Callous-unemotional and borderline traits in nonclinical adolescents: Personality profiles and relations to antisocial behaviors

Callous-unemotional and borderline traits, antisocial behaviors, depressive symptoms and social anxiety were assessed in 972 high-school students. Cluster analysis yielded four groups: a low traits group, a second group that was above the mean in callous-unemotional traits and below the mean in borderline traits (moderate callous-unemotional traits cluster), a third group that was well above the mean in borderline traits but low on callous-unemotional traits (borderline traits cluster), and a fourth group that was high on both traits (high traits cluster). The high traits cluster was characterized by the highest level of antisocial behaviors and shared with the borderline traits cluster a high level of depressive symptoms and social anxiety. The moderate callous-unemotional traits cluster and the borderline traits cluster had similar levels of antisocial behaviors that were higher than those of the low traits cluster. This study suggests that there is a significant minority of non-clinical adolescents characterized by the presence of both callous-unemotional and borderline traits, and higher levels of antisocial behaviors and emotional distress.     

人格判断的准确性:特质特性的作用

特质特性是影响人格判断准确性的重要调节变量。已有的研究表明,可观察性高的特质容易判断,判断的准确性和一致性也更高;特质的可评估性干扰了自我知觉的准确性,与中性特质相比,可评估性特质的自我—他人一致性更低;与清晰特质相比,模糊特质的自我—同伴判断间的一致性更低,且随特质模糊性的增加而递减。不仅如此,特质特性经常与其他因素如熟悉度交互作用于人格判断的准确性,在考查特质特性的作用时,必须提高研究的生态效度,将该变量与特性匹配、特质分类、个体差异及文化差异等因素综合起来考虑。     

The Structure of Character

In this paper, I defend a local account of character traits that posits traits like close-friend-honesty and good-mood-compassion. John Doris also defends local character traits, but his local character traits are indistinguishable from mere behavioral dispositions, they are not necessary for the purpose which allegedly justifies them, and their justification is only contingent, depending upon the prevailing empirical situation. The account of local traits I defend posits local traits that are traits of character rather than behavioral dispositions, local traits that are necessary to satisfy one of their central purposes, and local traits whose justification is dependent upon theoretical rather than empirical considerations.     

What Causes Internalising Traits and Autistic Traits to Co-occur in Adolescence? A Community-Based Twin Study

Autism shows a high degree of comorbidity with anxiety disorders. Adolescence is a time of increased stress and vulnerability to internalising problems. This study addresses for the first time the degree of genetic and environmental overlap between autistic traits (total measure and subscales) and internalising traits in a community-based adolescent twin sample. Parents of 12-14-year-old twins (N?=?3,232 pairs; 3,460 males, 3,004 females) reported on the twins’ internalising and autistic traits. Autistic trait subscales were created using principal component analysis. Bivariate twin model-fitting was conducted. Autistic and internalising traits correlated moderately (r?=?0.30). Genetic influences on individual traits were substantial but genetic overlap between traits was moderate (genetic correlation: males?=?0.30, females?=?0.12). Shared environmental influences were low for internalising traits and moderate for autistic traits, and showed considerable overlap (shared environmental correlation: males?=?0.53, females?=?1). Nonshared environmental influences were moderate for internalising traits and low for autistic traits and showed low overlap. A multiple component solution was found for autistic traits and of the derived subscales, autistic-like ‘Social Unease’ showed the most phenotypic and genetic overlap with internalising traits.     

Functional modularity in stereotype representation

We employed the retrieval-practice paradigm to test the hypothesis that stereotypes are organized in a meaningful, valence-based way that promotes evaluative coherence. Replicating previous research, we demonstrated that the rehearsal of traits known to describe a target person produced enhanced recall of those practiced traits and reduced recall of other known but non-practiced traits, relative to baseline. However, both the availability of a group label that united the traits within a stereotype and the evaluative consistency of the practiced and non-practiced traits moderated the nature of these effects: although recall of non-practiced stereotypic traits that were evaluatively inconsistent with the practiced traits showed the typical pattern of inhibition, recall of non-practiced stereotypic traits that were evaluatively consistent with the practiced traits was facilitated relative to baseline. We conclude by discussing how the modular representation implied by these findings is functional, potentially fostering the momentary experience of evaluative consistency in person perception.     

