The dark triad and subjective well-being: The mediating role of cognitive-emotional regulation strategies

The dark triad (DT) is composed of psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. These traits have usually been correlated with maladaptive strategies of emotion regulation. In turn, these types of strategies have shown a negative relationship with the components of subjective well-being (SWB): affective well-being (AWB) and cognitive well-being (CWB). The principal objective of the present study was to analyze the possible mediating role of adaptive and maladaptive cognitive-emotional regulation strategies in the relationship between the DT and SWB components. For this purpose, a community sample of 678 participants (M_age  = 35.03; 53.1% women) completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWB), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Cognitive Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-36), and the Short Dark Triad (SD-3). The results showed a good fit with the model in which Machiavellianism was indirectly and negatively related to CWB through the effect of maladaptive strategies and AWB, and indirectly and positively related to CWB through the effect of adaptive strategies and AWB. Narcissism was indirectly positively related to CWB through the effect of adaptive strategies and AWB. Finally, psychopathy was indirectly negatively associated with CWB through the effect of adaptive strategies and AWB. Limitations and clinical implications of this research are discussed.

Reward and emotion influence attentional bias in rapid serial visual presentation

Facial emotion constitutes an important source of information, and rapid processing of this information may bring adaptive advantages. Previous evidence suggests that emotional faces are sometimes prioritised for cognitive processing. Three experiments used an emotion-induced blindness task to examine whether this prioritisation occurs in a purely stimulus-driven fashion or whether it emerges only when the faces are task-relevant. Angry or neutral faces appeared as distractors in a rapid serial visual presentation sequence, shortly before a target that participants were required to identify. Either the emotion (Experiment 1) or gender (Experiments 2 and 3) of the distractor face indicated whether a correct/incorrect response to the target would produce reward/punishment, or not. The three experiments found that reward-related faces impaired subsequent target identification, replicating previous results. Target identification accuracy was also impaired following angry faces, compared with neutral faces, demonstrating an emotion-induced attentional bias. Importantly, this impairment was observed even when face emotion was entirely irrelevant to the participants' ongoing task (in Experiments 2 and 3), suggesting that rapid processing of the facial emotion might arise (at least in part) from the operation of relatively automatic cognitive-perceptual processes.

The role of emotional intelligence and negative affect as protective and risk factors of aggressive behavior: A moderated mediation model

The General Aggression Model (GAM) offers an integrative explanation of the aggressive behavior based on three stages: 1) inputs: personal and situational factors; 2) routes or individual internal states: affect, cognition, and arousal; and 3) outcomes: decision processes with a (non) aggressive result. Researchers are interested in looking for protective factors within the GAM to diminish aggression. Previous studies have found two relevant variables acting independently as risk and protective factors: emotional intelligence (EI) and negative affect (NA). The aim of the present study is to analyze a moderated mediation model including these variables as an explanation of aggressive behavior and integrate it within the GAM. Four hundred and six participants were assessed on EI, NA, and aggression. The moderated mediation analysis showed a significant negative indirect effect of the perceiving EI branch on total aggression mediated through NA levels, which, in turn, was moderated by the managing EI branch. Moreover, this relationship was also observed for the physical, anger, and hostility sub-scales of aggression. Our study demonstrates the importance of having a high ability to perceive emotions as a protective factor in the first stage of the GAM. These individuals will present lower NA in the second stage of the model, resulting in a reduction in aggression. Moreover, having a high ability to perceive emotions is particularly relevant for individuals that are less able to manage emotions, given that those participants with higher scores on the managing EI branch can reduce their aggressive behavior by mitigating the effect of NA on aggression in the third stage of the GAM.

The Relationship Between the Three Models of Emotional Intelligence and Psychopathy: A Systematic Review

Given the many instances of violence and crime that occur as a consequence of psychopathy, it is vital to find those variables that can reduce the expression of such behaviors. In this regard, one potentially useful variable is that known as Emotional Intelligence (EI) or the ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions. EI has been categorized according to three main approaches: performance-based ability, self-report ability, and self-report mixed models. Given the emotional deficits of the psychopathic population, EI could be a protective factor. Several studies have analyzed the relationship between EI and psychopathy, but the results are unclear. This disparity may be due to the EI model employed to measure EI. The aim of our research is to systematically review the relationship between the different models of EI and psychopathy, both in the total and clinical/inmate sample. We searched Scopus, Pubmed, and PsicINFO to find relevant articles. Twenty-nine eligible studies were found. They were divided according to the model of EI and the sample used. The results for the total sample differ according to the measure of EI: when the performance-based ability model is used, the majority of studies find a negative relationship between EI and psychopathy. When using self-reports, the results are inconsistent. The findings with the clinical/inmate sample are in the same direction as the total sample. In conclusion, the results suggest that higher EI abilities measured through performance-based ability models-but not through self-reports-are related to lower psychopathy deficits. Limitations and clinical implications are discussed.

