The effects of task importance and publicness on the relation between goal difficulty and performance.

In a laboratory study using undergraduate students (N?=?200), perceived task importance was found to moderate the relationship between goal level and performance. Moreover, participants performed better when both the goal and performance were public rather than anonymous. These findings suggest that by manipulating task importance and publicness of performance, it is possible to influence the impact that the difficulty of specific goals have on performance. The results are consistent with our hypotheses that the motivation to preserve one's self-image and the motivation to preserve one's public-image are two factors that determine effort and persistence devoted to assigned goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subjective well-being among Holocaust survivors: An examination of overlooked differentiations.

This study addressed the issue of adjustment among Holocaust survivors by multidimensional assessment of subjective well-being (SWB). Participants were Israeli Holocaust survivors incidentally included in a life-span study (Group 1; n?=?466) or purposely approached for studying Holocaust survivors (Group 2; n?=?178). Comparison participants had immigrated to Israel before World War II, with their parents either undergoing (Group 3; n?=?270) or not undergoing the Holocaust (Group 4; n?=?388); other comparison participants had immigrated after the war with parents not undergoing the Holocaust (Group 5; n?=?166). Results showed that Group 1 scored lower than Group 2, mainly in positive affect. Group 1 scored lower than Group 4, and to a lesser extent also lower than Groups 3 and 5, mainly in aging-related themes of SWB. The study suggests that long-term effects of the Holocaust on the survivors' SWB are traceable but require a differential approach to the study groups and to the facets of SWB. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for positive versus negative life events: Theories for the differences between happy and unhappy persons.

Three studies examined the following hypotheses for the relation of subjective well-being (SWB) with memory for positive versus negative life events: (1) differences in retrieval mood, (2) the incidence of positive and negative events, (3) the interpretation of events, and (4) frequency of rehearsal. In Studies 1 (n?=?420) and 2 (n?=?94), the partial correlation of retrieval mood with recall, controlling for SWB, was trivial, suggesting that mood had little or no effect on recall. Endorsement frequencies of positive minus negative concrete events and interpretive events on checklists in Studies 2 and 3 each correlated with SWB (ps?     

Happiness in the face of adversity: Reformulating the dynamic and modular bases of subjective well-being.

Addressing diversity and apparent contradictions in manifestations of happiness, this article delineates subjective well-being (SWB) as a dynamic system in the face of possible adversity. SWB constitutes a favorable psychological environment that regulates the hostile-world scenario, defined as one's image of actual or potential threats to one's life or integrity. SWB operates in various modules: experiential, wherein private awareness of SWB dwells on relevant core themes; declarative, wherein public self-reports of SWB function as social behavior; differential, wherein synchronic dimensions of SWB form well-being types; and narrative, wherein diachronic valences of SWB construct trajectories along one's life story. By explicating the regulatory and configurational nature of SWB, the present conceptualization emphasizes the process, rather than the outcome, of pursuing happiness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Through a narrow window: Sample size and the perception of correlation.

A theoretical analysis (Y. Kareev, 1995b) of the sampling distribution of correlations led to the surprising conclusion that the use of small samples has a potential advantage for the early detection of a correlation. This is so because the distribution is highly skewed, and the smaller the sample size, the more the distribution is skewed. This article describes 2 experiments that were designed as empirical tests of this conclusion. In Experiment 1 (N?=?112), the authors compared the predictions of participants differing in their working-memory capacity (hence in the size of the samples they were likely to consider). In Experiment 2 (N?=?144), the authors compared the predictions of participants who viewed samples of different sizes, whose size was determined by the authors. The results fully supported Y. Kareev's conclusion: In both experiments, participants with lower capacity (or smaller samples) indeed perceived the correlation as more extreme and were more accurate in their predictions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resistance of personal risk perceptions to debiasing interventions.

