The over-claiming technique: Measuring self-enhancement independent of ability.

Over-claiming is a concrete operalization of self-enhancement based on respondents' ratings of their knowledge of various persons, events, products, and so on. Because 20% of the items are nonexistent, responses can be analyzed with signal detection formulas to index both response bias (over-claiming) and accuracy (knowledge). Study 1 demonstrated convergence of over-claiming with alternative measures of self-enhancement but independence from cognitive ability. In Studies 2-3, the validity of the over-claiming index held even when respondents were (a) warned about the foils or (b) asked to fake good. Study 3 also showed the utility of the over-claiming index for diagnosing faking. In Study 4, the over-claiming technique was applied to the debate over the adaptive value of positive illusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Functional flexibility: A new conception of interpersonal flexibility.

Traditional conceptions of interpersonal flexibility emphasize two critical components: (a) a wide range of interpersonal responses and (b) situational appropriateness. Most current measures are based on standard trait ratings, which cannot address situational adjustment. In place of trait ratings, we suggest the use of capability ratings, that is, self-reports of the ease of performing social behaviors when required by the situation. Our proposed index of flexibility, the Functional Flexibility Index (FFI), is the composite of 16 interpersonal capabilities. In Study 1, factor analyses indicated that the FFI is distinct from other widely used flexibility measures. Study 2 supported the validity of the FFI by showing substantial correlations with peer ratings of interpersonal flexibility. In Studies 3 and 4, the FFI outperformed other flexibility measures in predicting adjustment. Another form of interpersonal variability, situationality, is the tendency to view one's personality as being dependent on the situation. Situational individuals reported lower self-esteem than nonsituational individuals. Measures of functional flexibility and situationality were found to be orthogonal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identifying and profiling scholastic cheaters: Their personality, cognitive ability, and motivation.

Despite much research, skepticism remains over the possibility of profiling scholastic cheaters. However, several relevant predictor variables and newer diagnostic tools have been overlooked. We remedy this deficit with a series of three studies. Study 1 was a large-scale survey of a broad range of personality predictors of self-reported cheating. Significant predictors included the Dark Triad (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy) as well as low agreeableness and low conscientiousness. Only psychopathy remained significant in a multiple regression. Study 2 replicated this pattern using a naturalistic, behavioral indicator of cheating, namely, plagiarism as indexed by the Internet service Turn-It-In. Poor verbal ability was also an independent predictor. Study 3 examined possible motivational mediators of the association between psychopathy and cheating. Unrestrained achievement and moral inhibition were successful mediators whereas fear of punishment was not. Practical implications for researchers and educators are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of acquaintanceship on the validity of personality impressions: A longitudinal study.

Previous studies have used cross-sectional designs to demonstrate the beneficial effect of acquaintanceship on the validity of personality impressions. To counter critiques of those studies, a longitudinal design was used. Participants were randomly assigned to 16 groups of 5–7 members who met once a week for 7 wks. None of the participants in any group were previously acquainted. Before the 1st meeting, they completed a battery of self-report measures, including the NEO Five Factor Inventory and the revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales. After Weeks 1, 4, and 7, group members rated each other on single-item measures related to each of the Big Five. All correlations between self-reports and corresponding peer ratings (i.e., validities) were significant by Week 7. The mean Big Five validity increased significantly from .21 to .26 to .30 at Weeks 1, 4, and 7, respectively. Extraversion showed the highest validity and consensus. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paragons of intelligence: Who gets nominated and why.

Implicit theories of intelligence were investigated by collecting both nominations and rankings of ideal exemplars. Study I involved a 5-wave survey of student judges (N?=?1,174) asked to nominate a famous example of an intelligent person. Although the nominations were diverse, the set of most-frequent nominees was relatively stable across 16 yrs with Albert Einstein as the top nominee in every wave. Among living exemplars, the current US President and Canadian and British Prime Ministers were consistently strong. It appears that 4 clusters of cultural exemplars persist over time. To control salience in Study 2 (N?=?245), a fixed set of nominees were ranked. The highest ranked individuals virtually duplicated the popular nominees in Study 1. A number of idiosyncratic factors (familiarity, liking, occupational similarity, attitudinal similarity, sex-match) were shown to be associated with high nomination rates. The nomination process includes a tendency to select familiar and liked others as exemplars of intelligence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On models and assumptions: A reply to Smith.

