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Abstract The present study examined the safety and efficacy of the ceremonial use of ayahuasca in relation to reports of heightened life event reexperiencing under psychedelics. The study examined (1) the prevalence of specific types of adverse life event reexperiencing, (2) characteristics predictive of reexperiencing, (3) the psychological character of reexperiencing, and (4) the impact of reexperiencing on mental health. Participants were recruited from three ayahuasca healing and spiritual centers in South and Central America (N = 33 military veterans, 306 non-veterans) using self-report data at three timepoints (Pre-retreat, Post-retreat, 3-months post-retreat). Reexperiencing adverse life events under ayahuasca was common, with women showing particularly high probability of reexperiencing sexual assault, veterans reexperiencing combat-related trauma, and individuals with a self-reported lifetime diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder exhibiting a substantively higher prevalence of reexperiencing. Reexperiencing was associated with states of cognitive reappraisal, psychological flexibility, and discomfort during ceremonies, and participants who reexperienced adverse life events exhibited greater reductions in trait neuroticism following their ceremonies. Clinical implications of these results for the application of psychedelics to mood and stress disorders are discussed.

Abstract The present study examines the association between the ceremonial use of ayahuasca—a decoction combining the Banistereopsis caapi vine and N,N-Dimethyltryptamine-containing plants—and changes in personality traits as conceived by the Five-Factor model (FFM). We also examine the degree to which demographic characteristics, baseline personality, and acute post-ayahuasca experiences affect personality change. Participants recruited from three ayahuasca healing and spiritual centers in South and Central America (N = 256) completed self-report measures of personality at three timepoints (Baseline, Post, 3-month Follow-up). Informant-report measures of the FFM were also obtained (N = 110). Linear mixed models were used to examine changes in personality and the moderation of those changes by covariates. The most pronounced change was a reduction in Neuroticism dz self-reportT1–T2 = − 1.00; dz self-reportT1–T3 = − .85; dz informant-reportT1–T3 = − .62), reflected in self- and informant-report data. Moderation of personality change by baseline personality, acute experiences, and purgative experiences was also observed.

Previous research on associations between screen time and psychological well-being among children and adolescents has been conflicting, leading some researchers to question the limits on screen time suggested by physician organizations. We examined a large (n = 40,337) national random sample of 2- to 17-year-old children and adolescents in the U.S. in 2016 that included comprehensive measures of screen time (including cell phones, computers, electronic devices, electronic games, and TV) and an array of psychological well-being measures. After 1 h/day of use, more hours of daily screen time were associated with lower psychological well-being, including less curiosity, lower self-control, more distractibility, more difficulty making friends, less emotional stability, being more difficult to care for, and inability to finish tasks. Among 14- to 17-year-olds, high users of screens (7+ h/day vs. low users of 1 h/day) were more than twice as likely to ever have been diagnosed with depression (RR 2.39, 95% CI 1.54, 3.70), ever diagnosed with anxiety (RR 2.26, CI 1.59, 3.22), treated by a mental health professional (RR 2.22, CI 1.62, 3.03) or have taken medication for a psychological or behavioral issue (RR 2.99, CI 1.94, 4.62) in the last 12 months. Moderate use of screens (4 h/day) was also associated with lower psychological well-being. Non-users and low users of screens generally did not differ in well-being. Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being were larger among adolescents than younger children.

The present research used an empirical, crowdsourced trait profiling approach to describe the personality of President Donald Trump (hereafter Trump) that accounts for political views. We recruited participants who voted for Hillary Clinton (N = 120; hereafter Clinton) and Trump (N = 118), and asked them to rate Trump’s personality on the 30 facets of the Five Factor Model. Participants also provided perceived helpfulness and harmfulness ratings of the facets before and after the election. We treated these facet level ratings as trait profiles, which were transformed into estimates of personality disorders (PDs) and complex trait-based constructs based on expert profiles. Results suggest only modest agreement between Clinton and Trump voters on Trump’s personality. Clinton voters perceived much greater antagonism, lower conscientiousness, and higher levels of impairment in Trump’s personality than did Trump voters who primarily perceived high levels of extraversion and emotional stability (i.e., low neuroticism). At the level of PDs and complex traits, there was some convergence with both groups seeing Trump as high in narcissism and psychopathy.

