Electronic Library of Scientific Literature - © Academic Electronic Press
Volume 46 / No. 1 / 2004
Marta JURČOVÁ, Ľubica ŠTUBŇOVÁ
Institute of Experimental Psychology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Abstract: This is a synthesis of research data on three essential sources of a person's perception of creative climate, viz., original thinking, personality traits and social skills. Our sample comprised 227 adolescents in whom all the three components were compared in extreme groups of high (n = 32) and low originality (n = 37). The methods employed included: The Torrance Figural Test of Creative Thinking - TTCT, Riggio's Social Skills Inventory - SSI, Cattell's 16PF - Fifth Edition, The Creative Climate Questionnaire - CCQ (Isaksen, Kaufmann). Our findings permit a deeper insight into the interaction personality-environment as follows: 1) original thinking is an effective mediator for perceiving the characteristics of creative climate. 2) A key role is here played by its bonds with prosocial traits that are the components of extroversion, independence and receptivity. The most conspicuous source of social skills in relation to creative climate is empathy. A mutual interplay between high originality, prosocial traits and empathy permits not only to positively reflect, but also to generate a climate that stimulates creativity and promotes it - where precisely subjects with these particular traits can draw most profit from it. On the other hand, climate dimensions need not suit introverts and those with lower social skills and originality, with whom they are not compatible. For persons with lower originality (in its relations with anxiety and excessive self-control), creative climate may spell uncertainty and subjective threat which becomes reflected in a higher rating of the dimensions representing emotional safety.
Key words: originality, personality, social skills, perceiving creative climate
pp. 3-19
Tomasz KNUROWSKI1, Djurdjica LAZIC2, Jitse P. van DIJK3, Andrea MADARASOVA-GECKOVA4, Beata TOBIASZ-ADAMCZYK1, Wim J.A. van den HEUVEL5
1 Department of Medical Sociology, Chair of Epidemiology and
Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University, 7 Kopernika
Str., 31-034 Krakow, Poland, E-mail: myknurow@cyf-kr.edu.pl
2 Department of Family Medicine, Andrija Stampar School of
Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia
3 Department of Social Medicine, University of Groningen, The
Netherlands
4 Institute of Social Sciences, P.J. Safarik's University,
Kosice, Slovakia
5 Institute for Rehabilitation Research, Hoensbroek, The
Netherlands
Abstract: On the basis of the WHO definition of health, we aimed at exploring the model of health and identifying the most important dimensions of health among the elderly in two Central European countries: Poland and Croatia. Randomly chosen elderly aged 65-85 from Krakow (Poland) and from Zagreb and some smaller cities in Croatia were interviewed on various measures of health and life satisfaction. Factor analysis was used to explore the database (528 and 286 interviews with Polish and Croatian elderly, respectively). Four components of health, explaining over 60 percent of variance, were discovered in both countries. The first (termed physical limitations, consisting of: ADL-activities of daily living, IADL-instrumental activities of daily living, physical and role functioning scales) and the fourth component (termed physical complaints, formed by chronic conditions and perceived bodily pain) were recognized as the biological dimension of health. The second component, accounting in our opinion for the psychological dimension of health, correlated with two life satisfaction scales, mental health scale, loneliness and depression scales. The third component, formed by three sub-scales of the social support interactions scale, can be viewed as the social dimension of health. Self-rated health among Polish elderly correlated with the fourth component and among Croatian elderly weakly with the second component. Additionally, the social functioning scale correlated with the first component in Croatia. Obtained results suggest that biological dimension of health with regard specifically to functional limitations is the major determinant of health in old age, however, all dimensions are essential in defining health perception in the elderly in both these Central European countries. With some exceptions, mainly the same scales in each country form the core structure of each component.
Key words: dimensions of health, the elderly, Poland, Croatia
pp. 21-30
Ludmila FIALOVÁ
Department of Psychology, Pedagogy and Didactics, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, Charles University Prague, J. Martího 31, 16252 Prague 6, Czech Republic, E-mail: fialova@ftvs.cuni.cz
Abstract: An analysis of health promoting behaviors in Czech adult population - sporting (n = 272) and non-sporting (n = 128) - and a comparison with German (n = 400) and Russian (n = 400) adults is presented in this article. In the investigation a questionnaire was employed called "Sport, Health and Body Concepts in Central and Eastern Europe" which included mostly closed questions requiring answers on a Lickert type scale. Sporting adults were found to be more satisfied with their personal well-being, their health and bodies, they suffer less from psychosomatic difficulties (restless sleep, headache, backache, digestion problems, easily feeling weary) and their attitudes to health were more mature (healthier way of living, more regular visits to the physician, smoking less often, greater care of health, better condition and appearance).
