STUDY ALERT: How the Dark Triad traits predict relationship choices
How the Dark Triad traits predict relationship choices
Peter K. Jonason, Victor X. Luevano, Heather M. Adams
While previous studies have correlated the Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machia- vellianism) with a preference for short-term relationships, little research has addressed possible correla- tions with short-term relationship sub-types. In this online study using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk system (N = 210) we investigated the manner in which scores on the Dark Triad relate to the selection of different mating environments using a budget-allocation task. Overall, the Dark Triad were positively correlated with preferences for short-term relationships and negatively correlated with preferences for a long-term relationship. Specifically, narcissism was uniquely correlated with preferences for one-night stands and friends-with-benefits and psychopathy was uniquely correlated with preferences for booty- call relationships. Both narcissism and psychopathy were negatively correlated with preferences for seri- ous romantic relationships. In mediation analyses, psychopathy partially mediated the sex difference in preferences for booty-call relationships and narcissism partially mediated the sex difference in prefer- ences for one-night stands. In addition, the sex difference in preference for serious romantic relationships was partially mediated by both narcissism and psychopathy. It appears the Dark Triad traits facilitate the adoption of specific mating environments providing fit with people’s personality traits.
STUDY ALERT: Study Habits, Skills, and Attitudes
Study Habits, Skills, and Attitudes: The Third Pillar Supporting Collegiate Academic Performance
Marcus Crede and Nathan R. Kuncel
ABSTRACT
Study habit, skill, and attitude inventories and constructs were found to rival standardized tests and previous grades as predictors of academic performance, yielding substantial incremental validity in predicting academic performance. This meta-analysis (N 5 72,431, k = 344) examines the construct validity and predictive validity of 10 study skill constructs for college students. We found that study skill inventories and constructs are largely independent of both high school grades and scores on standardized admissions tests but moderately related to various personality constructs; these results are inconsis- tent with previous theories. Study motivation and study skills exhibit the strongest relationships with both grade point average and grades in individual classes. Academic specific anxiety was found to be an important negative predictor of performance. In addition, significant variation in the validity of specific inventories is shown. Scores on traditional study habit and attitude inventories are the most predictive of performance, whereas scores on inventories based on the popular depth-of-processing perspective are shown to be least predictive of the examined criteria. Overall, study habit and skill measures improve prediction of academic performance more than any other noncognitive individual difference variable examined to date and should be regarded as the third pillar of academic success.
STUDY ALERT: A Reexamination of Sex Differences in Sexuality
A Reexamination of Sex Differences in Sexuality: New Studies Reveal Old Truths
David P. Schmitt, Peter K. Jonason, Garrett J. Byerley, Sandy D. Flores, Brittany E. Illbeck, Kimberly N. O’Leary, and Ayesha Qudrat
Abstract
Recent evidence seems to call into question long-established findings of sex differences in sexuality, such as differences in mate preferences and desires for casual sex. In this article, we place new findings in a broader evidence-based context and show that they confirm previous perspectives on human mating. A wealth of evidence from real-world studies of actual mate choice and marital dynamics supports evolutionary mate-preference predictions. Converging evidence from patterns of extradyadic sex, mate poaching, sexual fantasies, pornography consumption, postcoital regret, sociosexual attitudes, and willingness to engage in casual sex supports the view that men and women have distinct short-term mating psychologies. This article highlights the fact that good science requires a constant re-evaluation of old truths and the proper placement of new studies in broad evidentiary contexts.
