The role of “dark personalities” (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy), Big Five personality factors, and ideology in explaining prejudice

The so-called Dark Triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) represent correlated subclinical personality traits capturing “dark personalities”. How might darker personalities contribute to prejudice? In the present study (n = 197), these dark personality variables correlated positively with outgroup threat perceptions and anti-immigrant prejudice. A proposed two-stage structural equation model, assuming indirect personality effects (Dark Personality, Big Five) on prejudice through ideology and group threat perceptions, fit the data well. Specifically, a latent Dark Personality factor predicted social dominance orientation, whereas (low) Openness to Experience predicted right-wing authoritarianism; these ideological variables each predicted prejudice directly and indirectly through heightened intergroup threat. The authors recommend that personality models of prejudice incorporate both normal-range and subclinical personality predictors, in addition to ideological and social psychological mediators.     

The Impact of Value Similarity and Power on the Perception of Threat

Threat perception is a powerful tool in international and intergroup conflict. Realists in international relations argue that the perception of threat in intergroup conflict is a function of power asymmetries between groups. In contrast, social constructivists in international relations suggest that a shared sense of identity or similarity can reduce, and in some cases eliminate, perceptions of intergroup threat. Consequently, threat perception might be influenced by both the value similarities and the power asymmetries between the ingroup and the outgroup. In this article, we present an attempt to test empirically how individuals evaluate the similarity of cultural and political values compared with another nation (outgroup) and assess its implications for cooperation among states in the international system. The results of two experiments demonstrate that both power and perceived value similarity play an important role in threat perception among states and discuss implications for future research.     

Perceived Intergroup Threat and Attitudes of Host Community Members Toward Immigrant Acculturation

Abstract

The authors expected the extent to which host community members (a) perceive immigrants as threatening, (b) believe that the immigrants are able to assimilate to the host community (permeability), and (c) consider their presence in the host community as legitimate to predict attitudes towards immigrant acculturation. The authors designed Study 1 to examine attitudes of Germans toward Turkish immigrants. Participants were 227 German white-collar and blue-collar workers. As expected, ethnocentric acculturation attitudes positively correlated with perceived threat and negatively correlated with perceived legitimacy and perceived permeability. However, only perceived threat contributed uniquely to the prediction of the attitudes. In Study 2, the authors applied an experimental manipulation of perceived threat. Before answering attitude questions, participants read magazine articles with a threatening, enriching, or irrelevant content. The manipulation had the predicted impact on the self-reported attitudes toward immigrants. However, the salience of threatening or enriching aspects of the Turkish culture did not affect implicitly measured attitudes.     

Disability and disasters: the role of self-efficacy in emergency preparedness

Although individuals with physical disabilities have special needs regarding preparedness for a natural or human-made disaster, little is known about the factors involved in motivating members of this population to engage in behaviors which reduce the probability of negative health outcomes. This study proposes and empirically tests an integrated theory-based model for individuals with physical disabilities in which perceived self-efficacy for emergency preparedness moderates the relationship between perceived threat and emergency preparedness behaviors. A nationwide convenience cross-sectional sample of 294 adults self-identifying as having a physical disability completed an online survey. The general linear model was used to assess the effects on preparedness of perceived threat, perceived self-efficacy, and their interaction. In addition to the hypothesized moderating effect of self-efficacy, it was found that minimal (if any) relationship exists between perceived threat and preparedness among those who reported low levels of self-efficacy. Results suggest that self-efficacy and perceived threat operate jointly to motivate individuals with physical disabilities to take precautionary steps to reduce the consequential adverse health effects of natural and human-made disasters. These findings have important implications for the design of effective interventions for individuals with disabilities.