Nostalgia as a repository of social connectedness: The role of attachment-related avoidance.

Individuals who are low (compared with high) in attachment-related avoidance rely on social bonds to regulate distress, and the authors hypothesized that nostalgia can be a repository of such social connectedness. Studies 1–3 showed a positive association between loneliness and nostalgia when attachment-related avoidance was low, but not when it was high. Study 4 revealed that low-avoidance individuals derived more social connectedness from nostalgia than did high-avoidance individuals. Study 5 extended these findings and demonstrated that, in addition to being a source of social connectedness, nostalgia increased participants’ perceived capacity to provide emotional support to others. As in the case of social connectedness, this beneficial effect of nostalgia was significantly stronger when attachment-related avoidance was low (compared with high). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From the editors.

This issue focuses on research on the arts, in particular music and movies. Topics covered by the articles include different types of reviews and ratings as they relate to eventual movie success, linguistical analyses of the songs of the Beatles, and nostalgia in song lyrics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The transition to young adulthood: generational boundary dissolution and female identity development

This research explored links between differential qualities of family connectedness and young adult females' development of an independent identity. Identity development involves exploration of possible roles and choices in particular domains such as occupation, dating, and friendship, followed by commitment to a set of values and behaviors in one of these areas. In this study, women who reported that their parents encouraged autonomy while still maintaining closeness also reported more exploration in their friendship and dating relationships. In contrast, reports of parent-child boundary dissolution, characterized by role-reversal, enmeshment, and overinvolvement, were related to less exploration, particularly in dating relationships. Mother-daughter boundary dissolution, specifically, was linked to women's tendency to base their commitments to a career and relationships with others on parental values and expectations without ever exploring alternative choices. Father-daughter boundary dissolution was related to lower exploration as well as lower commitment to values and beliefs in any area. These findings lend support to theoretical and clinical impressions that intergenerational boundary violations hinder the development of an independent identity.     

Using ecological momentary assessment to measure participation: A preliminary study.

Purpose/Objective: Participation is emerging as the gold standard of outcome measurement in disability and rehabilitation, but there are few methods for measuring it. This article describes the development of a dynamic measure of participation that uses the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as the framework for measure development and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) as the data collection methodology. Research Method/Design: Researchers programmed personal data assistants to prompt 5 residents of a rural community to report their location, activity, social contact, environmental barriers and facilitators, secondary conditions, and ratings of community connectedness and fulfillment. Results: Overall, 5 participants reported data on 1,352 engagements over 7 weeks. Participants reported greater community connectedness and fulfillment when they spent time with others, were not home, and were not experiencing barriers or secondary conditions. Conclusions/Implications: EMA measures and methodology are 1 step in answering questions about participation within the ecological framework of disability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's left behind: Identity continuity moderates the effect of nostalgia on well-being and life choices.

Previous research has demonstrated that nostalgia for the past can have positive consequences for individuals' psychological well-being and their perceived ability to cope with challenges in the present (Wildschut, Sedikides, Arndt, & Routledge, 2006). We propose that this effect is limited to circumstances in which individuals have maintained identity continuity between the past and the present. Support for this moderation hypothesis is obtained in a longitudinal survey (Study 1) and two experiments (Studies 2 and 3) among students entering university. Whereas previously observed positive effects of nostalgia were confirmed when identity continuity had been maintained, feeling nostalgic about the past in the context of lower identity continuity had negative consequences for well-being (Studies 1 and 3), perceived ability to cope with challenges (Studies 1 and 2), and interest in new opportunities (Studies 2 and 3) rather than focusing on familiar experiences (Study 3). Taken together, results indicate that the extent to which individuals view the present as linked to the past has important implications for the outcome of their nostalgia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

When dispositional and role power fit: Implications for self-expression and self–other congruence.

Integrating and extending the literatures on social power and person–environment fit, 4 studies tested the hypothesis that when people's dispositional beliefs about their capacity to influence others fit their assigned role power, they are more likely to engage in self-expression—that is, behave in line with their states and traits—thereby increasing their likelihood of being perceived by others in a manner congruent with their own self-judgments (i.e., self–other congruence). In Studies 1–3, dispositionally high- and low-power participants were randomly assigned to play a high- or low-power role in an interaction with a confederate. When participants' dispositional and role power fit (vs. conflicted), they reported greater self-expression (Study 1). Furthermore, under dispositional-role power fit conditions, the confederate's ratings of participants' emotional experiences (Study 2) and personality traits (Study 3) were more congruent with participants' self-reported emotions and traits. Study 4's results replicated Study 3's results using an implicit manipulation of power and outside observers' (rather than a confederate's) ratings of participants. Implications for research on power and person perception are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between social connectedness and anxiety, self-esteem, and social identity.

