Kevin Lanning
Florida Atlantic University, Psychology, Faculty Member
The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of personality development in a particular sample of individuals. Using the Up Series documentary as a platform, we collected extensive amounts of data with the use of personal... more
The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of personality development in a particular sample of individuals. Using the Up Series documentary as a platform, we collected extensive amounts of data with the use of personal narratives, the California Child and Adult Q-sort assessments, and a series of personally constructed trait rating scales to produce nine longitudinal case studies. The Up Series follows the lives of fourteen Britons of varying social and economic backgrounds from age seven in the early 1960s to the present day. After synthesizing all of our singular data, contrary to what the directors of the film initially postulated, we found that childhood socioeconomic circumstances do not necessarily dictate the levels of success and failure that these individuals experience throughout their lives. This research will likely impact the perception of social class effects in personality development.
Research Interests:
We compare the contents of Fox and MSNBC weekday evening telecasts using natural language analysis with Linguistic Inventory Word Count (LIWC) and sociopolitical dictionaries tapping into moral foundations, values, grievances, and... more
We compare the contents of Fox and MSNBC weekday evening telecasts using natural language analysis with Linguistic Inventory Word Count (LIWC) and sociopolitical dictionaries tapping into moral foundations, values, grievances, and personality. Across time, the two networks differed substantially across many constructs, particularly those from LIWC. The core of the difference between the networks was captured by a four‐component measure which we labeled Personalizing versus Formal speech. Scores on this measure were particularly volatile during 2019 and 2020, a period which included Trump's first impeachment, the beginning of the COVID pandemic, and the 2020 presidential campaign. In comparison with prior presidential election years, only MSNBC showed a drop in positive emotions in 2020, while both networks increased in the use of communal and analytic language. Contrary to our expectations, the language style of the two networks did not demonstrate increasing divergence over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Analyses of Social Issues & Public Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Research Interests:
Ego level has been called the "master trait," second only to intelligence in its importance for understanding individual differences in personality (Loevinger, 1966, p. 205). Ego level is typically assessed using one of several... more
Ego level has been called the "master trait," second only to intelligence in its importance for understanding individual differences in personality (Loevinger, 1966, p. 205). Ego level is typically assessed using one of several versions of the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT; Hy & Loevinger, 1996). The WUSCT has been described as the most thoroughly validated projective measure of personality (Lilienfeld, Wood, & Garb, 2000). Because the construct of ego level is assessed by the analysis of samples of speech, and because the relationship between these speech samples and the construct has been extensively validated, ego level is an attractive candidate for applying computational or corpus linguistic methods. In this project, we examine the relationship between language use and ego level.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Some scholars have presented models of the United States as a set of “nations” with distinct settlement histories and contemporary cultures. We examined personality differences in one such model, that of Colin Woodard, using data from... more
Some scholars have presented models of the United States as a set of “nations” with distinct settlement histories and contemporary cultures. We examined personality differences in one such model, that of Colin Woodard, using data from over 75,000 respondents. Four nations were particularly distinct: The Deep South, Left Coast, New Netherland, and the Spanish Caribbean. Differences between nations at the level of the individual person were typically small, but were larger at the level of community, revealing how aggregation can contribute to differences in the lived experience of places in nations such as Yankeedom or Greater Appalachia. We represented effects in a three-dimensional model defined by Authoritarian conventionalism (which differentiated ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ nations) as well as Cognitive resilience and Competitiveness (which differentiated among the Blue nations). Finally, we adjusted Woodard’s model to better fit the data, and found that nations largely maintained their bou...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Personality psychology has long been grounded in data typologies, particularly in the delineation of behavioural, life outcome, informant–report, and self–report sources of data from one another. Such data typologies are becoming obsolete... more
Personality psychology has long been grounded in data typologies, particularly in the delineation of behavioural, life outcome, informant–report, and self–report sources of data from one another. Such data typologies are becoming obsolete in the face of new methods, technologies, and data philosophies. In this article, we discuss personality psychology's historical thinking about data, modern data theory's place in personality psychology, and several qualities of big data that urge a rethinking of personality itself. We call for a move away from self–report questionnaires and a reprioritization of the study of behaviour within personality science. With big data and behavioural assessment, we have the potential to witness the confluence of situated, seamlessly interacting psychological processes, forming an inclusive, dynamic, multiangle view of personality. However, big behavioural data come hand in hand with important ethical considerations, and our emerging ability to crea...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Read Publication Identity, interpersonal trust, and the political self-concept What is it about? Democracy is not just an abstract feature of political systems, but an idea which binds us and asserts that we are all valued members of the... more
