How Regulatory Orientation and Feelings of Gratitude Shape Online Review Helpfulness

Online review helpfulness ratings are an important indicator of the impact of online reviews. Often times, helpfulness is explained in terms of observable qualities of online reviews that predict helpfulness ratings. This research proposes that focusing on the psychological processes that underlie helpfulness voting informs a better understanding of what shapes review helpfulness ratings. Specifically, because goal orientation influences information processing, consumers’ regulatory orientation interacts with review valence to determine review helpfulness. When review valence and regulatory orientation match, consumers are more likely to express helpfulness through voting. The findings show that this effect occurs at least in part because matching review valence and regulatory orientation instills feelings of gratitude towards the reviewer. As a consequence, consumers are more likely to reward the reviewer with a helpfulness vote to express their feeling of gratitude through actions. However, when reviewers actively state expectations of reciprocal behavior by readers, gratitude is reduced and so is the likelihood that a review receives a helpfulness vote. Evidence from five studies using review data and online experiments show support for these effects.     

Issues in Professional Training to Implement Evidence‐based Parenting Programs: The Preferences of Indigenous Practitioners

Indigenous children have elevated risk for poor health, behavioural, emotional, and social outcomes. Significant evidence exists that parenting programs can reduce family risk factors and improve outcomes for children and families; however, mainstream programs have had slower uptake in Indigenous communities than other communities. Culturally sensitive delivery of evidence‐based programs can enhance engagement of parents, yet the development of a workforce to deliver programs to Indigenous parents faces many obstacles. This project seeks to identify professional training processes that enhance Indigenous practitioners’ skills and confidence in delivering an evidence‐based parenting program. A survey of trained parenting practitioners via an online practitioner network assessed their views of the training and post‐training support processes they had experienced. Respondents were 57 Indigenous and 720 non‐Indigenous practitioners from 15 countries. Most training processes were rated equally helpful by Indigenous and non‐Indigenous practitioners. However, several training processes were identified as important for the delivery of culturally competent training, such as tailoring the pace of training and simplifying the language in teaching resources. Practitioners with higher ratings of the helpfulness of peer support following training reported higher program uptake and implementation. Qualitative themes also focused on the helpfulness of program resources, and having a peer support network and mentoring. Increasing access to appropriate, flexibly delivered training and post‐training support for Indigenous professionals will support the development of a skilled workforce with local knowledge and connections, and further increase the reach of evidence‐based services in Indigenous communities.     

Individual Personality and Emotional Readiness Characteristics Associated with Marriage Preparation Outcomes of Perceived Helpfulness and Change

Little is known about the characteristics of individual participants for whom particular marriage preparation interventions are most helpful and change producing. Data collected from 1,655 intervention participants via the online RELATionship Evaluation Questionnaire (RELATE) were used to analyze the association of eight individual personality characteristics with perceived helpfulness and positive change resulting from participation in four marriage preparation interventions (classes, community workshops, premarital counseling, self-directed) and whether this association would also be related to gender, age, and education of the participants. General linear modeling (GLM) analysis revealed different patterns of prediction for each type of intervention. Kindness was identified most often, predicting perceived change in individual, couple, and context areas among community workshop participants, perceived couple-level change, and helpfulness among self-directed participants, and perceived individual-level change among class participants. No factors significantly predicted perceived helpfulness and change among premarital counseling participants. Implications for premarital interventions are discussed.     

Children's internal representations,empathy, and fantasy play: a validity study of the SCORS-Q

The authors investigated relationships among internal representations, empathy, and affective and cognitive processes in fantasy play to test the validity of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale Q-Sort (SCORS-Q; D. Westen, 1995) with children. Eighty-six 8-10-year-olds were administered 8 Thematic Apperception Test cards, a standardized play task, and a self-report empathy measure. Teachers rated children's empathy and helpfulness. As predicted, internal representations were related to empathy, helpfulness, and quality of fantasy play. Developmental differences on the SCORS-Q were consistent with object relations theory and with results from the original SCORS. The findings support the value of internal representations as a means of understanding children's interpersonal functioning and contribute to the validity of the SCORS-Q for use with children.     

