Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.Ībstract = 'Negative discipline has been linked to childhood externalizing behaviour However, relatively little attention has been given to the potential effect of individual personality characteristics of children and parents. For the mother data, maternal Agreeableness was positively related to externalizing problem behaviours too. Children's Benevolence and Conscientiousness and parents' Emotional Stability were negatively related to externalizing problem behaviours. For the mother data, as well as for the father data, children's Extraversion and Imagination were positively related to children's externalizing' problem behaviours. Results supported a modified model that added direct pathways between parent and child personality characteristics and externalizing problem behaviour. Based on Patterson's macromodel of parenting, an initial model was built, hypothesizing' that the impact of parents' and child's personality dimensions on externalizing problems was fully mediated by negative discipline. Using the Five Factor Model, we examined the extent to which parents' and children's personality characteristics were related to parenting and children's externalizing behaviour in a proportional stratified general population sample (N = 599) of elementary-school-aged children. “But getting insight into how these people act in free information online can give us so much more.Negative discipline has been linked to childhood externalizing behaviour However, relatively little attention has been given to the potential effect of individual personality characteristics of children and parents. We know about these face-to-face interactions,” Carpenter says. We know how psychopaths act when you rip them off. “We know how narcissists act in relationships. This data, however, worked well to reveal much about the people who possess such traits.

They found that it is possible to a degree better than chance, but a larger dataset could provide more complete information. Carpenter says “little behavior was related to being a Machiavellian alone,” though it could be predicted in conjunction with the other two.įor the final experiment, the researchers wanted to understand how successfully such traits could be predicted. The researchers were unable to determine Machiavellianism traits from the tweets.

“But they also talk about their mundane activities on Twitter, which they think others are interested in,” Preotiuc-Pietro adds. “This kind of positive face to the world.” (Think violent news events that, to some, represent courage, freedom, patriotism, and justice.) Those with narcissistic tendencies showcased positive emotions, posting about general daily activities and, interestingly, television shows. “We also downloaded their profile image and computed network statistics like number of friends, number of followers, if they tweet from mobile phones,” Preotiuc-Pietro says.Ī computer algorithm the researchers built looked at how likely the use of words, phrases, and emotions-anger, joy, fear, and appreciation, for instance-related to any of the outcomes.Īt the onset, they learned that psychopathic behavior in tweets took the form of anger, violence, and something called positive aggression. The researchers then analyzed up to 3,200 tweets per user. Of those thousands, 863 willingly provided the researchers with a Twitter handle and had a publicly accessible profile. Several thousand volunteers took an online questionnaire, rating on a scale of 1 to 5 how statements such as 'I tend to expect special favors from others' described them. Social media offered the research team a unique window into how people who demonstrate these behaviors think. Individuals with psychopathic traits are quick to follow their own impulses, don’t look to the future, and do what they want with no sense of right or wrong. Machiavellians are cynical and see other people as a means to an end. Narcissists have an inflated but brittle self-view, says Carpenter, and are constantly seeking admiration. The researchers started by looking at the distinguishing characteristics of each group.

In psychology, they’re known as the “Dark Triad.” By looking at tweets, Jordan Carpenter and Daniel Preotiuc-Pietro, postdoctoral fellows in Penn’s Positive Psychology Center, have figured out how people who exhibit these behaviors act online. Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.

Negative characteristics