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Full-Text Articles in Social Psychology

Charismatic Leadership And Vulnerability: A Comprehensive Study Of Cult Dynamics, Danielle Santana Denrich Apr 2024

Charismatic Leadership And Vulnerability: A Comprehensive Study Of Cult Dynamics, Danielle Santana Denrich

Psychology Presentations

The term "cult" has various definitions in academic discourse, including religious or quasi-religious groups and small, ideologically aligned communities. This paper explores the complexity of the term, its alternative labels, and the influence of media portrayal on public perception. It examines cult leaders' attributes, focusing on the "dark triad" personality traits—narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy—and their manifestation in charismatic leaders. The functionality of cults is scrutinized, highlighting their appeal as a familial structure and promises of intellectual, spiritual, and political power. However, the darker side of cult functionality involves manipulative recruitment tactics and thought-stopping techniques. Additionally, the paper examines susceptibility to …


Narcissism And Social Media Usage: Is There No Longer A Relationship?, Christina M. Frederick, Tianxin Zhang Jan 2019

Narcissism And Social Media Usage: Is There No Longer A Relationship?, Christina M. Frederick, Tianxin Zhang

Publications

In previous studies, narcissism has been found to relate to social media behaviors, such as how often one posts and how many friends or followers one has (McCain & Campbell, 2016; Singh, Farley, and Donahue, 2018). The present study attempted to create a model of social media use predicted by narcissism and selfconsciousness. A sample of 397 adults with a mean age of 29 years was collected using MTurk. Participants completed a social media use survey, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin & Hall, 1979) and the Self-Consciousness Scale (Scheier & Carver, 1985). Results showed that while narcissism and selfconsciousness were …


Dr. Jekyll Or Mr. Hyde? President Donald Trump’S Personality Profile As Perceived From Different Political Viewpoints, W. Keith Campbell, Courtland S. Hyatt, Donald R. Lynam, Joshua D. Miller Jul 2018

Dr. Jekyll Or Mr. Hyde? President Donald Trump’S Personality Profile As Perceived From Different Political Viewpoints, W. Keith Campbell, Courtland S. Hyatt, Donald R. Lynam, Joshua D. Miller

Department of Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications

The present research used an empirical, crowdsourced trait profiling approach to describe the personality of Trump that accounts for political views. Clinton (N=120) and Trump (N=118) voters rated 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, …


Occupational Niches And The Dark Triad Traits, Peter K. Jonason, Serena Wee, Norman P. Li, Christopher Jackson Oct 2014

Occupational Niches And The Dark Triad Traits, Peter K. Jonason, Serena Wee, Norman P. Li, Christopher Jackson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Our research focused on the vocational interests correlated with the Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism). By understanding how these traits facilitate the structuring of one’s environment, we hypothesized that psychopaths will be more interested in realistic and practical careers, narcissists will be more interested in artistic, enterprising, and social careers, and Machiavellians will be more interested in avoiding careers that involve caring for others. In two cross-sectional studies (N = 424; N = 274), we provide general support for these hypotheses. Overall, our study showed those high on the Dark Triad traits may structure their social environment …


Why Do Narcissists Disregard Social-Etiquette Norms? A Test Of Two Explanations For Why Narcissism Relates To Offensive-Language Use, John Milton Adams, Dan Florell, K. Alex Burton, William Hart Jan 2014

Why Do Narcissists Disregard Social-Etiquette Norms? A Test Of Two Explanations For Why Narcissism Relates To Offensive-Language Use, John Milton Adams, Dan Florell, K. Alex Burton, William Hart

Psychology Faculty and Staff Research

Narcissists often fail to abide by norms for polite social conduct, but why? The current study addressed this issue by exploring reasons why narcissists use more offensive language (i.e., profanity) than non-narcissists. In this study, 602 participants completed a survey in which they responded on a measure of trait narcissism, rated several offensive words on the degree to which the words were attention-grabbing and offensive, and then indicated how frequently they used the words. Consistent with the idea that narcissists use offensive language to gain attention, narcissists were incrementally more likely to use offensive language if they perceived such language …


Why Do Narcissists Disregard Social-Etiquette Norms? A Test Of Two Explanations For Why Narcissism Relates To Offensive-Language Use, John Milton Adams, Dan Florell, K. Alex Burton, William Hart Jan 2014

Why Do Narcissists Disregard Social-Etiquette Norms? A Test Of Two Explanations For Why Narcissism Relates To Offensive-Language Use, John Milton Adams, Dan Florell, K. Alex Burton, William Hart

Psychology Faculty and Staff Research

Narcissists often fail to abide by norms for polite social conduct, but why? The current study addressed this issue by exploring reasons why narcissists use more offensive language (i.e., profanity) than non-narcissists. In this study, 602 participants completed a survey in which they responded on a measure of trait narcissism, rated several offensive words on the degree to which the words were attention-grabbing and offensive, and then indicated how frequently they used the words. Consistent with the idea that narcissists use offensive language to gain attention, narcissists were incrementally more likely to use offensive language if they perceived such language …


The Antihero In Popular Culture: A Life History Theory Of The Dark Triad, Peter K. Jonason, Gregory D. Webster, David P. Schmitt, Norman P. Li, Laura Crysel Jun 2012

The Antihero In Popular Culture: A Life History Theory Of The Dark Triad, Peter K. Jonason, Gregory D. Webster, David P. Schmitt, Norman P. Li, Laura Crysel

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Dark Triad of personality is composed of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Despite the common belief that these traits are undesirable, the media is awash with characters that embody the Dark Triad. Characters like Gregory House, M.D., Batman (a.k.a. the Dark Knight), and James BOND all embody these traits and are some of the most popular media franchises today. As entertaining as these characters are, they provide us with a window into the dark side of human nature. Instead of treating the dark side of human nature as inherently maladaptive, we provide an alternative view that, despite their costs, traits …


The Costs And Benefits Of The Dark Triad: Implications For Mate Poaching And Mate Retention Tactics, Peter K. Jonason, Norman P. Li, David M. Buss Mar 2010

The Costs And Benefits Of The Dark Triad: Implications For Mate Poaching And Mate Retention Tactics, Peter K. Jonason, Norman P. Li, David M. Buss

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Dark Triad – narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy – have traditionally been considered to be undesirable traits. However, emerging work suggest that not only may there be a positive side to possessing these traits but they may also serve important adaptive functions, even if the strategies associated with them are viewed as socially undesirable. In an online survey (N = 336), we investigated the costs and benefits of the Dark Triad within the domain of mating psychology. The social style and lower order personality traits of the Dark Triad traits facilitated increased mateships in the form of poaching mates from …