Gender Differences in the Relationships Between Empathic Tendencies, Dark Triad Traits and Personality Traits in Student Actors

Abstract

Background. There is a contradiction in the results of acting research: empathy plays an important role in the process of artistic transformation, but some anti-empathic traits, such as narcissism and machiavellianism, may also be useful for stage performance. The identification of gender specificity is particularly interesting when examining these personal features in the context of student actors' professional growth. Objectives. The focus is on exploring gender differences in the relationships of empathy and Dark Triad traits with personality traits in student actors. Study Participants. The study involved 43 second-year students of the Acting major, aged 19 to 29 years (21 men, 22 women). Methods. Short Portrait Big Five Questionnaire by M.S. Egorova and O.V. Parshikova, Short questionnaire of the Dark Triad adapted by M.S. Egorova, M.A. Sitnikova, O.V. Parshikova Empathy Questionnaire by A.A. Mehrabian adapted by E.F. Zeer and O.N. Shakhmatova Results. Openness to experience among student actors is associated with narcissism, and neuroticism is associated with emotional empathy, which describes the ability to understand other people's emotions. At the same time, gender differences were found in the specific relationships between empathic tendencies and personality traits. In boys, behavioral empathy, aimed at showing support and help, is associated with extraversion, while in girls, neuroticism is associated with machiavellianism. Conclusions. Several interpretations of the results are presented. Actors who are open to new experiences and experiments in creating images can be narcissistic, since they do not yet have a formed “sense of truth”, and therefore are forced to focus more on external assessment. Also, student actors may feel somewhat exceptional compared to their peers due to the experience gained through their professional activities. The connection between the emotional level of empathy in student actors of both sexes and neuroticism is explained by the fact that good social insight is accompanied by increased anxiety. Gender specific correlations (Machiavellianism with neuroticism in girls and behavioral empathy with extraversion in boys) may reflect the chosen strategies in developing the emotional component of the image, as well as in building relationships in a team.

Keywords

• actor training
• actor psychology
• big five
• dark triad
• empathy