Peter Leeson

Social Attitudes and Personality

The present study examined the Big Five personality correlates of social and economic attitudes. Respondents were a community sample of adults (N = 103; 50 women, 53 men) from a major city of New South Wales. The ages of the respondents ranged from 19 to over 60 years and they were drawn from a wide range of socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. Contrary to expectations, there were no significant correlations between attitudes and extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience. Multiple regression analyses revealed agreeableness and age to be the most consistent predictors of attitudes. The results are discussed with reference to H. Eysencks views on the links between personality factors and attitudes and the likelihood that attitudes are also influenced by social context.

Parental styles and religious values among teenagers: a 3-year prospective analysis.

ABSTRACT The authors examined the effect of Grade 7 parental styles on Grade 10 religious values. The authors surveyed 784 participants (382 boys, 394 girls; 8 unreported) in Grade 7. The mean age of the group at Time 1 was 12.3 years (SD = 0.5 years). Time 2 occurred 3 years later when students were in Grade 10 (372 boys, 375 girls). In addition to assessing parental styles at Time 1, we also controlled for a number of Time 1 variables thought to possibly influence Time 2 religious values, namely, self-esteem, trait hope, and students’ levels of conscientiousness. Time 1 measures (except self-esteem) were significantly correlated with Time 2 religious values, but only parental authoritativeness and hope significantly predicted religious values. The authors discuss these results with reference to the nature of parental styles and hope and their impact on religious values.

The role of biological factors in social withdrawal and avoidance of treatment for major depressive disorder: A path analysis.

Abstract of a presentation at the 45th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology Stress and the Brain: From Fertility to Senility John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh, 8th 10th September 2015. Disciplines Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication Details Thomas, S., Larkin, T. & Leeson, P. (2015). The role of biological factors in social withdrawal and avoidance of treatment for major depressive disorder: a path analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 61 62-62. This journal article is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers/3207 Abstract of a presentation at the 45th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology Stress and the Brain: From Fertility to Senility John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh, 8th – 10th September 2015of a presentation at the 45th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology Stress and the Brain: From Fertility to Senility John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh, 8th – 10th September 2015

The structure and clinical relevance of the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) amongst adolescents

147 important in the recovery process, and if there are elements of recovery not described in the TTM or ACM that they consider important. One hundred and eighty six (179 female) recovered and recovering eating disorder sufferers were asked about what they believe helps someone recover from an eating disorder. Participants’ responses contained 419 response units, which were coded and categorised into factors of the TTM and ACM by four trained raters. Inter-rater reliability, using Krippendorff’s alpha, was poor for the TTM ( =0.47) and ACM ( =0.53), indicating eating disorder sufferers do not describe change in the same manner as the models. Subsequent content analysis of participants’ responses revealed factors participants believe to be helpful to recovery, such as support from others, awareness and expression of one’s thoughts and feelings, and developing acceptance and responsibility for oneself.The purpose of this research is to investigate the issues and perceptions that feature in the decision making process of complying or not complying with anti-doping policies in sport. Social science approaches are applied to investigate the likely intentions or actions concerning performance enhancing drug (PED) use. Five experimental groups are incorporated in the design of this study: nonactive participants, regular exercisers, amateur sporting club members, professional athletes, and coaches or trainers. The sample size for each experimental group is 50, with a total of 250 participants. Each participant is presented with a randomised selection of scenarios describing a sports person in a number of different contexts. Participants are asked to rate the scenario on the risk of PED use and potential contributing factors. Data analysis will focus on the comparisons between the different levels of sport engagement of each group and the different influencing factors presented in the scenarios. This research will provide a greater understanding of the underlying motivations of PED use and will provide valuable information for those engaged with and in sport. A follow up study is intended to address those factors found to increase the probability of compliance or non compliance with anti-doping policies.Previous reports have suggested that personality changes are associated with the development of dementia, notably increased social isolation and passivity in people later diagnosed with Alzheimers disease. Here data from the first two waves of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) are used to evaluate differences in personality characteristics between 99 people with dementia and 270 controls assessed to be cognitively intact. Ratings on seven variables from the Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly (CAMDEX) at CSHA-1 by proxy informants for the person being rated were compared for normal controls and the group diagnosed with dementia five years later in CSHA-2. Most of the sample was female (63.1%), with a mean age of 77.5 years (SD = 6.44) and a mean of 9.4 years of education (SD = 4.19). Personality changes were twice as common in the dementia group as in normal controls, with aggravation of premorbid personality features, and changes in mood also being more common, while other personality factors did not differ between groups. These results are at odds with some earlier studies, suggesting that further studies of people in the early stages of dementia are needed to better understand the development of dementia.