Two Replicable Suppressor Situations in Personality Research

Abstract

Suppressor situations occur when the addition of a new predictor improves the validity of a predictor variable already in the equation. A common allegation is that suppressor effects rarely replicate and have little substantive import. We present substantive examples from two established research domains to counter this skepticism. In the first domain, we show how measures of guilt and shame act consistently as mutual suppressors: Adding shame into a regression equation increases the negative association between guilt and aggression, whereas adding guilt increases the positive association between shame and aggression. In the second domain, we show how the effects of self-esteem and narcissism operate consistently as mutual suppressors: That is, adding narcissism into a regression equation increases the negative association between self-esteem and antisocial behavior, whereas adding self-esteem increases the positive association between narcissism and antisocial behavior. Discussion addresses the different implications for suppressors in theoretical and variable selection applications.

Refining the vulnerability model of low self-esteem and depression: Disentangling the effects of genuine self-esteem and narcissism.

“…Thus, whereas narcissism implies that the individual generally feels superior and entitled to exploit others, high self-esteem does not imply a negative view of others, but is compatible with a positive, prosocial attitude towards others (Paulhus et al, 2004).…”

“…The strategy of mutually controlling complementary constructs for each other has been fruitful not only with regard to the independent effects of self-esteem and narcissism (Donnellan et al, 2005;Paulhus et al, 2004;Tracy et al, 2009) but also in research on independent effects of other pairs of constructs such as shame and guilt (Orth, Berking, & Burkhardt, 2006;Paulhus et al, 2004;Tangney, Wagner, Fletcher, & Gramzow, 1992;Tracy & Robins, 2006) and authentic and hubristic pride (Orth, Robins, & Soto, 2010;Tracy et al, 2009). The need for disentangling the relations between selfesteem, narcissism, and depression has been noted in prior research, suggesting that "it is possible that the prospective effects of low self-esteem on depression … are even stronger when narcissism is statistically controlled for" (Sowislo & Orth, 2013, p. 231).…”

Psychopathy and Suicidality in Female Offenders: Mediating Influences of Personality and Abuse.

“…This latter finding using partial correlations suggested a cooperative suppressor effect between the two psychopathy factors (Paulus, Robins, Trzesniewski, & Tracy, 2004). To investigate this further, we undertook a hierarchical regression analysis with history of suicide attempts as the criterion and the PCL-R factors as predictors.…”

“…However, these latter associations were entirely attributable to the common variance between F1 and F2 (r = .50, p < .01), that is, none of the partial correlations between F1 and the personality and abuse variables were significant after controlling for F2 (see Table 1). This latter finding using partial correlations suggested a cooperative suppressor effect between the two psychopathy factors (Paulus, Robins, Trzesniewski, & Tracy, 2004). To investigate this further, we undertook a hierarchical regression analysis with history of suicide attempts as the criterion and the PCL-R factors as predictors.…”

Psychopathy and negative emotionality: Analyses of suppressor effects reveal distinct relations with emotional distress, fearfulness, and anger-hostility.

“…In the present case, the identification of suppressor effects for the two PCL-R factors helps to reconcile the strong theoretic emphasis that Cleckley placed on absence of nervousness and "psychoneurotic features" (i.e., anxious or depressive symptomatology) in psychopathy with the observed null association between overall PCL-R scores and NEM measures. It is not the case that PCL-R psychopathy is unrelated to NEM; rather, it is the case that the two distinct factors of the PCL-R relate differentially to NEM.More fundamentally, the presence of suppressor effects, in particular cooperative suppressor effects, signifies the presence of highly distinctive underlying constructs embedded within a common measurement instrument (Paulhus et al, 2004). Elsewhere, we have argued that the PCL-R taps two distinctive entities-one corresponding phenotypically to low stress reaction and an agentic interpersonal style and genotypically to a core weakness in defensive (fear) reactivity, and the other phenotypically to an impulsive-aggressive (externalizing) behavioral style and genotypically to a basic weakness in inhibitory control systems (Patrick, 2001, in press; see also Fowles & Dindo, 2006).…”