IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/intell/v70y2018icp12-21.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why do angry people overestimate their intelligence? Neuroticism as a suppressor of the association between Trait-Anger and subjectively assessed intelligence

Author

Listed:
  • Zajenkowski, Marcin
  • Gignac, Gilles E.

Abstract

Trait-Anger and Neuroticism are substantially inter-correlated positively. However, there is some theoretical and empirical research that supports the notion that Trait-Anger and Neuroticism are influenced by several processes differentially. For instance, Trait-Anger is linked to optimistic bias, increased sense of control, approach motivation and high Narcissism. In contrast, Neuroticism correlates with pessimism, low sense of control, withdrawal motivation and low Narcissism. Building on these previous findings, we hypothesized that Trait-Anger and Neuroticism would be positively and negatively, respectively, associated with subjectively assessed intelligence (SAI). Furthermore, we expected that these two traits would act as mutual suppressors in predicting SAI. The results of two studies (ns = 303 and 225) supported our hypotheses. Trait-Anger was positively and Neuroticism negatively related to SAI, even after controlling for objective intelligence. These results are consistent with previous research which suggests that SAI is more substantially associated with personality than objective intelligence. Additionally, in study 2, we found that Narcissism mediated (partially) the relationship between Trait-Anger and SAI. In the discussion, we suggest that there might be two faces of Trait-Anger: one related to anxiety and one to overconfidence. Finally, a potential role of intelligence positive illusions in Trait-Anger is proposed.

Suggested Citation

  • Zajenkowski, Marcin & Gignac, Gilles E., 2018. "Why do angry people overestimate their intelligence? Neuroticism as a suppressor of the association between Trait-Anger and subjectively assessed intelligence," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 12-21.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intell:v:70:y:2018:i:c:p:12-21
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2018.07.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289618300102
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intell.2018.07.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gerard H. Maassen & Arnold B. Bakker, 2001. "Suppressor Variables in Path Models," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 30(2), pages 241-270, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gignac, Gilles E. & Zajenkowski, Marcin, 2019. "People tend to overestimate their romantic partner's intelligence even more than their own," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 41-51.
    2. Zajenkowski, Marcin & Gignac, Gilles E., 2021. "Telling people they are intelligent correlates with the feeling of narcissistic uniqueness: The influence of IQ feedback on temporary state narcissism," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    3. Gignac, Gilles E. & Zajenkowski, Marcin, 2021. "The frustrated narcissist: Intelligence may reduce the chances of developing narcissistic rivalry," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    4. Milanko Damjanović & Spasoje Mićić & Boško Matović & Dragan Jovanović & Aleksandar Bulajić, 2022. "Differences in Driving Anger among Professional Drivers: A Cross-Cultural Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-18, March.
    5. Gignac, Gilles E. & Zajenkowski, Marcin, 2020. "The Dunning-Kruger effect is (mostly) a statistical artefact: Valid approaches to testing the hypothesis with individual differences data," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Dunkel, Curtis S. & Nedelec, Joseph & van der Linden, Dimitri, 2023. "Reevaluating the Dunning-Kruger effect: A response to and replication of Gignac and Zajenkowski (2020)," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jon Anson, 2010. "Beyond Material Explanations: Family Solidarity and Mortality, a Small Area‐level Analysis," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(1), pages 27-45, March.
    2. White, Lynn & McQuillan, Julia & Greil, Arthur L. & Johnson, David R., 2006. "Infertility: Testing a helpseeking model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 1031-1041, February.
    3. Camfferman, Roxanna & Jansen, Pauline W. & Rippe, Ralph C.A. & Mesman, Judi & Derks, Ivonne P.M. & Tiemeier, Henning & Jaddoe, Vincent & van der Veek, Shelley M.C., 2016. "The association between overweight and internalizing and externalizing behavior in early childhood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 35-42.
    4. Lee, Yong-Ki & Lee, Choong-Ki & Lee, Seung-Kon & Babin, Barry J., 2008. "Festivalscapes and patrons' emotions, satisfaction, and loyalty," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 56-64, January.
    5. Kim, Hyejeong & Niehm, Linda S., 2009. "The Impact of Website Quality on Information Quality, Value, and Loyalty Intentions in Apparel Retailing," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 221-233.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:intell:v:70:y:2018:i:c:p:12-21. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/intelligence .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.