Sharon L. Grant

Personality and the occupational stressor-strain relationship: the role of the Big Five.

The role of the Big Five traits in the occupational stressor-strain relationship was investigated among 211 managers. Direct, mediated, and moderated effect models were used to investigate whether the Big Five affect strain directly (independently of stress), indirectly (via stress and coping), or interactively with stress. Personality, stress, coping, and strain variables were measured and analyzed with path analysis and hierarchical regression. The Neuroticism-physical strain relationship was partially mediated by perceived role conflict and substance use, and the Neuroticism-psychological strain relationship was mediated by perceived stress. Extraversion had a direct, positive effect on physical and psychological strain, and there was preliminary support for a moderating role of Conscientiousness in the perceived stressor-strain relationship. Agreeableness and Openness were unrelated to strain.

Gender differences in entrepreneurial networking and participation

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between an individuals personal acquaintance with an entrepreneur and his/her participation in entrepreneurial activity at three distinct new venture stages: discovery (intending to start a business), start‐up (actively in the process of starting a business), and young (running a business for less than three months)., – Using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data from 35 countries (n=311,720) pooled across three years (2002‐2004) and multinomial logistic regression, the paper examines the relationship between entrepreneurial networking and entrepreneurial participation across gender. Gender differences in entrepreneurial networking are also examined., – The findings indicate that individuals who personally know an entrepreneur are more likely to participate in entrepreneurial activity at any venture stage but that female entrepreneurs, compared with their male counterparts, are less likely to be acquainted with an entrepreneur. Taken together, these findings suggest that one of the reasons why women are less likely to become entrepreneurs is that they lack entrepreneurial resource providers or role models in their social networks., – The paper is subject to two limitations. First, the paper includes a single item measure of social network composition. Second, although the paper includes data from 2000 to 2004, the dataset is cross‐sectional and is thus based on different cohorts of participants. The paper offers a number of implications for theory, practice, and future research. One of the most important implications is that female entrepreneurship participation could be enhanced by policy directed at promoting female entrepreneur role models and connecting women with entrepreneurs., – The paper utilizes a representative sample of 311,720 individuals in 35 countries. Entrepreneurs are classified as operating at three distinct phases of the entrepreneurial process: discovery, start‐up, and young and the relationship between entrepreneurial networking and entrepreneurship participation is examined within each of these phases.

The big five traits as predictors of subjective and psychological well-being.

Despite considerable research on personality and “hedonic” or subjective well-being, parallel research on “eudaimonic” or psychological well-being is scarce. The current study investigated the relationship between the Big Five traits and subjective and psychological well-being among 211 men and women. Results indicated that the relationship between personality factors and psychological well-being was stronger than the relationship between personality factors and subjective well-being. Extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness correlated similarly with both subjective and psychological well-being, suggesting that these traits represent personality predispositions for general well-being. However, the personality correlates of the dimensions within each broad well-being type varied, suggesting that the relationship between personality and well-being is best modeled in terms of associations between specific traits and well-being dimensions.

The Thematic Apperception Test: Toward a Standard Measure of the Big Three Motives

The application of the Thematic Apperception Test to the assessment of motives has been heralded as an important milestone in personality psychology. However, although this approach is well established, there is at present no standard battery of cues for measuring the Big Three motives (achievement, affiliation, power). Furthermore, the extent to which scoring subcategories contribute to overall motive scores has been neglected. Our research with students and managers examined the effectiveness of picture cues in eliciting motive imagery and the prevalence of scoring subcategories within each motive scoring system. Results from 2 data sets comprising 547 men and women suggested that there were 3 cues that should be retained for future research and that motive scoring systems could be refined through removal of redundant subcategories. Further research is needed to systematically investigate the effectiveness of a standard battery of cues and the validity of revised motive scoring systems.

Modelling skill acquisition in acquired brain injury

Abstract Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a debilitating condition often requiring extensive rehabilitation. Although cognitive rehabilitation is concerned with overcoming a skills deficit, the application of skill acquisition research in this context has been non-existent. Examining post-injury learning in terms of the qualitative variables associated with different phases of skill acquisition is likely to be beneficial in assessing patient status and monitoring progress, as well as identifying changing needs over the course of learning. However, current models of skill acquisition overlook the potential impact of variables such as emotion, implicit learning, metacognition, motivation, and strategies that can be leveraged to improve skill acquisition. The current paper attempts to lay the groundwork for modelling and improving skill acquisition in ABI.

The Effectiveness of Sentence Cues in Measuring the Big Three Motives

Despite the popularity of free response measures in the motivation literature, research geared toward the development of a standard battery of cues for measuring the Big Three motives (achievement, affiliation, power) has been lacking. The current research examined the effectiveness of sentence cues in eliciting motive imagery in two studies (students, entrepreneurs) comprising 242 men and women. Results indicated that sentence cues were effective in eliciting achievement and affiliation imagery, but not power imagery. In addition, an examination of the subcategories underlying each motive scoring system indicated that there were several infrequently scored subcategories in the achievement and power motive scoring systems that could be considered for removal.