Individual Differences in Good Manners Rather Than Compassion Predict Fair Allocations of Wealth in the Dictator Game

One of the most common tools for studying pro‐sociality is the dictator game, in which allocations to one's partner are often described in terms of altruism. However, the motivations driving these allocations may represent either emotional concern for others (compassion), adherence to social norms regarding fairness (politeness), or both. In this article, we apply personality psychology to the study of behavior in the dictator game, in which we examine the discriminant validity of distinct pro‐social constructs from the Big Five and HEXACO models in relation to allocations of wealth. Across four studies (Study 1: N = 192; Study 2: N = 212; Study 3: N = 304; Study 4: N = 90) utilizing both hypothetical and incentivized designs, we found that the politeness—but not compassion—aspect of Big Five Agreeableness, as well as HEXACO Honesty‐Humility, uniquely predicted dictator allocations within their respective personality models. These findings contribute to a growing literature indicating that the standard dictator game measures “good manners” or adherence to norms concerning fairness, rather than pure emotional concern or compassionate motives, and have important implications for how this paradigm is used and interpreted in psychological research.     

Japanese Children's Reactions to Family Photographs: Associations with Mothers' Attachment Status

This study examined differences in children's responses to their family photographs within a sample of Japanese 6‐year‐olds (N = 44), exploring associations with their mothers' attachment status. The differences in children's photo reactions were captured by a 5‐point continuous scale to rate how engaged children were and how positively they responded to the photographs taken earlier with their mothers. Mothers' attachment security was assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview. The findings revealed that children of mothers with secure attachment status were significantly more engaged/positive in their photo reactions than were children of mothers with insecure attachment status. Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationships Between Attachment Security and Self-Construal Orientations

The authors report the results of two studies in which they explored the relationship of related and individuated self-construals, as suggested by the balanced integration—differentiation (BID) model (E. O. Imamo?lu, 2003), with (a) general attachment security in the first study (N = 168 Turkish university students) and (b) relationshipspecific attachment security with the family, peers, and romantic partners in the second study (N = 110 Turkish university students). Results indicated that attachment security tended to be associated with the relational self-orientation; however, when relatedness was complemented with individuation, there was a trend toward enhanced attachment security that reached significance when multiple measures of attachment across relationship contexts were considered. The authors discuss results with reference to their implications for attachment theory and the BID model.     

Blurring the Dichotomy of Good and Evil: The Idiosyncratic Helping Strategies Associated with Unmitigated‐Agentic and Unmitigated‐Communal Personalities

We theorized that unmitigated‐agentic personality constructs (UAPs)—prioritizing 'getting ahead’ over 'getting along’—and unmitigated‐communal personality constructs (UCPs)—prioritizing getting along over getting ahead—are associated with distinct affect‐regulatory helping strategies. In Study 1 (N = 179), UAPs, on average, related to greater negative‐affect versus positive‐affect induction helping tactics. In two experiments, UAPs, on average, related to a greater likelihood of selecting anger‐inducing versus love‐inducing or sadness‐inducing songs to help a target overcome a breakup (Study 2; N = 313) and greater selection of anger‐inducing and hubris‐inducing messages versus authentic‐pride‐inducing and love‐inducing messages to help a teammate struggling in a game (Study 3; N = 246). UCPs manifested the opposite patterns. Generally, these associations corresponded with helping‐strategy utility beliefs and were robust to moderators of helping target (self or other; Study 2) or altruistic versus selfish motives (Study 3). Study 4 (N = 205) provided some evidence of ecological validity in contexts of recalled everyday helping. Associations between personality constructs and relative helping strategies were about moderate in size (rs ~ .20) across these four studies. Findings suggest that UAPs are associated with helping strategies believed to promote ‘contemptuous’ self‐enhancement relative to ‘innocuous’ self‐enhancement and self‐transcendence, and vice versa for UCPs. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Attachment,Autonomy, and Emotional Reliance: A Multilevel Model

This article reports a test of a multilevel model investigating how attachment security and autonomy contribute to emotional reliance, or the willingness to seek interpersonal support. Participants (N = 247) completed online measures of attachment, autonomy, emotional reliance, and vitality with respect to several everyday relationships. Multilevel model analyses identified a within‐person process linking emotional reliance and vitality with both attachment and autonomy. Discussion focuses on the implications for both counseling and development.     

