Neubauer, A.C. (2021). Human Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, and the Philosophy of
Trans- and Posthumanism (invited paper for a special issue ‘The future of intelligence
research’). Intelligence.

Neubauer, A.C. & Hofer, G. (2020). Self- and Other-estimates of Intelligence. Cambridge
Handbook of Intelligence. In R.J. Sternberg (Ed.) Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence
(2nd ed., pp. 1179-1200) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

It is a widely held view that “nobody knows you better than yourself.” However, the low validity of self-estimates of intelligence and other abilities indicated by a considerable body of research does not support this notion. Individuals overestimate themselves and do so particularly for domains in which they perform poorly (the so-called Dunning-Kruger effect). Interestingly, intelligence estimates given by others are equally accurate or sometimes even more accurate than self-estimates. This chapter provides an overview of research on self- and other-estimates of intelligence and potential moderators of their accuracy. It also aims to bring the research lines on self- and other-estimates of intelligence together within the framework of the self-other knowledge asymmetry (SOKA) model proposed by Simine Vazire. The ability to predict for which intelligence subfactors one of the two perspectives might provide more accurate estimates has implications for both research and practical fields like vocational counseling.

Martskvishvili, K., Sordia, N., Neubauer, A. (2020). Psychometric Properties of the Georgian
Versions of the Big Five Questionnaires. Georgian Psychological Journal, 1, 7-29.

The goal of the study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Georgian versions of the Big
Five Inventory (BFI; John & Strivastava, 1999) and the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI; Gosling,
Rentfrow, & Swann, 2003), the two instruments measuring the Big Five model. 866 individuals participated in the study examining the Georgian version of BFI and 377 individuals in the development of
the Georgian version of TIPI. According to the results, the factor structure of both instruments replicates
the five-factor model observed in other cultures. The reliability coefficients correspond to the minimum
levels recommended for personality questionnaires/inventories. However, these levels turned out to be
lower for TIPI. The instrument validity is proved by their logical correlations with the theoretically
relevant constructs, namely with the Six-Factor model, aversive personality traits, and emotional intelligence. We can conclude that due to the factor structure, expected relationships with other constructs and
statistical significance, the Georgian versions of both instruments measuring the Big Five can be used
for future research.

Fazekas, C., Avian, A., Noehrer, R., Matzer, F., Vajda, C., Hannich, H. & Neubauer, A.C. (2020).
„Interoceptive awareness and self-regulation contribute to psychosomatic
competence as measured by a new inventory”. Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-020-01670-5

Background: The interrelation of interoception, cognitive appraisal of bodily signals and conscious self-regulatory behavior is insufficiently understood although it may be relevant for health and disease. Therefore, it was intended to develop a novel self-report measure targeting this link. Methods: Item development was theoretically based on the multidimensional conceptual framework of the psychosomatic intelligence hypothesis and included an iterative process of refinement of items. In a preliminary test a principal components analysis (PROMAX rotation) and item analysis were calculated for item reduction. In the field test an item response theory approach was used for development of final scales and items. For validation purposes, associations with established measures of related constructs were analyzed. Results: The final 44-item questionnaire consisted of 6 interrelated scales: (1) interoceptive awareness, (2) mentalization, (3) body-related cognitive congruence, (4) body-related health literacy, (5) general self-regulation, and (6) stress experience and stress regulation. Psychometric properties of this instrument demonstrated good model fit, internal consistency and construct validity. According to the validation, the final instrument measures a form of competence rather than intelligence and was termed the psychosomatic competence inventory. Conclusion: Interoceptive awareness and conscious body-related self-regulation seem to jointly contribute to a basic competence which may serve homeostatic/allostatic control; however, further research is needed to confirm the reported preliminary findings in a large-scale test.

Korunka, C. & Neubauer, A.C. (2020) „Deutsche Psychologiestudierende in Österreich. Eine
Übersicht über Bleibe- versus Heimkehrmotive deutscher Absolvent_innen im Fach
Psychologie. Psychologische Rundschau, 71(4), 353-360.
https://doi.org/10.1026/0033-3042/a000506.

