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The present study aims to disentangle the state and trait components of prosocial goal realisation, defined as a set of personally meaningful prosocial actions undertaken in natural settings. Based on a diary study with seven daily measurements from 180 participants (a total of 1005 data points), we performed temporal variance decomposition using the STARTS model. The observed individual scores are explained by: ST-a common trait factor, capturing variance stable across days; ART-a unique autoregressive trait factor, capturing variance changing from 1 day to the next; and S-state factors, a series of uncorrelated factors reflecting occasion-specific variance. The results demonstrate the relative stability of prosocial goal realisation, extending the knowledge on the state/trait distinction in actual prosocial behaviour.

In this study, we addressed the relevance of the state‐trait variance decomposition of global self‐esteem (GSE) in organizational research. We used a longitudinal sample of 393 military cadets followed for 2 years (n = 376) and adopted Latent Curve—Latent State‐Trait models for separating stable and transient factors in GSE and in three work‐related variables (e.g., work engagement, affective commitment, in‐role/extra‐role performance). Although literature often considered GSE a trait‐like variable, our results showed that it has a significant state variance that positively covaried with the state components of all three work‐related variables included in our study. Thus, we suggest rejecting the rigid separation between “state‐constructs” and “trait‐constructs”, and recommend a paradigm that focuses on the trait and state components of each psychological construct.

Using data from four different samples of full-time employees (Ntotal = 2,474), the present study was aimed to introduce and demonstrate the validity and reliability of the Organizational-Based General Self-esteem Scale (OB-GSE) a new six-item self-report scale to measure organizational-based self-esteem (OBSE) at work. Results provided evidence of (1) validity (internal, external, and convergent), (2) reliability, and (3) temporal stability of the OB-GSE scale. All in all, results attested the usefulness and the effectiveness of the OB-GSE scale.

The Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale (CSWS) is a widely used personality self-report questionnaire developed for measuring the domains in which self-esteem is sustained by successes and achievements as well as threatened by obstacles and failures. Two studies (Nstudy1 = 453, Nstudy2 = 293) aimed to further refine our knowledge of its psychometric properties. Results attested that, at the first-order level, the originally hypothesized seven-factor model proved to be the best-fitting one, but the inclusion of a method factor significantly improved the fit to the data. At the second-order level, the model with two higher-order variables representing private sphere and public sphere of CSW fit better than alternative models. Finally, there was evidence that first- and second-order domains had a good degree of construct and discriminant validity. Overall, these studies provided a step forward in refining the psychometric structure of the CSWS.

No previous research explored the genetic and environmental structure of Big Five dimensions of personality and higher-order factors in a single twin study, except, in part, for just one study. We used the twin design to estimate the effects of genes and environment on both Five Factor model and related second- and third-order factors (i.e., Alpha [stability], Beta [plasticity], and GFP [general factor of personality]). We analyzed data from 314 adult twins (157 pairs: 83 monozygotic, 74 dizygotic; mean age: 52 years) enrolled in the Italian Twin Register. Participants underwent clinical and instrumental evaluations, and completed a 25-adjective list drawn from the Short Adjectives Checklist to Measure Big Five (SACBIF). We applied quantitative genetic models to unravel the sources of variation and covariation for the Big Five and higher-order factors. We found a similar etiological architecture across the different levels of analysis, with moderate to substantial non-additive genetic and unique environmental influences on all the personality traits, and no shared environmental contribution for any of them. We also detected significant genetic correlations for the Big Five dimensions and the Alpha and Beta super-factors. With some limitations, our results suggest that the etiological architecture of personality may be invariant to the factor level of analysis.

