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According to evolutionary psychologists, an individual-consciously or not-who allocates resources for somatic effort focuses on homeostasis and the protection of themselves and others. During health crises, patients must choose between mobilizing their remaining resources to either recover or accepting the disease as inevitable. When patients choose to be proactive in terms of protecting their health, are conscientious, and compliant in the recovery process, a high level of patient activation is achieved. Therefore, we examined ( N = 252) whether the patients' K fitness strategies are predictors for engagement in patient activation-type behavior. In addition, we tested the mediating effect of pain catastrophizing and the moderating effect of romantic satisfaction. We found that people with a medical diagnosis, who were in a romantic relationship, and had high- K fitness were much more likely to be activated patients. Moreover, pain catastrophizing mediated the relationship between high- K fitness strategy and patient activation, while romantic satisfaction moderated this relationship, amplifying its intensity. The findings highlight the importance of identifying patients' psychological resources (e.g., high- K strategy, romantic satisfaction, or pain perception) to keep them engaged in the health recovery process., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Ene, Burtaverde, Jonason, Brehar and Pruna.)

Facial hair is a sexually dimorphic trait with potential evolutionary and sociocultural functions. Bearded men are perceived as dominant, aggressive, and masculine, but also as having better parenting skills. Men may intentionally manage the amount and shape of their facial hair as a part of their self-promotion strategy; however, facial hair management entails costs in terms of time, effort, and money. We explored psychological factors associated with facial hair enhancement motivation among men. A total of 414 men (aged 18-40 years) reported the current amount of their facial hair along with their facial hair enhancement motivations, gender role stress, intrasexual competitiveness, and fundamental social motives. Willingness to care for facial hair was associated with the amount of facial hair men claimed to have and correlated with the fundamental social motives of affiliation and social status, intrasexual competition, and gender role stress. Therefore, facial hair enhancement may be regarded as a self-presentation strategy aimed at acquiring a beneficial position in social networks., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

A theoretical perspective on grandiose narcissism suggests four forms of it (sanctity, admiration, heroism, rivalry) and states that these forms conduce to different ways of thinking and acting. Guided by this perspective, we examined in a multinational and multicultural study (61 countries; N = 15,039) how narcissism forms are linked to cognitions and behaviors prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As expected, differences in cognitions and behaviors across narcissism forms emerged. For example, higher narcissistic rivalry predicted lower likelihood of enactment of COVID-19 prevention behaviors, but higher narcissistic sanctity predicted higher likelihood of enactment of COVID-19 prevention behaviors. Further, whereas the heroism, admiration, and rivalry narcissism forms acted in a typically antisocial manner, with high narcissism predicting greater endorsement of unfounded health beliefs, the sanctity form acted in a prosocial manner, with higher narcissism being linked to lower endorsement of unfounded COVID-19 health beliefs. Thus, the findings (a) support the idea of four narcissism forms acting differently, and (b) show that these differences reflect a double-edged sword, sometimes linking to an anti-social orientation, and sometimes linking to a pro-social orientation., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

While previous studies guided by evolutionary life history theory have revealed several important socioecological moderators of the influence of population density (PD) on reproduction, absent is an understanding of how individual-level factors such as personal resources and sex differences might interact and play a role. Using data from a large sample of clients (N = 4,432,440) of an online dating company spanning 317 states nested within 23 countries, we contributed a robust multilevel analysis of life history effects by assessing the interaction between state-level PD and individual-level income on offspring quantity, and we further qualified this analysis by sex. Consistent with previous research, PD was negatively correlated with having children. Consistent with our novel hypotheses, this negative relationship was moderated by income such that the link between PD and low fertility became weaker with increasing levels of income and these patterns were stronger for men than for women. These results held despite controlling for a variety of country-level, state-level, and individual-level confounds. Findings are discussed together with theoretical and practical implications for the management of fertility based on evolutionary life history perspectives., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

We were interested in how people in a romantic relationship would perceive the intelligence of their partners who have high or low trait anger. Specifically, we referred to the tension between compassion (low anger) and competence (high intelligence) in mate choice. Some evolutionary theories suggest that mating might be considered a bargaining process between these two higher-order attributes. Our study involved 148 heterosexual couples in romantic relationships. We measured the relationship between relationship satisfaction, trait anger, objective intelligence, self-assessed intelligence, and subjectively assessed partners' intelligence. We found that angrier men were less satisfied in their romantic relationship than those men who were less angry, and their partners were also less satisfied in the relationship. Additionally, women perceived angrier men as less intelligent, an effect that remained after controlling for men's objective intelligence. Lastly, we found that women's perception of their partner's intelligence mediated the link between men's anger and relationship satisfaction for both sexes. Our findings suggest that both anger and intelligence play important roles in romantic relationship functioning, consistent with evolutionary theories that emphasize the value of competence (i.e., intelligence) and compassion (i.e., low anger) in romantic partners. Furthermore, our study highlights the importance of women's perception of their partner's intelligence in determining the quality of the relationship., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared that there were no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article.