Evidence is accumulating that American culture has become more individualistic since the 1950s. In the present research, we focused on one plausible manifestation of individualism, the use of swear words in cultural products. We examined trends in the use of the seven words identified by George Carlin in 1972 as the “seven words you can never say on television” in the Google Books corpus of American English books from 1950 to 2008. We find a steady linear increase in the use of swear words, with books published in 2005-2008 twenty-eight times more likely to include swear words than books published in the early 1950s. Increases for individual swear words ranged from 4 to 678 times ( d s = 6.58-45.42). These results suggest that American culture has become increasingly accepting of the expression of taboo words, consistent with higher cultural individualism.

Recent studies have examined perceived levels of narcissism as rated by Americans and non-Americans and found support for early assumptions that American culture is perceived as narcissistic (Miller et al., 2015; Wolfe, 1976). However, specific reasons for this phenomenon remain unclear. The aim of the current study was to test if proximal, salient exposure to narcissistic exemplars (i.e., celebrities) acts as one mechanism that explains this perception. Participants (N = 300) were randomly assigned to exposure to either celebrity magazines or neutral magazines conditions, and subsequently asked to provide American PNC ratings. No hypothesized differences by condition were found in terms of narcissism or FFM profile; however, American PNCs were rated as pathologically narcissistic in both conditions.

Public discourse is often caustic and conflict-filled. This trend seems to be particularly evident when the content of such discourse is around moral issues (broadly defined) and when the discourse occurs on social media. Several explanatory mechanisms for such conflict have been explored in recent psychological and social-science literatures. The present work sought to examine a potentially novel explanatory mechanism defined in philosophical literature: Moral Grandstanding. According to philosophical accounts, Moral Grandstanding is the use of moral talk to seek social status. For the present work, we conducted six studies, using two undergraduate samples (Study 1, N = 361; Study 2, N = 356); a sample matched to U.S. norms for age, gender, race, income, Census region (Study 3, N = 1,063); a YouGov sample matched to U.S. demographic norms (Study 4, N = 2,000); and a brief, one-month longitudinal study of Mechanical Turk workers in the U.S. (Study 5, Baseline N = 499, follow-up n = 296), and a large, one-week YouGov sample matched to U.S. demographic norms (Baseline N = 2,519, follow-up n = 1,776). Across studies, we found initial support for the validity of Moral Grandstanding as a construct. Specifically, moral grandstanding motivation was associated with status-seeking personality traits, as well as greater political and moral conflict in daily life.

Both academic and popular literatures have repeatedly contended that emerging adults are the most narcissistic and entitled age-group in modern times. Although this contention is fiercely debated, the message that emerging adults are narcissistic and entitled has saturated popular culture. Despite this saturation, relatively little empirical work has examined how emerging adults might react to such labels. Across three studies in five samples in the U.S., the present work sought to address this deficit in research. Results from cross-sectional samples of university students at two universities, as well as an online convenience sample of web-using adults (Study 1), indicated that emerging adults believe their age-group and the one following them (e.g., adolescents) to be the most narcissistic and entitled age-groups, that they have generally negative opinions of narcissism and entitlement, and that they respond negatively to being labeled as narcissistic and entitled. Additionally, results from adult web-users revealed that, while all age groups tend to view adolescents and emerging adults as more narcissistic and entitled than older age-groups, these opinions are more exaggerated among members of older age-groups. Finally, across two experimental studies (Studies 2 & 3), results indicated that emerging adults react negatively to labeling of their age-group as narcissistic and entitled, but no more negatively than they do to potentially related undesirable labels (e.g., oversensitive). Collectively, these results indicate that emerging adults are aware of and somewhat distressed by messaging that casts their age-group as the most narcissistic and entitled age-group ever.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121454.].