Responds to E. R. Smith's (see record 1979-25963-001) critique of the present authors' (see record 1978-31808-001) model depicting the effects of dating, thought, reality constraints, and initial love on current feelings of love toward an individual one has dated. The present authors conclude that (a) their analysis was appropriate given their assumptions, (b) their assumptions are tentative, and (c) their conclusions would still be reasonable even admitting Smith's alternative assumptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Erratum to Tesser and Paulhus.

Reports an error in the article, "Toward a Causal Model of Love," by Abraham Tesser and Delroy Paulhus (Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 1976[Dec], Vol 34[6], 1095-1105). There are six incorrect entries in Table 2 (p. 1101). In addition, on page 1104, left-hand column, the sentence beginning on the 15th line of the paragraph headed Reproducing the Correlations reads: This value was comfortably small, .027 z units. The sentence should be changed to read: This value was comfortably small, .039 z units. Details underlying these corrections are available from the authors.(The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1978-31808-001.) Under a proposed systems model of love, (a) thought about other and love for other have a positive causal impact on one another, (b) dating frequency and love have a positive causal impact on one another, and (c) dating has a positive impact on "reality constraints," which, in turn, (d) have a negative impact on love. Questionnaires administered 2 wks apart to a 202-member panel of college students (106 females and 96 males) served as the data collection vehicle. Temporal order of the measures was used to determine causal direction, and path analysis was used to analyze these correlational data. Results support Hypotheses (a), (b), and (d) but do not support Hypothesis (c). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of intelligence in leaderless groups: The dynamic effects of shyness and acquaintance.

Perceptions of intelligence were investigated in 2 longitudinal studies of leaderless discussion groups (LDGs). In Study 1 (N?=?87), students completed trait-shyness questionnaires and met 7 times in groups of 4–5. After Meetings 2 and 7, participants rated all group members on state shyness and intelligence. Trait-shy participants were initially judged to be less intelligent on both self and peer ratings. At Time 2, however, trait-shy participants were no longer derogated by peers. Study 2 (N?=?103) replicated the same pattern of shy derogation while demonstrating no actual relation between IQ and trait shyness. Again, trait-shy derogation disappeared by Time 2, but state-shy derogation continued. The state shy were now the low-lQ participants, who had begun to talk less. Thus, the bias against quiet individuals, originally inappropriate, gradually became a valid cue for low intelligence. Results were traced to overlapping cues for intelligence and shyness in LDGs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure of personality capabilities.

Wallace (1966) proposed that personality be construed as a set of abilities. Rather than assessing typical performance, as in trait ratings, he recommended assessing an individual's ability to perform social behaviors. We have elaborated this notion by distinguishing between personality abilities and capabilities. In this article we focus on the capability, that is, the ease with which an individual can display a certain category of social responses. A capability X is assessed with self-reports of (a) likelihood of performing X when perceived to be required, (b) perceived difficulty in performing X, (c) anxiety in performing X, and (d) tendency to avoid performing X. In Study 1 we examined the relations among six measures of 16 interpersonal behaviors in the context of the interpersonal circumplex. The four capability-related measures were shown to be measuring something distinct from the two trait measures. Unlike trait measures, which showed a circular structure in two dimensions, capability measures exhibited a positive manifold structure (i.e., no negative intercorrelations). The first two orthogonal factors were interpreted as Hostility and Nurturance, which are normally bipolar opposites on trait measures. The only dimension to remain bipolar was introversion–extraversion. In Study 2, the nomological network of the capability measures was shown to be consistent with the theoretical construct. For example, high self-esteem and interpersonal control were associated with almost all of the interpersonal capabilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal and intrapsychic adaptiveness of trait self-enhancement: A mixed blessing?

Reactions to trait self-enhancers were investigated in 2 longitudinal studies of person perception in discussion groups. Groups of 4–6 participants met 7 times for 20 min. After Meetings 1 and 7, group members rated their perceptions of one another. In Study 1, trait self-enhancement was indexed by measures of narcissism and self-deceptive enhancement. At the first meeting, self-enhancers made positive impressions: They were seen as agreeable, well adjusted, and competent. After 7 weeks, however, they were rated negatively and gave self-evaluations discrepant with peer evaluations they received. In Study 2, an independent sample of observers (close acquaintances) enabled a pretest index of discrepancy self-enhancement: It predicted the same deteriorating pattern of interpersonal perceptions as the other three trait measures. Nonetheless, all self-enhancement measures correlated positively with self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)