PSYC2017 USYD: The Dark Triad, Personality Change, and Emotion

What is common among the dark triad traits? (1)

Antagonism

Ethically, morally, and socially deviant but distinct

Name and define N as a domain of the dark triad and its facets? (1)

Narcissism: an egotistical preoccupation with self. May seem charming but struggles to form relationships

1. Vulnerable Narcissism (covert): defensive, concerned about their own adequacy, wanting to hide their worry which looks defensive when self esteem is threatened. Defensive, angry, emotional, disconnected

2. Grandiose Narcissism: self centred, genuinely believes they are superior. show off, self centred

Name and define P as a domain of the dark triad and its facets? (1)

Psychopathy: shallow emotional responses which leads to low empathy and guilt with a high tolerance to stress. Seeks stimulating activity, impulsivity and conflict

1. Primary psychopathy: (more genetic, lower anxiety) involves callousness, shallow emotions, manipulation and superficial gain

2. Secondary psychopathy (more environmental, higher anxiety) involves impulsivity and lack of long-term goals, related to hostile behaviour

Name and define M as a domain of the dark triad and its facets + why is it a little controversial? (1)

Machiavellianism: manipulation and deceit, cynical disregard for morality, and a focus on getting ahead

- usually measured without facets

- some believe Machiavellianism is psychopathy as they are very correlated and predict similar

What could be possibly added to the dark triad and why? (1)

Sadism: tendency to enjoy hurting others both emotionally and physically

Higher scores on sadism = choose to kill bugs instead of other unpleasant tasks (toilet cleaning, ice bucket pain

correlate at around the same amount of .32 to the others

How does evolutionary psychology theory relate to dark triad traits? (1)

Dark triad are evolved traits with survival value

- Callous exploitation of others, low commitment, focus on the thrill -> reproductive success

The dark triad traits are advantageous in challenging environments as it allows for a fast strategy. Here higher no. of offspring's (r strategy) is prioritised over no. of surviving offspring's (k strategy)

Differentiate between r and k strategy (1)

The dark triad traits are advantageous in challenging environments as it allows for a fast strategy. Here higher no. of offspring's (r strategy) is prioritised over no. of surviving offspring's (k strategy)

Describe why meta-analytic findings of dark triad relationships with outcomes are useful (HINT: associations between the dark triad and the workplace, crime or emotionality)? (1)

Counterproductive workplace behaviour: those high on N + M use more soft tactics like compliments and those high on P + M use more hard tactics like threats to gain power. Others say it is narcissism by far that relates. does NOT relate to job performance

Criminality has the highest association with psychopathy

Lower emotional intelligence is associated with all except grandiose narcissism.

What is the relationship between Narcissism and implicit and explicit self esteem? (1)

Low implicit self esteem but high explicit self esteem = defensiveness and narcissism

High explicit self esteem and high implicit self esteem = Low narcissism/ secure personality

Compare and contrast relationships with valued outcomes for the three different dark triad traits (1)

Meta-analyses show little to no relationship between the Dark Triad and job performance or intelligence.

N shows small–moderate links to counter-productive work behaviour but also slightly higher self-rated creativity.

P has the strongest link to aggression and moderate links to counter-productive behaviour.

M shows small–moderate links to counter-productive work behaviour and lower wellbeing.

None of the traits show meaningful positive links to intelligence or actual creativity performance, only perceptions.

What is the big 5 circumplex? (2)

The big 5 circumplex has 10 different circles each with a different combo of the big 5. it is in quadrant's from positive to negative

Describe the Five-Factor model in terms of how facets, aspects, super-factors and the GFP fit together ? (2)

General factor of personality → alpha (stability) and beta (plasticity)

2 Super factors (found through meta analysis) of stability/ Alpha and plasticity/ Beta

5 domains (OCEAN)

10 aspects; for example extraversion has enthusiasm and assertiveness

30 facets ( 6 per domain)

As super factors, what are alpha and beta associated with? (2)

Alpha: people pleasing, connection and cohesion

Beta: Personal growth, striving for mastery, self expansion

Evaluate the utility of specific versus general conceptualisations of personality for predicting valued outcomes? (2)

- Conscientiousness is the strongest predictor of job performance, neuroticism for low job performance, and extraversion for job performance in social service

- Helpfulness: For O, E, A, and N domains (not C), one aspect 'carries the load' in predicting job task performance.