Past research on age-related differences in job performance have focused primarily between-person comparisons. In the present study, we examine within-individual changes in supervisor-rated job performance to examine the influence of age-related trends, cycles, and event-driven factors. Our analysis is based on an eight-wave dataset from a multiple-cohort sample of employees (N = 750) varying in age from 25 to 65 years. We used an age-sequential design to disentangle maturation effects from historical effects. Results showed that population-level, within-individual change in a general measure of job performance was characterized by an increase in the first phase of the career (workers of 25–30 years), and then by a progressive decline. Within-individual levels of job performance were generally higher for younger workers than for older workers, and mostly reflected the influence of population-level trends but some even-driven effects as well. Results were in line with predictions from Baltes and Baltes’s (1990) meta-theory of selective optimization with compensation and the effects of age-related losses on performance. Results also provide insights into understanding the job performance trajectory over the career span.

Inspired by the Conservation of Resource theory (Hobfoll, 1989), this study investigated the role of a broad set of personal vulnerabilities, social, and work-related stressors and resources as predictors of workers’ well-being during the COVID-19 outbreak. Participants were 594 workers in Italy. Results showed that personality predispostions, such as positivity, neuroticism and conscientiousness as well as key aspects of the individuals’ relationship with their work (such as job insecurity, type of employment contract or trust in the organization) emerged as factors promoting (or hampering) workers’ adjustment during the COVID -19 outbreak. Interactions between stressors and resources were also found and discussed. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-021-02408-w.

In this study we investigated whether regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs (RESE) indirectly predict turnover intentions (TI) through organizational socialization (OS) and organizational identification (OI). Three waves of data (1-year lag) were collected on a representative sample of 890 military newcomers belonging to two different cohorts. We tested our hypotheses using a multigroup autoregressive cross-lagged panel model (MG-ACLP) and results fully confirmed the posited theoretical model. Regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs reduced intentions to quit indirectly, via organizational socialization and identification. The present study contributes to fill several literature gaps by offering a complete picture of the socialization process. Moreover, it offers insights about how to support the military newcomers’ work adjustment and retention by fostering and developing their regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs. Limitations as well as directions for future research are discussed.

The present study was aimed at investigating the protective role of Global Self-Esteem (GSE) on the relationship between stressful life events and depression. A longitudinal research design, including two measurement occasions with a two-month interval was applied on a sample of 95 university students (80 females) with a mean age of 22.49 (SD = 6.77). A series of scales were administered in both occasions: the Daily Event Checklist (DEC), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale(RSES) and the Center of Epidemiological Study Depression Scale (CES_D). Longitudinal moderated regression models were performed, including DEC, RSES and their interaction (DEC x RSES) as predictors, the baseline level of CES_D as a covariate and the final level of CES_D as criterion. Results showed a negative and significant interaction between predictors, indicating that the prospective effect of stressful life events on depression become weaker as self-esteem increases. Specifically, the detrimental effect of stressful daily life events was observed only at low levels of self-esteem. Similar results were found when a bi-factorial model was applied to the RSES, with the aim to obtain an unbiased estimate of GSE, controlling for potential method effects due to item wording. The main strengths and weaknesses of the study were discussed.

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) represent a specific class of prosocial behaviors observable in the organizational environment. This study examined the longitudinal relations among regulatory emotional, social and work self-efficacy beliefs, and their relations to Organizational Citizenship Behaviors directed at specific individuals (OCBIs) at work, using a Latent State-Trait Model with Autoregressive effects (LST-A). The LST-A decomposes variance into trait, autoregressive, and occasion-related components, and allowed for testing of all hypotheses at the within-worker level. The model was tested using longitudinal data from N = 562 italian workers. Results supported the hypotheses that both social and work self-efficacy fully mediated the longitudinal relations between regulatory emotional self-efficacy in managing negative emotions at work and OCBIs. Theoretical and practical contributions of the findings are discussed.

