European Journal of Personality

The question investigated in this study is how the temperament traits of strength of excitation (SE), strength of inhibition (SI), and mobility (MO) affect behaviour during the execution of computer tasks and tasks interrupting them. Several hypotheses, partly derived from the regulative theory of temperament, were tested in an experiment in which the natural environment and the types of task commonly performed by secretaries were simulated. The sample consisted of 39 female secretaries (21–64 years old). It was found that individuals high on SE and MO needed less time to resume tasks after an interruption than individuals low on these temperament traits. Interruptions similar to the main task resulted in longer resumption times for low‐SE individuals. MO was negatively related to the time needed to perform the main task. A model describing the relationship between the frequency of switches between tasks and the speed of task performance in low‐MO and high‐MO individuals is presented.

This study examines the relationship between aggressive problem‐solving strategies and aggressive behaviour, and the intervening role of social acceptance in that relationship. The subjects were 780 14‐year‐old adolescents (382 girls and 398 boys). They completed a questionnaire measuring social problem‐solving strategies, while assessments of aggressive behaviour and social acceptance were obtained by peer ratings. The results showed that aggressive problem‐solving strategies were only moderately related to aggressive behaviour, social acceptance playing an important role. Those who received incongruent social feedback, i.e. scored high on social acceptance even though they behaved aggressively, or low although they behaved non‐aggressively, expressed aggressive problem‐solving strategies which conflicted with their actual behaviour. Those who received congruent social feedback, on the other hand, i.e. scored high on social acceptance if they behaved non‐aggressively, or low if they behaved aggressively, had strategies which were in line with their actual aggressive behaviour. Analyses of gender differences showed that aggressive problem‐solving strategies were related to aggressive behaviour and social acceptance more among boys. The findings are discussed in terms of social information‐processing models and social knowledge about the self.

The purpose of this study was to examine the dimensions that characterize children's individual competence in the school context. Fifty eight elementary school teachers were first asked to freely describe a boy and a girl whom they considered to be competent and well adjusted, and second to give the profile of such a child using the California Child Q‐set (CCQ). Third, they were asked to nominate children in their classroom who would best fit their criteria of competence and children who least fit these criteria, and to fill out Achenbach's Teacher's Report Form (TRF) for 108 of these children. These children's sociometric status was also assessed. Teachers' CCQ profile revealed that they consider those behaviours most positively defining of the competent child that reflect the extent to which the child can become actively involved in the work of the classroom, and most negatively defining those behaviours that are indicative of emotional and behavioural problems. The most frequently used categories in the teachers' free descriptions were extraversion, agreeableness, school performance, attitudes and conscientiousness. The comparison with the TRF of the two groups of children indicated that the competent group had significantly higher scores on academic performance, and lower scores on the attention and social problems syndromes. Competent children had a significantly higher sociometric status. Results are discussed in light of a definition of competence as a pattern of effective performance in the environment, evaluated from the perspective of development in ecological and cultural context.

A study was conducted to examine the relations between a recently developed measure of the Big‐Five personality dimensions (Goldberg, 1992) and several other instruments: the Eysenck Personality Inventory (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1968), the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence and Helmreich, 1978), and the Masculine Behavior Scale (Snell, 1989). The results indicated that Goldberg's Big Five questionnaire was correlated in predictable ways with these personality instruments. In addition, other results revealed that the Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability scales on Goldberg's questionnaire were associated with a measure of psychological symptoms. The discussion focuses on how these findings provide corroborative evidence for the reliability and validity of Goldberg's bipolar adjective measure of personality traits, thereby supporting this instrument as a reliable and valid measure of the Big‐Five personality dimensions.