Social desirability,adequacy of social support and mental health

The extent to which the association between satisfaction with social support and mental health was due to social desirability was determined. Whether this association differed between those high and low on social desirability was also examined. Measures consisted of the Crowne – Marlowe Scale, the Adequacy of Social Integration and Attachment Indices, the General Health Questionnaire, the Zung Self‐Rating Depression Scale and four scales from the Delusions‐Symptoms‐States Inventory. The sample comprised 132 women and 93 men randomly drawn from a larger sample of 756 selected at random from the Canberra electoral roll. Although social desirability was positively associated with satisfaction with social support and mental health, the association between mental health and satisfaction with social support was little reduced when social desirability was controlled, indicating that social desirability did not account for the association between social support and mental health. The association between satisfaction with social support and mental health did not differ between those high and low in social desirability, suggesting that this association was not moderated by social desirability. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Associations of Trait Emotional Intelligence with Social Support,Work Engagement,and Creativity in Japanese Eldercare Nurses

Work‐related resources can be positive antecedents of employee work engagement (WE) and creativity. Although trait emotional intelligence (EI) and social support may be crucial resources in nursing, their relationships with WE and creativity remain unclear. Hence, with special focus on the role of trait EI, we examined this relationship by applying the job demands‐resources (JD‐R) model. The participants were 489 eldercare nurses in Japan (female: n = 401; male: n = 88; age = 39.5 ± 11.0 years). The results showed positive associations between EI and the other studied variables. Furthermore, moderated mediation analyses revealed that higher trait EI enhanced the positive association among the triad of social support, WE, and creativity. The findings provide additional evidence that, in nurses, trait EI may be a noteworthy personal resource for creativity in the relationship between social support and WE.     

Uncertainty and social comparison

Two experimetnal tests were conducted of a model which predicts social comparison choices of extreme scores on a personality inventory. In groups of nine, subjects completed a bogus personality inventory that ostensibly measured a desirable or undesirable trait, and were told that either the highest or the lowest obtained score was a positive instance of the trait. The highest score was located for the subjects either with certainty or uncertainty, and the two experiments employed different manipulations of this factor. In both experiments the pattern of subjects' social comparison choices of other subjects' scores was fit best by a model comprising main effects of each factor and interactions between desirability and positive instance and between desirability and certainty.     

Struggling to be liked: The prospective effect of trait self‐control on social desirability and the moderating role of agreeableness

Drawing from the literature on the interpersonal functions of self‐control, we examined longitudinal associations between trait self‐control and social desirability, using a survey of the general population in the Netherlands. Trait self‐control at baseline was positively associated with social desirability at a follow‐up, even when controlling for prior levels of social desirability. That is, high self‐control contributed to individuals' tendency to give socially desirable responses in self‐reports. This effect was moderated by individual differences in agreeableness. Highly agreeable individuals were more likely to “use” their self‐regulatory resources to respond in a socially desirable manner, compared to less agreeable individuals, suggesting that individuals might use self‐regulatory resources in a way consistent with the motivational bases of their personality.     

Individual differences in dopamine D<Subscript>2</Subscript> receptor availability correlate with reward valuation

Reward valuation, which underlies all value-based decision-making, has been associated with dopamine function in many studies of nonhuman animals, but there is relatively less direct evidence for an association in humans. Here, we measured dopamine D₂ receptor (DRD2) availability in vivo in humans to examine relations between individual differences in dopamine receptor availability and neural activity associated with a measure of reward valuation, expected value (i.e., the product of reward magnitude and the probability of obtaining the reward). Fourteen healthy adult subjects underwent PET with [¹⁸F]fallypride, a radiotracer with strong affinity for DRD2, and fMRI (on a separate day) while performing a reward valuation task. [¹⁸F]fallypride binding potential, reflecting DRD2 availability, in the midbrain correlated positively with neural activity associated with expected value, specifically in the left ventral striatum/caudate. The present results provide in vivo evidence from humans showing midbrain dopamine characteristics are associated with reward valuation.     

