Focusing and restricting: Two aspects of motivational selectivity in adulthood.

Using a short-term longitudinal design, the authors investigated implications of 2 facets of motivational selectivity--restricting (to few goals) and focusing (on central and similar goals)--for goal-pursuit investment. Participants were 20-69 years old (Time 1, N = 177; Time 2, N = 160). Results show that motivational selectivity in terms of focusing (but not in terms of restricting) is associated with an enhanced involvement in goal pursuit (assessed 3 months later), irrespective of age. Structural equation models demonstrated that this association is completely mediated by the degree of mutual facilitation among goals. Furthermore, motivational selectivity increases from middle to older adulthood. This contributes to the maintenance of high goal involvement into later adulthood, despite aging-related increases in resource limitations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The moderating effects of personal reputation on accountability-strain relationships.

Although felt accountability has predicted positive outcomes in some studies, it has demonstrated anxiety-provoking properties in others. This inconsistency has led researchers to search for moderating variables that explain why felt accountability promotes or impedes favorable outcomes. Building on these studies, the authors examine the moderating effects of personal reputation on the felt accountability-strain relationship. As hypothesized, the results indicate that a positive personal reputation ameliorated the strain reactions caused by felt accountability. In particular, as felt accountability increased, individuals with strong personal reputations experienced less job tension and depressed mood at work, as well as more job satisfaction, but individuals with weak personal reputations experienced the opposite outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social control in personal relationships: Impact on health behaviors and psychological distress.

This study examines associations among social control, health behavior change, and psychological distress. Social control refers to interactions between social network members that entail regulation, influence, and constraint. Social control is predicted to have dual effects leading to better health practices while also arousing psychological distress. A random sample of 242 individuals answered questions about health practices, overall exposure to social control in their networks, and social control attempts made by a specific network member. Analyses yielded mixed support for the hypotheses, but analyses of responses to the social control attempts of a specific network member did reveal that social control predicted less health-compromising behavior and more health-enhancing behavior as well as more distress. The results suggest that social control warrants greater attention in efforts to understand how personal relationships influence health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing the importance of letter pairs in initial, exterior, and interior positions in reading.

Exterior letter pairs (e.g., d--k in dark) play a major role in single-word recognition, but other research (D. Briihl & A. W. Inhoff, 1995) indicates no such role in reading text. This issue was examined by visually degrading letter pairs in three positions in words (initial, exterior, and interior) in text. Each degradation slowed reading rate compared with an undegraded control. However, whereas degrading initial and interior pairs slowed reading rate to a similar extent, degrading exterior pairs slowed reading rate most of all. Moreover, these effects were obtained when letter identities across pair positions varied naturally and when they were matched. The findings suggest that exterior letter pairs play a preferential role in reading, and candidates for this role are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of personal characteristics on relationships between attitudes and job performance.

Using 376 airmen, Whitlock and Cureton (see 35: 7252) collected attitude score and biographical data, which is reanalysed in the present study, using multiple regression techniques. "… much of the criterion variance associated with attitude measures is also related to more easily obtained biographical characteristics of workers and biographical variables should be considered when relating attitudes to productivity." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microscopic study on the interior and exterior reactions of coke with CO2 and H2O

The interior and exterior reactions of coke with H₂O and CO₂ were studied at 950–1250°C by self-made gas–solid reacting apparatus, including the particle diameter, apparent porosity, relative volume density distribution and pore structure of coke after reaction. It was obtained that the porcoke in the interior and exterior parts were all eroded after reacting with CO₂ or H₂O. However, compared with CO₂, the reaction of coke with H₂O occurred at the coke exterior more strongly, but in the coke interior occurred more weakly, indicating the reaction area of coke with H₂O was much closer to the coke exterior. Therefore, injecting hydrogen fuel into blast furnace can increase the coke particle size, so as to make coke playing a better role as skeleton in blast furnace. In addition, increasing the temperature can reduce the amount of solution loss in the coke interior, in particular for the reaction with H₂O.     

Life events and personal causation: Some relationships with satisfaction and distress.

Hypothesized that Ss who engaged in more positive origin activities would rate their lives as more satisfying than Ss who engaged in fewer such activities, and both would be more satisfied than control Ss. After completing a series of questionnaires including a life-event inventory, 3 groups of college students were selected from a pool of 141 and given instructions either to (a) engage in 12 activities from a self-selected list of pleasurable activities, (b) engage in 2 activities from that list, or (c) return after 1 mo for retesting only. Ss were then given a pleasantness-of-events test, an event-frequency test, the Perceived Quality of Life Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and a 54-item Symptom Check List. Covariance analyses revealed that Ss instructed to engage in either 2 or 12 pleasurable activities reported greater pleasantness and a higher quality of life than controls; there were no differences between groups on reports of psychiatric distress. Prior negative life change was treated as a factor in the design and was found to interact with the activity instructions: Ss reporting many prior negative changes exhibited less psychiatric distress along with greater pleasantness when instructed to engage in 12 activities rather than 2 or none. Results suggest that pleasant activities increase positive aspects of well-being in general, but may reduce distress only for people experiencing considerable life stress. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Choosing social situations: Two investigations of self-monitoring processes.