Personality Change from Life Experiences: Moderation Effect of Attachment Security

This study focused on effects of life experiences on change in personality and moderation effects of attachment security on the life experience influences. With a sample of Japanese university students (N = 1,000; 679 female; M = 19.72; SD = 1.26; age range, 18–25 years), the Big Five personality traits were assessed twice. The assessment interval was 20 weeks. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses revealed that there were large between‐individual differences in change and stability of the Big Five personality traits, which were accounted for by the amount of daily positive and negative life experiences during the interval period. Moreover, multi‐group HLM analyses indicated that the life experience effects were moderated by participants' attachment security at Time 1. These findings suggest that the accumulation of small daily experiences may work for the personality development of university students and that environmental influences may vary by individual susceptibility to experiences, like attachment security.     

Effects of Employee Sickness Presence on Customer Repurchase and Recommendation Intentions: The Role of Customer Affective Reactions

Sickness presence can have important individual and organizational consequences, such as health deterioration or productivity loss. Additional risks, such as negative customer reactions, may be particularly relevant in the service sector. Based on affective events theory and appraisal theories, we hypothesize that employee sickness presence negatively impacts customer repurchase and recommendation intentions. Furthermore, we explore potential affective mechanisms of these effects, including disease avoidance, personal anger, moral outrage, post-consumption guilt, and customer compassion for the employee. We conducted four studies, including three experimental vignette methodology studies (Ns?=?227, 72, and 763) and a qualitative study (N?=?54). In Study 1, employee sickness presence had negative effects on repurchase and recommendation intentions. Results of Study 2 show that customers experienced disgust, fear, anger, guilt, compassion, and indifference in response to sickness presence. In Study 3, anger explained the negative effects of employee sickness presence on repurchase and recommendation intentions, while appraisals of moral fairness were negatively related to both customer intentions. Finally, in Study 4, disgust and anger explained negative effects, while fear, guilt, and compassion explained positive effects of employee sickness presence on customer intentions. Appraisals of goal incongruence, reduced agency of the customer, and uncertainty were negatively related to customer intentions. The physical absence of the customer in the service encounter (phone call) mitigated the experience of disgust, fear, and anger, whereas it exacerbated feelings of compassion for the ill employee.

     

Attachment dynamics in a virtual world

The study investigated the transfer of attachment working models onto autonomous agents in a virtual social environment (VSE). Participants from a community sample (N = 422; mean age = 29 years; mean relationship duration = 4.8 years) encountered three attachment‐related key scenes in a VSE: a separation with a subsequent reunion, a conflict, and an illness. In these scenarios, participants gave instructions to the main character (the “protagonist”), who had a romantic relationship with one of the other agents (the “virtual spouse”). Recorded were numerous behaviors as well as emotions participants ascribed to the protagonist. Generally, participants' attachment styles correlated as predicted with their behavior toward the virtual spouse, with βs up to.42. Thus, the study demonstrates that internal working models are transferred to the virtual relationship. This approach opens new ways to investigate attachment‐related behavior by using VSEs that allow experimental variations of the virtual partner's reactions and other situational variables.     

Attachment and depressive symptoms in middle childhood and early adolescence: Testing the validity of the emotion regulation model of attachment

This research examines differential associations between attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) and emotion regulation (ER) strategies (dysregulation and suppression) in middle childhood and early adolescence. Furthermore, the study investigates how attachment and ER relate to depressive symptoms and perceived parenting. Two cross‐sectional studies (N = 339 and N = 746) supported the hypothesized associations between attachment anxiety and avoidance and emotional dysregulation and suppression, respectively. Mixed evidence was found for ER as a mediator in associations between attachment and depressive symptoms. Study 2 found that parental responsiveness and autonomy‐support are related differentially to the attachment dimensions. The Discussion focuses on the dynamics involved in associations between parenting, attachment, ER, and depression and on directions for future research.     

Attachment and resource sharing

In three studies we examined the associations between resource sharing (RS) and attachment, and the enhancement of RS using attachment security primes. In Study 1, we showed that attachment avoidance was negatively associated with RS. We also identified differences and similarities between RS and pro‐sociality. In Studies 2 and 3, we showed that research participants were more likely to share their monetary resources after they were primed with attachment security. Study 3 further revealed that security priming affected mainly people low on state attachment anxiety. Our findings extend previous work on pro‐sociality into the specific realm of RS, provide behavioral evidence, and tie attachment and close relationships in with game theory and research on economic decision making.     

