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Personality and Geography: Introverts Prefer Mountains
Shigehiro Oishi, Thomas Talhelm & Minha Lee
Journal of Research in Personality, October 2015, Pages 55–68
Abstract:
In five studies, we tested the link between personality and geography. We found that mountain-lovers were more introverted than ocean-lovers (Study 1). People preferred the ocean over mountains when they wanted to socialize with others, but they preferred the mountains and the ocean equally when they wanted to decompress alone (Study 2). In Study 3, we replicated the introversion-extraversion differences using pictures of mountains and oceans. Furthermore, this difference was explained in part by extraverts’ perception that it would take more work to have fun in the mountains than in the ocean. Extending the first three studies to non-students, we found that residents of mountainous U.S. states were more introverted than residents of flat states (Study 4). In Study 5, we tested the link between introversion and the mountains experimentally by sending participants to a flat, open area or a secluded, wooded area. The terrain did not make people more introverted, but introverts were happier in the secluded area than in the flat/open area, which is consistent with the person-environment fit hypothesis.
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Nancy Segal, Aaron Goetz & Alberto Maldonado
Evolution and Human Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Visible white sclera (i.e., the opaque white outer coat enclosing the eyeball) is a uniquely human trait. An explanation for why such coloration evolved has been put forward by the Cooperative Eye Hypothesis (Kobayashi and Hashiya, 2011; Kobayashi and Koshima, 1997, 2001; Tomasello et al., 2007), which states that visible white sclera evolved to facilitate communication via joint attention and signaling of gaze direction. Therefore, we hypothesized that viewers comprised of both typically developing children and adults would show reliable preferences for stimuli with visible white sclera. However, because autism spectrum disorder (ASD) individuals have impaired social cognition and show gaze aversion, we also hypothesized that ASD children would show no consistent preference for eyes with visible white sclera. We tested these hypotheses by obtaining participants’ preferences across six sets of stuffed animals, identical but for the manipulation of eye size, eye color, and presence of visible sclera. Both hypotheses were supported. In addition to providing evidence consistent with the Cooperative Eye Hypothesis, our results also suggest that eyes and gaze serve a central role in social cognition. Furthermore, our results from ASD children have practical applications for therapeutic practices and evidence-based interventions.
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Does Facebook Magnify or Mitigate Threats to Belonging?
Megan Knowles, Nathaniel Haycock & Iqra Shaikh
Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Previous research has yielded mixed findings regarding the interpersonal causes and consequences of Facebook use. The current research examines the role of belonging needs in motivating Facebook use and the protective value of Facebook following exclusion. In four studies we: manipulated exclusion and observed participants’ behavioral preferences (Study 1); measured participants’ belonging needs and their Facebook use (Study 2); and manipulated exclusion, exposed participants to either their Facebook photos/pages or control photos/pages, and measured need satisfaction and aggression (Studies 3–4). We found that exclusion motivated computer-mediated communication, and belonging needs predicted Facebook use. Also, exposure to Facebook protected excluded individuals’ social needs and mitigated aggressive behavior. Altogether, these studies suggest that Facebook is a powerful tool that allows individuals to reaffirm their social bonds.
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Some “Thing” to Talk About? Differential Story Utility From Experiential and Material Purchases
Amit Kumar & Thomas Gilovich
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
Psychological research has shown that experiential purchases (a hike in the woods, a trip to Rome) bring more happiness than material purchases (a designer shirt, a flat-screen television). The research presented in this article investigates one cause and consequence of this difference: People talk more about their experiences than their possessions and derive more value from doing so. A series of eight studies demonstrate that taking away the ability to talk about experiences (but not material goods) would diminish the enjoyment they bring; that people believe they derive more happiness from talking about experiential purchases; that when given a choice about which of their purchases to talk about, people are more likely to talk about experiential rather than material consumption; and that people report being more inclined to talk about their experiences than their material purchases and derive more hedonic benefits as a result — both in prospect and in retrospect.
