Understanding the expression and implications of deceptive affectionate messages

Affectionate messages are important in romantic relationships as they are linked to multiple emotional, physical, and relational benefits (e.g., Floyd, 2006a). When examining affection, it is important to distinguish that feelings of affection and the communication of affection are two unique processes that theorists argue covary. Yet, deception researchers have found that individuals routinely lie to their non-married romantic partners about their feelings (DePaulo & Kasy, 1998; DePaulo, Kashy, Kirkendol, Wyer, & Epstein, 1996). This dissertation, composed of two studies, examined how individuals in non-married romantic relationships communicated deceptive affection and the implications of such messages. Study one used a week long diary method in which participants recorded instances of deceptive affection and rumination. Results indicated that individuals communicated approximately three deceptive affectionate messages (DAMs) to their partners in a week, and the type of DAM was related to rumination. These messages were most often used to conceal negative feelings and expressed for prosocial reasons. Study two was an experiment that examined the emotional (guilt and shame) and physiological (heart rate and blood pressure) implications of expressing DAMs to romantic partners. A writing method was used where participants wrote for 20 minutes about either a DAM, honest affection, or plans with friends (control). Results indicated that the writing method did not result in any physiological changes. Deceptive motives did not influence deceivers\u27 feelings of guilt and shame. Together, deceptive affection appears to be a message that partners routinely communicate to one another resulting in minimal emotional and physiological implications

Underlying Psychological Processes of Situational Judgment Tests: Towards a Theory-Driven Integration of Person-Situation Interactions

In recent years, more and more psychological assessments aimed at capturing interactions between the person and situations. Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs) are built on a similar premise, as they were designed as low-fidelity simulations of situations. These tests incorporate short situation descriptions with several behavioral response options. However, the validity and underlying psychological processes of SJTs generally remained subject to debate as a growing body of research suggested that SJTs may reflect context-independent measures. Within this debate, other scholars argued in favor of the relevance of person-situation processes for SJT responses. So far, sufficient evidence that unravels the true underlying processes of SJTs is missing. This dissertation aims at closing this gap and at contributing to a deeper understanding of SJTs as psychological as-sessment methods. Four empirical research papers provide theory-driven insights on context-independent and person-situation processes as potential determinants of SJT responses. First, the construct-related validity of Implicit Trait Policies is examined and therefore the notion of SJTs as context-independent measures. Next, situation construal (i.e., the perception of situations), and processes postulated by Trait Activation Theory are considered as relevant theoretical underpinnings for SJTs. Results overall supported the relevance of person-situation interactions as underlying processes and particularly challenged SJTs as measures of Implicit Trait Policies. Especially situation construal explained SJT responses consistently across three studies. However, the results also showed that not situation descriptions but response options were often crucial for relevant person-situation processes as captured in SJT response. This lack of impact of situation descriptions also potentially limited the explanatory power of Trait Activation Theory in the context of SJT items. The results are discussed in regard to the debate about underlying processes of SJT responses. All in all, these studies raise the question whether key design features of common SJTs (i.e. situation descriptions and response options) are optimally developed for the assessment of person-situation interactions. The final paper of this dissertation introduces Standardized State Assessment as narrower and theory-driven methodological framework for the assessment of psychological states in hypothetical situations. Limitations of this dissertation, as well as implications for research and practice of psychological assessments based on situation descriptions are discussed.Die Berücksichtigung psychologischer Prozesse, die die Interaktion zwischen Personeneigenschaften und Situationen widerspiegeln, hat in den letzten Jahren für die psychologische Diagnostik an Bedeutung gewonnen. Dieser Prozess zeigt sich auch in Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs), die ursprünglich als simulationsbasiertes Verfahren entwickelt wurden. Diese Tests enthalten kurze Situationsbeschreibungen und mehrere verhaltensbasierte Antwortoptionen. Die Validität und die zugrundeliegenden psychologischen Prozesse von SJTs sind bislang allerdings nicht abschließend geklärt. Insbesondere neure Studien legen nahe, dass SJTs kontextunabhängige Messungen repräsentieren. Gleichzeitig existieren mehrere Argumente, die für situationsabhängige Prozesse in SJTs sprechen. Bislang fehlen jedoch ausführliche und abschließende Untersuchungen dieser Prozesse. Diese Dissertation möchte diese Lücke schließen und zu einem tieferen Verständnis von SJTs als Methode der psychologischen Diagnostik beitragen. Anhand von vier empirischen Artikeln werden theoriegeleitete Annahmen über kontext- und situationsabhängige Prozesse, die SJTs zugrunde liegen könnten, untersucht. Zunächst steht die Konstruktvalidität von Implicit Trait Policies im Vordergrund, die als erklärendes Konstrukt für SJTs als kontextunabhängige Messungen vorgebracht wurden. Weiterhin werden die Situationswahrnehmung und zentrale Aspekte der Trait Activation Theory als relevantes theoretisches Gerüst für SJTs untersucht. Die Ergebnisse unterstützen insgesamt die Relevanz situationsabhängiger Prozesse für SJTs und Zweifeln insbesondere an der Validität von Implicit Trait Policies. Vor allem die Situationswahrnehmung von SJT Items konnte das Antwortverhalten konsistent über drei Studien hinweg vorhersagen. Allerdings zeigte sich auch, dass hauptsächlich Antwortoptionen und nicht Situationsbeschreibungen entscheidend für situationsbasierte Prozesse in SJTs sind. Dies könnte auch die fehlende Relevanz der Trait Activation Theory für SJTs erklären. Die Ergebnisse werden im Kontext der Debatte über zugrundeliegende Prozesse von SJTs betrachtet. Insgesamt werfen die Ergebnisse die Frage auf, ob bisherige Konstruktionsweisen von SJTs (d.h. Situationsbeschreibungen und Antwortoptionen) eine optimale Erfassung von Interaktionen zwischen Personeneigenschaften und Situationen ermöglicht. Der letzte Artikel dieser Dissertation schlägt Standardized State Assessment als enger gefasstes und theoriegeleitetes, methodisches Modell für die Messung psychologischer Momentanzustände vor. Einschränkungen dieser Dissertation, sowie auch Konsequenzen für die Anwendung von und Forschung über psychologische Diagnostik mittels Situationsbeschreibungen werden diskutiert