Objective: Narcissism may play a role in shaping body image concerns. Here we examined the relationships between narcissism (i.e., agentic extraversion, antagonism, narcissistic neuroticism, leadership/authority, exhibitionism/entitlement) and body image concerns and disturbances (i.e., drive for thinness, drive for muscularity, eating disorder symptoms, body mass index, current/desired fat, and current/desired muscularity)., Methods: Mechanical Turk workers from the USA (N = 430; 64% male) completed the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire, the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, the Drive for Muscularity Scale, the Drive for Thinness Scale, the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire-Short, and the Sex-Specific Somatomorphic Matrixes., Results: All narcissistic factors were associated with a greater drive for thinness (except for leadership/authority) and for muscularity, more eating disorder symptoms, a greater desired body fat (except for leadership/authority), and a greater current muscularity. Greater agentic extraversion and exhibitionism/entitlement were associated with lower levels of current body fat, and greater antagonism was associated with a greater desired muscularity., Discussion: Notably, individual differences in narcissism appeared to be important in understanding body image concerns, broadly speaking. We found that narcissism may be associated with body image concerns among both sexes differently, and especially that drive for thinness was more related to narcissism in men. Our results emphasize the importance of narcissism in formulating and treating body image-related disorders for both men and women. Ultimately, narcissistic features of personality may be risk factors for developing and perpetuating body image concerns, and therefore should be considered in assessment, formulation, diagnosis, and treatment of eating disorders., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Szymczak et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Grandiose narcissism is defined as increased motivation for status and viewing oneself as entitled and superior to others. We hypothesized that these tendencies might be associated with basal levels of testosterone because testosterone is considered the most social hormone-driving dominance and the motivation to achieve social status. We distinguished between two facets of grandiose narcissism: agentic (i.e., the tendency to self-promotion in order to win others' admiration and social influence) and antagonistic (i.e., a reactive strategy used to restore threatened status). In 283 adult men, we examined the association between these facets of narcissism and blood-tested and self-reported testosterone levels. Agentic narcissism-the default narcissistic strategy-was positively associated with both testosterone indicators. Moreover, self-reported and objectively measured testosterone were positively correlated. These findings extend previous work by showing that the facets of narcissism have distinct hormonal underpinnings.

Mate value is an important concept in mate choice research although its operationalization and understanding are limited. Here, we reviewed and evaluated previously established conceptual and methodological approaches measuring mate value and presented original research using individual differences in how people view themselves as a face-valid proxy for mate value in long- and short-term contexts. In data from 41 nations (N = 3895, M age  = 24.71, 63% women, 47% single), we tested sex, age, and relationship status effects on self-perceived mate desirability, along with individual differences in the Dark Triad traits, life history strategies, peer-based comparison of desirability, and self-reported mating success. Both sexes indicated more short-term than long-term mate desirability; however, men reported more long-term mate desirability than women, whereas women reported more short-term mate desirability than men. Further, individuals who were in a committed relationship felt more desirable than those who were not. Concerning the cross-sectional stability of mate desirability across the lifespan, in men, short- and long-term desirability rose to the age of 40 and 50, respectively, and decreased afterward. In women, short-term desirability rose to the age of 38 and decreased afterward, whereas long-term desirability remained stable over time. Our results suggest that measuring long- and short-term self-perceived mate desirability reveals predictable correlates., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Men with distinct facial hair are perceived as more aggressive, dominant, older, and more formidable, mostly by other men. However, despite considerable interest in the social perception of beardedness, only a few studies have explored men's preferences toward facial hair. We investigated men's preferences toward facial hair and whether their judgments of facial hair appropriateness in social situations depended on their actual beardedness and the type of social interaction (N = 509; age: M = 29.35, SD = 7.24). Men preferred having more facial hair, particularly when they have a heavy stubble or a full beard. Men preferred more facial hair for themselves compared to other men, suggesting that men's preferences for facial hair could be based on the frequency-dependent value of a display, namely more value assigned to rarer attributes. Men's judgments of the appropriateness of facial hair were sensitive to social situations for displaying facial hair as well. More facial hair was considered more appropriate for informal situations, especially with another man. Social norms associated with formal interaction could, therefore, limit the impression management functions of beards in intrasexual competition., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Respondents select the type of psychological studies that they want to participate in consistence with their needs and individual characteristics, which creates an unintentional self-selection bias. The question remains whether participants attracted by psychological studies may have more psychological dysfunctions related to personality and affective disorders compared to the general population. We investigated (N = 947; 62% women) whether the type of the invitation (to talk about recent critical or regular life events) or the source of the data (either face-to-face or online) attracts people with different psychopathology. Most importantly, participants who alone applied to take part in paid psychological studies had more symptoms of personality disorders than those who had never before applied to take part in psychological studies. The current results strongly translate into a recommendation for either the modification of recruitment strategies or much greater caution when generalizing results for this methodological reason., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Kaźmierczak et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Intimate partner cyberstalking refers to the monitoring and controlling of an intimate partner through technologies. Unlike the cyberstalking of strangers, less is known about the motives and perpetration of intimate partner cyberstalking. In this study, we explore how vulnerable narcissism, secondary psychopathy, and borderline traits (i.e., the "Vulnerable Dark Triad") and rejection sensitivity relate to the perpetration of intimate partner cyberstalking. Participants ( N  = 278; 58 percent women) were recruited through social media and completed an anonymous online questionnaire. Positive correlations were observed between vulnerable narcissism, secondary psychopathy, borderline traits, rejection sensitivity, and intimate partner cyberstalking. Borderline traits moderated the relationship between participant sex (men and women) and intimate partner cyberstalking, and women with high borderline traits were most likely to cyberstalk intimate partners. Lastly, there was a significant indirect effect of vulnerable narcissism on intimate partner cyberstalking through rejection sensitivity. These findings highlight the importance of relational insecurity and rejection sensitivity in intimate partner cyberstalking and provide useful directions for future research exploring cyberstalking behaviors in intimate relationships.

