Vlad Burtăverde , Peter K. Jonason , Anca Minulescu , Bogdan Oprea , Șerban A. Zanfirescu , Ștefan -C. Ionescu , Andreea M. Gheorghe
{"title":"Childhood trauma and life history strategies - the moderating role of childhood socio-economic status and the dark triad traits","authors":"Vlad Burtăverde , Peter K. Jonason , Anca Minulescu , Bogdan Oprea , Șerban A. Zanfirescu , Ștefan -C. Ionescu , Andreea M. Gheorghe","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113467","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113467","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigated the potential link between childhood trauma and life history strategies, considering subclinical psychopathy, Machiavellianism, subclinical narcissism, and childhood socioeconomic status as potential moderators. Two hundred seventy participants (<em>M</em><sub><em>age</em></sub> = 20.45, <em>SD</em> = 4.20) completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Short Dark Triad measure, the High-K Strategy Scale, and the childhood socioeconomic status brief questions. Participants who reported being subjected to high levels of trauma, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and/or emotional neglect during childhood also reported more characteristics resembling fast life history strategies and/or low childhood socioeconomic status. Subclinical narcissism was the only Dark Triad trait which shown a statistically significant relationship with life history strategies, being negatively correlated with fast life history strategies. However, out of the proposed moderators, only subclinical psychopathy moderated the relationship between self-reported childhood trauma and fast life history strategies by strengthening their relationship, albeit it was not associated with life history strategies. Self-reported childhood socioeconomic status was negatively associated with fast life history strategies, but its moderating effect was statistically insignificant. These findings underscore the importance of tailoring trauma-targeted assessments and interventions to individual differences in personality and shifting public health, social, and education policies from reactive towards preventative programs for at-risk youth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"248 ","pages":"Article 113467"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145120492","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Longitudinal relationships between facets of mindfulness and components of aggression among Chinese college students: A cross-lagged panel network analysis","authors":"Wei Xu , Ruotong Zhang , Zh Yeng Chong","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113465","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113465","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Despite previous research has demonstrated negative associations between mindfulness and aggression generally, no consensus exists on the nature of this relationship, as few studies have simultaneously explored the dimensions of mindfulness and aggression. This study applied cross-lagged panel network analysis to estimate the longitudinal relationships between facets of mindfulness and components of aggression among Chinese college students.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A total of 2242 Chinese college students (M<sub>age</sub> = 19.44, SD = 1.25; 69 % girls) completed self-reported questionnaires on demographics, the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, and the Chinese version of Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire. Data were collected at two times point.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>After controlling for sociodemographic information, the observing facet exhibited the highest out-expected influence (out-EI) in the network, with describing and non-reactivity showing the highest in-expected influence (in-EI). In addition, the results indicated three strongest bridging edges: “observing→hostility”, “non-reactivity→hostility”, and “non-reactivity→anger”, implying that certain mindfulness facets may serve as predictors of aggression components.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Overall, these results suggested that practitioners may consider adjusting the sequences of mindfulness-based interventions strategies in practical application. Greater emphasis on explicit behaviors, such as physical and verbal aggression, may enhance intervention efficacy among Chinese college students.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"248 ","pages":"Article 113465"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145120490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xueting Zhang, Niels J. Van Doesum, Lotte F. Van Dillen, Eric Van Dijk
{"title":"Grateful but harsh? Dispositional gratitude predicts moral condemnation in the U.S., the UK, and China","authors":"Xueting Zhang, Niels J. Van Doesum, Lotte F. Van Dillen, Eric Van Dijk","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113452","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113452","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>People differ in their tendency to be grateful, and this affects interpersonal dynamics. Previous research found that individuals with high (versus low) levels of dispositional gratitude exhibited more prosocial behaviors. In this study we demonstrate that dispositional gratitude may also be associated with negative responses toward others. Specifically, we examined the link between dispositional gratitude and condemnations of various moral transgressions. Given that moral norms might be culture-specific, we recruited participants from the U.S., the UK, and China (<em>N</em> = 593 in total) to test potential cultural moderators. Results showed that the higher people scored on dispositional gratitude, the more morally wrong they evaluated transgressions to be, and the more punishment they thought that transgressors deserved. The associations were robust across moral domains, countries, and perceived levels of societal tightness. These findings underscore the pervasive and differentiated impact of dispositional gratitude in interpersonal relations, as it may not only increase prosocial behavior but also intensify negative responses to others who violate moral norms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"248 ","pages":"Article 113452"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145109669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Eva K.J. Horton , Nathaniel E.C. Schermerhorn , Paul H.P. Hanel
