Counterfactual Reasoning for Regretted Situations Involving Controllable Versus Uncontrollable Events: The Modulating Role of Contingent Self-Esteem

We report a study that examined the modulating impact of contingent self-esteem on regret intensity for regretted outcomes associated with controllable versus uncontrollable events. The Contingent Self-Esteem Scale (e.g., Kernis & Goldman, 2006) was used to assess the extent to which a person’s sense of self-worth is based on self and others’ expectations. We found that there was an influence of self-esteem contingency for controllable but not for uncontrollable regret types. For controllable regret types individuals with a high contingent (i.e., unstable) self-esteem reported greater regret intensity than those with a low contingent (i.e., stable) self-esteem. We interpret this finding as reflecting a functional and adaptive role of high contingent self-esteem in terms of mobilizing the application of counterfactual reasoning and planning mechanisms that can enable personal expectations to be achieved in the future.     

Risk Taking in Adolescence: New Perspectives From Brain and Behavioral Science

ABSTRACT— Trying to understand why adolescents and young adults take more risks than younger or older individuals do has challenged psychologists for decades. Adolescents' inclination to engage in risky behavior does not appear to be due to irrationality, delusions of invulnerability, or ignorance. This paper presents a perspective on adolescent risk taking grounded in developmental neuroscience. According to this view, the temporal gap between puberty, which impels adolescents toward thrill seeking, and the slow maturation of the cognitive-control system, which regulates these impulses, makes adolescence a time of heightened vulnerability for risky behavior. This view of adolescent risk taking helps to explain why educational interventions designed to change adolescents' knowledge, beliefs, or attitudes have been largely ineffective, and suggests that changing the contexts in which risky behavior occurs may be more successful than changing the way adolescents think about risk.     

青少年风险决策的发展认知神经机制

随着认知神经科学技术的发展, 青少年风险决策的发展认知神经机制成为了新近的一个热点课题。从双系统理论模型(社会情感神经网络系统、认知控制神经网络系统)出发, 对与青少年风险决策相关的大脑结构、功能的变化进行了阐述, 重点分析了新近的大脑功能连接、脑网络的研究; 阐述了青少年风险决策认知神经机制的主要理论模型：双系统模型和三角模型。未来研究还应加强对认知神经机制理论模型的检验、整合和创新, 从社会认知神经科学的角度深入研究社会参照系统(同伴关系、亚文化等)在青少年风险决策中的作用及机制, 以及从认知神经层面如何预防和干预青少年高风险行为。     

Replication and Extension of a Hierarchical Model of Social Anxiety and Depression: Fear of Positive Evaluation as a Key Unique Factor in Social Anxiety

Wang, Hsu, Chiu, and Liang (2012, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26, 215–224) recently proposed a hierarchical model of social interaction anxiety and depression to account for both the commonalities and distinctions between these conditions. In the present paper, this model was extended to more broadly encompass the symptoms of social anxiety disorder, and replicated in a large unselected, undergraduate sample (n = 585). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and hierarchical regression analyses were employed. Negative affect and positive affect were conceptualized as general factors shared by social anxiety and depression; fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and disqualification of positive social outcomes were operationalized as specific factors, and fear of positive evaluation (FPE) was operationalized as a factor unique to social anxiety. This extended hierarchical model explicates structural relationships among these factors, in which the higher-level, general factors (i.e., high negative affect and low positive affect) represent vulnerability markers of both social anxiety and depression, and the lower-level factors (i.e., FNE, disqualification of positive social outcomes, and FPE) are the dimensions of specific cognitive features. Results from SEM and hierarchical regression analyses converged in support of the extended model. FPE is further supported as a key symptom that differentiates social anxiety from depression.     

