Mitja D. Back

Facebook Profiles Reflect Actual Personality, Not Self-Idealization

More than 700 million people worldwide now have profiles on on-line social networking sites (OSNs), such as MySpace and Facebook (ComScore, 2008); OSNs have become integrated into the milieu of modern-day social interactions and are widely used as a primary medium for communication and networking (boyd & Ellison, 2007; Valkenburg & Peter, 2009). Despite the increasing integration of OSN activity into everyday life, however, there has been no research on the most fundamental question about OSN profiles: Do they convey accurate impressions of profile owners? A widely held assumption, supported by content analyses, suggests that OSN profiles are used to create and communicate idealized selves (Manago, Graham, Greenfield, & Salimkhan, 2008). According to this idealized virtual-identity hypothesis, profile owners display idealized characteristics that do not reflect their actual personalities. Thus, personality impressions based on OSN profiles should reflect profile owners’ ideal-self views rather than what the owners are actually like. A contrasting view holds that OSNs may constitute an extended social context in which to express one’s actual personality characteristics, thus fostering accurate interpersonal perceptions. OSNs integrate various sources of personal information that mirror those found in personal environments, private thoughts, facial images, and social behavior, all of which are known to contain valid information about personality (Ambady & Skowronski, 2008; Funder, 1999; Hall & Bernieri, 2001; Kenny, 1994; Vazire & Gosling, 2004). Moreover, creating idealized identities should be hard to accomplish because (a) OSN profiles include information about one’s reputation that is difficult to control (e.g., wall posts) and (b) friends provide accountability and subtle feedback on one’s profile. Accordingly, the extended real-life hypothesis predicts that people use OSNs to communicate their real personality. If this supposition is true, lay observers should be able to accurately infer the personality characteristics of OSN profile owners. In the present study, we tested the two competing hypotheses. Method Participants

Why are narcissists so charming at first sight? Decoding the narcissism–popularity link at zero acquaintance.

On the basis of a realistic behavioral approach, the authors showed that narcissists are popular at zero acquaintance and aimed to explain why this is the case. In Study 1, a group of psychology freshmen (N = 73) judged each other on the basis of brief self-introductions using a large round-robin design (2,628 dyads). Three main findings were revealed: First, narcissism leads to popularity at first sight. Second, the aspects of narcissism that are most maladaptive in the long run (exploitativeness/entitlement) proved to be most attractive at zero acquaintance. Third, an examination of observable verbal and nonverbal behaviors as well as aspects of physical appearance provided an explanation for why narcissists are more popular at first sight. Results were confirmed using judgments of uninvolved perceivers under 3 different conditions for which the amount of available information was varied systematically: (a) full information (video and sound, Study 2), (b) nonverbal information only (video only, Study 3), or (c) physical information only (still photograph of clothing, Study 4). These findings have important implications for understanding the inter- and intrapersonal dynamics of narcissism.

PERSOC: A Unified Framework for Understanding the Dynamic Interplay of Personality and Social Relationships

The interplay of personality and social relationships is as fascinating as it is complex and it pertains to a wide array of largely separate research domains. Here, we present an integrative and unified framework for analysing the complex dynamics of personality and social relationships (PERSOC). Basic principles and general processes on the individual and dyadic level are outlined to show how personality and social relationships influence each other and develop over time. PERSOC stresses the importance of social behaviours and interpersonal perceptions as mediating processes organized in social interaction units. The framework can be applied to diverse social relationships such as first encounters, short–term acquaintances, friendships, relationships between working group members, educational or therapeutic settings, romantic relationships and family relationships. It has important consequences for how we conceptualize, understand, and investigate personality and social relationships. Copyright

From dating to mating and relating: Predictors of initial and long‐term outcomes of speed‐dating in a community sample

We studied initial and long–term outcomes of speed–dating over a period of 1 year in a community sample involving 382 participants aged 18–54 years. They were followed from their initial choices of dating partners up to later mating (sexual intercourse) and relating (romantic relationship). Using Social Relations Model analyses, we examined evolutionarily informed hypotheses on both individual and dyadic effects of participants’ physical characteristics, personality, education and income on their dating, mating and relating. Both men and women based their choices mainly on the dating partners’ physical attractiveness, and women additionally on mens sociosexuality, openness to experience, shyness, education and income. Choosiness increased with age in men, decreased with age in women and was positively related to popularity among the other sex, but mainly for men. Partner similarity had only weak effects on dating success. The chance for mating with a speed–dating partner was 6%, and was increased by mens short–term mating interest; the chance for relating was 4%, and was increased by womens long–term mating interest. Copyright

A closer look at first sight: Social relations lens model analysis of personality and interpersonal attraction at zero acquaintance

Based on a new theoretical framework—the Social Relations Lens Model—this study examined the influence of personality on real–life attraction at zero acquaintance. A group of psychology freshmen (N = 73) was investigated upon encountering one another for the first time. Personality traits, attraction ratings and metaperceptions were assessed using a large round–robin design (2628 dyads). In line with our model, personality differentially predicted who was a liker and who expected to be liked (perceiver effects), who was popular and who was seen as a liker (target effects), as well as who liked whom and who expected to be liked by whom (relationship effects). Moreover, the influence of personality on attraction was mediated by observable physical, nonverbal and audible cues. Results allowed a closer look at first sight and underline the importance of combining componential and process approaches in understanding the interplay of personality and social phenomena. Copyright

