Friday, August 13, 2010
Personality set for life by 1st grade, study suggests
Sat Aug 7, 1:36 PM
LiveScience Staff
LiveScience.com
Our personalities stay pretty much the same throughout our lives, from our early childhood years to after we're over the hill, according to a new study.
The results show personality traits observed in children as young as first graders are a strong predictor of adult behavior.
"We remain recognizably the same person," said study author Christopher Nave, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Riverside. "This speaks to the importance of understanding personality because it does follow us wherever we go across time and contexts."
The study will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Tracking personalities
Using data from a 1960s study of approximately 2,400 ethnically diverse schoolchildren (grades 1 - 6) in Hawaii, researchers compared teacher personality ratings of the students with videotaped interviews of 144 of those individuals 40 years later.
They examined four personality attributes - talkativeness (called verbal fluency), adaptability (cope well with new situations), impulsiveness and self-minimizing behavior (essentially being humble to the point of minimizing one's importance).
Among the findings:
Talkative youngsters tended to show interest in intellectual matters, speak fluently, try to control situations, and exhibit a high degree of intelligence as adults. Children who rated low in verbal fluency were observed as adults to seek advice, give up when faced with obstacles, and exhibit an awkward interpersonal style.
Children rated as highly adaptable tended, as middle-age adults, to behave cheerfully, speak fluently and show interest in intellectual matters. Those who rated low in adaptability as children were observed as adults to say negative things about themselves, seek advice and exhibit an awkward interpersonal style.
Students rated as impulsive were inclined to speak loudly, display a wide range of interests and be talkative as adults. Less impulsive kids tended to be fearful or timid, kept others at a distance and expressed insecurity as adults.
Children characterized as self-minimizing were likely to express guilt, seek reassurance, say negative things about themselves and express insecurity as adults. Those who were ranked low on a self-minimizing scale tended to speak loudly, show interest in intellectual matters and exhibit condescending behavior as adults.
Changing personality
Previous research has suggested that while our personalities can change, it's not an easy undertaking.
Personality is "a part of us, a part of our biology," Nave said. "Life events still influence our behaviors, yet we must acknowledge the power of personality in understanding future behavior as well."
Future research will "help us understand how personality is related to behavior as well as examine the extent to which we may be able to change our personality," Nave said.
LiveScience Staff
LiveScience.com
Our personalities stay pretty much the same throughout our lives, from our early childhood years to after we're over the hill, according to a new study.
The results show personality traits observed in children as young as first graders are a strong predictor of adult behavior.
"We remain recognizably the same person," said study author Christopher Nave, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Riverside. "This speaks to the importance of understanding personality because it does follow us wherever we go across time and contexts."
The study will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Tracking personalities
Using data from a 1960s study of approximately 2,400 ethnically diverse schoolchildren (grades 1 - 6) in Hawaii, researchers compared teacher personality ratings of the students with videotaped interviews of 144 of those individuals 40 years later.
They examined four personality attributes - talkativeness (called verbal fluency), adaptability (cope well with new situations), impulsiveness and self-minimizing behavior (essentially being humble to the point of minimizing one's importance).
Among the findings:
Talkative youngsters tended to show interest in intellectual matters, speak fluently, try to control situations, and exhibit a high degree of intelligence as adults. Children who rated low in verbal fluency were observed as adults to seek advice, give up when faced with obstacles, and exhibit an awkward interpersonal style.
Children rated as highly adaptable tended, as middle-age adults, to behave cheerfully, speak fluently and show interest in intellectual matters. Those who rated low in adaptability as children were observed as adults to say negative things about themselves, seek advice and exhibit an awkward interpersonal style.
Students rated as impulsive were inclined to speak loudly, display a wide range of interests and be talkative as adults. Less impulsive kids tended to be fearful or timid, kept others at a distance and expressed insecurity as adults.
Children characterized as self-minimizing were likely to express guilt, seek reassurance, say negative things about themselves and express insecurity as adults. Those who were ranked low on a self-minimizing scale tended to speak loudly, show interest in intellectual matters and exhibit condescending behavior as adults.
Changing personality
Previous research has suggested that while our personalities can change, it's not an easy undertaking.
Personality is "a part of us, a part of our biology," Nave said. "Life events still influence our behaviors, yet we must acknowledge the power of personality in understanding future behavior as well."
Future research will "help us understand how personality is related to behavior as well as examine the extent to which we may be able to change our personality," Nave said.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Govt plays down child porn fears over new scanners
2 hours, 20 minutes ago
LONDON (AFP) - The government sought on Tuesday to allay fears that body scanners being introduced at airports would break laws against creating indecent images of children.