In this study, we replicated what is known about the relative importance of dealbreakers (i.e., traits avoided) and dealmakers (i.e., traits sought) in romantic and sexual relationships and extended it to an examination of self-reports of mate value, self-esteem, and loneliness. In two experiments ( N  = 306; N  = 304) we manipulated the information people were told about potential partners and asked them about their intentions to have sex again with or go on a second date with opposite sex targets. People were less interested in partners after learning dealbreakers, effects which operated more strongly in the long-term than short-term context, but similarly in men and women. People who reported less self-esteem or more loneliness were more receptive to people with dealbreakers. People who thought they had more mate value, more self-esteem, or less loneliness were more receptive to dealmakers. Results are discussed using sociometer, prospect, and sexual strategies theories., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Jonason, White, Lowder and Al-Shawaf.)

In the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we collected data (N = 1,420) from Portugal and Spain in relation to personality (i.e., Dark Triad traits, Big Five traits, religiousness, and negative affect) and attitudes related to COVID-19 about its origins, opinions on how to deal with it, and fear of it. The most pervasive patterns we found were: (1) neurotic-type dispositions were associated with stronger opinions about the origins of the virus and leave people to have more fear of the virus but also more trust in tested establishments to provide help. (2): religious people were less trusting of science, thought prayer was answer, and attributed the existence of the virus to an act of God. We also found that sex differences and country differences in attitudes towards COVID-19 were mediate by sex/country differences in personality traits like emotional stability, religiousness, and negative affect. For instance, women reported more fear of COVID-19 than men did, and this was verified by women's greater tendency to have negative affect and low emotional stability relative to men. Results point to the central role of neuroticism in accounting for variance in broad-spectrum attitudes towards COVID-19., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