Becoming Friends by Chance

May the development of friendship be due to chance? Since the days of the ancient Greek philosophers, friendship has been conceived of as an intentional choice based on common values and interests (cf. Blieszner & Adams, 1992). However, contemporary experimental psychological research has shown that many choices are not exclusively made on the basis of intentional and controllable processes, but are also influenced by superficial situational factors and automatic processes (e.g., Bargh & Chartrand, 1999; Dijksterhuis, Bos, Nordgren, & van Baaren, 2006; Pelham, Carvallo, & Jones, 2005). This might also hold true for the social choices that people make in everyday life. The famous actor Sir Peter Ustinov (1979) lent his support to this view when he stated, ‘‘Contrary to general belief, I do not believe that friends are necessarily the people you like best, they are merely the people who got there first’’ (p. 93). It has, in fact, been demonstrated that mere similarity of age, marital status, or ethnic background influences the development of friendships (e.g., AhYun, 2002; Newcomb, 1961). Moreover, mere proximity (e.g., living nearby—Festinger, Schachter, & Back, 1950; Latané, Liu, Nowak, Bonevento, & Zheng, 1995; Nahemow & Lawton, 1975), as well as mere assignment to the same group (e.g., being in the same work unit—Hogg & Tindale, 2001; Segal, 1974), increases the likelihood of becoming friends. Do these involuntary factors also have an influence when they are restricted to initial encounters, rather than persisting over a longer period of time? This study examined whether randomly determined physical proximity and group assignment during an initial encounter are each sufficient to influence the likelihood of a friendship developing in a real-life context.

Measuring Task-Switching Ability in the Implicit Association Test

Recently, the role of method-specific variance in the Implicit Association Test (IAT) was examined (McFarland & Crouch, 2002; Mierke & Klauer, 2003). This article presents a new content-unspecific control task for the assessment of task-switching ability within the IAT methodology. Study 1 showed that this task exhibited good internal consistency and stability. Studies 2-4 examined method-specific variance in the IAT and showed that the control task is significantly associated with conventionally scored IAT effects of the IAT-Anxiety. Using the D measures proposed by Greenwald, Nosek, and Banaji (2003), the amount of method-specific variance in the IAT-Anxiety could be reduced. Possible directions for future research are outlined.

Validity of the Five-Factor Model for the Implicit Self-Concept of Personality

The authors adapted the Implicit Association Test (IAT) in order to assess the implicit self-concept of personality. In two studies (N = 106 and N = 92), confirmatory factor analyses validated the five-factor model for the implicit personality self-concept. Internal consistencies of the IAT proved satisfactory for all Big Five personality dimensions. Correlations between the personality IAT and different self-report measures of personality were generally small, and significant only for Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Patterns of means and factor intercorrelations were, however, highly similar for implicit and explicit personality measures.

Wherever I May Roam: Processes of Self-Esteem Development From Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood in the Context of International Student Exchange

Previous studies on self-esteem development show substantial changes as well as interindividual differences in change from adolescence to young adulthood. However, the processes underlying these developmental trajectories are still not well understood. The aim of the present study was to shed light on the macro- and microprocesses of self-esteem development. We investigated a sample of 876 German high school students (M = 16.0 years at Time 1) participating in an international exchange year. Exchange students provided 3 waves of trait self-esteem data (shortly before they departed, immediately after return, and 1 year later), as well as 9 monthly state measures of self-esteem and social inclusion during their stay abroad. In addition, a control group of high school students who stayed in Germany (N = 714) provided 2 waves of trait self-esteem data. From a macroperspective, results showed an effect of student exchange on trait self-esteem development: Exchange students showed a steeper mean-level increase and a lower rank-order stability compared with control students. Zooming in on the microprocesses underlying these developmental patterns, we found trait changes in exchange students to be mediated by state changes in self-esteem during their exchange. These fluctuations in state self-esteem were found to be predicted by feelings of social inclusion in the host country, and vice versa, providing support for both sociometer and self-broadcasting perspectives on self-esteem dynamics. In sum, our findings emphasize the importance of incorporating a microanalytical approach when investigating self-esteem development by showing that the environment triggers changes in this relatively stable personality trait through changes in states.

The Emotional Timeline of September 11, 2001

September 11 was a traumatic event, with thousands of deaths and enormous individual and collective consequences. In the aftermath of September 11, people experienced a marked increase in psychological distress (Cohn, Mehl, & Pennebaker, 2004; Schlenger et al., 2002), which triggered a number of value-laden cognitions and emotions (e.g., willingness to sacrifice civil liberties, out-group derogation, moral outrage) and ultimately led to consequential political and societal outcomes (Skitka, Bauman, & Mullen, 2004). However, the immediate emotional reactions on the day of the attacks have not been studied previously. How did the dynamic course of sadness, anxiety, or anger develop? What kind of specific events induced these negative emotions? In the study reported here, we investigated the timeline of naturally unfolding negative emotions in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks.