Sensational Interests, Mating Effort, and Personality: Evidence for Cross-Cultural Validity

Egan, Vincent; Figueredo, Aurelio Jos�; Wolf, Pedro; McBride, Kara; Sefcek, Jon; Vasquez, Geneva; Charles, Kathy

Abstract

We assessed whether violent or macabre interests ("sensational interests") were related to mating effort and a higher-order personality construct reflecting the combined features of higher Extraversion, lower Psychoticism, and lower Neuroticism in 1,321 participants from English-speaking (Tucson, Arizona, and Glasgow, Scotland) and Spanish-speaking (Hermosillo, Mexico, and Talca, Chile) communities. Participants from Spanish-speaking communities generally had more sensational interests. Mating effort was positively related to sensational interests, though the relationship was slightly weaker in Spanish-speaking communities. Personality effects were modest and entirely moderated by language; personality was negatively related to sensational interests in English-speaking communities, but positively associated to sensational interests in Spanish-speaking communities. These findings suggest that the relationship between mating effort and sensational interests is universal and reflects general intrasexual competition, whereas the relationship between personality and sensational interests is more culture-specific

Citation

Egan, V., Figueredo, A. J., Wolf, P., McBride, K., Sefcek, J., Vasquez, G., & Charles, K. (2005). Sensational Interests, Mating Effort, and Personality: Evidence for Cross-Cultural Validity. Journal of Individual Differences, 26(1), 11-19. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001.26.1.11

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2005-01
• Deposit Date: Feb 1, 2008
• Journal: Journal of Individual Differences
• Print ISSN: 1614-0001
• Publisher: Hogrefe
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 11-19
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001.26.1.11
• Keywords: Mating effort; Personality; Cross-cultural validity; Sensational interests; Adolescence; Gender
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/2253
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001.26.1.11