Self-esteem,personality and Internet Addiction: A cross-cultural comparison study

Previous work from Germany and Austria highlighted the importance of personality and excessive private Internet usage for Internet Addiction (IA). In a cross-cultural approach we tried to replicate a negative association between IA and the personality trait of self-directedness in Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Colombia, China, Taiwan and Sweden and as well the finding that persons with a damaged self-esteem have a higher proclivity for becoming Internet addicted in Bulgaria, Spain, Germany and Colombia. In total N = 989 took part in the study. Results show that the personality dimension self-directedness was negatively correlated to the IA score of the participants in all samples. In contrast, no interaction effect between implicit and explicit self-esteem on IA could be observed.     

Predicting counterproductive work behavior: Do implicit motives have incremental validity beyond explicit traits?

This study extends research on the link between personality and Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB) by investigating whether the implicit Affiliation, Achievement, and Power motives contribute to the prediction of CWB beyond basic personality traits. Employees high in Affiliation, Achievement, and Power motives may disengage from CWB because it is not rewarding and thwarts goal attainment. In Study 1 (N = 263), we found that Affiliation predicted self-rated CWB beyond traits. In Study 2 (N = 121), we found that Affiliation and Power predicted supervisor-rated CWB. Our findings thus suggest to also consider implicit motives as personality determinants of CWB.     

Predictors of volitional personality change in younger and older adults: Response surface analyses signify the complementary perspectives of the self and knowledgeable others

Goals to change personality traits have been linked to self-rated Big Five traits. Extending previous research, we investigated the associations between change goals and diverse personality characteristics (e.g., self-esteem), other-rated Big Five traits, and self-other agreement in an age-heterogeneous sample (N = 378). Results replicated previous associations of change goals with age and self-rated traits. Additionally, change goals were stronger when others rated a person’s traits as low and when self-other agreement about traits was greater for extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Associations of additional personality characteristics with change goals diminished when we controlled for the Big Five traits. We conclude that goals to change personality traits primarily reflect the perspective of the self and, for some traits, of knowledgeable others.     

Personality and Behavior in Social Dilemmas: Testing the Situational Strength Hypothesis and the Role of Hypothetical Versus Real Incentives

Previous research aimed at testing the situational strength hypothesis suffers from serious limitations regarding the conceptualization of strength. In order to overcome these limitations, the present study attempts to test the situational strength hypothesis based on the operationalization of strength as reinforcement contingencies. One dispositional factor of proven effect on cooperative behavior, social value orientation (SVO), was used as a predictor of behavior in four social dilemmas with varying degree of situational strength. The moderating role of incentive condition (hypothetical vs. real) on the relationship between SVO and behavior was also tested. One hundred undergraduates were presented with the four social dilemmas and the Social Value Orientation Scale. One‐half of the sample played the social dilemmas using real incentives, whereas the other half used hypothetical incentives. Results supported the situational strength hypothesis in that no behavioral variability and no effect of SVO on behavior were found in the strongest situation. However, situational strength did not moderate the effect of SVO on behavior in situations where behavior showed variability. No moderating effect was found for incentive condition either. The implications of these results for personality theory and assessment are discussed.     

Reinforcement sensitivity theory and symptoms of personality disorder: Specificity of the BIS in Cluster C and BAS in Cluster B

Gray’s reinforcement sensitivity theory, consisting of the behavioral inhibition (BIS) and behavioral activation (BAS), is frequently used to represent basic dimensions of psychopathology. However, notably few investigations have examined the link between the BIS/BAS and symptoms of personality disorder (PD). Although the Fight-Flight-Freeze System has emerged in the revised model as an important aspect of motivation, the BIS (linked to anxiety) and BAS (linked to impulsivity) have been the primary foci. The current investigation uses a dimensional measure of PD, the schedule for nonadaptive and adaptive personality (SNAP; Clark, 1993) applied to two independent samples of English-speaking participants: undergraduates (n = 276) and clinical patients (n = 47). Results were consistent across both samples, demonstrating that symptoms of Cluster B PDs are indicative of high BAS levels whereas symptoms of Cluster C PDs are characterized by high BIS levels.     

