Unraveling the three faces of self-esteem: A new information-processing sociometer perspective

Abstract Based on an integration of sociometer theory and information-processing models, the present study investigated the predictive validity of three self-esteem measures: self-report, an implicit association test, and an affective priming task. In a first session, self-esteem measures were obtained from 93 participants. After an interval of four weeks, interpersonal perception ratings were collected in small round-robin groups. Participants were requested to briefly introduce themselves to the group before evaluating one another and indicating how they expected to be evaluated by the others (metaperceptions). As hypothesized, all three self-esteem measures independently predicted the pe…

Pathways From Narcissism to Leadership Emergence in Social Groups

Narcissists successfully emerge as leaders. However, the processes by which this occurs are mostly unknown. Following a dual-pathway approach and differentiating between agentic (narcissistic admiration) and antagonistic (narcissistic rivalry) narcissism, we investigated the behavioral processes underlying narcissists’ leadership emergence in social groups. We applied data from a multimethodological laboratory study ( N = 311) comprising three groups of variables: personality traits, expressed interaction behaviors, and interpersonal perceptions. Prior to the laboratory sessions, participants provided self-reported answers to various narcissism measures. Interpersonal perceptions were obta…

Being popular in online social networks: How agentic, communal, and creativity traits relate to judgments of status and liking

We investigated how personality affects both peer-perceived popularity (status) and sociometric popularity (liking) in online social networks (OSNs). Self-ratings of agentic (e.g., extraversion), communal (e.g., agreeableness), and creativity traits (e.g., openness) were collected from 103 OSN profile owners (targets). Unacquainted perceivers provided status and liking judgments based on either targets’ full OSN profiles or profile pictures. Independent coders assessed behavioral cues (e.g., attractiveness) from targets’ OSN profiles. Results showed that targets scoring high on agency were ascribed a high status (without necessarily being liked), whereas targets scoring high on creativity o…

Personality predictors of social status attainment

The current review summarizes recent advances in research on personality predictors of status attainment. In line with previous research, recent studies indicate that extraverted and narcissistic individuals tend to attain status in groups. Research on mediating processes includes a wide range of underlying motivational, behavioral, and interpersonal perception processes. Most generally speaking, those high in extraversion and narcissism attain status because they are more motivated to do so and thus display assertive behavior that makes them look competent. Situational contexts, group tasks, and cultural contexts can moderate the personality-status links by shaping these processes. For exa…

Narcissistic Tendencies Among Actors

Building on a two-dimensional reconceptualization of grandiose narcissism, we investigated how narcissistic admiration (the tendency toward agentic self-promotion) and rivalry (the tendency toward other derogation) are related to acting. Study 1 ( N = 583) showed that acting students scored higher on narcissistic admiration than students with other majors, but at the same time, the acting students scored lower on rivalry. In Study 2 ( N = 283), we compared improvisational theater actors with a comparison group and found the same pattern: Admiration was higher, but rivalry was lower among the actors (across both self-reports and informant reports). Effects persisted when we controlled for s…

PERSOC: A Unified Framework for Understanding the Dynamic Interplay of Personality and Social Relationships

The interplay of personality and social relationships is as fascinating as it is complex and it pertains to a wide array of largely separate research domains. Here, we present an integrative and unified framework for analysing the complex dynamics of personality and social relationships (PERSOC). Basic principles and general processes on the individual and dyadic level are outlined to show how personality and social relationships influence each other and develop over time. PERSOC stresses the importance of social behaviours and interpersonal perceptions as mediating processes organized in social interaction units. The framework can be applied to diverse social relationships such as first en…

Accurate Judgments of Neuroticism at Zero Acquaintance: A Question of Relevance

Prior studies have consistently found a surprising inaccuracy of people's neuroticism judgments at zero acquaintance. Based on the Realistic Accuracy Model (Funder, 1995), we hypothesize that this is due to a lack of relevance of the situation in which targets are typically observed. Fifty participants were videotaped in a highly trait-relevant (i.e., socially stressful) situation as well as three less relevant situations. An aggregate of self-reports and informant reports was used as the accuracy criterion. Four independent groups of unacquainted observers judged participants' neuroticism based on these short video sequences. Results showed that neuroticism judgments were significantly mor…

The rich are different: Unravelling the perceived and self-reported personality profiles of high-net-worth individuals.