The present longitudinal study examined the role of positivity in predicting ego-resiliency over a 10-year period. Participants were 373 middle adolescents (46.9% males) assessed during the transition into young adulthood. The mean age of participants was 16.9 years at the beginning of the study and 25.9 years at the end. An autoregressive cross-lagged model was used to investigate the prediction of positivity from ego-resiliency. At each time point, positivity predicted later ego-resiliency above and beyond its high stability. Ego-resiliency, instead, did not predict positivity. These results provide corroboration from a longitudinal perspective of previous findings highlighting the potential benefits of positive emotion for helping people to cope successfully with stressful events during their lives. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

This study presents a new scale to measure work values. The Work Values questionnaire (WVal) consists of 10 sets of 5 value items that respondents rank for importance. Each item expresses 1 of the 10 basic values of the Schwartz theory in the work context. Seven hundred fifty-nine employees from 94 organizations responded to the WVal. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) assessment of the 10 work values exhibited adequate factorial distinctiveness as well as high internal reliability. Multidimensional scaling analyses yielded a circular motivational structure of relations among the 10 work values similar to the higher order values in the basic values’ theory. We note and discuss meaningful differences in the importance of work values associated with gender, age, organizational tenure, and professional role. The study supports the applicability of the Schwartz basic value theory to the organizational setting, with some variations traceable to the work context. We discuss research possibilities and practical applications of the WVal.

This study evaluates the temporal structure of daily self-esteem and the relative contribution of a range of theoretically motivated predictors of daily self-esteem. To assess self-esteem stability, a daily version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (RSE, Rosenberg, 1965) was administered to 278 undergraduates for five consecutive days. These short-term longitudinal data were analysed using the Trait State Error (TSE) modelling framework. The TSE decomposes multi-wave data into three components: (1) a stable trait component, (2) a state component, and (3) an error component. Significant predictors of the trait component of self-esteem observed across five days were: (1) emotional stability, and (2) the congruence between implicit and explicit self-esteem. Significant predictors of the state components of self-esteem were daily positive and negative events. We discuss the implications of these results for future research concerning self-esteem stability.

Negative emotional inertia refers to the degree of which a current emotional state can be predicted by a previous emotional state and it represents a relevant marker of psychological maladjustment. The current study tested a theoretical model in which the dynamic impact of daily hassles on negative emotional inertia is mediated by exhaustion, and moderated by individuals’ level of ego-resiliency. Participants were 173 sophomore students (60% females) who completed two diaries per day (every morning and evening) for 18 days. In line with our predictions, the results suggest that ego-resiliency is a key personal resource that might be able to buffer the detrimental effects of daily stressors on individuals’ negative emotional inertia. In addition, our study introduced exhaustion as a potential antecedent of inertia of negative emotions. Overall, our results support the value of exhaustion as the mediator, and of ego resiliency as the moderator, of the longitudinal relation between daily hassles and emotional inertia.

This investigation intends to uncover the mechanisms linking self-efficacy to job performance by analyzing the mediating role of job crafting. A two-wave study on 465 white-collar workers was conducted, matching participants’ self-report data (i.e., self-efficacy and job crafting) with supervisory performance ratings. The structural equation model showed a positive reciprocal relationship between self-efficacy and crafting behaviors. In turn, job crafting predicted performance positively over time. More importantly, results confirmed the mediating role of crafting actions, which may represent the behavioral process underlying the positive effect of self-efficacy on individual outcomes. Practical implications for organizations, such as encouraging bottom-up job design or designing job-crafting interventions, and future research directions are also offered.

This study has been designed to investigate, from a multilevel perspective, the relations among positivity and job performance. Analyses were conducted on a sample of 232 participants from three Italian organizations with the Group Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (Kenny & Garcia, 2012). Results corroborate previous findings attesting to the beneficial effects of positivity on organizational behaviours and in particular attest to the crucial role of others’ positivity in neutralizing an individual’s low positivity. People low in positivity performed better when other group members’ positivity was high.

The goal of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Perceived Parental Self-Efficacy (PPSE) and Perceived Family Collective Efficacy (PFCE) revised scales in the Portuguese and Italian contexts. To this aim two studies were conducted: the first reported the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with Portuguese samples, whereas the second addressed the cross-cultural invariance of PPSE and PFCE (Portugal and Italy). Results of the first study showed the appropriate fit of the unifactorial model of both scales to Portuguese data. The invariance analyses performed in the second study attested to the PPSE and PFCE's configural, metric and scalar invariance in both countries. The correlations of PPSE and PFCE with communication, management of conflict and children's school achievement further attested to their construct and practical validity. Thus, PPSE and PFCE proved to be suitable to further use in research and psychological assessment fields.

