Nils Myszkowski

French Validation of the Overexcitability Questionnaire 2: Psychometric Properties and Factorial Structure

Overexcitability corresponds to an overall response to stimulations in 5 domains: psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational, and emotional. The aim of this study was to develop a French version of the Overexcitability Questionnaire 2 (OEQ2) and to expand its psychometric properties. Two studies were conducted: one with a sample of 474 adolescents and another with a sample of 436 adults. Internal consistency, factorial structure, and validity (correlations with intelligence, personality, and alexithymia) were examined. The French OEQ2 showed satisfactory psychometric properties, thus advocating for its use in further research on overexcitability and in clinical practice.

Managerial creative problem solving and the Big Five personality traits

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide new elements to understand, measure and predict managerial creativity. More specifically, based on new approaches to creative potential (Lubart et al., 2011), this study proposes to distinguish two aspects of managerial creative problem solving: divergent-exploratory thinking, in which managers try to generate several new solutions to a problem; and convergent-integrative thinking, in which managers select and elaborate one creative solution. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, personality is examined as a predictor of managerial creative problem solving: On one hand, based on previous research on general divergent thinking (e.g. Ma, 2009), it is hypothesized that managerial divergent thinking is predicted by high openness to experience and low agreeableness. On the other hand, because efficient people management involves generating satisfying and trustful social interactions, it is hypothesized that convergent-integrative thinking ability is pred...

Is the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy measuring two or five dimensions? Evidence in a French sample

Although many instruments measure empathy, most of them focus on specific facets (e.g., Spreng et al., 2009) or specific contexts (e.g. Wang et al., 2003) of empathy. For this reason, the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE; Reniers et al., 2011) was recently built to grasp the general construct of empathy through its Affective-Cognitive duality, although not providing clear-cut results about the bidimensionality of the scale. In this study, Confirmatory Factor Analyses were conducted on the responses of 418 adults on the French QCAE (backtranslated for this study). A total of 8 models were tested - including the models of the original investigation. The 5-correlated factors model had the best fit, and the pattern of correlations between the factors did not support the Cognitive-Affective distinction. The QCAE is discussed as showing signs of psychometrical robustness, but also as a tool that is more 5-dimensional than bidimensional.

How subjective processing fluency predicts attitudes toward visual advertisements and purchase intention

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the role of attention, processing motivation and processing depth in the relationship between self-reported subjective processing fluency and relevant advertisement variables such as ad attitude, brand attitude and purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach – Two empirical studies were conducted using self-report questionnaires. Findings – In Study 1 (N = 176), the measure of self-reported subjective processing fluency was pretested. As expected, it was found to be sensitive to visual and semantic features of advertisements and to predict attitudes toward an advertisement. In Study 2 (N = 204), mediation analyses showed that self-reported subjective processing fluency was a predictor of attitude toward the advertisement (through attention and processing depth), attitude toward the brand (through processing depth) and purchase intentions (through processing depth). Research limitations/implications – The results emphasize the role of cognitive processing in ex...

Individual Differences in Aesthetic Ability: The Case for an Aesthetic Quotient

Although the reasons individuals have specific stable aesthetic preferences—for example, for abstract art or for classical music—are often studied (e.g., Furnham and Walker, 2001), there is a growing stream of research (e.g., Nodine et al., 1993; Chamorro-Premuzic and Furnham, 2004; Axelsson, 2007; Kozbelt and Seeley, 2007; Silvia, 2007; Myszkowski et al., 2014) that is interested in the various abilities involved when evaluating art: Are we all equally “armed” to process aesthetic stimuli? Our aim in this paper is to propose a new direction for this stream of research. While a typical approach to the study of aesthetic ability consists in measuring single facets, notably aesthetic sensitivity (e.g., Myszkowski et al., 2014), we propose a multi-content approach. More specifically, mirroring the “g-to-IQ” shift in intelligence measurement, we want to propose a “T-to-AQ” shift from single-content measures of “good taste” (“T”) to comprehensive assessments of an “Aesthetic Quotient” (AQ), which would include other facets of aesthetic ability—like artistic knowledge, sensitivity to complexity and aesthetic empathy. Rather that questioning the existence of an AQ, we argue its usefulness, notably in predicting creative potential and achievement.

