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Absorption: Construct Explication by Q-Sort Assessments of Personality

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Abstract

This study reports on observer-assessed personality correlates of the personality disposition of absorption. A total of 45 young females and 43 young males were measured via the Tellegen Absorption Scale, with the relations of absorption to the independently evaluated items of the California Q-sort then being examined. Results indicate that for both sexes, the disposition to enter states of high absorption coexists with an implicative pattern of personality items consistent with the core conceptual definition of the disposition as defined by Tellegen (1992)—the willingness to destructure conventional modes of cognitive and perceptual processing. Sex differences in the correlates of absorption were also observed, suggesting that the phenotypical expression of the latent construct of absorption is moderated by sex.

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    Considering our presented data, it can be stated that all factor scores of absorption and empathy were higher in women than in men. Similar robust sex differences were reported previously in absorption (Kremen and Block 2002) and empathy (Eisenberg et al., 1991). Consequently, it can be established that the phenotypical expression of the latent content of absorption and empathy and partly schizotypy is modulated by sex.

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    Many other expert-identified traits help to explain personality including repression-proneness (as a personality trait), internal-versus-external locus of control, and time perspective, which involves a focus on the past, present, or future. Experts also have developed the concepts of psychological absorption, an altered state of consciousness related to flow and hypnotic ability, general intelligence (a part of personality as identified here) and action identification, which concerns whether a person views acts as integrated and goal-directed—as in the case of “making a good impression”—or as more concrete and specific, as in “smiling a lot” (Hölzel & Ott, 2006; Keough, Zimbardo, & Boyd, 1999; Kremen & Block, 2002; Vallacher & Wegner, 2000; Weinberger, Schwartz, & Davidson, 1979; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). These and other expert-identified traits are as predictively valid as those found within the Big Five.

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    The questionnaire is rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (agree very little) to 4 (agree very much). The TAS has an internal consistency of .88 and a 30-day test–retest reliability of r = .91 (Kremen & Block, 2002; Roche & McConkey, 1990). Reliability for the current sample was also high (α = .94).

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This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH 16080 to Jack and Jeanne H. Block. We are grateful to Auke Tellegen for his apt suggestions regarding the manuscript.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Adam M. Kremen or Jack Block. E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected].

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