Selection for reduced aggressiveness towards man and dopaminergic activity in Norway rats

The brain dopaminergic system is involved in the process of long-term selection for reduced aggressive reaction towards man in Norway rats. The dopamine levels in the striatum as well as the nucleus accumbens with the tuberculum olfactorium were significantly lower in domesticated rats than in their wild counterparts. A substantial decrease was found in homovanillic acid level in the n. accumbens and tuberculum olfactorium. Specific binding of [³H]spiperone which labels D-2 dopamine receptors was higher in the mesolimbic structure of tame rats, whereas binding of [³H]SCH 23390 (D-1 receptors) was unchanged in this area. No substantial differences were detected in D-1 and D-2 binding in striatum. Apomorphine (0.3 mg/kg) elicited less locomotion in tame animals, reflecting a decrease of sensitivity of postsynaptic dopamine receptors. Tame rats showed fewer aggressive contacts in a foot-shock test than wild rats and the D-2 receptor antagonist sulpiride (25 mg/kg) significantly decreased the foot-shock aggression only in wild rats. Therefore, domestication, which diminishes defensive behavior and emotional reactivity of animals, is associated with decreases of dopamine level in the striatum, changed metabolism of dopamine in mesolimbic system, and an alteration in density and senstivity of D-2 receptors.     

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence in a Clinical Sample of Men: The Mediating Roles of Adult Attachment and Anger Management

This study examined the association between men’s experience of childhood sexual abuse and later perpetration of intimate partner violence, considering the roles of attachment insecurity and poor anger regulation. The sample was 302 Canadian men undergoing counseling for relationship difficulties or aggression. They completed questionnaires assessing childhood sexual abuse, the two dimensions of attachment insecurity (anxiety and avoidance), anger regulation processes, physical and psychological aggression, and social desirability bias. Path analyses showed that men who experienced childhood sexual abuse scored higher on attachment anxiety, which in turn was associated with aggressive behaviors directly and through four anger-related variables (trait anger, anger-in, anger-out, and low anger control). Attachment-related avoidance predicted psychological aggression, but not physical aggression, through men’s trait anger and anger-in.     

Association between alexithymia, neuroticism, and social desirability scores among Italian graduate students

An inverse correlation between social desirability and alexithymia has been observed in undergraduate students in Japan and Australia. It is not clear how this association is influenced by the personality dimension of neuroticism. This study examined the association of scores on social desirability with those on alexithymia controlled for neuroticism, in a sample of 111 Italian graduate students, with age range of 24 to 58 years. Students completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (short form) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20). Social desirability scores inversely correlated with TAS-20 total scores, neuroticism scores, and the TAS-20 subscale, Difficulty identifying feelings. Neuroticism directly correlated with TAS-20 total score, Difficulty identifying feelings, and Difficulty describing feelings. Students with higher alexithymia and neuroticism scores seem to present themselves in less socially desirable ways. The correlation of social desirability with alexithymia was moderated by higher neuroticism scores.     

Validation of the Dutch version of the aggression questionnaire in adolescent male offenders

This study examined the construct validity of the Dutch version of Buss and Perry’s Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) in 73 adolescent male offenders aged 12 to 18 years who were participating in a residential rehabilitation program. There was a strong positive association between the Hostility subscale of the AQ and psychological and physical symptoms. The nature of this connection was discussed. It was argued that the Hostility subscale measures some unique aspect of aggression that is not incorporated by the Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, or Anger subscales of the AQ. As expected, the AQ scales correlated significantly with trait anger, social desirability, and age. Furthermore, staff ratings of physical violence, verbal aggression, anger, and negative attitude were obtained for each subject. Correlations between the AQ scales and these ratings were low. Possible explanations for this unexpected finding are discussed. Finally, normative and internal structure data are presented. Aggr. Behav. 28:87–96, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Inverse association between dopaminergic neurotransmission and Iowa Gambling Task performance in pathological gamblers and healthy controls

