The pleasures of sex: An empirical investigation

This study examined associations between the pleasurability of various sexual activities and behavioural experience with these activities. Participants were 145 female and 78 male undergraduates. Participants rated the pleasurability of various sexual activities (vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse, receiving oral sex, performing oral sex, masturbation by a partner, and self-masturbation) and answered questions about their experience with these sexual activities. Vaginal intercourse, receiving oral sex, and being masturbated by a partner received the highest,pleasure ratings. For behaviours other than vaginal intercourse and receiving oral sex, pleasure ratings were significantly higher among respondents who had engaged in the activity. Pleasure ratings for several different sexual behaviours were intercorrelated. Participants who scored high on a pleasure index were more sexually experienced, engaged in more frequent sexual activity, and reported having more sex partners. Results are interpreted within the context of an evolutionary theory which suggests that pleasure motivates sexual behaviour.     

Eliciting attitudinal factors affecting the continuance use of E-scooters: An empirical study in Chicago

As e-scooters become more popular, service providers and policymakers are seeking ways to retain the existing customers and encourage them to continue to use e-scooters in the future. In this study, we extend the concepts of the technology acceptance model to identify the factors that affect the intention to continue using e-scooters. We build our findings based on survey data including 2126 shared e-scooter users in Chicago. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, we analyzed the data and 10 proposed hypotheses. Our empirical results substantiate that the proposed model provides a theoretical framework to understand the continuance intention of shared e-scooter users. According to the findings, the most salient factor determining users’ decisions is perceived usefulness, followed by perceived reliability. The significance of reliability necessitates taking measures to guarantee the availability of e-scooters in times and places they are needed, particularly for mandatory trips. Additionally, social influence, perceived ease of use, variety seeking, and perceived enjoyment, are evinced to represent the other critical drivers of using e-scooter in the future, and in order of precedence. The insights from this study can assist shared e-scooter operators, transportation planners, and policymakers in making informed decisions and pave the way for a greater inclination to continue using shared e-scooters and move toward smart cities.     

The problem of empirical redundancy of constructs in organizational research: An empirical investigation

Construct empirical redundancy may be a major problem in organizational research today. In this paper, we explain and empirically illustrate a method for investigating this potential problem. We applied the method to examine the empirical redundancy of job satisfaction (JS) and organizational commitment (OC), two well-established organizational constructs. Analysis based on responses from a sample of 292 employees collected at two occasions showed that: (a) the construct-level correlation between JS and OC was very high (.91) and (b) both JS and OC are similarly related to positive affectivity and negative affectivity. These results suggest that the constructs may be empirically indistinguishable, despite their well-established conceptual distinction. These findings illustrate the problem of empirical redundancy of organizational constructs and provide a basis for a possible movement towards parsimony in the realm of constructs that could open the way to more rapid advances in knowledge in organizational research.     

The lottery of life and moral desert: An empirical investigation

As John Rawls makes clear in A Theory of Justice, there is a popular and influential strand of political thought for which brute luck – that is, being lucky (or unlucky) in the so-called “lottery of life” – ought to have no place in a theory of distributive justice. Yet the debate about luck, desert, and fairness in contemporary political philosophy has recently been rekindled by a handful of philosophers who claim that desert should play a bigger role in theories of distributive justice. In the present paper, we present the results of our attempts to fill in some of the missing empirical details of this debate. Our findings provide some preliminary evidence that, contrary to what most contemporary political philosophers have assumed, people are not as worried by natural luck as previously thought. Instead, people’s worries seem to be focused exclusively on inequalities generated by social luck.     

The discrimination of graphical elements

A model is proposed to account for how people discriminate quantities shown in pie charts and divided bar graphs (i.e. which proportion is larger, A or B?). The incremental estimation model assumes that an observer sequentially samples from the available perceptual features in a graph. The relative effectiveness of sampled perceptual features is represented by the spread of probability distributions, in the manner of signal detection theory. The model's predictions were tested in two experiments. Participants took longer with pies than divided bars and longer with non‐aligned than aligned proportions in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, participants took longer with divided bars than pies when graphs were of unequal size. Generally, graphical formats producing longer response times incurred a greater time penalty when the difference between proportions was reduced. These results were in accordance with the model's predictions. Implications for graphical display design are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The give-or-take-some dilemma: An empirical investigation of a hybrid social dilemma