The Role of Referent and Expert Power in Mutual Help

This study explored the roles of referent power (i.e., influence based on sense of identification) and expert power (i.e., influence based on knowledge and expertise) in Schizophrenics Anonymous (SA), a mutual-help group for persons experiencing a schizophrenia-related illness. The study describes SA participants' experience of referent and expert power with SA members, SA leaders, and with mental health professionals. It also examines whether or not referent and expert power ascribed to fellow SA participants predicts the perceived helpfulness of the group. One hundred fifty-six SA participants were surveyed. Participants reported experiencing higher levels of referent power with fellow SA members and leaders than with mental health professionals. They reported higher levels of expert power for mental health professionals and SA leaders than for SA members. The respondents' ratings of their SA group's helpfulness was significantly correlated with ratings of referent and expert power. Although expert power was the best independent predictor of helpfulness, a significant interaction between referent and expert power indicated that when members reported high referent power, expert power was not related to helpfulness. These results are interpreted to suggest that there are multiple forms of social influence at work in mutual help.     

Perceived helpfulness of online consumer reviews: The role of message content and style

The rise of online reviews written by consumers makes possible an examination of how the content and style of these word‐of‐mouth messages contribute to their helpfulness. In this study, consumers are asked to judge the value of real online consumer reviews to their simulated shopping activities. The results suggest the benefits of moderate review length and of positive, but not negative, product evaluative statements. Non‐evaluative product information and information about the reviewer were also found to be associated with review helpfulness. Stylistic elements that may impair clarity (such as spelling and grammatical errors) were associated with less valuable reviews, and elements that may make a review more entertaining (such as expressive slang and humor) were associated with more valuable reviews. These findings point to factors beyond product information that may affect the perceived helpfulness of an online consumer review. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Cognitive Complexity and Emotional Upset on Processing Supportive Messages: Two Tests of a Dual‐Process Theory of Supportive Communication Outcomes

We report tests of hypotheses derived from a theory of supportive communication outcomes that maintains the effects of supportive messages are moderated by factors influencing the motivation and ability to process these messages. Participants in two studies completed a measure of cognitive complexity, which provided an assessment of processing ability, and reported their degree of upset with a problem situation, which was hypothesized to impact both motivation and ability; they subsequently evaluated the helpfulness of comforting messages that varied in person centeredness. Consistent with predictions, an index of message processing depth—the degree to which participants discriminated between the helpfulness of better and worse supportive messages—was associated with the factors additively in both studies and interactively in one study.     

Influence of Three Interventions on Group Participation in an Acute Psychiatric Facility

In this article the authors present a comparison of three modes of group-based intervention within an acute psychiatric facility. The group-based interventions were: (1) verbal discussion, (2) verbal discussion with a psychoeducation component, and (3) verbal discussion and psychoeducation within a therapeutically designed occupational environment. Outcome measures were group member participation, perceived social support, and perceived helpfulness of intervention. Researchers conducted retrospective analysis of group records to determine if differences existed among the three modes of interventions. Analysis revealed a significant difference in participation among the interventions. Perceived social support and helpfulness of intervention were high, but not statistically significant among the interventions.     

Predictors of peer helpfulness: Implications for youth in residential treatment

Sociometric measures were used to predict peer helpfulness of youth in a residential treatment center. Seventeen female adolescents with conduct disorders were asked to choose three peers in their group who were most popular, similar, well-liked, and competent. These sociometric measures were correlated with the frequency in which each peer was nominated as most and least helpful in several problem scenarios representing actual situations encountered in residential settings. A multiple linear regression analysis indicated that “popularity” was the best predictor of peer helpfulness across the problem scenarios. Discussion focused on the impact of popularity on treatment strategies for youth in residential placement.     

Helpful Actions of Close Friends to Personal Problems and Distress

Interviews with 26 participants produced 32 responses from close friends said to be helpful in coping with personal problems and distress. The presence and helpfulness of these 32 actions were rated by 150 and 156 volunteers respectively for these two situations. Separate factor analyses of these responses resulted in three factors called Acceptance, Guidance, and Reassurance, which were used to summarise the data into three scales. Acceptance was seen as being the most common and the most helpful reaction to both these situations. It was also the only factor which was significantly positively correlated with the outcome of such support in both situations and with psychological well-being as assessed by self-esteem, even when the attributed helpfulness of these factors was controlled. Contrary to expectations, responses to the two situations did not differ, apart from Guidance being judged to be slightly more helpful for personal problems than for personal distress.     

Favouritism as a function of assumed similarity and anticipated interaction

Discussions of intergroup behavior (e.g., Rabbie and Wilkens, 1971; Tajfel, Flament, Billig and Bundy, 1971) have drawn attention to the influence of both assumed similarity and anticipated future interaction between an individual and other members of his group on his tendency to assign more favourable outcomes to members of his own group than to members of another group. This note examines whether similar processes may also affect an individual's tendency to make intragroup discriminations between different members of a group to which he himself does not belong, in a situation where the variables of similarity and anticipated interaction may be treated as independent factors.     