Linnet, J., Møller, A., Peterson, E., Gjedde, A. & Doudet, D. (2011). Inverse association between dopaminergic neurotransmission and Iowa Gambling Task performance in pathological gamblers and healthy controls. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 52, 28–34. The dopamine system is believed to affect gambling behavior in pathological gambling. Particularly, dopamine release in the ventral striatum appears to affect decision‐making in the disorder. This study investigated dopamine release in the ventral striatum in relation to gambling performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) in 16 Pathological Gamblers (PG) and 14 Healthy Controls (HC). We used Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to measure the binding potential of [¹¹C] raclopride to dopamine D2/3 receptors during a baseline and gambling condition. We hypothesized that decreased raclopride binding potentials in the ventral striatum during gambling (indicating dopamine release) would be associated with higher IGT performance in Healthy Controls, but lower IGT performance in Pathological Gamblers. The results showed that Pathological Gamblers with dopamine release in the ventral striatum had significantly lower IGT performance than Healthy Controls. Furthermore, dopamine release was associated with significantly higher IGT performance in Healthy Controls and significantly lower IGT performance in Pathological Gamblers. The results suggest that dopamine release is involved both in adaptive and maladaptive decision‐making. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of dopaminergic dysfunctions in pathological gambling and substance related addictions.     

Unconscious Responses to Threatening Pictures: Interactive Effect of Trait Anxiety and Social Desirability on Skin Conductance Responses

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of trait anxiety and social desirability on skin conductance responses (SCRs) following exposure to masked and unmasked pictures in a non‐clinical sample. The most prominent results were found with regard to masked pictures (i.e. subliminal). Higher levels of social desirability were associated with a decrease in SCRs to masked threat pictures (relative to neutral), whereas elevated levels of trait anxiety were associated with an increase in SCRs. This latter effect, however, was mainly seen among participants who simultaneously scored low on social desirability. These results were discussed in terms of trait anxiety (combined with lower social desirability scores) being associated with (i) enhanced autonomic responses to threatening information most evident at a pre‐attentive level, that (ii) may potentially be a vulnerability marker for anxiety disturbances.     

Detecting Social Desirability Bias Using Factor Mixture Models

Based on the conceptualization that social desirable bias (SDB) is a discrete event resulting from an interaction between a scale's items, the testing situation, and the respondent's latent trait on a social desirability factor, we present a method that makes use of factor mixture models to identify which examinees are most likely to provide biased responses, which items elicit the most socially desirable responses, and which external variables predict SDB. Problems associated with the common use of correlation coefficients based on scales' total scores to diagnose SDB and partial correlations to correct for SDB are discussed. The method is demonstrated with an analysis of SDB in the Attitude toward Interprofessional Service-Learning scale with a sample of students from health-related fields.     

Unconscious responses to threatening pictures: interactive effect of trait anxiety and social desirability on skin conductance responses

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of trait anxiety and social desirability on skin conductance responses (SCRs) following exposure to masked and unmasked pictures in a non-clinical sample. The most prominent results were found with regard to masked pictures (i.e. subliminal). Higher levels of social desirability were associated with a decrease in SCRs to masked threat pictures (relative to neutral), whereas elevated levels of trait anxiety were associated with an increase in SCRs. This latter effect, however, was mainly seen among participants who simultaneously scored low on social desirability. These results were discussed in terms of trait anxiety (combined with lower social desirability scores) being associated with (i) enhanced autonomic responses to threatening information most evident at a pre-attentive level, that (ii) may potentially be a vulnerability marker for anxiety disturbances.     

Trait anxiety, defensiveness, and the structure of worry

A principal components analysis of the ten scales of the Worry Questionnaire revealed the existence of major worry factors or domains of social evaluation and physical threat, and these factors were confirmed in a subsequent item analysis. Those high in trait anxiety had much higher scores on the Worry Questionnaire than those low in trait anxiety, especially on those scales relating to social evaluation. Scores on the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale were negatively related to worry frequency. However, groups of low-anxious and repressed individuals formed on the basis of their trait anxiety and social desirability scores did not differ in worry. It was concluded that worry, especially in the social evaluation domain, is of fundamental importance to trait anxiety.     