In Study 1, 125 undergraduates chose to enter or not to enter a situation that called for behavioral expressions of extraversion, as measured by the Eysenck Personality Inventory. For high-self-monitoring (HSM) Ss, willingness to enter this situation was a direct reflection of the clarity with which the extraverted character of the situation was defined. For low-self-monitoring (LSM) Ss, willingness to enter this situation was related to their personal dispositions within the domain of extraversion and introversion. In Study 2 (234 Ss), Ss were assigned to a situation and were allowed to indicate how the situation might be changed to make them more willing to enter it. The transformed situations of HSM Ss were relatively clearly defined. The transformed situations of LSM Ss were relatively congruent with their own extraverted or introverted dispositions. The processes by which HSM and LSM Ss facilitated the enactment of their characteristic behavioral orientations are discussed. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's perceptions of the personal relationships in their social networks.

Tested the hypothesis that children would report that different social-network members provide different social provisions, using 199 5th–6th grade White children. Ss completed network of relationships inventories, which assessed 10 qualities of their relationships with mothers, fathers, siblings, grandparents, friends, and teachers. Consistent with R. S. Weiss's (1974) theory (i.e., that individuals seek specific social provisions or types of social support in their relationships with others), Ss reported seeking different provisions from different individuals. Mothers and fathers were turned to most often for affection, enhancement of worth, a sense of reliable aid, and instrumental aid. Next to parents, grandparents were turned to most often for affection and enhancement of worth, and teachers were turned to most often for instrumental aid. Friends were the greatest source of companionship, and friends and mothers received the highest ratings of intimacy. Ss also reported having more power in their relationships with other children than in those with adults. Conflict was perceived as occurring most often in sibling relationships. Ss were most satisfied with their relationships with mothers, and they thought their relationships with mothers and fathers were the most important. Bases for children's differentiations of their relationships and implications for understanding social networks are discussed. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Opponent-processes, stress, and attributions: Some implications for shamanism and the initiation of healing relationships.

Conceptualizes the importance and efficacy of the initiation and treatment practices of shamans in terms of the effects of acute and chronic opponent-processes. The stresses of initiation and healing ceremonies are seen as giving rise to euphoric mood and attributions of personal power and mastery. Parallels are drawn between phenomena associated with shamanism and placebo phenomena early in psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reconstructions of family relationships: Parent–child alliances, personal distress, and self-esteem.

The aim of this study was to operationalize the structure of family relationships and examine how women's reconstructions of various family patterns during childhood and adulthood relate to their levels of depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Using a sample of 93 women, ages 19 to 22, two family patterns emerged: (a) father-daughter alliance (FDA), whereby fathers seek intimacy and affection from their daughters instead of their wives and have emotionally distant marriages; and (b) mother-daughter triangulation (MDT), characterized by conflicted marriages whereby daughters are caught between their battling parents and mothers seek intimacy from their daughters instead of their husbands. Regression estimates suggest that childhood FDA significantly contributes to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem even after controlling for the effects of childhood physical abuse and current FDA. Current MDT contributes to anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creating satisfaction in steady dating relationships: The role of personal goals and situational affordances.

This research extends previous work indicating that individuals are more effective at regulating their behavior when they are in goal-congruent contexts by examining whether individuals particularly need concrete goal-relevant situational affordances once they are in these broadly affirming contexts. Specifically, the authors explore this issue by using the broad context of steady dating relationships (i.e., intimacy-relevant contexts), and considering the role of both intimacy goals and intimacy-affording daily life situations in producing relationship satisfaction and maintenance over time. Results indicate that those with a strong focus on intimacy experience considerable relationship satisfaction regardless of whether they spend time in daily life situations that facilitate intimacy, whereas those without such a focus depend for satisfaction on the presence of intimacy-conducive situations (e.g., time alone with one's partner, or social support from one's partner). Discussion focuses on the theoretical implications of these findings for the Person x Situation literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit theories of relationships: Assessment and prediction of romantic relationship initiation, coping, and longevity.

Belief in romantic destiny holds that potential relationship partners are either meant for each other or they are not. As hypothesized, a longitudinal study of romantic relationships revealed that the relation between initial satisfaction and relationship longevity was stronger for those who believe in romantic destiny. In addition, belief in destiny was associated with avoidance coping strategies in dealing with relationship stressors, and with taking more responsibility for ending the relationship. Belief in growth independency holds that successful relationships are cultivated and developed, and was associated with long-term approaches to dating, relationship-maintaining coping strategies and, once the relationship had ended, disagreeing that it seemed wrong from the beginning. Implications and future research avenues are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The changing signs in the relationships among self-efficacy, personal goals, and performance.