The tendency to believe that one's own risk is less than that of others may reduce interest in health-protective behaviors. This article describes 4 attempts to reduce such optimistic biases. In Study 1, New Jersey residents (N?=?222) were provided with lists of risk factors for several health problems. This manipulation was strengthened in Study 2 by presenting risk factors in such a way that participants (164 undergraduates) might see their own standing as inferior to that of others. In Study 3, risk factors were presented one at a time, and participants (190 undergraduates) incorporated them into a mental image of a high-risk individual. Finally, 374 undergraduates in Study 4 generated lists of personal attributes that they believed increased their risk. Optimistic biases were found in each study, but none of the manipulations reduced these biases consistently. In contrast, conditions using opposite manipulations often exacerbated the biases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological, family, and peer predictors of academic outcomes in first- through fifth-grade children.

This study tested a model that posited that 3 diverse sets of academic outcomes (memory, verbal, and nonverbal aptitudes [N?=?521]; passing proficiency tests in reading and mathematics [N?=?122]; and end-of-year ratings of verbal and mathematical skills by teachers [N?=?159]) for 1st- through 5th-grade children were uniquely determined by psychological (verbal and visual-motor "school readiness" skills at kindergarten, cognitive self-control, and academic self-competence), family (behavioral involvement of an adult family member in the child's schooling), and peer (the average academic performance of members of one's peer group) factors. Verbal readiness skills were uniquely linked to 5 of the 7 academic outcomes. An outcome-specific view of what sets of factors are linked to academic performance was favored in that, of the 5 predictors, only school readiness accounted for unique portions of the variance in aptitudes; only school readiness and cognitive self-control accounted for unique portions of the variance in whether proficiency tests were passed; and only school readiness, cognitive self-control, and the academic performance of one's peer group accounted for unique portions of the variance in end-of-year ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of suppression of personal intrusive thoughts.

Whether the rebound effect of thought suppression would occur with self-generated intrusive thoughts and whether the rebound would be followed by negative metacognitions concerning one's ability to control one's thoughts were explored. In Exp 1, Ss (N?=?104) were asked to (1) suppress and then express or (2) express and then suppress their own intrusive thoughts during written stream-of-consciousness tasks. Results revealed the reverse of the rebound effect: Initial suppression was followed by diminished expression of the intrusive thoughts. Exp 2 (N?=?116) replicated the original rebound effect (D. M. Wegner, 1989) and showed that the rebound was followed by increased reports of feeling out of control of one's thoughts. But, once again, the rebound did not occur with Ss' own intrusive thoughts. Suppressing new thoughts may trigger the synthesis of obsession, but suppressing familiar thoughts in a new context may be less problematic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Indirect minority influence: Evidence for leniency in source evaluation and counterargumentation.

In-group minorities instigate indirect change because of their distinctiveness, the unexpectedness of their position, and their common identity with their targets. Preliminary study (N?=?408) uncovered links among a set of attitudes and revealed participants were unaware of the relationship between some attitudes despite significant correlation and proximity in multidimensional space. Study 1 (N?=?222) advocated a ban of homosexual soldiers attributed to majority, in-group, or out-group minority sources. No direct influence was evident. When credited to an in-group minority, the message influenced attitudes toward gun control, which were linked to the focal beliefs. Relative to other sources, the in-group minority was more positively evaluated, and its message less strongly counterargued (both p N?=?78) reversed direct and indirect attitude objects and replicated these results. Study 3 (N?=?66) examined majority influence and revealed direct, but not indirect, majority influence when participants' membership group was threatened. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory.

Four studies examined the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory (CADRI), a measure of abusive behavior among adolescent dating partners. Exploratory factor analysis was used to refine items based on high school participants with dating experience (N?=?393; 49% female). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to derive and cross-validate the factor structure with participants from 10 high schools (N?=?1,019, 55% female; ages 14–16). The model structure fit for all grades and both sexes, with physical abuse, verbal abuse, and threatening behavior most representative of the underlying "abuse" factor. In Studies 3 and 4, the second-order abuse factor showed acceptable test–retest reliability, partner agreement, and correlation (significant for males only) between observer ratings of dating partners' interactions and youths' CADRI scores. Results support the CADRI as a measure of abusive behavior in adolescent dating relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A test of the influence of goal orientation on the feedback-seeking process.

