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Impulsivity is Important
• Involved in every major system of personality • Vital role in the understanding & diagnosis of
psychopathology: - DSM IV – “impulse control disorders” - Criteria for BPD, ASPD, ADHD etc • Involved in “etiologic” theories of psychopathy,
crime and substance use It is so important…yet within psychology there is a
huge variety of different, inconsistent conceptualisations…
Personality theories that include Impulsivity
Eysenck and Eysenck’s N, E, P
Impulsivity is sub divided into: 1.Narrow impulsiveness (N, P) 2.Risk taking (E) 3.non-planning (E) 4.liveliness (E) Propose that 2 components,
Venturesomeness (E) and impulsivity (P)
Buss and Plomin (1975)
• Impulsivity, part of their 4 factor model of temperament. – Inhibitory control* – Consideration of alternatives/consequences – Ignore competing temptations – Tendency to become bored, novelty seeking These temperaments do influence behaviour
Zuckerman & co (1991)
• alternative 5 factor model of personality including “impulsive sensation seeking”
- similar to NEO (C) and EPQ (P)
Cloninger “psychological underpinning of behaviour”
• 4 temperament scales, one being Novelty Seeking (contains impulsivity).
• seen more as pre-conceptual automatic response
Tellegen’s 3 high order factors
determines the manner and intensity people respond to emotional stimuli.
1. + Emotionality 2. - Emotionality 3. Constraint (control vs. impulsiveness
scale)
Previous theories of impulsiveness
Barratt & Co.
Impulsivity – 3 factors 1. Attentional impulsivity* 2. Motor impulsivity* 3. Non-planning
Newman & Co. Gray's neuropsychological model + Eysenck's system of
personality = 3 pathways of impulsivity
1. Normal impulsivity : BAS>BIS x NSA – neurotic extrovert pattern
2. Anxious impulsivity : BAS<BIS x NSA – neurotic introvert pattern
3. “P constraint” – psychopaths response to competing reward and punishment
Dickman (1990) 2-D theory of impulsivity
Information processing approach to impulsivity which has + & - consequences
1.Functional (enthusiasm, adventuresome…) 2.Dysfunctional (disorderliness, ignoring facts…)
This Study… aims to understand the construct of impulsivity by
analysing, within the framework of a well-validated personality model, a variety of commonly used impulsive measures.
5 factor Model framework, facets capture some aspects…
Neuroticism: Self control Conscientiousness: Self discipline, deliberation Extraversion: Excitement seeking
Method • Participants: 437 undergraduates
• Measures: • Items were adapted to a four-point Likert-type format ranging from one to
four.
• They used a variety of commonly used impulsivity measures:
1) EASI-III Impulsivity Scales • self-report measure designed by Buss and Plomin to reflect their four
temperament theory of personality. • Only used items on four impulsivity subscales (inhibitory control, decision
time, sensation seeking, and persistence subscales).
2) Dickman's Functional and Dysfunctional Impulsivity Scales • two dimensional conception of impulsivity. • functional impulsivity (e.g. Most of the time I can put my thoughts into words
very rapidly) • dysfunctional impulsivity (e.g. Often I don't spend enough time thinking over
a situation before I act).
3) Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) It is made up of three subscales: • attentional impulsiveness (e.g. I get easily bored when solving
thought problems) • motor impulsiveness (e.g. I do things without thinking) • non-planning impulsiveness (e.g. I am more interested in the
present than the future).
4) I-7 Impulsiveness Questionnaire (I-7)
5) Personality Research Form Impulsivity Scale (PRF)
6) Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire Control Scale (MPQ)
7) Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) • self-report inventory based on Cloninger's psychobiological model of
personality. • Included only the eight- item novelty seeking subscale of
impulsiveness vs reflection (e.g. I often react so strongly to unexpected news that I say or do things that I regret)
8) Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) • Disinhibition boredom susceptibility
9) Additional ``impulsiveness'' items • Pilot work suggested that items dealing with the ``impulsiveness''
aspect (e.g., strong cravings) of impulsivity were missing.
• fourteen additional items were created
• Examples: ``When I feel bad I will often do things I later regret in order to make myself feel better now'', ``I only act rashly when I am upset'', and ``It is hard for me to resist acting on my feelings''.
10) Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) • neuroticism, • extraversion, • conscientiousness.
Results Identified 4 meanings of impulsivity:
1) (lack of) Premeditation • was captured in scales that assess the tendency to delay action in
favor of careful thinking and planning.
2) Urgency • a tendency to commit rash or regrettable actions as a result of
intense negative affect. • The scales reflecting this factor include items related to an inability
to resist cravings, binging, and acting rashly while upset.
3) Sensation Seeking • was comprised of scales measuring the tendency to seek
excitement and adventure.
4) (lack of) Perseverance. • includes scales that assess one's ability to remain with a task until
completion and avoid boredom.
• Following the initial factor identification, scales to measure each of the personality facets were created and combined to form the UPPS Impulsive Behavior scale.
• This had 45 items measuring the four factors.
• Each factor had 10-12 items.
Relation between impulsivity scales and NEO facets
• Explored through a joint factor analysis. • A three-factor solution accounted for 59% of the variation in
the scales.
• The factor structure clearly mapped onto the structure of the three domains of the NEO-PI-R:
• Factor 1 was comprised of (lack of) premeditation, (lack of) perseverance, and all six facets of conscientiousness.
• Factor 2 was comprised of sensation seeking and all six facets of extraversion.
• Factor 3 was comprised of urgency and all six facets of neuroticism.
Main Conclusions
• Factor analysis revealed a robust four factor solution corresponding to the four traits related to impulsivity on the NEO-PI.
• Impulsivity is made up of four distinct personality facets.
• These are not variations of impulsivity, but distinct psychological processes that lead to impulsive behaviors.
The four facets of impulsivity
• Urgency- experience strong impulses under conditions of negative affect.
• (lack of) Premeditation- act on the spur of the moment.
• (lack of) Perseverance- difficulty staying focused on tasks that are ‘boring’ or ‘difficult’.
• Sensation Seeking- enjoy and pursue risky and exciting experiences.
How does this relate to the FFM?
• Urgency linked to Neuroticism
• (lack of) Premeditation and (lack of) Perseverance linked to Conscientiousness
• Sensation Seeking linked to Extraversion
Possible links to psychopathology
• Urgency- BPD, bulimia.
• (lack of) Premeditation- antisocial personality disorder, dementia, psychopathy.
• (lack of) Perseverance- ADHD.
• Sensation Seeking- substance use disorders.
• Impulsivity is an ‘artificial umbrella term’.
• It actually encompasses 4 distinct facets of personality associated with impulsive behavior.
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