Lighten the Darkness: Personality Interventions Targeting Agreeableness Also Reduce Participants' Levels of the Dark Triad

Relationship Between Leadership, Personality, and the Dark Triad in Workplace: A Systematic Review

The objective of this systematic review was to explore the interaction between Dark Triad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) and other personality dimensions in the workplace, and how these combinations impact the performance of employees and leaders. Fifteen empirical studies published since 2014 were analyzed, which assessed the influence of Dark Triad traits along with other personality dimensions, such as the traditional Big Five (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), on performance, interpersonal relationships, and organizational satisfaction. The results suggest that narcissism is negatively related to agreeableness and self-control, Machiavellianism to empathy and agreeableness, and psychopathy to conscientiousness and empathy. These traits also affect job performance, as narcissism and Machiavellianism are associated with work addiction, while psychopathy is linked to lower responsibility and self-control. Additionally, leaders with high levels of Dark Triad traits experience reduced performance, especially in lower hierarchical roles. It was found that emotional stability can moderate the negative impact of narcissism, and that less regulated organizational contexts exhibit more interactions involving these dark traits. These findings provide valuable insights for developing talent assessment and management strategies aimed at improving organizational performance and climate through evidence-based approaches.

[Participation in a Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy: What are the Connections Between the Participatory Attitude of Employees and their Personality Factors?]

Participation in a Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy: What are the Connections Between the Participatory Attitude of Employees and their Personality Factors? Abstract: Previous studies have demonstrated a great desire for participation among underage patients. The implementation of participative elements in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy is influenced by the staff's attitude. The present study investigated the attitude toward the participation of the clinical staff working in a child and adolescent psychiatric hospital department via a questionnaire survey and assessed personality traits that may potentially affect their attitude toward participation. All respondents (N = 54) indicated a positive attitude toward participation, independent of the participants' age and professional background. Participants scoring higher on the personality trait "agreeableness" considered "trust" a more important factor of participation. More research is needed to identify factors that hinder and promote participation in child and adolescent psychiatric treatment and to implement participation in clinical practice.

Machiavellianism and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis estimated the size of the relationship between Machiavellianism and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Further, we explored whether the strength of this relationship varied depending on IPV type (i.e., physical, psychological, sexual, and cyber), and perpetrator gender. Systematic searches of Medline Complete, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were conducted on July 4, 2023. Studies were included if they were a peer-reviewed published paper or unpublished dissertation, in English, included a measure of Machiavellianism and IPV perpetration, and reported the relationship between these variables. Study quality was assessed using the AXIS tool. Nineteen studies (N = 9,464) were included in a random-effects meta-analysis revealing a significant, weak, positive correlation between Machiavellianism and IPV perpetration (r = .16, 95% CI [0.11, 0.21], p < .001). Machiavellianism had a significant, weak, positive relationship with cyber (r = .25, 95% CI [0.17, 0.32], p < .001), psychological (r = .20, 95% CI [0.15, 0.24], p < .001), and sexual IPV (r = .10, 95% CI [0.02, 0.19], p = .020). No significant relationship was found for physical IPV. There was no significant difference in the strength of the relationship between women and men. These findings are limited by the measures being self-report, heterogeneity across studies, and the cross-sectional nature of the included studies which limits the understanding of causal pathways. Nonetheless, this meta-analysis shows a link between Machiavellianism and IPV perpetration, and future research should examine how this knowledge may be used to reduce IPV perpetration.

Schoolwork effort and emotions predict self-control in a weekly diary study

OBJECTIVE

Self-control supports many positive life outcomes. However, the processes underlying the development of self-control are not well understood. Drawing on the TESSERA model of personality development, we examined whether weekly schoolwork effort predicts self-control (in the subsequent week). We also examined the role of schoolwork emotions and whether these emotions moderated the impact of schoolwork effort on self-control based on predictions from the TESSERA model.

METHODS

Data are from a weekly diary study (N = 98) that measured children's schoolwork effort, schoolwork emotions, and self-control during five consecutive weeks. Data were analyzed at the between- and within-person levels using multilevel models.

RESULTS

Between-person results show that schoolwork effort is related to variations in children's self-control. Furthermore, some emotions moderated the influence of schoolwork effort on self-control at the between- and within-person levels.

CONCLUSION

In line with the TESSERA model of personality development, positive state expressions of effort during schoolwork (e.g., putting in effort) predicted higher self-control in the subsequent week. However, this finding was dependent on the reactions and reinforcement children felt about their effort (e.g., emotional responses to their remote schoolwork). The discussion examines how these findings extend to previous literature.

Volitional Change in Pathological Traits: Can People Change Their Maladaptive Traits?