How humans choose their mates is a central feature of adult life and an area of considerable disagreement among relationship researchers. However, few studies have examined mate choice (instead of mate preferences) around the world, and fewer still have considered data from online dating services. Using data from more than 1.8 million online daters from 24 countries, we examined the role of sex and resource-acquisition ability (as indicated by level of education and income) in mate choice using multilevel modeling. We then attempted to understand country-level variance by examining factors such as gender equality and the operational sex ratio. In every nation, a person's resource-acquisition ability was positively associated with the amount of attention they received from other site members. There was a marked sex difference in this effect; resource-acquisition ability improved the attention received by men almost 2.5 times that of women. This sex difference was in every country, admittedly with some variance between nations. Several country-level traits moderated the effects of resource-acquisition ability, and in the case of unemployment this moderating role differed by sex. Overall, country-level effects were more consistent with evolutionary explanations than sociocultural ones. The results suggest a robust effect of resource-acquisition ability on real-life mate choice that transcends international boundaries and is reliably stronger for men than women. Cross-cultural variance in the role of resource-acquisition ability appears sensitive to local competition and gender equality at the country level., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The occurrence of depression is influenced by social relationships, however, most studies focus on individuals, not couples. We aimed to study how depressive symptoms of couples evolve over time and determine, which characteristics are associated with their distinct trajectories. A multi-centric cohort sample of 11,136 heterosexual couples (mean age = 60.76) from 16 European countries was followed for up to 12 years (SHARE study). Information on depressive symptoms measured by EURO-D scale was collected every 2 years. Dyadic growth mixture modeling extracted four distinct classes of couples: both non-depressed (76.91%); only women having consistently high depressive symptoms while men having consistently low depressive symptoms (8.08%); both having increasing depressive symptoms (7.83%); and both having decreasing depressive symptoms (7.18%). Couples with increasing depressive symptoms had the highest prevalence of relationship dissolution and bereavement. In comparison to the nondepressed class, individuals with any depressive symptoms were less psychologically and physically well. Our results suggest that distinct mechanisms are responsible for couples' various longitudinal trajectories of depressive symptoms., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been a source of fear around the world. We asked whether the measurement of this fear is trustworthy and comparable across countries. In particular, we explored the measurement invariance and cross-cultural replicability of the widely used Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), testing community samples from 48 countries (N = 14,558). The findings indicate that the FCV-19S has a somewhat problematic structure, yet the one-factor solution is replicable across cultural contexts and could be used in studies that compare people who vary on gender and educational level. The validity of the scale is supported by a consistent pattern of positive correlations with perceived stress and general anxiety. However, given the unclear structure of the FCV-19S, we recommend using latent factor scores, instead of raw scores, especially in cross-cultural comparisons. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Researchers have extensively explored the early and middle stages of romantic and sexual relationships for those high on the Dark Triad traits (i.e., psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism) but they have generally missed the termination stage of relationships. In this study we examined (N = 341) the role these traits play in one termination strategy, ghosting. Ghosting is when a person discontinues a relationship through silence; it is considered an indirect form of relationship termination. We found that (1) those who reported ghosting someone in the past (vs. those who did not) found ghosting to be acceptable and were more Machiavellian and psychopathic, (2) ghosting was most acceptable in the short-term (vs. long-term) context especially for those who had previously ghosted someone, and (3) those high in the Dark Triad traits rated ghosting more acceptable to terminate short-term relationships, but not long-term ones. We also found that the correlations between acceptability and ghosting short-term partners and the Dark Triad traits was localized to narcissistic men with a similar-yet-weak effect for psychopathy. Results are discussed in relation to how ghosting may be primarily committed by people who are interested in casual sex where investment is low and may be part of the fast life history strategies linked to the Dark Triad traits., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Dark Triad (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism) has garnered intense attention over the past 15 years. We examined the structure of these traits' measure-the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (DTDD)-in a sample of 11,488 participants from three W.E.I.R.D. (i.e., North America, Oceania, Western Europe) and five non-W.E.I.R.D. (i.e., Asia, Middle East, non-Western Europe, South America, sub-Saharan Africa) world regions. The results confirmed the measurement invariance of the DTDD across participants' sex in all world regions, with men scoring higher than women on all traits (except for psychopathy in Asia, where the difference was not significant). We found evidence for metric (and partial scalar) measurement invariance within and between W.E.I.R.D. and non-W.E.I.R.D. world regions. The results generally support the structure of the DTDD.

We investigated the reasons for pornography consumption using a bottom-up approach (i.e., open-ended questionnaire) and proposed that those reasons would reflect a short-term mating orientation of individuals that watch pornography and a strategy that should help them to attract or maintain potential mates easier (i.e., a fitness increasing strategies) by enhancing their sexual knowledge through pornography watching. In Study 1 ( N = 276), relying on an open-ended questionnaire and a content analysis, we identified 78 reasons for why people claim to consume pornography. In Study 2 ( N = 322), we grouped those reasons into categories using a series of factor analyses, resulting in four dimensions of reasons for watching pornography: (1) increased sex drive, (2) enhancing sexual performance, (3) social and instrumental reasons, and (4) lack of relational and emotional skills. The content of these factors supported the idea that the reasons for consuming pornography are reflections of a short-term mating orientation and a way to enhance their sexual knowledge and performance. Individuals with higher scores on the dimensions of reasons for pornography consumptions had higher scores on the Dark Triad traits and sociosexuality, mate-value and slow life history strategies (in the case of enhancing sexual performance dimension). In Study 3 ( N = 327), we tested to what extent the factorial structure of the reasons for pornography consumption can be confirmed via Confirmatory factor analysis and tested the convergent validity of the reasons to consume pornography.

