Personality profiles and persuasion: An exploratory study investigating the role of the Big-5, Type D personality and the Dark Triad on susceptibility to persuasion

Abstract

The present study investigated the relationship between personality profiles and susceptibility to persuasion. Participants (N = 316) were recruited for an online questionnaire and asked to complete self-reported measures of their personality-Big-5, Dark Triad and Type D. Individual differences in susceptibility to persuasion were also explored using Cialdini's model of persuasion. Latent profile analysis identified three distinct profiles which were labelled Socially Apt, Fearful and Malevolent. These profiles were correlated with scores on the persuasion subscales-authority, commitment, liking, scarcity, reciprocity, consensus-and a number of interesting associations were identified. The malevolent profile self-reported as more susceptible to a higher use of scarcity relative to the other principles of persuasion, and were least susceptible to reciprocity and authority. The socially apt profile appear to be more inclined to be persuaded to do something if it is consistent with their beliefs or a prior act whereas individuals in the Fearful profile were more likely to report obeying those in authority and going along with a crowd. Implications for persuasion are discussed along with research on personality types. Dear Editor and Reviewers, Many thanks for reviewing our paper titled: Personality Profiles and Persuasion: An exploratory study investigating the role of the Big-5, Type D Personality and the Dark Triad on Susceptibility to Persuasion. We believe that the comments were very constructive and sincerely hope that we have satisfactorily addressed all of the comments raised. We have listed each comment below in addition to how we have addressed it and look forward to hearing back from you. Yours Sincerely The Authors Reviewer #1 Reviewer Comment(s): Minor points: Highlights (for review): Highlights seem little descriptive of the study. Ex: Big-5, Dark Triad and Type D were measured. Incomplete or incorrect references: References must be in form to APA. There are references that do not include the number or volume and the name of some journals is incorrectly edited. The typeface should always be the same. It does not make sense to change the font to include the name of the journal. Response: We have amended this section and thoroughly checked all references. We have also made the highlights more descriptive of the study and would like to thank reviewer 1 for this comment. Reviewer Comment(s): "The interest in forming profiles using personality questionnaires and then analyzing the mean comparisons of these same questionnaires in the three profiles is not clear (Table 5 and 6). Figure 1 also makes little sense if the same personality variables have been used for the formation of the three profiles. In summary, it is a study poorly designed. The authors could analyze the three questionnaires of personality and form profiles (factors) by affinity of content using a principal component analysis. Then, these profiles could be used as dependent variables and persuasion susceptibility scales as independent. A more ...

Susceptibility to social influence strategies and persuasive system design: exploring the relationship

“…Past studies have reported similar results (Alkiş and Taşkaya Temizel 2015;Wall et al 2019), but our sample did not find a correlation between reciprocation and authority, which was comparatively strong in both of the studies mentioned above. However, similar to our results, a strong positive correlation between consensus and liking has been previously reported (Wall et al 2019). Interestingly, statistically significant correlations were more often found among men.…”

“…A 'socially apt' profile high in extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness was highly susceptible to commitment, indicating preference for consistency with previous behaviors. 'Malevolent' profiles that scored high in extraversion and negative affectivity also manifested so-called dark triad traits and were susceptible to scarcity (Wall et al 2019). The importance of culture to the creation of susceptibility to scarcity is supported by a recent study that concluded that scarcity is unique to humans and is learned when children develop their cognitive skills in social interaction (John et al 2018).…”

“…Oyibo et al (2018), in a study with Canadian participants, also concluded that none of the Big Five personality traits predicted scarcity. In a recent study assessing the relationship between personality profiles and susceptibility to persuasion, Wall et al (2019) found that 'Fearful' individuals who reported high neuroticism, social inhibition and negative affectivity were likely to obey authority and were generally susceptible to strategies oriented towards other people (reciprocation and consensus). A 'socially apt' profile high in extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness was highly susceptible to commitment, indicating preference for consistency with previous behaviors.…”

“…Interestingly, statistically significant correlations were more often found among men. It is noteworthy that we used a smaller set of susceptibility questions than did the studies of Alkiş and Taşkaya Temizel (2015) and Wall et al (2019), and instead of a general university sample, we have targeted our sampling towards users of mobile health and wellness apps. Either or both of these factors might explain the scoring differences.…”

Análise comparativa de prevalência da Síndrome de Burnout em estudantes da área de saúde em um Centro Universitário, considerando os traços da personalidade tipo d

“…Os tipos de personalidades foram pioneiramente descritos por cardiologistas americanos na década de 50, como indicador para estimar o risco de doenças cardiovasculares. Deste modo, na personalidade tipo D, tem-se como características sobrepujantes, o temor da rejeição, a tendência ao desespero, o humor melancólico e a autopercepção negativizada (WALL, 2019). Outrossim, o psicólogo belga e criador de uma escala psicométrica de personalidade, Johan Denollet, também destaca a irritabilidade como um dos caracteres mais preponderantes desse perfil de personalidade, associando este indício à performance social dos indivíduos tipo D.…”