Understanding the Dark Side of Costly Punishment: The Impact of Individual Differences in Everyday Sadism and Existential Threat

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 498-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Pfattheicher ◽  
Simon Schindler
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Costly Punishment ◽  
Basic Characteristics ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

In public goods situations, a specific destructive behaviour reliably emerges when individuals face the possibility of costly punishing others: antisocial punishment, that is, costly punishing cooperative individuals. So far, however, little is known about the individual differences and situational factors that are associated with the dark side of costly punishment. This research deals with this shortcoming. We argue that antisocial punishment reflects the basic characteristics of sadism, namely, aggressive behaviour to dominate and to harm other individuals. We further argue that antisocial punishment may reflect a type of behaviour that allows for the maintenance of self–esteem (through aggressively dominating others). Therefore, we expect that individuals who report a disposition for everyday sadism are particularly likely to engage in antisocial punishment when their self has been threatened (by thinking about one's own death). In a study ( N = 99), we found empirical support for this assumption. The present research contributes to a better understanding of antisocial punishment and suggests that sadistic tendencies play a crucial role, especially when the self is (existentially) threatened. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

Investigating the Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Stigma Among Young Adults With History of Suicide Attempts

Crisis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meshan Lehmann ◽  
Matthew R. Hilimire ◽  
Lawrence H. Yang ◽  
Bruce G. Link ◽  
Jordan E. DeVylder
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
High Risk Population ◽  
High Functioning ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Background: Self-esteem is a major contributor to risk for repeated suicide attempts. Prior research has shown that awareness of stigma is associated with reduced self-esteem among people with mental illness. No prior studies have examined the association between self-esteem and stereotype awareness among individuals with past suicide attempts. Aims: To understand the relationship between stereotype awareness and self-esteem among young adults who have and have not attempted suicide. Method: Computerized surveys were administered to college students (N = 637). Linear regression analyses were used to test associations between self-esteem and stereotype awareness, attempt history, and their interaction. Results: There was a significant stereotype awareness by attempt interaction (β = –.74, p = .006) in the regression analysis. The interaction was explained by a stronger negative association between stereotype awareness and self-esteem among individuals with past suicide attempts (β = –.50, p = .013) compared with those without attempts (β = –.09, p = .037). Conclusion: Stigma is associated with lower self-esteem within this high-functioning sample of young adults with histories of suicide attempts. Alleviating the impact of stigma at the individual (clinical) or community (public health) levels may improve self-esteem among this high-risk population, which could potentially influence subsequent suicide risk.

Predictors of Positive Psychological Capital: An Attempt Among the Teacher Communities in Rural Jharkhand, India

2021 ◽  
pp. 0258042X2199101
Author(s):  
Mukti Clarence ◽  
Viju P. D. ◽  
Lalatendu Kesari Jena ◽  
Tony Sam George
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Psychological Capital ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Meaningful Work ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Positive Psychological Capital ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

In the recent times, researchers have shown an increased interest in positive psychological capital (PsyCap). However, it is acknowledged that due to the limited number of studies conducted on the antecedents of psychological capital, there is a lack of sufficient data for conclusively proving the antecedents of PsyCap. Consequently, this article aims to explore the potential antecedents of PsyCap as a reliable source of data in the context of rural school teachers. The focus is to investigate both the individual differences and the contextual factors as desirable variables that constitute PsyCap among the school teachers of rural Jharkhand, India. Samples of 1,120 respondents from different rural schools were collected and analysed with Structural Equation Modeling (AMOS 20.0). The findings of the study explained that both the individual differences ( proactive personality and emotional intelligence) and the contextual factors ( perceived organizational support, servant leadership and meaningful work) have a positive relationship with PsyCap. The impact of PsyCap on teacher performance can form the basis for further research on the subject. JEL Codes: M12, M53

scholarly journals Personality Psychology

Psychology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Latzman ◽  
Yuri Shishido
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Individual Person ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Research Programs ◽  
Broad Field ◽  
Diverse Field ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Dynamic Organization

The title of “Godfather of Personality” may well be ascribed to Gordon Allport, who was the first to make public efforts to promote the “field of personality” in the 1930s (see Allport and Vernon 1930, cited under Gordon Allport). Personality psychology—located within what many argue is the broadest, most encompassing branch of psychological science—can be defined as the study of the dynamic organization, within the individual, of psychological systems that create the person’s characteristic patterns of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings (see Allport 1961, also cited under Gordon Allport). The field of personality psychology is concerned with both individual differences—that is, the way in which people differ from one another—and intrapersonal functioning, the set of processes taking place within any individual person. The area of personality psychology is often grouped with social psychology in research programs at universities; however, these are quite different approaches to understanding individuals. While social psychology attempts to understand the individual in interpersonal or group contexts (i.e., “when placed in Situation A, how do people, in general, respond?”), personality psychology investigates individual differences (i.e., “how are people similar and different in how they respond to the same situation?”). Personality psychology has a long history and, as such, is an extremely large and broad field that includes a large number of approaches. Discerning readers will quickly note that the current chapter is largely focused on what has come to be the most commonly studied perspective, the trait approach. Those readers interested in other approaches are referred to a number of resources focusing on Other Approaches within the diverse field.

