Personality Psychology and Methodology of Psychological Measurement
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Asst. Prof. Kalina Popova





RESEARCH PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Principal Investigator: Prof.Ergyul Tair, PhD
The fundamental need for justice is studied, distinguishing between two main forms – general and personal, in which in the Bulgarian context there is a lower general belief that the world is fair and a higher assessment that the individual is treated fairly. Age, gender and personality differences are empirically derived, which strengthen the belief in a just world, helping to build the idea of an ordered and predictable world. With age, belief in a just world decreases slightly, with women declaring higher values than men. The personality traits emotional stability, benevolence (orientation towards others) and openness to new experience / intellect contribute to a stronger belief in a just world and to effective coping with negative events and optimal functioning of the personality.
FUNCTIONAL VALUES, BELIEF IN A JUST WORLD AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING (2016 - 2017)
Principal Investigator: Prof. Ergyul Tair, PhD
DISCOVER CREATIVE MOTIVATION: ASSEMBLING FACTS AND FINDINGS ABOUT TORRANCE'S CREATIVE MOTIVATION SCALE (2019-2020)
Principal Investigator: Prof. Katya Stoycheva, PhD
A secondary analysis of the primary research with the creative motivation scale (CMS), developed by E. Paul Torrance, will synthesise data coming from 42 empirical studies involving school age children, adolescents and adults. This synthesis aims at the consolidation of the psychological knowledge on creative motivation (CM) and a better understanding of the concept and its application. The project builds upon the expertise acquired during the adaptation of the CMS for use with Bulgarian children and adults (Stoycheva, Stetinski, Popova, 2008).
PERSONALITY AND RISKY DRIVING BEHAVIOR (2016-2019)
Principal Investigator: Asst. Prof. Zornitsa Totkova, PhD
COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING AND PERSONALITY TRAITS IN ADULTS WITH SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS. RELATION TO RISKY DRIVING (2018-2021)
Principal Investigator: Asst. Prof. Rositsa Racheva, PhD
Road accidents and their consequences are an issue of paramount importance worldwide. The contemporary trends assume that in 2030 the deaths related to road accidents will be the seventh main reason for death in the world if we don't take urgent actions in this direction. The research data reveal that the main factor related to road accidents is human error. Driving under the influence of psychoactive substances is amongst the main reasons for road accidents – it enhances the chance for risky driving, serious injuries and death. The high concentration of alcohol in the blood and the combination of alcohol and drugs seem to be the factors, very closely related to high risk of road accidents. Nevertheless, the knowledge concerning the relation between the characteristics of drivers with substance abuse and their actual risky driving is scarce. That is why the proposed research aims to study the relation between substance abuse, cognitive and personality characteristics of substance abusers and their relation to risky driving.
PROJECTS WITH EXTERNAL FINANCING
National Scientific Program "Petar Beron. Science and Innovation with Europe" (Petar Beron and NIE), The Bulgarian National Science Fund at the Ministry of Education and Science of Bulgariа
First impressions are very powerful and set the ground for subsequent communication. As a significant portion of today's communication happens on the Internet, it is important to have a good understanding of the first impressions we create online. Taking a bottom-up approach, the project will investigate in a series of experiments a number of factors that could influence how accurately we understand the first impressions we create when we present ourselves on the Internet.
PERSONALITY, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SELF-REALIZATION FOR PEOPLE FROM VULNERABLE GROUPS IN THE COUNTRY: SCIENTIFIC DIMENSIONS AND PRACTICAL APPROACHES (2019 – 2022)
Scientific supervisor: Prof. Ergyul Tair, PhD
Project Leader: Sezgin Bekir, PhD
The project is supported by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science under the National Research Programme " Young scientists and postdoctoral students" approved by DCM # 577 / 17.08.2018
This project aims at highlighting the role of personal characteristics (ego states, life positions, etc.) developed from early childhood and defining not only individual development, but also professional self-realization. On the basis of the scientific results, some practical approaches will be proposed as part of solving the problems with lower level of education and poor professional self-realization of persons from vulnerable groups.
Methodologies for personality assessment, subjective sense of career success and style of relationship among students, teachers and parents will be applied, developed and adapted. A methodological toolkit to be developed can be useful for various educational institutions, municipal career guidance centers and structures of the Employment Agency in assessing personal potential for youth development and developing strategies and programmes for professional self-realization and for the prevention of unemployment.
Scientific research project КП-06-Н25/5, funded by The National Science Fund/ Ministry of Education and Sience.
Basic Organisation: Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, BAS
Asst. Prof. Rositsa Racheva, PhD - Member of the research team
The project aims to perform a complex analysis of some psychosocial and epigenetic characteristics in two groups with substance use disorders (patients included in programs for treatment with opium agonists and patients included in drug/alcohol free programs) and to compare their results with the results of people from general population. Contemporary methods and technologies will be used for the purposes of the research, including: evaluation of the quality of live by the generic questionnaire of the World Health Organization - WHOQOL-BREF; assessment of the presence or absence of traumatic events during the lifespan of the participants by the BTQ (Brief Trauma Questionnaire) instrument; qRT-PCR analysis of gene expression and bisulfite sequencing for establishment of methylation in specific gene regions, as well as methods for statistical analysis of the obtained data. It is expected that the implementation of the project will have both scientific and applied value.
