An integrative study of facultative personality calibration

Publication date: Available online 7 January 2019Source: Evolution and Human BehaviorAuthor(s): Christoph J. von Borell, Tobias L. Kordsmeyer, Tanja M. Gerlach, Lars PenkeAbstractThe theory of facultative calibration, which explains personality differences as responses to variation in other phenotypic traits of individuals, received mixed results throughout the last years. Whereas there is strong evidence that individual differences in human behavior are correlated with the self-perception of other traits, it still needs to be questioned whether they are also adjusted to objective differences in body condition (i.e. formidability). In two independent studies (N1 = 119 men and 124 women, N2 = 165 men) we tested hypotheses of facultative personality calibration in an integrative way, assessing various outcomes of previous studies in the same samples (including Anger Proneness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, Narcissism, Shyness, Vengefulness, and Sociosexual Orientation). Formidability was derived from assessments of physical strength and various anthropometric measures from full-body 3D scans and paired with measures of self-perceived and other-rated physical attractiveness (based on rotating morphometric 3D body models and facial photographs). We could replicate positive correlations with self-perceived attractiveness across outcomes, though these were not corroborated by more objective assessments of attractiveness: an effect of other-rated attractiveness was clearly not ...

Source: Evolution and Human Behavior - January 7, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research