Changing fit and fat bias using an implicit retraining task

Objective: To change implicit and explicit bias so that active obese people are regarded as more fit and normal weight sedentary people as less fit.

Design: Study one created a questionnaire that measured perceptions of active obese persons and sedentary normal weight persons on fitness-related items. Study two used a modified visual probe task to retrain perceptions regarding active obese persons and sedentary normal weight persons.

Main outcome measures: Self-reported explicit bias was measured with a questionnaire and implicit bias was measured with response times collected during a visual probe task.

Results: The questionnaire reliably measured ‘fitness and fatness’ perceptions. In study two, pairing images of active obese persons with positive activity-related words resulted in active obese persons being explicitly rated more fit; pairing images of normal weight sedentary persons with negative words associated with sedentary lifestyles increased endorsement of normal weight people as unfit. There were no changes in implicit bias.

Conclusions: Bias regarding how body weight is thought of relative to fitness can be altered by pairing images of obese persons being active with words such as ‘health’ and ‘fit’. This is evidence that representations of persons of all body weight should be used when promoting physical activity.     

Self‐Monitoring and the Metatraits

Prior attempts at locating self‐monitoring within general taxonomies of personality traits have largely proved unsuccessful. However, past research has typically neglected (a) the bidimensionality of the Self‐Monitoring Scale and (b) the hierarchical nature of personality. The objective of this study was to test hypotheses that the two self‐monitoring factors are located at the level of the metatraits. Using data from two large multi‐informant samples, one community (Sample 1: N = 552, M_age = 51.26, 61% female; N_Peers = 1,551, M_age = 48.61, 37% female) and one online (Sample 2: N = 3,726, M_age = 24.89, 59% female; N_Peers = 17,868, M_age = 26.23, 64% female), confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Results confirmed hypotheses that acquisitive self‐monitoring would have a strong positive relation to metatrait Plasticity, whereas protective self‐monitoring would have a moderate negative relation to metatrait Stability. In both samples, constraining the correlation between acquisitive self‐monitoring and Plasticity to unity did not alter model fit indices, indicating that the two putatively distinct constructs are identical. Findings have wide‐ranging implications, including integration of the construct of self‐monitoring into the mainstream of personality research, as the latter moves toward the development of broad explanatory theories.     

Exploring self‐esteem of Hong Kong Chinese adults cardiac diseases

Low self‐esteem appears to be both a vulnerability factor for cardiac diseases and a result of cardiac diseases. Thus enhancing self‐esteem might facilitate recovery and/or help to prevent recurrence. Since some evidence suggests that self‐esteem might even serve as an important gauge of cardiac rehabilitation, it is therefore important to know more of the construct of self‐esteem to enable the planning of a more promising rehabilitation process. This paper explores the source and basis of the self‐esteem of Hong Kong Chinese with cardiac diseases. One hundred and fifty‐two adults with cardiac diseases and 146 adults not suffering from any major illness participated in this study. The Adult Source of Self‐Esteem Inventory (ASSEI) (Elovson & Fleming, 1989), open‐ended questions on self‐evaluation, and interviewing were the major procedures used to identify the sources and basis of the self‐esteem of persons with and without cardiac diseases. The subjects' important life aspects were identified through interpreting their responses to open‐ended questions and interviews. Moreover, a structured questionnaire on their subjective perceptions of importance and satisfaction in different life areas was used to identify the relationships between discrete self‐concept variables. Factor analysis of their responses to the 20 ASSEI items revealed four factors, namely, Interpersonal Relationship, Personal Quality, Physical Self, and Personal Achievement. We also examined and compared the means and ranks of the ASSEI items as indicated by the subjects. Content analysis of open‐ended questions further confirmed the self‐esteem domains of persons with cardiac diseases. The discrepancy of ideal‐actual physical abilities was found to be more prominent in the cardiac group. It was also found that family is an important entity to Chinese individuals with cardiac diseases. Implications of the findings to rehabilitation of persons with cardiac diseases were also discussed.     