Two studies were conducted in order to investigate the psychometric properties of Italian version of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ). Results from Study 1 (N = 401) provided support of the factorial validity of its four facets (self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience), as well as of its composite factor measure. Results from Study 2 (N = 465) attested the measurement invariance of the PCQ across one year. Study 2 also explored the relationship between psychological capital, job satisfaction, work engagement, and job performance. Limitations and practical implications are discussed in the article.

A common situation in the evaluation of intervention programs is the researcher's possibility to rely on two waves of data only (i.e., pretest and posttest), which profoundly impacts on his/her choice about the possible statistical analyses to be conducted. Indeed, the evaluation of intervention programs based on a pretest-posttest design has been usually carried out by using classic statistical tests, such as family-wise ANOVA analyses, which are strongly limited by exclusively analyzing the intervention effects at the group level. In this article, we showed how second order multiple group latent curve modeling (SO-MG-LCM) could represent a useful methodological tool to have a more realistic and informative assessment of intervention programs with two waves of data. We offered a practical step-by-step guide to properly implement this methodology, and we outlined the advantages of the LCM approach over classic ANOVA analyses. Furthermore, we also provided a real-data example by re-analyzing the implementation of the Young Prosocial Animation, a universal intervention program aimed at promoting prosociality among youth. In conclusion, albeit there are previous studies that pointed to the usefulness of MG-LCM to evaluate intervention programs (Muthén and Curran, 1997; Curran and Muthén, 1999), no previous study showed that it is possible to use this approach even in pretest-posttest (i.e., with only two time points) designs. Given the advantages of latent variable analyses in examining differences in interindividual and intraindividual changes (McArdle, 2009), the methodological and substantive implications of our proposed approach are discussed.

The role of genes and environment in the relation between self-regulation and adjustment is unclear. We investigated, with the twin design, genetic and environmental components of the association between effortful control (EC) and indicators of psychological adjustment using adolescents’ and parents’ reports for 774 twins. Genetic factors explained a substantial proportion of variance in EC (58%) and the outcome variables of optimism (55%), general self-esteem (45%), happiness (48%), and self-derogation (29%). Perceived competence had no significant genetic component. Aside from perceived competence, uncorrelated with EC, phenotypic correlations of EC with measures of well-being/adjustment were moderate and predominantly explained by shared genetic effects. Results suggest a significant genetic contribution in adolescents’ EC and in its relation to various aspects of adjustment.

In the present article, we present a review of the current status of the art with regard to the construct of regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs. We start with the definition of the psychological construct of regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs, presenting its theoretical status within the broader theory of self-efficacy, in the social-cognitive theory. Then, we offer a broad perspective on the evaluation of the construct, by introducing the Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy (RESE) scale. This instrument assesses two broad factors, self-efficacy in managing negative emotions (NEG) and self-efficacy beliefs in expressing positive emotions (POS). We review studies attesting to the reliability of the instrument and reporting gender differences in NEG and POS self-efficacy beliefs. Developmental trajectories of POS and NEG self-efficacy beliefs are also presented, and their pervasiveness is demonstrated with reference to results of several empirical studies. We also discuss differences between regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs and constructs classically associated to self-regulation. A critical evaluation of the field of research on regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs and suggestions on how to move the field forward is offered.

This study investigates the extent to which response distortion occur when implicit measures of personality traits are used in applied settings. Two groups composed of 58 security guards and 45 semiskilled workers, respectively, completed five Implicit Association Tests (IATs) for assessing the Big Five personality traits as a part of a personnel assessment program. They additionally completed a self-report measure of the same personality dimensions. Scores on the Big Five IATs and self-ratings of personality were obtained also by 52 volunteers who responded anonymously for research purposes. Results showed that participants under evaluative testing conditions scored significantly higher than volunteers on explicit measures of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability. On the contrary, no significant differences were found in the Big Five IATs. Practical implications of findings and future research directions are discussed.

