Women collectively condemn other women who appear to be sexually permissive; they believed that “provocatively” dressed women are more likely to have one-night stands, even when these women were not direct sexual rivals

Coordinated condemnation in women's intrasexual competition. Jessica D. Ayers, Aaron T. Goetz. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 185, February 2022, 111294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111294

Highlights

• Potentially sexually permissive women are negatively judged across traits (Study 1).

• Negative mating judgments “leak” into non-mating-related judgments (Study 1)

• Controlling for mating judgments reduces negative non-mating judgments (Study 1).

• Women mentally represent other women's judgments of permissive rivals (Study 2).

Abstract: Here, we identify a novel reason why women are often criticized and condemned for (allegedly) sexually permissive behavior due to their choice of clothing. Combining principles from coordinated condemnation and sexual economics theory, we developed a model of competition that helps explain this behavior. We hypothesized that women collectively condemn other women who appear to be sexually permissive (based on their choice of clothing). Study 1 (N = 712) demonstrated that women perceived a rival with visible cleavage more negatively. These perceptions were ultimately driven by the belief that “provocatively” dressed women are more likely to have one-night stands. Study 2 (N = 341) demonstrated that women criticized provocatively dressed women, even when these women were not direct sexual rivals (e.g., her boyfriend's sister). Our findings suggest that future research should investigate competition outside of mating-relevant domains to understand women's intrasexual competition fully.

Keywords: Intrasexual competitionCoordinated condemnationCompetitor derogationPromiscuity

7. General discussion

These studies aimed to investigate coordinated condemnation in women's competition. In Study 1, we hypothesized that participants shown a target with visible cleavage would perceive the target more negatively even in domains unrelated to physical attractiveness and mating. In Study 2, we hypothesized that women would rate potentially sexually permissiveness targets more negatively regardless of if she was a direct sexual rival. We also asked participants to report how they believed other women and men would perceive the target.

Study 1 documented that women who saw the target with cleavage perceived her more negatively than participants who saw the target with a superimposed modesty panel. Further, after controlling for perceptions of the target's likelihood of having one-night stands, the other associations were no longer significant. This suggests that the negative perceptions of the target with visible cleavage were driven by perceptions that she would lower the collective “cost” of sexual access by acting sexually permissive.

In Study 2, we found that women reported more favorable perceptions of potentially permissive targets than they believed other women and men would regardless of if the target was a direct threat to their romantic relationships. Additionally, when reporting the perceptions of other women and men, participants reported that other women would view the target more negatively than men would. While these results do not support our original hypothesis, they suggest that women mentally represent the judgments of others, allowing for coordinated condemnation of undesirable behavior.

Our results from these studies provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that women coordinate to condemn potentially sexually permissive women. Our results also indicate that women seem to be aware of and motivated to maintain their bargaining power in relationships (Baumeister & Vohs, 2004; Vohs et al., 2014) by punishing others who appear to be sexually permissive. This awareness, in turn, motivates women to use third-party condemnation (DeScioli and Kurzban, 2009, DeScioli and Kurzban, 2013) to aggress without the threat of direct retaliation. Our results also corroborate previous research showing that women are aware that their clothing choices make them the targets of competition (Krems et al., 2020) and suggests that women are aware of how other women perceive rivals (Wacker et al., 2017), allowing women to coordinate their indirect aggression at these individuals. Our results also add nuance to theories of women's intrasexual competition. Women's intrasexual competition is often described as covert and indirect (Campbell, 1999; Fisher, 2013; Vaillancourt, 2005), but our results document that there may be instances where women's competitive motivations are more overt than previously thought (i.e., when coordinating aggression against a sexually permissive rival).

Research has also outlined a paradox in women's interpersonal relationships. Women's friendships are more likely to be dyadic (David-Barrett et al., 2015; Winstead, 1986), suggesting that women invest their time and energy in a single friend instead of many friends. But women's friendships are also more fragile and less tolerant to issues within the relationship (Benenson, 2013; Benenson et al., 2009; Benenson & Christakos, 2003), suggesting that women's friendships are also more likely to end. Part of this paradox may be attributable to the fact that women's friendships balance cooperative and competitive influences. While women may want to foster emotionally deep bonds with their friends (Wright, 1982), women's indirect aggression and intolerance of slights in their friendships might be caused by coordinated condemnation. Investigating the influences of coordinated condemnation in women's friendships may help researchers understand how conflict in women's friendships manifests and document how women coordinate their aggression with their friends against other potential rivals.

7.1. Limitations and future directions

Our current results support the hypothesis that women represent how other women view rivals. Still, our results did not show that women use these representations to coordinate their aggression. Behavioral observations, such as Vaillancourt and Sharma's (2011), would allow for a more accurate assessment of the use of these representations to aggress against potentially permissive rivals. Additionally, coordinated aggression may bolster research on women's abilities to assess competitors' motivations in interpersonal contexts (Krems, Neel, Neuberg, Puts, & Kenrick, 2016; Krems, Neuberg, Filip-Crawford, & Kenrick, 2015).

