Attitude towards littering as a mediator of the relationship between personality attributes and responsible environmental behavior

The study tested whether attitude towards littering mediates the relationship between personality attributes (altruism and locus of control) and responsible environmental behavior (REB) among some residents of Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. Using multistage sampling technique, measures of each construct were administered to 1360 participants. Results reveal significant independent and joint influence of personality attributes on attitude towards littering and responsible environmental behavior, respectively. Attitude towards littering also mediates the relationship between personality characteristics and REB. These findings imply that individuals who possess certain desirable personality characteristics and who have unfavorable attitude towards littering have more tendencies to engage in pro-environmental behavior. Therefore, stakeholders who have waste management as their priority should incorporate this information when guidelines for public education and litter prevention programs are being developed. It is suggested that psychologists should be involved in designing of litter prevention strategies. This will ensure the inclusion of behavioral issues in such strategies. An integrated approach to litter prevention that combines empowerment, cognitive, social, and technical solutions is recommended as the most effective tool of tackling the litter problem among residents of Ibadan metropolis.     

Is boldness affected by group composition in young-of-the-year perch (Perca fluviatilis)?

In young-of-the-year perch (Perca fluviatilis), individuals within groups differed in the degree of boldness, estimated by habitat utilisation and feeding activity in visual contact with a potential predator. We looked at changes in individual behaviour in connection with change of group composition. During the first period, perch were randomly assigned to groups, and time spent in open habitat versus in vegetation and number of prey attacks were registered. The perch were then categorised into personality types (shy, bold, intermediate) according to their behaviour. During the second period, fish were observed when sorted into new groups, each containing only one personality type. Shy individuals showed the largest changes in behaviour, and increased both the time spent in the open and the number of prey attacks when placed into the new groups. Feeding activity in shy fish during the second period was affected by group composition during the first period. After regrouping, bold individuals decreased their time in the open, whereas intermediate individuals did not change behaviour. Time in the open habitat was, to some extent, influenced by the behaviour of the other members of the group, but number of prey attacks was not. The behaviour of fish of the different personality types we have defined in this study seemed to be based on innate traits, but also modified by the influence of other group members and by habituation to the environment.Communicated by J.Krause     

Personality, individual differences, and demographic antecedents of self-reported household waste management behaviours

The present study sought to extend recent conceptual frameworks of waste management behaviours by examining personality, individual differences, and socio-demographic antecedents of self-reported waste recycling, reuse, and reduction behaviours. A total of 203 participants from a British community sample completed a questionnaire consisting of measures of their self-reported waste management behaviour, Machiavellianism, political cynicism, the Big Five personality traits, and socio-demographics. The results of structural equation modelling showed that individuals who were less Machiavellian, less politically cynical, older, and more conscientious were more likely to report positive waste management behaviours. In combination, these predictors explained 22.0% of the variance in waste management behaviours. Thus, these variables may improve the predictive validity of existing conceptual models of waste management behaviours. The results are discussed in relation to those models.     

Individual boldness affects interspecific interactions in sticklebacks

Within populations of many species, individuals that are otherwise similar to one another in age, size or sex can differ markedly in behaviours such as resource use, risk taking and competitive ability. There has been much research into the implications of such variation for intraspecific interactions, yet little investigation into its role in influencing interspecific interactions outside of a predator–prey context. In this study, we investigated the role of individual-level behavioural variation in determining the outcomes of interactions between two ecologically similar fishes, the threespine and ninespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus and Pungitius pungitius). Experiment 1 asked whether individuals of both species were consistent in their expression of two behaviours: activity in novel surroundings and latency to attack prey. For each behaviour, focal individuals were assayed twice, 10 days apart. Performances were positively correlated between exposures, suggesting behavioural consistency within individuals, at least over this timescale. Experiment 2 revealed not only differences in habitat use described both by species-level variation, with ninespines spending more time in vegetated areas, but also by individual differences, with more active individuals of both species spending more time in open water than in vegetation. Experiment 3 revealed that when heterospecific pairs competed for prey, bolder individuals consumed a greater share, irrespective of species. These findings suggest that individual-level variation can facilitate overlap in habitat use between heterospecifics and also determine the outcomes of resource contests when they meet. We discuss how this might vary between populations as a function of prevailing selection pressures and suggest approaches for testing our predictions.     

噪声对不同人格类型被试者视觉功能的不同影响

采用龚耀先修订的“艾克森人格问卷”中的调查方法,将华东师范大学的３６名大学生分为外向稳定、内向稳定、外向不稳定、内向不稳定等４个人格类型组,通过噪声暴露试验,研究其对不同人格类型式者视觉功能的影响。结果表明,噪声对内向不稳定定型被试乾的视觉影响最大,对外向稳定型影响最小;噪声对视深、视长和视野的影响程序也不相同,４种人格类型被试者在视深知觉和视野上均存在显著性差异,在视长智觉上未见任何显著性差异;     

The big five personality traits and environmental engagement: Associations at the individual and societal level

This study compared the person and national-level personality correlates of environmental engagement. Associations between specific personality traits and environmental concern have been observed in a number of studies, but few have examined associations between the Big Five personality traits and environmental engagement. Associations at the individual-level were examined with the environmental value ‘protecting the environment’ (Study 1) and retrospective self-reports of electricity conservation behaviour (Study 2) in national probability samples. Country-level indices of sustainability, environmental attitudes, and harmony values were related to aggregate personality traits with data across nations (Study 3). Across both persons and nations, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience were the traits most strongly linked to environmental engagement. These findings provide insight into the ways in which stable regularities in overall behavioural patterns are linked to more specific aspects of conservation behaviour and attitudes both in persons and across entire societies. Theoretical explanations for the findings are proposed.     