Positive-negative asymmetry and bipolar contrast

Abstract

Repertory grids in which personal acquaintances were evaluated on the basis of bipolar constructs (e.g., generous-stingy) were completed by 58 undergraduates. A “person format”, with all constructs applied to each acquaintance in turn, was assigned randomly to 29 students; a “construct format”, in which these acquaintances were evaluated successively on only 1 construct at a time, was assigned to the other 29. The relative frequency of positive evaluations in the construct format grids (0.62) was consistent with the golden section hypothesis, whereas that in the person format grids (0.66) was significantly higher. Theoretical implications of these findings were discussed in terms of H. Frank's (1964) theoretical definition of strikingness and V. A. Lefebvre's (1990) computational model of reflexion.     

The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self‐Representation on Behavior

Virtual environments, such as online games and web‐based chat rooms, increasingly allow us to alter our digital self‐representations dramatically and easily. But as we change our self‐representations, do our self‐representations change our behavior in turn? In 2 experimental studies, we explore the hypothesis that an individual’s behavior conforms to their digital self‐representation independent of how others perceive them—a process we term the Proteus Effect. In the first study, participants assigned to more attractive avatars in immersive virtual environments were more intimate with confederates in a self‐disclosure and interpersonal distance task than participants assigned to less attractive avatars. In our second study, participants assigned taller avatars behaved more confidently in a negotiation task than participants assigned shorter avatars. We discuss the implications of the Proteus Effect with regards to social interactions in online environments.     

The Impact of Trait Anxiety on Self‐frame and Decision Making

The present study investigated how trait anxiety influenced the formation of a self‐frame and decision making. Participants (N = 1044) responded to the Trait Anxiety Inventory. Those with trait anxiety scores ±1 Z score from the sample mean (N = 328) were recalled to respond to the self‐frame questionnaire. The results suggested that trait anxiety differences could result in differences in the editing of decision‐making information, thereby influencing the risky choice. Compared with the low trait anxiety group, participants from the high trait anxiety group showed a greater tendency to use negative vocabulary to construct their self‐frame and tended to choose conservative plans. Self‐frame suppressed the influence of trait anxiety on decision making. These results further confirmed the hypothesis that individual differences in personality traits might influence the processing of information in a framed decision task. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Associations between heart rate,perceived heart rate,and anxiety during acute psychological stress

ABSTRACT

Background: Acute psychological stress elicits increases in heart rate (HR) and anxiety. Theories propose associations between HR, perceived HR, and anxiety during stress. However, anxiety is often measured as a unidimensional construct which limits a comprehensive understanding of these relationships.

Objectives: This research explored whether HR reactivity or perceived HR change was more closely associated with cognitive and somatic anxiety during acute psychological stress.

Design: Two laboratory-based studies were conducted.

Methods: In a single laboratory session, healthy male (N?=?71; study 1) and female (N?=?70; study 2) university students completed three laboratory psychological stress tasks (counterbalanced), each with a preceding baseline. Heart rate, perceived HR change, and cognitive and somatic anxiety intensity and interpretation of anxiety symptoms were assessed immediately following each task. Data were aggregated across tasks.

Results: Actual HR change was unrelated to anxiety intensity, but was associated with more debilitative interpretations of anxiety (study 2). Perceptions of HR change were consistently associated with greater intensity of cognitive (study 1) and somatic (study 1 and 2) anxiety.

Conclusions: Perceived HR rather than actual HR is more closely associated with anxiety intensity during psychological stress. The findings have implications for stress management and the clinical treatment of anxiety symptoms.     

