Social environment of the church and feelings of gratitude toward god.

The purpose of this study was to see whether the social environment of the church is associated with changes in feelings of gratitude toward God over time. The theoretical thrust of the authors’ analyses is captured in the following conceptual linkages: (a) People who attend church frequently are more likely to believe that their congregation is highly cohesive; (b) individuals who worship in more cohesive congregations will receive more emotional support from fellow church members; (c) people who receive more emotional support from coreligionists will be more likely to feel they have a close spiritual connection with others; and (d) people who feel they are closely connected with other individuals will feel especially grateful to God. Data from a nationwide longitudinal survey of older adults provide support for each of these hypothesized relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于梯度算子的蚁群图像分割算法研究

提出了一种基于梯度算子的改进蚁群图像分割算法,解决了用传统分割方法很难将目标与背景灰度值相似图像分割的难题.该算法基于经典的梯度算子图像分割,从聚类的角度出发,综合像素的灰度、梯度特征进行特征分割.蚁群算法是一种具有离散性、并行性、鲁棒性和模糊聚类能力的进化方法,通过设置不同的蚁群、聚类中心、启发式引导函数和信息激素来解决蚁群算法循环次数多,计算量大的模糊聚类问题.实验证明,该改进蚁群算法可以快速准确的分割出背景和目标灰度值极其相似图片的目标图像,是一种有效的图像分割方法.     

Thanks, but I'm used to better: A relative rank model of gratitude.

We argue that more help does not necessarily lead to more gratitude. Rather, gratitude depends on how a given instance of help compares with the help that a person is used to receiving. Participants read vignettes detailing an event in which 11 different friends either lent them varying amounts of money or spent varying amounts of time providing help. The amount of gratitude elicited by a given amount of help (e.g., a loan of ￡36 [about $56] or 49 min help) differed substantially depending on how this amount ranked among the help they were getting from their other friends. Comparison across four experimental conditions suggested that these judgments operated via the same general cognitive mechanisms used to judge other social events and psychophysical stimuli (as outlined by range frequency theory). Although more help does lead to more gratitude, people appear to be sensitive to how that help compares with what others are providing, and experienced gratitude depends on these relative judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blinded by anger or feeling the love: How emotions influence advice taking.

Across 2 experiments, the authors demonstrate that emotional states influence how receptive people are to advice. The focus of these experiments is on incidental emotions, emotions triggered by a prior experience that is irrelevant to the current situation. The authors demonstrate that people who feel incidental gratitude are more trusting and more receptive to advice than are people in a neutral emotional state, and people in a neutral state are more trusting and more receptive to advice than are people who feel incidental anger. In these experiments, greater receptivity to advice increased judgment accuracy. People who felt incidental gratitude were more accurate than were people in a neutral state, and people in a neutral state were more accurate than were people who felt incidental anger. The results offer insight into how people use advice, and the authors identify conditions under which leaders, policy makers, and advisors may be particularly influential. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A social-cognitive model of trait and state levels of gratitude.

Three studies tested a new model of gratitude, which specified the generative mechanisms linking individual differences (trait gratitude) and objective situations with the amount of gratitude people experience after receiving aid (state gratitude). In Study 1, all participants (N = 253) read identical vignettes describing a situation in which they received help. People higher in trait gratitude made more positive beneficial appraisals (seeing the help as more valuable, more costly to provide, and more altruistically intended), which fully mediated the relationship between trait and state levels of gratitude. Study 2 (N = 113) replicated the findings using a daily process study in which participants reported on real events each day for up to14 days. In Study 3, participants (N = 200) read vignettes experimentally manipulating objective situations to be either high or low in benefit. Benefit appraisals were shown to have a causal effect on state gratitude and to mediate the relationship between different prosocial situations and state gratitude. The 3 studies demonstrate the critical role of benefit appraisals in linking state gratitude with trait gratitude and the objective situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life.

The effect of a grateful outlook on psychological and physical well-being was examined. In Studies 1 and 2, participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental conditions (hassles, gratitude listing, and either neutral life events or social comparison); they then kept weekly (Study 1) or daily (Study 2) records of their moods, coping behaviors, health behaviors, physical symptoms, and overall life appraisals. In a 3rd study, persons with neuromuscular disease were randomly assigned to either the gratitude condition or to a control condition. The gratitude-outlook groups exhibited heightened well-being across several, though not all, of the outcome measures across the 3 studies, relative to the comparison groups. The effect on positive affect appeared to be the most robust finding. Results suggest that a conscious focus on blessings may have emotional and interpersonal benefits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

高校贫困生的感恩意识培养

从传统文化、社会心理学、社会环境三方面提出了感恩教育的现实意义,从贫困生的自身心理缺陷、家庭成长环境、学校德育教育、社会环境四个方面分析了缺乏感恩意识的原因,探讨了以人文关怀、构建立体教育体系、弘扬传统感恩文化等措施来培育高校贫困生的感恩意识。     

Inspiration and the promotion of well-being: Tests of causality and mediation.

The influence of inspiration on well-being was examined in 4 studies. In Study 1, experimental manipulation of exposure to extraordinary competence increased positive affect, and inspiration accounted for this effect. In Study 2, trait inspiration predicted an increase in positive hedonic and eudaimonic well-being variables (positive affect, life satisfaction, vitality, and self-actualization) across a 3-month period, even when the Big 5 traits, initial levels of all well-being variables, and social desirability biases were controlled. In Study 3, both trait inspiration and personal goals inspiration predicted increases in positive well-being variables across a 3-month period. In contrast, well-being did not predict longitudinal change in inspiration. Study 4, a diary study, extended the relation between inspiration and well-being to the within-person level of analysis. For given individuals, variations in inspiration across mornings predicted variations in evening levels of positive well-being variables. These effects were mediated by purpose in life and gratitude. These studies provide converging evidence that inspiration enhances well-being and document 2 parallel mediating processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond reciprocity: Gratitude and relationships in everyday life.

The emotion of gratitude is thought to have social effects, but empirical studies of such effects have focused largely on the repaying of kind gestures. The current research focused on the relational antecedents of gratitude and its implications for relationship formation. The authors examined the role of naturally occurring gratitude in college sororities during a week of gift-giving from older members to new members. New members recorded reactions to benefits received during the week. At the end of the week and 1 month later, the new and old members rated their interactions and their relationships. Perceptions of benefactor responsiveness predicted gratitude for benefits, and gratitude during the week predicted future relationship outcomes. Gratitude may function to promote relationship formation and maintenance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

大学生的“感恩”教育与责任感的培养

文章通过对当前大学生缺乏“感恩”之心的分析，指出“感恩”教育对培养大学生责任感的重要性，并提出了在大学生中以活动为载体，对大学生进行感恩教育，培养责任感的方法。