Personality links to anger: Evidence for trait interaction and differentiation across expression style

Examination of Acceptability, Feasibility, and Iatrogenic Effects of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) of Suicidal Ideation

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) can be used to examine the dynamics of suicidal ideation in daily life. While the general acceptability and feasibility of EMA in suicide research has been established, further examination of potential iatrogenic effects (i.e., negative reactivity) and identifying those more likely to react negatively is needed. Participants (N = 82) with current suicidal ideation completed 21 days of EMA (4×/day) and filled in M = 78% (Med = 84%) of the EMA. No positive or negative affect reactivity was observed in EMA ratings over the study period. Retrospectively, most participants rated their experience as positive (69%); 22% indicated mood worsening, and 18% suicidal ideation reactivity. Those with more borderline personality traits, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and higher depressive, anxiety, and suicidal ideation symptoms, were more likely to report iatrogenic effects. In conclusion, while high compliance rates and lack of affect reactivity during EMA indicate that EMA is well tolerated in suicide research, a minority of participants may report subjective mood effects in retrospect.

Targeted nudging for speeding behavior: The influence of interpersonal characteristics on responses to in-vehicle road nudges

Road carnage is one of the most fatal and expensive global issues today. Many solutions have been implemented to minimize it, but most are costly and unreliable. Therefore, in this study, nudges were used as a reliable and inexpensive tool to affect safe driving behavior which, in turn, may reduce road fatalities. To optimize the use of nudges, we suggested that responses to nudges - in a similar manner to responses to other stimuli - may vary by interpersonal characteristics, so that different nudges may lead to more accurate and reliable reactions in different sub-populations in a predictable manner. To test these assertions, we collected a sample of 200 participants, both men and women, ages 17.5 to 83 years. We measured different interpersonal characteristics that included both demographic information (e.g., age, gender, years with a driver's license) and different personality traits. We then assessed responses to nudges using a simulator that was specially designed for this study, in which participants are asked to adjust their speed as they see fit while they watched a video shot from a driver's perspective of the forward roadway. Over the course of the video, a different nudge was displayed for each subject and their response latency and speeds were recorded for further analysis. We were able to observe several interesting phenomena: responses to a reminder nudge and a negative reinforcement nudge were faster than responses to a social norm nudge. However, the latter showed a longer-term impact. The responses to the social norm interventions were also more variable, demonstrating that high neuroticism is linked to decreased response to social norm nudges, a picture that is repeated in men compared to women. Contrarily, conscientiousness was linked to a faster and more reliable response to the social norm nudge, and the gender effect was eliminated for men with high conscientiousness. Moreover, parenthood was found to increase the response to all nudges and was protective against the effects of high sensation-seeking, which led to more road violations. These findings may be tested using modern technology, which can facilitate the measurements of personal traits and verify the reliability of responses to nudges. Therefore, the current study suggests nudge personalization may be beneficial in improving the use of nudges on the road.

Why do we share aggressive online content? Testing a short cycle model

The present study aimed to observe the impacts of aggressive online content exposure and personality on aggressive content sharing, considering the mediating role of positive and negative affects. A total of 302 Brazilians, equally divided into two groups, participated in a social network simulation, being exposed to aggressive (experimental group) or neutral (control group) posts and choosing what they would like to share on this site (among aggressive or nonaggressive material). A factorial MANOVA showed a significant difference for positive and negative affects and aggressive content sharing (Wilks' Λ = 0.936; F[3, 298] = 6.812; p = .001; η²  = 0.064). Through structural equation modeling, an explanatory model was also tested, in which this behavior was directly predicted by aggressive online content exposure and suffered indirect effects from openness, conscientiousness, and extroversion, mediated by positive affects (goodness-of-fit index = 0.997, comparative fit-index = 0.998, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.996, SRMR = 0.028, root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.035, CI = 0.003-0.054). It is possible to conclude that the objectives are met, highlighting the contribution to understanding aggressive online behavior through the proximal processes described in the general aggression model.

Do the Big Five personality traits interact to predict life outcomes? Systematically testing the prevalence, nature, and effect size of trait-by-trait moderation

Personality researchers have posited multiple ways in which the relations between personality traits and life outcomes may be moderated by other traits, but there are well-known difficulties in reliable detection of such trait-by-trait interaction effects. Estimating the prevalence and magnitude base rates of trait-by-trait interactions would help to assess whether a given study is suited to detect interaction effects. We used the Life Outcomes of Personality Replication Project dataset to estimate the prevalence, nature, and magnitude of trait-by-trait interactions across 81 self-reported life outcomes ( n ≥ 1350 per outcome). Outcome samples were divided into two halves to examine the replicability of observed interaction effects using both traditional and machine learning indices. The study was adequately powered (1 − β ≥ .80) to detect the smallest interaction effects of interest (interactions accounting for a Δ R2 of approximately .01) for 78 of the 81 (96%) outcomes in each of the partitioned samples. Results showed that only 40 interactions (5.33% of the original 750 tests) showed evidence of strong replicability through robustness checks (i.e., demographic covariates, Tobit regression, and ordinal regression). Interactions were also uniformly small in magnitude. Future directions for research on trait-by-trait interactions are discussed.

Age and the Factor Structure of Emotional Experience in Adulthood

OBJECTIVES

The current study examined the factor structure of emotional experience across adults 34-50, 51-65, and 66-84 year olds.

METHOD

Participants (N = 2,022) were asked about 14 negative and 13 positive emotions across 8 days in the National Study of Daily Experiences II study. Factor analysis computed both inter-individual factors (between-person structure of emotional experience) and intra-individual factors (factors describing emotions in daily life) for each age group.

RESULTS

For inter-individual variation, one positive and one negative factor captured emotions experienced for the first two age groups, but the 66 to 84-year-old adults had an additional factor for anger. For intra-individual variation, two factors (fear and sadness; anger) captured negative emotions for the first two age groups. The oldest age group had three negative factors: fear; anger (with additional sadness emotions); and sadness. Four factors captured positive emotions for the middle-aged groups and three for the oldest group; interpersonally oriented emotions (e.g. sense of belonging) were the primary sources of age differences.

DISCUSSION

Findings suggest that subtle age differences exist in the factor structure of daily emotional experience when comparing middle-aged and older adults.

The Role of Co-occurring Emotions and Personality Traits in Anger Expression

The main aim of the current study was to examine the role of co-occurring emotions and their interactive effects with the Big Five personality traits in anger expression. Everyday anger expression (“anger-in” and “anger-out” behavior) was studied with the experience-sampling method in a group of 110 participants for 14 consecutive days on 7 random occasions per day. Our results showed that the simultaneously co-occurring emotions that buffer against anger expression are sadness, surprise, disgust, disappointment, and irritation for anger-in behavior, and fear, sadness and disappointment for anger-out reactions. While previous studies have shown that differentiating one's current affect into discrete emotion categories buffers against anger expression (Pond et al., 2012), our study further demonstrated the existence of specific interactive effects between the experience of momentary emotions and personality traits that lead to higher levels of either suppression or expression of anger behavior (or both). For example, the interaction between the trait Openness and co-occurring surprise, in predicting anger-in behavior, indicates that less open people hold their anger back more, and more open people use less anger-in behavior. Co-occurring disgust increases anger-out reactions in people low in Conscientiousness, but decreases anger-out reactions in people high in Conscientiousness. People high in Neuroticism are less likely to engage in anger-in behavior when experiencing disgust, surprise, or irritation alongside anger, but show more anger out in the case of co-occurring contempt. The results of the current study help to further clarify the interactions between the basic personality traits and the experience of momentary co-occurring emotions in determining anger behavior.