Personality and Political Predictors of Emotional Reactions to 9/11

Transcription

1 Personality and Political Predictors of Emotional Reactions to 9/11 Kevin M. Williams, Delroy L. Paulhus, & Craig Nathanson University of British Columbia Poster presented at the 83 rd annual convention of the Western Psychological Association, Vancouver, May 2003

2 Abstract People are unlikely to react in an identical fashion to dramatic events such as the terrorist attacks of September 11, Among the likely sources of individual differences are personality traits and political orientation. Two days after 9/11, we asked 206 undergraduate students to provide free descriptions of their reactions to the attacks. The descriptions were analyzed for emotional content both by judges ratings and by Pennebaker s LIWC program. Results showed that participants who were sympathetic with the political aims of the terrorists were less sympathetic toward the victims. Participants with liberal political attitudes also expressed less sympathy for the victims of the attacks than did those with conservative political attitudes. Optimism predicted less and Neuroticism predicted more fearful reactions. The Dark Triad, and disagreeable people in general, were more likely to seek punishment of the terrorists and used death-related words. Psychopaths, in particular, sought indiscriminate retaliation. Perspectivetaking predicted more distress and empathic concern but was a negative predictor of punishment seeking. In sum, the examination of various dispositional factors reveals very discrepant reactions to the same terrorist incident.

3 Introduction The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington D.C. affected people all over the world. Negative emotions such as fear, sadness, and revenge arose not only in the United States but in many other countries as well. In the wake of 9/11, a great deal of psychological research emerged (e.g. Pennebaker & Lay, 2002; Schildkraut, 2002; Vazire & McCord, 2002; Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Greenberg, 2003) in an attempt to understand how people respond to and cope with terrorist threats, and with large-scale disasters in general. Although it seems obvious that different people respond differently to traumatic events, the research to date has provided little insight into individual differences. Given the geo-political implications of 9/11, one s standing on the political spectrum (from liberal to conservative) might well make a difference. In addition, people may be less sympathetic to victims if they agree with the political aspirations of the terrorists. Differences in emotional reactions might also be influenced by personality traits. For example, disagreeable individuals may show less concern for victims and neurotic individuals might react with personal safety concerns. Especially relevant are the Dark Triad of narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy (Paulhus & Williams, 2002) because all three traits are associated with emotional coldness. Empathy is another major personality dimension associated with emotional reactions (Davis, 1980). Finally, optimism vs. pessimism seems relevant because it guides the valence of an individual s attitudes toward life (Scheier & Carver, 1985). Method Participants and procedure. A total of 206 students (63 percent female) enrolled in a second-year undergraduate

4 psychology class at a large Western Canadian university participated for class credit. The ethnic makeup of the sample was 110 East Asian, 57 European, and 22 South Asian (17 other). Two days after 9/11, students were asked to write a one-page free description of their reactions to the attacks. Participants were asked to include information such as where they were and what they were doing when they first heard of the attacks, who was the first person they contacted when they learned of the attacks, and how they felt in reaction to the attacks. All participants completed a take-home package of questionnaires to be returned to the next class meeting. Measures Political and interpersonal measures. On the take-home questionnaire, participants were asked to rate their political orientation on a a scale ranging from 1 (conservative) to 5 (liberal). They rated their agreement with the terrorists political aspirations on a scale of 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree). They rated their personal ties to New York on a scale of 1 (no connection) to 5 (close connections). Personality measures. Also included in the take-home package was the Big Five Inventory (BFI; John & Srivastava, 1999), a standard measure of the five fundamental personality traits. For the Dark Triad, narcissism was measured with the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI; Raskin & Hall, 1979), Machiavellianism with the Mach-IV (Christie & Geis, 1970), and psychopathy with the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (SRP-II, Hare, 1985). Empathy was measured using Davis (1980) multidimensional Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), which includes four subscales: Perspective Taking (PT), Fantasy Seeking (FS), Empathic Concern (EC), and Personal Distress (PD). Finally, optimism was measured using the Life Orientation Test (LOT; Scheier & Carver, 1985).

