Culture,gender, and the bipolarity of momentary affect: A critical re-examination

This paper re-examines Yik's (2007) hypothesis that dialectic thinking moderates aggregated but not momentary ratings of affect. A reanalysis of Yik's (2007) correlation coefficients shows that culture is a significant moderator of the correlation between ratings of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) for two of the three response formats, and for the latent correlations reported in the original article. The effect size of this difference is similar to the effect size in previous publications with aggregated measures of affect. It is concluded that Asian dialectic thinking styles moderate the correlation of both aggregated and momentary reports of PA and NA.     

Age-Related Humor as an Indicator of Attitudes and Perceptions

Abstract

The relationship between attitudes toward and perceptions of old people and responses to age-related humorous birthday card messages was examined. Young and old respondents gave humor ratings for 26 ageist and 26 general cards, and completed Rosencranz and McNevin's (1969) Aging Semantic Differential (ASD). Attitudes toward and perceptions of the elderly were reliably more favorable in the old respondent group, but young and old respondents did not differ in their humor ratings. Correlations between humor ratings and ratings on Rosencranz and McNevin's three dimensions of the ASD were nonreliable. The data support Sheppard's (1981) conclusion that the appreciation of humor about old people and attitudes toward them are not related.     

Morality‐ and identity‐related antecedents of children's guilt and shame attributions in events involving physical illness

It is theorised that guilt‐ and shame‐related appraisals vary on two separate dimensions. Guilt implies an appraisal that one has either committed a moral transgression or that one has otherwise been involved in the creation of a morally wrong outcome. Shame implies one's appraisal that the current event or condition reflects negatively on one's identity. To test these claims, 206 7‐ to 16‐year‐old children gave shame and guilt ratings of three types of events that were drawn from the domain of physical illness and that were designed to elicit primarily guilt, primarily shame, or both emotions. The 12‐year‐olds and older children's ratings were fully consistent with our hypothesis. Younger children's greatest difficulty was in not attributing shame to protagonists who were involved in causing a moral wrong without there being the threat of an unwanted identity.     

PREMARITAL BREAKUPS IN A TURKISH SAMPLE: PERCEIVED REASONS,ATTRIBUTIONAL DIMENSIONS AND AFFECTIVE REACTIONS

The present study aimed to investigate the causal attributional dimensions used in the dissolution of premarital romantic relationships by using the subjects' own ratings, and to examine cultural influences on such dimensions. Twenty-two items tapping dimensions revealed by previous research were prepared and administered to 135 Turkish students who have broken up a relationship within the past year. Respondents' ratings of their perceived principal reason for dissolution were subjected to factor analysis which revealed the following six factors: self-control, partner's control, control external to the relationship, partner's lack of caring, instability, and transitoriness. The relationship between negative emotional reaction to the breakup and attributional dimensions and other dating-related variables revealed that the intensity of involvement and attributing the dissolution to external factors increases, whereas, initiating the breakup decreases the negative emotional impact of such an experience. The results of the study were greatly overlapping with the findings reported in the western literature. The implications of the results were discussed in relation to research in heterosexual relationships.     

人格分化的智力假设

人格与智力是个体差异中相互关联的两个重要方面,人格随智力水平的提高而不断分化,智力影响了特定人格维度之间的相关。尽管人格分化的智力假设尚未获得一致性的证据,但它却暗示了智力对人格结构的潜在影响。由于人格测量工具的信度和效度可能因受测者的能力水平而异,因此未来的研究应在使用统一测量工具的基础上,尽量扩大被试的能力范围,采用多重评估或集合评定的方法,使人格测量真正独立于受测者的认知能力。     

Multidimensional normative ratings for the International Affective Picture System

The purpose of the present investigation was to replicate and extend the International Affective Picture System norms (Ito, Cacioppo, & Lang, 1998; Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1999). These norms were developed to provide researchers with photographic slides that varied in emotional evocation, especially arousal and valence. In addition to collecting rating data on the dimensions of arousal and valence, we collected data on the dimensions of consequentiality, meaningfulness, familiarity, distinctiveness, and memorability. Furthermore, we collected ratings on the primary emotions of happiness, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, and fear. A total of 1,302 participants were tested in small groups. The participants in each group rated a subset of 18 slides on 14 dimensions. Ratings were obtained on 703 slides. The means and standard deviations for all of the ratings are provided. We found our valence ratings to be similar to the previous norms. In contrast, our participants were more likely to rate the slides as less arousing than in the previous norms. The mean ratings on the remaining 12 dimensions were all below the midpoint of the 9-point Likert scale. However, sufficient variability in ratings across the slides indicates that selecting slides on the basis of these variables is feasible. Overall, the present ratings should allow investigators to use these norms for research purposes, especially in research dealing with the interrelationships among emotion and cognition. The means and standard deviations for emotions may be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet from www.psychonomic.org/archive.     