Beyond money and possessions, how are the rich different from the general population? Drawing on a unique sample of high-net-worth individuals from Germany (≥1 million Euro in financial assets; N = 130), nationally representative data (N = 22,981), and an additional online panel (N = 690), we provide the first direct investigation of the stereotypically perceived and self-reported personality profiles of high-net-worth individuals. Investigating the broad personality traits of the Big Five and the more specific traits of narcissism and locus of control, we find that stereotypes about wealthy people's personality are accurate albeit somewhat exaggerated and that wealthy people can be charact…

A New Reliable and Valid Tool for Measuring Implicit Self-Esteem

We investigated the reliability and predictive validity of a new response-window affective priming task (RW-APT) for the measurement of implicit self-esteem. Participants (N = 96) were administered the self-esteem RW-APT and filled out two measures of explicit self-esteem. To investigate the effect of explicit and implicit self-esteem on reactions to failure, we applied an anagram task in which participants received anagrams that were more difficult than expected. Three self-esteem criteria were obtained: pretask expectancy bias, perceived performance bias, and posttask expectancy bias. As hypothesized, explicit self-esteem and implicit self-esteem measures independently predicted all vali…

The attractiveness of narcissists: Hard work or natural beauty?

Are narcissists more attractive and perceived as such? In a preregistered multi-Study project, we aimed at gaining differentiated insights into this classic question, by considering agentic and ant...

A Closer Look at First Sight: Social Relations Lens Model Analysis of Personality and Interpersonal Attraction at Zero Acquaintance

Based on a new theoretical framework—the Social Relations Lens Model—this study examined the influence of personality on real–life attraction at zero acquaintance. A group of psychology freshmen ( N = 73) was investigated upon encountering one another for the first time. Personality traits, attraction ratings and metaperceptions were assessed using a large round–robin design (2628 dyads). In line with our model, personality differentially predicted who was a liker and who expected to be liked (perceiver effects), who was popular and who was seen as a liker (target effects), as well as who liked whom and who expected to be liked by whom (relationship effects). Moreover, the influence of pers…

Implicit Interpersonal Attraction in Small Groups

The present research investigated the nature and behavioral consequences of interpersonal attraction in small groups. In line with dual-process models of information processing, we studied the influence of implicit and explicit evaluations of interaction partners on actual friendly behavior in two social contexts. In two studies, 247 unacquainted same-sex participants ( N1 = 139; N2 = 108)—assigned to groups of four to six members—rated each other by completing a variant of the affective priming task to assess implicit interpersonal attraction and a self-report to measure explicit interpersonal attraction. Social relations analyses indicated that implicit and explicit interpersonal attract…

Contributions of Nonverbal Cues to the Accurate Judgment of Personality Traits

In this chapter, we summarize research on nonverbal expressions of behavior (nonverbal cues) and how they contribute to the accuracy of personality judgments. First, we present a conceptual overview of relevant nonverbal cues in the domains of facial expressions, body language, paralanguage, and appearance as well as approaches to assess these cues on different levels of aggregation. We then summarize research on the validity of nonverbal cues (what kind of nonverbal cues are good indicators of personality?) as well as the utilization of nonverbal cues (what kind of nonverbal cues lead to personality impressions?), resulting in a catalogue of those cues that drive judgment accuracy for diff…