Principal Investigator: Asst. Prof. Zornitsa Totkova, PhD
The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the construct driving style and to adapt a method for assessment of driving style. Funded by Young Scientists Program, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS
Bilateral agreement project between Institute for population and human studies of Bulgarian Academy of science and "Francisc I. Rainer" Anthropology Institute of the Romanian Academy
Senior project manager from Bulgarian side: Assoc. Prof. Ergyul Tair, PhD
Senior project manager from Romanian side: Senior researcher Cornelia Rada, PhD
Large body of research have found the negative effects of irrational alcohol consumption, reckless sexual behavior, sedentary lifestyle on youth health with differences in risk behavior depending on individual factors. The objective of the project is to investigate the psychological factors involved in risk behaviors of young people from Romania and Bulgaria and to promote healthy lifestyles in educational programs considering individual characteristics and the specific motivations that apply throughout family life cycles and cultural context.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS IN SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS
Bekir, S., Tair, E. (2019) The role of the ego states for subjective career success in different occupations. Psychological Research. Vol. 22(3), 799-814.
Бекир, С., Таир, Е. (2018) Въпросници за изследване на его състоянията и житейските позиции. Психологически изследвания, Том 21, кн. 2, 137-150 [Bekir, S., Tair, E. (2018). The assessment of Ego states and life positions via questionnaires. Psychological Research, vol. 21(2), 137-150]
Racheva, R., Totkova, Z. (2020) Reliability and Validity of a Method for Assessment of Executive Functions in Drivers. Behav. Sci. 10, 37 DOI: 10.3390/bs10010037
Krasteva, M., Koycheva, Y., Racheva, R., Taseva, T., Raycheva, T., Simeonova, S., Andreev, B. (2020). Decreased FMR1 mRNA levels found in men with substance use disorders. Heliyon 6 (10): 1-7, DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05270
Рачева, Р. (2017) Фактори, свързани с формиране на проблемна употреба на психоактивни вещества в юношеска възраст. Психологични изследвания, том 20, кн. 1, 85-94. [Racheva, R. (2017). Risk factors for development of substance use disorders in adolescents. Psychological Research, VIIth Conference of the European Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, 20(1), 85-94]
Stoycheva, К. (2020) Psychological studies of creativity in the literary domain. Papers of BAS, Humanities and Social Sciences, Volume 7, Number 1, 36-48.
Stoycheva, K., Tair, E., Popova, K. (2020) Rigidity and its Relations to the Basic Dimensions of Personality. Psychological Research, Volume 23, Number 2, 127-149.
Stoycheva, K., Popova, K. (2019) Tolerance/Intolerance of Ambiguity. Assessing Its Perceived Importance. Psychological Research, Volume 20, Number 3, 629-640.
Tair, E. (2019) Belief in a just world: Perspectives, psychological approaches and research results. Papers of BAS. Humanities and Social Sciences, 5 (2), 216-226.
Tair, E., Popova, K. (2019) Values, belief in a just world and the flourishing of Bulgarian adolescents. Psychological research, 22(3), 657-680.
Таир, Е., Гoуевeя, В., Попова, К. (2016) Ценностите на личността през погледа на функционалната теория: Изследване в България. Психологични изследвания, 2, с. 65-84. [Tair, E., Gouveia, B., Popova, K. (2016). Personal Values from the Perspective of Functional Theory of Human values: Bulgarian study, Psychological Research, 2, pp. 65-84.]
Totkova, Z. (2020) Interconnection between Driving Style, Traffic Locus of Control, and Impulsivity in Bulgarian Drivers. Behav. Sci. 10, 58. DOI: 10.3390/bs10020058
Totkova, Z., Racheva, R. (2019) The Bulgarian Version of the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory: Psychometric Properties. Behav. Sci. 9, 145. DOI: 10.3390/bs9120145
Totkova, Z. (2019) Symbolic Interactionism and the Perceived Style of Parenting. Qualitative Sociology Review, XV, 2, 172-184. DOI:10.18778/1733-8077.15.2.11
Tsankova, E., Vanman, E. J., & Kappas, A. (2018) Interaction of stereotypical trustworthiness, facial resemblance, and group membership in the perception of trustworthiness and other traits. Journal of Trust Research, 8, 31 – 44. https://doi.org/10.1080/21515581.2018.1453824
Tsankova, E. & Kappas, A. (2016) Facial skin smoothness as an indicator of perceived trustworthiness and related traits. Perception, 45, 400 – 408. https://doi.org/10.1177/0301006615616748
Yordanova, T. (2018) Relationship between Innate Consumer Innovativeness and Attitude to an Innovative Product – Mediating Role of the Perceptions of Usefulness and Ease of Use - In: Z. Nikitovic, D. Markovic and C. D'Arconte (Ed), Successful Implementation of Information Technology: IT, Marketing Education and Business Working Together for Business success. London, UK: Silver and Smith Publishers, 333-345.
Yordanova, Т. (2019) Inherent Consumer Innovativeness: Essence, Dimensions and Gender Differences. Papers of BAS. Humanities and Social Sciences, 6(1), 98-109.
Йорданова, Т. (2019) Адаптация на кратката скала за потребност от уникалност (CNFU) в български социокултурен контекст. Психологични изследвания, 22(2), 485-503. [Yordanova, T. (2019). Adaptation of the Short Scale of Need for Uniqueness (CNFU) in Bulgarian Socio-Cultural Context. Psychological Research, 22(2), 485-503]
BOOKS

[Tair, Е. (2020) Personality and work behavior. Prof. Marin Drinov Publishing House of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 294 pp.] ISBN 978-619-245-053-3

[Stoycheva, K. (2018). De Daumier-Smith and the Creative Thinking. Sofia: Paradigma Publishing House.]