Another limitation is that women's perceptions of the target may reflect self-presentation biases. As women's competition is indirect (Benenson, 2013; Campbell, 2013; Vaillancourt, 2013), it is possible that the positive perceptions women reported reflect their motivation to remain anonymous (Campbell, 1999) so they cannot be accused of aggressing against competitors (Fisher, 2013; Vaillancourt, 2005). As such, it is likely that beliefs about other women's perceptions indirectly reflect women's actual competitive motivations (Perilloux & Kurzban, 2015).

Another limitation concerns the target images used in Study 2. We chose target images that had visible tattoos, piercings, and provocative clothing, as these characteristics are believed to be cues of sexual permissiveness (Goetz et al., 2012; Krems et al., 2020; Skoda et al., 2020; Tews et al., 2020). However, it is possible that these images were overwhelming, unbelievable, or presented a demand characteristic. While our results suggest that these confounds did not meaningfully affect our results in the current study, it is also possible that some confounds attenuated the effects of others and led to the appearance of no confounding effect. Unfortunately, since we did not have conservative versions of these stimuli, we cannot tease these possibilities apart in our current data. Future studies could improve upon these limitations by 1) presenting fewer target images with more subtle cues of sexual permissiveness, 2) including control images of provocative images, and 3) focusing on specific cues to sexual permissiveness to document if these cues influence coordinated condemnation.

Another limitation that should be mentioned is the exclusion criteria used in both studies. While the exclusion criteria were determined before data collection for Study 1 began, and were subsequently refined before data collection for Study 2 began, these criteria did result in many participants being excluded from the current analyses (33% in Study 1 and 34% in Study 2). We do not believe that this is an issue for the current study, but it does limit the generalizability of our results. For example, we do not know if we would have found the same effects in a sample that was less honest or paid less attention. We also do not know how differences in women's sexual orientation or gender identity may influence these results, as these groups are often excluded from studies on women's competition. Future research on women's intrasexual competition, and coordinated condemnation in general, would benefit from including these groups to better understand women's competition.

Finally, these experiments are not perfect tests of coordinated condemnation due to the self-report nature of these studies. In addition, there may be additional individual factors, such as age, socioeconomic status, and education level (Campbell, 1999), that influence the saliency and intensity of women's intrasexual competition. As women's competition occurs across the lifespan (Linney, Korologou-Linden, & Campbell, 2016; Low, 2017), domain- and age-specific effects on competition should exist. For example, as women's fundamental social motives become more family-oriented (Ko et al., 2020), women may be less likely to coordinate against sexually permissive women and instead coordinate against women who are perceived as bad mothers. We could not test for the attenuation of this effect and changing motivations in menopausal women (using Gottschalk, Eskild, Hofvind, Gran, & Bjelland, 2020) as there were not enough women in our sample for age-effects to be appropriately powered (5.7% were 52 years or older in Study 1; 1.2% were 52 years or older in Study 2).

Future research would benefit from actively recruiting older women to test for attenuation effects of coordinated condemnation. Similarly, while we asked our participants about their romantic relationships, we did not ask participants how long they had been in a romantic relationship. It would be fruitful for future research to address how romantic relationships influence women's competition and coordinated condemnation, as women in newer, more temporary, or more unstable relationships may respond more competitively to potential relationship threats and direct more aggression towards women who display cues of permissiveness.

The different studies did systematically agree on the existence of the G-spot, but there was no agreement on its location, size, or nature

Vieira-Baptista P, Lima-Silva J, Preti M, et al. G-spot: Fact or Fiction?: A Systematic Review. Sex Med 2021;9:100435. Oct 2021. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S205011612100115X

Introduction: The G-spot, a putative erogenous area in the anterior vaginal wall, is a widely accepted concept in the mainstream media, but controversial in medical literature.

Aim: Review of the scientific data concerning the existence, location, and size of the G-spot.

Methods: Search on Pubmed, Pubmed Central, Cochrane, clinicaltrials.gov and Google Scholar from inception to November 2020 of studies on G-spot's existence, location and nature. Surveys, clinical, physiological, imaging, histological and anatomic studies were included.

Main Outcome Measure: Existence, location, and nature of the G-spot.

Results: In total, 31 eligible studies were identified: 6 surveys, 5 clinical, 1 neurophysiological, 9 imaging, 8 histological/anatomical, and 2 combined clinical and histological. Most women (62.9%) reported having a G-spot and it was identified in most clinical studies (55.4% of women); in 2 studies it was not identified in any women. Imaging studies had contradictory results in terms of its existence and nature. Some showed a descending of the anterior vaginal wall, that led to the concept of clitourethrovaginal complex. In anatomic studies, one author could systematically identify the G-spot, while another group did not find it. Studies on innervation of the vaginal walls did not systematically identify an area with richer innervation.