We describe and empirically investigate a hybrid social dilemma that merges give-some and take-some dilemmas by allowing individuals to choose to either give or to take resources from a shared resource pool. Study 1 finds that (a) group size increases the inequality among group members and the likelihood of creating the public good, while reducing the amount of wasted resources; (b) larger bonuses increase provision rates; and (c) asymmetry in the wealth distribution of the group members induces higher levels of inequality of the final outcomes. Following the logic of appropriateness, players with high (low) endowments were more likely to give toward (take from) the shared resource. Study 2 finds that the tendency of the players with high (low) endowments to give (take) is amplified as the difference between endowment levels increased, and the players’ behavior is correlated with, and predictable from, independent judgments of what is perceived as appropriate.     

The locus of maximum weighting within attentive fields: An empirical investigation

Fixation within a modified Poggendorff display was used to assess Pressey's hypothesized construct of attentive fields. In Experiment I the results for fixating near the bottom of the display supported the predictions based on Pressey's construct; however, results from fixating near the top of the display were more easily explained by a tilt effect noted by Zajac (1957).

Experiment II and III replicated the first experiment and obtained independent measures of the tilt effect. After the tilt effect was subtracted from the Poggendorff scores, the prediction based upon the attentive field construct was supported in the top fixation condition; however, only Experiment II provided support for the prediction in the bottom fixation condition.     

The same but different: an empirical investigation of the reducibility principle

According to classical utility theory the valuation of any lottery should depend only on its outcomes and their respective probabilities, and should not be affected by the nature, complexity and structure of the chance mechanism. Previous research has documented systematic violations of this principle. For example, most subjects prefer lotteries in which the payoffs are contingent on the joint occurrence of multiple (high probability) events to simple lotteries, and lotteries in which the earlier stages offer higher probabilities than the later stages. We review the various violations of this principle and suggest a classification into two major types associated with misunderstanding of chance mechanisms and attitude towards the chance mechanism and process. In the present study 40 subjects were presented with 30 pairs of binary gambles. In any given pair the lotteries had identical outcomes and equal ‘reduced’ probabilities (and thus equal expected values). However, the chance mechanisms varied along a variety of factors such as the size of the sample space, the number of stages, temporal ordering, order of probabilities, their transparency and time constraints. Half the subjects saw lotteries involving gains and the other half considered only losses. After choosing one lottery in each pair, the subjects were asked to explain and justify their choices. The findings revealed systematic violations of the reducibility principle: subjects displayed a preference for lotteries with larger sample spaces, and for lotteries that allow quicker resolutions in the earlier stages. A clear distinction between some patterns of preferences in the gains and loss domains was revealed. In gambles involving gains subjects preferred to have the highest probability on the first stage (and the lowest probability on the last stage), but displayed the opposite preferences for losses. A content analysis of the subjects' stated reasons for their choices identified eight major categories. The most frequently invoked were hope, fun, simplicity, stress and time. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gray's three-arousal model: an empirical investigation

We evaluated the validity of Gray's and Fowles' three-arousal model in two studies of criminal offenders using a continuous motor task involving rewards and punishments. Consistent with predictions for the behavioral approach/activation system (BAS), offenders displayed significant (p<0.00001) increases in response time and heart rate (HR) from a no-incentive practice phase to a reward-only (experiment 1) and active-avoidance (experiment 2) phase. Trait impulsivity was correlated with the response time index of BAS activation in experiment 1 but not experiment 2. Consistent with predictions for the behavioral inhibition system (BIS), offenders showed a significant increase in number of skin conductance responses (SCRs) (p<0.05) from a reward-only to a mixed-incentive phase in experiment 1 and a significant increase in SC amplitude to punishment cues in both experiments. Consistent with predictions for the dynamics of the model, participants showed significant slowing of response time (p<0.0001) from reward-only (experiment 1) or active avoidance (experiment 2) to mixed-incentive phases despite showing an initial tendency toward response facilitation to the onset of the punishment cue signifying the beginning of the mixed-incentive phases. Participants also showed significant (p<0.002) decreases in HR between these phases in both studies, but this effect was only evident on trial 1. The BIS-influenced response time and HR indices were significantly (p<0.05) correlated with anxiety in experiment 1, but unexpectedly, anxiety was not correlated with SC indices of the BIS in either study. Although much of the data support the validity of the Gray/Fowles model, particular findings suggest that further refinement of this theory is indicated.     