Factors related to perceived helpfulness in supporting highly distressed individuals through an online support chat.

The purpose of the study was to examine the contribution made by dimensions of session-impact factors (depth and smoothness), end-of-session factors of client's mood (positivity and emotional arousal), and several textual variables (use of positive and negative emotional words; helper's and client's writing lengths) to perceived helpfulness of emotional support conversations carried on by trained, paraprofessional helpers through an Internet chat with highly distressed individuals. Two studies were conducted at an Israeli, exclusively online emotional support service for suicidal and highly distressed people who have undergone various negative experiences (SAHAR). Study 1 compared 40 chat conversations deliberately indicated by clients as having been helpful at the termination stage of session with 40 other conversations, using expert judgments of session-impact factors, as well as objective word counts for textual variables. Study 2 examined correlations between helpers' evaluation of the sessions' helpfulness to clients in 60 (other) chat support conversations and session-impact factors and textual variables. The findings of Study 1 showed that all four impact factors significantly differentiated between helpful and other conversations, while textual variables did not. In Study 2, the results showed that all four session-impact factors positively correlated with session helpfulness, yielding multiple R = 0.54, as well as the length of helper's and client's writing. The implications of these studies are similar to offline counseling sessions: deep, smooth conversations that yield positive responses and arouse clients' emotions in online support are more helpful than shallow, bumping conversations that leave clients emotionally indifferent. Longer writing, by both helpers and clients, seems to be an important factor, as well.     

Session helpfulness and session evaluation in short‐term counselling

The relationship between perceived session helpfulness and session evaluation was examined in 11 dyads during eight sessions of short‐term counselling. Results based on the Session Evaluation Questionnaire (Stiles, 1980) showed that, for clients, while depth, arousal, and positivity correlated with perceived session helpfulness, only depth and positivity entered a stepwise regression, yielding a multiple correlation of 0.76. For counsellors, while depth and positivity correlated with session perceived helpfulness, only depth entered the stepwise regression analysis, with a correlation of 0.70. Session depth also consistently correlated with change in perceptions of helpfulness from one session to another. Clients had higher depth scores for sessions that both participants rated as helpful. They had lower depth scores for sessions rated as less helpful by both participants or for sessions where participants disagreed in their helpfulness ratings. The centrality of counselling depth in affecting experiences of counselling helpfulness is discussed.     

The effects of early socialization experiences on content mastery and outcomes: A mediational approach

This field study examined how early socialization experiences affect new employee mastery of socialization content and socialization outcomes. New employees reported the realism of their preentry knowledge and the helpfulness of socialization agents. A follow-up survey assessed mastery of socialization content along with role clarity, job satisfaction, and affective organizational commitment. The results, based on 194 new employees of a large educational institution and using structural equation modeling, were highly supportive of the hypotheses. Realism of preentry knowledge and agent helpfulness, the two indicators of early socialization experiences, were associated with greater role clarity, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. In addition, the mastery of specific socialization content dimensions, the often-assumed intervening processes, was explicitly shown to mediate those relationships. The specific patterns of mediation observed further advance our understanding of the relationships between new employee mastery of socialization content and the determinants and consequences of that mastery.     

Therapeutic factors in a systemic multi-family group treatment for major depression: patients' and partners' perspectives

This study investigated helpful and disturbing factors in multi-family groups with hospitalized, depressed patients and their family members. Both patients and their partners reported the occurrence of different therapeutic factors such as the cohesion of the group, different observational processes, and guidance from the therapist. The frequency of the therapeutic factors seemed to increase for both the patients and their partners as the group sessions progressed and several differences in reported therapeutic factors were found between the patients and their partners. A number of therapeutic factors such as modelling and guidance from the therapist were found to be related with improvement of depressive symptoms of the patient. The results help to provide some insight into which processes are important in multi-family group therapy for depression.     

Compulsive "helpfulness": or, how I learned to stop working so hard and love the group

Compulsive helpfulness, an anxiety-laden need by the therapist to feel helpful, akin to the notion of rescuing others, is a potential pitfall in developing an effective psychotherapy group. It can be regarded variously: (1) as a reaction formation against feelings of boredom and frustration stimulated by such phenomena as group resistance or the enactment of inauthentic relationships in the group; (2) as a therapist style driven by a transferential reaction to be regarded as competent and worthy; (3) as an induced countertransference enactment tied to group members' frustration and passivity about their own interpersonal inadequacies; (4) and as a manic defense against despair over the feeling that one's loving has not done any good. In this essay, the author explores his struggle to identify and come to terms with compulsive helpfulness as a dominant theme in the early stages of his tenure as leader of a psychotherapy group.     

