Religious Attendance and Volunteering: Testing National Culture as a Boundary Condition

Numerous studies have documented the importance of religion, and especially of religious congregational attendance, in regard to volunteering. Most of these studies focus on individual and contextual factors, usually within one country. Recent studies suggest that the association between religious attendance and volunteering varies among countries. We hypothesize that national culture plays an important role in explaining volunteering mainly as a moderator of the relationship between religious attendance and volunteering, especially on volunteering to help people in need. To support this position, we used individual‐level data from the World Values Survey (WVS) coupled with national data on cultural measures. This enabled assessment of these relationships using a multilevel analysis of individuals nested in countries. We used two models of national culture, Hofstede (1984) and WVS to explain the differences between countries. We found direct relationships between national culture constructs (power distance and survival/self‐expression values) and volunteering. We also found that individualism, power distance, and survival/self‐expression values moderated the effect of religion on volunteering, with a stronger relationship between religious attendance and volunteering in nationalities with self‐expression values, high power distance, and low individualism. Theoretical and practical implications of this approach are discussed.     

精神型领导对员工任务绩效影响的多重中介效应

采用管理者-员工配对的方式,通过问卷调查,探讨了精神型领导对员工任务绩效的影响以及主管承诺、基于组织的自尊、领导成员交换在精神型领导影响员工任务绩效过程中的多重中介作用。结果发现：（1）精神型领导、主管承诺、基于组织的自尊、领导成员交换、任务绩效之间均显著正相关;（2）精神型领导能够显著正向预测员工任务绩效;（3）主管承诺、基于组织的自尊、领导成员交换在精神型领导影响员工任务绩效的过程中存在并列式的多重中介效应。     

Individualism-Collectivism as a Boundary Condition for Effectiveness of Minority Influence in Decision Making

Results of this experiment demonstrate that individualists and collectivists react differently to minority influence. Based on the distinction between objectivity and preference norms in the minority influence literature, we hypothesize that individualism and collectivism influence (A) responses to minority influence (focusing on the target of influence) and (B) effectiveness of minority influence (focusing on the influence agent). Our results replicate past research and demonstrate improved decision quality for individuals exposed to a minority perspective. Moreover, minority influence targets with high horizontal individualism and low horizontal collectivism made higher quality decisions. Influence targets with high vertical collectivism demonstrated higher quality decisions when the influence agent held a high status position in the group. Results also demonstrate that influence agents with high vertical individualism experienced less role stress than those with low vertical individualism. Finally, influence agents with low role stress were more effective in influencing the decision making of others. We discuss our findings in terms of boundary conditions to the minority influence process.     

PREG: Elements of a Model of Question Asking

PREG is a conceptual model of human question asking. The model contains a set of production rules that specify the conditions under which children and adults ask questions when they read expository texts. The essence of PREG's question-asking mechanism is the existence of discrepancies between the representation of text information and the reader's world knowledge, with a mediating role of pragmatics and metacognition. Both the explicit text and the world knowledge are represented in the form of a conceptual graph structure. Comparisons between text representations and readers' knowledge are carried out by examining the 3 components of conceptual graph structures: words, statements, and links between statements. Some of the predictions of PREG were tested on a corpus of questions generated by 8th-grade and 12th-grade students who read short scientific texts. These predictions were empirically supported when assessed on 2 criteria. First, the model was sufficient because it was able to account for nearly all of the questions produced by the students. Second, the model was discriminating; when signal detection analyses were applied to the data, PREG could identify the conditions in which particular classes of questions are or are not generated.     

The Influence of Testing Prompt and Condition on Middle School Students’ Retell Performance

This study examined whether the type of prompt or the method of passage reading had an effect on the retell performance of 6th–8th graders randomly assigned to one of four retell testing conditions. Both the type of prompt and the use of follow-up prompting were significantly related to the percentage of predetermined idea units retold. Effect sizes were approximately moderate (d = .44–.62) when one change was made to the prompt but were strong (d = .96–1.05) with a combination of changes. The addition of silent reading did not significantly improve performance.     

The Social Impact of Testing

The “second generation” of testing problems are discussed and research data relevant to them are reported. Counselor and teacher behavior with regard to tests does not seem congruent with expressed opinions about tests. The social effect of reporting scores is considered by noting the variables to be used in estimating the impact of such information.     

