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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Couple dominance, dark personality traits, and power motivation}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Couple dominance, dark personality traits, and power motivation}}
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|title=Couple dominance, dark personality traits, and power motivation - Top Italian Scientists Journal|
|title=Couple dominance, dark personality traits, and power motivation - Top Italian Scientists Journal
description=In romantic couples, there is usually an asymmetry in decisional power such that one partner is dominant and the other is subordinate
|description=In romantic couples, there is usually an asymmetry in decisional power such that one partner is dominant and the other is subordinate.
|keywords=Couple dominance; explicit power; implicit power; psychopathy; borderline; narcissism; autistic-like trait
|keywords=Couple dominance; explicit power; implicit power; psychopathy; borderline; narcissism; autistic-like trait
|citation_author=Borráz-León, Javier I.;Scrivner, Coltan; Schultheiss, Oliver C.; Lee, Royce; Maestripieri, Dario
|citation_author=Borráz-León, Javier I.;Scrivner, Coltan; Schultheiss, Oliver C.; Lee, Royce; Maestripieri, Dario
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|citation_volume=1
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|citation_doi=10.62684/JAZJ6280
|citation_issn=3033-5132
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<b>Javier I. Borráz-León</b><sup>(1)</sup>, <b>Coltan Scrivner</b><sup>(1,4)</sup>, <b>Oliver C. Schultheiss</b><sup>(2)</sup>, <b>Royce Lee</b><sup>(3)</sup>, <b>[https://primate.uchicago.edu/dario-maestripieri.html Dario Maestripieri]</b><sup>(1,4)</sup>
<sup>(1)</sup> Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
<sup>(2)</sup> Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
<sup>(3)</sup> Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
<sup>(4)</sup> Department of Comparative Human Development, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
''Correspondence: [https://primate.uchicago.edu/dario-maestripieri.html Dario Maestripieri], dario@uchicago.edu''
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| Javier I. Borráz-León<sup>(1)</sup>, Coltan Scrivner<sup>(1,4)</sup>, Oliver C. Schultheiss<sup>(2)</sup>, Royce Lee<sup>(3)</sup>, Dario Maestripieri<sup>(1,4)</sup>
| Javier I. Borráz-León, Coltan Scrivner, Oliver C. Schultheiss, Royce Lee, Dario Maestripieri
|-
| '''DOI'''
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| [https://doi.org/10.62684/JAZJ6280 10.62684/JAZJ6280]
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| '''Keywords'''
| '''Keywords'''
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<b>Javier I. Borráz-León</b><sup>(a)</sup>, <b>Coltan Scrivner</b><sup>(a,d)</sup>, <b>Oliver C. Schultheiss</b><sup>(b)</sup>, <b>Royce Lee</b><sup>(c)</sup>, <b>[https://topitalianscientists.org/tis/2284/Dario_Maestripieri_-_Top_Italian_Scientist_in_Neurosciences_&_Psychology Dario Maestripieri]</b><sup>(a,d)</sup>


== Conflict of Interest ==
<sup>(a)</sup> Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


== Author Contributions ==
<sup>(b)</sup> Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
JIB-L: Data Analysis, Investigation, Writing - Review & Editing. CS: Data collection, Methodology, Writing – Review & Editing. OCS: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Data Analysis, Writing – Review & Editing. RL: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – Review & Editing. DM: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Writing – Review & Editing.


== Funding ==
<sup>(c)</sup> Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
The authors have no funding sources to report.


== Acknowledgments ==
<sup>(d)</sup> Department of Comparative Human Development, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
The authors are grateful to the late Scott O. Lilienfeld for helpful discussions of conceptual and methodological aspects of this research.
 
''Correspondence: [https://primate.uchicago.edu/dario-maestripieri.html Dario Maestripieri], dario@uchicago.edu''


== Abstract ==
== Abstract ==
In romantic couples, there is usually an asymmetry in decisional power such that one partner is dominant and the other is subordinate. This study investigated the role of sex, ethnicity, self-assessed social status, personality traits, and power motivation (both explicit and implicit) as potential determinants or correlates of couple dominance in a mixed-sex sample of 50 college students. Through a previously validated questionnaire, participants indicated whether they were dominant or subordinate in their romantic relationship, or whether the latter was egalitarian. Major personality domains, narcissism, psychopathy, borderline, autistic-like traits, and explicit power were assessed through questionnaires. Participants also underwent a Picture Story Exercise to evaluate their implicit motives. Being dominant and having high explicit, but not implicit, power motivation were associated with some psychopathic, narcissistic, and/or borderline traits, while autistic-like traits were associated with being subordinate. Traits such as extraversion, conscientiousness, and honesty-humility had weak associations with couple dominance and/or explicit or implicit power motivation. Our findings have implications for the understanding of dominance dynamics within couples and the relationship between personality traits and power motivation.
In romantic couples, there is usually an asymmetry in decisional power such that one partner is dominant and the other is subordinate. This study investigated the role of sex, ethnicity, self-assessed social status, personality traits, and power motivation (both explicit and implicit) as potential determinants or correlates of couple dominance in a mixed-sex sample of 50 college students. Through a previously validated questionnaire, participants indicated whether they were dominant or subordinate in their romantic relationship, or whether the latter was egalitarian. Major personality domains, narcissism, psychopathy, borderline, autistic-like traits, and explicit power were assessed through questionnaires. Participants also underwent a Picture Story Exercise to evaluate their implicit motives. Being dominant and having high explicit, but not implicit, power motivation were associated with some psychopathic, narcissistic, and/or borderline traits, while autistic-like traits were associated with being subordinate. Traits such as extraversion, conscientiousness, and honesty-humility had weak associations with couple dominance and/or explicit or implicit power motivation. Our findings have implications for the understanding of dominance dynamics within couples and the relationship between personality traits and power motivation.


