| dc.description.abstract | Personality is broadly defined as a stable and enduring configuration of cognitions, emotions,
and behaviours that influence how an individual experiences everyday life. The Dark Tetrad
describes a cluster of subclinical and socially aversive, “dark” personality traits (i.e.,
Psychopathy, Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Sadism). Personality, including varying
degrees of dark personality traits, can influence the way that one copes. Coping consists of
methods that one employs to deal with stressors or their associated emotional responses, and
these methods can be adaptive or maladaptive. Although much research has examined how
individuals higher in Dark Tetrad traits react to and experience stress, less research has been
conducted directly examining how they cope with stress. The current study sought to evaluate
and clarify how individuals higher in Dark Tetrad traits cope with daily stressors and to address
stark methodological gaps in the literature. It was hypothesized that those with higher levels of
Dark Tetrad traits would endorse greater maladaptive coping strategies (i.e., emotion-focused
and avoidant/disengaged coping) in stressful daily situations compared to those with lower levels
of Dark Tetrad traits. Undergraduates (N=359) were recruited for an intensive longitudinal (daily
diary) study. Participants completed self-report measures on baseline personality, followed by a
short daily survey each day for 14 days that evaluated stressors experienced over the last day and
the methods that participants used to cope with them. Multilevel regression analyses revealed
that hypotheses were generally supported, such that individuals higher in Psychopathy,
Machiavellianism, and Sadism endorsed more emotion-focused and avoidant/disengaged coping,
whereas, those higher in Narcissism endorsed a combination of all types of coping (both adaptive
and maladaptive). However, there were very few interactions between personality and daily
stress to predict coping. [...] | en_US |
