Higher neuroticism was related to lower grip strength ; higher extraversion, openness, & conscientiousness were associated with higher grip strength across most samples

Five-factor model personality traits and grip strength: Meta-analysis of seven studies. Yannick Stephan et al. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, June 11 2022, 110961. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2022.110961

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between Five-Factor Model personality traits and grip strength.

Method: Adults aged 16 to 104 years old (N > 40,000) were from the Health and Retirement Study, the Midlife in the United States Study, The English Longitudinal Study of Aging, the National Health and Aging Trends Survey, the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study, and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study graduate and sibling samples. Participants had data on personality traits, demographic factors, grip strength, and mediators such as depressive symptoms, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), and c-reactive protein (CRP).

Results: Across all samples and a meta-analysis, higher neuroticism was related to lower grip strength (meta-analytic estimate: -0.07, 95%CI: −0.075; −0.056). Higher extraversion (0.04, 95%CI: 0.022; 0.060), openness (0.05, 95%CI: 0.032; 0.062), and conscientiousness (0.05, 95%CI: 0.04; 0.065) were associated with higher grip strength across most samples and the meta-analysis. Depressive symptoms were the most consistent mediators between neuroticism and grip strength. Depressive symptoms and physical activity partly mediated the associations with extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. Lower CRP partly mediated the association with conscientiousness. Sex moderated the associations for extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness, with stronger associations among males. Age moderated the neuroticism association, with stronger associations among younger individuals.

Conclusion: This study provides replicable evidence that personality is related to grip strength and identifies potential moderators and mediators of these associations. Overall, higher neuroticism is a risk factor for low grip strength, whereas high extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness may be protective.

Contrary to Sigmund Freud's suggestion, people who achieve extraordinary careers are not "wrecked by success"

Wrecked by Success? Not to Worry. Harrison J. Kell et al. Perspectives on Psychological Science, June 10, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916211055637

Abstract: We examined the wrecked-by-success hypothesis. Initially formalized by Sigmund Freud, this hypothesis has become pervasive throughout the humanities, popular press, and modern scientific literature. The hypothesis implies that truly outstanding occupational success often exacts a heavy toll on psychological, interpersonal, and physical well-being. Study 1 tested this hypothesis in three cohorts of 1,826 high-potential, intellectually gifted individuals. Participants with exceptionally successful careers were compared with those of their gender-equivalent intellectual peers with more typical careers on well-known measures of psychological well-being, flourishing, core self-evaluations, and medical maladies. Family relationships, comfort with aging, and life satisfaction were also assessed. Across all three cohorts, those deemed occupationally outstanding individuals were similar to or healthier than their intellectual peers across these metrics. Study 2 served as a constructive replication of Study 1 but used a different high-potential sample: 496 elite science/technology/engineering/mathematics (STEM) doctoral students identified in 1992 and longitudinally tracked for 25 years. Study 2 replicated the findings from Study 1 in all important respects. Both studies found that exceptionally successful careers were not associated with medical frailty, psychological maladjustment, and compromised interpersonal and family relationships; if anything, overall, people with exceptionally successful careers were medically and psychologically better off.

Keywords: eminence, outstanding careers, physical health, psychological well-being, replication

Cisgender men most like "I am currently single, over past 4 years I have not been in any relationships"; cisgender women/transwomen/transmen/nonbinary most like "I am currently single; over past 4 years I have been in two relationships"

Is the Grass Really Greener? The Influence of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation on Mate Copying Behaviors. Alyce S. Jarrett & Ryan C. Anderson. The Journal of Sex Research, Jun 9 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2078949

Abstract: Mate copying is a sexual strategy whereby individuals attend to socially available information about their prospective mate. This allows for more accurate decision making in regard to mating. This phenomenon was originally demonstrated among nonhumans, but there is an increasing weight of evidence suggesting that humans also engage in mate copying. Research typically focuses on heterosexual cisgender women, with no previous studies having looked at those identifying outside of the traditional gender binary. The current study aimed to address this gap by examining the impact of gender identity and sexual orientation on the propensity to engage in mate copying. Participants (N = 831) completed an online survey providing desirability ratings for photographs alone (T1) and then rated the same photographs after receiving social information about the relationship status and previous relationship history of the pictured individual (T2). It was found that both gender identity (F(4, 713) = 3.94, ηp2 = .02) and sexual orientation (F(4, 713) = 4.40, ηp2 = .02) influenced an individual’s overall propensity to mate copy, and that desirability patterns for individuals were very different depending on these variables. It was concluded that while mate copying certainly is evident among humans, the phenomenon is extremely nuanced and sensitive.

People lie only to a limited extent to gain certain material advantages, and sometimes they even lie to their own disadvantage to protect their social image

The optics of lying: How pursuing an honest social image shapes dishonest behavior. Mika Guzikevits, Shoham Choshen-Hillel. Current Opinion in Psychology, June 9 2022, 101384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101384

Highlights

• People lie often, but they do so to a limited extent.

• Limited dishonesty has been explained by concern with a positive self-image.

• People also limit their lying to preserve a positive reputation or social image.

• Both self and social image lead people to limit their dishonesty.

Abstract: People frequently engage in dishonest behavior. Yet, they do so only to a limited extent, often forgoing potential profits. In the past few decades, the dominant psychological account explaining people’s “limited dishonesty” characterized this behavior as driven by a desire to preserve a positive image of the self. Recently, a new account has been put forward, based on social considerations. This social image account claims that limited dishonesty is driven by a desire to be viewed positively by others. Here we review empirical findings from psychology and behavioral economics on the role of social image in dishonest behavior. We conclude by suggesting that both self-image and social image are at play.

Keywords: DishonestbehaviorLyingSocial imageReputation