Craig A. Foster

Narcissism and Commitment in Romantic Relationships: An Investment Model Analysis

Two studies examined narcissism and commitment in ongoing romantic relationships. In Study 1, narcissism was found to be negatively related to commitment. Mediational analyses further revealed that this was primarily a result of narcissists’ perception of alternatives to their current relationship. Study 2 replicated these findings with an additional measure of alternatives. Again, narcissists reported less commitment to their ongoing romantic relationship. This link was mediated by both perception of alternatives and attention to alternative dating partners. The utility of an interdependence approach to understanding the role of personality in romantic relationships is discussed.

Injustice and Powerseeking

Lay perception and scientific accounts of powerseeking are rather uniformly negative, portraying powerseeking as dispositionally driven behavior with self-interested or antisocial origins. The present research suggests that powerseeking may be prosocially motivated, with situational rather than exclusively dispositional origins. Two experiments demonstrated that powerseeking motivation and powerseeking behavior are reliably motivated by the perception of injustice. Both experiments revealed that injustice-inspired powerseeking is mediated by the degree to which a situation is perceived to be wrong, violates beliefs regarding fairness, and inspires feelings of anger or upset. In addition, Experiment 2 revealed that the scope of justice concerns is relatively broad, in that powerseeking is not limited to injustice involving close victims.

Freefall, self-efficacy, and leading in dangerous contexts.

We examined whether completion of a military Freefall parachuting program enhanced self-efficacy in the domains of leader self-control and leader assertiveness. The Freefall program was particularly suited for self-efficacy development because Freefall required personal mastery to overcome a substantial perceived risk. We surveyed participants at the beginning and end of the Freefall program. We also distributed a subsequent survey nine months later that allowed us to compare leader self-efficacy as a function of participation in Freefall and a similarly risky but less mastery-oriented Soaring program (i.e., flying gliders). The obtained results indicated that successful performance in Freefall, but not in Soaring, contributed to leader self-control and leader assertiveness. The implications for leading in dangerous and traditional contexts are discussed.

Leadership Education and Assessment: A Developmental Approach

The number of leadership education and development programs has increased substantially over the past few decades. However, deliberate assessment strategies aimed at understanding actual student development have not kept pace. The primary reason for this limitation likely involves the challenges that are associated with this type of assessment. When examining leadership one is not only interested in the mere acquisition and retention of knowledge, but the actual application and practice of such knowledge. There are a host of challenges that stand in the way of such assessment. In the present paper we call attention to several of these challenges in an effort to understand what effective leader education assessment could look like. Additionally, we offer two examples of how intentional assessment strategies can be implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of leader education and development.

Are secret relationships hot, then not? Romantic secrecy as a function of relationship duration.

ABSTRACT Are secret romances alluring or aversive? One theory suggests that romantic secrecy increases obsessive preoccupation with romantic partners and thereby enhances romantic relationships. Another theory suggests that romantic secrecy is burdensome and thereby undermines romantic relationships. We sought to rectify these conflicting perspectives by examining romantic secrecy and relationship duration using a large, Internet-based sample (N = 564). We predicted that romantic secrecy would have a positive influence in newer romantic relationships (obsessive preoccupation theory) and a negative influence in older romantic relationships (burden theory). In contrast, the obtained results indicate that romantic secrecy is a burden to both new and old romantic relationships

Can I see the real me? Leadership ability and the better-than-average effect

ABSTRACT Military organizations typically emphasize the importance of leadership. The quality of military leadership might be inhibited because individuals tend to overestimate their respective leadership abilities. We hypothesized that military professionals generally overestimate how well they lead compared to their peers (Hypothesis 1). We also hypothesized that an egocentric bias, where self-ratings are weighted more strongly than other-ratings, contributes to this better-than-average effect (Hypothesis 2). The results obtained across two studies supported both hypotheses. Most notably, 242 of 251 United States Air Force Academy cadets and 31 of 34 United States Air Force officers rated themselves as above average compared to their peers. The obtained results have important implications for understanding the better-than-average effect generally and leadership in military and nonmilitary organizations.

Costs and contexts: factors affecting self-report of concussion in a military academy

Objective To understand the factors affecting the decision to self-report a concussion – particularly among sub-groups like athletes and future pilots. Design Survey. Setting A United States military academy. Participants Voluntarily participatingcadets (n=2,503, 23.9%=female). Assessment of risk factors NCAA Division I athlete status, future pilot status, gender, school year were examined as factors affecting self-report. Outcome measure Anticipated Self-Report (ASR) of concussion on a scale from 1–9 (most to least likely to self-report). Cadets completed a 2-page survey matching ASR to demographic risk factors (above), and to self-report questions assessing Costs, Rewards, Attitude, Subjective Norms, Self-Efficacy, and Social Support. Main results Cadets demonstrated an overall willingness to self-report a concussion – indicated by a mean ASR score of 6.07 (95% CI=5.97–6.17, SD=2.47, median=7.00, n=2.332) above the scale midpoint. Costs (r=−0.61, p<0.001), Rewards (r=0.67, p<0.001) and Attitude (r=0.70, p<0.001) were highly, significantly predictive of ASR. Cadet sub-populations revealed the importance of specific costs. Aspiring pilots – concerned about concussions affecting their pilot qualification status –steadily decreased ASR by year, while non-pilot cadets retained consistent ASR, shown by Future Pilot x Class Year ANOVA (F(3,2196)=11.78, p<0.001). NCAA Athletes, conversely, showed no ASR differences from non-athletes, t(2251)=0.16, p=0.87, CI =±0.23. Conclusions Symptom self-report is a crucial factor in all stages of concussion care. Costs and rewards affecting self-report may have unique contexts that drive unexpected self-report patterns. Here, aspiring pilots showed lower self-report behaviour while athletes showed average self-report behaviour – based on perceived costs to career aspirations. These data will be used to design interventions to increase to concussion self-report. Competing interests All authors received funding from the National Collegiate Athletic Association and Department of Defense (NCAA Mind Matters Challenge).