Browsing by Author "McCleskey, Jim A."
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- Hit me with your best puff: personality predicts preference for cigar vs. cigarette smokingPublication . Gruda, Dritjon; McCleskey, Jim A.In this study, we examine the association between Big Five personality traits and cigar or cigarette smoking in a sample of 9,918 older adults across 11 European countries derived from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) dataset. We find significant associations between several traits and smoking groups. Smoking was associated with lower scores on Conscientiousness and Agreeableness and higher Extraversion scores. In addition, cigar smokers exhibit lower Neuroticism and higher Openness compared to both cigarette smokers and non-smokers. These findings suggest that both personality traits are antecedents of smoking behavior, offering implications for targeted public health interventions and social policies aimed at combating the global tobacco epidemic.
- I hear you call my name and it feels like home: Right-Wing Authoritarianism and academic major choicePublication . Gruda, Dritjon; McCleskey, Jim A.Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) is characterized by a preference for order, hierarchy, and conformity to norms, and has been associated with conservative values and structured environments. Using a sample of 5762 participants across 18 majors, we examine the association between RWA and academic college major choice, proposing that individuals with higher RWA scores are more likely to select disciplines that align with their values of structure and authority. We found that individuals with higher RWA scores were more likely to choose disciplines emphasizing authority and tradition, such as Business, Law, and Medicine. We also found a moderating effect of gender, in that men with high RWA tended to select traditionally masculine fields (e.g., Engineering and Law), while women favored caregiving-oriented majors (e.g., Psychology and Social Work), reinforcing conventional gender roles. These findings suggest that RWA influences not only political and social attitudes but also academic choices, highlighting the importance of considering personality traits in understanding educational trajectories and their broader social implications.
- I keep my mind on my money and my money on my mind: trait machiavellianism in business majorsPublication . Gruda, Dritjon; McCleskey, Jim A.Recent research has shown a particularly positive association between Machiavellianism and academic major choices, namely Economics, Law, and Politics. Interestingly, previous findings indicated that the academic major Business – usually portrayed as power-hungry and greedy in mainstream media and movies – was not positively associated with Machiavellianism. In this paper, we posit that these prior results are incomplete since Business is a college major encompassing several sub-fields (e.g., Advertising, Finance, Human Resources). Using a sample of 2630 participants from 110 countries and nine business majors, we found overall support for a significant association between Machiavellianism and specific business specializations, with Finance majors scoring highest on Machiavellianism. We compare these findings to prior results and break down results by gender.