We investigated age and gender effects on "Positive Orientation" (POS)-an individual's tendency to view life with a positive outlook-using a genetically informed design. Study subjects were 1016 twins aged 22-75 from the Italian twin registry. We assessed POS by the recently developed P-scale. First, we used confirmatory factor analysis to investigate scale's measurement invariance by age and gender. Then, we applied biometric modelling to estimate genetic and environmental components of POS score. Overall, we found a satisfactory degree of measurement invariance by both age and gender. Results from these analyses further indicated an increasing mean level of POS across the lifespan. Additive genetic and unshared environmental factors explained respectively 58% and 42% of variance in POS score, with no significant gender differences; furthermore, the pattern of change of gene-environment architecture of POS over time was consistent with a greater plasticity of personality at older ages.

Using data from 28 countries in four continents, the present research addresses the question of how basic values may account for political activism. Study 1 (N = 35,116) analyses data from representative samples in 20 countries that responded to the 21-item version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-21) in the European Social Survey. Study 2 (N = 7,773) analyses data from adult samples in six of the same countries (Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Poland, and United Kingdom) and eight other countries (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, and United States) that completed the full 40-item PVQ. Across both studies, political activism relates positively to self-transcendence and openness to change values, especially to universalism and autonomy of thought, a subtype of self-direction. Political activism relates negatively to conservation values, especially to conformity and personal security. National differences in the strength of the associations between individual values and political activism are linked to level of democratization.

The present study examines the longitudinal relations between self-esteem and perceived affective self-regulatory efficacy (i.e., self-efficacy beliefs in managing negative emotions and in expressing positive emotions). Participants were a group of 206 late adolescents (47% males) aged 16, 18, 20 and 24 years at T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively. Findings corroborated the posited paths of mutual relations, while pointing to a major contribution of self-esteem in predicting perceived affective self-regulatory efficacy across time. In particular, self-esteem consistently predicted subsequent levels of self-efficacy beliefs in managing negative emotions and in expressing positive emotions. Paths in the opposite direction were significant but small. Findings are discussed in light of the contributions of perceived affective self-regulatory efficacy to promote self-esteem from 16 to 24 years.

Positive orientation (POS) is the name given to the latent dimension common to self-esteem, optimism and life satisfaction. Earlier findings attest to the trait-like nature of POS and to its unique contribution to well-adjustment across domains of functioning. The present study investigates the extent to which POS accounts for individuals’ tendency to distort their self-assessment in a positive direction. Taking a class of students (N = 190) at the beginning of their academic year, POS predicted the individuals’ tendency to perform academically better-than-average (BTA) peers. POS accounted for BTA beyond what is merely due to self-esteem, life satisfaction and optimism.

A latent state-trait model has been used to assess the extent to which egoistic and moralistic self-enhancement represent: (a) stable individual differences and (b) systematic effects of the situation and/or the person-situation interaction. Analyses were conducted on a sample of 187 adults (64% females). Findings revealed that both self-enhancement tendencies mostly capture stable interindividual differences, although significant occasion-specific effects were observed. Egoistic self-enhancement presents a higher proportion of trait variance than moralistic self-enhancement. The egoistic dimension was mostly related with the stable (trait) components of conscientiousness and emotional stability. The moralistic dimension, on the contrary, was mostly related with the transient component of emotional stability. Potential explanations for the observed differences between egoistic and moralistic self-enhancement were discussed and interpreted in terms of their implications for personality assessment.