Reliability of Implicit Self–Esteem Measures Revisited

This study investigated the internal consistencies and temporal stabilities of different implicit self–esteem measures. Participants ( N = 101) responded twice—with a time lag of 4 weeks—to five different tasks: the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT), the Affective Priming Task (APT), the Identification–Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (ID–EAST) and the Name–Letter Task (NLT). As expected, the highest reliability coefficients were obtained for the self–esteem IAT. Importantly, the internal consistencies and the temporal stabilities of the APT, the ID–EAST, and the NLT were substantially improved by using material, structural, and analytic innovations.…

Leckelt_OnlineAppendix – Supplemental material for A Longitudinal Field Investigation of Narcissism and Popularity Over Time: How Agentic and Antagonistic Aspects of Narcissism Shape the Development of Peer Relationships

Supplemental material, Leckelt_OnlineAppendix for A Longitudinal Field Investigation of Narcissism and Popularity Over Time: How Agentic and Antagonistic Aspects of Narcissism Shape the Development of Peer Relationships by Marius Leckelt, Katharina Geukes, Albrecht C. P. Küfner, Lisa M. Niemeyer, Roos Hutteman, Sarah Osterholz, Boris Egloff, Steffen Nestler and Mitja D. Back in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

sj-pdf-1-erp-10.1177_08902070211046266 - Supplemental material for Pathways From Narcissism to Leadership Emergence in Social Groups

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-erp-10.1177_08902070211046266 for Pathways From Narcissism to Leadership Emergence in Social Groups by Tobias M. Härtel, Marius Leckelt, Michael P. Grosz, Albrecht C. P. Küfner, Katharina Geukes and Mitja D. Back in European Journal of Personality

Supplementary_Material_-_Narcissism_and_Popularity_in_the_Field_R1 – Supplemental material for A Longitudinal Field Investigation of Narcissism and Popularity Over Time: How Agentic and Antagonistic Aspects of Narcissism Shape the Development of Peer Relationships

Supplemental material, Supplementary_Material_-_Narcissism_and_Popularity_in_the_Field_R1 for A Longitudinal Field Investigation of Narcissism and Popularity Over Time: How Agentic and Antagonistic Aspects of Narcissism Shape the Development of Peer Relationships by Marius Leckelt, Katharina Geukes, Albrecht C. P. Küfner, Lisa M. Niemeyer, Roos Hutteman, Sarah Osterholz, Boris Egloff, Steffen Nestler and Mitja D. Back in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Knowing your own mate value: sex-specific personality effects on the accuracy of expected mate choices.

Knowing one’s mate value (mate-value accuracy) is an important element in reproductive success. We investigated within- and between-sex differences in this ability in a real-life speed-dating event. A total of 190 men and 192 women filled out a personality questionnaire and participated in speed-dating sessions. Immediately after each date, participants recorded who they would choose as mates and who they expected would choose them. In line with evolutionarily informed hypotheses, results indicated that sociosexually unrestricted men and more agreeable women showed greater mate-value accuracy than sociosexually restricted men and less agreeable women, respectively. These results have impor…

Lens and Dual Lens Models

This chapter presents variants of Brunswik’s lens model aimed to understand whether, when, and why trait judgments are more or less accurate. After outlining the basic concepts of lens models, it describes exemplary studies that have applied the lens model to unravel personality expression and impression formation processes that lead to more or less accurate judgments. Next, it gives an overview of factors that can influence the accuracy of trait judgments and explains these accuracy moderators within the lens model framework. It then describes an extension of the lens model, the dual lens model, that differentiates more controlled versus more automatic aspects on all levels of the lens mod…

Predicting Self–Confident Behaviour with Implicit and Explicit Self–Esteem Measures

The present research compared the validity of popular direct and indirect measures of self–esteem in predicting self–confident behaviour in different social situations. In line with behavioural dual–process models, both implicit and explicit self–esteem were hypothesized to be related to appearing self–confident to unacquainted others. A total of 127 participants responded to the Rosenberg Self–Esteem Scale, the Multidimensional Self–Esteem Scale, and an adjective scale for measuring explicit self–esteem (ESE). Participants‘ implicit self–esteem (ISE) was assessed with four indirect measures: the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the name–letter task (NLT), and two variants of an affective …

