Age differences in social preferences among Taiwanese and mainland Chinese: The role of perceived time.

Socioemotional selectivity theory holds that as people recognize the inevitable constraint of time imposed by mortality, their social goals change, motivating them to limit social contacts to those with whom they are emotionally close. This theory was tested among Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese. As predicted, results showed that older adults (aged 60–90 years) in both cultures were more likely than younger adults (aged 18–30 years) to prefer familiar social partners who were most likely to provide emotionally close social interactions. Mainland Chinese, who as a group have shorter actuarial life expectancy, were more likely to prefer familiar social partners than were Taiwanese. These age and cultural differences were eliminated when differences in perceived time were statistically controlled for. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Profils de buts d’apprentissage et caractéristiques personnelles des élèves au début du secondaire.

The present study pursued two goals. The first goal was to explore the presence of students’ learning goals profiles during the beginning of middle school, using cluster analyses procedure. The second goal was to examine whether these profiles are related to academic (motivation, feeling of competence, and achievement) and emotional (anxiety and depression) characteristics. Three hundred ten adolescents participated in this study. Results of cluster analyses showed the presence of different learning goals profiles (high mastery, mixed, mastery-avoidance, and low engaged). Furthermore, results indicated that students in high mastery and mixed profiles are better adapted than students in mastery-avoidance and low engaged profiles, particularly in regard of academic characteristics. On the whole, these findings suggest that considering heterogeneous profiles of learning goals at the beginning of middle school appears quite useful to better understanding students’ academic and emotional characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interplay of mastery and performance goals in social comparison: A multiple-goal perspective.

Régner, Escribe, and Dupeyrat (2007) recently demonstrated that not only performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals (respectively, the desire to outperform others and not to be outperformed by others) but also mastery goals (the desire to acquire knowledge) were related to social comparison orientation (SCO, the tendency to search for social comparison information). In the present article, the possibility of a link between mastery goals and social comparison that depends on the level of performance-approach goals—a possibility supported by a multiple-goal perspective—was tested by examining the interaction effect between mastery and performance-approach goals. This is an important endeavor, as educational settings are rarely free from performance-approach goals, even when mastery goals are promoted. In Study 1, we tested self-set achievement goals (mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals) as predictors of SCO; the interaction between mastery goals and performance-approach goals indicated that the higher the performance-approach goal endorsement, the stronger the link between mastery goals and SCO. In Study 2, we manipulated goal conditions; mastery goals predicted interest in social comparison in the performance-approach goal condition only. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of multiple-goal pursuit in academic settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Self Verbalization and Emotional Arousal": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by David C. Rimm and Stuart B. Litvak (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1969[April],74[2],181-187). On page 187 of the article corrections need to be made in the first and second paragraphs. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1969-09037-001.) Investigated certain assumptions derived from A. Ellis' theory relating implicit verbalization to emotional arousal. Emotional responses (GSR and respiration changes) of 18 undergraduates instructed to silently read sequences of affectively loaded sentences were compared with those of 9 Ss who read neutral sentences. The relationship between relevance to S of the content of the sentences and level of emotional response was investigated, as was the effect of sentence type (observation, inference, or evaluative conclusion) on level of emotional response. Results were that Ss showed a significantly greater response to affectively loaded than to neutral sentences on 2 out of 3 responses measures. Neither relevance nor sentence type were found to have any significant effect. Results were interpreted as offering only partial support for the theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective personality and the content of emotional social support: Coping in organizations.

This field study extended previous research by simultaneously examining the influence of affective personality on 4 dimensions of emotional social support and job burnout. Furthermore, the dimensions of emotional social support were examined as to their differential effects on the components of burnout. Results suggest that affective personality characteristics are associated with emotional social support as well as burnout dimensions. Results also indicate that some types of emotional social support appear to guard against burnout, whereas other types appear to contribute to the burnout experience. These findings suggest that types of emotional social support may have different personality antecedents and that distinct dimensions of social support have differential consequences in regard to burnout. Suggestions for future research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creating and undermining social support in communal relationships: The role of compassionate and self-image goals.

In 2 studies, the authors examined whether relationship goals predict change in social support and trust over time. In Study 1, a group of 199 college freshmen completed pretest and posttest measures of social support and interpersonal trust and completed 10 weekly reports of friendship goals and relationship experiences. Average compassionate goals predicted closeness, clear and connected feelings, and increased social support and trust over the semester; self-image goals attenuated these effects. Average self-image goals predicted conflict, loneliness, and afraid and confused feelings; compassionate goals attenuated these effects. Changes in weekly goals predicted changes in goal-related affect, closeness, loneliness, conflict, and beliefs about mutual and individualistic caring. In Study 2, a group of 65 roommate pairs completed 21 daily reports of their goals for their roommate relationship. Actors' average compassionate and self-image goals interacted to predict changes over 3 weeks in partners' reports of social support received from and given to actors; support that partners gave to actors, in turn, predicted changes in actors' perceived available support, indicating that people with compassionate goals create a supportive environment for themselves and others, but only if they do not have self-image goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Should childhood be a journey of a race? Response to Harackiewicz et al. (2002).

