Intensity and frequency: Dimensions underlying positive and negative affect.

Research on emotions and several happiness scales suggests that positive and negative affect are strongly inversely correlated. However, work on subjective well-being indicates that over time, positive and negative affect are independent across persons. To reconcile this inconsistency, 2 dimensions are proposed for personal affective structure: the frequency of positive vs negative affect and the intensity of affect. In 3 studies, 68 undergraduates and 34 33–85 yr old community residents completed daily and momentary reports on their moods. In support of the intensity dimension, the correlations between positive and negative intensity were strong and positive in all 3 studies. The intensities of specific emotions across Ss were also highly correlated. Across the 3 studies the frequency and intensity of affect varied independently. Although average levels of positive and negative affect showed low correlations, this relation became strongly inverse when intensity was partialed out. Thus, the intensity dimension helps explain the relative independence of positive and negative affect. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors predicting the subjective well-being of nations.

Subjective well-being (SWB) in 55 nations, reported in probability surveys and a large college student sample, was correlated with social, economic, and cultural characteristics of the nations. The SWB surveys, representing nations that include three fourths of the earth's population, showed strong convergence. Separate measures of the predictor variables also converged and formed scales with high reliability, with the exception of the comparison variables. High income, individualism, human rights, and societal equality correlated strongly with each other, and with SWB across surveys. Income correlated with SWB even after basic need fulfillment was controlled. Only individualism persistently correlated with SWB when other predictors were controlled. Cultural homogeneity, income growth, and income comparison showed either low or inconsistent relations with SWB. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Person?×?Situation interactions: Choice of situations and congruence response models.

Examined 2 models of person?×?situation interactions using 42 undergraduates. The 1st model (H. A. Murray, 1938) predicts that there is a relation between personality and the situations people naturally choose to be in; the 2nd model (H. J. Eysenck, 1952) predicts that when there is congruence between the situation and personality, a person will experience more positive and less negative affect. These models were investigated by using mood and activity reports gathered on 3,512 occasions sampled randomly from Ss' everyday lives. Situational dimensions were related to some but not all personality variables investigated. Need for order predicted choice of typical situations, and extraversion correlated with time spent recreating socially. However, it was found that Ss did not spend more time in those settings in which they experienced more positive emotions nor less time in those situations in which they experienced more negative affect. In terms of the affect–congruence model, several predicted relations were found, but several others did not reach significance. The failure of the affect–congruence model to be consistently supported was probably because Ss' affect was relatively consistent across situations. Results suggest that although some theoretically meaningful person?×?situation interactions do occur, they are not necessarily strong or easily predictable. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Model investigations of slag flow during last stages of ladle teeming

In order to study slag carryover during ladle teeming, the last stage of ladle draining is simulated by means of a 1:1 scale water model with reduced wall height. The flow phenomenon “drain sink” is found to be responsible for slag carryover. A drain sink occurs if the volume flow of the open channel at the ladle bottom becomes less than the corresponding outlet capacity. This explanation is confirmed quantitatively by experimental data and a simple hydraulic model as well as by steelmaking experiments. At present, a gravimetric method of slag flow detection is being tested in the continuous casting plant.     

Choice and avoidance of everyday situations and affect congruence: Two models of reciprocal interactionism.

Studied person–situation interactions using 2 models of reciprocal interactionism: the choice-of-situations model and the congruence-response model. 22 undergraduates were followed for a period of 30 days and were asked to record 20 situations they encountered, their positive and negative affects in each situation, and their daily mood. Support was found for both models of interactionism. Results show that in their everyday environment, Ss chose to spend time in certain situations and to avoid others and that these patterns were predictable from personality trait scores. The importance of distinguishing between chosen and imposed situations was demonstrated. Implications of the present findings for the person–situation debate and for personality and situational assessment are discussed. (53 ref) (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)     

Scanning tunneling microscope spectroscopy of polymers

This paper presents theoretical results on the relationship between density of states (DOS) and scanning tunneling microscope current-voltage curves in polymers. We considered samples of linear hydrocarbons electrically grounded at one of their extremes. The other extreme is electrically connected to the microscope tip via electron tunneling through vacuum. When a voltage, V, is applied to the tip, electric current, I, flows in the tip-sample circuit. This current varies as the voltage varies and depends on the DOS to the extent that no current would flow if no electron states exist at a certain energy (or voltage). The detailed relationship between DOS and the current-voltage (I-V) curve is not known a priori. We solve the corresponding quantum problem in the context of tight binding and find that I-V reproduces accurately the resonant energy peaks of the DOS. We apply the results to 100 atom-long alkane and alkene chains and found that there is a significant voltage shift in the corresponding curves as to discriminate one structure from the other.     

Models for the production of stable hematopoietic chimerism across major histocompatibility barriers in adults

Experiments presented in this paper indicate that DBA/2J (H-2d) mice parabiosed for more than 100 days to the F1 hybrid between DBA/2J and C3H/HeJ (H-2k) contain in their serum an anti-H-2k antibody that is preferentially reactive with hematopoietic tissue and is also capable of killing C3H/HeJ colony-forming stem cells in vivo (CFU-S). These findings make the antibody a likely participant in the "takeover" reaction, in which DBA/2J red and white cells eventually replace the F1 hybrid blood system. With these observations used as a basis, 10(8) DBA/2J spleen cells were injected along with anti-H-2Kk (anti-host) monoclonal antibody into 10-wk-old (DBA/2J x C3H/HeJ)F1 hybrid hosts. The recipients had a high surivival rate and exhibited long-term chimerism. Unlike the situation in the parabionts, the DBA/2J lymphoid cells in the injection chimeras were found to be unresponsive to C3H/HeJ alloantigens. This could result from the continued presence of F1 hybrid stimulator cells, which are missing in the parabionts. The injection chimeras indicate that one can establish stable chimerism in adult mice without irradiation or metabolic poisoning.