5 Emotional Reactions. Each free description was rated by two judges on three different dimensions. Desired punishment of perpetrators was rated on a scale ranging from 0 (no punishment) to 2 (punishment of terrorists and anyone associated with them). A second variable assessing desire for extreme punishment was created by dichotomizing this variable (i.e. 0,1 vs. 2). Concern for one s self was rated on a scale ranging from 0 (no concern) to 2 (much concern). A similar scale was used to rate concern for the victims was rated on a scale ranging from 0 (no concern) to 2 (much concern). The rating variables were shown to be sufficiently reliable for use in the analyses. The descriptions were also content-analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) computer program (Pennebaker, Francis, & Booth, 2001). This program produces outcome variables on 70 linguistic dimensions by looking for certain words in each participants narrative. Variables of concern in the current study (and examples of words that define them) include the use of first person plural pronouns ( we, our ), references to friends and family ( pal, mom ), references to death ( dead, coffin ), expression of positive emotions ( happy, good ), expression of optimism ( certainty, win ), expression of negative emotions ( worthless, enemy ), expression of anger ( hate, kill ), expression of anxiety, ( nervous, afraid ), expression of sadness ( grief, cry ), the use of causal analysis mechanisms (e.g. cause, know ), and reflection ( think, consider ). Results Political and interpersonal variables. Note from Table 1, that participants who rated their political attitudes as conservative were significantly more likely to express sympathy for the victims (r =.15). Individuals whose political attitudes were more consistent with the terrorists

6 views expressed significantly less concern for the victims (r = -.30). Those with a closer personal ties to New York showed significantly more concern for the victims (r =.22). The Big Five traits. Note from Table 1 that Extraversion correlated positively with references to friends and family (r =.16) and the use of first person plural pronouns (r =.24). Agreeableness correlated negatively with desire to punish the terrorists (r = -.17), expressing optimism (r = -.23) and references to death (r = -.18). Conscientiousness correlated positively with expressing anxiety (r =.16), and negatively with expressing positive emotions (r = -.15). Stability correlated negatively with both concern for self (r = -15) and positive emotions (r = -.28). The Dark Triad traits. The following results are displayed in Table 2. NPI scores correlated with positively with expressing negative emotions (r =.22). Mach-IV scores correlated negatively with causal analysis (r = -.22). SRP-II scores correlated positively with both the desire for extreme punishment of the terrorists (r =.14) and death-related words (r =.25). SRP-II scores also correlated negatively with expressing causal analysis (r = -.18), specifically reflection (r = -.26). Each of the Dark Triad correlated positively with expressing anger (r =.15 for NPI and SRP-II, r =.18 for Mach-IV). Empathy and optimism. The following results are displayed in Table 3. IRI-PT scores correlated negatively with both the desire for punishment of the terrorists (r = -.15) and expressing sadness (r = -.24). IRI-EC scores correlated positively with negative emotions (r =.15). IRI-PD scores correlated positively with concern for self (r =.22) and negatively with reflection (r = -.18). IRI-FS scores correlated positively with concern for self (r =.18). Finally, LOT scores correlated negatively with concern for self (r = -.18).

7 Discussion Political and interpersonal variables. It is not surprising that individuals with closer ties to New York expressed more concern for the victims. More disturbing is the strong correlation we obtained between political agreement with the terrorists and lack of concern for the victims. In addition, liberals expressed less concern for the victims than did conservatives. This association may seem surprising in light of the traditional liberal concern with the plight of Apparently, political justification can over-ride natural empathic reactions to suffering and loss of life. This pattern is likely a reflection of the fact that anti-american views are more common among liberals in Canada. Is questionnable whether it would replicate in American samples. The Big Five. Correlations with the Big Five personality traits were partly expected and partly unexpected. The lack of concern for victims was predicted for disagreeable individuals. Their confrontational nature explains their use of death-related words and their desire to retaliate against the terrorists. Conscientious individuals desire order, structure, and predictability. The events of 9/11 led to an environment fraught with chaos and uncertainty, which could explain the increased levels of anxiety in conscientious people. The 9/11 attacks reduced the amount of positive emotions experienced by almost all individuals, and it appears that the effects are even more pronounced in those high in Neuroticism. Not predicted was the communal reaction of extraverts as manifested in their word usage. They used first-person pronouns ( we and us ) and mentioned family and friends. It is not clear why introverts would not show this cacooning tendency as much as extraverts. The Dark Triad. With their common core of disagreeableness (Paulhus & Williams, 2002), it is not surprising that the Dark Triad reacted to the terrorist attacks with anger and a