社会价值取向对自我社会奖赏加工的影响——来自ERPs的证据

社会价值取向(Social Value Orientation, SVO)是相互依存情境下人们对自己和他人分配结果的一种稳定的社会偏好, 按SVO不同可以将个体分为“亲社会取向”和“亲自我取向”个体。已有研究表明SVO影响个体对涉及自我金钱奖赏的结果评价加工, 而它如何影响自我社会奖赏加工过程尚不明确。本研究让亲社会取向和亲自我取向被试完成涉及自我社会奖赏(包含社会接纳和自我成就感)的猜牌建议给予任务, 同时记录其加工他人对建议的反馈(接受vs.拒绝)和他人最终结果(收益vs.损失)时诱发的脑电成分。结果发现, 在建议反馈加工阶段, 相比亲自我取向个体, 亲社会取向个体在反馈相关负波(FRN)波幅(峰-峰值)和P3平均波幅上, 建议被对方接受和被对方拒绝所诱发的波幅差异均显著; 在他人最终结果加工阶段, 建议被对方拒绝后, 对于亲社会取向个体, 对方损失诱发的反馈相关负FRN波幅比对方收益诱发的波幅更负, 而对方损失诱发的P3波幅小于对方收益诱发的波幅; 对于亲自我取向个体, 对方损失与收益诱发的FRN波幅无差异, 对方损失诱发的P3波幅显著大于对方收益诱发的波幅。这些结果表明社会价值取向调节个体对自我社会奖赏的加工。     

父母教养方式与青少年网络成瘾:自我弹性的中介和调节作用检验

对2758名初中生的父母教养方式、网络成瘾和自我弹性进行问卷测查,考察父母教养方式与青少年网络成瘾的关系及自我弹性在其中的作用。结果表明:(1)控制无关变量后,专制和纵容教养显著正向预测网络成瘾。(2)自我弹性在权威和专制教养与网络成瘾之间有中介作用。(3)自我弹性在专制教养与网络成瘾之间有调节作用,专制教养与网络成瘾的正向联系在高自我弹性个体中要比在低自我弹性个体中更明显。     

When do primes prime? The moderating role of the self-concept in individuals’ susceptibility to priming effects on social behavior

Using cooperative behavior in economic decision-making settings, we predicted and found that people’s susceptibility to priming influences is moderated by two factors: people’s chronic accessibility to a behavioral repertoire and people’s self-concept activation. In Experiment 1, we show that individuals highly consistent in their social value orientation (SVO) assimilate their behavior to their dispositions rather than to the primes, whereas the opposite effect is obtained among individuals with a low consistent SVO. In Experiment 2, we show that low consistent SVO individuals become less susceptible to priming influences when their self-concept is activated. These studies shed new light on individuals’ susceptibility to priming influences on social behavior.     

Investigating Constituent Order Change With Elicited Pantomime: A Functional Account of SVO Emergence

One of the most basic functions of human language is to convey who did what to whom. In the world's languages, the order of these three constituents (subject [S], verb [V], and object [O]) is uneven, with SOV and SVO being most common. Recent experiments using experimentally elicited pantomime provide a possible explanation of the prevalence of SOV, but extant explanations for the prevalence of SVO could benefit from further empirical support. Here, we test whether SVO might emerge because (a) SOV is not well suited for describing reversible events (a woman pushing a boy) and (b) pressures to be efficient and mention subjects before objects conspire to rule out many other alternatives. We tested this by asking participants to describe reversible and non‐reversible events in pantomime, and we instructed some participants to be consistent in the form of their gestures and to teach them to the experimenter. These manipulations led to the emergence of SVO in speakers of both English (SVO) and Turkish (SOV).     

When Cars Hit Trucks and Girls Hug Boys: The Effect of Animacy on Word Order in Gestural Language Creation

A well‐known typological observation is the dominance of subject‐initial word orders, SOV and SVO, across the world's languages. Recent findings from gestural language creation paradigms offer possible explanations for the prevalence of SOV. When asked to gesture transitive events with an animate agent and inanimate patient, gesturers tend to produce SOV order, regardless of their native language biases. Interestingly, when the patient is animate, gesturers shift away from SOV to use of other orders, like SVO and OSV. Two competing hypotheses have been proposed for this switch: the noisy channel account (Gibson et al., 2013) and the role conflict account (Hall, Mayberry, & Ferreira, 2013). We set out to distinguish between these two hypotheses, disentangling event reversibility and patient animacy, by looking at gestural sequences for events with two inanimate participants (inanimate‐inanimate, reversible). We replicated the previous findings of a preference for SOV order when describing animate‐inanimate, irreversible events as well as a decrease in the use of SOV when presented with animate‐animate, reversible events. Accompanying the drop in SOV, in a novel condition we observed an increase in the use of SVO and OSV orders when describing events involving two animate entities. In sum, we find that the observed avoidance of SOV order in gestural language creation paradigms when the event includes an animate agent and patient is driven by the animacy of the participants rather than the reversibility of the event. We suggest that findings from gestural creation paradigms are not automatically linkable to spoken language typology.     

