Ann Pearman , MacKenzie L. Hughes , Emily L. Smith , Shevaun D. Neupert
{"title":"Mental time travel through uncertainty: Age differences in the effect of daily control beliefs on threat appraisals during 2020","authors":"Ann Pearman , MacKenzie L. Hughes , Emily L. Smith , Shevaun D. Neupert","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113642","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113642","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election occurred during a period of historic uncertainty, shaped by a global pandemic and intensified social justice movements. This study used that unique context to examine mental time travel through the lens of perceived control and daily threat appraisals. A diverse sample of 214 adults (<em>M</em><sub>age</sub> = 49.13, <em>SD</em><sub>age</sub> = 14.79, range 21–78) completed a 21-day online daily diary study spanning the pre- and post-election period, with the day the election was declared serving as the inflection point from uncertainty to certainty. Each day, participants rated their sense of control and perceived threats across multiple domains, including the election, social justice issues, and pandemic-related stressors. Results from multilevel models revealed clear age-related patterns. Older adults showed consistently lower threat appraisals on days when control beliefs were high, both before and after the election was called. In contrast, younger adults derived less benefit from control beliefs in the post-election period, particularly regarding election and social justice threats. Older adults also reported reduced COVID-19-related threat, though this was not directly linked to control. These findings highlight how age and mental time travel shape daily experiences of uncertainty and emphasize the enduring value of control beliefs across key life stages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 113642"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039313","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":"Promote or hinder? ERP evidence for selective effects of feedback on inhibitory control in trait procrastination","authors":"Yaqun Wen , Yue Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113656","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113656","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Trait procrastination is associated with difficulties in self-regulation and cognitive control, yet the mechanisms through which external feedback influences inhibitory performance remain unclear. The present study examined how immediate, trial-level performance feedback modulates response inhibition in individuals with high (HP) versus low (LP) trait procrastination, using a modified stop-signal task combined with event-related potentials (ERPs). Behaviorally, HP showed poorer inhibitory performance than LP in the no-feedback condition. Feedback had opposing effects across groups: it improved inhibitory efficiency in HP, reflected by longer stop-signal delays and shorter stop-signal reaction times, but impaired performance in LP. ERP results converged with these behavioral patterns. Feedback was associated with increased stop-P3 amplitudes in HP but reduced stop-P3 amplitudes in LP, indicating differential modulation of late-stage control engagement. In contrast, signal-locked N1 amplitudes were unaffected by feedback in either group, suggesting preserved early signal detection. Together, these findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences in self-regulation when evaluating the potential benefits of performance feedback.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 113656"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145981442","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":"Within-person dynamics of self-esteem and narcissism: An experience sampling study","authors":"Márton Engyel , Róbert Urbán , Naomi de Ruiter","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113674","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113674","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Building on recent advancements in the hierarchical models of trait narcissism, this study investigated the underlying processes linking positive and negative state self-esteem with narcissistic states. Across two 5-day experience sampling studies (<em>N</em> = 123 and <em>N</em> = 109), we applied a dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM) framework to differentiate contemporaneous and temporal associations. Our findings suggest that positive state self-esteem positively predicts grandiose narcissistic states, whereas vulnerable narcissistic states were positively linked to negative state self-esteem. Furthermore, these relationships were influenced by participants' experiences of positive and negative daily events. While trait-level grandiosity and vulnerability contributed to state-level narcissistic manifestations, our results suggest that these traits represent only one component of a broader dynamic system involving state self-esteem and daily experiences.