Read Publication Identity, interpersonal trust, and the political self-concept What is it about? Democracy is not just an abstract feature of political systems, but an idea which binds us and asserts that we are all valued members of the community. Democracy requires trust, for without trust there is little reason to vote or participate in the political process. Democracy requires accurate measurement, too, yet our current system wholly or partially disenfranchises most of us. There are remedies for this which do not require constitutional change, and which would reduce the likelihood of continued controversy in the years to come.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Abstract 1. The dimensionality of personality ratings on the California Adult Q-set (CAQ) is examined in a sample of 940 Ss. Solutions of between 5 and 15 factors are examined; interrater agreement is assessed for items, factors, and... more
Abstract 1. The dimensionality of personality ratings on the California Adult Q-set (CAQ) is examined in a sample of 940 Ss. Solutions of between 5 and 15 factors are examined; interrater agreement is assessed for items, factors, and items partialing factors. Results suggest that the 5 personality factors are important yet not exhaustive in accounting for common factor variance in the CAQ. Furthermore, interjudge agreement extends beyond the 5 dimensions. Likely explanations for these results are considered, and implications are ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Abstract 1. A scalability approach to the assessment of individual differences in consistency is proposed. For a given trait, a person is scalable to the extent that his or her behavior parallels the evocativeness or difficulty level of... more
Abstract 1. A scalability approach to the assessment of individual differences in consistency is proposed. For a given trait, a person is scalable to the extent that his or her behavior parallels the evocativeness or difficulty level of situations or test items. Scalability can be assessed on a wide variety of data sets; measures of scalability are not formally entailed by traditional summary measures. In an empirical investigation, several measures of scalability are found to be reliable and to contribute uniquely, although modestly, to prediction. In ...
Research Interests:
Abstract 1. In the first chapter of this book, I examine the theoretical (or, more accurately, metatheoretical) concept of trait.... Proper measurement of traits requires a conceptually sound index of consistency, and in Chapter 2, I... more
Abstract 1. In the first chapter of this book, I examine the theoretical (or, more accurately, metatheoretical) concept of trait.... Proper measurement of traits requires a conceptually sound index of consistency, and in Chapter 2, I propose that individual differences in scalability provide such an index. In Chapter 3, I examine some expected relations between scalability scores and traditional" elevation" measures of traits. In the remaining chapters, I present a series of empirical investigations. The first of these, Chapter 4, assesses ...
Abstract To forecast four-year, two-year, and single-course grades in college, a California Psychological Inventory (CPI) equation (30.60-. 26Wb+. 35Re-. l9Gi+. 39Ai+. 22Ie+. 36Py) was developed. Cross-validational coefficients for scores... more
Abstract To forecast four-year, two-year, and single-course grades in college, a California Psychological Inventory (CPI) equation (30.60-. 26Wb+. 35Re-. l9Gi+. 39Ai+. 22Ie+. 36Py) was developed. Cross-validational coefficients for scores on the equation were. 38 for 326 males and. 36 for 570 females.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Abstract 1. Presents results of a secondary analysis of TD Wilson and PW Linville's (see record 1982-26799-001) study that reported an attributional intervention that helped college freshmen to improve their academic... more
Abstract 1. Presents results of a secondary analysis of TD Wilson and PW Linville's (see record 1982-26799-001) study that reported an attributional intervention that helped college freshmen to improve their academic performance. One long-term behavioral relationship, the tendency of Ss not experiencing the attributional therapy to leave college, proved on closer scrutiny to have an implication opposite to the one required by Wilson and Linville: The departing students had higher GPAs than did the students who remained in college. ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Abstract 1. On a composite sample of 940 individuals assessed at the Institute of Personality Assessment and Research, a series of analyses examining the extent and nature of correspondence between (1) observer descriptions of personality... more
Abstract 1. On a composite sample of 940 individuals assessed at the Institute of Personality Assessment and Research, a series of analyses examining the extent and nature of correspondence between (1) observer descriptions of personality using the California Q-Set and (2) scores on the standard scales of the self-report California Psychological Inventory was performed. The instruments converged in the domains of social competence (vs interpersonal inadequacy), rectitude (vs rebellion), intellectual openness, tender- ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Abstract Family background data and California Psychological Inventory (CPI) protocols were obtained from 1643 Greek students (825 males, 818 females), from 19 schools in upper, above average, below average, and lower socioeconomic... more
Abstract Family background data and California Psychological Inventory (CPI) protocols were obtained from 1643 Greek students (825 males, 818 females), from 19 schools in upper, above average, below average, and lower socioeconomic districts of the City of Athens. Students were enrolled in Grades 8 and 9 (gymnasio) or 10 through 12 (likio). Background variables, individual CPI scales, and a combination of six CPI scales developed earlier to forecast high school academic achievement in the United States were related to ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Abstract Three concerns that limit the implications of normative decision research were described in this study. First, because there is no unequivocal way to determine whether any particular base rate is appropriate in a particular... more
Abstract Three concerns that limit the implications of normative decision research were described in this study. First, because there is no unequivocal way to determine whether any particular base rate is appropriate in a particular instance, the significance of the apparent base rate underutilization reported by a number of investigators is unclear. Second, because there are discrepancies between natural language and formal logic, word problems are an uncertain domain within which to gauge human inferential skills. Third, because different ...
