Personality and context-related factors of helping and helping-related affect during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic led to introduction of lockdown measures in many countries, while in Serbia the Government also introduced the curfew by which vulnerable groups of citizens were prohibited from leaving their homes at any time. In such a situation many citizens organized to voluntarily offer their help to those in isolation, which offered a unique opportunity to examine prosocial behavior in the natural setting of global crisis. This study examined the differences between non-helpers and helpers, as well as groups of helpers who provided their help to close or unknown others, in personality (prosocial tendencies, selfishness and communal narcissism) and context-related factors (situation specific empathy and fear) of prosocial behaviors. Additionally, the study also analyzed the helping-related affect among helpers, depending on the recipient of help and personality characteristics. Results revealed that groups of helpers with different recipients of help (close persons, unknown persons or both) were not different among each other, but they were different from non-helpers. Non-helpers were more selfish and had self-focused prosocial tendencies, and they showed less empathy towards people in isolation, compared to helper groups. However, the helping-related affect depended on the recipient of help and helper's personality traits. This study confirmed some previous findings and offered novel insights into factors related to helping in crises.     

Understanding dark side personality at work: Distinguishing and reviewing nonlinear,interactive, differential,and reciprocal effects

The topic of dark side personality at work has received considerable research attention over the past decade, and both qualitative and quantitative reviews of this field have already been published. To show the relevance of dark personality in the work context, existing reviews have typically focused on systematically discussing the different criteria that have been linked to dark traits (e.g., job performance, work attitudes, leadership emergence, etc.). In contrast, and complementing this earlier work, the current review paper summarizes the available literature on this topic by structuring it in terms of the nature of the relationships studied rather than in terms of the types of outcome variables. Doing so, the focus shifts from “What are the outcomes of dark traits?” to “How are dark traits related to work outcomes?” Scrutinizing the nature of these relationships, we specifically focus on four types of effects (i.e., nonlinear, interactive, differential, and reciprocal) that highlight the complexity of how dark side traits operate in the work context. Structured this way, this review first provides a conceptual underpinning of each of these complex effects, followed by a summary of the empirical literature published over the past 10 years. To conclude, we present an integration of this field, provide suggestions for future research, and highlight concrete assessment challenges.     

Divergent reactions to COVID-19 exhibited in grandiose and vulnerable narcissism

Grandiosity and vulnerability are distinct dimensions of narcissism that may exhibit differences regarding compliance with COVID-19 regulations and policies. Although both dimensions reflect entitlement and self-importance, motivational tendencies diverge. Narcissistic grandiosity reflects bold expressions consistent with approach motivation, whereas vulnerable narcissism reflects reactive expressions consistent with avoidance motivation. Therefore, the present cross-sectional investigation explored these relations between November 2020 and April 2021. Undergraduates (N = 487, M_age = 19.79, 87.1% women) completed online surveys that assessed grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, perceived severity of and susceptibility to COVID, attitudes and reactions toward COVID policies, as well as self-reported behavioral data including number of daily hours out in public, indoor bar/restaurant attendance, and whether they had ever received a positive COVID diagnosis. Consistent with theoretical distinctions between the two narcissistic dimensions, grandiosity generally predicted reduced behavioral compliance and extraverted tendencies that put them at risk for COVID exposure; however, both grandiosity and vulnerability predicted worse reactions and attitudes toward COVID-19 policies.     

Implications of college-age narcissism for psychosocial functioning at midlife: Findings from a longitudinal study of women

Positive and negative implications of two types of college-age narcissism on psychosocial functioning at midlife were studied in a longitudinal sample of women. Both types were scored with self-report measures when the women were, on the average, age 21. Throughout the first half of their adult life, high scorers on covert narcissism presented themselves as lacking in confidence and having low morale; high scorers on overt narcissism described themselves as wanting admiration, being independent, and being forceful. Positive outcomes associated with covert narcissism included the development of insight and of a differentiated sense of the self and, in the case of overt narcissism, entailed an involvement in high-status and creative work careers. At midlife, high scorers on covert narcissism experienced negative affect and feelings of being neglected, whereas high scorers on overt narcissism experienced family conflict and problems with impulse control. The personality characteristics associated with both types of narcissism remained stable from the early 20s to early 50s.     

Collective narcissism and explicit and implicit collective self-esteem revisited: A preregistered replication and extension

Research on the positivity of collective narcissists’ in-group evaluation is scarce. So far, only one published study has shown that collective narcissists favorably evaluate their in-group at the explicit level but have negative (or, less positive) implicit in-group evaluations (Golec de Zavala et al., 2009, Study 4). The present preregistered replication study used a larger sample (N = 481), carefully constructed implicit association measures, and examined agentic and communal facets of collective narcissism and implicit collective self-esteem. Yet, our study did not replicate the core finding of Golec de Zavala et al. (2009, Study 4). Although our study does not support the mask model of collective narcissism, it provides further evidence for the distinctiveness of agentic and communal collective narcissism.     