Measuring Task-Switching Ability in the Implicit Association Test

Abstract. Recently, the role of method-specific variance in the Implicit Association Test (IAT) was examined ( McFarland & Crouch, 2002 ; Mierke & Klauer, 2003 ). This article presents a new content-unspecific control task for the assessment of task-switching ability within the IAT methodology. Study 1 showed that this task exhibited good internal consistency and stability. Studies 2-4 examined method-specific variance in the IAT and showed that the control task is significantly associated with conventionally scored IAT effects of the IAT-Anxiety. Using the D measures proposed by Greenwald, Nosek, and Banaji (2003 ), the amount of method-specific variance in the IAT-Anxiety could b…

Facebook profiles reflect actual personality, not self-idealization.

Second to fourth digit ratios and the implicit gender self-concept

Abstract Intersexual and intrasexual variation in the ratio of index and ring finger lengths (2D:4D) is thought to be a marker of fetal androgen and estrogen levels. Thus, 2D:4D ratios have been expected to be associated with the development of the gender self-concept (masculinity vs. femininity). These associations have, however, proven to be empirically rather small and lower than expected. By arguing that early developmental events more greatly influence implicit as compared with explicit self-concepts, we hypothesized that 2D:4D ratios might be associated with the implicit gender self-concept – assessed using an Implicit Association Test – as opposed to the self-reported explicit gender…

Tell me a story and I will tell you who you are! Lens model analyses of personality and creative writing

Abstract We elucidated the accuracy of personality judgments based on creative writing by means of lens model analyses. Targets ( N  = 79) wrote short stories with five predefined words. Observers rated the Big Five dimensions and general knowledge of the targets who wrote these stories. Three main findings were revealed: (a) the Big Five and general knowledge were consensually judged by observers; (b) judgments of openness to experience, agreeableness, and general knowledge were accurate; and (c) accuracies were achieved due to the correct usage of valid cues. Additionally, we replicated all results in a second sample of targets ( N =  126). Results are discussed in comparison to other are…

Contributions of Nonverbal Cues to the Accurate Judgment of Personality Traits

This chapter summarizes research on nonverbal expressions of behavior (nonverbal cues) and how they contribute to the accuracy of personality judgments. First, it presents a conceptual overview of relevant nonverbal cues in the domains of facial expressions, body language, paralanguage, and appearance as well as approaches to assess these cues on different levels of aggregation. It then summarizes research on the validity of nonverbal cues (what kind of nonverbal cues are good indicators of personality?) and the utilization of nonverbal cues (what kind of nonverbal cues lead to personality impressions?), resulting in a catalog of those cues that drive judgment accuracy for different traits.…

Why Mate Choices are not as Reciprocal as we Assume: The Role of Personality, Flirting and Physical Attractiveness

Based on a social relations perspective on mating, the actual and assumed reciprocity of mate choices was studied in a real–life speed–dating context. A community sample involving 382 singles aged 18–54 years filled out a questionnaire for the measurement of self–perceived mate value, sociosexuality, extraversion, and shyness and participated in free speed–dating sessions. Immediately after each date, choices and assumed choices were recorded. Measures of physical attractiveness and flirting behaviour were obtained by independent observers. Results show that actual mate choices are not reciprocal although people strongly expect their choices to be reciprocated and flirting behaviour is ind…

From Dating to Mating and Relating: Predictors of Initial and Long–Term Outcomes of Speed–Dating in a Community Sample

We studied initial and long–term outcomes of speed–dating over a period of 1 year in a community sample involving 382 participants aged 18–54 years. They were followed from their initial choices of dating partners up to later mating (sexual intercourse) and relating (romantic relationship). Using Social Relations Model analyses, we examined evolutionarily informed hypotheses on both individual and dyadic effects of participants’ physical characteristics, personality, education and income on their dating, mating and relating. Both men and women based their choices mainly on the dating partners’ physical attractiveness, and women additionally on men's sociosexuality, openness to experience, …