A Multimethod Multitrait Validity Assessment of Self‐Construal in Japan,Korea, and the United States

A large number of previous studies have used self‐construal to predict communication outcomes. Recent evidence, however, suggests that validity problems may exist in self‐construal measurement. The current study conducted a multimethod multitrait (Campbell & Fiske, 1959) validation study of self‐construal measures with data (total N= 578) collected in Korea (N= 200), Japan (N= 212), and the U.S. (N= 166). The data showed that the Singelis (1994) Self‐Construal Scale, the Cross, Bacon, and Morris (2000) Relational Interdependent Self‐Construal Scale (RISC), and the Kuhn and McPartland (1954) Twenty Statements Test (TST) lacked convergent and discriminant validity, both pan‐culturally and within each of the three countries included in the study. Scores on the TST were not significantly related to scores on the self‐construal scales, and the various self‐construal measures correlated more highly with measures of communication directness than with alternative measures of the same type of self‐construal. Substantial method effects were also observed. The results were tested for both 2‐ and 3‐dimensional models of self‐construal and for refined scales and scales with all items retained. The results of all analyses were inconsistent with the claim that self‐construal measures are construct valid.     

Investigating the mediating role of self-construal on the relationship between cultural group (Malay and Australian) and the characteristics and functional use of autobiographical memory

ABSTRACT

Cultural differences in autobiographical memory characteristics and function have often been presumed to be associated with different cultural beliefs related to the self. The current research aimed to investigate whether self-construal mediated the relationship between cultural group and the characteristics and functional use of autobiographical memory. Caucasian Australians (n?=?71) and Malay Malaysians (n?=?50) completed an online questionnaire that included the Self-Defining Memory task, the Thinking About Life Experiences Revised Questionnaire and the Self Construal Scale. As expected, the Australian group provided longer, more autonomously oriented, specific memories than the Malay group. However, contrary to our predictions, self-construal did not mediate the relationships between cultural group and memory characteristics. The Malay group reported more frequently using autobiographical memories for self-continuity than the Australian group. Finally, there was support for an indirect pathway between cultural group and use of autobiographical memories for self-continuity and social-bonding through self-construal (i.e. independent self relative to interdependent self). The findings highlight the importance of explicitly examining values assumed to be associated with autobiographical remembering, and relating these values to memory characteristics and function.     

The Relation of Pro‐Sociality to Self‐Esteem: The Mediational Role of Quality of Friendships

The present longitudinal study examined the role of quality of friendship in mediating the relation of pro‐sociality to self‐esteem over time. Participants were 424 Italian young adults (56% females) assessed at two waves (M_age = 21.1 at Time 1; M_age = 25 at Time 2). An autoregressive cross‐lagged panel model was used to test the mediational model. Self‐ and friend‐report measures of pro‐sociality, quality of friendship, and self‐esteem were included in the analyses. Results were in line with the hypothesized paths, with quality of friendship mediating the relation of pro‐sociality to later self‐esteem above and beyond its high stability. Self‐esteem, in turn, predicted pro‐sociality 4 years later. Overall, the present findings support the potential benefits of behaving pro‐socially for an actor in terms of increased perceived self‐worth and also expand previous work by outlining the specific mediational role of the quality of friendships. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Ordinal relationships between constructs

Abstract

The concept of ordination, that is, the hierarchical organization of constructions ranging from more peripheral to more central dimensions of meaning, is examined. The process of laddering is focused on as a technique for accessing superordinate constructs. It is argued that laddering frequently does not produce constructs that qualify as superordinate and that this problem reflects a misconception of construct systems as cognitive entities that control behavior. An alternative understanding of personal construct theory as a theory of social action is advocated as better suited to its central task–helping people to reconstrue their lives. The implications for investigating construing in the light of this interpretation are examined.     

Self‐Efficacy to Avoid Suicidal Action: Factor Structure and Convergent Validity among Adults in Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) are at high risk of suicidal behaviors, highlighting the need for an improved understanding of potentially influential factors. One such domain is self‐efficacy to manage suicidal thoughts and impulses. Psychometric data about the Self‐Efficacy to Avoid Suicidal Action (SEASA) Scale within a sample of adults seeking SUD treatment (N = 464) is provided. Exploratory factor analysis supported a single self‐efficacy construct. Lower SEASA scores, or lower self‐efficacy, were reported in those with more severe suicidal ideation and those with more suicide attempts, providing evidence for convergent validity. Implications of measuring self‐efficacy in the context of suicide risk assessment are discussed.     