- when applying personality like for a job selection, you may be prioritising a facet or aspect rather than the full domain

What are the 2 different explanations for the meaning of the General factor of personality? (2)

1. Evolved Trait

• Correlation between the domains caused by evolutionary fitness/survival advantage. It also involves R strategy (small investment in many children) over K strategy (large investment in few children). Positive associations for intelligence (g) and emotion.intel (EI) → evidence for evolutionary fitness

2. Method Effect

• Correlation between the domains caused by people distorting their responses to ‘sound good’. They think they are better than they are and exaggerate items to look better. GFP factor is stronger for fake good answers > honest answers

How might the dark triad fit within the 'GFP' model? (2)

Dark triad is a super factor along alpha and beta. P, M and N domain sit alongside the domains of OCEAN

Agreeableness and conscientiousness loads negatively to the dark personality and plasticity positively to narcissism

D.P negatively correlate with stability and plasticity

What are some personality traits that exist outside of the common personality models? (2)

Self-efficacy: subjective perception of one's capability to perform in a given setting. Has a lot of domains that can be divided by environment

Self-esteem: an evaluation of one’s self-concept as positive

Locus of control: beliefs that one's life outcomes arise from one's own agency/abilities (internal) versus external factors outside one's control

Need for cognition: tendency to enjoy engaging in cognitive activities

Empathy: affective and cognitive

What are jingle and jangle fallacies and relate it back to personality traits? (2)

Jingle fallacy: Thinking that two things are the same because they bear the same name.

Jangle fallacy: Thinking that two things are different because they bear different names

Eg. Grit and conscientiousness, self-efficacy and self concept

There is an important distinction between the theoretical construct and its operationalisation

Narrative Reviews vs Systematic Reviews (3)

Narrative - Qualitative summary of past research that relies heavily on author judgement and can be selective or subjective.

Systematic Review - Literature review using a pre-specified search strategy and inclusion criteria to minimise bias.

What are the major studies that have contributed knowledge about gender differences in personality? (3)

Maccoby and Jacklin's: review found that higher levels in Men > Women: assertiveness, aggression and internal locus of control for adults and women > men: anxiety

- Largely influenced methodologies and reporting

Feingold: reanalysed the previous using meta analysis: Found similarly women were greater on anxiety and men on assertiveness (small difference but the difference in self esteem and locus of control was not significant

Schmidt et al (2008): Reviewed using the five factor model using global samples and found that women were higher than men on neuroticism (moderate difference) and agreeableness (small difference)

Gender differences on who scores higher: males > females

Narcissism + Machiavellianism: small to moderate difference

Psychopathy: moderate difference

What are the differences in Facets and domains across different countries? (3)

Are there differences at the facet level that averaged at the domain level?

Openness: Men are higher on intellect aspect (ideas) and women on most of the openness facets (aesthetics, feelings and actions)

Conscientiousness (very interesting because it is the most predictive of job performance): Mostly not significant across all aspects

Extraversion: Fairly consistent differences for USA and non-USA

Women are higher on the facets under the enthusiasm aspect (warmth, gregariousness, positive emotions and (not significantly)activity and men on assertiveness and excitement seeking

Agreeableness: Women are consistently higher on all facets of agreeableness, but gender differences are consistently bigger for the U.S. than elsewhere (cultural?)

Neuroticism: Women score higher on all facets with all significant except for USA 'anger'

Smallest gender differences on the volatility facets (anger and impulsiveness) and larger gender differences on the withdrawal facets (anxiety, depression, self conscious, vulnerability)

Explain the person-situation debate? (4)

Trait theory believes that traits are stable over time, and personality determines behaviour. Situationism believes the situation determines behaviour, which is the social psychology view.