Similarity between narcissism and self-esteem seems intuitive, as both capture positive perceptions of the self. In the current undertaking, we provide a broad comparison of the nomological networks of grandiose narcissism and explicit self-esteem. Pooling data from 11 existing samples (N = 4711), we compared the relations of narcissism and self-esteem to developmental experiences, individual differences, interpersonal functioning, and psychopathology. Both constructs are positively related to agentic traits and assertive interpersonal approaches, but differ in relation to agreeableness/communion. Self-esteem emerged as a wholly adaptive construct negatively associated with internalizing psychopathology and generally unrelated to externalizing behaviors. Unlike self-esteem, narcissism was related to callousness, grandiosity, entitlement, and demeaning attitudes towards others that likely partially explain narcissism's links to maladaptive outcomes.

In four large, nationally representative surveys (N = 11.2 million), American adolescents and emerging adults in the 2010s (Millennials) were significantly less religious than previous generations (Boomers, Generation X) at the same age. The data are from the Monitoring the Future studies of 12th graders (1976-2013), 8th and 10th graders (1991-2013), and the American Freshman survey of entering college students (1966-2014). Although the majority of adolescents and emerging adults are still religiously involved, twice as many 12th graders and college students, and 20%-40% more 8th and 10th graders, never attend religious services. Twice as many 12th graders and entering college students in the 2010s (vs. the 1960s-70s) give their religious affiliation as "none," as do 40%-50% more 8th and 10th graders. Recent birth cohorts report less approval of religious organizations, are less likely to say that religion is important in their lives, report being less spiritual, and spend less time praying or meditating. Thus, declines in religious orientation reach beyond affiliation to religious participation and religiosity, suggesting a movement toward secularism among a growing minority. The declines are larger among girls, Whites, lower-SES individuals, and in the Northeastern U.S., very small among Blacks, and non-existent among political conservatives. Religious affiliation is lower in years with more income inequality, higher median family income, higher materialism, more positive self-views, and lower social support. Overall, these results suggest that the lower religious orientation of Millennials is due to time period or generation, and not to age.

Geek culture is a subculture of enthusiasts that is traditionally associated with obscure media (Japanese animation, science fiction, video games, etc.). However, geek culture is becoming increasingly mainstream; for example, in the past year alone, Dragon*Con, a major Geek convention in Atlanta, Georgia, attracted an attendance of over 57,000 members. The present article uses an individual differences approach to examine three theoretical accounts of geek culture. Seven studies (N = 2354) develop the Geek Culture Engagement Scale (GCES) to quantify geek engagement and assess its relationships to theoretically relevant personality and individual differences variables. These studies present evidence that individuals may engage in geek culture in order to maintain narcissistic self-views (the great fantasy migration hypothesis), to fulfill belongingness needs (the belongingness hypothesis), and to satisfy needs for creative expression (the need for engagement hypothesis). Geek engagement is found to be associated with elevated grandiose narcissism, extraversion, openness to experience, depression, and subjective well-being across multiple samples. These data lay the groundwork for further exploration of geek culture as well as provide a foundation for examining other forms of subculture participation.

Cultural products such as song lyrics, television shows, and books reveal cultural differences, including cultural change over time. Two studies examine changes in the use of individualistic words (Study 1) and phrases (Study 2) in the Google Books Ngram corpus of millions of books in American English. Current samples from the general population generated and rated lists of individualistic words and phrases (e.g., "unique," "personalize," "self," "all about me," "I am special," "I'm the best"). Individualistic words and phrases increased in use between 1960 and 2008, even when controlling for changes in communal words and phrases. Language in American books has become increasingly focused on the self and uniqueness in the decades since 1960.