Cultural differences in athlete attributions for success and failure: the sports pages revisited

Self‐serving biases in attribution, while found with relative consistency in research with Western samples, have rarely been found in Japanese samples typically recruited for research. However, research conducted with Japanese participants to date has tended to use forced‐choice and/or reactive paradigms, with school or university students, focusing mainly on academic performance or arbitrary and/or researcher‐selected tasks. This archival study explored whether self‐serving attributional biases would be shown in the real‐life attributions for sporting performance made by elite Olympic athletes from Japan and Australia. Attributions (N = 216) were extracted from the sports pages of Japanese and Australian newspapers and rated by Australian judges for locus and controllability. It was hypothesized that Australian, but not Japanese, athletes would show self‐serving biases such that they attributed wins to causes more internal and controllable than the causes to which they attributed losses. Contrary to predictions, self‐serving biases were shown to at least some extent by athletes of both nationalities. Both Australian and Japanese men attributed wins to causes more internal than those to which they attributed losses. Women, however, attributed wins and losses to causes that did not differ significantly in terms of locus. All athletes tended to attribute wins to causes that were more controllable than the causes to which losses were attributed. Results are inconsistent with a large body of research suggesting that Japanese do not show self‐serving biases in attribution, and are discussed in the light of differences in methodology, context, and participants that may have contributed to these effects.     

Leadership predictors of innovation and task performance: Subordinates' self‐esteem and self‐presentation as moderators

This study examined self‐related subordinate variables as moderators of relationships between supervisors' leadership behaviours (transformational as well as active‐corrective transactional leadership) and subordinates' innovative behaviour and task performance. Based on behavioural plasticity and self‐monitoring theory, we hypothesized that these associations would be moderated by subordinates' organization‐based self‐esteem and by their propensity to modify self‐presentation, a major facet of the self‐monitoring construct. Field survey data (N=161) collected in research and development, marketing and human resources departments of several German companies revealed that transformational leadership positively predicted both criteria, whereas active‐corrective transactional leadership negatively predicted innovation. As hypothesized, transformational leadership related more strongly and positively to innovation for subordinates low in organization‐based self‐esteem. When subordinates were low in self‐presentation propensity, active‐corrective transactional leadership was negatively, and transformational leadership was positively associated with task performance.     

Witness self‐efficacy: Development and validation of the construct

Despite the application of Self‐Efficacy Theory (Bandura, 1977 , 2000 ) to many areas of psychology, there is a lack of research on self‐efficacy in the ability to testify in court. The present study fills this gap by incrementally developing the construct of Witness Self‐Efficacy and establishing its psychometric properties. Study I features exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielding a two‐factor Witness Self‐Efficacy Scale (WSES). The two components are Poise and Communication Style. Study II uses a second data collection to show that both WSES domains possess convergent, divergent, and predictive validity relations consistent with those expected using an SET framework. Notably, WSES components predicted perceptions of witness credibility and sentencing outcomes above and beyond witness extraversion, general self‐efficacy, and general self‐confidence. Implications for SET and witness preparation training are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An experimental examination of alcohol consumption,alcohol expectancy,and self‐blame on willingness to report a hypothetical rape

This study experimentally examined the role of victim alcohol intoxication, and self‐blame in perceiving and reporting rape to the police using a hypothetical interactive rape scenario. Participants (N = 79) were randomly assigned to consume alcohol (mean BAC = 0.07%) or tonic water before they engaged in the scenario. Alcohol expectancy was manipulated, and participant beliefs about the beverage they thought they had consumed and their feelings of intoxication were measured. Alcohol consumption and expectancy did not affect the likelihood that the nonconsensual intercourse depicted in the scenario was perceived and would be reported as rape. Participants with higher levels of self‐blame were less likely to say they would report the hypothetical rape. Self‐blame levels were higher for participants who believed they had consumed alcohol, and were associated with increased feelings of intoxication. The implications are discussed.     