Individual differences in intelligence are apparent and likely to come with important interpersonal consequences. We examined ( N  = 476) how (manipulated) individual differences in intelligence affect likability ratings of men and women. We found that (1) ratings were generally more favorable than unfavorable, (2) the difference between favorable and unfavorable ratings of the female target differed more than those same evaluations of the male target, (3) the favorable evaluation tendency was present across relative intelligence but weakest when the target was smarter than the participant, (4) the smarter target was rated more unfavorably, and (5) the equally smart target was rated more favorably than the less intelligent target. Results suggest that people are somewhat conflicted in their evaluations of those smarter than they are whereas similarly and less intelligent people presented less of an apparent conflict in evaluations., (© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In a nationally representative sample from Poland ( N  = 755), we examined the relationships between the Dark Triad traits (i.e., psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism) and collective narcissism (i.e., agentic and communal) on the one hand, and behaviors related to the COVID-19 pandemic at (1) the zero-order level, at (2) the latent variance level, and (3) indirectly through health beliefs about the virus (i.e., the health belief model) on the other. We focused on preventive and hoarding behaviors as common reactions toward the pandemic. Participants characterized by the Dark Triad traits engaged less in prevention and more in hoarding, whereas those characterized by collective narcissism engaged in more hoarding only. Coronavirus-related health beliefs mediated patterns of prevention (fully) and hoarding (partially) in the latent Dark Triad (Dark Core) and collective narcissism. However, specific beliefs worked in opposite directions, resulting in a weak indirect effect for prevention and a null indirect effect for hoarding. The results point to the utility of health beliefs in predicting behaviors during the pandemic, explaining (at least in part) problematic behaviors associated with the dark personalities (i.e., Dark Triad, collective narcissism)., (© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism) capture individual differences in aversive personality to complement work on other taxonomies, such as the Big Five traits. However, the literature on the Dark Triad traits relies mostly on samples from English-speaking (i.e., Westernized) countries. We broadened the scope of this literature by sampling from a wider array of countries., Method: We drew on data from 49 countries (N = 11,723; 65.8% female; Age Mean  = 21.53) to examine how an extensive net of country-level variables in economic status (e.g., Human Development Index), social relations (e.g., gender equality), political orientations (e.g., democracy), and cultural values (e.g., embeddedness) relate to country-level rates of the Dark Triad traits, as well as variance in the magnitude of sex differences in them., Results: Narcissism was especially sensitive to country-level variables. Countries with more embedded and hierarchical cultural systems were more narcissistic. Also, sex differences in narcissism were larger in more developed societies: Women were less likely to be narcissistic in developed (vs. less developed) countries., Conclusions: We discuss the results based on evolutionary and social role models of personality and sex differences. That higher country-level narcissism was more common in less developed countries, whereas sex differences in narcissism were larger in more developed countries, is more consistent with evolutionary than social role models., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

In 2020, many countries around the world created and enforced heavy restrictions geared towards reducing the spread of the coronavirus (i.e., COVID-19). In this study ( N  = 263), we examined the role of personality traits (i.e., Big Five and Dark Triad) and individual differences in perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic situation (the situational eight: Duty, Intellect, Adversity, Mating, Positivity, Negativity, Deception, and Sociality) in accounting for individual differences in compliance with the governmental restrictions in Poland. We found that the way people perceived the situation explained more variance in compliance than personality traits which is in accordance with the hypothesis that strong situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, leave less room for dispositional tendencies in predicting behaviors than situational cues. Moreover, people scoring low on agreeableness and high on aspects of the Dark Triad traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, psychopathy Factor 1, and narcissistic rivalry) were less likely to comply with the restrictions. Additionally, we replicated and extended what is known about the associations between personality and individual differences in the perception of situations when the latter were assessed in relation to a strong situation and the former were assessed with long and multidimensional measures., (© 2020 The Author(s).)

Academic dishonesty is a common problem at universities around the world, leading to undesirable consequences for both students and the education system. To effectively address this problem, it is necessary to identify specific predispositions that promote cheating. In Polish undergraduate students (N = 390), we examined the role of psychopathy, achievement goals, and self-efficacy as predictors of academic dishonesty. We found that the disinhibition aspect of psychopathy and mastery-goal orientation predicted the frequency of students' academic dishonesty and mastery-goal orientation mediated the relationship between the disinhibition and meanness aspects of psychopathy and dishonesty. Furthermore, general self-efficacy moderated the indirect effect of disinhibition on academic dishonesty through mastery-goal orientation. The practical implications of the study include the identification of risk factors and potential mechanisms leading to students' dishonest behavior that can be used to plan personalized interventions to prevent or deal with academic dishonesty., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Objective: Mate choice involves trading-off several preferences. Research on this process tends to examine mate preference prioritization in homogenous samples using a small number of traits and thus provide little insight into whether prioritization patterns reflect a universal human nature. This study examined whether prioritization patterns, and their accompanying sex differences, are consistent across Eastern and Western cultures., Method: In the largest test of the mate preference priority model to date, we asked an international sample of participants (N = 2,477) to design an ideal long-term partner by allocating mate dollars to eight traits using three budgets. Unlike previous versions of the task, we included traits known to vary in importance by culture (e.g., religiosity and chastity)., Results: Under low budget conditions, Eastern and Western participants differed in their mate dollar allocation for almost every trait (average d = 0.42), indicating that culture influences prioritization. Despite these differences, traits fundamental for the reproductive success of each sex in the ancestral environment were prioritized by both Eastern and Western participants., Conclusion: The tendency to prioritize reproductively fundamental traits is present in both Eastern and Western cultures. The psychological mechanisms responsible for this process produce similar prioritization patterns despite cross-cultural variation., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