Research suggests people want to change their normative personality traits-and they can volitionally do so. However, studies have not yet addressed volitional change in pathological personality. Consequently, the current study examined (a) people's desires to change pathological traits, (b) whether these change goals predict subsequent trait change, (c) whether this withstands controlling normative traits, and (d) the extent to which pathological trait change predicts relevant outcomes. College students (N = 463) self-reported their pathological traits weekly for up to 16 weeks. People with elevated pathological traits generally desired to decrease these traits. Furthermore, goals to change negative affectivity and disinhibition predicted corresponding trait change. Thus, people want to reduce their pathological traits-and they may be able to do so for some traits.

Personality dynamics: Regulatory mechanisms and processes

Personality dynamics have recently revived interest as a subject of systematic investigation in personality science. Personality dynamics theories and research refer to nonstatic phenomena related to personality, such as the regulatory mechanisms and processes involved in the control of behavior and experience related to personality and their interactions with situations. Such research is not only important to understand personality but also important to explain the large amount of variability in behavior and experience in an individual that can hardly be explained by a few personality traits. This introduction to a special issue of the Journal of Personality outlines the contributions of 11 articles tackling four emerging trends in the field: (1) personality dynamics and levels of regulation; (2) personality dynamics and the motivational dimension of regulation; (3) dynamics and regulatory potentials of structural personality components; and (4) personality dynamics and timescales. Moreover, we add recommendations for future exploration. Together, we believe that our special issue advances personality science in conceptualizing and examining personality dynamics as well as drawing attention to unanswered issues.

Relationships between Dark Triad and negative emotions during COVID-19 lockdown: The chain mediating roles of negative coping and state boredom

Personality is distal vulnerability of negative emotions and vital to mental health. Dark Triad was significantly correlated with negative emotions, whereas the mechanisms beneath the relationships were less clear. Based on life history strategy theory (LHS) and cognitive vulnerability-transactional stress model, the study explored the relationships between Dark Triad and negative emotions and investigated the roles of negative coping style and state boredom in the relationships aforementioned during the strict period of COVID-19 lockdown in China. 464 participants (M age = 36.78 years; SD = 10.53) finished a package of measurements online including Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Short Dark Triad (SD3), Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS), and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ). The results showed there were positive relationships between Dark Triad and depression, anxiety and stress. Moreover, the relationships between Dark Triad and negative emotions were sequentially mediated by negative coping style and state boredom. The present study offered fascinating perspectives in the relationships between Dark Triad and negative emotions, and revealed how Dark Triad affected depression, anxiety and stress during the initial phase of COVID-19 pandemic and strict lockdown among Chinese population. The present results may provide important implications for the prevention and intervention of depression, anxiety and stress during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. Specifically, the intervention strategies that focus on reducing Dark Triad, negative coping and boredom may help offset occurrence of negative emotional states.

You Are What You Eat and So Is Our Planet: Identifying Dietary Groups Based on Personality and Environmentalism

Behavioral change interventions promoting the reduction of animal product consumption are valuable tools to improve ecological sustainability as well as public health and help the mitigation of climate change. Recent findings revealed improved efficacy of interventions targeted at barriers (e.g., self-efficacy) of three different types of meat consumers over non-targeted interventions (e.g., completion of unrelated surveys). However, such interventions have yet to factor in the role of individual differences in personality. Therefore, in a first step, we performed segmentation analysis on barriers and benefits of reducing animal product consumption (e.g., meat attachment, environmentalism) with the inclusion of personality. In an online sample of N=1135 participants, latent profile analysis revealed five distinct dietary groups: “plant-based eaters”, “meat-reducers”, “medium-hindrance meat eaters”, “medium strong-hindrance meat eaters, and “strong-hindrance meat eaters”, based on inhibitors and facilitators of meat reduction. Groups differed in terms of consumption of different animal products (η2=0.08 to η2=0.80) as well as the Big Five (η2=0.08 to η2=0.80) and Dark Triad (η2=0.08 to η2=0.80). Strong-hindrance meat eaters were characterized by low Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness as well as high dark trait expression, implying new targets for future intervention design.

A Comprehensive and Person-Centered View of the Association Between the Dark Triad and Youth Mental Health

Using a dual person-centered approach, the current study examined the Dark Triad profiles and mental health profiles among a large-scale sample of high school students. The study also simultaneously examined whether the emerging Dark Triad profiles could diverge in mental health profiles, delineating a thorough, and person-centered view of this association. To achieve these research aims, 1,640 Chinese high school students (M age = 16.78; SD = 0.68; 57.6% females) participated in this study, and they were uniformly instructed to complete a set of well-established questionnaires. Results from latent profile analyses revealed five Dark Triad profiles-low Machiavellianism-psychopathy (7.4%), benevolent (61.7%), highly malevolent (6.7%), low narcissism (8.8%), and malevolent (15.4%)-and the following four mental health profiles: flourishing (37.7%), vulnerable (16.4%), troubled (33.9%), and highly troubled (12.4%). Moreover, results from multiple multinomial regression analyses showed that, among all five empirically derived Dark Triad profiles, students with the low Machiavellianism-psychopathy profile exhibited the highest probability of being "flourishing," whereas those with the low narcissism profile showed the highest likelihood of being "highly troubled."