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Janne Vanhalst et al.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
The goal of this study was to identify mechanisms associated with chronic loneliness by examining the effect of adolescents’ accumulated history of loneliness on responses to new social situations. Specifically, this study investigated whether attributions and emotions in situations of social inclusion and exclusion differ between chronically lonely adolescents and adolescents with a different loneliness history. A total of 730 adolescents (Mage at Wave 1 = 15.43 years) participated in a 4-wave longitudinal study with annual loneliness assessments. A chronic loneliness trajectory was identified, in addition to low-stable, moderate-stable, moderate-increasing, and high-decreasing loneliness trajectories. At Wave 4, vignettes depicting social inclusion and exclusion were presented, and participants rated a set of attributions and emotions following each vignette. Compared with individuals following other trajectories, chronically lonely adolescents were characterized by hypersensitivity to social exclusion (i.e., higher levels of negative emotions) and hyposensitivity to social inclusion (i.e., lower levels of enthusiasm). Further, chronically lonely adolescents had a stronger tendency to attribute social inclusion to circumstantial factors and social exclusion to internal and stable characteristics. This maladaptive attribution style partially mediated their emotional experiences. Together, results indicate that chronically lonely individuals respond to social situations in ways that may perpetuate rather than reduce their loneliness.
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Elaine Cheung, Erica Slotter & Wendi Gardner
Motivation and Emotion, August 2015, Pages 613-630
Abstract:
The present work investigated the interpersonal functions of facial mimicry after social exclusion. Specifically, we examined two distinct functions that facial mimicry may serve in promoting reconnection: facilitating the understanding of others’ emotions and/or fostering interpersonal rapport. Using a novel facial mimicry paradigm, we found that although people exhibited both greater facial mimicry (Studies 1 and 2) and superior emotion-decoding accuracy (Study 2) after exclusion, facial mimicry did not mediate the relationship between exclusion and decoding accuracy (Study 2). Instead, we found support for facial mimicry serving to promote interpersonal rapport. Specifically, in Study 3, naïve judges rated videos of target-participant pairs from Study 1 for social closeness. Findings indicated that pairs with a previously-excluded participant were rated as socially closer than pairs with a previously-included participant (Study 3). Importantly, enhanced facial mimicry was found to mediate the relationship between exclusion and rated closeness. Altogether these findings suggest that facial mimicry may promote reconnection after social exclusion by fostering rapport.
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Good Liars Are Neither ‘Dark’ Nor Self-Deceptive
Gordon Wright et al.
PLoS ONE, June 2015
Abstract:
Deception is a central component of the personality 'Dark Triad' (Machiavellianism, Psychopathy and Narcissism). However, whether individuals exhibiting high scores on Dark Triad measures have a heightened deceptive ability has received little experimental attention. The present study tested whether the ability to lie effectively, and to detect lies told by others, was related to Dark Triad, Lie Acceptability, or Self-Deceptive measures of personality using an interactive group-based deception task. At a group level, lie detection accuracy was correlated with the ability to deceive others — replicating previous work. No evidence was found to suggest that Dark Triad traits confer any advantage either to deceive others, or to detect deception in others. Participants who considered lying to be more acceptable were more skilled at lying, while self-deceptive individuals were generally less credible and less confident when lying. Results are interpreted within a framework in which repeated practice results in enhanced deceptive ability.
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Relational Mobility Increases Social (but Not Other) Risk Propensity
Liman Man Wai Li, Takeshi Hamamura & Glenn Adams
Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, forthcoming
Abstract:
In recent years, we have witnessed a resurgent focus on ecological features, especially various forms of mobility that afford social psychological processes. Extending this work, the current research examined whether relational mobility affects risk propensity. We conducted three studies using both correlational (Studies 1 and 3) and experimental (Study 2) methods. Results provide support for the hypothesis that perceptions of relational mobility are associated with risk propensity in the domain of interpersonal behaviors but not other risk domains (health, financial, etc.). Findings in Study 3 suggested that the association between relational mobility and propensity for risky interpersonal behaviors may stem from the effect of relational mobility in lowering subjective risk (but not in increasing expected benefits) of such behaviors.
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The combined effects of relationship conflict and the relational self on creativity
Eun Jin Jung & Sujin Lee
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, September 2015, Pages 44–57
Abstract:
Studies have consistently found that relationship conflict adversely affects work outcomes, prompting the conclusion that such conflict should be avoided. Challenging this established finding, we propose that relationship conflict has a positive effect on creativity when the relational self is salient. Specifically, we hypothesize that relational selves’ relationship-focused goal may be frustrated within a conflictual (vs. harmonious) relationship situation, triggering cognitive persistence that boosts their creativity by causing them to think in more depth and detail about their conflict. Data from the US (Experiment 1) and Korea (Experiment 2) supported our hypotheses. A subsequent study extended these findings to process conflict (Experiment 3). Our research highlights the overall finding that frustration of goals that are meaningful for individuals promotes their creativity through the mediation of cognitive persistence.