Subjective phrase structure: An empirical investigation

The present study represents an attempt to investigate the basis of subjective groupings of words in sentences, employing Edwin Martin's subjective phrase structure technique. Results indicate that subjects base their judgments not only on grammatical structure but also on constituent length and on stress and intonation patterns.A shorter version of this paper was presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Linguistic Association at McGill University, Montreal, May 1972.     

An empirical investigation of adolescent suicidal ideation.

Four hundred nine high school students were surveyed to determine the percentage who had experienced suicidal ideation. The sample was then divided into high- and low-suicidal-risk groups. High-risk subjects were found to have significantly poorer quality friendships, lower self-esteem, and had experienced more life stress in the previous year.     

An empirical investigation of Shneidman's formulations regarding suicide

This study of suicide notes involved the deduction of 50 protocol sentences that reflected important aspects of Shneidman's formulations regarding suicide. Independent judges noted the incidence of contents corresponding to the protocol sentences in 33 genuine and 33 simulated notes. Statements that were found significantly and more frequently in genuine notes included the following: the experience of adult trauma such as a calamitous relationship; a rejection; the withdrawal of a significant person resulting in despair; perceiving another as dooming one to the suicide; expressions of ambivalence; feelings of love, hate and other emotions; feelings of helplessness, pessimism and emotional confusion; appearing to be intoxicated by one's overpowering emotions and constricted perceptions; and the communications appearing to have unconscious implications. Statements of "egression" and more logical reasoning were more characteristic of the simulated notes. A frequency count in the genuine notes indicated that many protocol sentences were also very predictive of the content. Implications of the results are discussed.     

The classification of graphical elements.

In three experiments, participants classified stimuli depicting pie charts and stacked bar graphs on two criteria: a proportion shown in the graph, and the graph's overall size (scaling). Sorting times and errors were measured. For stacked bars, performance was impaired when participants sorted on the proportion and scaling varied. No such impairment occurred for pie charts. Experiment 1 showed that varying scaling produced Garner interference in classification of proportions with stacked bars, but not pies. Experiment 2 showed that this result held when the position of the pie slice was varied; Experiment 3 results showed facilitation for particular combinations of proportion and scaling levels. In general, the results showed that proportion and scaling had an asymmetric integral relation for stacked bar graphs, but were separable dimensions for pie charts.     

The paradox of promoting creativity in the Asian classroom: an empirical investigation

To shed light on the paradox of promoting creativity in the Asian classroom, the authors conducted 3 studies. The 1st study found that novice teachers classified student behaviors as desirable but uncreative (DBU) versus creative but undesirable (CBU). The 2nd study found that conservative-autocratic teachers were more likely to encourage DBU behaviors in class, whereas liberal-democratic teachers were more likely to encourage CBU behaviors in class. The 3rd study found that cultural individualism-collectivism had a positive impact on liberal-democratic teaching attitude but a negative impact on conservative-autocratic teaching attitude. In turn, liberal-democratic teaching attitude had a positive impact on the tendency to promote CBU behaviors, whereas conservative-autocratic teaching attitude had a positive impact on the tendency to promote DBU behaviors.     

An empirical investigation into carpooling behaviour for sustainability

Carpooling is a sustainable, economical, and environmental friendly solution that can significantly reduce air pollution and traffic congestion in urban areas. In spite of its numerous benefits, commuters are still skeptic about adopting it as a routine choice for transportation. This study attempts to map commuters’ attitude towards carpooling services. The study has focused on a few motivational constructs that can have an influence on commuters’ behavior. The study has looked at the role of cognitive complexity and empowerment perceptions of commuters to check if these constructs significantly intervene in the behavioral outcomes. The methodology used is a scenario-based 2 × 2 survey design where the sample is an individual who has experience with carpooling. The survey has used two levels (high, low) each of cognitive complexity and psychological empowerment to give rise to four scenarios. The final sample consisted of 400 carpoolers selected from an IT park having more than 5000 employees. MANOVA analysis showed that cognitive complexity and psychological empowerment had significant influence on the motivational constructs used in the study. Value beliefs, safety and platform quality perceptions were found to have a direct impact on attitude formation and intention to engage in carpooling behavior. The findings offer many implications for managers in the sense that that they can focus on creating suitable communication that creates favorable perceptions towards carpooling to bring about better adoption intentions.