Conclusion The different studies did systematically agree on the existence of the G-spot. Among the studies in which it was considered to exist, there was no agreement on its location, size, or nature. The existence of this structure remains unproved.

Key Words: G-spotGräfenberg SpotOrgasmSexual FunctionClitorurethrovaginal Complex

If giving money to the Red Cross increases well-being, does taking money from the Red Cross increase ill-being?

If giving money to the Red Cross increases well-being, does taking money from the Red Cross increase ill-being? – Evidence from three experiments. Frank Martela, Richard M. Ryan. Journal of Research in Personality, Volume 93, August 2021, 104114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2021.104114

Highlights

• A small sum of money donated to Red Cross in a button-pushing activity increased participant well-being.

• Similar sum of money detracted from a donation to Red Cross in a button-pushing activity did not increase ill-being.

• Participants might compensate their negative impact by emphasizing the positive impact they are having towards science.

Abstract: Does having a negative impact on others decrease one’s well-being? In three separate pre-registered studies (n = 111, n = 445, & n = 447), participants engaged in a button-pushing activity for 4 min in three conditions: earning money for themselves (~60c), also earning money for the Red Cross (~15c), or also reducing the money distributed to the Red Cross (~15c). The results of the individual studies and a meta-analysis across them showed that positive impact increased well-being, but even though participants were aware of the negative impact they were having, there was no increased ill-being in the negative impact condition. In Study 3 we examined whether participants in the negative impact condition are mentally compensating by emphasizing the positive impact they are having towards science.

Keywords: Antisocial behaviorIll-beingProsocial behaviorProsocial impactWell-being

5. General discussion

In this series of studies we set out to examine whether engaging in behavior that has negative social impact would lead to ill-being in a fashion mirroring the positive effects of engaging in behaviors with positive social impact. More particularly, in three studies, we examined participants who were exposed to similar dosage of positive impact and negative impact effect – in this case donating money to the Red Cross or taking money away from the Red Cross – to examine whether prosocial impact would increase well-being and antisocial impact increase ill-being.

First, findings from our initial study showed that although the manipulations were effective, effect sizes were modest. We thus moved to larger samples in Studies 2 and 3. In line with previous findings (e.g., Martela and Ryan, 2016a, Martela and Ryan, 2016b, Martela and Ryan, 2020), the zero-order correlations in both studies revealed that beneficence satisfaction and frustration were associated with increased well-being and ill-being, respectively. Also in line with previous research (e.g. Aknin et al., 2013, Martela and Ryan, 2016a), these studies demonstrated that engaging in prosocial behavior increased participants’ sense of vitality (Study 2), situational meaning (Studies 2 & 3), and positive affect (Study 3). Meta-analysis across the three studies confirmed these positive effects on positive affect, vitality, and situational meaning. However, even though we used three different indicators of ill-being and two sufficiently powered studies, we found no evidence that the negative impact condition increased people’s ill-being, either when examining the studies individually or when conducting a meta-analysis across them. Instead, people in the negative impact condition, as compared to the neutral condition, experienced more prosocial impact, vitality, and meaningfulness in Study 2, and more situational meaningfulness and a sense that they were helping science in Study 3. The meta-analysis across three studies confirmed both these positive effects of being in the negative impact condition on well-being indicators as well as showing positive effects on both beneficence satisfaction and frustration relative to participants in the neutral condition. Perhaps partially explaining this result, findings in Study 3 showed that participants in the negative impact condition also reported feeling that they contributed more towards science than participants in the neutral condition. In recognizing the potentially negative impact they were having, the participants might have consciously or unconsciously focused upon the positive impact of their activity, perhaps to mitigate any feelings associated with their negative impact.

Feeling one is harming others is arguably hard to integrate (Martela & Ryan, 2020; Ryan & Deci, 2017), leading people to engage in defenses and rationalizations (Simler and Hanson, 2018, Tsang, 2002, Weinstein et al., 2012), as well as attempts to repair harm where possible (Legate et al., 2015). The psychological well-being dynamics in antisocial situations thus might be more complex and less straightforward than often thought – this could also explain why so little research on the topic has been previously published. The present results thus emphasize the need for more research in the future to further identify the defense mechanisms that might lead participants having an antisocial impact not suffering from it but instead even having a higher well-being because of it.

