Béla Birkás

Machiavellianism and Parental Attachment in Adolescence

Machiavellianism is a well-studied topic in several branches of psychology. Still, it has received little attention from a developmental perspective. Previous retrospective studies linked Machiavellianism to poor parental care, but actual reports of adolescents who live in their family of origin have been ignored so far. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between Machiavellianism and parental attachment in adolescence and possible sex differences based on life history theory. An adolescent sample (N = 376; 17.27 ± .77 years of age) completed the Mach-IV and the maternal and paternal versions of revised Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA-R). According to our results, significant sex differences emerged in the relationship between Machiavellianism and attachment to parents. For girls, maternal alienation proved to be the only significant predictor of Machiavellianism, whereas for boys, low intensity and quality of verbal communication with father predicted higher levels of Machiavellianism. Results are discussed from an evolutionary perspective of socialization and from the perspective of emotion regulation.

GENEROSITY, REPUTATION, AND COSTLY SIGNALING: A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF ALTRUISM TOWARD UNFAMILIAR PEOPLE

Generosity seems to be a cross-culturally ubiquitous feature of life. Helping others is considered as a costly act through which the altruists gain popularity and reputation in their refer- ence group and this elevated reputation will pay off for them in future social relationships. This costly signaling theory has been widely tested in pre-industrial societies. Our purpose was to ex- amine if the assumptions of CST are verifiable in modern, industrial societies. Using a complex experimental procedure with four subsequent phases we could examine reputation-gaining in real- istic conditions. We found that more people are willing to offer help to a charity organization when their group mates are aware of their altruistic intention than those whose offer was con- cealed from the rest of the group. In return, the offered charity service increased the altruists reputation in the group; in the light of sociometric surveys they gained more popularity than the others. Finally, it turned out that whereas men are more likely to offer potential help in the pres- ence of others, women provide more actual help.

Early-Life Stressors, Personality Development, and Fast Life Strategies: An Evolutionary Perspective on Malevolent Personality Features

Life history theory posits that behavioral adaptation to various environmental (ecological and/or social) conditions encountered during childhood is regulated by a wide variety of different traits resulting in various behavioral strategies. Unpredictable and harsh conditions tend to produce fast life history strategies, characterized by early maturation, a higher number of sexual partners to whom one is less attached, and less parenting of offspring. Unpredictability and harshness not only affects dispositional social and emotional functioning, but may also promote the development of personality traits linked to higher rates of instability in social relationships or more self-interested behavior. Similarly, detrimental childhood experiences, such as poor parental care or high parent-child conflict, affect personality development and may create a more distrustful, malicious interpersonal style. The aim of this brief review is to survey and summarize findings on the impact of negative early-life experiences on the development of personality and fast life history strategies. By demonstrating that there are parallels in adaptations to adversity in these two domains, we hope to lend weight to current and future attempts to provide a comprehensive insight of personality traits and functions at the ultimate and proximate levels.

Self-Rated Attractiveness Moderates the Relationship Between Dark Personality Traits and Romantic Ideals in Women

Our study investigated the different mate preferences of the Dark Triad in women. In addition to former studies, we also examined the effect of self-evaluated attractiveness on these preferences. Attractiveness is a high-valued partner attribute, especially in short-term relationships. Accordingly, we predicted that women high in Dark Triad traits prefer characteristics related to short-term mating, because they possess traits favored in short-term relationships. Associations between ideal partner standards and Dark Triad traits were investigated with self-reports: 529 female undergraduate students filled out the Short Dark Triad and the Ideal Standards Scale. Results showed that all three Dark Triad traits were related to unique preferences of mate qualities corresponding to their self-rated partner qualities. Furthermore, despite the differences between the three Dark Triad traits, women’s partner preferences were associated with their self-evaluated attractiveness (an indicator of mate value). In summary, according to our findings, qualities advertised by Dark Triad women as potential partner influence their expectation or preferences regarding mates, suggesting homogamous mate choice on the levels of these qualities.

Basic Values and the Dark Triad Traits

In samples from America, Brazil, and Hungary (N = 937), we examined the associations between the Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) and individual differences in excitement (i.e., valuing personal enjoyment), promotion (i.e., valuing achievements), existence (i.e., valuing physical survival), suprapersonal (i.e., valuing abstract ideas), interactive (i.e., valuing social relationships), and normative (i.e., valuing cultural norms) values. The traits were associated with the values of excitement and promotion, psychopathy was associated with a diminished emphasis on existence, psychopathy and Machiavellianism were associated with limited interactive or normative values, whereas narcissism was associated with a greater emphasis on suprapersonal, interactive, and normative values. We also found that sex differences in psychopathy were mediated by individual differences in the existence and normative values. Results are discussed from a life history framework.

Examining the Deviation from Balanced Time Perspective in the Dark Triad throughout Adulthood

Individuals who score high on Dark Triad (DT) personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, subclinical narcissism and subclinical psychopathy) have been found to prefer a fast life strategy with enhanced motivation for immediate resource acquisition and short-term benefits. In line with these points, recent studies have found evidence showing that DT traits are associated with a biased, strongly present-oriented time perspective. In the current study, we aimed to examine whether the temporal attitude of individuals high in DT is deviant from a balanced time perspective (BTP) to a significant extent. To achieve this aim, we applied two operationalizations published in earlier studies to quantify BTP: the Deviation from Balanced Time Perspective coefficient (DBTP), calculated as the difference between individuals’ time perception and the optimal time perspective, as well as the person-oriented approach of identifying groups of individuals with similar time perception. Importantly, the age of participants (N = 346) covered a long and continuous period of adulthood—from the young adulthood to the elderly—in order to examine the moderating effect of age on the association of DT and BTP. Machiavellianism and psychopathy were both found to be clearly deviant from a BTP. In contrast, higher scores on narcissism were positively associated with a BTP profile. The DBTP analysis, however, suggested that this beneficial effect of narcissism was only prevalent among the elderly individuals.