Work-related curiosity positively predicts worker innovation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual work-related curiosity and worker innovation and to test the mediating role of worker divergent thinking. Design/methodology/approach In all, 480 participants, holding 188 different jobs, filled in a validated work-related curiosity scale and indicated their job title. Job requirements in terms of divergent thinking and innovation − derived from the Online Information Network (O*NET) database − were used as proxies for divergent thinking and innovation skills. Findings Results indicated that individual work-related curiosity was a positive predictor of worker innovation and that worker divergent thinking mediated this relationship. Research limitations/implications Individual work-related curiosity supports exploratory skills which support in turn innovation skills. Practical implications Managers could use individual work-related curiosity as a predictor of innovation skills when recruiting, training and guiding employees. Originality/value This study is the first to show an association between individual work-related curiosity and innovation skills across more than 150 different jobs.

Monitoring stress among internal medicine residents: an experience-driven, practical and short measure

Abstract Residents experience severely high levels of stress, depression and burnout, leading to perceived medical errors, as well as to symptoms of impairment, such as chronic anger, cognitive impairment, suicidal behavior and substance abuse. Because research has not yet provided a psychometrically robust population-specific tool to measure the level of stress of medicine residents, we aimed at building and validating such a measure. Using an inductive scale development approach, a short, pragmatic measure was built, based on the interviews of 17 medicine residents. The Internal Medicine Residency Stress Scale (IMRSS) was then administered in a sample of 259 internal medicine residents (199 females, 60 males, MAge = 25.6) along with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Satisfaction With Life Scale and Ways of Coping Checklist. The IMRSS showed satisfactory internal reliability (Cronbach’s α = .86), adequate structural validity – studied through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (χ2/df = 2.51, CFI = .94; SRMR = .037, RMSEA = .076) – and good criterion validity – the IMRSS was notably strongly correlated with emotional exhaustion (r = .64; p < .001) and anxiety (r = .57; p < .001). Because of its short length and robust psychometric qualities, the use of the IMRSS is recommended to quickly and frequently assess and monitor stress among internal medicine residents.

Are reflective models appropriate for very short scales? Proofs of concept of formative models using the Ten-Item Personality Inventory

OBJECTIVE Because of their length and objective of broad content coverage, very short scales can show limited internal consistency and structural validity. We argue that it is because their objectives may be better aligned with formative investigations than with reflective measurement methods that capitalize on content overlap. As proofs of concept of formative investigations of short scales, we investigate the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI). METHOD In Study 1, we administered the TIPI and the Big Five Inventory (BFI) to 938 adults and fitted a formative Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes model, which consisted of the TIPI items forming five latent variables, which in turn predicted the five BFI scores. These results were replicated in Study 2 on a sample of 759 adults, but this time with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) as the external criterion. RESULTS The models fit the data adequately, and moderate to strong significant effects (.37 < |β| < .69, all ps < .001) of all five latent formative variables on their corresponding BFI and NEO-PI-R scores were observed. CONCLUSIONS This study presents a formative approach that we propose to be more consistent with the aims of scales with broad content and short length like the TIPI.

Career Decision Ambiguity Tolerance and Career Decision-Making Difficulties in a French Sample: The Mediating Role of Career Decision Self-Efficacy

In the current work, we investigated the relationship between career decision ambiguity tolerance (CDAT) and career decision-making difficulties among French-speaking university students. In a preliminary validation study (N = 246), we examined the psychometric properties of the CDAT Scale. Our results showed that the French CDAT Scale had satisfactory levels of scale score reliability, that its factor structure was consistent with the original three-factor structure, and that it had incremental predictive power over general ambiguity tolerance when predicting career decision self-efficacy and career adaptability. In a second study (N = 412), building on social cognitive career theory, we hypothesized that career decision self-efficacy mediates the relationship between CDAT and career decision-making difficulties. Results were consistent with our hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.