Certain limitations need to be acknowledged. First, all samples were gathered within one country and through the same online channel, Mturk, making it important to replicate the findings in other samples and cultures. Second, well-being was measured using self-reports, calling for future research utilizing others ways of measuring it. Third, one of our key findings was negative – we didn’t find any effect of antisocial behavior on well-being and ill-being indicators raising the question as to the adequacy of the research design. Yet arguing against this, manipulation checks showed that participants realized that they were having a negative impact in the negative impact condition, and on the other side of the ledger, the positive impact condition demonstrated that the paradigm could in principle cause differences in well-being. Minimally, what this study thus appears to show is that the same “dosage” of impact, which when positive is capable of increasing participants well-being is not enough, when negative, to increase participants ill-being to a similar degree. This led us to look for and find that participants might be compensating for the negative impact by emphasizing the positive impacts the same activity was causing. We hope this research spurs more inquiry into the potential asymmetry of impact on well-being and ill-being from beneficial and harmful results of one’s actions.

Open practices

Preregistration: All three studies were preregistered at OSF.

Data: The data for all three studies is publicly available at: https://osf.io/5h4cr/?view_only=641468da56d24730b92f1b4a3b666f8e.

Stereotypes about men’s lower sexual self-control uniquely predict attitudes about women’s mundane (but potentially sexually arousing) behaviors, like public breastfeeding and immodest clothing

Moon, Jordan W., Val Wongsomboon, and Barış Sevi. 2021. “Beliefs About Men’s Sexual Self-control Predict Attitudes Toward Women’s Immodest Clothing and Public Breastfeeding.” PsyArXiv. September 2. doi:10.31234/osf.io/67vh9

Abstract: Why do some people have negative views toward mundane behaviors such as women breastfeeding in public or wearing revealing clothing? We suggest that moral opposition to these behaviors may partly stem from their perceived effects on men’s sexual responses. We hypothesized that (a) people would stereotype men as having relatively less control of their sexual urges (i.e., lower sexual self-control) compared to women and that (b) stereotypes about men’s sexual self-control would uniquely predict attitudes about women’s mundane (but potentially sexually arousing) behaviors. Five studies show that (a) people stereotyped men (vs. women) as lacking sexual self-control (Study 1) and (b) endorsement of this stereotype was associated with opposition to public breastfeeding and immodest clothing (Studies 2-5). The effects hold even after controlling for potential confounds and seem specific to relevant moral domains, although women (vs. men) tend not to view these behaviors as moral issues.

Effects of perinatal gonadal hormones on human sexual orientation; women with isolated deficiency reported lower androphilia & higher levels of bisexuality; seems there is a role of perinatal estrogens in organizing sexual orientation

Evidence that perinatal ovarian hormones promote women’s sexual attraction to men. Talia N. Shirazi et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology, Volume 134, December 2021, 105431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105431

Highlights

• Studied effects of perinatal gonadal hormones on human sexual orientation.

• Participants were typically-developing or had isolated GnRH deficiency (IGD).

• Women with IGD reported lower androphilia and higher levels of bisexuality.

• There were no consistent differences between the two groups of men.

• Results suggest a role of perinatal estrogens in organizing sexual orientation.

Abstract: Ovarian estrogens may influence the development of the human brain and behavior, but there are few opportunities to test this possibility. Isolated GnRH deficiency (IGD) is a rare endocrine disorder that could provide evidence for the role of estrogens in organizing sexually differentiated phenotypes: Unlike typical development, development in individuals with IGD is characterized by low or absent gonadal hormone production after the first trimester of gestation. Because external genitalia develop in the first trimester, external appearance is nevertheless concordant with gonadal sex in people with IGD. We therefore investigated the effects of gonadal hormones on sexual orientation by comparing participants with IGD (n = 97) to controls (n = 1670). Women with IGD reported lower male-attraction compared with typically developing women. In contrast, no consistent sexuality differences between IGD and typically developing men were evident. Ovarian hormones after the first trimester appear to influence female-typical dimensions of sexual orientation.

Keywords: AndrophiliaGynephiliaIsolated GnRH deficiencySex hormonesSexual orientation

Religions “in the wild” are the varied set of religious activities that occurred before the emergence of organized religions with doctrines, or that persist at the margins of those organized traditions, & that mostly focus on misfortune

Deriving Features of Religions in the Wild—How Communication and Threat-Detection May Predict Spirits, Gods, Witches, and Shamans. Pascal Boyer. Human Nature volume 32, pp 557–581. Sep 14 2021. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12110-021-09410-y

Abstract: Religions “in the wild” are the varied set of religious activities that occurred before the emergence of organized religions with doctrines, or that persist at the margins of those organized traditions. These religious activities mostly focus on misfortune; on how to remedy specific cases of illness, accidents, failures; and on how to prevent them. I present a general model to account for the cross-cultural recurrence of these particular themes. The model is based on (independently established) features of human psychology—namely, (a) epistemic vigilance, the set of systems whereby we evaluate the quality of information and of sources of information, and (b) threat-detection psychology, the set of evolved systems geared at detecting potential danger in the environment. Given these two sets of systems, the dynamics of communication will favor particular types of messages about misfortune. This makes it possible to predict recurrent features of religious systems, such as the focus on nonphysical agents, the focus on particular cases rather than general aspects of misfortune, and the emergence of specialists. The model could illuminate not just why such representations are culturally successful, but also why people are motivated to formulate them in the first place.