{"title":"The impact of toxic masculinity on restrictive emotionality and mental health seeking support","authors":"Eva K.J. Horton , Nathaniel E.C. Schermerhorn , Paul H.P. Hanel","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113459","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113459","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Many men struggle, at least occasionally, to talk about their feelings and to seek mental health support. Previous research has attributed this to gendered social norms requiring men to be tough and confident. In the present research, we investigate, across two studies, the role toxic masculinity, defined as the over-exaggeration of masculine social norms that perpetuate misogyny, plays in restrictive emotionality and intention to seek health support, as well as underlying mechanisms. Consistent with our predictions, we found that toxic masculinity, and associated variables such as aggression and dominance, were strongly linked to restrictive emotionality. Contrary to our predictions however, restrictive emotionality, but not toxic masculinity, predicted men's avoidance in seeking help for emotional problems and having suicidal thoughts. We discuss implications, limitations, and directions for future research to address issues surrounding men's mental health and improving service accessibility.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"248 ","pages":"Article 113459"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145109668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Liang Li , Yujie Zhang , Benjamin Becker , Hong Li
{"title":"Associations between trait shyness and cerebellar spontaneous neural activity are mediated by behavioral inhibition","authors":"Liang Li , Yujie Zhang , Benjamin Becker , Hong Li","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113454","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113454","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Shyness, a personality trait characterized by discomfort and inhibition in social contexts, has a profound impact on individuals' social functioning. Despite its significance, the specific neural mechanisms underlying shyness remain poorly understood. The 2 × 2 model of shyness and sociability posits that shyness arises from a conflict between approach and avoidance motivations. Within this framework, the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and Behavioral Activation System (BAS) are widely regarded as reliable proxies for these opposing motivational tendencies. Therefore, this study employed resting-state fMRI and ReHo analyses to investigate the relationship between trait shyness and spontaneous neural activity in 42 healthy students (<em>M</em><sub>age</sub> = 21.36 ± 2.56), along with the mediating role of the BIS/BAS in this relationship. ReHo analysis revealed a significant association between lower spontaneous neural activity in the posterior cerebellum and higher levels of shyness; moreover, the BIS system partially mediated this link, whereas the BAS system showed no significant mediating effect. Robustness checks using inverse mediation analysis confirmed the specificity and robustness of this hypothesized pathway. These findings highlight the cerebellum's role in modulating individual differences in shyness through localized neural synchrony and emphasize the BIS system as a key mediator, offering potential implications for targeted interventions aimed at enhancing social adaptation in shy individuals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"248 ","pages":"Article 113454"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145109670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Navigating uncertainty","authors":"Almuth Lietz , Sabrina Jasmin Mayer","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113449","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113449","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Previous studies suggest that personality traits (e.g., the Big Five) influence voting behavior for radical right parties (RRPs) indirectly via ideological variables or partisanship. We propose that tolerance for ambiguity – the ability to handle ambiguous situations – mediates the relationship between Big Five traits and ideological variables such as right-wing authoritarianism, populist attitudes, and anti-immigrant sentiment, which in turn relate to the propensity to vote for RRPs. Theoretically, we draw on the psychological entropy theory of personality, which suggests that personality reflects how individuals respond to uncertainty, to conceptualize the link between Big Five traits and tolerance for ambiguity. We assume that lower tolerance for ambiguity reflects a stronger epistemic motive – the desire for understanding, accuracy, and subjective certainty – which fosters right-wing authoritarianism, populist attitudes, and anti-immigrant sentiment. Using data from a German population sample (<em>n</em> = 1635, collected in 2020/21), we examine the propensity to vote for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as an example of a radical-right party. Our findings show that lower tolerance for ambiguity is associated with stronger right-wing authoritarianism, populist attitudes, and anti-immigrant sentiment. Associations with the Big Five traits partly align with psychological entropy theory, though effect sizes are small.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"248 ","pages":"Article 113449"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145098998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bailey N. Wagaman , Vasilios C. Ikonomou , Ivan A. Campbell , Nicholas C. Borgogna , Stephen L. Aita , Emily Elliot , Benjamin D. Hill
