Predicting Short- and Long-Term Mating Orientations: The Role of Sex and the Dark Tetrad

Validating the Revised Mating Effort Questionnaire

The mating effort questionnaire (MEQ) is a multi-dimensional self-report instrument that captures factors reflecting individual effort in upgrading from a current partner, investment in a current partner, and mate seeking when not romantically paired. In the current studies, we sought to revise the MEQ so that it distinguishes among two facets of mate seeking-mate locating and mate attracting-to enable a more nuanced measurement and understanding of individual mating effort. Moreover, we developed additional items to better measure partner investment. In total, the number of items was increased from 12 to 26. In Study 1, exploratory factor analysis revealed that a four-factor solution, reflecting partner upgrading, mate locating, mate attracting, and partner investment, yielded the best fit. In Study 2, this structure was replicated using confirmatory factor analysis in an independent sample. Based on extant studies documenting the relationships between psychopathy, short-term mating effort, and sexual risk taking, a structural equation model (SEM) indicated that trait psychopathy positively predicted mate locating, mate attracting, and partner upgrading and negatively predicted partner investment. A separate SEM showed that partner upgrading positively predicted risky sexual behaviors, while partner upgrading and mate locating positively predicted acceptance of cosmetic surgery.

Careful When You Click? How the Dark Triad of Personality Can Influence the Likelihood of Online Crime Victimization

Cybercrime is a growing problem, with increasing numbers of people reporting they have been a victim. However, the literature has tended to focus on the characteristics of the perpetrator and has often neglected to examine how the individual differences of victims may have an impact. This paper investigates how the Dark Triad - Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy - may increase the chances of being a victim of online crime. To do this, the Cyber Routine Activities Theory was applied, which suggests victimization is a result of two things: 1) a user's routine online activity which may bring them into contact with nefarious others and/or makes them an attractive target, and 2) the lack of a "capable guardian" who can defend against such nefarious others. Using an online survey (N = 328), we measured Internet users' Dark Triad traits, along with their engagement in various online activities and the preventative measures used against potential criminals. Findings demonstrated that narcissism and psychopathy increased the likelihood of victimization, but Machiavellianism did not. These relationships were moderated by gender. However, contrary to other work using the Cyber-RAT, preventative measures (e.g. knowledge of computers, presence of anti-virus programs) did not seem to impact on the likelihood of victimization. The challenges of using these findings to reduce cybercrime and future work are then discussed.

Differentiating Between Sexual Offending and Violent Non-sexual Offending in Men With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders Using Machine Learning

Forensic psychiatric populations commonly contain a subset of persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) who have committed sex offenses. A comprehensive delineation of the features that distinguish persons with SSD who have committed sex offenses from persons with SSD who have committed violent non-sex offenses could be relevant to the development of differentiated risk assessment, risk management and treatment approaches. This analysis included the patient records of 296 men with SSD convicted of at least one sex and/or violent offense who were admitted to the Centre for Inpatient Forensic Therapy at the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich between 1982 and 2016. Using supervised machine learning, data on 461 variables retrospectively collected from the records were compared with respect to their relative importance in differentiating between men who had committed sex offenses and men who had committed violent non-sex offenses. The final machine learning model was able to differentiate between the two types of offenders with a balanced accuracy of 71.5% (95% CI = [60.7, 82.1]) and an AUC of .80 (95% CI = [.67, .93]). The main distinguishing features included sexual behaviours and interests, psychopathological symptoms and characteristics of the index offense. Results suggest that when assessing and treating persons with SSD who have committed sex offenses, it appears to be relevant to not only address the core symptoms of the disorder, but to also take into account general risk factors for sexual recidivism, such as atypical sexual interests and sexual preoccupation.

Personality and Mating Orientations in Monogamy and Consensual Non-Monogamy in Young Spanish University Students

Consensual non-monogamy (CNM) is a non-normative relationship that can generally be defined as relationships in which the involved individuals have openly agreed that they can have other sexual and/or affective partners. Despite growing interest in CNM, little research has been conducted regarding characteristics of the involved individuals, as well as comparing CNM individuals and monogamous individuals' characteristics. Expanding this research is important, as CNM constitutes a sizeable minority group, and CNM individuals and relationships are subject to stigma and dehumanization. The present study compared CNM and monogamous individuals in terms of personality (including "dark" personality) and mating orientations (sociosexuality and long-term mating) in young Spanish university students. Main results indicated that CNM individuals did not differ much in personality nor were they prone to higher "dark" personality traits when compared to monogamous individuals. Regarding mating orientations, CNM individuals were prone to higher sociosexuality levels and lower levels of long-term mating. Interestingly, results showed positive correlations between sociosexuality and "dark" personality in monogamous individuals, but not in CNM individuals. In conclusion, young Spanish university CNM individuals seem to be more pro-sex than monogamous people and less committed to the romantic love narrative of long-term mating, but these individuals were not more untrustworthy, self-centered, ruthless, or malevolent. Results were also discussed regarding their implications in the stigma and dehumanization of CNM people.

The battle between light and dark side of personality: How light and dark personality traits predict mating strategies in the online context