Misperceptions of the Opponent Fringe & the Miscalibration of Political Contempt: Reflecting on opponents’ (presumed nefarious) election tactics made partisans subsequently more accepting of unfair tactics on their own side

Parker, Victoria A., Matthew Feinberg, Alexa M. Tullett, and Anne E. Wilson. 2021. “The Ties That Blind: Misperceptions of the Opponent Fringe and the Miscalibration of Political Contempt.” PsyArXiv. October 1. doi:10.31234/osf.io/cr23g.

Abstract: Americans’ hostility toward political opponents has intensified to a degree not fully explained by actual ideological polarization. We propose that political animosity may be based particularly on partisans’ overestimation of the prevalence of extreme, egregious views held by only a minority of opponents but imagined to be widespread. Across five studies (N= 4993; three preregistered), we examine issue extremity as an antecedent of false polarization. Both liberals and conservatives report high agreement with their party’s moderate issues but low agreement with the extreme issues associated with their side. As expected, false polarization did not occur for all issues. Partisans were fairly accurate in estimating opponents’ moderate issues (even underestimating agreement somewhat). In contrast, partisans consistently overestimated the prevalence of their opponents’ extreme, egregious political attitudes. (Over)estimation of political opponents’ agreement with extreme issues predicted cross-partisan dislike, which in turn predicted unwillingness to engage with opponents, foreclosing opportunities to correct misperceptions (Studies 2-4b). Participants explicitly attributed their dislike of political opponents to opponents’ views on extreme issues more than moderate issues (Study 3). Partisans also reported greater unwillingness to publicly voice their views on their side’s extreme (relative to moderate) issues, a self-silencing which may perpetuate misconceptions (Studies 1, 2, 4a&b). Time spent watching partisan media (controlling political orientation) predicted greater overestimations of the prevalence of extreme views (Studies 2, 4a&b). Salience of opponents’ malevolence mattered: first reflecting on opponents’ (presumed nefarious) election tactics made partisans on both sides subsequently more accepting of unfair tactics from their own side (Studies 4a&b).

Supplemental Materials osf.io/p87nj/ 

We systematically underestimate how caring and interested distant strangers are in one’s own intimate revelations and these miscalibrated expectations create a psychological barrier to deeper conversations

Kardas, M., Kumar, A., & Epley, N. (2021). Overly shallow?: Miscalibrated expectations create a barrier to deeper conversation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Sep 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000281

Abstract: People may want deep and meaningful relationships with others, but may also be reluctant to engage in the deep and meaningful conversations with strangers that could create those relationships. We hypothesized that people systematically underestimate how caring and interested distant strangers are in one’s own intimate revelations and that these miscalibrated expectations create a psychological barrier to deeper conversations. As predicted, conversations between strangers felt less awkward, and created more connectedness and happiness, than the participants themselves expected (Experiments 1a–5). Participants were especially prone to overestimate how awkward deep conversations would be compared with shallow conversations (Experiments 2–5). Notably, they also felt more connected to deep conversation partners than shallow conversation partners after having both types of conversations (Experiments 6a–b). Systematic differences between expectations and experiences arose because participants expected others to care less about their disclosures in conversation than others actually did (Experiments 1a, 1b, 4a, 4b, 5, and 6a). As a result, participants more accurately predicted the outcomes of their conversations when speaking with close friends, family, or partners whose care and interest is more clearly known (Experiment 5). Miscalibrated expectations about others matter because they guide decisions about which topics to discuss in conversation, such that more calibrated expectations encourage deeper conversation (Experiments 7a–7b). Misunderstanding others can encourage overly shallow interactions

Check also Connecting with others makes people happier, but strangers in close proximity often ignore each other; we may avoid pleasant conversations with strangers because of miscalibrated concerns about starting them:

Hello, stranger? Pleasant conversations are preceded by concerns about starting one. Juliana Schroeder, Donald Lyons, & Nicholas Epley. Accepted Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Jun 2021. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2021/06/connecting-with-others-makes-people.html

Why we find shamans, who use magic, convincing? Supernatural theories of disease often reflect abstract cognition about rare phenomena whose causes are unobservable (e.g., infection, mental illness)

Lightner, Aaron, Cynthiann Heckelsmiller, and Edward H. Hagen. 2021. “Ethnomedical Specialists and Their Supernatural Theories of Disease.” PsyArXiv. October 1. doi:10.31234/osf.io/gbamc

