Abstract: While psychopathic traits are known to influence general quality of life, there is a scarcity of research examining their specific effects within the prison context. To address this gap, the present study posited a negative relationship between psychopathic traits and quality of prison life, with institutional misconduct as a mediating factor. Structural modeling was conducted on a sample of 280 offenders ( M age = 40.17, SD = 10.46; 73% male). The results indicate a negative association between the affective trait of Emotional Coldness and quality of prison life. Furthermore, the behavioral trait of Recklessness was indirectly associated with quality of prison life through its impact on institutional misconduct. In contrast, the interpersonal trait of Deceitfulness did not exhibit a significant relationship with the quality of prison life. These findings underscore the differential impact of psychopathic traits on prison life and highlight the importance of targeted interventions to mitigate both individual and institutional challenges.
Abstract: The Detection and Dual Control (DDC) model and others have proposed attentional biases toward threat and high sensitivity as mediating factors, and cognitive control as a moderating factor, in the relationship between behavioral inhibition (BI) and social anxiety. However, few studies have elucidated the models by using all the factors simultaneously. The purpose of the present study was to confirm the DDC model using self-reported scales. Five hundred and thirty-seven Japanese participants completed the scale in an online survey. The findings indicated that BI, social anxiety, attentional bias, high sensitivity, and effortful control were significantly correlated. Moderated mediation analysis revealed that even after controlling for age, attentional bias and high sensitivity partially mediated the pathway from BI to social anxiety. In addition, the indirect effect of high sensitivity was moderated by effortful control. The indirect path was not significant when effortful control was high. These results partially support the DDC model and others. Attentional bias and high sensitivity contribute to the development of social anxiety symptoms in individuals with BI. However, effortful control has the potential to suppress this process by reducing the effects of high sensitivity on social anxiety.
Abstract: Empathy plays a key role in moral reasoning, yet its neural correlates during real-life moral decision-making remain unclear. This study examined how individual differences in trait empathy relate to EEG oscillatory activity (delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands) during a dyadic moral verbal exchange. Twenty-eight adults (14 same-gender dyads) completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES) before engaging in a three-minute moral exchange. Correlation analyses revealed that affective empathy (BEES) was positively associated with temporo-central gamma power, cognitive empathy (IRI-PT) with frontal gamma and temporo-central alpha power, and fantasy (IRI-FS) with posterior alpha activity. In contrast, personal distress (IRI-PD) correlated negatively with temporo-central beta power. These findings indicate that individual differences in empathy dimension are associated with differentiated frequency-specific neural dynamics during moral exchanges, emphasizing the role of both affective and cognitive processes in socially embedded moral reasoning.
What we imagine about the future can shape our present emotions, decisions, and behaviors. A key question, then, is whether individuals spontaneously think about their interpersonal relationships when engaging in episodic future thinking. Two studies explored the influence of attachment style on episodic future thinking content. Study 1 involved 155 participants conducting five episodic future thinking tasks. Results show that attachment anxiety positively predicted the relevance of the content to interpersonal relationships, whereas attachment avoidance negatively predicted this relevance. Study 2 involved 67 participants performing nonstress and stressful episodic future thinking. Results showed attachment anxiety consistently increased interpersonal content, while attachment avoidance reduced it only in nonstress tasks. These findings support the features of attachment style also manifest when imagining future scenarios.
While psychopathic traits are known to influence general quality of life, there is a scarcity of research examining their specific effects within the prison context. To address this gap, the present study posited a negative relationship between psychopathic traits and quality of prison life, with institutional misconduct as a mediating factor. Structural modeling was conducted on a sample of 280 offenders (M-age = 40.17, SD = 10.46; 73% male). The results indicate a negative association between the affective trait of Emotional Coldness and quality of prison life. Furthermore, the behavioral trait of Recklessness was indirectly associated with quality of prison life through its impact on institutional misconduct. In contrast, the interpersonal trait of Deceitfulness did not exhibit a significant relationship with the quality of prison life. These findings underscore the differential impact of psychopathic traits on prison life and highlight the importance of targeted interventions to mitigate both individual and institutional challenges.
: Studies on the relationship between personality and self-concept often neglect self-concept's multidimensional nature, leaving the relations between self-concepts' specific dimensions and personality traits unexplained. To provide a more comprehensive insight into the personality basis of self-concept, this study investigates the relationship between self-concept dimensions from Garcia and Musitu's model and personality dimensions from Zuckerman's Alternative Five-Factor Model. The study included 270 high school students, employing correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results showed multiple correlations of self-concept dimensions, mostly positive with extraversion and negative with neuroticism and aggressiveness. Multiple regression analysis showed that neuroticism primarily explained variance in emotional and physical dimensions, extraversion was a notable predictor of social self-concept, aggressiveness emerged as a predictor for family self-concept, and both sensation-seeking and aggressiveness were notable predictors of the work-academic dimension. The findings demonstrate that different dimensions of self-concept exhibit varying degrees of association with specific personality traits, highlighting the need for a multidimensional approach to self-concept in research on its relationship with personality traits.