In this response, the authors, dispel interpretation of their critical review of research on performance-approach goals as support for a dichotomous perspective of achievement goal theory. Second, the authors challenge the suggestion that accepting recent research findings and adopting a multiple goals perspective constitute, a theoretical revision of the assumption that "mastery goals are always good and performance goals are always bad" (J. M. Harickiewicz, K. E. Barron, P. R, Pintrich, P. R. Elliot, & T. M. Thrash. 2002, p. 643). The authors make a distinction between developments that contribute to the explanatory power of the theory and value-laden interpretations of theory and research. The authors argue that phrasing the latter in terms of the former is misleading and that it masks the necessity for a critical discussion over the desired purposes in different types of achievement contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Power and the objectification of social targets.

Objectification has been defined historically as a process of subjugation whereby people, like objects, are treated as means to an end. The authors hypothesized that objectification is a response to social power that involves approaching useful social targets regardless of the value of their other human qualities. Six studies found that under conditions of power, approach toward a social target was driven more by the target's usefulness, defined in terms of the perceiver's goals, than in low-power and baseline conditions. This instrumental response to power, which was linked to the presence of an active goal, was observed using multiple instantiations of power, different measures of approach, a variety of goals, and several types of instrumental and noninstrumental target attributes. Implications for research on the psychology of power, automatic goal pursuit, and self-objectification theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Functional Projection: How Fundamental Social Motives Can Bias Interpersonal Perception.

Results from 2 experimental studies suggest that self-protection and mate-search goals lead to the perception of functionally relevant emotional expressions in goal-relevant social targets. Activating a self-protection goal led participants to perceive greater anger in Black male faces (Study 1) and Arab faces (Study 2), both out-groups heuristically associated with physical threat. In Study 2, participants' level of implicit Arab-threat associations moderated this bias. Activating a mate-search goal led male, but not female, participants to perceive more sexual arousal in attractive opposite-sex targets (Study 1). Activating these goals did not influence perceptions of goal-irrelevant targets. Additionally, participants with chronic self-protective and mate-search goals exhibited similar biases. Findings are consistent with a functionalist, motivation-based account of interpersonal perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Taking time seriously: A theory of socioemotional selectivity.

Socioemotional selectivity theory claims that the perception of time plays a fundamental role in the selection and pursuit of social goals. According to the theory, social motives fall into 1 of 2 general categories–those related to the acquisition of knowledge and those related to the regulation of emotion. When time is perceived as open-ended, knowledge-related goals are prioritized. In contrast, when time is perceived as limited, emotional goals assume primacy. The inextricable association between time left in life and chronological age ensures age-related differences in social goals. Nonetheless, the authors show that the perception of time is malleable, and social goals change in 20–83 yr olds when time constraints are imposed. The authors argue that time perception is integral to human motivation and suggest potential implications for multiple subdisciplines and research interests in social, developmental, cultural, cognitive, and clinical psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence of social comparison in mastery goals in natural academic settings.

Proponents of achievement goal theory typically posit social comparison to be associated with performance goals but not with mastery goals (C. Ames, 1992). Contrary to this postulate, there is some evidence that individuals who are experimentally induced to adopt mastery goals may also use social comparison (e.g., R. Butler, 1992). However, such laboratory studies do not take into account the reality of the classroom, where evidence proves that students can endorse both types of goals. This leaves open the question of whether mastery goals are associated with social comparison, even after controlling for performance goals. The purpose of this study was to examine this question. French junior high school students completed a self-report survey assessing their personal achievement goals (mastery goals, performance-approach goals, and performance-avoidance goals) and their social comparison orientation (SCO) at school. Findings indicated that both types of achievement goals were positively associated with students' SCO. Moreover, mastery goals were still related to SCO even after controlling for performance goals. Implications of the interplay between achievement goals and social comparison theories are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotion regulation in customer service roles: Testing a model of emotional labor.

The study used a time-sampling method to test aspects of A. Grandey's (2000) emotion regulation model of emotional labor. Eighteen customer service employees from a call center recorded data on pocket computers every 2 hr at work for 2 weeks. Participants completed ratings of emotion regulation, events, expressed and felt emotions, well-being, and performance on 537 occasions and completed questionnaires containing individual and organizational measures. Multilevel analyses supported many aspects of the model but indicated that it has to be implemented precisely in terms of regulating emotion for organizational goals. Results also showed that deep and surface acting had different consequences for employees. Overall, the study found that emotion regulation is a viable platform for understanding emotional labor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived Barriers to and Supports of the Attainment of Career and Family Goals Among Academically Talented Individuals.

Perceived barriers to and supports of the attainment of career and family goals were examined. Participants were adults taking part in a longitudinal study of academically talented students. Qualitative data yielded information regarding participants' goals as well as perceived barriers to and supports of goal attainment. Quantitative data were used to test 2 path models. The 1st path analysis provided information on relationships among perceived barriers to career goal attainment, coping efficacy, social support, and career goal outcome expectations; the 2nd path analysis tested relationships among perceived barriers to family goal attainment, coping efficacy, social support, and family goal outcome expectations. Results indicated adequate fit for the 1st model and mixed results for the 2nd. Implications for counselors and directions for future research were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sending memorable messages to the old: Age differences in preferences and memory for advertisements.