Shared Meaning and the Convergence among Observers' Personality Descriptions

ABSTRACT “Shared meaning” is a parameter in Kenny's (1991) rater agreement model concerning the extent to which two raters agree about the trait-implicative meaning of the observations they have made of a target. In the first study, 201 individuals rated observations relevant to friendliness and organization on the meaning dimensions of typicality, difficulty level, and evaluation. They also rated 25 targets on the two constructs. We found strong support for a modest relation between the similarity of meaning ratings and the similarity of target ratings, especially for raw, as opposed to standard score, ratings. In Study 2 we considered shared meaning in a version of Kenny's model that included the consistency and communication parameters. Judge pairs (N= 110) evaluated two targets described by play and openness on several personality dimensions. Shared meaning significantly contributed to rating agreement for both targets, but consistency and communication, as manipulated in this study, did not. Implications of employing the broader consensus model in experimental studies are discussed. If I say “sorrow,” you'll know exactly what I mean only if you've experienced it in the same sense I have. -Joel Peterson, Ravenswood's Winemaker, in Darlington (1991)     

Norms of subjective frequency of use and imagery for a sample of 1,916 French nouns.

Norms of rated subjective frequency of use and imagery on seven-point scales are reported for 1,916 French nouns. Subjective frequency was defined as the rated frequency of occurrence of words in spoken French, and imagery was defined as the rated case with which a word aroused a mental image. The mean, standard deviation, and percentile rank of the frequency and imagery ratings for each item are presented in the Appendix together with their objective frequency of occurrence in Baudot's (1992) dictionary. Interjudge reliability was assessed by calculating the correlation between the mean ratings of items repeated in the booklet, between the mean ratings obtained from odd-numbered and even-numbered respondents, and by computing the Cronbach alpha statistic for each page of the booklet. These reliability estimates were equal to or greater than .92 for frequency and for imagery, confirming the high level of interjudge consistency. Although the estimates provided by female and male participants were highly correlated (r = .97), the former gave a slightly higher frequency rating to the word sample but a slightly lower imagery rating than the latter did. Moreover, female respondents gave slightly more extreme ratings on the frequency and imagery scales. An analysis of the absolute difference between female and male ratings revealed a discrepancy of one half point or more on 20% of the word sample for frequency and 13% for imagery. On both scales, the mean absolute difference between male and female ratings was larger than that obtained by chance alone. This finding highlights the possibility that some words may not be equally familiar to women and men or may not evoke imagery with the same ease in these groups. Validity estimates for the frequency and imagery ratings were derived from correlations with scale values drawn from other normative studies. These correlation coefficients were equal to or greater than .78 for frequency and .86 for imagery, confirming the high level of consistency between this and other studies. An analysis of the relationship between subjective frequency and imagery ratings indicated that these variables are generally uncorrelated but exceptions occur. In the present study the coefficient of the correlation between subjective frequency and imagery was .24. However, when items with extreme mean frequency were excluded from the calculation, the correlation coefficient dropped to .04 and was no longer significant. Imagery ratings from five independent studies were all positively and significantly correlated with Vikis-Freibergs's (1974) frequency estimates, which were obtained from a free-association task. This finding suggests that word association, as a form of cued recall, may be influenced by several stimulus attributes including prior frequency of association and imagery-evoking value. The pattern of correlation between imagery ratings and text-based frequency estimates is not coherent. It reveals significant correlations only in select cases and no consistent polarity of linear relationship. The main contribution of this research is to provide reliable estimates of subjective frequency and imagery value for a word sample that is larger than those included in previous studies. A close examination of the linear relationship among the various sources of frequency and imagery data underscores the risk of confounding these variables in the selection of lexical stimuli for research.     