: Humor is a multifaceted psychological and social phenomenon that encompasses both dispositional and cognitive elements. This study investigated whether cognitive flexibility is indirectly associated with the links between personality traits - specifically Openness and Extraversion - and three humor dimensions: humor sense, humor expression, and humor awareness. A sample of 1,330 Japanese adults completed validated self-report measures assessing personality, cognitive flexibility, and humor. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we observed significant indirect associations among Openness, Extraversion, cognitive flexibility, and humor awareness and humor sense, whereas no such indirect association emerged for humor expression. These findings are consistent with a trait-process-behavior framework, in which personality traits are associated with adaptive social behavior through patterns of flexible cognitive functioning. This research contributes to our understanding of the cognitive correlates of humor and highlights the importance of cognitive flexibility as a key construct linking stable traits to dynamic interpersonal outcomes.
: Generalized world beliefs (e.g., "the world is safe," "the world is beautiful") have been theorized to shape how people perceive most people, things, and environments as the individual navigates life. While some research on Belief in a Just World is consistent with this theory, few studies have tested other world beliefs. Four studies (pre-registered, N = 2,841) found that dangerous world belief (DWB) is associated with greater perception of specific real-world threats - even when the potential source of danger was identical. In Studies 1 and 2, people in the top quintile for DWB estimated incidences of low-frequency threatening events (e.g., murder, assault, and animal attacks) on average 4.2x higher than those in the bottom quintile. In Studies 3 and 4, people higher in DWB evaluated unfamiliar faces as more criminal and less trustworthy. These associations were specific to dangerous world belief (vs. other negative beliefs), and were robust across multiple covariates, including personality traits, anxiety, and current mood.
: Gendered racism occurs when the mistreatment of women is grounded in both gender and racial stereotypes and it is often used to target women of color directly (e.g., angry Black woman or cold Asian woman stereotypes). Prior research demonstrates that sexist attitudes are related to evaluations of White women in politics; expanding on this, we examine color-blind racial ideology (CBRI) as an individual difference factor influencing the relationship between sexist attitudes and evaluations of Kamala Harris. Approximately 769 college students completed measures of candidate warmth and competence, voting intentions, hostile and benevolent sexism, and color-blind racial attitudes. We found that CBRI moderated the relationship between benevolent sexism and evaluations of Harris. For participants strongly endorsing CBRI, complementary benevolence was positively associated with Harris warmth, while heteronormative benevolence was negatively related with Harris competence. CBRI also interacted with gender in relation to voting behaviors. Results showed an 8% chance of voting for Biden (not Trump) among women strongly endorsing CBRI, compared to a 17% chance of voting for Biden (not Trump) among men strongly endorsing CBRI. This study illuminates how CBRI influences how sexist attitudes and gender are related to important political outcomes, suggesting that there are consequences for women defying traditional gender norms regarding warmth.
: Conscientiousness is negatively associated with adolescent internalizing symptoms, but factors that might moderate this relationship have not been extensively investigated. The present research examined whether negative affect - a major risk factor for adolescent mental health problems - moderated the association between conscientiousness and internalizing symptoms. Three independent samples of Serbian adolescents (N = 1,376, age range = 15-19) were recruited. Adolescents with higher levels of conscientiousness reported lower levels of internalizing symptoms (depression in Samples 1 and 2; global internalizing problems in Sample 3). We also found evidence that high negative affect, assessed both as a dispositional trait and a negative mood, strengthened the relationship between conscientiousness and internalizing symptoms. The pattern of results was highly similar across the three samples. These findings highlight the importance of integrating personality and affective processes in understanding adolescent internalizing problems.
: Music preferences are associated with personality traits, like the Big Five traits. We tested the idea that, above and beyond personality traits, personal values explain music preferences. Evidence from an undergraduate convenience sample in the southern US (valid n = 389) provided some evidence in favor of this prediction for some genres. For example, the Unpretentious dimension of the MUSIC model, which encompasses country music, was particularly reflected in personal values (e.g., traditional values), with personal values more than doubling the predictive capacity of the traits-only model. This study extends work showing that human values may find expression in music preferences, above and beyond the association between personality traits and music preferences.