Key words: sport, satisfaction, appearance, physical condition of the body, health
pp. 31-55
Karl PELTZER
Human Science Research Council & University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X9182, Cape Town 8000, South Africa, E-mail: peltzerk@mweb.co.za
Abstract: The study aimed at investigating preventive health behavior in relation to personality, comparative optimism and religiosity among 200 black and 200 white South Africans, randomly selected from two urban communities. Results indicate that no significant racial and gender differences were found regarding the overall measure of preventive health behavior. Comparative optimism, religiosity and the lie scale were positively linked to preventive health behavior while neuroticism and psychoticism were inversely associated with preventive health behavior. For Blacks, on the one hand, comparative optimism was positively associated with preventive health behavior. On the other hand, psychoticism was negatively related to preventive health behavior, while Whites positively linked extraversion and religiosity to preventive health behavior. Results give insights into culturally diverse preventive health behavior practices and personality factors that influence them, which have practical implications on health promotion.
Key words: preventive health behavior, personality, optimism, religiosity, urban adults, black and white South Africans
pp. 37-47
Jitka GURŇÁKOVÁ, Daniela KUSÁ
Institute of Experimental Psychology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovak Republic, E-mail: expsgur@savba.sk
Abstract: The study is focused on personal theories of reality in the context of gender issues. Empirical findings are presented with the analysis of contents of basic personal beliefs (Epstein) in gender-stereotyped and androgynous men and women. Significant differences were shown in positivity of beliefs in relationship to gender self-concept, which were relatively independent of participants' biological sex. A masculine component of self-concept appears as beneficial for both androgynous men and women in terms of perception and evaluation of reality where masculine optics seems to be favoried.
Key words: basic personal beliefs, cognitive-experiential theory of self (Epstein), masculinity, femininity, androgyny
pp. 49-64
Jasminka BOBIĆ, Milica GOMZI
Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Ksaverska cesta 2, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract: The study reports on relations between subjective perception of memory and concentration efficiency, and objective test performance, as part of a study on possible effects of xylene on cognitive functions in professionally exposed workers. Digit Span from Wechsler's Memory Scale and Benton's Visual Retention Tests were used for assessment of memory. The sample comprised 29 healthy subjects exposed between 2 and 29 years to low concentrations of xylene through inhalation. Out of the 29 subjects, four showed slightly lowered results on one of the memory tests, nevertheless, 11 subjects stated that they have memory difficulties. The sample was then divided into two groups on the basis of the length of exposure: 15 subjects were exposed to xylene for more than 11 years, while 14 had exposure up to 10 years. Ten out of 15 from the first group complained about their memory, in contrast to only one in the second group. In the first group, three subjects had lowered scores, while only two of them complained about their memory. In the second group, only one had lowered scores, but she did not complain. Observed frequent complaints about memory correspond to the length of exposure but not to the test results. Similar discrepancies were found between observed simple response time to light stimuli and subjective estimation of mental concentration ability.
Key words: memory, mental concentration, xylene, simple response time, psychological performance, misperception
pp. 65-71
Francisco MARTÍNEZ-SÁNCHEZ1, Jordi FERNÁNDEZ-CASTRO2, María Carmen APARICIO2
1 Universidad de Murcia
2 Departamento de Psicología de la Educación, Facultad de
Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, 08193 -
Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain, E-mail: jordi.fernandez@uab.es
Abstract: The main purpose of the present study was to compare alexithymia and personal competence as moderators of stress symptoms between two different groups, university students and schoolteachers. A sample of 218 university students (38 men and 180 women) and 114 teachers of primary and secondary schools (37 men and 77 women) answered the Personal Competence Scale (Wallston, 1992), the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Results show that Alexithymia and Personal Competence are inversely correlated. Overall, alexithymia was found to exert more influence on distress than perceived personal competence; however, the role of perceived personal competence in students is more important than that amongst teachers. We conclude, therefore, that alexithymia and perceived personal competence can influence distress responses.
Key words: alexithymia, personal competence, stress
pp. 73-81
Elena KRETOVÁ
Research Institute for Child Psychology and Pathopsychology, Trnavská 112, 821 02 Bratislava, Slovak Republic, E-mail: vudpap@nextra.sk
Abstract: Researched were strategies in problem solving of conflict situations in groups of 8-11-year-old Roma (N = 80) and non-Roma (N = 85) children and the frequency of occurrence of these strategies on the basis of ethnic group membership. A significant predictor of ethnic membership was helplessness in solving conflict situations (answer: "I don't know) with a higher incidence in non-Roma children. However, the difference noted is based on a social rather than an ethnic principle of comparison (Roma children in the sample prevailingly came from Roma settlements) and suggests a distinct handicap in Roma children in the sphere of social competence and security.
Key words: ethnic membership, Roma children, social helplessness and competence, Roma settlements
pp. 83-88
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