Cross-cultural evidence for the influence of positive self-evaluation on cross-cultural differences in well-being

Poster Session F - Well-Being: abstract F197We propose that cultural norms about realism and hedonism contribute to the cross-cultural differences in well-being over and above differences in objective living conditions. To test this hypothesis, we used samples from China and the United States. Results supported the mediating role of positive evaluative bias in cross-cultural differences in well-being.postprin

Values and need satisfaction across 20 world regions

Poster Session F - Motivation/Goals: abstract F78Intrinsic valuing predicts the satisfaction of psychological needs (Niemiec, Ryan, & Deci, 2009). We conceptually replicate and extend this finding across 20 world regions. In multi-level models, Schwartz’s (1992) self-transcendence value was positively related to autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction, even when controlling for the Big Five.postprin

Exploring the relationships between self-presentation and self-esteem of mothers in social media in Russia

Majority of parents use social media platforms, with young mothers being the most active users. Academic research has only recently started addressing the impact of social media on mothers, although they are one of the most engaged online audiences. Instagram and Facebook perceived as positive types of social media, where users post positive content to increase encouraging response from their subscribers and thus enhance their self-esteem. This also relates to mothers portraying positive self-presentation online, therefore enhancing their parental self-esteem. This study provides in-depth analysis of 23 popular online profiles of mothers with more than thirty thousand followers on Instagram and 12 interviews with socially active mothers. This work focuses on mothers in Russia. Research findings show mothers with children of pre-school age are the most regular users of social media. This is due to time availability, as majority of these mothers are on maternity leave and due to little knowledge in child related aspects, which leads to lower self-esteem. They often look for assurance in online community. Mothers that are more confident have positive attitude towards social media communication. Mothers with initially lower self-esteem feel under pressure to maintain positive image to be in line with other mothers' presentation on social media. Mothers find Facebook more informative and supportive vehicle of communication than Instagram