6～9岁儿童特质观与其人格特质的关系

为考察特质观与稳定的行为方式之间的关系,采用情境故事法和问卷法分别对180名6～9岁儿童进行了特质稳定性理解的个别测查和人格特质的教师评定。结果发现,持三种不同特质观（实体论、中间论、渐变论）的6～9岁儿童开始在认真有恒、自制稳重、聪慧性、开朗活泼和同情利他五种人格特质行为上表现出显著差异;6～9岁儿童的特质观能够预测以上五种人格特质,丽儿童“开朗插泼”和“聪慧性”特质行为的线性组合是预测儿童特质观的最佳指标。这些研究结论有助于说明关于特质的认知在调解和制约个体稳定的行为理解和反应中的重要作用,验证了人格认知流派的观点;支持了认知与人格之间交互作用的理论假设;对于解释年幼儿童发展中的不适应问题具有一定的意义。     

Parenting Behavior and Conduct Problems in Children with and Without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Moderation by Callous-Unemotional Traits

There is evidence that negative parenting positively predicts oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) and that children’s callous-unemotional (CU) traits may moderate this association. However, it is largely unknown if CU traits show similar interactive effects with positive parenting for ODD/CD. 208 ethnically diverse (56% Caucasian) 6–9 year-old children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were ascertained using multiple methods and informants for ODD, CD, and CU traits. CU traits, corporal punishment, positive parenting, and each of their interactions with CU traits were unrelated to parent- and teacher-rated ODD. Corporal punishment and CU traits were similarly unrelated to parent- and teacher-rated CD. However, positive parenting inversely predicted parent-reported CD symptoms and it was significantly moderated by CU traits. Positive parenting was negatively associated with CD at low to moderate levels of CU traits, but it was unrelated to CD at high levels of CU traits. Children with elevated levels of CU traits exhibited significantly higher levels of CD symptoms that were largely independent of positive parenting behavior. We discuss these findings within a developmental psychopathology framework to provide further perspectives on reciprocal influences between parenting behavior and CU traits in the development of ODD and CD.     

Cross-sectional and longitudinal tests of the Personality and Role Identity Structural Model (PRISM)

A conceptual hierarchy termed the Personality and Role Identity Structural Model, or PRISM, is offered as a framework for incorporating situational information into trait models. PRISM assumes that personality is structured hierarchically with general dispositions subsuming context-specific dispositions (role identities), which, in turn, subsume role-based thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. At Wave 1 (N = 149), we found that general traits account for commonalities across traits measured within role identities and that role identities mediate the relationship between general traits and role criteria. In a longitudinal follow-up of a subsample of the original participants (Wave 2; N = 62), we found that general traits and role-identity traits were more stable than role experiences over time. Also, changes in role experiences were related to changes in role-identity traits, and, in turn, changes in role-identity traits were related to changes in general traits. The potential of PRISM for use in understanding the development of personality traits is discussed.     

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.     

ADHD symptoms and callous‐unemotional traits as predictors of violent media use in adolescence

We investigated ADHD symptoms and CU traits as predictors of violent media use in adolescence, controlling for delinquency and ODD symptoms. The effects on of disinhibition and arousal to negative stimuli, core characteristics of ADHD symptoms and CU traits, and of gender were investigated. At age 15, 88 adolescents, 50 % boys reported on CU traits, ADHD symptoms and delinquency. Parents rated the adolescents’ CU traits, ADHD‐ and ODD symptoms. At age 16, adolescents reported on their media habits and performed tests of disinhibition and arousal to negative stimuli. Boys had higher levels of CU traits and violent media use and girls had higher levels of arousal to negative pictures. CU traits and inattention symptoms predicted violent media use, the latter association applying only to boys, with CU traits being the strongest predictor. Low arousal to threat pictures explained variance in violent media use, above CU traits. Attraction to violent media seems affected by problem behaviors, with CU traits coming forth as especially important.     

Determinants of Interjudge Agreement on Personality Traits: The Big Five Domains, Observability, Evaluativeness, and the Unique Perspective of the Self

ABSTRACT We examined several determinants of interjudge agreement on personality traits. The findings, which were cross-validated in two samples, suggest that agreement is a function of four factors: which Big Five content domain the trait represents, how observable relevant behaviors are, how evaluative the trait is, and whether the self is one of the judges. Agreement was highest for traits related to Extraversion and lowest for traits related to Agreeableness. More observable and less evaluative traits elicited higher interjudge agreement. On average, self-peer agreement was lower than peer-peer agreement. However, this effect was limited to evaluative traits; for neutral traits, self-peer agreement was as high as peer-peer agreement. These findings suggest that self- and peer perception proceed through similar processes for neutral traits but not for highly evaluative traits, raising the possibility that self-perceptions become distorted when the trait is affectively charged.     

Status and Gender: The Paradox of Progress in an Age of Narcissism

As women have gained status in Western cultures in the last few decades, they have increasingly endorsed stereotypically masculine instrumental/assertive traits. However, men have also endorsed these traits at a higher frequency and show only a weak trend toward embracing more stereotypically feminine expressive/communal traits. Overall, Western cultures have moved toward valuing instrumental/assertive traits and devaluing expressive/communal traits. The paradox of progress is that women’s status has increased at the same time that the expressive/communal traits traditionally ascribed to them have become devalued. Groups aiming to empower girls and women should consider scaling back the emphasis on instrumental/assertive traits and teaching both genders the value of expressive/communal traits.     

