Personality and situational factors differently influence high Mach and low Mach persons’ decisions in a social dilemma game

An experimental investigation on the dark side of emotions and its aftereffects

The economic literature is so far overwhelmingly dedicated to the effect of incidental emotions on virtuous behavior. However, it is not so explicit for destructive behavior and the way it evolves with emotional states. To fill this gap, we explore how incidental emotions impact antisocial behavior in a laboratory experiment. As our vehicle of research, we used the open treatment of the joy-of-destruction mini-game. In addition to that, we elicited players' first and second-order beliefs via an incentivized questionnaire. We find that destructive behavior is driven by two motives: spite (Machiavellian traits) and preemptive retaliation (Expected destruction by partners). Emotional states do not impact destructive behavior directly. However, positive emotions brighten the expectations of other player beliefs on his partner's destruction, and indirectly reduces the willingness to destroy partner's money.

Sibling relationship quality and parental rearing style influence the development of Dark Triad traits

Currently our understanding of environmental factors that influence the development of dark personality traits (DT) is limited. Therefore, we conducted three studies using online questionnaires, each examining a different aspect of the relation between dark personality traits and family environment. In Study 1, 117 adults (mean age: 30.36 years, SD = 10.19) filled out questionnaires regarding their childhood relationship with siblings and their own DT traits. We found that the amount of conflicts with siblings during adolescence correlated positively with Machiavellianism and psychopathy. The feeling of closeness towards the siblings showed negative correlation with Machiavellianism. Parental partiality towards the other sibling was positively correlated with narcissism. In Study 2, 111 adolescents (mean age: 15.92, SD = 1.24) reported their perceptions of the rearing style of their parents, in addition to their sibling relationships and DT traits. Perceived parental emotional warmth was negatively associated, whereas both rejection and overprotection were positively correlated with psychopathy. Parental warmth was positively, while rejection negatively associated with narcissism. Machiavellianism was positively associated with the amount of conflicts with siblings, but negatively with closeness to siblings. In Study 3, 110 adults (mean age: 32.62 years, SD = 12.25) reported their levels of the Vulnerable Dark Triad that included measures of primary and secondary psychopathy, maladaptive covert narcissism, and borderline personality organization. Results indicated that sibling relation quality had a significant effect on primary psychopathy and borderline traits. Parental rejection and overprotection correlated with borderline traits and vulnerable narcissism. The results of these studies shed some light on how environmental impulses, particularly the quality of relationships between family members, affect the development of personality.

Dark triads, tetrads, tents, and cores: Why navigate (research) the jungle of dark personality models without a compass (criterion)?

This comprehensive review summarizes and evaluates the present state of the Dark Triad research literature (or more broadly, the dark personality trait literature), and as such serves both a pedagogical purpose, by providing an introduction or primer on the dark personality literature and a scientific purpose by directing future research on key issues that still have not been sufficiently addressed. In this review, we discuss and critique current operational conceptualizations of what it means for a personality trait to be classified as 'dark'. Also discussed is the Dark Core, as well as quantitative issues such as limitations of commonly used statistical treatments, such as multivariate analyses, bifactor modeling, and composite measures, and proposed solutions to some of these issues. Based on a comprehensive and critical appraisal of the literature, future directions are suggested to drive the dark trait field towards a more organized, parsimonious, and productive future.

From Machiavellianism to Unethical Behavior: A Cross-Level Examination of Cultural Factors

This study establishes the relationship between a manager's Machiavellian personality and unethical behavior. It also tests the cross-level interaction effects of collectivism and power distance on the relationship between a Machiavellian personality and unethical behavior. The multi-level and multi-source data are collected from 22 public sector organizations from which 202 responses from managers about their personalities, power distance, and collectivism, and 626 subordinates' ratings of the managers' unethical behavior were received and used. The results show that Machiavellian personality has a positive relationship with unethical behavior. The cross-level interaction effects also show that cultural dimensions such as power distance, and collectivism-significantly and positively moderate the relationship between Machiavellian personality and unethical behavior. Based on the study's findings, implications for theory and practice are offered.

Knowledge sabotage as an extreme form of counterproductive knowledge behavior: the role of narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and competitiveness

Purpose

This study empirically tests the impact of the Dark Triad personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) and co-worker competitiveness on knowledge sabotage.

Design/methodology/approach

A model was constructed and tested by means of Partial Least Squares with data from 150 participants recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk.

Findings

The individual personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy are significant predictors of individual knowledge sabotage behavior, whereas co-worker Machiavellianism and psychopathy trigger co-worker knowledge sabotage. Out of the three Dark Triad traits, individual and co-worker psychopathy emerged as the strongest knowledge sabotage predictor. Co-worker competitiveness has a positive effect on co-workers’ knowledge sabotage behavior. There is a relatively strong relationship between co-worker and individual knowledge sabotage which suggests that knowledge sabotage is a form of contagious workplace behavior. Individuals underestimate their negative behavior and traits and/or overestimate those of their fellow co-workers.