The overarching aim of this study was to develop and validate a new scale (i.e., the Praise, Indulgence, and Status Parenting Scale [PISPS]) to measure modern parenting practices and behaviors consistent with instilling ideals of specialness (i.e., the notion that one is special), self-esteem, and status in children. In 2 studies on emerging adults (Study 1: N  = 582, M age = 19.46; Study 2: N  = 464, M age = 19.58), the PISPS was developed and validated using classical test theory (Study 1) and further refined using item-response theory (Study 2). Results from both studies indicated a 3-factor structure with factors differentially linked with correlates of interest including parenting strategies, self-esteem, narcissism, entitlement, and internalizing symptoms. Study 3 further validated the PISPS in a sample of parents ( N  = 638, M age = 35.79) reporting on their parenting and their child's emotion regulation and symptoms of psychopathology. Overall, findings support the PISPS, its psychometric properties, and its unique contribution to child symptoms.

The five-factor narcissism inventory (FFNI) is a new self-report measure that was developed to assess traits associated with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), as well as grandiose and vulnerable narcissism from a five-factor model (FFM) perspective. In the current study, the FFNI was examined in relation to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) NPD, DSM-5 (http://www.dsm5.org) NPD traits, grandiose narcissism, and vulnerable narcissism in both community (N = 287) and clinical samples (N = 98). Across the samples, the FFNI scales manifested good convergent and discriminant validity such that FFNI scales derived from FFM neuroticism were primarily related to vulnerable narcissism scores, scales derived from FFM extraversion were primarily related to grandiose scores, and FFNI scales derived from FFM agreeableness were related to both narcissism dimensions, as well as the DSM-IV and DSM-5 NPD scores. The FFNI grandiose and vulnerable narcissism composites also demonstrated incremental validity in the statistical prediction of these scores, above and beyond existing measures of DSM NPD, grandiose narcissism, and vulnerable narcissism, respectively. The FFNI is a promising measure that provides a comprehensive assessment of narcissistic pathology while maintaining ties to the significant general personality literature on the FFM.

Personality traits have proved to be consistent and important factors in a variety of externalizing behaviors including addiction, aggression, and antisocial behavior. Given the comorbidity of these behaviors with pathological gambling (PG), it is important to test the degree to which PG shares these trait correlates. In a large community sample of regular gamblers (N=354; 111 with diagnoses of pathological gambling), the relations between measures of two major models of personality - Big Three and Big Five - were examined in relation to PG symptoms derived from a semi-structured diagnostic interview. Across measures, traits related to the experience of strong negative emotions were the most consistent correlates of PG, regardless of whether they were analyzed using bivariate or multivariate analyses. In several instances, however, the relations between personality and PG were moderated by demographic variable such as gender, race, and age. It will be important for future empirical work of this nature to pay closer attention to potentially important moderators of these relations., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Evidence has accrued to suggest that there are 2 distinct dimensions of narcissism, which are often labeled grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Although individuals high on either of these dimensions interact with others in an antagonistic manner, they differ on other central constructs (e.g., Neuroticism, Extraversion). In the current study, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis of 3 prominent self-report measures of narcissism (N=858) to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the resultant factors. A 2-factor structure was found, which supported the notion that these scales include content consistent with 2 relatively distinct constructs: grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. We then compared the similarity of the nomological networks of these dimensions in relation to indices of personality, interpersonal behavior, and psychopathology in a sample of undergraduates (n=238). Overall, the nomological networks of vulnerable and grandiose narcissism were unrelated. The current results support the need for a more explicit parsing of the narcissism construct at the level of conceptualization and assessment., (© 2011 The Authors. Journal of Personality © 2011, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Self-serving attributions occur when negative personal outcomes are ascribed to external circumstances and when positive outcomes are ascribed to internal factors. Individuals strategically employ the self-serving bias to maintain and protect positive self-views. The current study investigated the neural correlates of the self-serving bias using dense array EEG, giving 20 participants false (success or failure) feedback during a facial working memory task. Participants made self-serving attributions during the task, primarily following failure feedback. Voltage and source analyses in response to attribution stimuli revealed that, compared to self-serving responses, non-self-serving attributions were preceded by enhanced dorsomedial frontal cortex activity. This finding suggests that unbiased attributions require greater self-control, overriding the automatic tendency for self-enhancement.