Relationships between parents and their descendants are necessary for healthy socio-emotional development. For a better understanding of these relationships, past studies found that personality ...traits significantly impact parenting constructs, such as attachment patterns, parental care, and relationship satisfaction, suggesting that the psychological aspects of parents can affect their descendants. In our research (N = 250), we asked participants to rate how they perceive their parents regarding their aversive personality traits (i.e., Dark Triad), parenting style characteristics, relationship satisfaction, and their own well-being and self-esteem. We then developed two mediational models (SEM), one for mothers and one for fathers. In these models, we assessed how the Dark Triad impacted mental health and self-esteem, mediated by authoritarian parenting style and relationship satisfaction. The models presented a good fit (e.g., CFI > 0.90). Psychopathic traits positively influenced an authoritarian parenting style for both parents, leading to worse relationship satisfaction and affecting their descendants’ mental health and self-esteem. Furthermore, we also observed the indirect effects of parental psychopathy on our outcomes, which were higher for mothers than fathers. Overall, our study provides the first assessment of how parents’ higher levels of dark traits can influence their descendants’ mental health and self-esteem.
We aimed to adapt the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) in Brazil, using a range of statistical techniques (e.g., factor analysis, item response theory). Two studies were conducted (N
total
= 512). The ...unidimensional structure presented a good model fit and reliability, significant convergent validity, and all items presenting very high discrimination levels, adequately assessing medium and high anxiety levels. We also gathered evidence on cutoff points for detecting anxiety symptoms, reinforcing the diagnostic feasibility (for screening) of the CAS. Our findings emphasize the CAS as useful for rapid assessment and research involving COVID-19 and mental health markers.
Self-esteem is defined as sense of self-worth and self-respect, being crucial for understanding people’s well-being and success. It is one of the most studied constructs in the social sciences, with ...the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) being the most used measure. Across four studies (
N
= 1450), we tested the psychometric parameters of an abbreviated version of the RSES. Through Item Response Theory, the five best items were selected to form the unidimensional Brief Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (B-RSES), a reliable and valid measure of self-esteem, which is invariant across age groups and gender. In addition, both RSES and B-RSES correlated very similarly with the Big Five Personality Factors. Also, the B-RSES was strongly correlated with three other short measures of self-esteem, besides being more strongly associated with a range of variables such as conscientiousness and self-competence in comparison to the other three short scales. Together, the B-RSES is especially useful in research that requires rapid evaluation and the use of multiple variables.
Brazil is one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., 563,470 deaths until August 9th, 2021). Since the Brazilian government is partly struggling and partly unwilling to control the ...pandemic, staying healthy falls almost exclusively to the population. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the predictive role of personality traits to explain the willingness to combat the COVID-19 virus. In the present study (N = 496), we investigated the Dark Pentad traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, sadism, and spitefulness. Our findings revealed that the first four traits were consistently negatively associated with various measures that indicate whether the pandemic is taken seriously, such as the perceived severity of COVID-19 and intentions to act against COVID-19. Structural equation modeling further showed that general COVID-19 worry mediated the link between the Dark Pentad and adaptive and maladaptive responses. Our results indicate that all dark traits are associated with unsocial behaviors, but their relative importance varies depending on the outcome variable.
Previous studies explored the relations between preference for intense music (i.e., alternative, heavy metal, punk, and rock) and mental health. However, the results so far are inconclusive and do ...not assess if a preference for intense music directly or indirectly predicts mental health. To address this issue, the present research assessed the mediational role of positive and negative affect on the relation between preference for intense music and mental health. We hypothesized that preference for intense music predicts positive and negative affect, which, in turn, contributes to lower levels of mental health (i.e., stress, depression, and anxiety). Participants were 268 individuals (Mage = 26.6; SDage = 8.30; 63.4% women). Supporting our hypothesis, preference for intense music directly predicted positive and negative affect, and indirectly mental health. Most of these relations remained significant even after controlling for important confounding effects, such as age, gender, and neuroticism. Alternative models were examined, but the hypothesized model presented a better fit. Overall, our research indicates that intense music plays an important role in people’s affects and mental health.