Statistical judgments are influenced by the implied likelihood that samples represent the same population

When sample information is combined, it is generally considered normative to weight information based on larger samples more heavily than information based on smaller samples. However, if samples appear likely to have been drawn from different subpopulations, it is reasonable to combine estimates of these subpopulation means (typically, the sample means) without weighting these estimates by sample size. This study investigated whether laypeople are influenced by the likelihood of samples coming from the same population when determining how to combine information. In two experiments we show that (1) implied binomial variability affected participants’ judgments of the likelihood that a sample was drawn from a given population, (2) participants' judgments were more affected by sample size when samples were implied to be drawn randomly from a general population, compared to when they were implied to be drawn from different subpopulations, and (3) people higher in numeracy gave more normative responses. We conclude that when determining how to weight and combine samples, laypeople use not only the provided data, but also information about likelihood and sampling processes that these data imply.     

Helpfulness and economic impact of multidimensional rating systems: Perspective of functional and hedonic characteristics

Nowadays, the multidimensional rating systems are increasingly popular in practice to help consumers evaluate multiattribute products or services. This study aims to examine the helpfulness and economic impact of multidimensional rating systems and the moderating effect of product type (ordinary, premium) from the perspective of product line. To identify the different effects of different product characteristics on consumers' behavior, multidimensional ratings and textual reviews are classified into two different sets according to the product attributes (functional, hedonic). Besides, the effects of review valence are considered simultaneously. Econometric analysis and text mining are conducted on the real data from autohome.com , a leading Chinese automobile rating platform. Results show that (a) in terms of perceived helpfulness, reviews with positive functional ratings or with negative hedonic ratings are perceived more helpful for ordinary product, whereas reviews with positive hedonic ratings are perceived more helpful for premium product. (b) Regarding product sales, the impacts of functional and hedonic ratings on product sales are inverted U‐shape. Furthermore, for ordinary product, variance of functional ratings has a negative effect on product sales, whereas hedonic ratings variance has an opposite impact. Surprisingly, ordinary product consumers tend to pay more attention to the negative hedonic reviews, whereas premium product consumers concentrate more on the negative functional reviews. In summary, various influences of multidimensional reviews and ratings across product type on review helpfulness and product sales are deeply explored in this study, suggesting that firms' online marketing strategies should be contingent on product type and characteristics.     

Perceptions Of Treatment Helpfulness And Depressive Symptomology In Psychiatric Inpatients On A Cognitive Therapy Unit

This study examined 123 psychiatric inpatients' perceptions of treatment helpfulness using the Treatment Experience Questionnaire (TEQ), a measure that includes perceived elpfulness ratings for specific cognitive and non-cognitive aspects of treatment. It was predicted that (a) the inpatients on the cognitive therapy unit would perceive the cognitive therapy components of the program as more helpful than the non-cognitive components, and that (b) the perception of the helpfulness of the cognitive and noncognitive therapy components would significantly predict discharge depression scores, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The results indicated that the inpatients rated the helpfulness of both the cognitive and non-cognitive aspects of treatment highly and that there was a modest yet significant relationship between perceived helpfulness and symptom change. The BDI scores at admission explained considerably more of the variation in discharge BDI scores than the perceptions of helpfulness. These results are discussed in light of past and future research.     

Dysphoria and Children's Processing of Supportive Interactions

This study examined the processing of supportive interactions by dysphoric and nondysphoric preteens and early adolescents. Seventy-two youngsters between the ages of 10 and 13 evaluated the supportiveness and helpfulness of standardized, videotaped interactions between a distressed preadolescent and a maternal figure. The tape presentations varied in terms of the level of depicted maternal support and instructional condition (degree of self-reference). The results indicated that dysphoric youngsters evaluated both the supportiveness and helpfulness of interactions less positively than nondysphoric agemates. Group differences in support evaluations were most pronounced in the self-referenced condition. The level of depicted support did not affect processing differences. Dysphoric subjects reported lower levels of emotional support in prior relationships and a greater tendency to view supportive behavior as ingenuine than nondysphoric peers. Variation in prior support experiences accounted for group differences in the evaluation of the supportiveness of new interactions.