Practical implications

Managers should realize that the Dark Triad personality traits could predispose certain individuals to engage in extremely harmful counterproductive knowledge behavior. They need to ensure that individuals with these traits are not hired or are identified during their probation periods. It is recommended that organizations include knowledge sabotage measures in their periodic employee surveys. Organizations should help their employees objectively re-evaluate their own traits and knowledge behavior as well as those of their colleagues to ensure that their reciprocating knowledge behavior is more aligned with the reality in their organization.

Originality/value

This study offers a reliable and valid quantitative survey instrument to measure the presence of knowledge sabotage.

Do Perceiver Effects in Interpersonal Perception Predict Cooperation in Social Dilemmas?

People’s general tendencies to view others as cold-hearted and manipulative (rather than affectionate and trustworthy) may explain defection in social dilemma situations. To capture idiosyncratic tendencies in other-perceptions, we collected mutual judgments in groups of unacquainted individuals in two studies (N1 = 83, N2 = 413) and extracted perceiver effect scores using the Social Relations Model. In both studies, participants later played a public goods game. In Study 1, perceiver effects predicted cooperation beyond self-reported and group-related control variables. However, results were not replicated in a preregistered second study with higher power and a more diverse sample. We discuss implicit group norms as a likely explanation for the inconsistent findings and suggest future directions for addressing generalized expectations in social dilemmas.

The Not-So-Dark Side of Materialism: Can Public Versus Private Contexts Make Materialists Less Eco-Unfriendly?

Materialism, a way of life characterized by pursuing possessions, image, and status, has always been looked upon as self-interested and unkind. Previous studies have widely verified that materialism has a negative impact on individuals’ pro-environmental behaviors. The present research focused on whether the public (versus private) nature of a decision context will make materialists behave in more eco-friendly ways. In Study 1, the behavioral decision context (public vs. private) was manipulated to examine whether the relationship between materialism and pro-environmental behaviors would vary as a function of the situation. In Study 2, we manipulated materialism and contexts simultaneously to verify the hypothesis again. Findings in the two studies consistently revealed that public versus private contexts played a moderating role between materialism and pro-environmental behaviors. That is, in private, individuals with higher levels of materialism were less eco-friendly than those with lower levels of materialism, but the negative effect disappeared in public. We concluded with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the research findings.

In Search of the Prosocial Personality

Abstract. Prosocial behavior is intended to benefit others rather than oneself and is positively linked to personality traits such as Agreeableness and Honesty-Humility, and usually negatively to the Dark Triad traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy). However, a significant proportion of the research in this area is conducted solely on self-report measures of prosocial behavior. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between prosociality and the basic (i.e., HEXACO) and dark personality traits, comparing their contribution in predicting both self-reported prosociality and prosocial behavior. Results of the hierarchical regression analyses showed that the Dark Triad traits explain prosociality and prosocial behavior above and beyond the HEXACO traits, emphasizing the importance of the Dark Triad in the personality space.

The Dark Triad and framing effects predict selfish behavior in a one-shot Prisoner's Dilemma

What causes us to display selfish behaviors? We explored the extent to which Dark Triad traits (sub-clinical psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism) support a selfish behavioral strategy. We related performance on a hypothetical Prisoner's Dilemma (an economic game that simulates a two-person social dilemma) to participants' (N = 1400) Dark Triad scores. Because contextual factors also impact selfish behaviors, we tested how framing (gain vs. loss; and social vs. nonsocial) shaped performance in the Prisoner's Dilemma. Participants with high Dark Triad scores were more likely to behave selfishly in the Prisoner's Dilemma. Participants were also most likely to betray their partner in loss-framed and non-socially framed contexts. These effects did not interact with Dark Triad scores. Our data are consistent with the view that seemingly negative personality traits (like those associated with the Dark Triad traits) that persist in the population may serve as evolutionarily adaptive behavioral strategies.

Temperament clusters associate with anxiety disorder comorbidity in depression

BACKGROUND

Individual temperament is associated with psychiatric morbidity and could explain differences in psychiatric comorbidities. We investigated the association of temperament profile clusters with anxiety disorder comorbidity in patients with depression.

METHODS

We assessed the temperament of 204 specialized care-treated depressed patients with the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) and their diagnoses with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Two-step cluster analysis was used for defining patients' temperament profiles and logistic regression analysis was used for predicting different anxiety disorders for various temperament profiles.

