Biomedical subjects

Bart Soenens

Publications and source records attributed to Bart Soenens.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Personality, identity styles, and religiosity: an integrative study among late and middle adolescents.

Past research has shown that the way people deal with religion is related to prejudice. Therefore, it is important to study the determinants of individual differences in adolescent religious attitudes. In the present study, it is proposed that both differences in personality and identity formation might determine these religious attitudes. Recently, Duriez, Soenens, and Beyers (2004, Journal of Personality, 72, 877-910) tested an integrative model of the Five Factor Model of personality, Berzonsky's (1990, Advances in Personal Construct Psychology, 1, 155-186) identity styles and the religiosity dimensions of Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs. Symbolic. In this model, it is assumed that the relationships between adolescent personality and adolescent religious attitudes are mediated by the identity styles. The aim was to replicate this model among late adolescents (Sample 1; N=332) and to test whether it extends to middle adolescence (Sample 2; N=323). Whereas most personality factors were weakly and inconsistently related to the religiosity dimensions, Openness to Experience was consistently positively related to Literal vs. Symbolic and negatively to Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence. Whereas the former relation was mediated by the informational identity style, the latter relation was mediated by the normative identity style in Sample 1 only.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Brief report: the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire: factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity in Dutch-speaking late adolescents.

The reliability and validity of a Dutch version of the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ) were evaluated. In Study 1, the instrument was found to exhibit a clear factor structure and acceptable reliability. Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, both a model with two process factors (Commitment, Exploration) and a model with four content factors (Ideological Commitment, Ideological Exploration, Interpersonal Commitment, Interpersonal Exploration) evidenced a good fit once direction of wording was taken into account. In Study 2, moderate convergence was observed between Commitment and Exploration, and continuous measures of identity statuses and identity styles. The results of both studies combined indicated that the Dutch version of the EIPQ may be recommended as a research tool with college students.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Unpacking commitment and exploration: preliminary validation of an integrative model of late adolescent identity formation.

A model of identity formation comprising four structural dimensions (Commitment Making, Identification with Commitment, Exploration in Depth, and Exploration in Breadth) was developed through confirmatory factor analysis. In a sample of 565 emerging adults, this model provided a better fit than did alternative two- and three-dimensional models, thereby validating the unpacking of both exploration and commitment. Regression analyses indicated that Commitment Making was significantly related to family context in accordance with hypotheses. Identification with Commitment and both exploration dimensions were significantly related to adjustment and family context, again in accordance with hypotheses. Identification with Commitment was positively related to positive adjustment indicators and negatively to depressive symptoms, whereas Exploration in Breadth was positively related to depressive symptoms and substance use. Exploration in Depth, on the other hand, was positively related to academic adjustment and negatively to substance use. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Achievement↗

PubMed2006

Parenting and adolescent problem behavior: an integrated model with adolescent self-disclosure and perceived parental knowledge as intervening variables.

Parental monitoring, assessed as (perceived) parental knowledge of the child's behavior, has been established as a consistent predictor of problem behavior. However, recent research indicates that parental knowledge has more to do with adolescents' self-disclosure than with parents' active monitoring. Although these findings may suggest that parents exert little influence on adolescents' problem behavior, the authors argue that this conclusion is premature, because self-disclosure may in itself be influenced by parents' rearing style. This study (a) examined relations between parenting dimensions and self-disclosure and (b) compared 3 models describing the relations among parenting, self-disclosure, perceived parental knowledge, and problem behavior. Results in a sample of 10th- to 12th-grade students, their parents, and their peers demonstrated that high responsiveness, high behavioral control, and low psychological control are independent predictors of self-disclosure. In addition, structural equation modeling analyses demonstrated that parenting is both indirectly (through self-disclosure) and directly associated with perceived parental knowledge but is not directly related to problem behavior or affiliation with peers engaging in problem behavior.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

A developmental contextual perspective on identity construction in emerging adulthood: change dynamics in commitment formation and commitment evaluation.

A developmental contextual test of a dual-cycle model of identity formation is presented. In addition to a commitment-formation cycle-represented by Marcia's (1966) classical dimensions of exploration in breadth and commitment making--the model comprises a commitment-evaluation cycle--constituted by 2 additional dimensions of exploration in depth and identification with commitment. In a sample of 402 college students assessed 4 times over 2 years, both dimensions of the commitment-formation cycle and exploration in depth increased across time. Identification with commitment showed a slight decrease across time. Latent growth curve (LGC) modeling analyses indicated that the 2 identity cycles are interwoven in a dynamic interplay that defines identity formation. Contextual influences on identity development were identified through a natural experiment. Commitment evaluation constituted the core identity cycle in the normative-progression group (i.e., students who moved on to the sophomore year). Both commitment formation and commitment evaluation were at work in the reorientation group (i.e., students who repeated their freshman year or changed their major). Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Personality prototypes in eating disorders based on the Big Five model.