The common interpretation of the positive correlation among self-efficacy, personal goals, and performance is questioned. Using self-efficacy theory (A. Bandura, 1977), it was predicted that cross-sectional correlational results were a function of past performance's influence on self-efficacy, and using control theory (W. T. Powers, 1973), it was predicted that self-efficacy could negatively influence subsequent performance. These predictions were supported with 56 undergraduate participants, using a within-person procedure. Personal goals were also positively influenced by self-efficacy and performance but negatively related to subsequent performance. A 2nd study involving 185 undergraduates found that manipulated goal level positively predicted performance and self-efficacy positively predicted performance in the difficult-goal condition. The discussion focuses on conditions likely to affect the sign of the relationship among self-efficacy, goals, and performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Advances in personal relationships, Vol. 2.

Reviews the book, Advances in personal relationships, Vol. 2 by Warren H. Jones and Daniel Perlman (1991). This is the second volume of an annual series on personal relationships. In the Preface, the editors point to the importance of personal relationships in our lives. They emphasize that a deep understanding of these relationships must go beyond a simple accumulation of empirical findings. Thus, the goal of this Series: "to encourage and contribute to the continued development, integration and cross-fertilization of research and theory on personal relationships" through the presentation of theories of relationships and summaries of ongoing research programs that represent recent developments. With their researcher hat on, the author felt well served by the book and believe that it will indeed be useful to researchers and advanced students. However, the author found little of direct relevance to clinical practice and would not recommend this book as particularly useful (except indirectly) to the practioner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two conceptions of happiness: Contrasts of personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment.

Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia and hedonic enjoyment constitute 2 philosophical conceptions of happiness. Two studies involving combined samples of undergraduate and graduate students (Study 1, n?=?209; Study 2, n?=?249) were undertaken to identify the convergent and divergent aspects of these constructs. As expected, there was a strong positive correlation between personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment. Analyses revealed significant differences between the 2 conceptions of happiness experienced in conjunction with activities for the variables of (1) opportunities for satisfaction, (2) strength of cognitive-affective components, (3) level of challenges, (4) level of skills, and (5) importance. It thus appears that the 2 conceptions of happiness are related but distinguishable and that personal expressiveness, but not hedonic enjoyment, is a signifier of success in the process of self-realization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A study of escalating commitment in principal–agent relationships: Effects of monitoring and personal responsibility.

Some previous studies of escalating commitment required participants to make decisions that preclude any genuine accountability for their actions and ignore the fundamental agency relationships in which organizational decision making normally occurs. The present laboratory experiment examines the impact of principal monitoring on agent escalation tendencies. Participants were placed in actual, rather than hypothetical, principal-agent relationships in which monitoring of agent investment choices was systematically varied. Results indicated that monitoring deterred agents from escalating commitment and from pursuing risky investment strategies. Responsible participants demonstrated classical escalation tendencies despite having both conservative and risky investment alternatives to the original course of action. However, responsibility did not affect the tendency to prefer risky strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group and personal attachments: Two is better than one when predicting college adjustment.

The current study applied Smith, Murphy, and Coates' (1999) group attachment measure to college adjustment using 109 college students. Prior researchers have found that adult dyadic attachment styles predicted college adjustment. This article is the first to explore the relationship between both group and dyadic attachment styles and college adjustment as measured by the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that personal attachment anxiety, not avoidance, accounted for the most variance in college adjustment. Group attachment avoidance also accounted for a significant amount of variance, above and beyond dyadic attachment styles, in the prediction of college adjustment. This study supports the importance of exploring both dyadic and group attachment styles in studying overall adjustment to the transition to college life. Implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Making things happen: Reciprocal relationships between work characteristics and personal initiative in a four-wave longitudinal structural equation model.

The authors used the frameworks of reciprocal determinism and occupational socialization to study the effects of work characteristics (consisting of control and complexity of work) on personal initiative (PI)--mediated by control orientation (a 2nd-order factor consisting of control aspiration, perceived opportunity for control, and self-efficacy) and the reciprocal effects of PI on changes in work characteristics. They applied structural equation modeling to a longitudinal study with 4 measurement waves (N = 268) in a transitional economy: East Germany. Results confirm the model plus 1 additional, nonhypothesized effect. Work characteristics had a synchronous effect on PI via control orientation (full mediation). There were also effects of control orientation and of PI on later changes in work characteristics: As predicted, PI functioned as partial mediator, changing work characteristics in the long term (reciprocal effect); unexpectedly, there was a 2nd reciprocal effect of an additional lagged partial mediation of control orientation on later work characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)