Abstract: Religious healing specialists such as shamans often use magic. Evolutionary theories that seek to explain why laypersons find these specialists convincing focus on the origins of magical cognition and belief in the supernatural. In two studies, we reframe the problem by investigating relationships among ethnomedical specialists, who possess extensive theories of disease that can often appear “supernatural,” and religious healing specialists. In study 1, we coded and analyzed cross-cultural descriptions of ethnomedical specialists in 47 cultures, finding 24% were also religious leaders and 74% used supernatural theories of disease. We identified correlates of the use of supernatural concepts among ethnomedical specialists; incentives and disincentives to patronize ethnomedical specialists; and distinct clusters of ethnomedical specialists that we label prestigious teachers, feared diviners, and efficacious healers. In study 2, we interviewed 84 Maasai pastoralists and their traditional religious and non-religious healing specialists. We found that laypersons relied on medicinal services based on combinations of efficacy, religious identity, and interpersonal trust. Further, laypersons and specialists largely used abstract concepts that were not conspicuously supernatural to describe how local medicines work. We conclude that religious healers in traditional societies often fulfill a practical and specialized service to local clients, and argue that supernatural theories of disease often reflect abstract cognition about rare phenomena whose causes are unobservable (e.g., infection, mental illness) instead of a separate “religious” style of thinking.

Supplemental Materials osf.io/9wsvx

From 2006... Personality dispositions are linked to happiness, physical & psychological health, spirituality, & identity at an individual level; to quality of relationships with peers, family, & romantic others at an interpersonal level

Personality and the Prediction of Consequential Outcomes. Daniel J. Ozer and Verónica Benet-Martínez. Annual Review of Psychology  Volume 57, 2006  Ozer, pp 401-421. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190127

Abstract: Personality has consequences. Measures of personality have contemporaneous and predictive relations to a variety of important outcomes. Using the Big Five factors as heuristics for organizing the research literature, numerous consequential relations are identified. Personality dispositions are associated with happiness, physical and psychological health, spirituality, and identity at an individual level; associated with the quality of relationships with peers, family, and romantic others at an interpersonal level; and associated with occupational choice, satisfaction, and performance, as well as community involvement, criminal activity, and political ideology at a social institutional level.

Key Words: individual differences , traits , life outcomes , consequences

 

INDIVIDUAL OUTCOMES

By individual outcomes, we mean those that do not inherently depend upon a social process in order to define or give meaning to the outcome variable. Physical health and psychopathology are routinely understood as individual outcomes, while the inclusion here of happiness, spirituality, and virtue reflects the growing influence of positive psychology. Although these variables might be understood as features of personality rather than outcomes influenced by personality, we would argue that conscientiousness (to choose the most difficult trait for our view) as a virtue and conscientiousness as a trait are not quite the same things, though they clearly are related. Someone might be conscientious (in the trait sense) for purely instrumental purposes, and this would not constitute a virtue under at least some conceptions of that term.

Identity and self-concept, understood as outcomes, provide the greatest challenge to this kind of organizational scheme. The role of the individual, important others, and the larger social environment most certainly play a part in the development of self and identity; but ultimately, we believe that individuals experience aspects of their identity as a part of themselves, and so we include identity as an individual outcome.

Happiness and Subjective Well-Being

Few topics have attracted as much recent attention in personality psychology as the study of subjective well-being (SWB), persons' evaluations of their own lives (Diener et al. 1999). SWB includes both a cognitive component, such as a judgment of one's life satisfaction (Diener et al. 1985), and an affective component that includes the experience of positive and absence of negative emotions (Larsen 2000). Two robust conclusions from studies in this area are that personality dispositions are strong predictors of most components of SWB (see Diener & Lucas 1999 for a review), and demographic and contextual factors, including age, sex, marital status, employment, social class, and culture, are only weakly to moderately related to SWB (Diener et al. 1999, Ryan & Deci 2001).

Studies trying to unpack the link between personality dispositions and SWB mainly point to the relations between certain largely genetic, affective/cognitive traits related to neuroticism and extraversion (e.g., positive and negative affect, optimism, self-esteem) and the way individuals appraise and react to environmental rewards and punishments (DeNeve & Cooper 1998). Specifically, individuals high in extraversion and low in neuroticism tend to see events and situations in a more positive light, are less responsive to negative feedback, and tend to discount opportunities that are not available to them. Individual differences in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience are less strongly and consistently associated with SWB, mostly because these traits sources reside in “rewards in the environment” (Diener & Lucas 1999). In summary, SWB is strongly predicted by personality traits that are largely a function of temperament (i.e., extraversion and neuroticism) and moderately predicted by personality dispositions significantly driven by environmental influences (conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience).

