Dominance, prosocial orientation, and female preferences: Do nice guys really finish last?

Three multimethod studies (total N?=?348) probed the hypothesis that women's attraction to men would be influenced by male prosocial orientation. In Study 1, prosocial men were rated as more physically and sexually attractive, socially desirable, and desirable as dates than were nonprosocial men. Dominant men were no more attractive than low-dominance men, and male dominance did not interact with male prosocial orientation in eliciting attraction from women. In Study 2, prosocial orientation was manipulated to avoid "personalism," but still affected attraction. Across all measures attraction was an interactive function of dominance and prosocial tendencies. Dominance alone did not increase any form of attraction measured. In Study 3, male prosocial tendencies and dominance interacted to affect women's attraction to men. Results are discussed in terms of the place of altruism and dominance in evolutionary approaches to human interpersonal attraction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperament, activity, and expectations for later personality development.

Temperament is assumed to be the biologically based, emotional core of personality. Adult personality is presumed to emerge developmentally from temperament. One mechanism that may link temperament to subsequent personality development involves caregiver expectancies. Stability in personality may be associated with caregiver expectancies about the meaning of temperament-based behavior. The expectancies, in combination with implicit theories of personality development, support stability and patterned change. This multimethod study examined the relations among motor activity differences, temperament, and expectations about future personality characteristics in preschool children. It was hypothesized that motor activity and temperament differences would be linked to teachers' expectations about later personality development. The hypothesis that expectations about such links would be moderated by the sex of the child was also examined. Outcomes generally corroborated hypotheses. Results are discussed in terms of personality development and age-related adaptations to social contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceiving interpersonal conflict and reacting to it: the case for agreeableness

Two converging, multimethod studies probed the hypothesis that individual differences in Agreeableness are related to patterns of interpersonal conflict. In Study 1, participants (N = 263) evaluated the efficacy of 11 modes of conflict resolution within the context of 5 different interpersonal relationships. Across all relationships, high- and low-agreeable participants rated negotiation and disengagement tactics as better choices that power assertion tactics. However, low-agreeable participants rated power assertion as a better choice than did high-agreeable participants. In Study 2, participants (N = 124) were assigned partners and were asked to resolve jointly 2 social conflict problems. Partners were videotaped, and observers coded behaviors. Participants also completed ratings of perceived conflict, partner perception, and liking of their partner. Agreeableness differences, sex of participant, and type of dyad partner were related to patterns of interpersonal conflict. Results were discussed in terms of personality and social influences during interpersonal conflict.     

The self as a mediator between personality and adjustment.

The self can be conceptualized as a mediating agent that translates personality into situated goal-directed activities and adaptation. This research used a level-of-analysis approach to link personality dimensions (Level 1) to self-systems (Level II) and to teacher ratings of adjustment in African American, Mexican American, and European American students (N?=?317). The authors hypothesized that links among aspects of self-esteem and teacher ratings of adjustment would be domain specific, and those links to dimensions of the 5-factor model would reflect the domain specificity. Structural equation modeling corroborated hypotheses about domain specificity in links between adjustment and 5-factor dimensions. Results were discussed in terms of levels of analysis for personality structure, personality development, and age-related adaptations to social contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)