Type D Personality in the Prediction of Internet Addiction in the Young Adult Population of Slovak Internet Users

This article presents the results of the first study on the relationship between Internet addiction (IA) and Type D personality (D is for distressed) in Slovakia and is the first attempt to examine the impact of Type D personality in the prediction of IA beyond personality dimensions. Altogether 405 adult Slovak Internet users (aged from 18 to 45 years) filled out the following questionnaires: IRPS, DS14, and NEO-FFI. The results showed that there wasn’t a significant effect of the Type D personality on levels of IRPS after controlling for the effect of Big-Five personality traits. The Big Five personality dimensions and demographics explained 21.1 % of variance in IA. According to our results the typical adult addicted to the Internet could be characterized as a young introverted unconscientious and disagreeable neurotic. Future research should concentrate more on the creation and validation of the model of IA.     

价值取向与社会距离影响经济决策的合作与冲突行为：Chicken Game的证据

采用Chicken Game博弈任务,考察了不同社会价值取向个体（亲社会者与亲自我者）在面对不同社会距离的博弈对手（朋友和陌生人）时表现出的合作与冲突行为。研究结果发现：（1）社会价值取向与社会距离交互影响个体的合作与冲突行为;（2）社会价值取向影响选择策略的反应时,亲社会者选择合作的反应时长于选择冲突的反应时,亲自我者选择合作与选择冲突的反应时没有显著差异;（3）无论对亲社会者还是亲自我者,反馈类型都显著影响个体的合作与冲突行为的选择率以及随后决策的反应时。上述结果表明,个体的合作或冲突行为,并非单一地受到社会价值取向的影响,更可能是受到个人因素（社会价值取向）与其他社会因素（比如,社会距离）的共同调节,并且在这一过程中个体会根据决策后反馈信息不断的调整自己的行为策略。     

Influence of personality,age, sex,and estrous state on chimpanzee problem-solving success

Despite the importance of individual problem solvers for group- and individual-level fitness, the correlates of individual problem-solving success are still an open topic of investigation. In addition to demographic factors, such as age or sex, certain personality dimensions have also been revealed as reliable correlates of problem-solving by animals. Such correlates, however, have been little-studied in chimpanzees. To empirically test the influence of age, sex, estrous state, and different personality factors on chimpanzee problem-solving, we individually tested 36 captive chimpanzees with two novel foraging puzzles. We included both female (N = 24) and male (N = 12) adult chimpanzees (aged 14–47 years) in our sample. We also controlled for the females’ estrous state—a potential influence on cognitive reasoning—by testing cycling females both when their sexual swelling was maximally tumescent (associated with the luteinizing hormone surge of a female’s estrous cycle) and again when it was detumescent. Although we found no correlation between the chimpanzees’ success with either puzzle and their age or sex, the chimpanzees’ personality ratings did correlate with responses to the novel foraging puzzles. Specifically, male chimpanzees that were rated highly on the factors Methodical, Openness (to experience), and Dominance spent longer interacting with the puzzles. There was also a positive relationship between the latency of females to begin interacting with the two tasks and their rating on the factor Reactivity/Undependability. No other significant correlations were found, but we report tentative evidence for increased problem-solving success by the females when they had detumescent estrous swellings.     

The Relation Between Different Facets of Creativity and the Dark Side of Personality

This study examined the relation between different facets of creativity and personality, focusing on the dark side of personality. In a sample of 247 students, psychometric measures for the assessment of the dark triad of personality (subclinical narcissism, Machiavellianism, subclinical psychopathy), personality organization (structural deficit: identity diffusion, primitive defenses, reality testing), and the conventional 5 Factor personality variables were administered. Creativity was operationalized via divergent thinking measures and via self-assessment creativity scales. Regression analyses revealed openness as strongest predictor for both self-estimated creativity and divergent thinking performance. Self-estimated creativity was also significantly predicted by narcissism and reduced reality testing. Correlational analyses further revealed that divergent thinking performance was weakly negatively correlated with Machiavellianism and subclinical psychopathy, but it was positively associated with openness and extraversion. According to our findings, facets of the bright side of personality (such as openness) seem to have a much stronger link to creativity than less desirable personality traits do.     

Adolescent Internet addiction: testing the association between self-esteem, the perception of Internet attributes, and preference for online social interactions

There is a general consensus that Internet addiction (IA) is mainly related to social aspects of the Web, especially among adolescents. The empirical link between poor social skills and IA is well documented; however, theoretical explanations for this relationship are less developed. One possibility is that people with poor social skills are especially prone to develop a preference for online social interaction (POSI), which, in turn, predicts problematic usage. This hypothesis has been tested for loneliness and social anxiety, but not for self-esteem (SE; one of the main antecedents of IA). Furthermore, the mediating role of the perceived relevance of some Internet features (e.g., anonymity) in the relationship between SE and POSI has never been investigated. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 257 adolescents. Using mediation analyses, we found evidence among females for the mediating role of (a) POSI in the relationship between SE and IA, and (b) the subjective relevance of some Internet features in the association between SE and POSI. No significant effects were found for males.     

Neuroticism and momentary differentiation of positive and negative affect

Affective differentiation is the degree to which positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) are uncorrelated. The dynamic model of affect (Zautra, Potter, & Reich, 1997) posits that the link between PA and NA should be stronger when stress is high. Because neuroticism relates to more negative everyday stress perceptions and therefore higher daily stress, we hypothesized that neuroticism should be associated with lower affective differentiation on a daily basis. We examined how neuroticism impacts momentary affective differentiation in undergraduate students (n = 126) using an experience sampling design with mood monitored four times daily for one week. We found that neuroticism moderates the within-person relationship between PA and NA: those who are higher in neuroticism experience less affective differentiation. This effect was not mediated or moderated by recent major life stress. We replicated the main finding in two subsequent samples (n = 102 and n = 120, respectively), and thus present the first large set of studies to demonstrate consistently that neuroticism moderates the within-person link between PA and NA.     

Consistent individual differences in associative learning speed are not linked to boldness in female Atlantic mollies

Recent studies on consistent individual differences in behavioural tendencies (animal personality) raised the question of whether individual differences in cognitive abilities can be linked to certain personality types. We tested female Atlantic mollies (Poecilia mexicana) in two different classical conditioning experiments. For the first time, we provide evidence for highly consistent individual differences in associative learning speed in fish. We characterized the same individuals for boldness in two experimental situations (latency to emerge from shelter and freezing time after a simulated predator attack) and found high behavioural repeatability. When we tested for a potential correlation between associative learning speed and boldness, however, there was no evidence for a link between them. Our study design included several steps to avoid typical pitfalls of disadvantaging shy individuals during learning tests. We caution that other experimental studies may have suffered from erroneous interpretations due to a more cautious coping style of shy individuals in the respective setup used to assess learning.     

Personality traits and subjective health in the later years: The association between NEO-PI-R and SF-36 in advanced age is influenced by health status

This study examined the association between personality traits (as measured by the NEO-PI-R) and subjective ratings of mental and physical health (as measured by the SF-36) in two samples of older adults differing in health status (Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, BLSA, n = 393, vs. Medicare Primary and Consumer-Directed Care Demonstration, Medicare PCC, n = 648). The association between personality traits and subjective mental health did not differ significantly across samples. The association between personality and subjective physical health, however, was significantly stronger in the healthy BLSA sample than in the medically challenged Medicare PCC sample. Differences in health conditions and recent hospitalizations partially accounted for this effect. Lifespan developmental considerations and implications for the use of subjective health ratings as outcome measures in clinical studies are discussed.     

On the robustness of the association between Honesty-Humility and dishonest behavior for varying incentives

Previous research consistently showed a negative link between Honesty-Humility (HH) and dishonest behavior. However, most prior research neglected the influence of situational factors and their potential interaction with HH. In two incentivized experiments (N = 322, N = 552), we thus tested whether the (subjective) utility of incentives moderates the HH-dishonesty link. Replicating prior evidence, HH showed a consistent negative link to dishonesty. However, the utility of incentives did not moderate this association, neither when manipulated through incentive size (BF₀₁ = 5.7) nor when manipulated through gain versus loss framing (BF₀₁ = 20.4). These results demonstrate the robustness of the HH-dishonesty link.     

The semantic origins of word order

Where do the different sentence orders in the languages of the world come from? Recently, it has been suggested that there is a basic sentence order, SOV (Subject–Object–Verb), which was the starting point for other sentence orders. Backup for this claim was found in newly emerging languages, as well as in experiments where people are asked to convey simple meanings in improvised gesture production. In both cases, researchers found that the predominant word order is SOV. Recent literature has shown that the pragmatic rule ‘Agent first’ drives the preference for S initial word order, but this rule does not decide between SOV and SVO. This paper presents experimental evidence for grounding the word order that emerges in gesture production in semantic properties of the message to be conveyed. We focus on the role of the verb, and argue that the preference for SOV word order reported in earlier experiments is due to the use of extensional verbs (e.g. throw). With intensional verbs like think, the object is dependent on the agent’s thought, and our experiment confirms that such verbs lead to a preference for SVO instead. We conclude that the meaning of the verb plays a crucial role in the sequencing of utterances in emerging language systems. This finding is relevant for the debate on language evolution, because it suggests that semantics underlies the early formation of syntactic rules.