Recent cross-cultural studies of SWB (Benet-Martínez & Karakitapoglu-Aygün 2003, Kwan et al. 1997, Schimmack et al. 2002) shed light on some possible moderator and mediator variables in the relation between personality factors and SWB. First, the links between both extraversion and neuroticism and SWB are moderated by culture. In individualist societies like the United States, where pleasure and positive mood are highly emphasized and valued, hedonic balance (i.e., the ratio of positive to negative affect) is a particularly strong predictor of SWB (Schimmack et al. 2002). Secondly, across cultures, the links between the Big Five and SWB are largely mediated by intra- and interpersonal esteem evaluations. Specifically, self-esteem appears to be a powerful mediator of the influence of extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness on SWB, whereas relational esteem (i.e., satisfaction with relationships with family and friends) mediates the influence of agreeableness and extraversion on SWB (Benet-Martínez & Karakitapoglu-Aygün 2003, Kwan et al. 1997). Although the relative weights of self-esteem and relationship harmony in predicting SWB vary across cultures (e.g., self-esteem is a uniquely important predictor in Western cultures), the weights of each of the Big Five dimensions on self-esteem and relationship harmony seem to be cross-culturally equivalent (Benet-Martínez & Karakitapoglu-Aygün 2003, Kwan et al. 1997).

Spirituality and Virtues

There is very little research directly investigating the relation between personality dispositions and variables referring to religious or spiritual concerns. This lack of attention to spiritual matters in personality psychology is puzzling for two reasons, as described by Emmons (1999): First, personality psychologists such as Allport and Murphy were among the first to study religion and spirituality from a psychological perspective. Despite this early interest in spirituality, the topic fell out of favor in the 1960s and 1970s, as various controversies flourished. Second, personality psychology's neglect of spirituality has occurred in the context of a discipline centrally concerned with understanding the whole person, a concern that undoubtedly involves understanding what is meaningful to the person and how this meaning is experienced as bringing growth and transcendence to one's life. Emmons (1999) argues that spiritual and religious goals and practices are not only a distinctive element of a person's beliefs and behaviors; for many, religious beliefs and practices may be a central theme of their identity.

Piedmont (1999, 2004) developed a measure of spiritual transcendence, with universality, connectedness, and prayer fulfillment subscales, that is unrelated to the traits of the Five Factor Model and has incremental validity in predicting posttreatment symptoms and coping resources in an outpatient substance abuse sample. MacDonald (2000) also explored the links between basic personality traits and spiritual concerns and behaviors. Five distinct components are identified and described by MacDonald: cognitive orientation (perceptions and attitudes regarding spirituality), experiential/phenomenological (mystical, transcendental, and transpersonal experiences), existential well-being (a sense of meaning, purpose, and resilience regarding one's existence), paranormal beliefs (including ESP and other paranormal phenomena), and religiousness (religious practices). These five components are differentially related to the Big Five personality constructs but are not subsumed by them. In particular, the religiousness and cognitive orientation components were most notably predicted by agreeableness and conscientiousness. Not surprisingly, the experiential/phenomenological and paranormal components were predicted by openness, while existential well-being was strongly predicted by extraversion and low neuroticism.

Recent theoretical work on the classification and delineation of core character strengths and virtues—which can be grouped in terms of their relevance to wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence (Peterson & Seligman 2002)—convincingly relates most of these attributes to different sets of personality dispositions. Clearly, certain traits facilitate or impede the development of specific strengths and virtues (e.g., agreeableness facilitates compassion, conscientiousness facilitates perseverance, openness fosters creativity), while at the same time the cultivation of these virtues consolidates the very same personality dispositions from which these virtues sprang. Although most of the aforementioned personality-virtue links have yet to be examined empirically, the following virtues have been shown to have clear associations with personality: gratitude (extraversion and agreeableness; McCullough et al. 2002), forgiveness (agreeableness and openness; Thompson et al. 2005), inspiration (extraversion and openness; Thrash & Elliot 2004), and humor (low neuroticism and agreeableness; Cann & Calhoun 2001).

Physical Health and Longevity

Personality traits have a stable and cumulative effect on both the health and length of individuals' lives (Caspi et al. 2005). With regard to longevity, studies show that positive emotionality (extraversion) and conscientiousness predict longer lives (Danner et al. 2001, Friedman et al. 1995), and hostility (low agreeableness) predicts poorer physical health (e.g., cardiovascular illness) and earlier mortality (Miller et al. 1996). The relation between neuroticism and health and longevity is more complex, given that some studies support an association between neuroticism and increased risk of actual disease, whereas others show links with illness behavior only (Smith & Spiro 2002). The link between personality and health may reflect three different though overlapping processes (Contrada et al. 1999). First, personality traits are associated with factors that cause disease. The hostility component of low agreeableness (i.e., anger, cynicism, and mistrust) is associated with sympathetic nervous system activation that is in turn associated with coronary artery disease (Smith & Spiro 2002). Whether personality has a causal role or whether the association is spurious remains unclear (Caspi et al. 2005). Second, personality may lead to behaviors that protect or diminish health. Extraversion is associated with more numerous social relationships and greater social support, both of which are positively correlated with health outcomes (Berkman et al. 2000). Various unhealthy habits and behaviors including smoking, improper diet, and lack of exercise are negatively correlated to conscientiousness (Bogg & Roberts 2004, Hampson et al. 2000). Last, personality traits are related to the successful implementation of health-related coping behaviors (David & Suls 1999, Scheier & Carver 1993) and adherence to treatment regimens (Kenford et al. 2002). The increasing evidence for these three personality-health processes is clarifying the particular health outcomes associated with particular traits (Caspi et al. 2005): Agreeableness (e.g., hostility) seems to be most directly associated with the disease processes, conscientiousness (e.g., low impulse control) is clearly implicated in health-risk behaviors, and neuroticism (e.g., vulnerability and rumination) seems to contribute to disease by shaping reactions to illness.

