Description: What happens, inevitably, when you give someone power over others? Baron Acton said it very succinctly, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Too true, right? Well no one, and especially psychological researchers and anyone interested in human behavior should be comfortable saying that a saying perfectly captures human behavior. The author… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Personality
ALIEN ABDUCTION! well, or maybe, something else?
Description: Apparently about half of people when surveyed will say they believe in the existence of Aliens (little green people, or at least of some colour or other). There are also quite a few people (in fact, 3.7 million Americans in one poll) who believe they have experienced some form of alien abduction. What hypotheses… Read more »
What are chemesthesis, somatosensation, or trigeminal sense? Eat a Jalapeno pepper and find out!
Description: Growing up I had a couple of friends who were always daring or challenging one another with feats of eating. “I bet I can eat 15 cheeseburgers in 1 hour. I bet I can finish this whole bag of puffed wheat cereal in 30 minutes”… and it went on and on. It stopped when… Read more »
Hiring and Other Prediction Decisions: Interviews Help, Right?
Description: Imagine you are going to hire someone to work for you. What information would you want to gather before making a hiring decision? Would you want to interview the applicants who looked good on paper? How much weight would the interview have in your decision about who to hire? How about if you were… Read more »
Rorschach Redux
Description: A little while back I posted on an article that was looking at new ways to use the Rorschach “Inkblot” Test. In that post and in the accompanying article the discussion was somewhat skeptical about whether or not the Rorschach “Inkblot” Test has any valid place in current clinical, psychiatric or forensic practice. I… Read more »
What Does Humility Look Like as a Personality Dimension?
Description: If I told you that an under-researched personality dimension involves humility what comes to mind? What would distinguish a humble person from a non-humble person particularly in terms of their own thoughts, beliefs and ideas? How might the interpersonal interactions of people high on this dimension differ from those of people low on this… Read more »
Is Personality Contagious?
Description: Ok, if you had to bet where would you put your money? On a claim stating that personality is the result of inborn influences such as temperament or on a claim that personality is the result of who you hung around with as a child? Once you have thought it through and made your… Read more »
Impulsivity: What Does It Predict?
Description: Given a choice would you rather have $40 right now or $80 next month? Seriously, which would you likely pick? Picking $40 now may seem like a small thing but it may reflect a fairly broad reaching underlying cognitive style of impulsivity. What sorts of day to day behaviors do you think would be… Read more »
Birth Order and Relationships: What Matters and How Much?
Description: What is your birth order within your family? Were you an only child? A first born? A middle child? A youngest child? What about your friends or your partner? Think about your initial reactions or your stereotyped (off the top of your head) thoughts about how First, Middle, Youngest or Only children vary in… Read more »
Narcissists + Power = ?
Description: Do you know what makes someone a Narcissist? Or, perhaps more simply put, are you a narcissist (rate yourself on a 1 (NO) to 7 (YES) point scale). Narcissists are people who feel superior, entitled and who have a constant desire for admiration from others. Know anyone like that? If you do, with them… Read more »
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