10 - personality & individual differences

Question 1

what is the dark triad?

Answer 1

constellation of 3 socially undesirable personality traits:
- narcissism
- machiavellianism
- psychopathy

maladaptive but still within normal range of functioning (sub-clinical)
(Paulhus & Williams)

Question 2

where does the term narcissism come from?

Answer 2

myth of narcissus

Question 3

what is narcissism?

Answer 3

a grandiose, yet fragile sense of self, as well as a preoccupation with success and demands for admiration

Question 4

what is machiavellianism?

Answer 4

a strategy of social conduct that involves manipulating others for personal gain, often against the other’s self-interest

Question 5

features of machiavellianism

Answer 5

engage in unethical and counterproductive behaviours (lying, theft, sabotage)

possess cynical view of human nature

demonstrate little concern for others

Question 6

what is psychopathy?

Answer 6

a drive to engage in impulsive or antisocial behaviour without empathy, anxiety or remorse

Question 7

traits of psychopathy

Answer 7

impulsivity and thrill-seeking, engage in risky behaviours without consideration for consequences

callousness and consistent lack of empathy

lack of emotional bonds, no guilt or remorse

Question 8

how is narcissism measured?

Answer 8

• narcissistic personality inventory
• 40 forced-choice items

Question 9

how is machiavellianism measured?

Answer 9

• mach IV
• 20 items
• 7-point likert scale (totally disagree - totally agree)

Question 10

how is psychopathy measured?

Answer 10

• self-report psychopathy (SPR-III)
• 64 items
• 5-point likert scale (strongly disagree - strongly agree)

Question 11

criticism of measure of narcism

Answer 11

overreliance on the measure (used in 77% of studies of narcism)

largely focuses on the ‘grandiose’ aspect of narcissism

Question 12

criticism of measure of machiavellianism

Answer 12

psychometric problems with scale

lack of agreement on number of subscales comprising this measure

poor internal consistency

Question 13

criticisms of measure of psychopathy

Answer 13

lack of consensus concerning what subclinical psychopathy is and how it differs from clinical psychopathy

Question 14

what can be used to measure all 3 dark triad traits?

Answer 14

questionnaires:
1. dirty dozen (12 items, 4 per dimension

2. short dark triad (27 items, 9 per dimension)

Question 15

criticisms of the dirty dozen

Answer 15

4 items not enough to capture nuances

convergent validity was assessed by comparing DD subscales with established measures of each sub scale (Mach IB, SRP-II, NPI)

SRP-III correlated stronger with machiavellianism at 0.44 than the DD psychopathy sub scale - not drawing distinctions between traits

Question 16

evaluation of the short dark triad

Answer 16

+ve: more items in each sub scale to better represent each dimensions

-ve: factor analysis studies have repeatedly failed to reproduce a three-factor structure. machiavellianism and psychopathy often cluster into a single factor

Question 17

evidence that narcissism is increasing

Answer 17

Twenge et al studies how narcissism scores changed over time in college students

NPI scores were 30% higher in most recent cohort compared to first cohort (1982) - particularly among women

Question 18

why might there be a rise in narcissism?

Answer 18

social media: higher amounts of visual social media use associated with higher levels of narcissism (not non-visual forms)

parenting styles: parental overvaluation predicted child narcissism (not self-esteem)

Question 19

what are the big five personality traits?

Answer 19

OCEAN
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism

Question 20

how are dark triad traits correlated with the big five

Answer 20

all negatively associated with agreeableness and conscientiousness

narcissism positively associated with extraversion and openness

Question 20

what are criticisms of the dark triad?

Answer 20

independent traits or a single construct?
- unification hypothesis: strong positive intercorrelations
- uniqueness hypothesis: different associations with other traits and outcomes

3 traits not enough to capture dark side of human nature, should include sadism in dark tetrad

Question 21

what is the light triad?

Answer 21

qualities that embody a loving and beneficent orientation toward others

3 traits:
- kantianism
- humanism
- faith in humanity

Question 22

what is kantianism?

Answer 22

trading people as ends unto themselves, not mere means

Question 23

what is humanism?

Answer 23

valuing the dignity and worth of each individual

Question 24

what is faith in humanity?

Answer 24

believing in the fundamental goodness of humans

Question 25

what is the question that guided the light triad scale?

Answer 25

what would an everyday loving and beneficent orientation toward others look like that is in direct contrast to the everyday antagonistic orientation of those scoring high on dark traits?

Question 26

what are criticisms of light triad scale?

Answer 26

• social desirability bias
• new scale so lack of evidence for cross-cultural validity