: Drawing on data from the Romantic Love Survey 2022, we investigated how the Big Five personality traits relate to romantic love experiences, measured by the Commitment subscale of the TLS-15 and the Passionate Love Scale (PLS-30), among individuals in the early stages of romantic relationships (i.e., in the first 2 years). Using a structural equation modeling approach, we analyzed data from 907 individuals across 32 countries (47% women; Mage = 22.14, SDage = 1.86). The results revealed modest associations indicating that individuals higher in agreeableness and conscientiousness reported slightly greater levels of love (both commitment of the TLS-15 and the PLS-30). Additionally, individuals lower in neuroticism reported slightly higher levels of the PLS-30. No significant associations were found between love intensity and extraversion or openness. In conclusion, the Big Five personality traits may help better understand love experiences during the early stages of romantic relationships. Furthermore, our findings offer a potential explanation for the mixed results in prior research by emphasizing the need to distinguish between early-stage and later-stage relationships. However, given the exploratory nature of the study and psychometric limitations of the personality measure (TIPI) and, consequently, of the specified model, our study should be regarded as providing preliminary findings that warrant caution when drawing any general conclusions.
: People vary in their tendencies for making social comparisons - an individual difference known as Social Comparison Orientation (SCO). In the current research, two studies examined the role of SCO as a vulnerability factor in influencing exposure to and reactions to social information that produces a Fear of Missing Out (FoMO). First, using a self-report methodology, Study 1 found that SCO was associated with poorer well-being and related constructs (e.g., self-esteem, belongingness) through a serial mediation pathway involving social media use (mediator 1) and FoMO experiences (mediator 2). Second, using an experimental methodology, participants in Study 2 read hypothetical scenarios following a 2 (Scenario Type: FoMO or control) x 2 (Comparison Direction: upward or downward comparison target) between-participants design. Participants who imagined a friend having more rewarding experiences (FoMO condition) reported poorer well-being (e.g., affect, self-esteem) and greater malicious envy than did participants in a control condition, and this effect was indirect through changes in FoMO perceptions. Further, the influence of the FoMO manipulation on well-being was stronger for participants high in SCO (though the indirect effect involving FoMO perceptions was comparable across levels of SCO), suggesting SCO is a vulnerability factor for how people respond to FoMO experiences. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed in the context of social comparison, social media, and FoMO.
: Political skill refers to the ability to understand and influence others to achieve personal or organizational goals and is widely regarded as a core component of effective leadership. This study examined the personality underpinnings of political skill and developed a proxy measure using subscales from the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI; Hogan & Hogan, 2007). Political skill was operationalized using the Political Skill Inventory (PSI; Ferris et al, 2005), and data from three independent samples were analyzed. A genetic algorithm was used to identify the optimal combination of HPI subscales that best predicted PSI scores. Political skill was most strongly associated with facets of Interpersonal Sensitivity, Ambition, and Adjustment. Scores on the proxy measure correlated meaningfully with job satisfaction, organizational citizenship, and low burnout, and predicted observer-rated competencies related to relationship management and strategic leadership. While personality is not the sole basis of political skill, it represents a major dispositional foundation. This study illustrates the foundation and offers a personality-based proxy that broadens assessment options for both research and practice.
: One regularity in our environment is that familiar objects tend to be associated with a lower risk of contamination. Building on this pattern, we propose that the degree to which one's behavioral immune system is chronically activated is positively associated with stronger attribution of positive valence to the known and the familiar. In Studies 1 (N = 355) and 2 (N = 271) participants who were disgust-sensitive or who perceived themselves as vulnerable to disease showed stronger preference for familiar Chinese ideographs, based on the mere exposure effect. In Study 3 (N = 261) disgust-sensitive participants exhibited a stronger inherence effect. Study 4 (N = 284) suggests that the latter finding reflects pathogen (above and beyond sexual or moral) disgust. The predicted associations were mostly unaffected by the inclusion of control variables (political orientation, gender, religiosity, illness recency, COVID threat, and personal values). We discuss implications for the association between behavioral immune activity and conservatism, as well as for cognitive changes under pandemic conditions.
: The current study examined how shared and unique elements of the Dark Triad (DT; narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) predict judgments about dishonest behaviors in work contexts. The tendency to deceive others for selfish gains, a common feature among DT traits, provides a strong theoretical basis for linking DT traits to dishonesty. However, each DT trait also contains unique elements that may co-determine dishonesty. Using a bifactor model, we partitioned the total variance of the DT measures into a general factor reflecting shared features of DT traits and specific factors reflecting unique elements associated with each DT trait. We then examined the validity of the general and specific factors in predicting judgments about honest behaviors in various work contexts. Data were collected from 403 full-time employees in South Korea who completed measures of DT traits and a situational judgment test measuring honesty-humility. Results showed that the general factor significantly predicted lower honesty, whereas specific factors did not provide meaningful substantive prediction. These findings underscore the central role of a common antisocial core in the DT traits and highlight the value of modeling shared variance when predicting ethically relevant workplace behavior.