People's motives for casual sex moderate associations between their sexual behavior and the outcomes they experience. Derived from self-determination theory, autonomous motives for casual sex (e.g., I wanted the fun and enjoyment) and non-autonomous motives (e.g., I wanted to please someone else) correlated in previous research differentially with measures of well-being and incidence of casual sex. In a sample of American college students (N = 284), we replicated these prior findings and extended them as follows: autonomous and non-autonomous motives for sex were correlated with two measures of casual sex (i.e., the three behavior questions from the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory; the number of partners with whom participants had penetrative sex but did not wish to become emotionally involved); two measures of well-being (i.e., self-esteem, depression), and a measure of overall sexual victimization (i.e., a combined score from the Sexual Experiences Survey). We found that autonomous motives were more strongly associated with casual sexual behavior than were non-autonomous motives in both sexes. Autonomous motives were positively associated with sexual victimization in women but not in men. Compared to autonomous motives, sex for non-autonomous motives was linked to less self-esteem in both sexes, and with more depression and sexual victimization in women. Sex differences in associations between motives and victimization persisted even when the general effects of participant's sex and casual sex were controlled in hierarchical regressions. Our findings further revealed the importance of agency (or lack thereof) in predicting sexual behavior and psychological health.

We replicated and extended ( N = 207) work on the social values (i.e., obedience, tradition, security, benevolence, universalism, self-direction, stimulation, hedonism, achievement, and power) linked to the Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism). Each of the traits was positively associated with values of achievement and power. Psychopathy and narcissism were both negatively correlated with benevolence, and psychopathy and Machiavellianism were negatively correlated with obedience. Psychopathy was also negatively correlated with tradition. Sex differences in the values of tradition, benevolence, and power were mediated by psychopathy. We suggest that high rates of the Dark Triad traits facilitate, for men, holding social values that emphasize standing out whereas low rates facilitate, for women, fitting in .

Love and sex are fundamental needs of most people, yet little research has examined such aspects of life in relation to personality pathologies. We examined the associations between pathological personality traits (i.e., negative affectivity, disinhibition, antagonism, psychoticism, and detachment) and sociosexuality (i.e., short-term mating orientation, long-term mating orientation, and sexual behavior) among 702 university students. In addition, we examined the mediating role of life history speed and tested whether sex moderated the associations that these pathological personality traits had with sociosexuality. Detachment, antagonism, disinhibition, and psychoticism had positive associations with short-term mating interests and negative associations with long-term mating interests. Life history speed mediated the associations that detachment and disinhibition had with short-term mating orientation and long-term mating orientation. Although sex did moderate the association that negative affectivity had with previous sexual behavior, we found no evidence that these mediational processes differed between men and women. Results are discussed in terms of the way personality traits shape the sociosexuality of men and women using a life history paradigm.

In samples of Americans ( N  = 273) and Indians ( N  = 194) paid through Mechanical Turk (Study 1) and British ( N  = 132) volunteers contacted through Reddit (Study 2), we examined how the Dark Triad traits (i.e., psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism) were associated with happiness expectations when participants imagined solving adaptive tasks. In Study 1, the traits were linked to forecasted happiness in achieving status and power and mate-seeking, with psychopathy demonstrating less happiness when pursuing slow life history tasks (e.g., avoiding diseases), whereas the other two traits led to expectations of happiness when forming social bonds, retaining mates, and avoiding pathogens. In Study 2, the traits were associated with choosing to pursue mating opportunities to induce happiness. Women expected more happiness in response to ensuring their safety over pursuing mating opportunities. We suggest happiness might be an affective feedback system that rewards people for pursuing their life history goals.

Work on the Dark Triad traits has benefited from the use of a life history framework but it has been limited to primarily Western samples and indirect assessments of life history strategies. Here, we examine how the Dark Triad traits (i.e., psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism) relate to two measures of individual differences in life history strategies. In Study 1 ( N = 937), we replicated prior observed links between life history strategies, as measured by the Mini- K , and the Dark Triad traits using samples recruited from three countries. In Study 2 ( N = 1032), we measured life history strategies using the Consideration of Future Consequences Scale and correlated it with the Dark Triad traits in samples recruited from three additional countries. While there was some variability across participants' sex and country, the results were generally consistent in that psychopathy and (to a lesser extent) Machiavellianism were related to faster life history strategies and narcissism was related to slower life history strategies. These results add cross-cultural data and the use of two measures of life history speed to understand the Dark Triad traits from a life history perspective.