</div><div>Framed within a complex dynamic systems perspective, our results highlight the importance of distinguishing between positive and negative self-esteem processes, as their situational activation may lead to distinct momentary self-experiences and co-occurring narcissistic coping responses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 113674"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146079353","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":"Eating disorders in the shadow of conflict: Risk factors in civilians exposed to war","authors":"Ora Peleg, Lior Gendelman","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113647","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113647","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Eating disorders (EDs) have been linked to emotional distress, yet underlying mechanisms during war remain unclear. This study examined associations between past and current stressful life events, differentiation of self, coping strategies, emotional distress, and EDs risk among 690 Israeli adults (75% female, mean age = 40) assessed two months after the outbreak of the Iron Swords War. Emotional distress mediated the associations between past/current stressful events, differentiation of self, and EDs risk; however, only current stressful life events showed additional indirect effects through coping, particularly emotion-focused coping/avoidance (χ<sup>2</sup>[18] = 28.35, <em>p</em> = .057; CFI = 0.993; NNFI = 0.970; RMSEA = 0.029). Participants scoring above the EAT-26 cutoff reported higher past stressful life events (F = 1.58, <em>p</em> = .023), emotion-focused coping/avoidance (F = 1.36, <em>p</em> = .002), anxiety (F = 1.19, <em>p</em> = .006), PTSD (F = 1.02, <em>p</em> = .001), and lower differentiation of self than those below the cutoff. Evacuees reported greater current stressful events (F = 6.83, <em>p</em> = .009, η<sup>2</sup> = 0.010), lower task-oriented coping (F = 5.33, <em>p</em> = .020, η<sup>2</sup> = 0.008), and higher PTSD (F = 4.58, <em>p</em> = .033, η<sup>2</sup> = 0.007). These findings enhance understanding of EDs risk factors during prolonged wartime.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 113647"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145981446","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":"Two faces of emotional competence: Unique roles of intrapersonal and interpersonal skills in adaptive functioning","authors":"Dorota Szczygieł , Gao-Xian Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113657","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113657","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Emotional competence (EC) encompasses a range of skills used to manage one's own emotions (intrapersonal EC) and to understand and respond to others' emotions (interpersonal EC). How do these theoretically distinct dimensions of EC relate to adaptive functioning? The present research reports three large-scale studies (<em>N</em> total = 2508 adults) using both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. Our findings largely replicate previous research while extending it across a large community sample and multiple analytic approaches, suggesting that the distinction between intrapersonal and interpersonal EC remains a plausible and statistically supported framework for conceptualizing EC. Intrapersonal EC was consistently associated with indicators of personal adaptive functioning (e.g., emotion regulation, life satisfaction, subjective health, happiness, fewer depressive symptoms), whereas interpersonal EC showed more selective associations, particularly with relational outcomes such as satisfaction with relationship status. Loneliness was concurrently associated with both dimensions. Longitudinally, intrapersonal EC was prospectively associated with subsequent emotion regulation strategies and happiness. Overall, the findings suggest that intra- and interpersonal EC represent distinct yet complementary emotional resources that are differentially associated with personal and relational adaptation, refining theoretical models of EC and informing interventions to promote well-being and relational adjustment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 113657"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145981439","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":"Ego, impulse, and opportunity: Mitigating the relationship between narcissism and self-interested unethical behavior","authors":"Caitlin C. Belfiore , Annika Hillebrandt","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113658","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113658","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Grandiose narcissism – a Dark personality trait characterized by entitlement and grandiosity – is a well-documented predictor of self-interested unethical behavior in the workplace (e.g., lying for self-gain). However, less is known about how organizational contexts can be designed to limit the expression of such behavior. Drawing on trait-activation theory, we examine whether two situational features—reduced opportunity for personal gain and demanding self-reflective deliberation—attenuate the relationship between grandiose narcissism and self-interested unethical behavior. Across a two-wave experiment with full-time employees (<em>N</em> = 164) that directly manipulated these situational features, results suggest that narcissistic tendencies are not expressed uniformly, but contingent on contextual affordances. Specifically, constraining opportunities for personal gain or demanding deliberation weakened the association between grandiose narcissism and unethical behavior. Theoretically, this research identifies situational boundary conditions that clarify when narcissistic traits are less likely to translate into unethical conduct. Practically, these findings provide a foundation for designing targeted organizational interventions that reduce opportunities for narcissistic self-interested unethical behavior.