Social connectedness and its relationship with anxiety, self-esteem, and social identity was explored in the lives of women. Social connectedness was negatively related to trait anxiety and made a larger unique contribution to trait anxiety than social support or collective self-esteem. Women with high connectedness also reported greater social identification in high, as compared with low, cohesion conditions. Women with low connectedness exhibited no difference in either condition. Social connectedness was also positively related to state self-esteem across both conditions but did not have an effect on state anxiety. Future research in gender and cultural differences, self-evaluation process, and intervention strategies are discussed in light of the findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Are individuals’ reputations related to their history of behavior?": Correction to Anderson and Shirako (2008).

Reports an error in "Are individuals' reputations related to their history of behavior" by Cameron Anderson and Aiwa Shirako (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2008[Feb], Vol 94[2], 320-333). Coefficient alpha reliabilities for the social connectedness variable were reported as .97 and .78 in Studies 2 and 3, respectively. Instead, they should have been reported as intraclass correlations (ICC) of .87 and .74, respectively. In the original reliability analyses, the authors included self-ratings of social connectedness and thus omitted participants from the analysis who did not provide a self-rating. Similarly, the authors included self-ratings when assessing the reliability of social connectedness in an unreported classroom sample (n=36) that was collected at the same time as the data reported in Study 2. In that unreported sample, they originally obtained a coefficient that was far below satisfactory levels, leading them to exclude that data set. However, after taking out the self-ratings in that unreported sample, the ICC was .82. The erratum summarizes the correlations reported in Study 2 for the unreported and included data sets combined. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-00466-010.) Functional theories of reputation imply that individuals' reputations are tied to their history of behavior. However, indirect evidence suggests that the relation between reputation and behavior might be tenuous at best. In 3 studies, the authors tracked the development of reputations among individuals who engaged in multiple negotiation tasks across several weeks. The authors found that on average, individuals' reputations were only mildly related to their history of behavior. However, the link between reputation and behavior was stronger for some individuals than others--specifically, for individuals who were more well-known and received more social attention in the community. In contrast, for less well-known individuals, their behavior had little impact on their reputation. The findings have implications for psychologists' understanding of reputations, person perceptions in larger groups, and the costs and benefits of social visibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual and common components of the social environment at work and psychological well-being.

Interpretations of correlational research on the social origins of psychological well-being are limited by the possibility of reciprocal influences between persons and their social situations and by respondent bias. These issues are addressed in a study of the relation between the social environment at work and mental health. Two components of a social environment were measured: a common social environment, the social climate shared by employees in the same work setting, and an individual social environment, the social space surrounding one individual in the setting. The study related (a) averaged co-workers' ratings and individuals' own ratings of the social environment to (b) individuals' self-reported psychological well-being. A group of 37 bank branches represented work environments, and nonmanagerial personnel in the branches served as participants. Results indicated that the quality of the social environment at work is related to the mental health of employees. More important, the relation was confirmed with an independent measure of the social environment. Aggregate co-worker ratings of the common social environment were significantly correlated with individual depression and anxiety. However, an individual's perceptions appeared to mediate the social environment's impact. As hypothesized, well-being was more closely tied to the proximal individual social environment than to the more distal common social environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are individuals' reputations related to their history of behavior?