scholarly journals The Affiliative Role of Empathy in Everyday Interpersonal Interactions

2020 ◽  
pp. per.2286
Author(s):  
Whitney R. Ringwald ◽  
Aidan G.C. Wright
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Student Sample ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Multilevel Structural Equation

Empathy theoretically serves an affiliative interpersonal function by satisfying motives for intimacy and union with others. Accordingly, empathy is expected to vary depending on the situation. Inconsistent empirical support for empathy's affiliative role may be because of methodology focused on individual differences in empathy or differences between controlled experimental conditions, which fail to capture its dynamic and interpersonal nature. To address these shortcomings, we used ecological momentary assessment to establish typical patterns of empathy across everyday interactions. Associations among empathy, affect, and interpersonal behaviour of self and interaction partner were examined in a student sample ( N = 330), then replicated in a preregistered community sample ( N = 279). Multilevel structural equation modelling was used to distinguish individual differences in empathy from interaction–level effects. Results show that people are more empathetic during positively valenced interactions with others perceived as warm and when expressing warmth. By confirming the typically affiliative role of empathy, existing research to the contrary can be best understood as exceptions to the norm. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology

Empirical Support for Systemic and Dyadic Explanations of International Conflict

1988 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita ◽  
David Lalman
Keyword(s):  
International Conflict ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Model Specification ◽  
Major Power ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Distribution Of Power ◽  
Systemic Constraints ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

Systemic theorists emphasize the interplay of the distribution of power, the number of poles, and their tightness in predicting the occurrence of major-power war. The authors link individual-level incentives to these systemic constraints as factors that might affect the likelihood of war. They believe that their model specification is more comprehensive than any prior effort to evaluate the impact of structural attributes on the risk of major-power war. Empirical results from the individual-level prespective are encouraging when one examines European crises from 1816 to 1965, but there is no evidence that decision makers were significantly constrained by variations in the structural attributes. Neither the distribution of power nor the number or tightness of poles appears to influence the risk of war.

scholarly journals The stability flexibility tradeoff and the dark side of detail

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Nassar ◽  
Vanessa Troiani
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
The Stability ◽  
High Flexibility ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Attention To Detail

AbstractLearning in dynamic environments requires integrating over stable fluctuations to minimize the impact of noise (stability) but rapidly responding in the face of fundamental changes (flexibility). Achieving one of these goals often requires sacrificing the other to some degree, producing a stability-flexibility tradeoff. Individuals navigate this tradeoff in different ways, with some people learning rapidly (emphasizing flexibility) and others relying more heavily on historical information (emphasizing stability). Despite the prominence of such individual differences in learning tasks, the degree to which they relate to broader characteristics of real-world behavior or pathologies has not been well explored. Here we relate individual differences in learning behavior to self-report measures thought to collectively capture characteristics of the Autism spectrum. We show that that young adults who learn most slowly tend to integrate more effective samples into their beliefs about the world making them more robust to noise (more stability), but are more likely to integrate information from previous contexts (less flexibility). We show that individuals who report paying more attention to detail tend to use high flexibility and low stability information processing strategies. We demonstrate the robustness of this inverse relationship between attention to detail and formation of stable beliefs in a heterogeneous population of children that includes a high proportion of Autism diagnoses. Together, our results highlight that attention to detail reflects an information processing policy that comes with a substantial downside, namely the ability to integrate data to overcome environmental noise.

Lake Baikal and Psychological Resources to Encourage Environmental Patriotism

2020 ◽  
pp. 196-214
Author(s):  
A.D. Karnyshev ◽  
◽  
E.A. Ivanova ◽  
O.A. Karnysheva ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Psychological Resources ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
Appropriate Behavior ◽  
Clear Vision ◽  
Foreign Media ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

