated that beta weights of the personality measures were significant except for military bearing, orderliness, and dependability. Results suggest that job-specific personality attributes were predictive of mental health. Implications of the findings for the selection of NCOs are discussed.

Aggressive driving among British, Dutch, Finnish and Turkish drivers

The first aim of the present study was to investigate cross-cultural differences in aggressive driving behaviour among British, Dutch, Finnish and Turkish drivers (or ‘between’ countries). The second aim of the present study is to examine how the ratings of aggressive behaviours committed by the driver himself/herself (‘self’ scale) and high ratings of perceiving himself/herself as an object of other drivers’ aggressive acts (‘other’ scale) are evaluated ‘within’ countries. Survey studies of 3673 drivers were carried out in four countries, that is in Finland, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Turkey. Analysis of variance results revealed that Turkish drivers scored higher on aggressive driving behaviours than British and Dutch drivers, who in turn reported more aggressive behaviours than Finnish drivers. In every country (or ‘within’ countries), on the contrary, drivers reported having been a target of aggressive behaviour (‘other’) more often than they had committed aggressive behaviour themselves (‘self’).

Personality and mental health: How related are they within the military context?

The main purpose of this study was to examine the nature of the relationships between job-specific personality dimensions and psychological well-being for officers in the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF). Turkish Armed Forces Personality Inventory (TAFPI) is a 19-dimension measure of personality used in officer selection in the TAF. In our previous research, four latent factors had been identified as underlying the TAFPI dimensions: Military Factor, Leadership, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion-Agreeableness. In the present study, the nature of the relationships between the TAFPI dimensions and the latent factor underlying a commonly used psychological screening test, the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis, 1992), was examined on a sample of officers (N = 1111). Specifically, the 19 dimensions of the TAFPI first predicted a latent military personality factor, which, in turn, predicted the latent mental health factor. Results suggested that although the personality latent was predictive of the mental health factor, the amount of variance unexplained in mental health suggested that mental health assessment should not be dispensed in the presence of personality assessment in the selection of officers in the TAF.

Are avoidant wives and anxious husbands unhappy in a collectivist context? Dyadic associations in established marriages

We examined culturally relevant gender differences in the attachment dimensions and their dyadic associations with relationship functioning using a large sample (N = 1228). Considering that attachment avoidance is culturally incongruent with Turkish culture and there exist a sharp gender role difference in marriage, we anticipated that avoidance for women and anxiety for men would be strong dyadic predictors of satisfaction and conflict among married couples. Dyadic analyses revealed that attachment dimensions which are incongruent with cultural characteristics and gender roles predicted marital conflict and satisfaction. Avoidance, but not anxiety, had both actor and partner effects on marital satisfaction. Attachment anxiety of husbands, but not wives, was linked with marital conflict. Attachment avoidance seems to be a primary risk factor for satisfaction and attachment anxiety for conflict in the Turkish cultural context.

Do Employees Leave Just Because They Can? Examining the Perceived Employability–Turnover Intentions Relationship

ABSTRACT The relationship between perceived employability and turnover intentions seems much more complicated than what the common sense would suggest. Based on the reviewed literature, it was expected that job satisfaction, affective commitment, and perceived job security would moderate this relationship. Using a sample of working individuals from different occupations and sectors (N = 721), it was found that employees who perceived themselves as highly employable were more likely to have turnover intentions when their affective commitment was low and perceived job security was high; and the relationship was negative for employees with shorter tenures. Understanding the conditions under which perceived employability is associated with turnover intentions may help organizations design human resource policies that allow them to retain an educated and competent workforce.

Turkish mothers’ attachment orientations and mental representations of their children

Abstract Objective: This study aims to investigate a group of Turkish mothers’ internal working models and their critical correlates, including their self-reported attachment orientations and their children’s problem behaviours. Background: The mental representations that mothers hold for their children are a valuable source of information for caregiving behaviours, yet they have seldom been investigated in non-Western cultures. In order to examine the role of mothers’ mental representations in children’s behavioural outcomes with a cultural perspective, we adapted the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI) into Turkish, and then examined its predictive power. Considering culture-specific caregiving characteristics, we expected that the mental representations mothers have for their children would be systematically associated with their attachment avoidance rather than attachment anxiety in the Turkish context. Furthermore, maternal education was also hypothesised to be a critical factor in the mental representations of the mothers. Methods: First, mothers (N = 30) were interviewed using the WMCI by two trained researchers, and then they were asked to complete the measures of adult attachment and child adjustment. Results: The findings supported the validity of the WMCI in Turkey and demonstrated that the distribution of mothers in balanced, disengaged and distorted categories was similar to those found in Western cultures. As expected, mothers’ attachment orientations, especially attachment avoidance, and maternal education were significantly associated with the mental representations they hold for their children. Conclusion: Mothers’ attachment avoidance and low level of maternal education appeared to be the critical risk factors for their mental representations about their children. The findings were discussed considering culture-specific aspects of maternal representations, attachment orientations and caregiving behaviours.