Research Interests:
In a longitudinal study using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT), we examined changes in ego development in response to the events of September 11, 2001. A sample of 24 individuals responded to the WUSCT in both... more
In a longitudinal study using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT), we examined changes in ego development in response to the events of September 11, 2001. A sample of 24 individuals responded to the WUSCT in both the summer and fall of 2001, before and after the events of September 11. A significant decrease in mean ego level was found following September 11, as well as more equivocal support for an increase in variability in responses to the WUSCT.
Research Interests:
Everett (1983) has proposed that, under certain conditions, replicability provides an answer to the question of the number of dimensions to retain in component analysis. But replicability must logically be a function of sample size as... more
Everett (1983) has proposed that, under certain conditions, replicability provides an answer to the question of the number of dimensions to retain in component analysis. But replicability must logically be a function of sample size as well as dimensionality. In the present study, the effects of sample size and sample composition are systematically examined on the replicability of principal components. Using observer ratings of personality from the California Adult Q-Set, comparability coefficients are examined in 192 series of principal ...
Research Interests:
Cognitive theories of psychopathology argue that thoughts play an active role between external events and subjective experience. These approaches suggest a "mediation hypothesis": adaptive thoughts should serve as... more
Cognitive theories of psychopathology argue that thoughts play an active role between external events and subjective experience. These approaches suggest a "mediation hypothesis": adaptive thoughts should serve as buffers against life stresses. In the present study, we gathered data from 125 subjects regarding (1) the levels of stress they had experienced in the recent past; (2) their current feelings of anxiety and depression; and (3) the extent to which they endorsed illogical, unrealistic views of life. Contrary to the mediation hypothesis, no differential impact of environmental stress was found across levels of adaptive cognitions. Rather, adaptive cognitions emerged as a powerful independent variable, showing strong direct relations with measures of distress. It is argued that improved measures of environmental distress will be necessary to provide a more powerful test of the mediation hypothesis.
Research Interests:
Initiatives which are intended to reduce the risk of a terrorist attack may impact not only civil liberties including privacy, but civil rights or equality as well. In the present paper, we consider conceptual tradeoffs among attitudes... more
Initiatives which are intended to reduce the risk of a terrorist attack may impact not only civil liberties including privacy, but civil rights or equality as well. In the present paper, we consider conceptual tradeoffs among attitudes towards security, civil liberties and civil rights, and examine the psychometric structure of these attitudes in both congressional ratings and survey data. An examination of ipsative preferences, a circumplex analysis and analyses of latent structure converge in supporting the position that tradeoffs in post‐9/11 America are ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Ego development is a parameter of social and cognitive maturity which consists of a series of developmental stages, ranging from the impulsive and self-centered, through the conforming and rule-following, to the conscientious and... more
Ego development is a parameter of social and cognitive maturity which consists of a series of developmental stages, ranging from the impulsive and self-centered, through the conforming and rule-following, to the conscientious and reflective, and finally to the individualistic and ...
In this experimental study, 194 participants were assigned to make aesthetic judgments concerning a series of Time magazine covers of varying contrast and brightness. Participants were presented with a subset of covers depicting Hillary... more
In this experimental study, 194 participants were assigned to make aesthetic judgments concerning a series of Time magazine covers of varying contrast and brightness. Participants were presented with a subset of covers depicting Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, and the Person of the Year. ...
Psychologists, political scientists, and experts in election law present a multidisciplinary perspective on voting. Personality characteristics such as motivation, values, and efficacy are considered, as are demographic variables such as... more
Psychologists, political scientists, and experts in election law present a multidisciplinary perspective on voting. Personality characteristics such as motivation, values, and efficacy are considered, as are demographic variables such as education, age, and social class Examines the reciprocal relationship that exists in the functions of voting for individual and society: the interplay between persons and institutions gives rise to the perception that a government is or is not legitimate, and to the sense that an individual does, or does not, ...