Social Behavior and Personality

This study investigated relationships between self-efficacy, self-esteem, previous performance accomplishments, and academic performance among a sample of 205 postgraduate students. Participants completed measures of past performance accomplishments, self-esteem, and self-efficacy at the start of a 15-week course. Each student's average grade from modules studied was used as the performance measure. Correlation results indicated significant relationships between self-efficacy and self-esteem. Multiple regression results indicated that self-efficacy mediated the relationship between performance accomplishments and academic performance. Findings lend support to the predictive effectiveness of self-efficacy measures in academic settings.

The purpose of this study was to test a model of relations among goal orientation, study strategies and achievement. The model postulated that academic achievement and goal orientations are related where achievement is related positively to mastery and performance goals but related negatively to avoidance. The mastery goal was postulated as a positive predictor of deep processing but a negative predictor of disorganization; the performance goal was posited as a positive predictor of surface processing and deep processing and a negative predictor of disorganization. The performance avoidance goal was posited as a positive predictor of disorganization, but a negative predictor of deep processing and surface processing. As predicted, the mastery goal was a positive predictor of deep processing, the performance goal was a positive predictor of surface processing and avoidance was a positive predictor of disorganization. Achievement was a positive predictor of both surface processing and disorganization

We explored the factors affecting green purchase behavior among South Korean consumers, with a special focus on the role of knowledge. A structural equations model was tested with 533 respondents and the results indicated that knowledge was a powerful factor to facilitate Korean consumers' green purchase behavior and that the roles of objective and subjective knowledge were different in shaping green purchase behavior. Subjective knowledge had a direct effect on green purchase behavior and also an indirect effect via green attitude and perceived consumer effectiveness, whereas objective knowledge had only an indirect effect on green purchasing via green attitude and perceived consumer effectiveness. The results indicate that knowledge is a powerful factor in facilitating green purchase behavior, and that ongoing education and publicity should be designed to increase subjective knowledge as well as objective knowledge to be effective for promoting consumers' green attitude and behavior.

Motive and role identity, previously studied as predictors of volunteerism, were examined as correlates of another discretionary prosocial behavior, Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). County employees (181 females, 62 males) completed questionnaires that measured frequency of OCB, motives for the behavior, and the degree to which the respondents had developed an organizational citizen identity. Motives concerned with the desire to help co-workers and/or the organization proved to be better predictors of OCB than those concerned with the desire for Impression Management. A citizen role identity also correlated with citizenship behavior but, contrary to expectation, mediated the relationship between OCB and motive only partly. The findings suggest that similar mechanisms are involved in sustaining both volunteerism and OCB.

We explored the mediating effect of self-efficacy in the association between Internet altruistic behavior (IAB) and subjective well-being (SWB). Chinese middle school students (N = 467; 216 boys and 251 girls, age range = 12–16 years) completed the Index of Well-Being, the Internet Altruistic Behavior Scale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. The results indicated that both IAB and self-efficacy had positive effects on SWB, and IAB affected SWB indirectly via self-efficacy, which showed that self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between IAB and SWB. The results extend knowledge of how IAB functions.

Previous studies (e.g., Heilman, Block, & Martell, 1995; Heilman, Block, Martell, & Simon, 1989; Kunkel, Dennis, & Waters, 2003; Schein, 1973, 1975; Schein & Mueller, 1992) have detected differences in how participants perceive the characteristics of males and females in general and those of male and female managers, though sex-based stereotyping dissipated with the consideration of successful managers. This study, an administration of the Schein Descriptive Index (SDI, Schein, 1973) and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974) to 220 participants (125 women and 95 men), is the second to extend the operationalization of the extant program beyond the commonplace label of manager to that of chief executive officer (CEO) and the first to find that participants' gender identities may be critical to their perceptions of similarities and differences between the sexes. While males and masculinity continue to be associated with organizational leadership attributes, individuals of either sex who express feminine orientations perceive little difference between the sexes.

A sample of 134 (93 female, 41 male) university students were evaluated with measures of relational and physical aggression, as well as measures of the five personality factors (NEO Five-Factor Inventory; Costa & McCrae, 1992), depression and anxiety (Beck Depression Inventory; Beck, 1987 and Anxiety Inventory; Beck, 1990), and general emotional understanding and functioning (Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory; Bar-On, 1997). Gender differences were found such that the men reported more physical aggression and less Extraversion, with trends for less Neuroticism and less Agreeableness, than the women (NEO-FFI). Additionally, the women had higher Bar-On Interpersonal overall factor scores, including higher scores for the component Empathy, Social Responsibility, and Interpersonal Relationship subscales, than the men. Relational and physical aggression showed different patterns of association with other personality and emotional measures for men and women. In men, higher physical aggression was associated with lower Agreeableness and lower Extraversion. In women, higher physical aggression was associated with higher Conscientiousness, more depression, lower Bar-On EQI Stress Management and higher adaptability. Relational aggression was associated with lower Agreeableness and a lower Bar-On EQI overall score for both men and women. In men, higher relational aggression was additionally associated with more Neuroticism. In women, higher relational aggression was also associated with lower Conscientiousness, and lower Bar-On EQI Interpersonal factor scores.

The purpose of these studies was to develop a valid measure of trait gratitude, and to evaluate the relationship of gratitude to subjective well-being (SWB). Four studies were conducted evaluating the reliability and validity of the Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Test (GRAT), a measure of dispositional gratitude. This measure was shown to have good internal consistency and temporal stability. The GRAT was shown to relate positively to various measures of SWB. In two experiments, it was shown that grateful thinking improved mood, and results also supported the predictive validity of the GRAT. These studies support the theory that gratitude is an affective trait important to SWB.

Our aim in this study was to probe into the factors of team members' team commitment in order to determine if members' teamwork behaviors significantly influence their trust, and if the members' perception of team support influences their attitude or behavior within a team. A total of 548 questionnaires were distributed to teams participating in competitions, and 206 valid samples were collected (rate of return = 38%). The results of structural equation modeling showed that teamwork behaviors, trust, and perceived team support significantly influenced team commitment, teamwork behaviors significantly influenced trust among the members, and perceived team support significantly influenced teamwork behaviors, trust, and team commitment.