The blocking effect in associative learning involves learned biases in rapid attentional capture

Blocking refers to the finding that less is learned about the relationship between a stimulus and an outcome if pairings are conducted in the presence of a second stimulus that has previously been established as a reliable predictor of that outcome. Attentional models of associative learning suggest that blocking reflects a reduction in the attention paid to the blocked cue. We tested this idea in three experiments in which participants were trained in an associative learning task using a blocking procedure. Attention to stimuli was measured 250 ms after onset using an adapted version of the dot probe task. This task was presented at the beginning of each learning trial (Experiments 1 and 2) or in independent trials (Experiment 3). Results show evidence of reduced attention to blocked stimuli (i.e. “attentional blocking”). In addition, this attentional bias correlated with the magnitude of blocking in associative learning, as measured by predictive-value judgments. Moreover, Experiments 2 and 3 found evidence of an influence of learning about predictiveness on memory for episodes involving stimuli. These findings are consistent with a central role of learned attentional biases in producing the blocking effect, and in the encoding of new memories.

Teachers' Affective Well-being and Teaching Experience: The Protective Role of Perceived Emotional Intelligence

Teaching is a highly emotional and demanding profession. Developing emotional well-being among teachers will benefit not only the teachers themselves, but also their students. Previous studies have shown the protective role of emotional intelligence (EI) as well as inconsistencies in the years of teaching experience variable on positive and negative work-specific variables. The aim of the present study was to analyze how EI and years of teaching experience are related to affective well-being in teachers. Further, we analyze the moderator role of perceived EI on the link between level of teaching experience and affective well-being. For these purpose, 524 teachers from different Spanish public schools took part in the study. They first completed the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 (TMMS-24) for measuring perceived EI, which evaluates three scales: Attention to one’s Feelings (Attention), Emotional Clarity (Clarity), and Mood Repair (Repair). Secondly, they completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) for affective well-being, which measures Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA). Finally, teachers indicated their years of teaching experience. The results revealed that teaching experience and attention variables are counterproductive in determining lower PA and higher NA, respectively. Clarity and Repair appeared to be a significant determinant of PA and NA, with higher Clarity and Repair determining higher PA and lower NA. Moderator analyses showed how teaching experience significantly decreased PA in teachers who had average or low levels of Repair, but not for those with higher levels of this variable, emphasizing the important role of Repair as a protector of affective well-being in teachers. Limitations and future areas for research are discussed.

The relationship between trait psychopathy and emotional intelligence: A meta-analytic review

Psychopathy is a personality construct that has been related to important emotional deficits. These findings have led to a growing interest in exploring if psychopathic traits are associated with emotional intelligence (EI). However, the literature exploring this association has revealed conflicting results. The aim of the present study was to provide a reliable estimate of the relationship between psychopathy traits and EI (measured as performance-based ability) through meta-analysis. A quantitative and systematic review of the literature using Scopus, Medline, Pubmed, and PsicINFO showed a total of 13 studies meeting inclusion criteria with a combined sample of 2401 participants. The meta-analysis revealed a significant negative relationship between both constructs, showing that higher psychopathic trait scores are related to lower EI levels. We propose several future research lines to clarify possible gaps and ambiguities in the current literature and a set of interesting clinical implications for the prevention, evaluation, and treatment of psychopathic traits by including EI factors in traditional models of psychopathy.