What is the Persons/trait approach to personality? (4)

People doing this a committing the fundamental attribution error

→ (the tendency to overestimate the degree to which an individual’s behavior is determined by their abiding personal characteristics, attitudes, or beliefs and, correspondingly, to minimize the influence of the surrounding situation on that behavior (e.g., financial or social pressures)

Traits do not predict, describe or influence behaviour strongly, behaviour is variable, need to look at trends

What is the situationist approach to personality including the conundrum? (4)

Situation determines behaviour and personality can only predict it to a small extent (r=.3-.4). By using Cohen's ideas about effect sizes it is not low (in medium range)

Current consensus = interactionism (B is determined by interaction of P and S)

Behaviour = situation + personality + P/S interaction + error

What is the interactionist approach to personality? (4)

Behaviour is determined by the interaction of personality and situation

The situation is primary, and the focus of study should be the processes whereby people adapt to changing situations, but also hypothesize that personality exists. There are meaningful patterns of variabilities.

Personality relates to what situations people selects, what they do in these situtions, and how they view the situation

When looking at a person's behaviour at a given time use their response to situations, but when looking at how a person acts on average use traits.

DIAMONDS Model (4)

Situations can be described in terms of:

• Classes (e.g., social situations, work situations, sporting situations)

• Characteristics (psychologically important features of situations)

• Cues (elements; e.g. persons, places, objects)

Duty → Work has to be done

Intellect → Deep thinking is required

Adversity → Someone is being threatened, accused, or criticised

Mating → Potential romantic partners are present

pOsitivity → The situation is pleasant

Negativity → The situation contains negative feelings (e.g., stress, guilt, anxiety)

Deception → Somebody is being deceived

Sociality → Social interactions are possible or required

CAPTION Model (4)

Complexity, Adversity, Positive Valence, Typicality, Important, Humour, Negative Valence

Compare and contrast DIAMONDS and CAPTION models (4)

Both have factors for:

• Intellect / Complexity (D / C)

• Adversity 

• Duty / Importance  (D / C)

• Positive / Negative aspects

DIAMONDS differs with Mating and Sociality

CAPTION differs with Typicality and Humour

What is the difference between a longitudinal and cross sectional methods and describe the Baltimore study of aging? (5)

Longitudinal follows a single cohort as they age whereas cross sectional looks at age differences in the population at a single point in time

Looked at different trajectories associated with aging independent from disease. Gave an idea of state vs trait. Found that personality is relatively stable after puberty.

What are cohort sequences as a methodology? (5)

Follows 2 or more cohorts as they age (e.g., are increases in Conscientiousness from age 20-30 the same for boomers vs millennials?

What do cross-temporal meta-analyses show about the change in narcissism? (5)

- small to medium increase in uni student narcissism over 23 years

- could be due to an increase in individualism, changes in educational practices, parenting, media

- Questionable: no changes in Californian, Canadian or Australian students. Could the increase of Asian Americans masked the increase as they score lower on the NPI

- China decreased

What are cohort differences in personality and the proposed causes of these differences? (5)

1. Increase in intelligence (nutrition, less toxins, education, healthcare, more resources per child)

2. Increase in extraversion (emphasis on social skills, shift to service economy)

3. Neuroticism? (conflicting): increase in USA uni students but decrease in USA middle age and older adults

4. increase in self esteem for all accept high school students

Personality states vs traits (6)

State - condition of an entity or system at a particular time

Trait - enduring characteristic that describes or determines an individual’s behaviour across a range of situations

Not contradictory, just because they both exist, doesn’t undermine the other one

What does Fleeson say personality is? (6)

Personality can be conceptualised as fluctuating states as well as stable traits

Personality differs within a person across time but average trait levels are stable across people. Differences within a person are of similar size to differences between people

What is whole trait theory, including the 3 central principles? (6)

1. Trait levels have a descriptive part (the word eg. extraversion) and an explanatory part (cause of behaviour)

2. TraitDES = density distribution of personality state

3. TraitEXP = socio-cognitive mechanisms that influence how much a person manifests the trait at a given moment. goal of x case state y

What is a method to measure TraitDES? (6)

Experience sampling method (EMA)

- multiple tiny surveys to look at states emotions, context, situation construal's