Five studies were conducted to develop and validate the Egoistic and Moralistic Self-enhancement (EMS) scale, a new self-report measure of egoistic and moralistic self-enhancement. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence for a two-factor structure comprising the tendencies to promote agentic (egoistic) and communal (moralistic) qualities (Study 1). Construct validity was supported by significant correlations with established measures of socially desirable responding, such as the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (Study 2) and the Impression Management scale of the 16 Personality Factors (Study 3). When the EMS scale has been applied in organizational settings, we found that job applicants were more inclined than nonapplicants to promote their own agentic and communal qualities, although differences were more pronounced for egoistic self-enhancement (Study 4). Findings also suggested that exaggeration of agentic qualities decrease the criterion-related validity of conscientiousness in predicting job performance (Study 5). Taken together, findings suggest that the EMS scale provides a valid and reliable measure that can be fruitfully used for both theoretical and applied research.

The beliefs that people hold about themselves, their life and future are important and mutually related constituents of psychological functioning and well-being. In this paper, we investigated the relationship between positive orientation and generalized self-efficacy. The sample consisted of 672 participants aged 15-72 years (274 males). The results confirmed the first hypothesis that positive orientation and generalized self-efficacy constitute two distinct but correlated constructs. The results were confirmed across the three age groups and, contrary to the second hypothesis, age was not confirmed as a moderator of the relationship between positive orientation and self-efficacy.

The present study examined the longitudinal relations between prosociality and self-esteem. Participants were 386 (50.3% males) middle adolescents (M-age = 15.6) assessed over a 10-year period until they entered into young adulthood (M-age = 25.7). First, multivariate latent curve analysis indicated that the developmental increase of prosociality was positively related to the parallel increase of self-esteem. Second. an autoregressive cross-lagged model revealed that the direct effect of prosociality on self-esteem was statistically significant but essentially negligible. These findings corroborated from a long-term longitudinal perspective previous studies highlighting the positive correlation between the development of prosociality and self-esteem, and pointed out to the need for further investigating the relation between the two constructs. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Two studies were conducted with the aim of investigating whether the Big Five traits, as measured by the Implicit Association Test (IAT), predict supervisor ratings of job performance. Two incumbent groups composed respectively by 52 security guards (Study 1) and 71 semi-skilled workers (Study 2) completed a self-report measure of the Big-Five and five IATs for assessing the same personality dimensions in an implicit way. In study 1, job performance was positively related to self-ratings of energy/extraversion (r = .35, p

We examined four types of stability and change in values during young adulthood. 270 respondents (aged 20–28, 54% female) completed the Portrait Values Questionnaire at three time points, separated by 4 years. Rank-order stability coefficients of the 10 values averaged 0.69 (T1-T2) and 0.77 (T2-T3). The mean importance of conservation, self-transcendence, and power values increased over time, the mean importance of achievement values decreased, and openness to change values remained stable. For 75% of respondents, the correlations of the within-person value hierarchies exceeded 0.45 from T1 to T2 and 0.61 from T2 to T3. Correlations among individual change scores for the 10 values formed coherent patterns of value change that mirror the circular structure of Schwartz’s theory.

Despite the fact that the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and job performance has been widely investigated, no study has focused on the criterion validity of Stability and Plasticity, the two higher-order factors of personality. The current research aims to fill this gap in the literature by relying on a hierarchical model that includes both the Big Five and their higher-order factors. Two studies were conducted among incumbents working for an insurance company ( n = 101) and security agents ( n = 201). Stability (but not Plasticity) accounted for variance in job performance beyond that accounted for by measures of the Big Five.

The present study aims to investigate gender differences in the mean-level change of the Big Five from late adolescence to emerging adulthood. We analyzed longitudinal self-report data from 192 males and 211 females, using multigroup Latent Growth Modeling. Gender differences were found in the shape of the trajectory, as well as in the mean and in the variance of the growth curve parameters (i.e. the initial level and the rate of change). At time 1 (Age 16), females scored significantly higher on measures of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness. Males, in contrast, scored higher than females on a measure of Emotional stability. In both males and females, Conscientiousness and Openness increased linearly from age 16 to age 20, whereas Energy/Extraversion remained stable. Emotional stability slightly increased in males and remained stable in females. Agreeableness increased linearly in males and showed a quadratic trend in females, first increasing and then declining over time. Finally, females showed higher interindividual variability than males on the trajectories of Conscientiousness and Emotional stability.