The Impact of Disputants’ Expectations on Mediation Testing an Interventionist Model

This investigation extends previous work in mediation by developing and testing an interventionist mediation model using 91 mediated roommate disputes. A key assumption of the interventionist model is that effective mediators assume active, highly participatory roles in the mediation process. This control based model for mediation presumes that a critical function of a mediator is to orchestrate the interaction by developing and extending the information resources, enforcing the rules for the session, and encouraging disputants to make constructive proposals to reach an agreement collabora lively. The theoretical model examined the impact of expectations for reaching agreement on the mediation process using both mediators’ and disputants assessments of their sessions. The data were not inconsistent with the hypothesized model. The level of participants expectations, however, added little predictive power to the model.     

Testing the Effects of Organizational Culture on a Catholic Religious Order

It can be stated that very committed religious people do not develop a monolithic culture, even when they belong to the same spiritual tradition, although there is little research on the pluralism present in a religious segment which is often deemed too uniform and closed to study. The present article aims to explore the internal culture of a homogeneous group of Catholic friars and the presence therein of sub-cultures. Further, the study will test the influence of cultural variables on the factors of vitality and performance. A broad survey, based on an individual questionnaire and involving other monks from different generations and geographic areas, will provide the basic data. The results confirm the complexity of ‘organizational culture’ as a factor that contributes to the vitality of a religious institution.     

The Beck Depression Inventory: Item Order and the Impact of Response Sets

The lack of subtle content in the item groups of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the consistency in the ordering of the items from least to most pathological make this instrument unduly susceptible to either defensive or malingering response sets. Two experimental forms were developed for the BDI: a backwards version (a simple reversal of the order of items within each group) and a random-order version. These forms, together with the original item order, were given to college undergraduate women along with the Depression scale from the MMPI and the Burks-Martin Questionnaire covering recent life changes and current stressful situations. The random order BDI results in a significantly higher depression score than did either the original or backwards version. Correlations with the other instruments were comparable for all three forms. The random order of items within each set appears to break up a response set to endorse either the first or last item and is, therefore, recommended.     

Testing a Gender Additive Model: The Role of Body Image in Adolescent Depression

Despite consistent evidence that adolescent girls are at greater risk of developing depression than adolescent boys, risk factor models that account for this difference have been elusive. The objective of this research was to examine risk factors proposed by the gender additive model of depression that attempts to partially explain the increased prevalence of depression in adolescent girls. The theory suggests that body image and eating related variables predict depression for girls, but not for boys, above and beyond the variance accounted for by other well-known risk factors, some of which were examined in the current study. The sample was 247 adolescent girls and 181 adolescent boys studied over a 24-month duration. Results suggest that body dissatisfaction is a potent predictor of depression for girls, but not for boys, above and beyond the predictive effects of other established risk factors. Results provide insight into the etiology of adolescent depression and the disparate rate of depression among adolescent girls and provide direction for identifying high-risk individuals and developing effective prevention programs.     

Revealing Gender Double Standards in the Parenthood Norm Depends on Question Order

Becoming a parent has been described as a dominant social norm, especially for women. Though some research has indicated changes toward more flexible gendered parenthood norms, methodological issues may be masking the continued presence of a gender double standard. In line with the condition for activation of double standards, we postulated that endorsement of the parenthood norm would vary depending on the response context. Our aim was to analyze the parenthood norm for women and for men taking into account the response context in a quantitative survey. In a French nationally-representative sample, more than 4,000 female and male adults were asked whether a woman/man can have a fulfilled life without having children in two questions presented in a random order. Based on the literature on question-order effects, the answer to the first question should be influenced by the participant’s personal background (e.g., gender, parental status), i.e., the personal background context, whereas the question asked second should be influenced by the comparison with the first question, i.e. the social relational context. In the personal background context, the own-gender parenthood norm was endorsed more strongly than the other-gender parenthood norm by both female and male participants. In contrast, in the social relational context, the parenthood norm for women was endorsed more strongly than the parenthood norm for men by both female and male participants. Our results showed a strong gender double standard observed only in the comparative context and illustrates the need to use appropriate survey methodology to examine the presence of gendered social norms.

     

The Escape Theory of Suicide in College Students: Testing a Model That Includes Perfectionism

A model of the escape theory of suicide was tested, using the following measures: the Life Experiences Survey, the Socially Prescribed Perfectionism subscale, the Self-Rating Depression Scale, the Hopelessness Scale, the Reasons for Living Inventory, and the Scale for Suicide Ideation. College students (N = 114) completed all of these measures, and results were correlated. LISREL path analysis failed to validate the proposed model. All proposed paths were significant, except for the reciprocal path proposed between negative life events and socially prescribed perfectionism. Two residual paths were also significant: from socially prescribed perfectionism to suicide ideation, and from hopelessness to suicide ideation. A revised model constructed from these significant paths had a good overall fit, which suggests that an interactional model is more appropriate than a linear one.     