儿童特质推理中的信息利用

特质研究是心理理论框架中一个重要方面。儿童进行特质推理时对特质信息的利用,是考察其是否拥有完整特质概念的一个重要指标。综述以往研究可以看到在获得完整的特质概念之前,儿童倾向于运用到特质以外的其他信息做出跨特质范畴的推论,尤其是这些信息比特质信息更加具体明显时。文章概述了六个可能影响到儿童特质推理的信息:情境信息、行为频率、示例频率、效价信息、随意性信息、规则信息。在此基础上,对该领域的研究趋势作了展望。     

An exploratory study of the relations between psychopathic traits and depressive symptoms in a non-clinical sample of adolescents

Empirical evidence suggests an association between psychopathic traits, depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior in community samples of adolescents. In this study, a sample of 243 high school students completed questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms and psychopathic traits (callousness and narcissistic traits). There were significant positive correlations between depressive symptoms, callousness and narcissistic traits. Narcissistic traits appeared to be a mediator between depressive mood and callousness while depressive mood was the main predictor of impulsivity/poor behavioral control. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that impulsivity/poor behavioral control, callous and narcissistic traits are defenses against depressed mood. Narcissistic defenses may prepare the development of callousness. There might be a developmental process from depressive symptoms to psychopathic traits and behavior problems in adolescents.     

The Problems of Heredity and Environment

The study investigated the relationship of five selected traits of authoritarianism, possessed by both college freshmen and their instructors, to student achievement in freshman English when student verbal aptitude was not a factor. The results indicated that student achievement level was affected more by instructor traits than by traits of the students themselves, although student traits did serve to qualify the effect of instructor traits.     

Personalizing politics: a congruency model of political preference

Modern politics become personalized as individual characteristics of voters and candidates assume greater importance in political discourse. Although personalities of candidates capture center stage and become the focus of voters' preferences, individual characteristics of voters, such as their traits and values, become decisive for political choice. The authors' findings reveal that people vote for candidates whose personality traits are in accordance with the ideology of their preferred political party. They also select politicians whose traits match their own traits. Moreover, voters' traits match their own values. The authors outline a congruency model of political preference that highlights the interacting congruencies among voters' self-reported traits and values, voters' perceptions of leaders' personalities, politicians' self-reported traits, and programs of favored political coalitions.     

Validity of observer ratings of the five-factor model of personality traits: a meta-analysis

Conclusions reached in previous research about the magnitude and nature of personality-performance linkages have been based almost exclusively on self-report measures of personality. The purpose of this study is to address this void in the literature by conducting a meta-analysis of the relationship between observer ratings of the five-factor model (FFM) personality traits and overall job performance. Our results show that the operational validities of FFM traits based on observer ratings are higher than those based on self-report ratings. In addition, the results show that when based on observer ratings, all FFM traits are significant predictors of overall performance. Further, observer ratings of FFM traits show meaningful incremental validity over self-reports of corresponding FFM traits in predicting overall performance, but the reverse is not true. We conclude that the validity of FFM traits in predicting overall performance is higher than previously believed, and our results underscore the importance of disentangling the validity of personality traits from the method of measurement of the traits.     

Spontaneous trait inferences are bound to actors' faces: evidence from a false recognition paradigm

A false recognition paradigm showed that spontaneous trait inferences (STIs) are bound to the person performing a trait-implying behavior. In 6 experiments, participants memorized faces and behavioral sentences. When faces were paired with implied traits in a recognition test, participants falsely recognized these traits more often than unrelated traits paired with the same faces or the same traits paired with familiar faces. The effect was obtained for a large set of behaviors (120). each presented for 5 s, and for behaviors that participants did not subsequently recognize or recall. Antonyms of the implied traits were falsely recognized less often than unrelated traits, suggesting that STIs have extended implications. Explicit person-trait judgments predicted both false recognition and response times for implied traits.     

Unique sets of social and mood characteristics differentiate autistic and negative schizotypy traits in a young adult non-clinical sample

While well-established as distinct disorders, new evidence linking autism and schizophrenia has emerged. One line of evidence is the strong correlation identified between the social traits assessed by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ:Social) and the negative traits of schizotypy. To further explore this association, the current study examined whether these sets of traits are convergent or divergent in the degree to which they relate to specific aspects of socio-emotional functioning. Regression analyses conducted on self-report data collected from 284 undergraduate students showed that the social items from the AQ uniquely relate to levels of social anxiety and social skills, while negative schizotypy traits uniquely relate to social anhedonia and depression. Additionally, AQ:Social and negative schizotypy traits were found to share a significant proportion of variance, independent of each of the socio-emotional variables examined. The results thus provide further evidence of shared atypical social function linked to both autistic-like traits and negative schizotypy traits, but importantly also highlight clear differences in the specific socio-emotional profiles associated with these sets of traits.