In what way does personality change vs stay consistent? (6)

Consistency = The rank-order of people stays the same -> correlations b/w personality traits at time 1 versus time 2 (r)

Change = The absolute level of a trait differs -> changes to personality means at time 2 compared to time 1 (d)

Discuss the stability of Personality in regard to Costa & McCrae (1988) (6)

completed the NEO-PI-R twice to see rank order stability

- 6 year gap: for N, E, O which had a very high correlation

- 3 Yr gap for A, C high

- “personality is stable”, however this is cross-sectional study

Describe life events theory and the evidence for life events theory (6)

Bleidorn et al. (2018)

• Life events are transitions that require new behavioural, cognitive, or emotional responses

• Entering romantic relationship →greater decrease in neuroticism, sometime greater increases in extraversion and conscientiousness

• Retiring → relative decrease in conscientiousness

Overall, effects are small, but strongest effects for first-time events indicating major life transition (eg. first relationship, first job) in young adulthood

Evidence of personality change (Jackson et al. 2012) (6)

• German men who chose either military service or community service and measured their Big Five traits before service and two years later.

• Personality traits may influence their choice (e.g., military recruits already had lower agreeableness, openness, and neuroticism).

• situation itself also caused change: the military environment led to smaller increases in agreeableness compared to community service.

• These differences persisted over 6 years, showing that life situations can produce long-lasting changes in personality, not just reflect pre-existing traits.

Roberts et al., 2006 meta-analysis of longintudinal studies vs Costa & McRae’s cross sectional findings (CS)

Conscientiousness

• increase is small except for aged 22-30 + 30-40 (d=>.20)

• consistent with CS, which showed small increase in conscientiousness

• attributed to entering workforce

Extraversion

• Different for 2 parts of extraversion, social vitality vs social dominance

  • Decrease for post-uni people in SV

  • SD has increase around 18-22 + 22-30 (d=>.20)

• Opposite to CS → E is negatively associated with age

Agreeableness

• Increase, peaks 22-30 (d=~0.18) and 50-60 (d=.30) 

• Agrees with CS findings → has positive correlation between agreeableness and age

• Coincides with transition periods (entering/leaving workforce, relationships)

Emotional Stability/Low Neuroticism

• General increase 10-40, slight decrease around 60-70

• Agrees with CS → increases in emotional stab. across lifespan, stabilising in 50s and decreasing in 60s

Openness

• Increases 10-22, plateaus 22-50, potential creases 60-70+

• Inconsistent/more complex than CS → only decreases occur 60s-70s

Describe the evidence and reasoning that emotions evolved (7)

Darwin (1872: Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals):

• A small number of basic, universal emotions have evolved in humans and other primate species

• Emotions have a genetic basis, and have survival value

  • e.g., disgust response = spit out bitter food, avoid poisoning; fear response = run from danger, avoid death/injury

• There is universal expression that gives emotions communication value

Name and describe Ekman’s basic emotions (7)

6 (+1) "basic" discrete emotions/ dimensions

- ECKMAN defined them as Anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise + contempt.

Each one has a distinct expression, physiological basis and appraisal pattern

What is our understanding of facial expressions of emotions? (7)

All humans:

1. Express the core emotions in the same way and

2. decode or interpret with equal accuracy

- Facial expressions of emotions are universal and innate. Think about someone who is blind but still expresses happiness in the same way

As an emotion circumplex model, what is the Affect circumplex? (7)

Russel (1980)

2 dimensional model of high to low arousal and positive to negative valence. Similar emotions are close together. He said emotions consist of both core affect (underlying physiological changes) and subject experience

As an emotion circumplex model, what is the Geneva emotion wheel? (7)

Sacharin, Schlegel & Sherer (2012)

- negative to positive violence similar to the affect complex but now it is combined with high to low control

- the closer to the outside, the more the intensity

As an emotion circumplex model, what is the Plutchik emotion model? (7)

- Based on evolutionary theory

-8 dimensions in comparison to Eckman's 6 and they are positioned as opposites. Joy vs sadness, trust vs disgust; fear vs anger; surprise vs anticipation