{"title":"Context matters: Need for Cognition moderates immediate story recall but not other types of memory tests","authors":"Bailey N. Wagaman , Vasilios C. Ikonomou , Ivan A. Campbell , Nicholas C. Borgogna , Stephen L. Aita , Emily Elliot , Benjamin D. Hill","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113458","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113458","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Need for Cognition (NFC) is a personality trait that reflects motivation to engage in effortful thinking. While NFC has been linked to various domains of cognitive functioning, its relation with memory has not been investigated. We examined whether NFC moderates the relation between verbal episodic memory and intelligence. Participants (<em>n</em> = 174, <em>M</em><sub>age</sub> = 20.10, <em>SD</em><sub>age</sub> = 1.50) completed the NFC Questionnaire, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III, and Wechsler Memory Scale-III. At the bivariate level, NFC was positively correlated with general intelligence (<em>r</em> = 0.41) and story memory (<em>r</em> = 0.26). Multiple regression models evaluated whether NFC moderated the relation between contextual memory and intelligence. NFC moderated the relation between Logical Memory I and FSIQ (<em>β</em> = 0.19) but was not significant for Logical Memory II and FSIQ (<em>β</em> = 0.13). Individuals high in NFC may encode more information when initially learning a story due to higher interest in the story's context, thereby leading to greater task engagement. This improves initial learning of the story but not later recall. NFC may affect learning through increased test engagement and/or enhanced learning motivation but only for contextually rich memory tests, such as memory for stories.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 113458"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145099671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ruijun Song , Kewen Lin , Chunyin Chen , Xichen Qin , Wangcheng Wang , Yinning Meng , Yaxuan Cai
{"title":"The evolving impact of social change on psychological capital in Chinese undergraduates: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of birth cohort differences (2008–2022)","authors":"Ruijun Song , Kewen Lin , Chunyin Chen , Xichen Qin , Wangcheng Wang , Yinning Meng , Yaxuan Cai","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113456","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113456","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Based on bioecological theory, the macrosystem plays a significant role in developing psychological capital. However, the trend of psychological capital among Chinese undergraduates has been unclear, with research lacking a macrosocial perspective. To address this, this study conducted a cross-temporal meta-analysis of 43 studies using the Positive Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PPQ) from 2008 to 2022, involving 31,975 participants. The results showed an increasing trend in psychological capital, with six macrosocial indicators—economic conditions (GDP, consumption, urbanization), internet usage (penetration rate, weekly usage), and social threat (crime rate)—predicting this trend. These findings provide empirical evidence for the temporal changes in psychological capital and expand the influence model by incorporating macrosocial factors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 113456"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145099743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Learning to win for self-versus-others: The role of social closeness and prosocial orientation","authors":"Shiguang Fu , Qiang Shen , Xing Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113453","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113453","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Prior research on social decision-making has largely focused on monetary trade-offs between self and others, often in static contexts with known payoffs. However, it remains unclear how interpersonal closeness and individual differences in prosocial orientation influence information processing when individuals must concurrently make decisions for themselves and others in dynamic environments. In such contexts, decision-makers must allocate cognitive resources across multiple payoff streams—learning not only for themselves but also on behalf of others. To address this gap, we employ a modified Social Gambling Task (SGT) in which participants learn optimal decisions through trial-and-error for both self and a partner—either a close friend or a stranger. This setup removes direct payoff conflict, enabling us to isolate how social distance and stable prosocial traits shape concurrent learning processes. Behavioral analyses, learning indices, and computational reinforcement learning models reveal that both social closeness and prosocial orientation modulate the weighting of others' outcomes during learning, with closeness exerting a stronger influence than dispositional traits. These findings advance our understanding of the layered cognitive and motivational mechanisms underlying value-based learning in social contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 113453"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145099744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Beyond arousal and valence: A meta-analysis on the effect of survival relevance on duration estimation","authors":"Yang Chen , Dan Li , Yunpeng Liu , Huazhan Yin","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113455","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113455","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Our memory system is optimized to process and retain survival-relevant information. This adaptation occurs primarily because our memory systems have been shaped by natural selection to operate based on evolutionary fitness criteria. Although the impact of survival relevance on memory has been established, there is still much contention regarding how survival relevance influences duration estimation. This meta-analysis systematically investigated whether survival relevance affects duration estimation and which factors modulate it. A set of selection criteria was employed to evaluate and determine the eligibility of existing studies for inclusion in the meta-analytic procedure. Research was identified using the electronic search function in eight databases. Following this approach, 46 empirical studies and 104 effect sizes (N = 2834 participants) were included in this research. The results showed that (1) there was a significant effect size for the effect of survival relevance on duration estimation and (2) moderator analyses found that survival relevance, stimuli type, and temporal paradigm were significant moderators of the effect, while age and gender showed no significant moderating effects on duration estimation. In conclusion, we aim to elucidate the significance of time cognition in survival contexts and provide a framework for understanding how survival relevance shapes duration estimation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 113455"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145099263","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}