: This research introduces the novel construct of cultural norm duality, operationalized as within-subject variability in the endorsement of perceived cultural norms, and examines its relationship to cognitive and intergroup outcomes. Because cultural norm duality reflects a nuanced view of one's own culture as consisting of both personally supported and rejected facets, we predicted that it would be associated with positive intergroup attitudes and behaviors. Across three studies with diverse designs and samples, increases in cultural norm duality were associated with variables conducive to positive intergroup contact (e.g., cultural humility, Study 1), reduced cognitive and affective outgroup derogation (Study 2), and predicted a more balanced information seeking pattern on an issue regarding one's ingroup, an indication of attenuated ingroup favoritism (Study 3). Results from these three studies lend support to the validity of cultural norm duality and hold important implications for conceptualizing individuals' relationships with their culture.
: Ability emotional intelligence (AEI), defined as a set of skills specialized for processing emotional information, is associated with adaptive outcomes such as social support, well-being, and life satisfaction. However, recent research also suggests that higher AEI may result in higher stress reactivity. The present study evaluated both adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation and forms of coping (task-, emotion-, and avoidance-oriented) as moderators of the AEI-stress reactivity relationship. We predicted that the relationship between AEI and stress reactivity would be moderated by adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation and forms of coping. A total of 120 participants were recruited from a previous research study (aged 18-30, Mage = 20.69, SDage = 2.20, 46% women), whereby they completed measures of AEI, emotion regulation, and coping, followed by an in-person laboratory study one year later. Participants completed a pre-task assessment of their current emotional state and then presented a 3-min video-recorded presentation in front of two neutral evaluators. Galvanic skin response (GSR-M) was used to measure physiological stress. Results showed that maladaptive emotion regulation influenced the relationship between AEI (emotional understanding) and physiological stress, such that emotional understanding was significantly and positively related to physiological stress in participants with above-average levels of maladaptive emotion regulation. Our findings indicated that levels of AEI could have a deleterious effect on stress reactivity. That is, our findings suggest that when people low in EI tend to use suppression, the negative effects of maladaptive ER are amplified. Thus, emotion regulation strategies can be a critical factor in determining how much stress a person might experience when encountering an emotion-laden task.
: Attachment style is related to general self-efficacy. However, the underpinning mechanisms regarding this association remain unclear. The way people treat their own experiences is vital to general self-efficacy. Mindfulness is a key feature of attachment security, and mindful individuals could utilize positive experiences efficiently and prevent negative ones from impacting their self-efficacy. Thus, the current study investigated the potential mediating role of mindfulness in the association between attachment style and general self-efficacy. Study 1 used a cross-sectional design with 709 participants living in Tokyo, Japan. The results of Study 1 indicated that mindfulness was negatively associated with attachment avoidance and anxiety and positively associated with general self-efficacy. Attachment avoidance and anxiety were negatively related to general self-efficacy, and mindfulness mediated this relationship. Study 2 adopted a cross-lagged model to examine the directionality of these variables. Data from 408 Japanese participants showed that, at a 3-month interval, attachment anxiety negatively predicted mindfulness and general self-efficacy, and mindfulness negatively predicted general self-efficacy. Attachment avoidance positively predicted mindfulness, and mindfulness negatively predicted attachment avoidance. These findings support that evaluative attitude and the amplified negative emotions of attachment anxiety may constitute an unstable inner environment, which is likely to hamper mindfulness and general self-efficacy.
: We compared two measurement models of personality: the biologically-informed Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ) and the occupationally-focused High Potential Trait Inventory (HPTI). The primary aim was to determine the extent to which the RST-PQ underpins the construct validity of the HPTI. This was achieved by examining the basic motivations of approach, avoidance, and conflict, thus pointing to possible mechanisms as to how HPTI traits may be related to occupational performance. Three hundred and thirty respondents (mean age: 46.5 years), the majority (78%) of whom were employed full-time, were sampled from different countries by a major test publisher. Several statistically significant and theoretically meaningful correlations were found between RST-PQ and HPTI factors (e.g., the positive association of HPTI Conscientiousness and RST-PQ BAS-Goal-drive Persistence). Some sex and age differences were found in both sets of factors. Following zero-order correlational analysis, regression analyses helped further clarify these RST-PQ/HPTI associations. These findings throw empirical light on the relationships of two distinct personality measurement models, with very different origins - specifically, the biological inspiration of the RST-PQ contributes new knowledge as to the construct nature of the HPTI, pointing to viable hypotheses as to how HPTI factors should relate to occupationally-relevant data (e.g., sales performance). In general, the two models may be seen as complementary, each adding unique insights into personality. A study showing how these different factors relate to external criteria is now needed to speak to their respective predictive validities.