== Introduction ==
==Declarations==
Dyadic dominance constitutes the building block for status hierarchies and both are ubiquitous in socially living vertebrates, including many species of nonhuman primates as well as humans [1]. In human romantic couples, and especially in those in which the relationship has lasted more than a few weeks or months, there is usually an asymmetry in decisional power such that one partner is dominant and the other is subordinate [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. In heterosexual couples, and especially in older couples or couples in which the man is much older than the woman, men are more likely to be dominant and women are more likely to be subordinate [5, 7; but see 8]. When decisional power is roughly shared within a couple and there is no clear-cut dominance, the relationship is considered to be egalitarian [5, 7].
===Acknowledgments===
The authors are grateful to the late Scott O. Lilienfeld for helpful discussions of conceptual and methodological aspects of this research.  


Clear asymmetries in characteristics other than age (e.g., cultural beliefs associated with ethnicity, explicit or implicit power motivation, attractiveness, status in society, earning power, personality traits, etc.), may or may not be associated with couple dominance. Explicit motivation refers to conscious interest in attaining a particular goal (e.g., power), whereas implicit motivation refers to unconscious dispositions [9, 10].
===Conflict of Interest===
The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.


In this study, we investigated the role of sex, ethnicity, self-assessed social status, personality traits, and power motivation (both explicit and implicit) as potential determinants or correlates of couple dominance. We are careful here to clarify that our use of the term ‘traits’ is specific to the instruments and the constructs that they measure, with no assumption that they are static over the life course, inherently genetically transmitted, or inherently pathological. We also will try to sidestep the debate over the precise boundaries between personality traits and personality disorders, given that our real interest here is understanding how personality constructs are related to dyadic relationships.
===Funding===
The authors have no funding sources to report.


Previous research on personality traits assessed with the Big-Five Inventory has suggested that extraversion and introversion may be associated with dominance and subordination, respectively [11]. Assessments of personality with the HEXACO or the Autistic Quotient (AQ) questionnaire have suggested that honesty-humility and autistic-like traits may be associated with subordination in dyadic relationships as well [12, 13]. In contrast, dominance may be predicted by narcissistic, psychopathic, and borderline personality traits, all of which seem to be characterized by some degree of self-assertiveness, aggressiveness, and attempts to control, manipulate, and exploit others [14, 15, 16, 17]. Psychopathy, in particular, seems to be characterized, at least in high-functioning, socially successful individuals, by ‘fearless dominance’, that is the tendency to threaten, intimidate, control, and coerce others without any fear of the consequences of such behavior [18, 19, 20]. The hypothesis, however, that personality styles or traits associated with interpersonal aggression (narcissistic, psychopathic, or borderline), in both their dimensional and their pathological manifestations, may be characterized by high power motivation and the tendency to achieve dominance in dyadic relationships has not been systematically investigated (but see [21]).
===Author Contributions===
JIB-L: Data Analysis, Investigation, Writing - Review & Editing. CS: Data collection, Methodology, Writing – Review & Editing. OCS: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Data Analysis, Writing – Review & Editing. RL: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – Review & Editing. DM: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Writing – Review & Editing.


In this study, we tested two non-mutually exclusive hypotheses: H1) that some personality traits (e.g., extraversion/introversion, honesty-humility, autistic-like traits, narcissism, psychopathy, and borderline) and explicit/implicit power motivation can independently predict or be associated with dominance or subordination in young romantic
==References==
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Latest revision as of 08:12, 23 March 2024

Published
January 5, 2024
Title
Couple dominance, dark personality traits, and power motivation
Authors
Javier I. Borráz-León, Coltan Scrivner, Oliver C. Schultheiss, Royce Lee, Dario Maestripieri
DOI
10.62684/JAZJ6280
Keywords
Couple dominance; explicit power; implicit power; psychopathy; borderline; narcissism; autistic-like trait
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Javier I. Borráz-León(a), Coltan Scrivner(a,d), Oliver C. Schultheiss(b), Royce Lee(c), Dario Maestripieri(a,d)

(a) Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

(b) Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

(c) Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

(d) Department of Comparative Human Development, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

Correspondence: Dario Maestripieri, dario@uchicago.edu

Abstract

In romantic couples, there is usually an asymmetry in decisional power such that one partner is dominant and the other is subordinate. This study investigated the role of sex, ethnicity, self-assessed social status, personality traits, and power motivation (both explicit and implicit) as potential determinants or correlates of couple dominance in a mixed-sex sample of 50 college students. Through a previously validated questionnaire, participants indicated whether they were dominant or subordinate in their romantic relationship, or whether the latter was egalitarian. Major personality domains, narcissism, psychopathy, borderline, autistic-like traits, and explicit power were assessed through questionnaires. Participants also underwent a Picture Story Exercise to evaluate their implicit motives. Being dominant and having high explicit, but not implicit, power motivation were associated with some psychopathic, narcissistic, and/or borderline traits, while autistic-like traits were associated with being subordinate. Traits such as extraversion, conscientiousness, and honesty-humility had weak associations with couple dominance and/or explicit or implicit power motivation. Our findings have implications for the understanding of dominance dynamics within couples and the relationship between personality traits and power motivation.

Declarations

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the late Scott O. Lilienfeld for helpful discussions of conceptual and methodological aspects of this research.

Conflict of Interest

The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding

The authors have no funding sources to report.

Author Contributions

JIB-L: Data Analysis, Investigation, Writing - Review & Editing. CS: Data collection, Methodology, Writing – Review & Editing. OCS: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Data Analysis, Writing – Review & Editing. RL: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – Review & Editing. DM: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Writing – Review & Editing.

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