Nahezu die Hälfte der Studierenden an österreichischen psychologischen Instituten kommt aus dem Nachbarland Deutschland. Ein wesentlicher Grund dafür ist die dortige strenge Numerus Clausus-Selektion. Allerdings kehren viele dieser Studierenden nach einem Abschluss wieder in ihr Heimatland zurück, was zur Folge hat, dass Österreich zahlreiche Psycholog_innen für den deutschen Arbeitsmarkt ausbildet und mittelfristig vielleicht sogar ein Mangel an Psycholog_innen zu befürchten ist. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht die vorliegende Studie Heimkehr- und Bleibemotive deutscher Studierender in Österreich. 453 Absolvent_innen aus den letzten drei Jahren an vier Universitätsstandorten nahmen an der Studie teil. Die deutschen Studierenden weisen im Vergleich zu ihren Kolleg_innen aus Österreich eine höhere Erfolgsquote beim Aufnahmeverfahren, eine etwas geringere mittlere Studiendauer und einen besseren Gesamtnotenschnitt im Studium auf. Es können vier „Lebensmittelpunktgruppen“ nach Abschluss des Studiums gebildet werden, die sich deutlich in ihren Motiven zur Wahl des Lebensmittelpunkts unterscheiden. Familiäre Bindungen und bessere Karrieremöglichkeiten sind zentrale Motive für die Rückkehr nach Deutschland nach dem Studium, die regionalen Bindungen an Österreich bleiben meist eher gering.

Baranski, E. et al. (2020). “International Optimism: Correlates and Consequences of Dispositional Optimism across 61 Countries”. Journal of Personality. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12582

Objective

The current exploratory study sought to examine dispositional optimism, or the general expectation for positive outcomes, around the world.

Method

Dispositional optimism and possible correlates were assessed across 61 countries (N = 15,185; mean age = 21.92; 77% female). Mean-level differences in optimism were computed along with their relationships with individual and country-level variables.

Results

Worldwide, mean optimism levels were above the midpoint of the scale. Perhaps surprisingly, country-level optimism was negatively related to gross domestic product per capita, population density, and democratic norms and positively related to income inequality and perceived corruption. However, country-level optimism was positively related to projected economic improvement. Individual-level optimism was positively related to individual well-being within every country, although this relationship was less strong in countries with challenging economic and social circumstances.

Conclusions

While individuals around the world are generally optimistic, societal characteristics appear to affect the degree to which their optimism is associated with psychological well-being, sometimes in seemingly anomalous ways.

Gardiner, G., Lee, D., Baranski, E. & Members of the International Situations Project (member: A.C. Neubauer). (in press). Happiness around the World: A Combined Etic-Emic Approach across 63 Countries. PLOS ONE.

Neubauer, A.C. & Hofer, G. (2021). „Self-estimates of abilities are a better reflection of individuals’ personality traits than of their abilities and are also strong predictors of professional interests”. Personality and Individual Differences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.109850

In several meta-analyses, self-estimates of abilities have been shown to correlate surprisingly low with individuals’ real (i.e., psychometrically assessed) abilities. We recently confirmed this in a study where we investigated the accuracy of self- and peer-estimates of six central abilities (verbal, numerical, spatial intelligence, interpersonal and intrapersonal competence, creative/divergent thinking). Here, we describe two studies: In study 1, we first investigated, to which extent self-estimates of adolescents’ central abilities can be predicted from three sources: relevant school grades, the pertinent psychometric ability itself, and personality (big five traits and narcissism). We found that self-estimates are a stronger reflection of the individuals’ personality than their abilities per se. Second, we wanted to assess to what degree (professional) interests, which might guide career decisions in adolescents/young adults, are predicted by self-estimated and psychometrically assessed abilities. We found that professional interests are mostly a function of self-estimates and not of ‘true’ abilities, a finding that we replicated in study 2 with young adults. Given the strong associations between self-estimates and personality and past findings showing that abilities are better predictors of professional success than personality traits are, this might be non-optimal.