8 desire to retaliate. The wish to punish the terrorists was reported by many participants but those high in psychopathy sought more extreme retaliation: They recommended punishing anyone associated with the terrorists. Also interesting was that, to varying degrees, the Dark Triad personalities tended to be deficient in their use of causal analysis and reflection. Research involving the cognitive processes of psychopaths suggests that psychopaths do not think through stressful events as cautiously as non-psychopaths (Hare, 1985). This deficit might be traced to the fact that Machiavellians and psychopaths have poorer verbal abilities relative to their nonverbal abilites (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). In fact, the correlations with reflection could simply be psychopaths tendency to respond to our questions without thinking. Empathy and optimism. The IRI and LOT scales suggested some other differences in emotional reactions to 9/11. Participants high in perspective taking are more likely to understand or at least recognize the point of view of the 9/11 attackers, and were therefore less inclined to desire punishment. Perspective taking also contributed to the expression of sadness, which could be explained by a tendency to sense the grief of those who had lost loved ones in the attacks. The tendency for those high in empathic concern to express more negative emotions could have a similar explanation: those who are concerned for others in general are likely more attuned to the pain of the victims and their loved ones. Due to the high degree of overlap between Neuroticism and IRI Personal Distress (e.g. r =.42 in our sample), it is not surprising that the emotional reactions of those two personalities are similar. Finally, the lack of personal safety concerns among optimists is consistent with their global expectations about their future. They do not believe that unpleasant things will happen to them in general, and this belief appears to stand firm even in the face of such a crisis.

9 Conclusions Our study sheds some light on the sources of variation in emotional reactions to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Both political and personality variables play a role in explaining the discrepant emotional reactions to this monumental event. Future research must include comparisons with other times of crisis. For example, we are currently collecting data regarding the Iraq war. Our current findings are consistent with research on the interaction between personality and stress in general. It would also be of interest to explore the efficacy of these various emotional reactions on individual s coping abilities. Perhaps the immediate effects represent different ways of coping and may all aid adjustment in the long-term. For example, the extraverts heightened communal orientation may reduce their anxieties. Previous research in non-crisis situations did not show the same communal correlates of extraversion. Unfortunately, the 9/11 attack is unlikely to be the last traumatic event in the lifetime of our participants. But a different pattern of correlates might be observed in crises that are not so overtly political in nature. And the results might differ in samples collected within the United States and in New York, in particular. Nonetheless, our research does highlight the diversity of human reactions to a common dramatic event.

10 References Christie, R., & Geis, F.L. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press. Davis, M. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 10, 85. Hare, R.D. (1985). Comparison of procedures for the assessment of psychopathy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, John, O.P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L.A. Pervin & O.P John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2 nd ed.)(pp ). New York: Guilford Press. Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The Dark Triad: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, Pennebaker, J.W., Francis, M.E., & Booth, R.J. (2001). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC 2001): A computerized text analysis program. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Pennebaker, J.W., & Lay, T.C. (2002). Language use and personality during crises: Analyses of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani s press conferences. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., & Greenberg, J. (2003). In the wake of 9/11: The psychology of terror. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Raskin, R., & Hall, C.S. (1979). A Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Psychological Reports, 45, 590. Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1985). Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health Psychology, 4, Schildkraut, D.J. (2002). The more things change...american identity and mass and elite

11 responses to 9/11. Political Psychology, 23, Vazire, S., & McCord, P. (2002). Understanding the gap between American and Iranian students' views. Clio's Psyche. Special Issue: The psychology of terrorism and mourning September 11, 8, Williams, K.M., McAndrew, A., Learn, T., Harms, P., & Paulhus, D.L. (2001). The Dark Triad returns: Entertainment preferences and antisocial behavior among narcissists, Machiavellians, and psychopaths. Presented at the 109th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco.

12 Table 1. Correlations of personality traits with free description reactions. Big Five factors E A C N O Emotional Reactions Punish terrorists Punish anyone associated with terrorists Concern for personal safety Concern for victims Word Usage FPP pronouns Friends/family Death Positive Emotions Optimism Anger Anxiety Note: N = 206. Correlations at least.15 significant at p <.05, one-tailed, correlations at least.20 significant at p <.01, one-tailed. E = Extraversion, A = Agreeableness, C = Conscientiousness, S = Emotional Stability, O = Openness to Experience.

13 Table 2. Correlations of Dark Triad personality traits with free description variables. Dark Triad Narcissism Machiavellianism Psychopathy Emotional Reactions Punish terrorists Punish anyone associated with terrorists Word Usage Death Sadness Anger Causal analysis Insight Note: N = 206. Correlations at least.15 significant at p <.05, one-tailed, correlations at least.20 significant at p <.01, one-tailed.

14 Table 3. Correlations of empathy and optimism with free description variables. Empathy subscales PT EC PD FS Optimism Emotional Reactions Punish terrorists Punish anyone associated with terrorists Concern for self Concern for victims Word Usage Sadness Anger Causal analysis Insight Note: N = 206. Correlations at least.15 significant at p <.05, one-tailed, correlations at least.20 significant at p <.01, one-tailed. IRI = Interpersonal Reactivity Index, PT = Perspective Taking, EC = Empathic Concern, PD = Personal Distress, FS = Fantasy Seeking, LOT = Life Orientation Test.