Socioemotional selectivity theory holds that people of different ages prioritize different types of goals. As people age and increasingly perceive time as finite, they attach greater importance to goals that are emotionally meaningful. Because the goals that people pursue so centrally influence cognition, the authors hypothesize that persuasive messages, specifically advertisements, would be preferred and better remembered by older adults when they promise to help realize emotionally meaningful goals, whereas younger adults would not show this bias. The authors also predict that modifying time perspective would reduce age differences. Findings provide qualified support for each of these predictions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional exhaustion and job performance: The mediating role of motivation.

The literature concerning the relationship between emotional exhaustion and performance led researchers to raise questions about the extent to which the variables are related. In 2 time-lagged samples, the authors found that motivation mediates the emotional exhaustion-job performance relationship. Moreover, the authors found that participants appear to target their investment of resources in response to emotional exhaustion to develop social support through social exchange; specifically, emotional exhaustion was associated with communion striving resources that were manifest in the form of organizational citizenship behaviors targeted at individuals. Implications of this relationship for theories of burnout and for management practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relating emotional abilities to social functioning: A comparison of self-report and performance measures of emotional intelligence.

Three studies used J. D. Mayer and P. Salovey's (1997) theory of emotional intelligence (EI) as a framework to examine the role of emotional abilities (assessed with both self-report and performance measures) in social functioning. Self-ratings were assessed in ways that mapped onto the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), a validated performance measure of EI. In Study 1, self-ratings and MSCEIT scores were not strongly correlated. In Study 2, men's MSCEIT scores, but not self-ratings, correlated with perceived social competence after personality measures were held constant. In Study 3, only the MSCEIT predicted real-time social competence, again, just for men. Implications for analyzing how emotional abilities contribute to social behavior are discussed, as is the importance of incorporating gender into theoretical frameworks and study designs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support as a mediator of optimism and distress in breast cancer survivors.

Breast cancer patients can experience emotional distress as a result of diagnosis and treatment. Higher levels of optimism and social support are associated with less emotional distress in cancer patients. This 12-month prospective study followed 69 women who had completed treatment for Stages 0-11 breast cancer. At 3-month intervals, participants completed measures of mood disturbance, optimism, and social support. As hypothesized, affective social support mediated the relationship between optimism and distress in early-stage breast cancer survivors at baseline and 6 months but not at 1 year. In contrast, confidant social support did not mediate the optimism-distress relationship at any time point. Clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The moderating effect of work-linked couple relationships and work–family integration on the spouse instrumental support-emotional exhaustion relationship.

Based on boundary theory and conservation of resources theory, we argue that employees with a spouse in the same occupation or workplace (referred to as work-linked couples) enhance the effectiveness of spousal instrumental support in reducing emotional exhaustion. In the first study of nurses (n = 103), we found that work-linked couples have more highly integrated work and family roles than participants whose spouses did not share an occupation or workplace. In a second study of working adults (n = 484), we found that work-linked couples have a stronger relationship between spouse instrumental support and the reduction of emotional exhaustion; this moderated relationship was mediated by their work–family integration. We discuss the implications of these findings for the study of work and family roles, social support, and emotional exhaustion, and provide suggestions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital closeness, functional disability, and adjustment in late life.

Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) posits that emotionally close relationships are increasingly valued as people perceive constraints on time. Based on SST, this study of 1,532 older married persons hypothesized that emotional dimensions of marriage would more strongly predict adjustment at higher levels of functional disability. High levels of marital closeness were negatively associated with depression and anxiety and positively associated with self-esteem. Consistent with predictions derived from SST, marital closeness moderated the negative psychological effects of high levels of functional disability on depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Results are discussed in the context of SST and traditional stress-buffering models of social support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mexican American middle school students' goal intentions in mathematics and science: A test of social cognitive career theory.

This study examined whether sociocontextual and sociocognitive variables explained the math/science goals of 409 Mexican American youth using a modified version of R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, and G. Hackett's (1994) social cognitive career theory. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that the hypothesized model explained a significant amount of variance in math/science goals for both Mexican American girls and boys. Findings suggested that gender did not moderate relations among the variables in the hypothesized model. Results also suggested that most of the social cognitive career theory propositions tested were supported. Specifically, social class predicted math/science past performance accomplishments. Math/science past performance accomplishments and perceived parent support predicted math/science self-efficacy. Furthermore, math/science self-efficacy predicted math/science outcome expectations, and together with math/science interests, these sociocognitive variables predicted math/science interests and goals. Contrary to expectations, generation status, Anglo orientation, and Mexican orientation did not predict math/science past performance accomplishments, and past performance accomplishments did not predict math/science outcome expectations. Furthermore, Anglo orientation and perceived social support from parents, teachers, classmates, and a close friend did not predict math/science goals. Suggestions for future research and implications of the results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)