RESULTS

Four temperament clusters were found: 1) Novelty seekers with highest Novelty Seeking scores (n = 56),2) Persistent with highest Persistence scores (n = 36), 3) Reserved with lowest Novelty Seeking scores (n = 66) and 4) Wearied with highest Harm avoidance, lowest Reward Dependence and lowest Persistence scores (n = 58). After adjusting for clinical variables, panic disorder and/or agoraphobia were predicted by Novelty seekers' temperament profile with odds ratio [OR] = 3.5 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.8 - 6.9, p < 0.001), social anxiety disorder was predicted by Wearied temperament profile with OR = 3.4 (95% CI = 1.6 - 7.5, p = 0.002), and generalized anxiety disorder was predicted by Reserved temperament profile with OR = 2.6 (95% CI = 1.2 - 5.3, p = 0.01).

LIMITATIONS

The patients' temperament profiles were assessed while displaying depressive symptoms, which may have affected results.

CONCLUSIONS

Temperament clusters with unique dimensional profiles were specifically associated with different anxiety disorders in this study. These results suggest that TCI-R could offer a valuable dimensional method for predicting the risk of anxiety disorders in diverse depressed patients.

Data sharing as social dilemma: Influence of the researcher's personality

It is widely acknowledged that data sharing has great potential for scientific progress. However, so far making data available has little impact on a researcher’s reputation. Thus, data sharing can be conceptualized as a social dilemma. In the presented study we investigated the influence of the researcher's personality within the social dilemma of data sharing. The theoretical background was the appropriateness framework. We conducted a survey among 1564 researchers about data sharing, which also included standardized questions on selected personality factors, namely the so-called Big Five, Machiavellianism and social desirability. Using regression analysis, we investigated how these personality domains relate to four groups of dependent variables: attitudes towards data sharing, the importance of factors that might foster or hinder data sharing, the willingness to share data, and actual data sharing. Our analyses showed the predictive value of personality for all four groups of dependent variables. However, there was not a global consistent pattern of influence, but rather different compositions of effects. Our results indicate that the implications of data sharing are dependent on age, gender, and personality. In order to foster data sharing, it seems advantageous to provide more personal incentives and to address the researchers’ individual responsibility.

Stable self-serving personality traits in recreational and dependent cocaine users

Chronic cocaine use has been associated with impairments in social cognition, self-serving and antisocial behavior, and socially relevant personality disorders (PD). Despite the apparent relationship between Machiavellianism and stimulant use, no study has explicitly examined this personality concept in cocaine users so far. In the frame of the longitudinal Zurich Cocaine Cognition Study, the Machiavellianism Questionnaire (MACH-IV) was assessed in 68 recreational and 30 dependent cocaine users as well as in 68 psychostimulant-naïve controls at baseline. Additionally, three closely related personality dimensions from the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI)–cooperativeness, (social) reward dependence, and self-directedness–and the screening questionnaire of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II) were acquired. At the one-year follow-up, 57 cocaine users and 48 controls were reassessed with the MACH-IV. Finally, MACH-IV scores were correlated with measures of social cognition and interaction (cognitive/emotional empathy, Theory-of-Mind, prosocial behavior) and with SCID-II PD scores assessed at baseline. Both recreational and dependent cocaine users showed significantly higher Machiavellianism than controls, while dependent cocaine users additionally displayed significantly lower levels of TCI cooperativeness and self-directedness. During the one-year interval, MACH-IV scores showed high test-retest reliability and also the significant gap between cocaine users and controls remained. Moreover, in cocaine users, higher Machiavellianism correlated significantly with lower levels of cooperativeness and self-directedness, with less prosocial behavior, and with higher cluster B PD scores. However, Machiavellianism was not correlated with measures of cocaine use severity (r<-.15). Both recreational and dependent cocaine users display pronounced and stable Machiavellian personality traits. The lack of correlations with severity of cocaine use and its temporal stability indicates that a Machiavellian personality trait might represent a predisposition for cocaine use that potentially serves as a predictor for stimulant addiction.

The manipulative skill: Cognitive devices and their neural correlates underlying Machiavellian's decision making

Until now, Machiavellianism has mainly been studied in personality and social psychological framework, and little attention has been paid to the underlying cognitive and neural equipment. In light of recent findings, Machiavellian social skills are not limited to emotion regulation and "cold-mindedness" as many authors have recently stated, but linked to specific cognitive abilities. Although Machiavellians appear to have a relatively poor mindreading ability and emotional intelligence, they can efficiently exploit others which is likely to come from their flexible problem solving processes in changing environmental circumstances. The author proposed that Machiavellians have specialized cognitive domains of decision making, such as monitoring others' behavior, task orientation, reward seeking, inhibition of cooperative feelings, and choosing victims. He related the relevant aspects of cognitive functions to their neurological substrates, and argued why they make Machiavellians so successful in interpersonal relationships.