Impact of impulsiveness, venturesomeness, and empathy on driving by older adults

PROBLEM: Although personality characteristics such as impulsiveness have been linked to the driving safety and driving habits of young and middle-aged adults, little research has focused on the role of personality in older driver behavior. METHOD: Using the IVE questionnaire in an exploratory study, three personality dimensions (impulsiveness, venturesomeness, and empathy) were measured in 305 older drivers (ages 57-87 years old). In addition, the Driving Habits Questionnaire was used to estimate driving exposure, and the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) was used to estimate driving errors and violations. State-recorded crash data were made available by the state public safety agency. RESULTS: Subjects who reported four or more driving errors had higher impulsivity and empathy scores and lower venturesomeness scores. Subjects reporting driving violations were more likely to have high impulsivity scores. Driving six or more places per week was associated with lower levels of impulsivity. IMPACT: These results suggest that a comprehensive understanding of driving problems among older adults should also include a consideration of personality dimensions. In doing so, the challenges faced in the interpretation of self-report instruments on driving behaviors must be acknowledged, with a move in research toward greater reliance on more objective measures of driving behavior when assessing the impact of personality variables.     

Adolescents’ environmental worldview and personality: An explorative study

There is a growing interest among scholars in instruments based on environmental worldview. Several studies have used instruments of this kind to compare groups of children or to assess the impact of environmental education initiatives (EEIs) on children’s environmental worldview. When using scales of this nature, it is important to control for factors that might blur the true impact of EEIs. One such factor - and which may have been neglected - is personality. This study (n = 957) examines the link between environmental worldview of Belgian adolescents (as measured by the New Environmental Paradigm scale for children - NEP) and their personality (as measured by the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children - HiPIC). The results show that adolescents who are willing to take responsibility for their actions and who feel in control over the outcomes of their decisions are more likely to have an ecocentric worldview. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that, for Belgian adolescents, egocentrism and ecocentrism are opposite conceptions. All correlations were, however, small and showed no deterministic pattern in the relationship between adolescents’ environmental worldview and personality, indicating that worldviews are not stable or innate characteristics within individuals, but can be influenced by interactions between the individual and its context. Personality traits explained only a very small part of the variation in adolescents’ environmental worldview (.7%), suggesting that they are unlikely to blur the impact of EEIs in worldview-based assessment. This is an important finding as it indicates that the results of studies showing differences in the environmental worldview of different groups of respondents or changes in their environmental worldview as a result of taking part in an EEI are not artefacts of non-control for personality and that they may, therefore, reflect genuine differences, changes or impacts.     

Methodological convergence as an issue within environmental cognition research

Two perspectives in the analysis of pointing and mapping tasks as the measure of representations of the large-scale environment are examined. These two perspectives are: (1) an individual difference approach; and (2) a cognitive representational approach. Convergence between methods assessing the same geographical/spatial knowledge is necessary as evidence for the existence of unified cognitive-spatial representations of the environment.Three sets of analyses interrelate performance on pointing and mapping tasks. In the first analysis, a confirmatory factor analytic model is applied to short tests of pointing and mapping accuracy to determine whether one or two factors are needed to account for covariation between the tests. In the second analysis, covariation among errors in pointing and mapping of specific locations is partitioned into general and specific method factors using the Schmid-Leiman procedure. In the third analysis, pointing errors for identical locations within the mapping and pointing tasks are directly compared on the basis of directional errors.The three analyses indicate that: (1) tests of pointing and mapping measure highly related abilities; (2) the targets used in pointing and mapping tasks are of differential importance in identifying general and specific method factors; and (3) there is little or no direct correspondence between directional errors made in pointing tasks and those occurring in mapping tasks for the same locations.When results of the three analyses are examined in relationship to criteria for convergence of pointing and mapping tasks, little evidence is found to suggest that directional errors in these tasks arise from a unified mental representation of the geographical environment. However, substantial predictable individual differences are apparent for both tasks.     

Risk taking and accident frequency among Finnish forestry workers

The results of previous studies on the relationship between risk taking and accidents have been contradictory. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between risk taking and accident frequency among Finnish forestry workers. The subjects were 228 forestry workers whose risk taking was measured on a questionnaire with 25 items. The accident frequency was calculated based on both company-recorded and self-reported accidents. There were no significant relationships between risk taking and accident frequency. Even after elimination of age and work experience by partial correlations, there was no significant correlation between risk taking and accident frequency. Of the personality traits of the forestry workers, impulsiveness and neuroticism correlated significantly with risk taking but not with accident frequency. Two explanations for the failure to find significant correlation between risk taking and accident frequency are given.