Examining the Deviation From Balanced Time Perspective in the Dark Triad Throughout Adulthood

What Are the Optimal Levels of Time Perspectives? Deviation from the Balanced Time Perspective-Revisited (DBTP-r)

Balanced time perspective (BTP) describes a tendency to focus on past, present and future time horizons that fosters well-being and positive life outcomes. Deviation from the balanced time perspective is a widespread method to measure the balance, but it makes assumptions regarding levels of time perspectives constituting BTP. In the present research we aimed to test the assumptions regarding levels of time perspectives constituting BTP by testing associations between time perspectives and domains of well-being in four independent samples (N = 1150). The results showed that higher well-being was fostered by greater past positive (PP) and future (F) and lower past negative (PN) and present fatalistic (PF) time perspectives in a linear manner. As for the present hedonistic (PH) perspective, the results were inconsistent indicating that this time orientation can be unrelated to well-being or related in an inverse U-shape manner. In the light of our results the optimal values for the deviation from the balanced time perspective, as measured with the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, should be revisited and changed into PN 1, PP 5, PF 1, PH 3.4, F 5, with careful consideration whether or not to incorporate PH into the formula for the deviation from the balanced time perspective at all. We also showed that the deviation from the balanced time perspective using the above values better predicts well-being than the one using previously assumed levels.

Manipulating the odds: The effects of Machiavellianism and construal level on cheating behavior

Values, beliefs, and traits differ across individuals, and these concepts might impact whether individuals choose to engage in (dis)honest behavior. This project focuses on interindividual differences in Machiavellianism, which is defined as a tendency toward cynicism and manipulativeness, and the belief that the ends justify the means. We hypothesized that trait Machiavellianism would predict dishonest behavior. Furthermore, we speculated that some situations are more conducive than others for Machiavellianism to translate into behavior. In particular, Construal Level Theory holds that individuals construe social situations on a concrete level, or an abstract level, and that an abstract construal level triggers values and value-related traits to be more influential on behavior. Against this background, we hypothesized that differences in Machiavellianism produce differences in dishonest monetary behavior when situations are construed abstractly. Four studies tested these considerations by asking participants to toss a coin and self-report the toss' outcome. Inconsistent with our theorizing, we did not find that higher Machiavellianism is consistently associated with a higher self-reported probability of receiving an individual bonus. We also did not find consistent support that higher Machiavellianism is associated with cheating under abstract compared to concrete construal.