Exploring the relationships between self-presentation and self-esteem of mothers in social media in Russia

Majority of parents use social media platforms, with young mothers being the most active users. Academic research has only recently started addressing the impact of social media on mothers, although they are one of the most engaged online audiences. Instagram and Facebook perceived as positive types of social media, where users post positive content to increase encouraging response from their subscribers and thus enhance their self-esteem. This also relates to mothers portraying positive self-presentation online, therefore enhancing their parental self-esteem. This study provides in-depth analysis of 23 popular online profiles of mothers with more than thirty thousand followers on Instagram and 12 interviews with socially active mothers. This work focuses on mothers in Russia. Research findings show mothers with children of pre-school age are the most regular users of social media. This is due to time availability, as majority of these mothers are on maternity leave and due to little knowledge in child related aspects, which leads to lower self-esteem. They often look for assurance in online community. Mothers that are more confident have positive attitude towards social media communication. Mothers with initially lower self-esteem feel under pressure to maintain positive image to be in line with other mothers' presentation on social media. Mothers find Facebook more informative and supportive vehicle of communication than Instagram

The Influence of Self-Generated and Third-Party Claims Online: Perceived Self-Interest as an Explanatory Mechanism

Over the past two decades, communication technology scholars have examined how viewers evaluate the authenticity of information online, with particular attention given to how self versus third-party claims differ in their degree of influence. We examine how self-interest perceptions serve an important explanatory function in the logic of warranting theory and help account for how people evaluate content online. Our results document how the source and valence of a message can interact to affect perceptions of source self-interest, which, in turn, affect perceptions of source trustworthiness, message accuracy, and, ultimately, evaluations of an online target. The findings establish boundary conditions for the warranting principle and our discussion offers insight into the production and evaluation of online claims

Age differences in facial first impressions of traits associated with trustworthiness

Older adults are more susceptible to becoming fraud victims due to increased generalised trust in others for assistance, leading to deception. Age differences in first impressions of unfamiliar faces on traits associated with trustworthiness was explored in this study. Investigating the various interpretations of trustworthiness across age has not been previously led. Using a data-driven approach, the key traits interpreted from trustworthiness were used in a trait rating task. Older adults provided higher ratings and showed an own-age bias for the traits trustworthy, honest, reliable, and loyal compared to younger adults, but not for the trait considerate. Mean trait ratings from younger adults did not differ across face age however, older faces were perceived as more reliable over younger faces across both age groups. Strong positive correlations were found across all traits. These were consistent with the single dimension found through a principal component analysis, which revealed that across all traits, trustworthiness was the most appropriate label to represent the dimension. Both age groups associated the same faces when rating the traits across both face age categories. The highest and lowest rated face averages were constructed, showing that the highest old and young averages were female and smiling across all traits. These findings highlight some age differences in facial first impressions of trustworthiness as well as the efficacy of the original trustworthiness dimension, based on social evaluations found from previous research

The Dark Triad of Personality: A Discussion of the Moral and Evolutionary Implications

Individuals who exhibit the Dark Triad traits of personality are considered to be among the most troublesome members of society. This review seeks to investigate how the dark traits displayed by these persons adversely impact their moral behavior as a product of evolutionary development and adaptation, and as mediated by the BFAS aspect of Compassion. Participants in the present study completed an extensive questionnaire that included measures of general personality traits, psychopathy, the Dark Triad of personality, assignment of moral weight, sociosexuality, infidelity, and myriad additional demographic features. Predictions for the correlations between the Dark Triad traits, moral assignment, Compassion, and evolutionary based measures were generally supported