负面评价恐惧对社交焦虑的影响:基于社交焦虑的认知行为模型

在社交焦虑认知行为模型的理论视角下，本研究拟探讨负面评价恐惧、不确定性容忍度和依赖型自我构念对社交焦虑的影响及其作用机制。以424名大学生为被试，使用问卷调查法的研究结果表明：（1）负面评价恐惧对社交焦虑有显著预测作用，且不确定性容忍度在这一关系中的中介作用显著；（2）不确定性容忍度的间接效应受到依赖型自我构念的调节。具体而言，该中介效应在高依赖型自我构念群体中更为显著。本研究结果不仅有助于揭示负面评价恐惧对社交焦虑的影响及其作用机制，而且对社交焦虑的预防和干预也有一定的理论和实践指导价值。     

Long-Term Unemployment Among Young People: The Risk of Social Exclusion

The European Union considers long-term unemployment among youth an impediment to their full integration into society. The Commission of the European Union has, therefore, supported research into the mechanisms by which youth unemployment leads to social exclusion. This paper provides a brief summary of the project's findings. These imply that theories and previous research concerning social exclusion and social support can help explain the effects of youth unemployment although the phenomena vary from country to country. Results also suggest that the construct of social exclusion leads to interventions that reduce the personal and societal costs of youth unemployment.     

Testing the Bivalent Fear of Evaluation Model of Social Anxiety: The Relationship between Fear of Positive Evaluation,Social Anxiety,and Perfectionism

The Bivalent Fear of Evaluation (BFOE) model of social anxiety proposes that fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and fear of positive evaluation (FPE) play distinct roles in social anxiety. Research is however lacking in terms of how FPE is related to perfectionism and how these constructs interact to predict social anxiety. Participants were 382 individuals from the general community and included an oversampling of individuals with social anxiety. Measures of FPE, FNE, perfectionism, and social anxiety were administered. Results were mostly consistent with the predictions made by the BFOE model and showed that accounting for confounding variables, FPE correlated negatively with high standards but positively with maladaptive perfectionism. FNE was also positively correlated with maladaptive perfectionism, but there was no significant relationship between FNE and high standards. Also consistent with BFOE model, both FNE and FPE significantly moderated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and social anxiety with the relationship strengthened at high levels of FPE and FNE. These findings provide additional support for the BFOE model and implications are discussed.     

Risk and rationality: the influence of decision domain and perceived outcome control on managers' high‐risk decisions

The issue of when managers will undertake different forms and amounts of risk in their new business creation decisions is still not fully understood. To address one facet of this issue, this paper advances the proposition that decision domain and perceived outcome control interact to impact managers' new‐product introduction decisions. Employing a causal method, a nested experimental design and indicators of risk's probability of loss and magnitude of loss elements, the study's results demonstrate that the manager's level of perceived outcome control combines with decision domain to determine subsequent levels of risk taking that are specific to each element of risk. Implications for theory, including prospect theory, and practice, especially firms wanting to pursue today's high‐risk new‐economy based initiatives, are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Risk strategy under task complexity: a multivariate analysis of behaviour in a naturalistic setting

This study complements the existing literature on decision-making processes and outcomes in complex settings by exploring the impact of different types of complexity on risk strategies in a naturalistic setting. The study analyses a large sample of decisions made by individuals in UK offcourse betting markets, a fertile environment for observing both a variety of risk strategies and a range of task complexities. Specifically, the investigation focuses on the comparative impacts of complexity defined in terms, respectively, of alternatives and attributes. The results suggest that the risk strategy employed is affected by task complexity. Complexity does not affect the size of risk accepted but alternative- and attribute-based complexity together influence the propensity to accept greater degrees of risk. In addition, the effect of attribute-based complexity on risk taking appears to be modified by the use of risk-hedging strategies. The results are observed to corroborate some earlier work on decision process and outcome; where differences with earlier findings are identified, some possible explanations are offered. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Fairness of National Decision‐making Procedures: The Views of Adolescents in 18 European Countries