The reliability and construct validity of scores on the Japanese version of an academic self‐concept scale for a sample of college students1

Abstract: This study investigated the internal consistency, reliability, and construct validity of scores on the Japanese version of the Dimensions of Self‐Concept (DOSC) academic self‐concept scale for a sample of 177 students at a small Japanese private college. Confirmatory factor analyses showed promising support for the construct validity of scores on the six factor subscales (Level of Aspiration, Anxiety, Academic Interest and Satisfaction, Leadership and Initiative, Identification versus Alienation, and Stress), representing the six hypothesized constructs of academic self‐concept. Internal consistency reliability of scores on the six subscales ranged from 0.82 to 0.87.     

A psychometric comparison of anxiety-relevant attention measures

Background and Objectives: Preferential attention to threat, emotional response inhibition, and attentional control each purportedly play a key role in anxiety disorders. Divergent psychometric properties among attention measures may produce differential detection of anxiety-related associations and treatment-related changes. However, no studies have directly compared the psychometric properties of these attention measures in the same sample.

Design: Eighty-five young adults (M?=?19.41 years, SD?=?1.47, 48 Females) completed a cognitive task battery and a subset of 60 participants (M?=?19.42 years, SD?=?1.48, 33 Females) completed the task battery again approximately two weeks later.

Method: To assess preferential attention to threat, emotional response inhibition, and attentional control, the cognitive task battery included a dot-probe task, emotion and gender Stroop tasks, and a flanker task. Tasks varied in how attention was directed and if emotional stimuli were included. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were compared across measures.

Results: Within the same sample, internal consistency and reliability differed across attention measures. Explicit attention measures (emotional Stroop and flanker) exhibited stronger internal consistency and greater test-retest reliability compared to implicit measures (dot-probe and gender Stroop).

Conclusions: These results inform clinical research using attention measures to assess anxiety-related differences and treatment response.     

Dispositional optimism,self‐framing and medical decision‐making

Self‐framing is an important but underinvestigated area in risk communication and behavioural decision‐making, especially in medical settings. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship among dispositional optimism, self‐frame and decision‐making. Participants (N = 500) responded to the Life Orientation Test‐Revised and self‐framing test of medical decision‐making problem. The participants whose scores were higher than the middle value were regarded as highly optimistic individuals. The rest were regarded as low optimistic individuals. The results showed that compared to the high dispositional optimism group, participants from the low dispositional optimism group showed a greater tendency to use negative vocabulary to construct their self‐frame, and tended to choose the radiation therapy with high treatment survival rate, but low 5‐year survival rate. Based on the current findings, it can be concluded that self‐framing effect still exists in medical situation and individual differences in dispositional optimism can influence the processing of information in a framed decision task, as well as risky decision‐making.     

Does Task Affordance Moderate Age-related Deficits in Strategy Production?

ABSTRACT

According to the task-affordance hypothesis, people will be more likely to use a specific strategy as tasks more readily afford its use. To evaluate this hypothesis, we examined the degree to which older and younger adults used a self-testing strategy to learn items, because previous studies suggest that age-related differences in the use of this powerful strategy vary across tasks. These tasks (words affixed to a board vs. pairs on flashcards) differentially afford the use of the self-testing strategy and may moderate the age-related effects on strategy use. Participants performed a recall-readiness task in which they continued to study items until they were ready for the criterion test. As predicted, self testing was used less often on tasks that least afforded its use. Namely, participants used self testing less when they studied single words affixed to a board than when they studied pairs on flashcards. Most important, age-related deficits in strategy use were greater for the former task and nonexistent for the latter one, suggesting that task affordance moderates age differences in strategy use.