Finally, in contrast with the more traditional medical approach to personality and health, which tends to focus on “negative” traits such as anxiety, hostility, and impulsivity, positive psychology research informs us about personality traits that define resiliency (e.g., optimism, self-esteem, creativity), predict health, and represent important resources for the individual and society ( Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi 2000). There is growing evidence that the positive emotions and dispositions subsumed by the extraversion dimension lead to improved coping and the development of psychological skills and resources (Fredrickson & Joiner 2002).

Psychopathology

The previously described links between personality and SWB are not sufficient for understanding the relation between personality and psychopathology (e.g., personality disorders, clinical depression, and schizophrenia). This is so because SWB is not synonymous with mental or psychological health (Diener et al. 1999). Some delusional individuals may feel happy and satisfied with their lives, and yet we would not say that they possess mental health.

Recent research demonstrates strong links between the personality dispositions and both Axis I and II psychological disorders. Specifically, substance abuse disorders are largely predicted by higher openness and lower conscientiousness (Trull & Sher 1994). Anxiety disorders are primarily predicted by higher neuroticism, and depression is mostly linked to neuroticism and low extraversion (Trull & Sher 1994). Associations between personality traits and Axis II disorders are even more evident given the growing prevalence of dimensional conceptualizations of personality disorders. Dimensional models of personality disorders suggest that they may be understood as extreme expressions of personality traits (Trull & Durrett 2005). It is apparent that personality disorders have substantial associations with the five factors; neuroticism has the strongest relationship with personality disorders, whereas openness to experience has only a modest relationship.

Self-Concept and Identity

While many psychologists would understand self-concept and identity to be an integral part of personality, how one characterizes oneself, the groups one belongs to, and the goals and values one possesses may be understood as outcomes as well. The structure of social and personal identifications, goals, and priorities that constitute self and identity (Marcia 1980) may be understood not only as a function of life experience and cultural context, but also as a domain where personality dispositions play a part. How do personality traits influence self-concept and identity? Work in this area shows that personality traits affect the formation of identity, while at the same time identity both directs and becomes a part of personality through exploration and commitment processes in identity development (Helson & Srivastava 2001). Clancy & Dollinger (1993) have shown robust relations between personality traits and Marcia's (1980) four categories of identity development (achieved, moratorium, diffuse, and foreclosed). Specifically, foreclosure is predicted by low levels of openness to experience; identity achievement is predicted by low neuroticism, conscientiousness, and extraversion. Both moratorium and diffusion stages involve neuroticism. Additionally, diffusion is inversely related to agreeableness. Openness to experience may be the most important personality trait in terms of impact on identity development (Duriez et al. 2004, Helson & Srivastava 2001).

Furthering this typological approach to identity, recent longitudinal studies have explored the interactive roles of personality and identity over the life span, while focusing on more complex identity constructs such as identity consolidation (development of a coherent, grounded, and positive identity; Pals 1999) and identity integration (Helson & Srivastava 2001). This work shows that identity consolidation is predicted by an early configuration of personality traits related to openness to experience (desire for exploration and stimulation), low neuroticism (low rumination), and conscientiousness (ambition). This pattern of personality traits leads to an organized and committed yet flexible exploration of identity, which in turn predicts well-being. These identity choices lead to particular personal and professional choices that consolidate earlier personality traits (Helson & Srivastava 2001, Pals 1999). The influence of personality traits is seen both at the level of narrower, cognitive, identity-relevant processes such as identity language (Pennebaker & King 1999), autobiographical memories (Thorne & Klohnen 1993), and self-concept clarity (Campbell et al. 1996), as well as at the broad level of life story narratives (McAdams 2001).

Personality dispositions also influence more contextualized types of identities, such as cultural identity. For example, among immigrants, ethnic cultural identity is mainly predicted by conscientiousness and agreeableness (i.e., warmth and commitment towards one's culture of origin), whereas identification with the dominant host culture is largely predicted by openness and extraversion (Benet-Martínez & Haritatos 2005, Ryder et al. 2000). Further, supporting other studies on identity consolidation, openness to experience and low neuroticism predict the degree to which an individual's ethnic and mainstream identities are well integrated within a coherent sense of self (Benet-Martínez & Haritatos 2005).