自恋与行为抑制/激活系统的关系：元分析

运用元分析方法探讨自恋与行为抑制/激活系统的关系。经过文献检索和筛选, 纳入原始文献19篇, 包含25个独立样本, 共7702名被试。根据同质性检验结果, 选用随机效应模型。结果发现, 自恋与行为抑制系统存在中度负相关(r = -0.27, 95% CI为[-0.34, -0.21]), 自恋测量工具在两者间起显著的调节作用; 自恋与行为激活系统存在高度正相关(r = 0.46, 95% CI为[0.40, 0.52]), 被试类型在两者间起显著的调节作用。自恋与行为抑制/激活系统的密切关系支持了自恋的主体性理论和人格强化敏感性理论。     

Identity, narcissism and the emotional core

This paper describes the course of an analysis which demonstrates how borderline and narcissistic functioning can be understood in terms of a struggle with issues of identity. It shows how such functioning can come to exert a profound hold on the individual and why it seems, at times, a matter of life and death to the patient to avoid states of separation from the analyst. The paper suggests that these complex phenomena can be understood, perhaps surprisingly, in the simple terms of the nature of affect itself. The concept of the emotional core is introduced to embody and highlight that which lies beneath both Jungian and Freudian models (offering a potential bridge between the two models)--namely the psyche's essentially affective nature. It is suggested that the emotional core can serve as an organ of perception giving the individual both their primary relation to reality and an emotional attachment to others. This emotional core is understood to function in a narcissistic manner to preference experiences of sameness and in aversion to experiences of difference--a view consonant with Stern's understanding of infant development where the infant is able to distinguish self from other from the beginning of life (as Fordham also held); taking up Stern's terminology, it gives the individual a 'core' sense of being. There is, however, no stable, on-going sense of 'I' associated with this form of functioning as the individual is immersed in the latest affect to enter consciousness (as in the borderline state of mind) and consequently the individual comes to rely intensely on the other to determine their sense of being (the other becomes a self-regulating other in Stern's terms). The development of ego-functioning gives a more stable and on-going sense of 'I' to the individual, giving contact with the broader personality, allowing the individual to be less reliant on the other and orientating them to reality in a way more fitting to their overall needs. The paper describes how consciousness, which is not seen as identical with the ego, moves between the mode of functioning of the ego and that of the emotional core, i.e., shifting in and out of states where projective identification predominates. It elaborates the range of self-experience encompassing spiritual experience and states of disintegration (which are understood to have a similar structure) on one side, to ego-based experience (which can itself be defensive and rigid at times) on the other. It explores the consequences of such a view for analytic technique and relates it to the Jungian view of the self and the Freudian unconscious.     

Is psychoanalysis a matter of subjectivation?

We are not born subject but become one, in a two‐and‐fro process between what is played out on the intrapsychic stage and the field of intersubjectivation. The author proposes to examine two of the main movements of psychic life brought into play in this process. In the domain of the ‘subjectivating link’, becoming a subject depends on the relationship with another, authentically taken into account as a desiring subject and not simply as an object for oneself. In the course of history, this intersubjectivation is only internalized as a lasting preconscious predisposition if sufficient trust is established in the possibility of mutual recognition. When this perspective recedes, the subject tends to fall back on narcissistic positions, in search of an end to lack. Such a narcissistic tendency drives the subject to constitute himself by subjugating his objects, striving to rob them of their otherness. A plurality of subject positions will be recognized in every analytic encounter. Psychoanalytic work can allow for a lasting change insofar as it modifies the equilibrium between diverse psychic trends. The multiplicity of the issues at stake in subjectivation allows us to integrate theoretical pluralism while encouraging us to reflect on the diversification of our practices.     

Development and validation of a revised measure of codependency

This study assessed the factor structure, internal consistency, and concurrent validity of a revised instrument, the Composite Codependency Scale (CCS), a 19‐item measure designed to assess codependent traits. Exploratory factor analysis of the CCS, using data from 301 adults from the general population and 49 attending members of Codependents Anonymous (CoDA), yielded three factors: self‐sacrifice, interpersonal control, and emotional suppression. The scale and its subscales exhibited good internal consistency. Consistent with the tenets of the codependency model, higher codependency scores were significantly associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and familial dysfunction and lower levels of narcissistic tendencies, self‐esteem, and emotional expressivity. Furthermore, the revised measure effectively discriminated members of CoDA from those in the general population.