The dark triad: Facilitating a short‐term mating strategy in men

This survey (N = 224) found that characteristics collectively known as the Dark Triad (i.e. narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism) were correlated with various dimensions of short‐term mating but not long‐term mating. The link between the Dark Triad and short‐term mating was stronger for men than for women. The Dark Triad partially mediated the sex difference in short‐term mating behaviour. Findings are consistent with a view that the Dark Triad facilitates an exploitative, short‐term mating strategy in men. Possible implications, including that Dark Triad traits represent a bundle of individual differences that promote a reproductively adaptive strategy are discussed. Findings are discussed in the broad context of how an evolutionary approach to personality psychology can enhance our understanding of individual differences. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Empathy and Social Perspective Taking in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

This study explored empathy and social perspective taking in 8 to 12 year old children with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The sample comprised 92 children, 50 with a diagnosis of ADHD and 42 typically developing comparison children. Although children with ADHD were rated by their parents as less empathic than children without ADHD, this difference was accounted for by co-occurring oppositional and conduct problems among children in the ADHD sample. Children with ADHD used lower levels of social perspective taking coordination in their definition of problems, identification of feelings, and evaluation of outcomes than children without ADHD, and these differences persisted after the role of language abilities, intelligence and oppositional and conduct problems were taken into account. Girls were more empathic and had higher overall social perspective taking scores than boys. Implications for research and practice are discussed. This research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).     

Do early interviews affect children's long‐term event recall?

The present study examined the effects of the timing of an initial interview on children's recall of an event over delays of 1 and 2 years. Fifty‐five children who had originally participated in a novel event when they were between 5‐ and 6‐years old and had been interviewed about it following either short (1 week or less) or long (1 or 6 month) delays were re‐interviewed 1 and 2 years after the original experience. An additional 20 children not interviewed prior to the 1‐year interview were included as a no‐prior‐interview control group. Long delays to the initial interview led to better open‐ended recall at the 1‐year delay than short delays to initial interview or no prior interview. However, initial interviews that followed short delays had a greater impact on children's responses to specific questions. The results suggest that prior interview history is an important consideration when examining the effects of long delays on children's event reports, and that the effects of the timing of an initial interview depend on the nature of the information recalled. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring Customer Service Orientation Using a Measure of Interpersonal Skills: A Preliminary Test in a Public Service Organization

Organizations are placing increased emphasis on identifying individuals with customer service orientation. In the present investigation we test whether interpersonal skills, as measured through Holland and Baird's (1968) Interpersonal Competence Scale, provides a narrow, yet valid, measure of customer service orientation. Data were collected from a sample of bus transit operators. Interpersonal skills was positively related to operator self-reported performance, but was not related to supervisor ratings or objective measures of performance. Implications for the study and use of broad versus narrowly defined personality constructs in organizational settings are discussed.     

September 11 and the Role of the Theologian

As is the case with all “disasters” the nation is experiencing the various psychological stages to the September 11, 2001 disaster: threat, warning, impact, inventory, heroism, honeymoon, disillusionment, and reconstruction. In order for healing to occur from and within the religious community, theologians, pastors, and religiously–minded people must enter into these different stages of disaster and suffer–with the community. Instead of explaining September 11 from an abstract, removed stance, we ought to reveal our concerns and uncertainties about God in this situation and wonder with the rest of the community of grievers, “How has this happened?” From this place, true healing and reconstruction of the community will be possible.     

The effect of multiple negative,neutral, and positive organizational changes

Organizational change research has largely concluded that employees appraise changes in their workplace negatively and thus respond negatively to greater amounts of change. However, whether this conclusion is warranted remains unclear because previous research has examined single workplace changes in isolation or asked employees to make a global assessment of the changing nature of their workplace. Researchers have not had the means to capture the number of changes employees experience or their appraisals of the many different changes occurring in their workplace. In this study, we developed and validated the Quantity of Change Scale (QCS) to provide a more nuanced understanding of employees’ appraisals of their changing workplace. We found that the negative changes employees experience disproportionately influenced their reactions to the changing work environment. However, we also demonstrated that contrary to popular belief, employees appraised fewer changes as negative than as positive or neutral. Together these findings provide new insight into why assessments of employees’ general reactions to workplace change tend to be negative. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our empirical examination of employees’ appraisals of the many changes in their workplace.     

Aggressive Drive Derivatives in the Rorschachs of Maltreated Children and Adolescents: Latent Structure and Clinical Correlates

Psychological assessment can play an important role in informing the intervention process with child and adolescent victims of maltreatment. This study investigated the validity of the Rorschach in assessing aggressive drive derivatives using a profile-based approach, with a sample of 108 children and adolescents in foster care. Aggression indicators were derived from the work of Gacono and Meloy (1994 Gacono, C. B., &; Meloy, J. R. (1994). The Rorschach assessment of aggressive and psychopathic personalities. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. [Google Scholar]). Latent class analysis yielded a 4-class model including gender and age as covariates. The first 2 classes were characterized by low prevalence rates across all indicators of aggression, and were distinguished primarily on the basis of participant's age. The 3rd class was characterized by the presence of Aggressive Vulnerability (AgV) responses, whereas the 4th showed higher occurrence of all markers except AgV. Modest associations were found between characteristics of abuse, select classes, and behavior problems. The 4th class showed the strongest link with behavior problems, albeit only in the presence of ego impairment. These findings support a contextualized, developmentally informed use of aggression markers on the Rorschach in the context of child maltreatment.     

Who Will Sing With the Perpetrator?

Child sexual abuse is a relational crime that affects not only the people in the child’s and perpetrator’s social network; the whole of society is affected. Child sexual abuse is at the same time extremely personal and pervasively social. Just as healing is required for individuals, so too does society need to tend to its wounds. Conceptualizing child sexual abuse as an emergent property of a limitless multitude of systems and subsystems implies that no one can be considered an innocent, objective observer of doer–done-to relating between victims, perpetrators, and guilty bystanders. We are participants in what we are observing. Our openness to connect with the experience of victims should not be at the expense of openness to listen to the experience of perpetrators and community leaders who must also be heard, in order to heal.