- 3 arousal levels but opposite to the geneva model those in the core are more intense

- basic emotions can mix to form dyads eg. trust+fear = submission, joy+anticipation = optimism

What is the Component-process model of emotions? (7)

Current model by Scherer (2009)

- Emotions is a process because things happen in a sequence over time but also a reaction to environmental triggers

- There are multiple components

1. Appraisal (cognition) – the interpretation of the situation with respect to one’s goals (e.g., goals-are-blocked→frustration, unexpectedness→surprise)

2. Physiological changes (biology) – changes in brain or body responses (e.g., dopamine release, changes in pulse)

3. Action tendencies (behaviour) – a characteristic class of behaviours for each emotion (e.g., fight-flight-freeze for fear, repel for disgust)

4. Feeling (internal experience) – the internal phenomenological experience of having a particular feeling (e.g., I feel sad, I feel angry)

5. Expressions (communication) – characteristic expressions communicate the emotion to others (e.g., frowning, crying, raising eyebrows)

What differentiates the different historical theory's of emotions? (7)

The order of the sequence and components differ by person.

James-Lange: you feel the feeling because of the expression. e.g. I am sad because I frown

Cannon-Bard; emotional states are the response from the lower brain on the higher brain. Thalamus controls the experience and hypothalamus controls expression. e.g. sad and frown at the same time

Schacter-Singers two-factor theory:

1) physiological experience of emotion (arousal)

2) Interpretation of the arousal = emotion, based on background circumstances

Arnold's Appraisal Theory: Emotions consist of feelings, expressions and physiological changes which occur at the same time and are caused by appraisals of the situation in terms of personal meaning.

What is the facial feedback hypothesis? (7)

Facial feedback hypothesis = emotions result from facial expressions, even when those expressions are unrelated to events that would cause them

- some evidence but weak with improper replication

As an Appraisal theory of emotion, what is the transactional model of coping? (8)

Classic model. You move onto the next step depending on the answer

Stressor -> primary appraisal (importance/relevance) -> Secondary Appraisal (controllability/ coping protentional -> coping response (problem or emotion focused)

- Problem focused coping (change the situation) - correlated to conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness

- Emotion focused coping: (change your emotions)- correlated to neuroticism and low conscientiousness and low agreeablesness

- Later added avoidance which is correlated with neuroticism, and low conscientiousness

According to the transactional model of coping, what decided that type of response

High appraised control (believe they can control the situation) = people use problem-focused coping

Low appraised control = people use emotion-focused or avoidant coping

One 'core' appraisal captures each distinct emotion: I will experience the emotion of ... if I appraise ...

- internal characteristics on the big 5 also determine it

Name and describe some of the different strategies involved in ‘problem-focused’ and ‘emotion-focused’ coping (8)

Problem-Focused

• Planning, active coping, seeking instrumental support

• B5 correlates: C(moderate), E(small-mod), A(small)

Emotion-Focused

• Wishful thinking & self-blame (maladaptives), positive reappraisal and seeking social support (adaptives)

• B5 correlate: N(mod-large), LowC(small-mod), LowA(small)

Avoidant

• Distraction, behavioural avoidance

• B5 correlates: N(small-mod), LowC(small-mod)

As an Appraisal theory of emotion, what are the Lazarus core relational themes? (8)

Based on the transactional model but went beyond stress

- one core appraisal captures each distinct emotions

As an Appraisal theory of emotion, what is the Component- Process model? (8)

relevance -> implication -> coping potential -> normative significance

As an Appraisal theory of emotion, what is the modal model of emotion? (8)

Situation -> attention -> Appraisal -> response

Types of regulation (8)

Hedonic vs counter-hedonic

• Hedonic regulation (feel better): up-regulate positive, down-regulate negative emotions

• Counter-hedonic regulation (feel worse): down-regulate positive, up- regulate negative emotions

Extrinsic vs intrinsic regulation

• Intrinsic regulation = regulate my emotions

• Extrinsic regulation = regulate other people’s emotions

Extended process model (8)

Identification → selection → implementation → monitoring