Individuals with grandiose narcissism exhibit enhanced antagonism and a defensive pattern of discordance between their emotional and physiological reactions to self‐threatening evaluations. Although ...theoretical perspectives link narcissistic defensiveness to negative emotions, empirical evidence linking grandiose narcissism to emotional reactivity remains mixed. The current study used self‐reported affect, electrocardiography, and facial electromyography (fEMG) to examine whether people scoring high in grandiose narcissism show amplified physiological and self‐reported emotional reactivity to negative social evaluation. Following two challenging cognitive tasks, participants received negative and neutral feedback in a face‐to‐face evaluation situation. Receiving negative feedback decreased self‐reported positive affect and dominance, slowed heart rate, and amplified fEMG activity related to frowning and eye constriction. Although self‐reported emotional reactions were unrelated to grandiose narcissism, fEMG activity associated with negative affect was significantly enhanced by grandiose narcissism. In conclusion, individuals with higher levels of grandiose narcissism may not be willing to report overt emotional reactivity to self‐threatening feedback, but physiological responses “beneath their thin skin” reveal amplified threat‐related facial muscle activity suggestive of a negative emotional state.
Although grandiose narcissism is often linked with strong negative emotional reactions to social evaluations, direct evidence of the reactions remains mixed. We show that while narcissistic recipients do not report stronger negative emotions when receiving feedback on their performance than others do, their facial muscle responses to negative feedback are amplified. The findings align with theoretical accounts on narcissistic defensiveness and demonstrate a discordance in narcissistic individuals' self‐reported and physiological reactions to social evaluation.
We studied the developmental trends of temperament and character in a longitudinal population-based sample of Finnish men and women aged 20-45 years using the Temperament and Character Inventory ...model of personality. Personality was assessed in 1997, 2001, and 2007 (n = 2,104, 2,095, and 2,056, respectively). Mean-level changes demonstrated qualitatively distinct developmental patterns for character (self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence) and temperament (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and persistence). Character developed toward greater maturity, although self-transcendence decreased with age. However, self-transcendence was the strongest predictor of overall personality change. Cohort effects indicated lower level of self-transcendence and higher level of self-directedness and cooperativeness in younger birth cohorts. Regarding temperament, novelty seeking decreased and persistence increased slightly with age. Both high novelty seeking and high persistence predicted overall personality change. These findings suggest that temperament and character traits follow different kinds of developmental trajectories.
Phylogenetic, developmental, and brain-imaging studies suggest that human personality is the integrated expression of three major systems of learning and memory that regulate (1) associative ...conditioning, (2) intentionality, and (3) self-awareness. We have uncovered largely disjoint sets of genes regulating these dissociable learning processes in different clusters of people with (1) unregulated temperament profiles (i.e., associatively conditioned habits and emotional reactivity), (2) organized character profiles (i.e., intentional self-control of emotional conflicts and goals), and (3) creative character profiles (i.e., self-aware appraisal of values and theories), respectively. However, little is known about how these temperament and character components of personality are jointly organized and develop in an integrated manner. In three large independent genome-wide association studies from Finland, Germany, and Korea, we used a data-driven machine learning method to uncover joint phenotypic networks of temperament and character and also the genetic networks with which they are associated. We found three clusters of similar numbers of people with distinct combinations of temperament and character profiles. Their associated genetic and environmental networks were largely disjoint, and differentially related to distinct forms of learning and memory. Of the 972 genes that mapped to the three phenotypic networks, 72% were unique to a single network. The findings in the Finnish discovery sample were blindly and independently replicated in samples of Germans and Koreans. We conclude that temperament and character are integrated within three disjoint networks that regulate healthy longevity and dissociable systems of learning and memory by nearly disjoint sets of genetic and environmental influences.
This meta-analysis investigated (1) whether ethnic minority and majority members have a neural inter-group bias toward each other, and (2) whether various ethnic groups (i.e., White, Black, and ...Asian) are processed in the brain differently by the other respective ethnicities.
A systematic coordinate-based meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies was conducted using Web of Science, PubMed, and PsycINFO (altogether 50 datasets,
= 1211, 50.1% female).
We found that ethnic minority members did not show any signs of neural inter-group bias (e.g., no majority-group derogation). Ethnic majority members, in turn, expressed biased responses toward minority (vs. majority) members in frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital regions that are known to be involved in e.g., facial processing, attention, and perspective-taking. We also found differences in neural response patterns toward different ethnic groups (White, Black, and Asian); broadest biases in neural response patterns were evident toward Black individuals (in non-Black individuals). Heterogeneity was mostly minor or low.
Overall, the findings increase understanding of neural processes involved in ethnicity perception and cognition as well as ethnic prejudices and discrimination. This meta-analysis provides explanations for previous behavioral reports on ethnic discrimination toward minority groups.
Experimental studies of learning suggest that human temperament may depend on the molecular mechanisms for associative conditioning, which are highly conserved in animals. The main genetic pathways ...for associative conditioning are known in experimental animals, but have not been identified in prior genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of human temperament. We used a data-driven machine learning method for GWAS to uncover the complex genotypic-phenotypic networks and environmental interactions related to human temperament. In a discovery sample of 2149 healthy Finns, we identified sets of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that cluster within particular individuals (i.e., SNP sets) regardless of phenotype. Second, we identified 3 clusters of people with distinct temperament profiles measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory regardless of genotype. Third, we found 51 SNP sets that identified 736 gene loci and were significantly associated with temperament. The identified genes were enriched in pathways activated by associative conditioning in animals, including the ERK, PI3K, and PKC pathways. 74% of the identified genes were unique to a specific temperament profile. Environmental influences measured in childhood and adulthood had small but significant effects. We confirmed the replicability of the 51 Finnish SNP sets in healthy Korean (90%) and German samples (89%), as well as their associations with temperament. The identified SNPs explained nearly all the heritability expected in each sample (37-53%) despite variable cultures and environments. We conclude that human temperament is strongly influenced by more than 700 genes that modulate associative conditioning by molecular processes for synaptic plasticity and long-term memory.