This study examines adolescents' evaluation of the fairness of three forms of democratic decision‐making procedures (direct democracy, representative democracy and group representation) and one non‐democratic procedure (oligarchy). Social dominance orientation‐Egalitarianism (SDO‐E), religious group identification and the countries' level of democracy are examined as predictors. The 2008 Europroject dataset was used, which contained 4441 native majority adolescents (mean age = 16.1 years) in 18 European countries. Adolescents evaluated direct democracy as most fair, followed by group representation, representative democracy and oligarchy. This rank order was found independent of the issue under consideration (moral or social), and of SDO‐E and religious identification, and across the countries. In addition, adolescents scoring higher on SDO‐E and on religious identification found group representation and non‐democratic oligarchy fairer. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Role of Numeracy and Intelligence in Health‐Risk Estimation and Medical Data Interpretation

Despite ample evidence that numeracy is an important influence on patient understanding and use of health‐related information, there is a dearth of studies examining the concept's relationship to other individual differences measures that may underlie complex judgments in the health domain. In this study, we compared the relative contributions of selected extant numeracy measures and general intelligence and other measures to varied judgment and decision‐making outcomes. Two hundred participants completed numeracy items, subscales of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales, the need for cognition scale, and four relevant outcome measures including risk estimation and medical data interpretation. A numeracy scale constructed using item response and confirmatory factor analyses was consistently the strongest predictor across all outcome measures and accounted for unique variance over and above general intelligence. The results support the concept of numeracy as an independent construct that merits consideration in patient communication. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

心理咨询中工作同盟的发展模式与咨询效果

为了探索工作同盟在咨询过程中的发展模式, 采用Stiles等(2004)提出的4个变化特征参数(shape-of-change parameters)对30个个案的工作同盟在咨询过程中的发展变化进行描述。聚类分析的结果显示有3类工作同盟的发展模式, 分别是线性增长、线性下降和二次增长模式。不过, 3种发展模式、4个变化特征参数及同盟的破裂?修复片段对咨询效果均没有影响。比较咨询效果不同的当事人在工作同盟发展模式上的差异, 发现同一个发展模式对于不同的个案可能有着不同的含义, 咨询师在早期对同盟关系的处理与调控对咨询效果有着重要的影响。     

When Parents Refuse: Resolving Entrenched Disagreements Between Parents and Clinicians in Situations of Uncertainty and Complexity

When shared decision making breaks down and parents and medical providers have developed entrenched and conflicting views, ethical frameworks are needed to find a way forward. This article reviews the evolution of thought about the best interest standard and then discusses the advantages of the harm principle (HP) and the zone of parental discretion (ZPD). Applying these frameworks to parental refusals in situations of complexity and uncertainty presents challenges that necessitate concrete substeps to analyze the big picture and identify key questions. I outline and defend a new decision-making tool that includes three parts: identifying the nature of the disagreement, checklists for key elements of the HP and ZPD, and a “think list” of specific questions designed to enhance use of the HP and ZPD in clinical decision making. These tools together will assist those embroiled in complex disagreements to disentangle the issues to find a path to resolution.     

社会决策中的公平准则及其神经机制

社会决策中的公平准则一直受到广泛的关注,经济学家和心理学家们分别从动机和认知的角度对这个课题进行了深入探索.在这些工作中,最为突出的是“均等”,“互惠”和“情绪”三个模型的提出.均等和互惠模型试图从动机角度理解个体的公平行为,而情绪模型则更强调个体在公平决策中的认知和情绪的加工过程.近年来脑成像的研究也为这些模型提供了相应的支持,其中与公平准则最密切的脑区是脑岛和背外侧前额叶:前者一般被认为是反映了个体面对不公平待遇时的负性情绪体验;而后者主要负责决策过程中的抑制控制.但这些脑区具体的功能还存在很多争议,反映了不同理论模型对特定脑区功能的不同理解.未来研究应注意三个模型之间的相互补充,以及加强多模态的脑指标的运用,并注重相关脑区的整体性,此外,公平决策行为中的个体差异,以及社会情境对其的影响也应受到重视.     