Constructive Thinking and Elevated Ratings of Self in Interpersonal Groups

Probing Taylor and Brown's (1988) connection of mental health with favorably slanted self-evaluations, responses to Epstein's (1987) Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI) were correlated with ratings of interpersonal behavior. Several weeks after completing the CTI, 103 small-group members rated themselves and each other for self-accepting and other-accepting conduct. Separately for each acceptance scale, eight CTI measures were correlated with differences of self-ratings (S) from the mean rating individuals' received (R) from others, the mean rating each gave (G) to these others, and all components. Agreeing substantially, indicators S and R also correlated with the CTI measures similarly but in a pattern opposite to G's correlations. Supporting Taylor and Brown, 12 of 16 correlations of CTI measures with intrarater (S – G) differences attained statistical significance (p < .05) unlike any parallel correlation with interrater differences (S – R). Constructive thinking and rating oneself above peers—especially for acceptance of self—consistently correlated positively, suggesting an underlying sense of independence.     

Effects of measurement aggregation on predicting externalizing problems from preschool behaviour

In long‐term studies of psychological development, the initial assessment of etiologically significant child behaviours is often carried out at a single point in time only. However, one‐time assessments of behaviour are likely to possess limited reliability, leading to attenuated longitudinal correlation coefficient magnitudes. How much this bias might have affected behavioural continuity estimates in longitudinal research is presently unknown. Using a data set from the Mauritius Child Health Project, we particularize the attenuating effects of single‐occasion behavioural assessments on consistency estimates of impulsive–aggressive behaviour over time. Specifically, two nursery teachers provided 15 consecutive weekly ratings of the aggressive behaviour of 99 four‐year‐old children. The same children were reassessed for the presence of externalizing behaviour problems at the ages of 8 and 10. There were substantial increases in both reliability and predictive correlation coefficient magnitudes when the preschool scores were aggregated across several weekly ratings. A further increase resulted after the two outcome assessments were combined into a composite score of school‐age externalizing symptoms. A generalized procedure, developed from the correction for attenuation formula, is introduced to describe the relation of aggregation to predictive validity in longitudinal research.     

Empathy and the Actor's Emotion’

Summary

Consensus ratings for beauty or attractiveness yielded comparatively low, though mostly positive, correlations with intelligence and educational achievement. Most of the correlations between beauty and intelligence and also between beauty and scholarship were in the neighborhood of +.20. Four groups of college students, two groups of girls and two groups of boys, served as S's. The consensus ratings for beauty were secured from 2 groups of judges, each group composed of 12 boys and 12 girls. These consensus ratings were correlated with ratings for intelligence and scholarship, as determined by intelligence test scores and by grades received in at least three semesters of college work. The ratings for beauty showed a high degree of variability. On the average, individual judgments deviated from the consensus ratings by about four steps. Deviations were greater for the middle group than for those taking a high or low position in the consensus ratings. The judges showed higher variability in rating their own sex than when rating the opposite sex.     

Students' ratings of occupational dimensions of traditionally male and traditionally female occupations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate four traditionally male occupations and four traditionally female occupations on a number of dimensions which people use to judge the prestige or importance of a job. Workers were pictured on one form in their traditional roles and on a second form in nontraditional roles. Results indicated a tendency for subjects to give lower ratings to workers in nontraditional jobs. More importantly, for the two “objective” dimensions, money and education, boys and girls agreed on job ratings; however, on the two more “subjective” dimensions, respect and importance to the community, boys gave higher ratings to the male jobs, while girls gave higher ratings to the female jobs.     

Epidemiologic study of sleep disorders in Kuwaiti adolescents.

A sample of 2,574 volunteer Kuwaiti boys (n = 1,309) and girls (n = 1,265) in secondary schools were recruited. Their ages ranged from 14 to 18 years. 13 items were used to assess prevalence of insomnia, hypersomnia, nightmares, sleepwalking, sleep terror, and narcolepsy. Participants were requested to respond according to the past month on a 5-point scale. The summation of responses in the last two options, i.e., "Much" and "Very much" was considered as the point prevalence rates. Girls had significantly higher mean ratings than boys on the following items: difficulty initiating sleep, fitful and disturbed sleep, waking up several times, nightmares, and sleep terror, while boys had significantly higher mean ratings on sleepwalking and "watching TV causes naps or sleep." The point prevalence on all the items for boys ranged from 4.6% to 35.2%, and that for girls ranged between 1.0% and 37.5%. One should keep in mind that the present sample was not a clinical one.     