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 98(1) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2009-24670-012). Coefficient alpha reliabilities for the social connectedness variable were reported as .97 and .78 in Studies 2 and 3, respectively. Instead, they should have been reported as intraclass correlations (ICC) of .87 and .74, respectively. In the original reliability analyses, the authors included self-ratings of social connectedness and thus omitted participants from the analysis who did not provide a self-rating. Similarly, the authors included self-ratings when assessing the reliability of social connectedness in an unreported classroom sample (n=36) that was collected at the same time as the data reported in Study 2. In that unreported sample, they originally obtained a coefficient that was far below satisfactory levels, leading them to exclude that data set. However, after taking out the self-ratings in that unreported sample, the ICC was .82. The erratum summarizes the correlations reported in Study 2 for the unreported and included data sets combined.] Functional theories of reputation imply that individuals' reputations are tied to their history of behavior. However, indirect evidence suggests that the relation between reputation and behavior might be tenuous at best. In 3 studies, the authors tracked the development of reputations among individuals who engaged in multiple negotiation tasks across several weeks. The authors found that on average, individuals' reputations were only mildly related to their history of behavior. However, the link between reputation and behavior was stronger for some individuals than others--specifically, for individuals who were more well-known and received more social attention in the community. In contrast, for less well-known individuals, their behavior had little impact on their reputation. The findings have implications for psychologists' understanding of reputations, person perceptions in larger groups, and the costs and benefits of social visibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The past makes the present meaningful: Nostalgia as an existential resource.

The present research tested the proposition that nostalgia serves an existential function by bolstering a sense of meaning in life. Study 1 found that nostalgia was positively associated with a sense of meaning in life. Study 2 experimentally demonstrated that nostalgia increases a sense of meaning in life. In both studies, the link between nostalgia and increased meaning in life was mediated by feelings of social connectedness. Study 3 evidenced that threatened meaning increases nostalgia. Study 4 illustrated that nostalgia, in turn, reduces defensiveness following a meaning threat. Finally, Studies 5 and 6 showed that nostalgia disrupts the link between meaning deficits and compromised psychological well-being. Collectively, these findings indicate that the provision of existential meaning is a pivotal function of nostalgia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perception of discrimination and ethnocultural variables in a diverse group of adolescents

Despite current interest in the multi-dimensionality of culture and ethnicity there are few studies that have explored the role of discrimination with ethnocultural variables. In this study social identity theory was used as a framework to test the relation between discrimination and components of ethnic identity, and attitudes towards out-groups. A school-based survey in a large south-west metropolitan area in 1994 was undertaken with students (n=3071) of African-American, European-American, Mexican-American, and Vietnamese-American descent using multiple measures of ethnicity. Hierarchical multiple regression results indicated that two components of ethnic identity played different roles in the relation between discrimination and attitudes towards others. Consistent with social identity theory, results indicated that perception of more discrimination was predicted by high ethnic exploration, and having more negative attitudes towards out-groups. However, ethnic affirmation, which is a positive sense of belonging to one's ethnic group, was only indirectly related to discrimination through attitudes toward others. In fact, contrary to social identity theory, a stronger sense of belonging to one's group was associated with more positive attitudes toward out-groups. Results have important implications for race relations.     

A multimodal analysis of personal negativity

This study examined how unhappiness and self-dissatisfaction are related to behavior, self-perception, social reputation, and the way one is treated by others. Varying in personal negativity (PN)--a composite of unhappiness, dissatisfaction with life, low self-esteem, and nonclinical depression--146 undergraduates (82 women and 64 men) engaged in 3 interactions. Participants' behavior and the behavior of their interaction partners was coded from videotapes. Personality ratings were obtained from participants and from 2 close acquaintances. PN was closely associated with maladaptive social interactions, negative behavioral responses by others, and a negative social reputation and self-image. Although women more clearly expressed PN behaviorally, men and women showed generally similar patterns of correlates. These results suggest that even subclinical levels of unhappiness and self-dissatisfaction may have important consequences.     

Time counts: Future time perspective, goals, and social relationships.

On the basis of postulates derived from socioemotional selectivity theory, the authors explored the extent to which future time perspective (FTP) is related to social motivation, and to the composition and perceived quality of personal networks. Four hundred eighty German participants with ages ranging from 20 to 90 yrs took part in the study. In 2 card-sort tasks, participants indicated their partner preference and goal priority. Participants also completed questionnaires on personal networks and social satisfaction. Older people, as a group, perceived their future time as more limited than younger people. Individuals who perceived future time as being limited prioritized emotionally meaningful goals, whereas individuals who perceived their futures as open-ended prioritized instrumental or knowledge-related goals. Priority of goal domains was found to be differently associated with the size, composition, and perceived quality of personal networks depending on FTP. Prioritizing emotion-regulatory goals was associated with greater social satisfaction and less perceived strain with others when participants perceived their future as limited. Findings underscore the importance of FTP in the self-regulation of social relationships and the subjective experience associated with them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal nostalgia, world view, memory, and emotionality