A changed perspective: How gratitude can affect sense of coherence through positive reframing

We hypothesized that gratitude would be related to sense of coherence via positive reframing, which is a process by which negative events or circumstances are seen in a positive light. We tested this hypothesis in two studies. In Study 1 (N = 166) we found a strong, robust relationship between trait gratitude and sense of coherence above and beyond life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, happiness, and social desirability. Study 2 (N = 275) showed that gratitude at Time 1 predicted sense of coherence at Time 2, controlling for baseline scores. Positive reframing mediated the relationship between gratitude and SOC. Results are discussed in terms of their practical implications.     

Low trait self-control predicts self-handicapping

Past research has shown that self‐handicapping stems from uncertainty about one's ability and self‐presentational concerns. The present studies suggest that low dispositional self‐control is also associated with self‐handicapping. In 3 studies (N = 289), the association between self‐control and self‐handicapping was tested. Self‐control was operationalized as trait self‐control, whereas self‐handicapping was operationalized as trait self‐handicapping in Study 1 (N = 160), self‐reported self‐handicapping in Study 2 (N = 74), and behavioral self‐handicapping in Study 3 (N = 55). In all 3 studies, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that low self‐control predicts self‐handicapping, independent of self‐esteem, self‐doubt, social desirability, and gender.     

Sometimes a Bear is Just a Bear: No Evidence of Nonclinical Adult Toy Animal Ownership Indicating Emotion Dysregulation

Although some studies of clinical populations suggest an association of adult toy animal ownership with personality disorder, studies of nonclinical populations have been lacking. In a nonclinical young adult sample (N?=?148), we found no association of toy animal ownership with use of immature, mature, or neurotic defense mechanisms; avoidant or anxious attachment style; trait conscientiousness; heart rate variability (an index of self-regulatory strength); or social desirability responding. The results do not provide evidence for an association of adult nonclinical toy animal ownership with psychological or psychophysiological indices of immaturity, conscientiousness, insecure attachment, or lack of self-regulatory strength.     

Repressors report fewer intrusions following a laboratory stressor: the role of reduced stressor-relevant concept activation and inhibitory functioning

This study investigated whether a repressive coping style is associated with fewer intrusions following an experimentally controlled stressor. Furthermore, we examined whether lower activation of stressor-relevant concepts in long-term memory and better inhibitory functioning may contribute to this association. Extreme-scoring participants on a trait anxiety and a social desirability scale were selected to form repressor (n=35), low anxious (n=15), high anxious (n=30), and defensive (n=21) groups. In line with predictions, repressors reported fewer intrusions following a failure manipulation compared to non-repressors. Furthermore, pre-stressor inhibitory functioning was negatively associated with color-naming interference of stressor-related words. This suggests that overall, higher inhibitory control is related to lower activation of failure-related concepts. However, there was no evidence that concept activation and inhibitory control were responsible for repressors' lower number of self-reported intrusions.     

Relation Between Negative Affectivity and Positive Affectivity: Effects of Judged Desirability of Scale Items and Respondents' Social Desirability

Two major measures of negative affectivity (NA) and positive affectivity (PA), developed from the theory of independent affect, are examined. It was found in Study 1 that NA and PA items tended to be judged either very undesirable or desirable when describing people in general. Study 2 revealed that there is a strong positive relation between item desirability and the probability of endorsing the item. Furthermore, the hypothesis that the NA-PA relation varies as a function of respondents' social desirability (SD) is generally supported across measures by means of subgroup comparison and moderated regression analysis. Specifically, there was a moderately strong PA-NA relation only in the group with high SD. The relation is weaker, however, in the group with low SD. Potential reasons why NA and PA are related and unrelated under different conditions are discussed.