Ethical Decision Making and Research Deception in the Behavioral Sciences: An Application of Social Contract Theory

Despite significant ethical advances in recent years, including professional developments in ethical review and codification, research deception continues to be a pervasive practice and contentious focus of debate in the behavioral sciences. Given the disciplines' generally stated ethical standards regarding the use of deceptive procedures, researchers have little practical guidance as to their ethical acceptability in specific research contexts. We use social contract theory to identify the conditions under which deception may or may not be morally permissible and formulate practical recommendations to guide researchers on the ethical employment of deception in behavioral science research.     

The List of Social Situation Problems: Reliability and Validity in an Adolescent Spanish-Speaking Sample

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish translation of the List of Social Situation Problems (LSSP; S. H. Spence, 1980). The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 388 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18. Exploratory factor analysis identified four factors: Social Anxiety, Adult Oppositional, Assertiveness, and Making Friends, which accounted for 26.64% of the variance. Internal consistency of the total scale was high ( = .86). Correlations between the LSSP and two self-report measures of social anxiety, the Questionnaire about Interpersonal Difficulties for Adolescents (r = .45) and the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (r = .48), were statistically significant. A significant difference was found between LSSP total scores for adolescents with and without social anxiety (d = 1.14), supporting the construct validity of the scale.     

情绪和任务框架对自我和预期他人决策时风险偏好的影响

两个实验考察了情绪和任务框架对自我和预期他人决策时风险偏好的影响。结果表明:(1)获益框架下,悲伤情绪比愉悦情绪诱发更强的风险偏好,自我决策比预期他人决策表现出更强的风险偏好;(2)损失框架下,愉悦情绪比悲伤情绪诱发更强的风险偏好,预期他人决策比自我决策表现出更强的风险偏好;(3)在自我决策时,愉悦情绪在损失框架下比在获益框架下诱发了更强的风险偏好,悲伤情绪在获益框架下比在损失框架下诱发了更强的风险偏好;在预期他人决策时,无论是愉悦情绪还是悲伤情绪,损失框架均比获益框架诱发了更强的风险偏好。     

The Role of Emotion in Decision Making: A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective

ABSTRACT— Decision making often occurs in the face of uncertainty about whether one's choices will lead to benefit or harm. The somatic-marker hypothesis is a neurobiological theory of how decisions are made in the face of uncertain outcome. This theory holds that such decisions are aided by emotions, in the form of bodily states, that are elicited during the deliberation of future consequences and that mark different options for behavior as being advantageous or disadvantageous. This process involves an interplay between neural systems that elicit emotional/bodily states and neural systems that map these emotional/bodily states.     

社会技能构成因素及其意义

阐述了社会技能的构成因素,其主要包括自信、报答与强化、非言语交流技能、言语交流技能、同理心、合作、关心他人等;以及社会技能对个体的社会支持、心身健康和工作效率的影响。     

When it's not easy to do the right thing: Developmental changes in understanding cost drive evaluations of moral praiseworthiness

Recent work identified a shift in judgments of moral praiseworthiness that occurs late in development: adults recognize the virtue of moral actions that involve resolving an inner conflict between moral desires and selfish desires. Children, in contrast, praise agents who do the right thing in the absence of inner conflict. This finding stands in contrast with other work showing that children incorporate notions of cost and effort into their social reasoning. Using a modified version of Starmans and Bloom's (2016) vignettes, we show that understanding the virtue of costly moral action precedes understanding the virtue of resolving inner conflict. In two studies (N = 192 children, range = 4.00–9.95 years; and N = 193 adults), we contrasted a character who paid a personal cost (psychological in Study 1, physical in Study 2) to perform a moral action with another who acted morally without paying a cost. We found a developmental progression; 8- and 9-year-old children and adults recognized the praiseworthiness of moral actions that are psychologically or physically costly. Six- and 7-year-old children only recognized the praiseworthiness of moral actions that are physically costly, but not actions that are psychologically costly. Moreover, neither adults nor children inferred that paying a cost to act morally required having a moral desire or resolving inner conflict. These results suggest that both adults and children conceptualize obligation as a direct motivational force on actions. They further suggest that costly choice—a hallmark of moral agency—is implicated in judgments of praiseworthiness early in development.