STUDY ALERT: Diversity Is What You Want It to Be
Diversity Is What You Want It to Be : How Social-Dominance Motives Affect Construals of Diversity
Miguel M. Unzueta, Eric D. Knowles, and Geoffrey C. Ho
We propose that diversity is a malleable concept capable of being used either to attenuate or to enhance racial inequality. The research reported here suggests that when people are exposed to ambiguous information concerning an organization’s diversity, they construe diversity in a manner consistent with their social-dominance motives. Specifically, anti-egalitarian individuals broaden their construal of diversity to include nonracial (i.e., occupational) heterogeneity when an organization’s racial heterogeneity is low. By contrast, egalitarian individuals broaden their construal of diversity to include nonracial heterogeneity when an organization’s racial heterogeneity is high. The inclusion of occupational heterogeneity in perceptions of diversity allows people across the spectrum of social-dominance orientation to justify their support for or opposition to hierarchy-attenuating affirmative-action policies. Our findings suggest that diversity may not have a fixed meaning and that, without a specific delineation of what the concept means in particular contexts, people may construe diversity in a manner consistent with their social motivations.
STUDY ALERT: How Low Will Men with High Self-Esteem Go?
How Low Will Men with High Self-Esteem Go? Self-Esteem as a Moderator of Gender Differences in Minimum Relationship Standards
Abstract
Men tend to establish minimum standards that are similar to those of women for high investment relationships (e.g., marriage) but set lower standards for rela- tionships requiring less investment (e.g., a one-night stand). The purpose of the present study was to examine whether self-esteem moderates these gender differences in minimum standards for romantic relationships. This was accomplished by conducting a cross-sectional study with under- graduate participants (57 men and 124 women) from the southern region of the United States. Participants completed a self-esteem measure and reported their minimum stand- ards for partners across various levels of relational involvement. As predicted, high self-esteem was associated with higher standards for low investment relationships among women but lower standards among men.
STUDY ALERT: The social motivation theory of autism
The social motivation theory of autism
Coralie Chevallier, Gregor Kohls, Vanessa Troiani, Edward S. Brodkin and Robert T. Schultz
The idea that social motivation deficits play a central role in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) has recently gained increased interest. This constitutes a shift in autism research, which has traditionally focused more intensely on cognitive impairments, such as theory-of-mind deficits or executive dysfunction, and has granted comparatively less attention to motivational factors. This review delineates the concept of social motivation and capitalizes on recent findings in several research areas to provide an integrated account of social motivation at the behavioral, biological and evolutionary levels. We conclude that ASD can be construed as an extreme case of diminished social motivation and, as such, provides a powerful model to understand humans’ intrinsic drive to seek acceptance and avoid rejection.
STUDY ALERT: Predicting interest in and attitudes toward science from personality and need for cognition
Predicting interest in and attitudes toward science from personality and need for cognition
Gregory J. Feist
One important task for psychologists of science is to examine the psychological factors (such as person- ality or cognition) that underlie who becomes interested in science and what kind of attitudes people develop toward science. Those were the primary questions addressed by the present study in a sample of 655 college undergraduates. We predicted that the personality dimensions of openness to experience, conscientiousness, and introversion as well as the cognitive style need for cognition would each predict level of interest in science. Results confirmed these predictions, although the effect sizes tended to be small. Further analyses revealed that need for cognition explained variance in interest in science over and above variance explained by personality.
STUDY ALERT: Influence of neuroticism and conscientiousness on working memory training outcome
Influence of neuroticism and conscientiousness on working memory training outcome
Barbara Studer-Luethi, Susanne M. Jaeggi, Martin Buschkuehl, Walter J. Peril
We investigated whether and how individual differences in personality determine cognitive training outcomes. Forty-seven participants were either trained on a single or on a dual n-back task for a period of 4 weeks. Fifty-two additional participants did not receive any training and served as a no-contact control group. We assessed neuroticism and conscientiousness as personality traits as well as performance in near and far transfer measures. The results indicated a significant interaction of neuroticism and intervention in terms of training efficacy. Whereas dual n-back training was more effective for participants low in neuroticism, single n-back training was more effective for participants high in neuroticism. Conscientiousness was associated with high training scores in the single n-back and improvement in near transfer measures, but lower far transfer performance, suggesting that subjects scoring high in this trait developed task-specific skills preventing generalizing effects. We conclude by proposing that individual differences in personality should be considered in future cognitive intervention studies to optimize the Working memory training efficacy of training.