Transport officials said the scanners would be introduced at Heathrow within weeks and then rolled out to other airports as part of efforts to tighten security after the failed US airliner bomb plot on Christmas Day.
Privacy campaigners told the Guardian the images created by the machines were so graphic they amounted to "virtual strip searching" and have called for safeguards to protect the privacy of passengers involved.
Terri Dowty, of civil rights group Action On Rights For Children, said the scanners could breach child protection laws, which made it illegal to create an indecent image or a "pseudo-image" of a child.
"They do not have the legal power to use full body scanners in this way," she told the newspaper.
Rights group Liberty urged body scanning to be used only when necessary and with "the strongest degree of privacy protection."
"Any response to terrorism must be proportionate and respectful of the human rights values of dignity, privacy and equal treatment," the group said in a statement.
A Department for Transport spokesman said a code of practice was being drawn up for airport staff who will use the scanners.
"We understand the concerns expressed about privacy in relation to the deployment of body scanners," he said.
"It is vital staff are properly trained and we are developing a code of practice to ensure these concerns are properly taken into account.
"Existing safeguards also mean those operating scanners are separated from the device, so unable to see the person to whom the image relates, and these anonymous images are deleted immediately," he added.
Another spokesman said operator BAA would introduce the scanners "initially at Heathrow within weeks, and we are consulting urgently with the airport industry on how they might best be introduced at other UK airports."
BAA -- which also runs Stansted airport in London, and Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports -- has said it will introduce scanners "as soon as practical."
Some countries, led by the United States, have announced additional security measures at airports since a Nigerian man was charged with trying to blow up a US-bound jet on December 25.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, reportedly confessed to being trained by an Al-Qaeda bombmaker in Yemen for the suicide mission on the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
It was foiled when explosives allegedly sewn into the man's underwear failed to detonate, and passengers jumped on him.
2 hours, 20 minutes ago
LONDON (AFP) - The government sought on Tuesday to allay fears that body scanners being introduced at airports would break laws against creating indecent images of children.
Transport officials said the scanners would be introduced at Heathrow within weeks and then rolled out to other airports as part of efforts to tighten security after the failed US airliner bomb plot on Christmas Day.
Privacy campaigners told the Guardian the images created by the machines were so graphic they amounted to "virtual strip searching" and have called for safeguards to protect the privacy of passengers involved.
Terri Dowty, of civil rights group Action On Rights For Children, said the scanners could breach child protection laws, which made it illegal to create an indecent image or a "pseudo-image" of a child.
"They do not have the legal power to use full body scanners in this way," she told the newspaper.
Rights group Liberty urged body scanning to be used only when necessary and with "the strongest degree of privacy protection."
"Any response to terrorism must be proportionate and respectful of the human rights values of dignity, privacy and equal treatment," the group said in a statement.
A Department for Transport spokesman said a code of practice was being drawn up for airport staff who will use the scanners.
"We understand the concerns expressed about privacy in relation to the deployment of body scanners," he said.
"It is vital staff are properly trained and we are developing a code of practice to ensure these concerns are properly taken into account.
"Existing safeguards also mean those operating scanners are separated from the device, so unable to see the person to whom the image relates, and these anonymous images are deleted immediately," he added.
Another spokesman said operator BAA would introduce the scanners "initially at Heathrow within weeks, and we are consulting urgently with the airport industry on how they might best be introduced at other UK airports."
BAA -- which also runs Stansted airport in London, and Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports -- has said it will introduce scanners "as soon as practical."
Some countries, led by the United States, have announced additional security measures at airports since a Nigerian man was charged with trying to blow up a US-bound jet on December 25.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, reportedly confessed to being trained by an Al-Qaeda bombmaker in Yemen for the suicide mission on the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
It was foiled when explosives allegedly sewn into the man's underwear failed to detonate, and passengers jumped on him.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Expand sex ed to all grades: report
Tue Jun 2, 3:23 PM
Teens are being sexually active but are not getting the information or services they need to be properly educated about sex, according to a report on sexual health released Tuesday.
Planned Parenthood Toronto, York University, the University of Toronto, Wilfrid Laurier University and Toronto Public Health produced the survey.
In one of the largest studies of its kind, 1,216 Toronto teens aged 13 to 18 of different racial backgrounds and sexual orientation were interviewed about their sexual experiences by other teens between December 2006 and August 2007.