The American scientist R. Tyler formulated the concept of “libertarian paternalism”, which outlined a strategy aimed at ensuring that a person makes optimal choices dictated by reasons, not feelings. These ideas formed the basis of the “nudge theory”. In this article, we make an attempt to consider the possibility of using the concept of pushing with reference to the urgent problems of today - the development of environmental patriotism in people. The concept of "environmental patriotism" reflects not only an active life position on the protection and restoration of nature, but also active participation in specific activities to strengthen environmental well-being. Ecological patriotism today is a real factor aimed at neutralizing the environmental challenges and threats of our time. The nudge theory with the development of environmental patriotism can be demonstrated by the example of the inclusion of a person’s individual resources, which in turn explains what exactly “shifts” in the process of pushing and makes a person make his choice: – Natural resources of a person: understanding the impact of the ecological situation on personal health, a clear vision of the essence of the influence of specific natural factors on the well-being, lifestyle and life expectancy of an individual, when any harm caused to nature is returned by a boomerang to different systems of the human body (the famous Russian saying is «more expensive for yourself» discloses this aspect well). For today researches conducted by the authors of the article show that so many people are united by the idea that their health is directly related to the ecology of the region in which they live. Through “encourage” we must try to do everything possible so that installations of this kind become a constant possession of environmental consciousness and the environmentally friendly behavior of people; – Personality orientation: awareness of the solidarity of their environmental positions and actions, their thoughts with the opinions and attitudes of other people and hence their social significance; – Skills and competencies: presentation of the possibilities of using one’s potentials to protect the environment, ensure its prosperity, to develop its talents that are somehow related to the natural world, for the prosperity of the environment; – Self-esteem and social status: the desire for high self-esteem, which necessarily includes elements of awareness of the role of “me” in the transformation of the world, in achieving harmonious unity with nature; – Communicative resources of the individual: a desire to interact with other people about the vital values that environmental activity is filled with because of its social and personal benefits (the popularity of various options for the “green” campaign in the West eloquently illustrates this). Today shows that it is not necessary to rely only on the consciousness and responsibility of citizens in the formation of a reasonable attitude to nature. The above positions and attitudes become that internal foundation on which a careful attitude of man to nature can be nurtured. In our opinion, the image of the planet’s environmental defender, the Swedish schoolgirl G. Thunberg, is often used today by foreign media and politicians precisely in con-nection with his (image) ability to encourage even poorly informed young people to appropriate behavior. The demonstrations and demonstrations held in defense of G. Thunberg's positions in many European countries have convincingly confirmed this.

Latent-Variable Approaches to the Jamesian Model of Importance-Weighted Averages

2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Francesca Scalas ◽  
Herbert W. Marsh ◽  
Benjamin Nagengast ◽  
Alexandre J. S. Morin
Keyword(s):  
Latent Variable ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Multiple Item ◽  
Spiritual Self ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Importance

The individually importance-weighted average (IIWA) model posits that the contribution of specific areas of self-concept to global self-esteem varies systematically with the individual importance placed on each specific component. Although intuitively appealing, this model has weak empirical support; thus, within the framework of a substantive-methodological synergy, we propose a multiple-item latent approach to the IIWA model as applied to a range of self-concept domains (physical, academic, spiritual self-concepts) and subdomains (appearance, math, verbal self-concepts) in young adolescents from two countries. Tests considering simultaneously the effects of self-concept domains on trait self-esteem did not support the IIWA model. On the contrary, support for a normative group importance model was found, in which importance varied as a function of domains but not individuals. Individuals differentially weight the various components of self-concept; however, the weights are largely determined by normative processes, so that little additional information is gained from individual weightings.

Do Genital Cosmetic Procedures Improve Women’s Self-Esteem? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 1143-1151
Author(s):  
Gemma Sharp ◽  
Pascale Maynard ◽  
Abdul-Rahman Hudaib ◽  
Christine A Hamori ◽  
Jayson Oates ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Cosmetic Procedure ◽  
Labia Minora ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect

Abstract Background The popularity of genital cosmetic procedures in women is increasing. These procedures are often assumed and promoted as having a positive effect on women’s psychological well-being, particularly their self-esteem. Empirical support for these claims is lacking. Objectives The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of genital cosmetic procedures on self-esteem in women. Methods The authors performed a systematic literature review of MEDLINE, PreMEDLINE, Ebase, EMBASE, OVID, CINAHL, Cochrane, PsycINFO, and PubMed to identify articles that measured self-esteem in women after a genital cosmetic procedure. A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the pooled effect of these procedures on self-esteem. Results The authors identified 5 eligible studies for the meta-analysis, comprising 2 prospective and 3 retrospective studies. Labia minora reduction was the most commonly studied procedure. All 5 studies used different measures of self-esteem, with only 1 study employing a validated psychometric measure at both preoperative and postoperative time points. The meta-analysis results showed a pooled logit rate estimate of 1.230, indicating a positive effect of surgery on self-esteem. However, there was substantial heterogeneity across studies. Conclusions Female genital cosmetic procedures, particularly labiaplasty, appear to have a positive effect on women’s self-esteem. However, inconsistencies in study measures and methods limit our conclusions. Future research should involve the development of standardized outcome measures to more accurately assess the impact of these procedures on self-esteem, and on psychological well-being more generally. Level of Evidence: 3

What’s your problem? And how might we deepen it?

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Boyd
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Evolutionary Anthropology ◽  
Art Making ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Human Universals ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Case Basis

Literary studies need not always incorporate evolution but should always be at least compatible with the most powerful theory for explaining life. Evolution can open up new questions (like: why are we art-making, storytelling, versifying animals?), suggest new principles (like: always take into consideration the costs and benefits of creating or engaging in literary works), and offer new explanations of the life art represents and the effects it elicits (in sociality or emotion, say). These insights need not be restricted to human universals – evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary personality psychology investigate societal and individual differences – and can help explain at multiple levels, the global, the local, the individual, the work or the detail. Evolutionary considerations should not be required a priori but incorporated on a case-by-case basis, where they can almost always add explanatory depth.

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