Batcho's 1995 Nostalgia Inventory was completed by 210 respondents, 88 males and 122 females, ranging in age from 5 to 79 years old. Subjects scoring high on the Nostalgia Inventory rated the past more favorably than did subjects scoring low on the inventory but did not differ in ratings of the present or future. High-scoring individuals rated themselves more emotional, with stronger memories, need for achievement, and preference for activities with other people, but not as less happy, risk or thrill seeking, religious, logical, easily bored, or expecting to succeed. In a second study, 113 undergraduates, 32 men and 81 women, completed measures of nostalgia, memory, and personality. High-scoring subjects showed no advantage in free recall over low-scoring subjects but recalled more people-oriented autobiographical memories. Individuals scoring high on nostalgia were no more optimistic, pessimistic, or negatively emotional but scored higher on a measure of emotional intensity. Personal nostalgia was distinguished from social-historical nostalgia and world view. Results were discussed with respect to major theoretical approaches.     

Sex differences in styles of occupational identity formation in late adolescence.

Administered to 41 male and 42 female high school juniors and seniors an interview assessing identity status and questionnaires measuring vocational identity, social desirability, masculinity/femininity, and achievement motivation. On 2 identity measures, males and females had progressed equal distances toward the achievement of an occupational identity. However, for young men, vocational identity was positively related to masculinity and orientations toward mastery and lack of concern about the negative evaluations of others. On the identity interview, occupational exploration was related to femininity, and occupational commitment was related to masculinity and mastery. For young women, vocational identity was positively related to masculinity and an orientation toward hard work; vocational identity was negatively related to competitiveness. Over 40% of the Ss were identity achievers, exhibiting high levels of occupational exploration and commitment. Identity formation in the late high school years is discussed in terms of a relative equilibrium before the transition marked by leaving home. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

You Can't Always Get What You Want: Educational Attainment, Agency, and Choice.

Using educational attainment to indicate socioeconomic status, the authors examined models of agency and effects of choice among European American adults of different educational backgrounds in 3 studies. Whereas college-educated (BA) participants and their preferred cultural products (i.e., rock music lyrics) emphasized expressing uniqueness, controlling environments, and influencing others, less educated (HS) participants and their preferred cultural products (i.e., country music lyrics) emphasized maintaining integrity, adjusting selves, and resisting influence. Reflecting these models of agency, HS and BA participants differently responded to choice in dissonance and reactance paradigms: BA participants liked chosen objects more than unchosen objects, but choice did not affect HS participants' preferences. Results suggest that HS and BA models of agency qualitatively differ, despite overlap between HS and BA worlds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem and perceptions of conveyed impressions: Is negative affectivity associated with greater realism?

Two studies examine the notion that negative affectivity (Watson & Clark, 1984) is associated with more accurate perceptions of conveyed impressions in social interactions. In Study 1 (n?=?160), low self-esteem (LSE) and high self-esteem (HSE) subjects were paired with either an LSE or an HSE partner. After a 15-min interaction, they rated themselves, their partners, and how they believed their partners would rate them on 20 adjectives related to social competence. Study 2 (n?=?40) was identical except that each interaction was observed by 2 observers who rated each participant, and participants also rated how they believed an observer would rate them. LSE subjects exhibited greater accuracy only with respect to the elevation component of observers' ratings; HSE subjects overestimated the positivity of observers' evaluations, whereas LSE subjects were relatively accurate. However, LSE subjects exhibited less overall accuracy with respect to their partners' ratings. We argue that when these results are considered with earlier research, there is no support for the notion of depressive realism in assessing conveyed impressions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intrapersonal and social comparison determinants of happiness: A range-frequency analysis.

Examined whether intrapersonal comparisons and social comparisons operate in similar ways to determine ratings of happiness. Events were varied to create positively and negatively skewed distributions. The events in each distribution were ascribed to either a single person or a group of people; Ss rated how happy they would feel if they experienced specific events within the distribution. Ratings for both intrapersonal and social comparisons were fit well by Parducci's (1984) range-frequency theory. Individual events received higher ratings when presented within the positively skewed context. Overall happiness, as measured by both the mean of the happiness ratings as well as direct ratings, was highest for the negatively skewed distributions. The effects of skewing were more pronounced for intrapersonal comparisons, but ratings were more closely defined by the range of experimental stimuli for social comparisons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)