Peres Academic Center

PurposeThis study examines the relationship between perceived leaders’ Dark Triad personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) and followers’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). We explore how leader-member exchange (LMX) and perceived political skill mediate these effects. The study provides a comparative analysis across managerial and non-managerial levels, revealing how these dynamics function at different hierarchical positions.MethodologyData was collected from two independent samples representing distinct hierarchical levels: non-managerial employees (n = 378) and managers (n = 340). Participants rated their perceptions of their leaders’ Dark Triad traits, political skill, and the quality of their exchange relationship (LMX), as well as their own OCB. We analyzed data using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the direct and indirect effects.FindingsOur findings reveal distinct patterns of association for each of the perceived Dark Triad traits. These patterns highlight the complex ways in which the perception of leaders possessing the dark traits impacts OCB through LMX and perceptions of leaders’ political skill.Originality and implicationsThis study contributes novel insights by examining the mechanisms through which perceived leadership Dark Triad traits relate to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) across organizational levels. By revealing the mediating roles of LMX and perceived political skill, this research enhances our understanding of the dynamics of Dark Triad leadership. The findings provide practical insights for organizations addressing the challenges posed by leaders who possess dark traits.

Purpose. Whether social status still predicts reproductive success in industrial societies is a long-standing problem for evolutionary approaches to human behavior. Existing evidence for the United States comes from single surveys observed at one point in time. This study asks whether the sex-specific associations between status and completed fertility have changed across American birth cohorts, which reproductive margin carries them, and what they imply for ongoing phenotypic selection. Methods. Data come from the General Social Survey, 1972 to 2024. The analytic sample holds 22,975 adults aged 45 to 64, born 1908 to 1979. Poisson, logistic, and linear regressions relate children ever born, childlessness, and children among parents to within-year income quintiles and education. Selection differentials and bivariate gradients follow the Lande and Arnold approach. Results. Personal income predicts completed fertility positively for men and negatively for women, and both gradients are statistically stable across cohorts spanning seven decades. The male income premium lies entirely on the margins of partnership and childlessness. Among fathers, income predicts slightly fewer children. Childlessness and never marrying have concentrated sharply among low-income men in recent cohorts. Conditional on education, income is under consistent positive selection in men. Education is under negative selection in both sexes. Conclusion. The status-fertility architecture of the United States has remained fixed while fertility levels collapsed, sharpening the reproductive divide among men.

In the midst of armed conflict, fake news spreads rapidly across digital platforms, shaping not only what people know but also how they interpret and respond to unfolding events. Prior research has paid limited attention to how fake news is structured as narrative content in crisis contexts characterized by uncertainty and emotional strain. Addressing this gap, this study reconceptualizes wartime fake news as a form of functionally structured narrative communication. Drawing on Uses and Gratifications Theory as an analytic lens, this study develops a Functional Narrative Typology (FNT). The typology is based on a thematic analysis of 163 verified Hebrew-language posts collected from social media platforms during the first three months of the 2023 Israel–Gaza war. The data, sourced from FakeReporter, an Israeli civil initiative dedicated to identifying and debunking fake news, capture instances of false content circulating during the early stages of the conflict. This analysis identifies six recurring narrative types: cognitive clarity, dramatization and arousal, emotional coping, identity reinforcement, behavioral guidance, and erosion of institutional trust. Rather than representing fixed content categories, these narrative forms reflect recurring patterns in wartime fake news. By shifting the analytical focus from content accuracy and producer motivations to the functional orientations reflected in fake news narratives, this study extends existing research that has primarily focused on diffusion, belief, and sharing behavior. It offers a theoretically grounded framework for understanding how fake news operates as narrative content in high-uncertainty crisis contexts.

A cancer diagnosis is frequently accompanied by significant psychological distress, particularly during radiotherapy (RT). Given that many established risk factors for distress are largely immutable, identifying resilience resources that promote adjustment during RT is a central clinical priority. The present longitudinal study examined whether emotional entitlement, gratitude, and perceived social support predict end-of-treatment anxiety, depression, and life satisfaction beyond baseline psychological status. Participants were 146 cancer patients undergoing RT (Mean age = 56.17 years, SD = 11.65; 89.9% female). Data were collected at three time points across the RT regimen: at the pre-treatment RT simulation session, during the first RT session, and at treatment completion, approximately 3-6 weeks later. Measures included anxiety and depression symptoms, life satisfaction, emotional entitlement, gratitude, and perceived social support. Results indicated that anxiety decreased and life satisfaction increased from baseline to treatment completion, whereas depressive symptoms remained stable over time. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to predict post-treatment outcomes while controlling baseline levels of the respective variables. Across all models, baseline psychological status emerged as a robust predictor of end-of-treatment outcomes. However, resilience resources contributed additional explanatory power for depression and life satisfaction. Higher emotional entitlement to positive emotions predicted greater life satisfaction and lower depressive symptoms, whereas reduced perceived friend support was associated with higher depression. Unexpectedly, higher gratitude was associated with lower life satisfaction at treatment completion. In contrast, anxiety was predicted exclusively by baseline anxiety. These findings suggest distinct predictive patterns across psychological outcomes during RT. Whereas end-of-treatment anxiety was predicted primarily by initial anxiety levels, depression and life satisfaction were also associated with modifiable emotional and interpersonal resources. The results underscore the importance of early psychological screening and targeted psychosocial interventions aimed at strengthening emotional resources and peer support during radiotherapy.

This paper studies how access to capital markets affects wealth inequality. Most studies assume that expanding investment access improves outcomes, but they do not ask when this effect may weaken or reverse. This paper addresses that gap by focusing on the role of household consumption behavior. We develop a simulation model in which 1,000 agents start with identical wealth and income but differ in how much they consume. Investment Freedom determines the share of the population that can invest in capital markets. To ensure that the results are not driven by a specific random path, we run the model 26 times under different market conditions, creating independent datasets. The results show a clear behavioral threshold. When annual consumption is below about 7 percent of wealth, expanding investment access reduces inequality. Above this level, the effect becomes weaker and may even reverse. This pattern appears consistently across all simulations and across three different analytical approaches. We also find that higher investment access leads to more stable inequality outcomes across different market histories. The contribution of the paper is to show that the effect of investment access on inequality is conditional, not automatic. It depends on how households use their wealth. By identifying a simple threshold and separating an efficient range from a flat range, the paper adds a new mechanism to the literature on financial openness and inequality. JEL Classification D31, G11, O15, C63, E21