When wanting and fearing go together: The effect of co‐occurring social approach and avoidance motivation on behavior,affect, and cognition

Three studies investigated the association of social approach and avoidance motivation with cognition, behavior, emotions, and subjective well‐being. Study 1 (N = 245), a correlative self‐report study, showed that approach and avoidance motivation mediated the effects of adult attachment‐styles on social anxiety. A secure attachment‐style was associated with co‐occurring approach and avoidance motivation. Study 2, a social‐interaction study (N = 38), revealed an association of avoidance motivation with a negative experience and passive behavior, and approach motivation with a positive experience and active behavior. Interestingly, the interaction of approach and avoidance motivation predicted engaged behavior and a positive emotional experience. Study 3 (N = 203), an online survey, showed that subjective well‐being was negatively associated with high avoidance motivation, irrespective of the strength of approach motivation. Taken together, the studies show that social approach and avoidance motivation interact in predicting positive experiences and social behavior in a concrete social situation. However, from the long‐term perspective, the negative consequences of social avoidance motivation seem to prevail when approach and avoidance motivation co‐occur. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Child–Mother Attachment Security and Child Characteristics as Joint Contributors to Young Children's Coping in a Challenging Situation

Moderate challenges provide opportunities for young children to develop coping skills, yet little is known about factors related to individual differences in early coping. This study investigated child–mother attachment security (9‐point rating) assessed via a modified Strange Situation procedure, child expressive language, and child social fearfulness as contributors to coping responses among 33‐month‐old children (N = 128, 66 girls) following receipt of an empty gift box. Associations between child–mother attachment security and child coping were moderated by child characteristics. As hypothesized, greater attachment security was associated with more action towards the stressor (i.e. vocalizing about the empty box and searching for the missing gift), but only for children high on social fearfulness. Further, greater attachment security was associated with seeking more physical proximity to mothers for children low on expressive language and less physical proximity for children high on expressive language. Lastly, greater attachment security was related to more self‐distraction for children with moderate to high expressive language. Results are discussed in terms of child–mother attachment security as a psychological resource constructed over time, which the child may draw upon when confronted with a moderate non‐attachment‐related stressor. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attachment and trait forgivingness: The mediating role of angry rumination

Integrating theories of attachment and forgiveness, we predicted that secure attachment reduces angry rumination and promotes forgiveness. To examine this prediction, in Study 1 (n = 213), participants completed the Experience in Close Relationships Scale (ECR; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998) and the Trait Forgiveness Scale (TFS; Berry, Worthington, O’Connor, Parrott, & Wade, 2005). Individuals who were classified as securely attached displayed greater dispositional forgivingness than did insecurely attached individuals. In Study 2 (n = 218) we included the Dissipation-Rumination Scale (DRS; Caprara, 1986). Results from Study 2 replicated the association between attachment security and greater dispositional forgivingness and confirmed the mediating role of angry rumination in the attachment–forgivingness relation.     

Source Personality and Persuasiveness: Big Five Predispositions to Being Persuasive and the Role of Message Involvement

In the present studies we incorporate a Person × Situation perspective into the study of the persuasion source. Specifically, we aimed to identify the personality characteristics of the persuasive individual and test the moderating role of target and source involvement. In three studies we found support for hypothesized relationships between source persuasiveness and Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience, and evidence for a moderating effect of involvement. In a preliminary study (N = 66, M_age = 22.7, 64% female), we demonstrated expected differences in the personality ratings assigned to a hypothetical persuasive versus nonpersuasive individual. In Study 1 (N = 95, M_age = 24.1, 62% female), through sets of two‐person debates, we showed that source Extraversion and Openness to Experience were positively, and Neuroticism negatively, associated with source persuasiveness. In Study 2 (N = 148, M_age = 24.3, 61% female), we manipulated the level of involvement and mostly replicated the results from Study 1, but, corresponding with our predictions, only when involvement was low. Our findings demonstrate the relevance of an interactionist approach to the study of persuasion, highlighting the role of personality in the study of the persuasion source.     

The relationship between sensory responsiveness profiles,attachment orientations,and anxiety symptoms

Individual variations in the way people respond to sensory stimuli can sometimes lead to maladaptive representations of the world. Indeed, sensory responsiveness profiles were found to be associated with mood symptoms such as depression and anxiety. The goal of the current study was to investigate whether attachment orientations can account for the relationship between sensory responsiveness profiles and anxiety symptoms. Participants (N = 194) completed a battery of questionnaires assessing sensory responsiveness profiles, attachment orientations, and anxiety symptoms. As expected, various associations between sensory responsiveness profiles and anxiety symptoms were accounted for by attachment anxiety and avoidance. We suggest a possible causal path, in which early‐developing sensory responsiveness profiles lead to attachment insecurities, which in turn may lead to mood symptoms such as anxiety.     

