From situational perceptions to personality pathologies

Abstract

Individual differences in how people perceive the world, might be important factors underlying their personality traits and pathologies. In the current study (N = 253) we examined the associations between the maladaptive Big Five traits and perceptions of three situations (i.e., a bar, a classroom, and an office). Adversity was the most central perception linking the pathological personality traits followed by mating opportunities and deception. We also replicated previously reported sex differences in personality pathologies and revealed that men scored higher than women did on affordances of adversity and mating. We conclude that some of the affordances that people perceive in various situations might underlie individual differences in socially averse behavioral patterns.