Background
Genomic analysis of the child might offer new potential to illuminate human parenting. We examined whether offspring (G2) genome‐wide genotype variation (SNPs) is associated with their ...mother's (G1) emotional warmth and intolerance, indicating a gene–environment correlation. If this association is stronger than between G2′s genes and their emotional warmth and intolerance toward their own children, then this would indicate the presence of an evocative gene–environment correlation. To further understand how G1 mother's parenting has been evoked by genetically influenced characteristics of the child (G2), we examined whether child (G2) temperament partially accounted for the association between offspring genes and parental responses.
Methods
Participants were from the Young Finns Study. G1 mothers (N = 2,349; mean age 39 years) self‐reported the emotional warmth and intolerance toward G2 in 1980 when the participants were from 3 to 18 years old. G2 participants answered the same parenting scales in 2007/2012 (N = 1,378; mean age = 38 years in 2007; 59% female) when their children were on average 11 years old. Offspring temperament traits were self‐reported in 1992 (G2 age range 15–30 years). Estimation of the phenotypic variance explained by the SNPs of G2 was done by genome‐wide complex trait analysis with restricted maximum likelihood (GCTA‐GREML).
Results
Results showed that the SNPs of a child (G2) explained 22.6% of the phenotypic variance of maternal intolerance (G1; p‐value = .039). G2 temperament trait negative emotionality explained only 2.4% points of this association. G2 genes did not explain G1 emotional warmth or G2′s own emotional warmth and intolerance. However, further analyses of a combined measure of both G1 parenting scales found genetic effects. Parent or child gender did not moderate the observed associations.
Conclusions
Presented genome‐wide evidence is pointing to the important role a child plays in affecting and shaping his/her family environment, though the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.
We investigated whether temperament modifies an association between polygenic intelligence potential and cognitive test performance in midlife. The participants (n = 1647, born between 1962 and 1977) ...were derived from the Young Finns Study. Temperament was assessed with Temperament and Character Inventory over a 15‐year follow‐up (1997, 2001, 2007, 2012). Polygenic intelligence potential was assessed with a polygenic score for intelligence. Cognitive performance (visual memory, reaction time, sustained attention, spatial working memory) was assessed with CANTAB in midlife. The PGSI was significantly associated with the overall cognitive performance and performance in visual memory, sustained attention and working memory tests but not reaction time test. Temperament did not correlate with polygenic score for intelligence and did not modify an association between the polygenic score and cognitive performance, either. High persistence was associated with higher visual memory (B = 0.092; FDR‐adj. p = 0.007) and low harm avoidance with higher overall cognitive performance, specifically better reaction time (B = −0.102; FDR‐adj; p = 0.007). The subscales of harm avoidance had different associations with cognitive performance: higher “anticipatory worry,” higher “fatigability,” and lower “shyness with strangers” were associated with lower cognitive performance, while the role of “fear of uncertainty” was subtest‐related. In conclusion, temperament does not help or hinder one from realizing their genetic potential for intelligence. The overall modest relationships between temperament and cognitive performance advise caution if utilizing temperament‐related information e.g. in working‐life recruitments. Cognitive abilities may be influenced by temperament variables, such as the drive for achievement and anxiety about test performance, but they involve distinct systems of learning and memory.
Temperament traits may be only modestly associated with cognitive performance in midlife. Temperament may not help or hinder one from realizing their genetic potential for intelligence.
The objective of this study was to investigate (i) whether childhood family SES predicts offspring's compassion between ages 20-50 years and (ii) whether adulthood SES predicts compassion or vice ...versa. We used the prospective population-based Young Finns data (N = 637-2300). Childhood family SES was evaluated in 1980; participants' adulthood SES in 2001 and 2011; and compassion for others in 1997, 2001, and 2012. Compassion for others was evaluated with the Compassion scale of the Temperament and Character Inventory. The results showed that high childhood family SES (a composite score of educational level, occupational status, unemployment status, and level of income) predicted offspring's higher compassion between ages 30-40 years but not in early adulthood or middle age. These results were obtained independently of a variety of potential confounders (disruptive behavior in childhood; parental mental disorder; frequency of parental alcohol use and alcohol intoxication). Moreover, high compassion for others in adulthood (a composite score of educational level, occupational status, and unemployment status) predicted higher adulthood SES later in their life (after a 10-year follow-up), but not vice versa. In conclusion, favorable socioeconomic environment in childhood appears to have a positive effect on offspring's compassion in their middle adulthood. This effect may attenuate by middle age. High compassion for others seems to promote the achievement of higher SES in adulthood.
Objective: The current study examines associations between five factor personality traits and average sleep duration, sleep deficiency, and sleep problems. Method: The participants were from two ...population-based samples from Australia (n = 1,104, age range 31-41) and Finland (n = 1,623, age range 30-45). Self-reports of sleep behavior, sleep problems (Jenkin's scale), and five factor model personality traits (NEO-FFI) were collected. Associations between personality traits and sleep were analyzed with linear regressions. Results: The results showed that higher extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were, in general, associated with better sleep, whereas higher neuroticism was associated with sleeping less well. Openness was not associated with sleep. Most of the associations were replicable between the samples from the two countries, but personality traits explained only small part of the variance in sleep behavior. Conclusions: Increasing the knowledge on personality and sleep may benefit more personalized treatment of sleep disorders and help in personnel selection to jobs in which it is critical to stay alert. However, longitudinal research is needed to confirm the current findings.
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