A longitudinal field study (N?=?44) and a scenario study (N?=?239) were conducted to investigate the influence of the individual difference of goal orientation (an orientation toward developing or demonstrating one's ability) on feedback-seeking behavior by the inquiry method. The results of the 2 studies were consistent with the hypotheses of a positive relationship between a learning-goal orientation and feedback seeking and of a negative relationship between a performance-goal orientation and feedback seeking. Also as hypothesized, the perceived cost and perceived value of feedback seeking mediated these relationships. The theoretical and practical implications of the research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Events and subjective well-being: Only recent events matter.

The effect of life events on subjective well-being (SWB) was explored in a 2-year longitudinal study of 1 15 participants. It was found that only life events during the previous 3 months influenced life satisfaction and positive and negative affect. Although recent life events influenced SWB even when personality at Time 1 was controlled, distal life events did not correlate with SWB. SWB and life events both showed a substantial degree of temporal stability. It was also found that good and bad life events tend to covary, both between individuals and across periods of the lives of individuals. Also, when events of the opposite valence were controlled, events correlated more strongly with SWB. The counterintuitive finding that good and bad events co-occur suggests an exciting avenue for explorations of the structure of life events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related impairment in an event-based prospective-memory task.

Slides of famous people were presented to participants with the instructions to name each face and circle the trial number if the person was wearing glasses (prospective-memory target event). Participants in their 50s and 60s (n?=?56) were more successful than participants in their 70s and 80s (n?=?59) at both the naming and prospective-memory tasks. An age-related increase in the probability of forgetting replicated an earlier prospective-memory study (E. A. Maylor, 1993); in the present case, there was also an age-related decrease in the probability of recovery. These effects of age remained significant after other measures of current ability were taken into account, including intelligence, speed, and naming performance. For participants who were in both the earlier study (E. A. Maylor, 1993) and this study (n?=?65), the correlation between prospective-memory performance on the 2 occasions was significant but only for younger participants. Performance in the prospective-memory task was entirely unrelated to performance in the naming task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Category and stereotype activation: Is prejudice inevitable?

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that people high and low in prejudice respond similarly to direct stereotype activation but differently to category activation. Study I (N?=?40) showed that high- and low-prejudice people share the same knowledge of the stereotype of Black people. In Study 2, (N?=?51) high-prejudice participants formed a more negative and less positive impression of the target person after subliminal priming of the category Blacks than did participants in the no-prime condition. Low-prejudice people tended in the opposite direction. In Study 3 (N?=?45), both high- and low-prejudice people increased negative ratings when valenced stereotype content was also primed. These findings support a distinction between automatic stereotype activation resulting from direct priming and that consequent upon category activation, implying that the relations among categorization, stereotyping, and prejudice are more flexible than it is often assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of intelligence in leaderless groups: The dynamic effects of shyness and acquaintance.

Perceptions of intelligence were investigated in 2 longitudinal studies of leaderless discussion groups (LDGs). In Study 1 (N?=?87), students completed trait-shyness questionnaires and met 7 times in groups of 4–5. After Meetings 2 and 7, participants rated all group members on state shyness and intelligence. Trait-shy participants were initially judged to be less intelligent on both self and peer ratings. At Time 2, however, trait-shy participants were no longer derogated by peers. Study 2 (N?=?103) replicated the same pattern of shy derogation while demonstrating no actual relation between IQ and trait shyness. Again, trait-shy derogation disappeared by Time 2, but state-shy derogation continued. The state shy were now the low-lQ participants, who had begun to talk less. Thus, the bias against quiet individuals, originally inappropriate, gradually became a valid cue for low intelligence. Results were traced to overlapping cues for intelligence and shyness in LDGs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of temperatures from 7 points in the patients under intraperitoneal hyperthermic perfusion