Performance on emotional tasks engaging cognitive control depends on emotional intelligence abilities: an ERP study

Cognitive control is a key process in decision making and adequately adapting our behavior to the environment. Previous studies have provided evidence of a lower capacity for cognitive control in emotion-laden contexts in comparison with neutral contexts. The aim of the present research was to study changes in cognitive control performance as a function of emotional intelligence (EI) level in contexts involving emotional information. The study sample was composed of 2 groups of 22 participants each: the high and low EI group. Participants carried out an emotional go/no-go task while brain activity was recorded by EEG. N2 and P3 ERPs were used as indices of cognitive control processing. Participants with higher EI showed a larger N2, reflecting a greater capacity for cognitive control related to changes in conflict monitoring, and to a better detection and evaluation of the emotional stimuli. Moreover, in general, response inhibition accuracy was reduced when emotional information was involved in this process. Our findings reveal that neural mechanisms underlying tasks that engage cognitive control depend on emotional content and EI level. This study indicates the important role played by EI in the relationship between emotion and cognition. EI training may be a very useful tool for improving performance in emotion-laden contexts.

Parental Education and Aggressive Behavior in Children: A Moderated-Mediation Model for Inhibitory Control and Gender

Aggressive behaviors are highly prevalent in children. Given their negative consequences, it is necessary to look for protective factors that prevent or reduce their progress in early development before they become highly unshakable. With a sample of 147 children, the present study aimed to assess the relation between parental education and inhibitory control in the aggressive behavior of children aged from 7 to 10 years. The participants completed a go/no-go task to assess inhibitory control, whilst their parents reported their education level, and their teachers rated the aggressive behavior of the children through the Teacher Rating Scale (TRS) of the Behavior Assessment System for Children 2 (BASC-2). The results showed that both parental education and inhibitory control determined aggressive behavior in children. In addition, inhibitory control partially mediated the associations between parental education and aggressive behavior after accounting for age. However, a moderated mediation model revealed that lower parental education was associated with higher levels of aggressive behavior, which, in girls occurred independently of inhibitory control. In contrast, inhibitory control mediated this relation in boys. These results suggest the importance of parental education and inhibitory control in the aggressive behavior of children, supporting the idea that both constructs are relevant for understanding these conduct problems in schools, particularly in boys. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed, along with possible future lines of investigation.

The Three Models of Emotional Intelligence and Performance in a Hot and Cool go/no-go Task in Undergraduate Students

Emotional intelligence (EI), or the ability to perceive, use, understand and regulate emotions, appears to be helpful in the performance of "hot" (i.e., emotionally laden) cognitive tasks when using performance-based ability models, but not when using self-report EI models. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between EI (as measured through a performance-based ability test, a self-report mixed test and a self-report ability test) and cognitive control ability during the performance of hot and "cool" (i.e., non-emotionally laden) "go/no-go" tasks. An experimental design was used for this study in which 187 undergraduate students (25% men) with a mean age of 21.93 years (standard deviation [SD] = 3.8) completed the three EI tests of interest (Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test [MSCEIT], Trait Meta-Mood Scale [TMMS] and Emotional Quotient Inventory-Short Form [EQi:S]) as well as go/no-go tasks using faces and geometric figures as stimuli. The results provide evidence for negative associations between the "managing" branch of EI measured through the performance-based ability test of EI and the cognitive control index of the hot go/no-go task, although similar evidence was not found when using the cool task. Further, the present study failed to observe consistent results when using the self-report EI instruments. These findings are discussed in terms of both the validity and implications of the various EI models.

Dependent measure and time constraints modulate the competition between conflicting feature-based and rule-based generalization processes

In our study, we tested the hypothesis that feature-based and rule-based generalization involve different types of processes that may affect each other producing different results depending on time constraints and on how generalization is measured. For this purpose, participants in our experiments learned cue-outcome relationships that followed the opposites rule: Single cues that signaled the same outcome (e.g., A-1/B-1) predicted the opposite outcome when presented in compound (e.g., AB-2). Some cues were only presented in compound during training (e.g., EF-1) to see if at test participants tended to generalize according to rule-based (i.e., E-2/F-2) or according to feature-based generalization (i.e., E-1/F-1). The generalization test used 2 different tasks: a predictive judgment task, and a cued-response priming task. In Experiment 1, participants' verbal ratings were consistent with rule-based generalization. However, participants' reaction times (RTs) in the cued-response priming task were consistent with feature-based generalization. Experiment 2 replicated the results from Experiment 1, and it also provided evidence consistent with feature-based or rule-based generalization depending on whether a short stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA; 200 ms) or a long SOA (1300 ms), respectively, was used in the priming task. Our results are interpreted as supporting the idea that feature-based generalization process relies on fast, associative processes, whereas rule-based generalization is slow and depends on executive control resources. The latter generalization process would inhibit the former when enough time and resources are available. Otherwise, feature-based generalization would take control of responses. (PsycINFO Database Record