Testing Measurement Invariance of the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen in a Belgian Adult Sample

The Dirty Dozen (Jonason & Webster, 2010) is a frequently used concise version of the Dark Triad to measure three socially aversive personality traits: Machiavellianism, psychopathy and, narcissism. The present study has examined measurement invariance in a sample of Belgian adults. The present study aims to assess measurement invariance of the Dutch version of the Dirty Dozen measure across gender in a large city-based representative adult sample in Belgium (N = 1587). Multi-group first-order confirmatory factor analysis for categorical indicators was utilized. In addition, unique associations between Dirty Dozen traits, trait self-control and, acceptance of illegitimate norms were examined in a series of structural equation models. Results indicated that the internal consistency of the Dirty Dozen subscales was good for Machiavellianism (α = 0.80) and narcissism (α = 0.80), but modest for psychopathy (α = 0.64). The hypothesized three correlated factors model with separate factors for Machiavellianism, psychopathy and, narcissism provided a poor fit for men and women. Invariance testing across gender showed evidence for weak invariance only, indicating that the underlying latent factors are measured the same way with the same metric in the two populations. However, we were not able to establish strong measurement invariance. Observed group differences should be interpreted with caution. Furthermore, Machiavellianism and psychopathy were strongly associated with trait self-control in both men and women. Strong correlations were found between acceptance of illegitimate norms and Dirty Dozen traits, Machiavellianism and, psychopathy, but not with narcissism.     

Dissociating conflict adaptation from feature integration: a multiple regression approach

Congruency effects are typically smaller after incongruent than after congruent trials. One explanation is in terms of higher levels of cognitive control after detection of conflict (conflict adaptation; e.g., M. M. Botvinick, T. S. Braver, D. M. Barch, C. S. Carter, & J. D. Cohen, 2001). An alternative explanation for these results is based on feature repetition and/or integration effects (e.g., B. Hommel, R. W. Proctor, & K.-P. Vu, 2004; U. Mayr, E. Awh, & P. Laurey, 2003). Previous attempts to dissociate feature integration from conflict adaptation focused on a particular subset of the data in which feature transitions were held constant (J. G. Kerns et al., 2004) or in which congruency transitions were held constant (C. Akcay & E. Hazeltine, in press), but this has a number of disadvantages. In this article, the authors present a multiple regression solution for this problem and discuss its possibilities and pitfalls.     

Co‐occurrence of depression and delinquency in personality types

Although the co‐occurrence between adolescent depression and delinquency has been well‐studied, the nature of the longitudinal associations is not yet clear. To clarify this we examined whether personality type is a moderator in the longitudinal co‐occurrence of depression and delinquency. A total of 338 young and middle adolescents completed questionnaires about depression, delinquency and personality in 3 yearly waves of the CONflict And Management Of RElationships (CONAMORE). We found that the stable overcontrollers showed the highest mean level on depression and that the stable undercontrollers showed the highest mean level on delinquency. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the longitudinal co‐occurrence between depression and delinquency was best described by means of a stability model, in which personality type membership proved to be an important moderator. The three personality types differed significantly on the rank‐order stability of both depression and delinquency. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New visuospatial associations by training verbospatial mappings in the first language

We investigated whether verbospatial and visuospatial information share a common representation. We demonstrate that when the associations from spatial words to spatial responses are altered, so that the word left becomes associated with a right response and the word right with a left response, the associations from the spatial locations left and right to the spatial responses also change. This effect was only observed for first-language spatial words (Dutch) and not for second-language spatial words (French), and it did not increase when these languages were combined. The findings argue for shared spatial representations for different types of spatial input.     

Priming reveals differential coding of symbolic and non-symbolic quantities

Number processing is characterized by the distance and the size effect, but symbolic numbers exhibit smaller effects than non-symbolic numerosities. The difference between symbolic and non-symbolic processing can either be explained by a different kind of underlying representation or by parametric differences within the same type of underlying representation. We performed a primed naming study to investigate this issue. Prime and target format were manipulated (digits or collections of dots) as well as the numerical distance between prime and target value. Qualitatively different priming patterns were observed for the two formats, showing that the underlying representations differed in kind: Digits activated mental number representations of the place coding type, while collections of dots activated number representations of the summation coding type.     

Are the spatial features of bodily threat limited to the exact location where pain is expected?

Previous research has revealed that anticipating pain at a particular location of the body prioritizes somatosensory input presented there. The present study tested whether the spatial features of bodily threat are limited to the exact location of nociception. Participants judged which one of two tactile stimuli, presented to either hand, had been presented first, while occasionally experiencing a painful stimulus. The distance between the pain and tactile locations was manipulated. In Experiment 1, participants expected pain either proximal to one of the tactile stimuli (on the hand; near condition) or more distant on the same body part (arm; far condition). In Experiment 2, the painful stimulus was expected either proximal to one of the tactile stimuli (hand; near) or on a different body-part at the same body side (leg; far). The results revealed that in the near condition of both experiments, participants became aware of tactile stimuli presented to the “threatened” hand more quickly as compared to the “neutral” hand. Of particular interest, the data in the far conditions showed a similar prioritization effect when pain was expected at a different location of the same body part as well as when pain was expected at a different body part at the same body side. In this study, the encoding of spatial features of bodily threat was not limited to the exact location where pain was anticipated but rather generalized to the entire body part and even to different body parts at the same side of the body.     

Factor Structure and Construct Validity of the Dutch Version of the Antisocial Process Screening Device

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the factor structure and construct validity of the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) in a community sample of Dutch adolescents. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the two- and three-factor model, but the two-factor model (Callous-Unemotional and Impulsivity/Conduct Problems) was more parsimonious. Model fit was invariant across gender. Interrater reliability was good and internal consistency of the factors was modest to good, with the exception of the Callous-Unemotional factor. Convergence with the APSD self-report version, divergence with the Big Five personality dimensions of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, and expected gender differences in mean APSD scores reproduced findings obtained in American samples, supporting the cross-cultural validity of the APSD.     

Personality Types and Development of Adolescents' Conflict with Friends

This study examined the development of adolescents' conflict frequency and conflict resolution with their best friends, and tested whether adolescents with different personality types differed in these developmental changes from early to middle adolescence. Dutch adolescents (N = 922, 468 boys; M_age = 12.4 years at first wave) annually filled in questionnaires for five consecutive years. Growth modelling revealed that, whereas adolescents' conflict frequency and hostile conflict resolution did not change, positive problem solving, withdrawal, and compliance during conflict with best friends increased from age 12 to 16 years. Adolescents with different personality types differed in the mean levels of conflict frequency and conflict resolution strategies. That is, resilients had less conflict with friends than undercontrollers and overcontrollers. During conflict, resilients used the least hostile conflict resolution and compliance, and employed the most positive problem solving. Undercontrollers adopted the least positive problem solving, and overcontrollers complied and withdrew the most. Using a person‐centred approach, three developmental conflict resolution types were identified based on different constellations of the four conflict resolution strategies over time. Adolescents with different personality types had different distributions on the conflict resolution types. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conflict detection,dual processes,and logical intuitions: Some clarifications

Recent studies on conflict detection during thinking suggest that reasoners are sensitive to possible conflict between their heuristic judgement and elementary logical or probabilistic principles. I have argued that this conflict sensitivity calls for the postulation of logical intuitions and has implications for the way we conceive the interaction between System-1 and System-2 in dual process theories. In this paper I clarify potential misconceptions about this work, discuss the link with other approaches, and sketch directions for further research.