Understanding Psychopathology: Cybernetics and Psychology on the Boundary between Order and Chaos

Abstract

We have argued for a balanced perspective on the relative benefits and costs of approach and avoidance motivation, and that thinking hierarchically about these motives contributes to a better understanding of goal pursuit. Having received several scholarly commentaries on these primary claims, in this reply, we further clarify the roles of regulatory fit and intelligibility in goal pursuit, examine surviving and thriving at different levels of the motivational hierarchy, and demonstrate that thinking hierarchically about approach and avoidance motivation provides a wealth of opportunities for additional research into the dynamics of motivation.     

Self-Control Depletion and Narrative: Testing a Prediction of the TEBOTS Model

This study tests propositions derived from the larger notion that entertainment narratives offer the individual a means by which to alleviate the psychological demands of the self. Specifically, individuals in a state of reduced self-control were expected to experience greater enjoyment, audience response, transportation, and identification during narrative exposure. After a manipulation that depleted self-control resources, participants were exposed to a short story. They then reported their enjoyment and response to the story, as well as their transportation and identification during reading. Results supported the predictions, as enjoyment, audience response, and transportation were significantly greater in the depleted group. Identification showed a nonsignificant difference. Additionally, transportation was found to be a mediator of self-control depletion's effect on enjoyment. Subsequent analyses ruled out alternative mood management and emotion regulation explanations, demonstrating that depleted self-control resources, rather than affect or story valence, accounted for greater narrative engagement.     

Trust Development: Testing a New Model in Undergraduate Roommate Relationships

Interpersonal trust is a vital component of social relationships. In this study the roles of parental attachment, perceived similarity of trustee to self, and social exchange processes in trust development were investigated longitudinally with randomly assigned, same-sex undergraduate roommates during emerging adulthood. A total of 214 first-year students completed weekly self-report measures during the first 5 weeks of the fall semester. Perceived similarity measured the second week and social exchange with roommates across the 5 weeks predicted participants’ trust in their roommate, with social exchange mediating the relation between perceived similarity and trust. Results highlight interrelations of social exchange and trust in established relationships.     

The Question of a Jungian Community

The author describes her relationship with the reality of Parkinson's disease—how she twists and turns and pivots and falls with this rapacious intrusion, and how a new, hitherto unknown space opens between Parkinson's and herself. This new space claims its own dynamic, objective reality. In attempts to consciously access the reality of this third space, the author faces paradox, “plays” with metaphor, and tries to recognize the right “reality.” She considers Freud's reality and pleasure principles, Winnicott's iconoclastic declaration of “health being the ability to play with psychosis,” and Jung's transcendent function. She also calls on Hermes with his wings to fly through otherwise impenetrable borders. As an incantation, an evocation or a pathway, she implores Hermes to breathe in flight. In the midst of this inner work, the dragonfly literally appears, emanating transformation.     

The Development of Memory for Serial Order: A Temporal-contextual Distinctiveness Model

A model of adult human memory, OSCAR, is applied to the development of memory for serial order. In the model, development of serial order memory is assumed to result from age-related changes in a dynamic learning-context signal that underpins memory for serial order. Developmental improvement in this dynamic learning-context signal leads to more temporally distinctive representations in memory, and this leads in turn to a reduction in order errors. It is shown that the model correctly predicts developmental changes in the movement error gradients in children's serially ordered recall, as well as developmental changes in the number of movement errors obtained. The model is also applied to repetition errors across development.     

Hume's Epistemology: The State of the Question

This article surveys the state of the literature on Hume’s epistemology, focusing on treatments of what has come to be known as the “Kemp Smith problem,” that is, the problem of reconciling Hume’s skepticism with his naturalism. It first surveys the literature on this issue with regard to the Treatise, moving on to briefly compare the Treatise and the Enquiry in virtue of their epistemological frameworks, before finally examining the literature with regard to the first Enquiry.     

信息呈现顺序对公平判断形成的影响

在公平启发理论的基础上,以130名大学生为被试采用实验室实验探讨了信息呈现顺序对公平判断形成的影响。结果表明：（1）信息呈现顺序能够影响人们的公平判断——当结果适宜性信息更早获得时,结果公平对公平判断的影响要大于结果适宜性信息较晚呈现时的影响;（2）公平形式偏好对公平判断的信息效应具有调节作用,即当高偏好信息先于低偏好信息出现时,公平判断的顺序效应会得到加强;而在低偏好信息先于高偏好信息出现的情况下,公平判断的顺序效应会被减弱。