Personality Psychology

Background. Despite the global tendency toward multidisciplinary research, there is still an abysm between some areas of human science. For example, in the motor control area, psychology should contribute to a better comprehension of human movement, and vice versa, the motor control in the psychological branch should also be considered more. Comparative studies on individual and personality differences in the representatives of various cultures are less biased if studied with the use of motor control or graphical methods because these methods do not require any linguistic or cultural adaptation.

Objective & Methods. In this study, which aims to observe the individual characteristics of the participants (170 in total) from different cultures (by countries of birth and residence), we used the graphomotor method, the Proprioceptive Diagnostics of Temperament and Character (Tous et al, 2012) that evolved within the traditional Miokinetical Psychodiagnosis of Mira y Lopez (1958). 

Design. Individual cultural differences (participants by origin or residence from Spain, Morocco, East Europe and Latin America) in graphical test performance (fine motor precision) were measured in the proprioceptive sensory condition (without visual guidance) for both hands (dominant and non-dominant) in three movement types (Frontal, Transversal and Sagittal). Sex differences were also observed and discussed. The related psychological meaning of these individual differences are also discussed.

Results. The results of this study are discussed in the article. They included not only the description of the specific test conditions (hand use, movement, and bias types) but also the explanation of the psychological meaning of differences (personality dimensions) compared with the cultural groups or sex subgroups levels. Moreover, the differences between men and women within each cultural subgroup are also analyzed. Better comprehension of cultural differences would help to obtain more qualified therapeutic, educational and judicial help, by reducing of the derived possible negative biases or misinterpretations in human behavior. This can result in such benefits, for example, as better adaptation of immigrants in other cultures.

Conclusion. The majority of significant differences between representatives of various cultural subgroups in this study were obtained in the non-dominant hand meaning that such differences were more at the basis level. Further adaptive behavior to the environmental changes in their lives led to disappearance of such differences, especially in those who were residing in the same country.

Background: The high interest in short scales to measure personality traits has created a need for psychometric studies to validate such scales in different languages and cultures. There has recently been increasing interest in the study of personality in late life.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the Persian version of the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) among older Iranians.

Design: In this cross-sectional, psychometric study, 160 individuals older than 60 years were selected usingmulti-stage and convenience sampling methods. Data were collected using the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO.FFI). The face, content, and convergent validity of the TIPI were examined, and its reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and test-retest reliability.

Results: In general, the Persian version of the TIPI had acceptable psychometric properties for measuring the Big Five personality traits in older adults in terms of test-retest reliability (ICC = .92, p = .000) and convergent validity (r = .411, p ˂ .00). 

Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that the TIPI is a valid and reliable tool for measuring the Big Five personality traits.

Background. Previous studies of depression in social networks examined the public discourse to look more closely at how users talk about their depressive symptoms. One of these studies, published in JMIR Mental Health journal, was devoted to the trending hashtag #MyDepressionLooksLike on Twitter. The data were collected from an English-language sample; in turn, no similar studies were conducted on a Russian-speaking audience. The appearance of the #faceofdepression hashtag in Russia allowed for a comparative study.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to analyze the thematic structure of the Russian-language posts under #faceofdepression on the social networks Facebook and VKontakte (VK) in 2017 and to compare the results obtained to the analysis of the English-language posts under #MyDepressionLooksLike. First, we suggested that the themes of the Russian-language posts under the hashtag #faceofdepression on Facebook and VK are similar to the themes of the English-language posts under the hashtag #MyDepressionLooksLike on Twitter. Second, there will be a significant difference in the frequency of the themes’ representation in different social networks. Third, the unique characteristic of the public discussion in Russia is a topic about antistigma of depression. 

Design. To test these hypotheses, we exported the data from Facebook and VK (1527 Facebook and 496 VK publications) by keywords and hashtags using the TargetHunter and YouScan analytical programs. We analyzed a group of posts describing the authors' personal experience (159 original posts on VK and 231 original posts on Facebook). In those posts, users mentioned their depression symptoms, the way they combat the disease, and difficulties encountered throughout the course of the disorder.

Results. Through the thematic analysis of the posts, we identified seven topics that fit into the initial categorical grid used to analyze #MyDepressionLooksLike on Twitter by Lachmar, E. M., Wittenborn, A. K., Bogen, K. W., and McCauley, H. L. (2017). We also discovered an eighth topic, which was missing in Lachmar’s study. This topic was called “antistigma” and it proved the Russian-language discourse to be more socially oriented. We also found that Twitter users reported much more often on changes in thinking and perception (25% of all posts) compared to VK (6%) and Facebook users (15%). At the same time, VK users noted changes in their emotional sphere (19%) more often than Twitter users (8%). Facebook users more frequently described ways of coping with depression (22%) than VK (13%) and Twitter users (5%).

Conclusion. We conclude that our hypotheses are generally confirmed.

Objective: The goal of this research was to examine the effect of stigma on employing a job candidate with a known mental illness, such as depression.

Background: Prior research established that negative stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness affected employment discrimination. We hypothesized that participants would be less likely to hire a person with depression than someone without a mental illness.

Design:. A total of 162 undergraduate students from Glendon College were randomly assigned to one of two conditions where they were asked to read a short scenario listing qualifications and characteristics of a job candidate and answer a series of questions. The two questionnaires were identical except that one mentioned a diagnosis of depression and the other did not. We measured the likelihood that the participant would hire the candidate.

Results: The findings obtained were consistent with prior research and our hypothesis; the participants were significantly less likely to hire the candidate with a diagnosis of depression.

Conclusion: It appears that even in populations of highly educated people, we find instances of stigma towards mental illness. As these findings are not generalizable to the population at large, more research is required using a broader range and real-life situations.