The Dark Triad traits have been repeatedly labeled as facilitating an exploitive mating strategy. However, various researchers have repeatedly conflated short-term mating or casual sex with an exploitive mating strategy. In this study using Mechanical Turk participants (N = 252; 142 men, 110 women), we provided a better test of just how sexually exploitive those high on the Dark Triad traits might be by examining how the traits related to rape-enabling attitudes. We examined how each trait may facilitate rape, whether these associations were robust to partialing the variance associated with the Big Five traits and similar in men and women, and showed that one reason why men may be more likely to rape than women is they are characterized by the Dark Triad traits more than women are. In so doing, we test the confluence model of rape that asserts that personality traits similar to the Dark Triad traits act as one pathway to rape.

We argue that the target authors focus too much on adaptive behavioral responses and not enough on actual psychological adaptations. We suggest the Dark Triad traits may represent facultative, psychological adaptations sensitive to seasonal variance and food shortages. We document that shorter distances from the equator are linked to higher national narcissism levels, whereas longer distances are associated with higher national-level machiavellianism. Dark Triad traits may serve as critical survival mechanisms when prioritizing oneself over and/or at the cost of others.

In five studies (total N = 1300) we developed and validated a Polish version of the Dirty Dozen measure (DTDD-P) that measures the three traits of the Dark Triad, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism. We detail the presence and stability of a bifactor structure of the 12 items and present evidence for good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. We examine the nomological network surrounding the Dark Triad and show that both the Dark Triad total score and the subscales have acceptable validity. We also present evidence on the Dark Triad and moral behavior. Dark Triad predicts utilitarian moral choice (e.g., approval for sacrificing somebody's life for the sake of saving others) and this link is mediated by low empathic concern. In total, our results suggest that the Polish Dirty Dozen-Parszywa Dwunastka-is valid, stable, and useful for the study of lingering puzzles in the literature.

Using a mixed-methods study, we provided the first systematic documentation and exploration of erotic talk. In Study 1 (N = 95), participants provided 569 erotic talk statements in an anonymous online survey, which we classified, using a modified thematic analysis, as being representative of eight themes. In Study 2 (N = 238), we quantified individual differences in these themes, subjected them to factor analysis, and examined the nomological network surrounding them with measures of relationship and sexual satisfaction, sociosexuality, and personality. The eight initial categories represented two higher order factors, which we call individualist talk and mutualistic talk. These factors were orthogonal in factor analysis and distinct in their nomological network. While the majority of people reported using erotic talk, we found few sex differences in its use.

Mate preference research has focused on traits people desire in partners (i.e., dealmakers) rather than what traits they avoid (i.e., dealbreakers), but mate preferences calibrate to both maximize benefits and minimize costs. Across six studies (N > 6,500), we identified and examined relationship dealbreakers, and how they function across relationship contexts. Dealbreakers were associated with undesirable personality traits; unhealthy lifestyles in sexual, romantic, and friendship contexts; and divergent mating strategies in sexual and romantic contexts. Dealbreakers were stronger in long-term (vs. short-term) relationship contexts, and stronger in women (vs. men) in short-term contexts. People with higher mate value reported more dealbreakers; people with less-restricted mating strategies reported fewer dealbreakers. Consistent with prospect and error management theories, people weighed dealbreakers more negatively than they weighed dealmakers positively; this effect was stronger for women (vs. men) and people in committed relationships. These findings support adaptive attentional biases in human social cognition., (© 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.)

In contexts that increasingly demand brief self-report measures (e.g., experience sampling, longitudinal and field studies), researchers seek succinct surveys that maintain reliability and validity. One such measure is the 12-item Brief Aggression Questionnaire (BAQ; Webster et al., 2014), which uses 4 3-item subscales: Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility. Although prior work suggests the BAQ's scores are reliable and valid, we addressed some lingering concerns. Across 3 studies (N = 1,279), we found that the BAQ had a 4-factor structure, possessed long-term test-retest reliability across 12 weeks, predicted differences in behavioral aggression over time in a laboratory experiment, generalized to a diverse nonstudent sample, and showed convergent validity with a displaced aggression measure. In addition, the BAQ's 3-item Anger subscale showed convergent validity with a trait anger measure. We discuss the BAQ's potential reliability, validity, limitations, and uses as an efficient measure of aggressive traits.