We measured the temperatures from 7 points in the patients under intraperitoneal hyperthermic perfusion (IPHP), associated with induced hypothermia. The temperatures from the 7 points were as follows, pulmonary artery blood temperature (PAT), bladder temperature (BT), sole deep body temperature (ST), forehead deep body temperature (FT), external aural cannal temperature (EAT), esophageal temperature (ET), and rectal temperature (RT). We studied the relationship between PAT and the other 6 temperatures. During IPHP, DT rose up to nearly 40 degrees C, and we considered it very useful to judge the temperatures of the other intra-abdominal organs, which were in contact with the perfusate of IPHP. Judging from the difference of PAT and ST, ST was found useful to estimate the degree of insufficiency of the peripheral circulation. We calculated the correlation coefficients with PAT among the four points, and the order of the correlation coefficients was EAT > ET > FT > RT. EAT showed the highest correlation coefficient with PAT (r = 0.981), and we considered EAT can be a substitute for PAT during IPHP. ET also showed a high correlation with PAT (r = 0.959), but it showed an unusual rise in a case of hydrothorax with hot perfusate for IPHP. Therefore, ET cannot be used solely as a substitute for PAT, but ET can be used as a marker to find a complication of IPHP, hydrothorax.     

Cold water immersion modulates the reinforcing effects of nitrous oxide in healthy volunteers.

The purpose of this study was to determine if a contextual variable manipulation, water temperature of a bath in which a forearm was immersed, would modulate the reinforcing effects of nitrous oxide (N?O) in healthy volunteers (N?=?12). Each of 2 separate choice experiments consisted of a lukewarm water session and a cold water session. Each session consisted of 3 trials: The 1st 2 were sampling trials in which participants inhaled either 100% oxygen or 40% N?0 for 25 min, and the last trial was a 25-min choice trial, in which participants chose between the 2 agents. In each of the 3 trials, participants immersed their forearm in either ice-cold or lukewarm water for 3 min. A variant of the McNemar test revealed that participants were more likely to choose N?O on cold water sessions than on warm water sessions. The authors conclude that N?O was more reinforcing when participants forearms were immersed in ice-cold water than when immersed in lukewarm water. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Looking back and looking ahead: Adult age differences in consistency of diachronous ratings of subjective well-being.

The goal of this study is to investigate the consistency of diachronous ratings of subjective well-being (SWB). A heterogeneous sample (25-74-year-olds; N=3,596) provided ratings of their present SWB, reconstructed their SWB of 10 years ago, and anticipated their SWB 10 years from now. Developmental tasks and self-evaluative principles were used to predict age differences in diachronous consistency. As predicted, in young adulthood, past SWB was rated lower and future SWB higher than present SWB. In contrast, in later adulthood, the past was rated higher and the future lower than present SWB. Analyses of rank-order consistency demonstrated that in later adulthood both future and past SWB were more strongly related to present SWB than in young adulthood. Results show how models of self-evaluation play out at different points in the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and subjective well-being among 97 American Indians with spinal cord injury: A descriptive study.

ABSTRACT. Objective: To measure both clinical and nonclinical aspects of depression and subjective well-being (SWB) among a sample of American Indians with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to identify factors associated with depression and SWB. Study Design: Interviews were conducted by telephone with all participants except those who did not have telephones (who returned materials by mail). Setting: A large rehabilitation hospital in the western-Rocky Mountain region of the United States. Participants: Ninety-seven American Indians with SCI completed a health-related interview that included measures of depression and SWB. All participants were adults with traumatic SCI of at least 1 year in duration, most of whom lived on reservations. Main Outcome Measures: Measures of biographic and injury status, depression, SWB, activities, and health-related behaviors. Results: The American Indian sample reported elevated levels of depression and diminished SWB in 5 of 8 areas relative to previous studies on non-American Indians with SCI. Hierarchical multiple regression accounted for 59% of the variance in depression scores and between 10% and 52% of the variance in SWB scales… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)