A three factor model of personality pathology was investigated in a clinical sample of 335 female eating disordered patients. Cluster analysis of the Big Five NEO-FFI scales (Costa & McCrae, 1992) yielded three distinct personality profiles, which were consistent with previous studies: (1) a resilient/high functioning cluster with no clinical elevations on the NEO-FFI scales; (2) an undercontrolled/emotionally dysregulated cluster with elevated scores on the Neuroticism scale and low scores on Conscientiousness and Agreeableness; (3) an overcontrolled/constricted cluster showing high scores on Neuroticism and Conscientiousness and low scores on Openness to Experience. Comparing the three personality prototypes with respect to Axis I and Axis II disorders,resilients reported systematically less clinical and personality problems than both undercontrollers and overcontrollers. Compared to the latter, undercontrollers showed more impulsive personality features and behaviors. Finally, cluster membership was not clearly associated with eating disorder subtypes, suggesting that there is considerable variance in personality features and/or pathology within the various eating disorder categories.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Motivation to change in eating disorder patients: a conceptual clarification on the basis of self-determination theory.

OBJECTIVE: The current study critically reviews the different motivational frameworks that are applied in the study of eating disorders and provides a more comprehensive conceptualization of motivation to change on the basis of self-determination theory. METHOD: The most important conceptualizations of motivation to change among eating disorder patients are identified. RESULTS: Eating disorder patients' motivation to change has been defined very differently, adding confusion to the field and preventing research from being cumulative. On the basis of self-determination theory we argue (a) that the quality of motivation to change is primarily reflected in the degree of internalization of change rather than by the intrinsic motivation to change; (b) that the internalization of change suggests more than only the change being initiated from within the person (internal motivation) for it requires an acceptance of the personal importance of change; and (c) that, in addition to its quality, the quantity of motivation to change should be considered too. DISCUSSION: These three conceptual issues are applied to the study of motivational dynamics in eating-disordered patients.

Feeding and Eating Disorders↗

PubMed2005

Social-psychological profiles of identity styles: attitudinal and social-cognitive correlates in late adolescence.

This study examined the relationships between three identity styles (i.e. the information style, the normative style, and the diffuse/avoidant style) and a number of social-cognitive and attitudinal variables (including empathy, prejudice, and conservatism). Discriminant analysis on a sample of late adolescents (N=393) led to the conclusion that two classes of variables differentiate between the three identity styles. Maladaptive coping strategies and, to a lesser extent, low empathy distinguished mainly between the information style and the normative style on the one hand and the diffuse/avoidant style on the other hand. Need for closure and measures of prejudice and conservatism differentiated primarily between the normative style and the two other styles. These two classes of variables can be related to two basic dimensions in current theory on adolescents' identity styles, that is, active vs. superficial processing of information and adherence to traditional opinions vs. openmindedness.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

The intergenerational transmission of perfectionism: parents' psychological control as an intervening variable.

The present study investigated the role of parental (adaptive and maladaptive) intrapersonal perfectionism as a predictor of parental psychological control and the role of parents' psychological control in the intergenerational transmission of perfectionism in a sample of female late adolescents and their parents. First, parental maladaptive perfectionism, but not parental adaptive perfectionism, significantly predicted parents' psychological control even when controlling for parents' neuroticism. This relationship was found to be stronger for fathers than for mothers. Second, a significant direct relationship was found between mothers' and daughters' maladaptive perfectionism but not between fathers' and daughters' maladaptive perfectionism. Third, process analyses showed that, for both mothers and fathers, psychological control is an intervening variable in the relationship between parents' and daughters' maladaptive perfectionism.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

Personality, identity styles, and religiosity: an integrative study among late adolescents in Flanders (Belgium).

The relationship between the two main dimensions of the religiosity domain (Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs. Symbolic) and both the Five-Factor Model of personality and Berzonsky's (1990) identity styles was investigated in a Flemish sample of late adolescents (N = 335). The results show that, whereas Exclusion vs. Inclusion is unrelated to any of the personality dimensions, Literal vs. Symbolic was strongly related to Openness to Experience and moderately to Agreeableness. Further, it was shown that Exclusion vs. Inclusion was positively related to the normative identity style, and that Literal vs. Symbolic correlated positively with the informational identity style and negatively with the diffuse/avoidant identity style. As expected, the relation between Openness to Experience and Literal vs. Symbolic was fully mediated by the informational identity style. Once Openness to Experience was taken into account, Agreeableness was no longer an important determinant of Literal vs. Symbolic.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Reconsidering the relationship between parenting and religiosity.

This study examined the relation between religiosity and parenting. 311 parents from the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium completed the Post-critical Belief Scale and reported on their style of parenting. Scores for religiosity (as measured by the Exclusion vs Inclusion of Transcendence dimension) were not significantly correlated with parenting styles. In contrast, the way in which religious contents are processed (as measured by the Literal vs Symbolic dimension) was significantly correlated with dimensions of parenting style.

Authoritarianism↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Examining the motivational impact of intrinsic versus extrinsic goal framing and autonomy-supportive versus internally controlling communication style on early adolescents' academic achievement.

The present experimental research examined whether framing early adolescents' (11- to 12-year-olds) learning activity in terms of the attainment of an extrinsic (i.e., physical attractiveness) versus intrinsic (i.e., health) goal and communicating these different goal contents in an internally controlling versus autonomy-supportive way affect performance. Both conceptual and rote learning were assessed. Three experimental field studies, 2 among obese and 1 among nonobese participants, confirmed the hypothesis that extrinsic goal framing and internal control undermine conceptual (but not rote) learning, even in comparison with a control group. Study 3 indicated that the positive effect of intrinsic goal framing on conceptual learning was mediated by task involvement, whereas the positive effect of autonomy-supportive communication style on conceptual learning was mediated by relative autonomous motivation.

Achievement↗