A key problem facing aggression research is how to measure individual differences in aggression accurately and efficiently without sacrificing reliability or validity. Researchers are increasingly demanding brief measures of aggression for use in applied settings, field studies, pretest screening, longitudinal, and daily diary studies. The authors selected the three highest loading items from each of the Aggression Questionnaire's (Buss & Perry, 1992) four subscales--Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, anger, and hostility--and developed an efficient 12-item measure of aggression--the Brief Aggression Questionnaire (BAQ). Across five studies (N = 3,996), the BAQ showed theoretically consistent patterns of convergent and discriminant validity with other self-report measures, consistent four-factor structures using factor analyses, adequate recovery of information using item response theory methods, stable test-retest reliability, and convergent validity with behavioral measures of aggression. The authors discuss the reliability, validity, and efficiency of the BAQ, along with its many potential applications., (© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

In this study (N = 192; 124 women, 68 men), consensus definitions of one-night stands, booty-call relationships, friends-with-benefits, and serious romantic relationships were fashioned using a sample of university students. Participants provided a Likert and forced-choice assessment of how each relationship was characterized by the functions of sexual gratification, trial run, placeholder, and socioemotional support. Serious romantic relationships were primarily used to gain socioemotional support. Friends-with-benefits relationships were motivated by seeking a placeholder until someone better came along and as a trial run for a more serious relationship. Booty-call relationships and one-night stands were motivated primarily by a desire for sexual gratification. Men ascribed a greater range of reasons to engage in sexual relationships than women did and the more short-term the relationship was in nature, the greater the emergence of sex differences in ascribed functions.

The current study provides the first examination of the relationship between life history indicators and the Dark Triad traits in an international sample drawn from the U.S. (n = 264), Singapore (n = 185), and Poland (n = 177). In all three samples, the Dark Triad traits were associated with psychosocial costs, although there were more links in the Singaporean and Polish samples than in the American sample. In the U.S., the quality of one's romantic relationships and psychopathy were negatively correlated. Narcissism was higher in the Polish and American samples than in the Singaporean sample. Men scored higher than women did regardless of location and the sex difference in the individual differences in life histories was mediated by the Dark Triad composite. Results suggest the Dark Triad are related to a volatile socioecology composed of psychosocial costs in the familial, romantic, and platonic relationships.

The current studies examined how the Dark Triad personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) facilitate the strategic structuring of an individual's social environment in terms of same- and opposite-sex friends. In one study using normative questions (N = 267) and another using a budget-allocation task (N = 114), we found that the Dark Triad traits were associated with choosing friends for strategic purposes and to create a volatile environment. Narcissistic individuals reported relatively more reasons to form friendships, such as shared interests, makes me feel good, and intelligence. Women high in narcissism chose same-sex friends who were attractive and women high on Machiavellianism chose same-sex friends who have social status. Men high on psychopathy devalued traits associated with good social relationships in favor of friends who could facilitate their mating efforts and to offset risks incurred in their life history strategy. Results are discussed using the selection-manipulation-evocation framework for explaining how personality traits interact with social environments and integrated with findings from evolutionary biology.

Mate preferences have been well studied in social and evolutionary psychology. In two studies (N = 490), using two different measurement techniques, we examined mate preferences for the body and the face in the context of other traits. Results replicated prior research on mate preferences across the sex of the participant and mating duration but clarified the nature of preferences for physical attractiveness. Generally, physical attractiveness was a necessity in short-term mating and for men and traits like kindness were a necessity in long-term mating and for women. Men wanted a short-term mate who had a good body, likely because that body advertises fertility whereas both sexes wanted a mate with a nice face for a long-term mate, which is likely because the face is a cue based on structural properties related to health. Sex and mating-duration differences on preferences for attractive faces and bodies were robust to differences in measurement technique.

Most research on human sexuality has focused on long-term pairbonds and one-night stands. However, growing evidence suggests there are relationships that do not fit cleanly into either of those categories. One of these relationships is a "booty-call relationship." The purpose of this study was to describe the sexual and emotional nature of booty-call relationships by (a) examining the types of emotional and sexual acts involved in booty-call relationships and (b) comparing the frequency of those acts in booty-call relationships to one-night stands and serious long-term relationships. In addition, the manner in which sociosexuality is associated with the commission of these acts was also examined. Demonstrative of booty-call relationships' sexual nature was individuals' tendency to leave after sex and infrequent handholding. In contrast, the romantic nature of booty-call relationships was demonstrated through the frequency of acts like kissing. The results suggest the booty-call relationship is a distinct type of relationship situated between one-night stands and serious romantic relationships.

There has been an exponential increase of interest in the dark side of human nature during the last decade. To better understand this dark side, the authors developed and validated a concise, 12-item measure of the Dark Triad: narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism. In 4 studies involving 1,085 participants, they examined its structural reliability, convergent and discriminant validity (Studies 1, 2, and 4), and test-retest reliability (Study 3). Their measure retained the flexibility needed to measure these 3 independent-yet-related constructs while improving its efficiency by reducing its item count by 87% (from 91 to 12 items). The measure retained its core of disagreeableness, short-term mating, and aggressiveness. They call this measure the Dirty Dozen, but it cleanly measures the Dark Triad.