Can Viagra Help against Alzheimer’s?

A new study, published in the journal Neurology by Adesuyan et al. (2024), is generating buzz: Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (such as Viagra) might reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers analyzed data from men with erectile dysfunction and discovered that those who took Viagra had a lower risk of Alzheimer’s.

However, before celebrating Viagra as a miracle cure, it’s important to note some limitations of the study. Being an observational study, it demonstrates correlations but not causation. Additionally, potential influencing factors, such as lifestyle and genetic predispositions, were not fully accounted for.

While the results are promising, further research is needed to confirm the actual effect of Viagra on Alzheimer’s. Until then, caution is advised…
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Studies (just a small selection):

Adesuyan, M., Jani, Y. H., Alsugeir, D., Howard, R., Ju, C., Wei, L., & Brauer, R. (2024). Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors in men with erectile dysfunction and the risk of alzheimer disease: a cohort study. Neurology, 102(4), e209131.

Gohel, D., Zhang, P., Gupta, A. K., Li, Y., Chiang, C. W., Li, L., … & Cheng, F. (2024). Sildenafil as a Candidate Drug for Alzheimer’s Disease: Real-World Patient Data Observation and Mechanistic Observations from Patient-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neurons. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, (Preprint), 1-15.

Hu, E., Li, T. S., Wineinger, N. E., & Su, A. I. (2023). Association study between drug prescriptions and Alzheimer’s disease claims in a commercial insurance database. Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, 15(1), 118.

Prickaerts, J., Heckman, P. R., & Blokland, A. (2017). Investigational phosphodiesterase inhibitors in phase I and phase II clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease. Expert opinion on investigational drugs, 26(9), 1033-1048.

What makes people “successful” in life?

For decades, researchers have been trying to answer this question in numerous studies. In the process, they have indeed come across some personality traits that can be used to predict at least a large part of some people’s success (e.g., intelligence, self-control, conscientiousness, openness, extroversion, self-efficacy expectations, etc.). However, even when these “best” predictors are combined and statistically corrected for measurement error, a very large amount of variance remains unexplained in many studies.

Apparently, there is another major success factor that is drastically underestimated by many people. There is some evidence to suggest that this is the “chance” factor. And some researchers – such as today’s guest speaker Professor Dr. Christian Busch – are convinced that we can learn to make better use of the success factor of chance by adopting the right mindset. And so we can possibly turn a trivial coincidence into luck.

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Studies (small sample only):

Busch, C. (2020). The serendipity mindset: The art and science of creating good luck. Penguin.

Busch, C. (2022). Towards a Theory of Serendipity: A Systematic Review and Conceptualization. Journal of Management Studies.

Busch, C., & Barkema, H. (2022). Planned luck: How incubators can facilitate serendipity for nascent entrepreneurs through fostering network embeddedness. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 46(4), 884-919.

Busch, C., & Barkema, H. (2021). From necessity to opportunity: Scaling bricolage across resource‐constrained environments. Strategic Management Journal, 42(4), 741-773.

Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological science, 16(12), 939-944.

Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D., Dickson, N., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H., … & Caspi, A. (2011). A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Proceedings of the national Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 2693-2698.

PLUTINO, A., BIONDO, A., & Rapisarda, A. (2018). Talent vs Luck: the role of randomness in success and failure.

Schmidt, F. L., Oh, I. S., & Shaffer, J. A. (2016). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 100 years. Fox School of Business Research Paper, 1-74.

Strömbäck, C., Lind, T., Skagerlund, K., Västfjäll, D., & Tinghög, G. (2017). Does self-control predict financial behavior and financial well-being?. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 14, 30-38.

Wiseman, R. (2004). The luck factor. Random House.

The quick way to higher intelligence?

When children (but also adults) encounter difficulties, they tend to think handicapping thoughts: “I’m so stupid,” “I can’t do it.” All of these negative thoughts consume cognitive capacity.

A study by French researchers shows:

A simple reframing can succeed in leveraging this negative mechanism and freeing up the cognitive capacity so that it is once again available for more important tasks.

Study:

Autin, F., & Croizet, J. C. (2012). Improving working memory efficiency by reframing metacognitive interpretation of task difficulty. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(4), 610.

Is personality irrelevant? – The Big Five and Career Success (Psychology, Personnel Selection, Business Psychology, Recruitment)

More than 100 years of research have impressively shown: Based on the Big Five personality factors, career success can be predicted surprisingly poorly on average (Schmidt, Oh & Shaffer, 2016). For example, a huge meta-analysis showed that the personality traits extroversion and emotional stability explain only 0.8% and 1.4% of the variance in job performance, respectively. By comparison, cognitive performance (intelligence) explained 42.5%!

So are personality traits really largely irrelevant at work? Get the answer in the video…

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Studies (small sample only):

Schmidt, F. L., Oh, I.-S., & Shaffer, J. A. (2016). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 100 years of research findings. Working paper retrieved from www.researchgate.net. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.18843.26400

Van Aarde, N., Meiring, D., & Wiernik, B. M. (2017). The validity of the Big Five personality traits for job performance: Meta‐analyses of South African studies. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 25(3), 223-239.

Wilmot, M. P., & Ones, D. S. (2019). A century of research on conscientiousness at work. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(46), 23004-23010.

Wilmot, M. P., Wanberg, C. R., Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D., & Ones, D. S. (2019). Extraversion advantages at work: A quantitative review and synthesis of the meta-analytic evidence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(12), 1447.

Zell, E., & Lesick, T. L. (2022). Big five personality traits and performance: A quantitative synthesis of 50+ meta‐analyses. Journal of Personality, 90(4), 559-573.

How can you spot people who will be excellent in their job?

Take a look at the following list and try to assess which of the factors are most important:

– School grades

– Handwriting

– Extroversion

– Conscientiousness

– Integrity

– Intelligence

– Openness to new experiences

– References

The search for the “perfect employee” has occupied personnel selection research for more than 100 years. One of the most influential and largest meta-analyses (Schmidt et al, 2016) provides remarkable insights (see video). Nevertheless, many companies unfortunately still do not sufficiently take these findings into account. The consequences can be devastating….

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Studies (small selection only):

Dazzi, C., & Pedrabissi, L. (2009). Graphology and personality: an empirical study on validity of handwriting analysis. Psychological reports, 105(3_suppl), 1255-1268.

Huffcutt, A. I., Culbertson, S. S., & Weyhrauch, W. S. (2014). Moving forward indirectly: Reanalyzing the validity of employment interviews with indirect range restriction methodology. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 22(3), 297-309.

Hurtz, G. M., & Donovan, J. J. (2000). Personality and job performance: the Big Five revisited. Journal of applied psychology, 85(6), 869.

Kausel, E. E., Culbertson, S. S., & Madrid, H. P. (2016). Overconfidence in personnel selection: When and why unstructured interview information can hurt hiring decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 137, 27-44.

Neter, E., & Ben-Shakhar, G. (1989). The predictive validity of graphological inferences: A meta-analytic approach. Personality and Individual differences, 10(7), 737-745.

Schmidt, Frank L. and Oh, In-Sue and Shaffer, Jonathan A., The Validity and Utility of Selection Methods in Personnel Psychology: Practical and Theoretical Implications of 100 Years of Research Findings (October 17, 2016). Fox School of Business Research Paper. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2853669

Zell, E., & Lesick, T. L. (2022). Big five personality traits and performance: A quantitative synthesis of 50+ meta-analyses. Journal of Personality, 90(4), 559-573.