Sources of respect: the effects of being liked by ingroups and outgroups

We investigated the effects of ingroup and outgroup sources of respect, defined as positive social evaluations of self, on group members' emotional reactions and collective self‐esteem. We used both natural group memberships (Studies 1 and 2) and laboratory groups (Study 3). We expected that the positive effects of respect derived from an ingroup would not hold when derived from an outgroup source. In Study 1 (N = 294) respect was manipulated as deriving either from ingroup or outgroup. Although respect produced a positive emotional reaction irrespective of source, collective self‐esteem was only enhanced by an ingroup source. In Study 2 (N = 248), we investigated the concurrent effects of ingroup respect and outgroup respect. As in Study 1, ingroup and outgroup respect both produced positive emotional reactions, but collective self‐esteem was only affected by ingroup respect. Additionally, outgroup respect intensified the shame people experienced due to lack of ingroup respect. In Study 3 (N = 66), participants were immersed in experimental groups and ingroup and outgroup respect were manipulated orthogonally. Interactive effects of the two sources of respect indicated that high outgroup respect could not compensate for low ingroup respect, and if anything had an adverse effect. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Managers are potential levers of discrimination within organizations: the role of group identification,assimilation endorsement and power

Two studies examined the relationship between identification with a high‐position group in organizational settings (managers) and bias toward immigrants. In Study 1, (N = 182; N = 145), results showed positive relationships between identification with the managers' group and both in‐group bias and prejudiced attitudes, indirectly through assimilation endorsement. In Study 2 (N = 117), in addition to replicating the results of Study 1, we found a significant interaction, revealing that power moderated the link between identification with a high‐position group and bias. Moderated mediation analysis indicated that linking managers' group identification to bias and prejudiced attitudes through assimilation was only significant for high perceived power. Results are discussed in light of interethnic ideologies and the social identity theory. Some practical implications are provided.     

Political groups in contact: The role of attributions for outgroup attitudes in reducing antipathy

In two cross‐sectional surveys and one experiment, we tested the hypothesis that attributions for outgroup ideologies would mediate the relationship between quality of contact and reduced prejudice. In Study 1, a British sample (N = 85) rated their perceptions of, and attributions for, their political outgroup's (i.e., conservative or liberal) belief system. Supporting our hypothesis, the relationship between contact and outgroup attitudes was mediated by rationality attributions—attributions that outgroup members obtained their views via rational thought processes. Study 2 was a replication of Study 1 with an American sample (N = 229) and expanded construct measurement. The results of Study 2 replicated those of Study 1, showing support for rationality attributions as a mediator of the contact–prejudice link. In Study 3 (N = 132), we experimentally manipulated the priming of past positive or negative outgroup contact with individual outgroup members and measured the proposed mediational constructs with respect to that outgroup encounter. Results further supported the role of rationality attributions as mediators of the contact–prejudice link. The implications of these findings for perceptions and relations between antagonistic ideological groups are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Justice sensitivity and forgiveness in close interpersonal relationships: the mediating role of mistrustful, legitimizing, and pro-relationship cognitions

The purpose of the present investigation was to explore and better understand the relationship between justice sensitivity from a victim's perspective (JS‐victim) and interpersonal forgiveness. In particular, we aimed to identify the cognitive mechanisms mediating this relationship and test the moderating influence of post‐transgression perpetrator behavior. We used data from a questionnaire study employing a Swiss community sample (N = 450) and 2 scenario‐based studies employing German online samples, in the context of romantic (N = 242) and friendship relationships (N = 974). We consistently found JS‐victim to be negatively related to dispositional (Study 1) and situational forgiveness (Studies 2 and 3). Study 2 demonstrated the relationship between JS‐victim and reduced forgiveness to be partly mediated by mistrustful interpretations of the partner's post‐transgression behavior. In Study 3, cognitions legitimizing one's own antisocial reactions and a lack of pro‐relationship cognitions were identified as further mediators. These variables mediated the negative effect of JS‐victim on forgiveness largely independent of whether the friend perpetrator displayed reconciliatory behavior or not. Findings suggest that the cognitive mechanisms mediating victim‐sensitive individuals' unforgiveness could barely be neutralized. Future research should investigate their malleability in light of qualitatively different perpetrator behaviors as well as their broader relational implications.     

Right‐wing authoritarianism,societal threat to safety,and psychological distress

In two quasi‐experimental vignette studies, we have analyzed how societal threat to safety moderates the relation between right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and psychological distress. In Study 1 (Italian community sample, N = 343), we focused on depressive symptoms (measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the General Health Questionnaire). Two moderated regressions showed that the relation between RWA and both measures of depressive symptoms was positive and significant only among people exposed to a socially threatening scenario. In Study 2 (Italian student sample, N = 219), we focused on state anxiety and replicated Study 1's results. The findings indicated that, in conditions of societal threat to safety, RWA is a risk factor for psychological distress. Strengths, limitations, and possible developments of this research are discussed.