Validation of the Short Dark Triad in a German Sample

Abstract. The structure, correlates, and assessment of the Dark Triad are widely discussed in several fields of psychology. Based on the German version of the Short Dark Triad (SDT), we add to this by (a) providing a competitive test of existing structural models, (b) testing the nomological network, and (c) proposing an ultrashort 9-item version of the SDT (uSDT). A sample of N = 969 participants provided data on the SDT and a range of further measures. Our competitive test of five structural models revealed that fit indices and nomological network assumptions were best met in a three-factor model, with separate factors for psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism. The results provid…

The Social Relations Model: How to Understand Dyadic Processes

The social relations model (SRM) is an intriguing tool both to conceptualize and to analyze dyadic processes. We begin with explaining why interpersonal phenomena in everyday life are more complex than often considered. We then show how the SRM accounts for these complexities by decomposing interpersonal perceptions and behaviors into three independent components and describe the designs required to investigate these components. We then provide a step-by-step

“Automatic or the People?”

Supporting info item, per1935-sup-0001-tablesS1-S5 - Personality Expression and Impression Formation in Online Social Networks: An Integrative Approach to Understanding the Processes of Accuracy, Impression Management and Meta–Accuracy

Supporting info item, per1935-sup-0001-tablesS1-S5 for Personality Expression and Impression Formation in Online Social Networks: An Integrative Approach to Understanding the Processes of Accuracy, Impression Management and Meta–Accuracy by Stopfer Juliane M., Egloff Boris, Nestler Steffen and Back Mitja D. in European Journal of Personality

Personality Expression and Impression Formation in Online Social Networks: An Integrative Approach to Understanding the Processes of Accuracy, Impression Management and Meta–Accuracy

In this paper, we investigate personality expression and impression formation processes in online social networks (OSNs). We explore whether, when and why people accurately judge others’ personalities (accuracy), successfully manage the impressions that others form of them (impression management) and accurately infer others’ impressions of them (meta–accuracy) at zero acquaintance. On the basis of targets’ OSN profiles (N = 103), overall perceiver impressions were collected and compared with targets’ self–view, desired impression and meta–perception. In addition, independent groups of thin–slice perceivers based their personality impressions solely on one of four kinds of information withi…

Accuracy of Self-Esteem Judgments at Zero Acquaintance.

Objective Perceptions of strangers’ self-esteem can have wide-ranging interpersonal consequences. Aiming to reconcile inconsistent results from previous research that had predominantly suggested that self-esteem is a trait that can hardly be accurately judged at zero acquaintance, we examined unaquainted others’ accuracy in inferring individuals’ actual self-esteem. Method Ninety-nine target participants (77 female; Mage = 23.5 years) were videotaped in a self-introductory situation, and self-esteem self-reports and reports by well-known informants were obtained as separate accuracy criteria. Forty unacquainted observers judged targets' self-esteem on the basis of these short video sequence…

Do Narcissists Self-Enhance? Disentangling the Associations Between Narcissism and Positive Versus Enhanced Self-Views Across Aspects of Narcissism, Content Domains, and Comparison Criteria

Across psychological disciplines, grandiose narcissism and self-enhancement have been treated as two closely related constructs. However, empirical research has not yielded conclusive insights about their association: It is currently unclear whether self-views of narcissistic individuals are more enhanced, in comparison with some criterion value, or whether their self-views are simply more positive than those of less narcissistic individuals. We aimed to clarify this fundamental issue with regard to (a) different aspects of narcissism (narcissistic admiration and rivalry), (b) different content domains of self-views (agency and communion), and (c) different criteria against which self-perc…

The emotional timeline of September 11, 2001.