•We tested the contextual mediated model of involvement in accidents.•We included a range of personality traits as predictors (e.g., Big-5, Dark Triad).•Risky driving was the only predictor of ...involvements in accidents.•Psychopathy and sensation seeking had an indirect effect on involvements in accidents.
The present study tested the role of various personality traits in explaining dangerous driving and involvement in accidents, using a contextual mediated model (N = 311). We initially found direct effects of personality traits on dangerous driving indicators (Big-5, Dark Triad, sensation seeking, aggression, and impulsivity). Subsequently, personality variables with predictive power were tested in the mediation model. Indirect effects of anger, psychopathy and sensation seeking on the history of involvement in traffic accidents were found, which was predicted directly by risky driving. The results are discussed based on the characteristics of each trait. Overall, our research replicates and extends previous findings and highlights the importance of psychological evaluations (e.g., personality test) when prospective drivers are applying for a driver license.
Human values and affective traits were found to predict attitudes toward the use of different types of drugs (e.g., alcohol, marijuana, and other illegal drugs). In this study (N = 196, M
age
= ...23.09), we aimed to gain a more comprehensive understanding of those predictors of attitudes toward drug use in a mediated structural equation model, providing a better overview of a possible motivational path that drives to such a risky behavior. Specifically, we predicted and found that the relations between need for affect and attitudes toward drug use were mediated by excitement values. Also, results showed that excitement values and need for affect positively predicted attitudes toward the use of drugs, whereas normative values predicted it negatively. The pattern of results remained the same when we investigated attitudes toward alcohol, marijuana, or illegal drugs separately. Overall, the findings indicate that emotions operate via excitement and normative values to influence risk behavior.
Optimism can be defined as the hope that something good is going to happen in the future. It is a relevant construct in the study of happiness, and is associated with a range of variables, including ...subjective well-being, reduced risk of suicidal ideation, quality of social relationships, and a healthier lifestyle. However, current measures of optimism were criticized regarding their structure and reliability. To address these limitations, Pedrosa et al. (2015) proposed a new scale of dispositional optimism that was originally published in Spanish. In the present research, we aimed to provide further psychometric evidence of the 9-item Optimism Scale in the United Kingdom (N = 325) and Brazil (N = 421). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in both countries were consistent with the original findings, supporting the unifactorial structure. Item Response Theory revealed good discrimination, level of difficulty, and informativeness of the items. Further, we found good reliability estimates of the scale, full factorial invariance across participants' gender and partial invariance across countries, and positive correlations with all Big-5 personality traits. In sum, our findings suggest that the dispositional Optimism Scale is a psychometrically adequate measure that can be used cross-culturally.
•Evidences of psychometric properties for the Optimism Scale across two countries•Factorial invariance of the measure, regarding participants' gender and country•Correlations between optimism and the Big Five personality traits
Sociosexuality describes the willingness to engage in sexual activities outside of committed relationships. Across two studies, we tested the factorial structure and reliability of the Revised ...Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R) in Brazil. Study 1 explored the factor structure of the instrument within a sample of 178 individuals from the general population, supporting the proposed three-factorial structure of the SOI-R and showing good internal consistencies. Study 2 corroborated the three-factorial structure through a confirmatory factor analysis (ML) within a sample of 225 undergraduate students. Correlations between the SOI-R and other psychological variables (e.g. dark triad, mate value) replicated and extended previous studies from other countries. For example, among men, psychopathy and Machiavellianism correlated with the behavioural component of the SOI-R. Multi-group CFA indicated that the SOI-R is mainly invariant across gender. Thus, overall, our results demonstrate that the SOI-R is psychometrically suitable to evaluate sociosexuality in Brazil. The current studies show that the SOI-R is also reliable and valid in a non-Western country, providing further support for its theoretically driven three-factor structure across human cultures.
•We validated the sociosexual orientation inventory (SOI-R) in Brazil.•The proposed three-factorial structure was found in two studies.•We demonstrated that the SOI-R is partially invariant across gender.•Theoretical meaningful correlations of sociosexuality with mate value and personality were found.
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