Interviewer David Anokye said teens want to hear about more than HIV/AIDS, pregnancy and birth control, which are covered in Ontario's sex ed curriculum.
"A lot of people talk about more the scare tactics and not much the pleasure part of it," Anoyke said. "I mean, we know people are being sexually active, and we know people are out there doing these things, but no one's really teaching us about it."
Overall, 37 per cent of teens in the survey said they were sexually active, but some didn't know how to define "sex."
"Very surprising to us was that many kids were unsure about whether they had had sex or not," said one of the study's authors, Sarah Flicker, a professor of environmental studies at York University. "And even among those who were unsure, some reported that they had engaged in oral sex, anal sex or vaginal sex."
The report recommends age-appropriate sexual education for all grades, starting in kindergarten.
Right now, students in Ontario schools receive sex education in Grade 7 and Grade 9. Among those surveyed, eight per cent said they had not had any sex ed at all.
Both young women and men said they were most likely to seek information from friends but would prefer to get it from professional sources such as doctors, nurses and teachers, according to the report.
Of those surveyed, 83 per cent said they had never accessed sexual heath care from a doctor or a clinic, many because of concerns over confidentiality and fear of being judged.
"The information and services that work for a 14-year-old Asian lesbian are not going to be the same as what works for an 18-year-old straight African male who is a newcomer to Canada," said Flicker.
One of report's 70 recommendations included tailoring sexual health programs to a diverse youth population and ensuring that staff at clinics reflects that diversity.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Neglected Russian girl found mimicking cats and dogs; father faces charges
2 hours, 39 minutes ago
By Steve Gutterman, The Associated Press
MOSCOW - A five-year-old Russian girl has been placed in state custody after being found alone in an apartment filled with cats and dogs and imitating the animals' behaviour.
Police in the Transbaikal region of Siberia said Wednesday that the girl was kept shut up with the animals in a filthy apartment in the regional capital of Chita, where she lived with relatives, including her father and grandparents.
Larisa Popova, head of the children's affairs unit at the local police precinct, told state-run Rossiya television that the girl had developed feral characteristics.
"The child lived in unsanitary conditions. There was a horrible stench," Popova said. "There were many animals - both dogs and cats. In all probability, the girl lived with and was raised by these animals."
Police said the girl understands Russian but rarely speaks and they are gathering evidence to support neglect charges.
Nina Yemelyanova, head of the reception department at a children's home where the girl has been placed, said the child appears to mimic the behaviour of animals.
"Today, when I left the room, she jumped up to the door and started to bark," Yemelyanova told Rossiya television. "And she does not know how to behave at the table - when she eats, the tries to put the spoon aside and lap from the dish."
Regional police said water, heat and gas to the apartment had long since been shut off for non-payment.
The ITAR-Tass news agency cited the girl's mother as saying the child's father had taken her away without her permission when she was 2 1/2 years old. But the father claimed his mother-in-law had asked him to take the child because the mother was not taking proper care of her, the news agency quoted regional police spokesman Yegor Markov as saying.
Markov said the father could be charged with neglect of a minor, which carries a prison sentence of up to three years.
Chita is 4,700 kilometres east of Moscow.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Saudi Arabia mulls marriage ban for girls under 18
Mon May 4, 1:00 PM
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia may ban marriage for girls below 18, a government minister said after a case of an eight-year old girl marrying a man more than 40 years her senior drew international criticism and embarrassed the kingdom.
"Among the options that are available and excluding the issue of puberty, is to ban marriage for (people) under 18," Justice Minister Mohammed al-Eissa told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
He was responding to a question about his ministry's plan to deal with the marriage of young girls.
"A girl below 18 is often not fit to take the family responsibility especially if she quickly gives birth (after marriage)," he said.
Saudi Arabia is a patriarchal society that applies an ascetic form of Sunni Islam which bans unrelated men and women from mixing and gives fathers the right to wed their sons and daughters to whomever they deem fit.
Many Saudi clerics, including the kingdom's chief cleric Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al al-Sheikh, endorse the practice of marrying underage girls, arguing that in doing so they avoid spinsterhood or the temptation of engaging in relationships outside the wedlock.
A 50-year old man in the small Saudi town of Onaiza agreed this week to divorce his eight year-old bride.
Financial considerations could prompt some Saudi families to wed their underage daughters to much older men.
Many young girls in Arab countries that observe tribal traditions are married to older husbands but not before puberty. Such marriages are also driven by poverty in countries like Yemen, one of the poorest countries outside Africa.
(Reporting by Souhail Karam; Editing by Jason Benham)
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