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 113658"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145981447","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":"How gender and SES moderate the links between teacher-student closeness and reading","authors":"Jing Huang , Tik-Sze Carrey Siu , Him Cheung","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113673","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2026.113673","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To examine how gender and SES predict teacher-student closeness and moderate its direct and mediated relations with reading, we analyzed data from 17,349 students (49% females; <em>M</em><sub>age</sub> = 73.45, <em>SD</em> = 4.48) with different ethnic backgrounds from The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K: 2011). Latent growth curve modelling showed that male and lower-SES students had lower teacher-student closeness with faster decline from kindergarten to Grade 2 than their female and higher-SES peers. The direct relation between early closeness and Grade 4 reading was stronger for the female than male students; decline in closeness negatively predicted later reading only for the female students. While Grade 3 cognitive flexibility mediated between early closeness and later reading in both genders, Grade 3 reading motivation mediated the relation only for the male students. SES moderated neither the direct nor the mediated association between closeness and reading. Hence, gender is more important than SES in the consideration of early teacher-student closeness in relation to later reading, although both demographic factors predict early closeness and its change over time.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 113673"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039251","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":"Links between dark personality constructs and time perspective: A meta-analysis","authors":"Charlotte Kinrade , Konrad S. Jankowski","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113637","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113637","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Dark personality constructs (psychopathy, sadism, Machiavellianism, and narcissism) are associated with antisocial behavior and fast life history strategies executed, amongst others, through specific temporal organization of behaviors like impulsivity or discounting of delayed gratifications. Time perspective offers a framework for understanding how individuals with dark personality tendencies situate the self and social experiences in time, potentially maintaining maladaptive behavioral patterns. The present meta-analysis synthesized data from studies examining relations between dark personality constructs and Zimbardo time perspective dimensions: future-orientation, present-fatalistic, present-hedonistic, past-positive, and past-negative. Across 11 studies, psychopathy and sadism were associated with both present orientations, as well as less positive and more negative past perspective, but demonstrated differential relations to future-orientation (negative and none, respectively). Machiavellianism demonstrated present-focused orientations, more past-negative, and was unrelated to past-positive and future-orientation. Narcissism was linked to more present-fatalistic, present-hedonistic, and past-negative orientations, but was unrelated to past-positive and future-orientation. Moderator analyses revealed that associations between narcissism and present-hedonistic were stronger in older individuals, whereas effects of psychopathy on present-fatalistic, present-hedonistic and past-negative were weaker in females. These findings clarify inconsistencies in the literature and suggest that dark traits are linked to distinct temporal biases that support self-serving behaviors, emblematic of fast life history.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"253 ","pages":"Article 113637"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145927459","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}
Lorenzo D. Stafford , Kayley Aggas , Jennifer Seddon , Richard J. Stevenson , Emily Nicholls , Christof Lutteroth , Matthew O. Parker
{"title":"Alcohol desire influenced by memory recollection and personality","authors":"Lorenzo D. Stafford , Kayley Aggas , Jennifer Seddon , Richard J. Stevenson , Emily Nicholls , Christof Lutteroth , Matthew O. Parker","doi":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113626","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.paid.2025.113626","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Alcohol use is driven not only by environmental cues but also by individual differences in motivational style. Recent work has demonstrated how memory cues can reduce subsequent desire for alcohol, yet it remains unclear how personality traits shape this effect. To address this, we recruited male and female participants (<em>N</em> = 169) who completed the behavioural inhibition/approach system (BIS/BAS) scales and were then cued to recall either a previous alcohol drinking episode and estimate the number of alcohol calories consumed (Alcohol Cue, AC) or a control (Neutral Cue, NC). They then rated their desire for alcohol (DAQ). Findings revealed lower desire for those in the AC compared to NC group and separately, a positive association between alcohol desire and BAS and particularly BAS-Drive. We further found that a measure of residual BAS (BAS less BIS) was positively related to desire but did not moderate the effect of memory cue. These findings suggest that being reminded of a previous drinking episode can exert a modest but consistent influence on alcohol desire.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48467,"journal":{"name":"Personality and Individual Differences","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 113626"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145840734","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}