Assessing the merits and faults of holistic and disaggregated judgments

Three studies explored both the advantages of and subjects' preferences for a disaggregated judgment procedure and a holistic one. The task in our first two studies consisted of evaluating colleges; the third study asked participants to evaluate job applicants. Holistic ratings consisted of providing an overall evaluation while considering all of the characteristics of the evaluation objects; disaggregated ratings consisted of evaluating each cue independently. Participants also made paired comparisons of the evaluation objects. We constructed preference orders for the disaggregated method by aggregating these ratings (unweighted or weighted characteristics). To compare the holistic, disaggregated, and weighted‐disaggregated method we regressed the four cues on the participant's holistic rating, on the linearly aggregated disaggregated ratings, and on the average weighted disaggregated rating, using the participant's “importance points” for each cue as weights. Both types of combined disaggregated ratings related more closely to the cues in terms of proportion of variance accounted for in Experiments 1 and 2. In addition, the disaggregated ratings were more closely related to the paired‐comparison orderings, but Experiment 2 showed that this was true for a small set (10) but not a large set (60) of evaluation objects. Experiment 3 tested the “gamesmanship” hypothesis: People prefer holistic ratings because it is easier to incorporate illegitimate but appealing criteria into one's judgment. The results suggested that the disaggregated procedure generally produced sharper distinctions between the most relevant and least relevant cues. Participants in all three of these studies preferred the holistic ratings despite their statistical inferiority. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Correspondence between children's and adults' ratings of stimulant-induced changes in ADHD behaviours in a crossover trial with medication-naive children

Correspondence between children's and adults' ratings of changes in ADHD behaviours was investigated in a paediatric ADHD stimulant crossover trial. Thirty-one children completed an ADHD self-report scale each week, and comparisons were made with an ADHD questionnaire completed by adults (combined parent and teacher ratings). Children's and adults' ratings demonstrated good internal consistency, were significantly associated with the assessment of ADHD behaviours in the placebo condition and showed comparable responsiveness to stimulants at the group level. Furthermore, a large and significant correlation was detected between the two sets of informants' ratings of changes from placebo to both methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine high-dosage conditions, but not from placebo to low-dosage conditions. Agreement in the categorization of best stimulant condition for individual children was significant, but modest from a clinical perspective. The results indicate that children's ratings correspond adequately with adults' ratings, and thus appear to be a complementary outcome measure.     

Measuring Feeling of Knowing: Comment on Schraw (1995)

Schraw compares two coefficients for the 2×2 contingency tables resulting from many feeling of knowing (FOK) studies: Hamann's coefficient and Goodman and Kruskal's γ. He favours Hamann's coefficient and gives examples where Hamann's coefficient produces what might be considered the more intuitive result. Further scrutiny reveals that these examples are not as convincing as Schraw makes them out to be. Because Hamann's coefficient depends on the row and column marginals, it does not map onto FOK ability as well as Goodman and Kruskal's γ, which is a direct measure of the diagnostic worth of FOK ratings.     

The Relationship between Two Measures of the Tendency to Give Socially Desirable Responses

Two measures of the tendency to endorse socially desirable (SD) responses were obtained for 137 Ss. The first was from Edwards' SD scale and the second from an experimental scale consisting of responses in the P-F Study for which ratings of SD were available. There was no significant correlation between these measures. A second group of 94 Ss then rated a sample of 10 items each from the 2 scales on six bipolar dimensions. It is concluded that there is agreement across Ss as to the connotations of a socially desirable response but that personality type statements differ from responses in social situations in respect to the measure each provides of a person's tendency to endorse SD responses.     

On the trait implications of social behaviors: Kindness,intelligence, goodness,and normality ratings for 400 behavior statements

Four hundred stimulus behaviors and their mean normative ratings for kindness, intelligence, goodness, and normality were presented for use in person perception and memory studies. Each of the four normative ratings was based on a separate sample of 35 to 39 undergraduate students from the University of Illinois. Rankings of the mean ratings were provided to facilitate a quick comparison of the behavior ratings along each of the four trait dimensions. In addition, a cluster analysis of the behaviors was reported, using the mean kindness, intelligence, and normality ratings as defining variables. Six clusters were distinguished: (1) behaviors that primarily conveyed kindness; (2) behaviors that primarily conveyed unkindness; (3) behaviors that conveyed an unusual amount of intelligence; (4) behaviors that conveyed general intelligence; (5) behaviors that conveyed a general lack of intelligence; and (6) behaviors that conveyed very little information about kindness or intelligence.