10 - personality & individual differences Flashcards
what is the dark triad?
constellation of 3 socially undesirable personality traits:
- narcissism
- machiavellianism
- psychopathy
maladaptive but still within normal range of functioning (sub-clinical)
(Paulhus & Williams)
where does the term narcissism come from?
myth of narcissus
what is narcissism?
a grandiose, yet fragile sense of self, as well as a preoccupation with success and demands for admiration
what is machiavellianism?
a strategy of social conduct that involves manipulating others for personal gain, often against the other’s self-interest
features of machiavellianism
engage in unethical and counterproductive behaviours (lying, theft, sabotage)
possess cynical view of human nature
demonstrate little concern for others
what is psychopathy?
a drive to engage in impulsive or antisocial behaviour without empathy, anxiety or remorse
traits of psychopathy
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
how is narcissism measured?
- narcissistic personality inventory
- 40 forced-choice items
how is machiavellianism measured?
- mach IV
- 20 items
- 7-point likert scale (totally disagree - totally agree)
how is psychopathy measured?
- self-report psychopathy (SPR-III)
- 64 items
- 5-point likert scale (strongly disagree - strongly agree)
criticism of measure of narcism
overreliance on the measure (used in 77% of studies of narcism)
largely focuses on the ‘grandiose’ aspect of narcissism
criticism of measure of machiavellianism
psychometric problems with scale
lack of agreement on number of subscales comprising this measure
poor internal consistency
criticisms of measure of psychopathy
lack of consensus concerning what subclinical psychopathy is and how it differs from clinical psychopathy
what can be used to measure all 3 dark triad traits?
questionnaires:
1. dirty dozen (12 items, 4 per dimension
- short dark triad (27 items, 9 per dimension)
criticisms of the dirty dozen
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
evaluation of the short dark triad
+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
evidence that narcissism is increasing
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
why might there be a rise in narcissism?
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)
what are the big five personality traits?
OCEAN
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
how are dark triad traits correlated with the big five
all negatively associated with agreeableness and conscientiousness
narcissism positively associated with extraversion and openness
what are criticisms of the dark triad?
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
what is the light triad?
qualities that embody a loving and beneficent orientation toward others
3 traits:
- kantianism
- humanism
- faith in humanity
what is kantianism?
trading people as ends unto themselves, not mere means
what is humanism?
valuing the dignity and worth of each individual
what is faith in humanity?
believing in the fundamental goodness of humans
what is the question that guided the light triad scale?
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?
what are criticisms of light triad scale?
- social desirability bias
- new scale so lack of evidence for cross-cultural validity