This study investigates the measurement equivalence of a Five Factor measure of personality between applicant and non-applicant samples. The Big Five Questionnaire-2 was administered in two samples: A group of volunteers ( n = 903), who completed the test for research purposes, and a group applying for jobs, who completed the test during hiring procedures ( n = 401). Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis on item composites was conducted to test for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures of twenty facets of the Five Factors. Item-level analyses were carried out through analysis of variance to further examine the issue of measurement invariance. Findings suggested that personality facets have the same measurement unit across applicants and non-applicants, while a lack of equivalence was found in the origin of the scales. Similar results were found at the item-level. Implications for personality assessment are advanced and discussed.

The Big Five Model of personality and Schwartz's theory of basic values are two prominent taxonomies that offer a convenient way to organize the major individual differences in, respectively, personality traits and personal values. Both taxonomies provide a hierarchical framework, whose components can be traced back to a smaller number of broader dimensions. The current study investigated the relationship between the two superordinate factors of personality encompassing the Big Five dimensions (alpha and beta) and the four higher-level value types from Schwartz's theory (Self-transcendence, Self-enhancement, Conservation, and Openness to change). To examine the relations between higher-order traits and values, we relied on factor analysis and multidimensional scaling. Results indicated that alpha and beta were differently related to the Conservation versus Openness to change dimension. Alpha was positively related to values that emphasize protecting stability and respecting norms and traditions, and negatively related to values emphasizing receptiveness to change and independence of thought, feeling, and action. The opposite pattern of relations was found for beta.

This study aims to explore the utility of resilient, overcontrolled and undercontrolled personality prototypes in discriminating 735 elderly Italian adults with regards to their well-being, quality of interpersonal relationships, and leisure activities. Prototype membership, corresponding to the three types, was identified through cluster analysis of Big Five self-ratings. The three prototypes clearly differed in terms of their life and health satisfaction, positive affectivity, interpersonal trust, civic and social engagement and leisure activities. Resilients showed the most positive profile; undercontrollers mistrusted their family members, whereas overcontrollers reported particularly low satisfaction and a scarce involvement in social and recreation activities. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The measurement invariance of the Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) questionnaire was investigated across four samples of non-clinical subjects (N = 222), dermatological patients (N = 458), psychiatric inpatients (N = 156), and patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (N = 101). The results provided evidence of configural, metric, and scalar invariance across groups. Overall, our findings provide further support to the reliability and validity of the ECR.

The present research evaluates the stability of self-esteem as assessed by a daily version of the Rosenberg (Society and the adolescent self-image, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1965) general self-esteem scale (RGSE). The scale was administered to 391 undergraduates for five consecutive days. The longitudinal data were analyzed using the integrated LC-LSTM framework that allowed us to evaluate: (1) the measurement invariance of the RGSE, (2) its stability and change across the 5-day assessment period, (3) the amount of variance attributable to stable and transitory latent factors, and (4) the criterion-related validity of these factors. Results provided evidence for measurement invariance, mean-level stability, and rank-order stability of daily self-esteem. Latent state-trait analyses revealed that variances in scores of the RGSE can be decomposed into six components: stable self-esteem (40 %), ephemeral (or temporal-state) variance (36 %), stable negative method variance (9 %), stable positive method variance (4 %), specific variance (1 %) and random error variance (10 %). Moreover, latent factors associated with daily self-esteem were associated with measures of depression, implicit self-esteem, and grade point average.

Literature documents that the judgments people hold about themselves, their life, and their future are important ingredients of their psychological functioning and well-being, and are commonly related to each other. In this paper, results from a large cross-sectional sample (N = 1,331, 48% males) are presented attesting to the hypothesis that evaluations about oneself, one’s life, and one’s future rest on a common mode of viewing experiences named “Positive Orientation.” These results corroborate the utility of the new construct as a critical component of individuals’ well functioning.