For better or worse? The moral and policy lessons of Minnesota's HealthRight legislation

Minnesota's recently enacted HealthRight legislation places the state at the forefront of American health reform. How did the state manage to overcome the policy gridlock in evidence in other states and at the national level? And how well does the legislation fare under close ethical scrutiny? Among the most important factors that permitted Minnesota to enact reforms were the explicit linkage in the legislative debate of the goal of cost containment to the desire to expand access, the public perception that HealthRight is incremental and consistent with earlier reform efforts in Minnesota, and the lengthy public debate that preceded the enactment of HealthRight. Although it endeavors to create a fair and efficient health care system, it is not at all certain that HealthRight, in its present form, will achieve these normative goals.     

For better or worse? Self-esteem and the contingencies of acceptance in marriage

A longitudinal daily diary study examined the origins and consequences of perceiving a partner's acceptance and love as contingent on professional success. Both members of 154 couples completed a diary for 21 days. Multilevel analyses revealed that low self-esteem men and women felt more accepted and loved by their partner on days when their professional lives were marked by success, and low self-esteem women felt less accepted and loved on days when their professional lives were marked by failure. No such spillover effects between people's professional and relationship lives emerged for people high in chronic selfesteem. A 1-year longitudinal follow-up revealed that people who initially felt less accepted across days reported decreased satisfaction. Men also became especially distressed when their wives felt less accepted initially and (incorrectly) perceived their husbands' regard as contingent.     

Exert more and feel better,not worse?: Examining links among changes in exertion,feelings of accomplishment,and feeling states

Zenko, Ekkekakis, and Ariely (2016) showed that participants whose exercise session became progressively easier over time showed more positive affect than participants whose session became increasingly more difficult. The current study examined whether Zenko et al.’s decrease in exertion-increase in feeling state relationship held in a series of three, unmanipulated practices among a sample of collegiate athletes. In addition, change in feelings of accomplishment was included as a predictor of overall after-practice feeling state and as a potential mediator of the relationship between change in exertion and change in feeling state during practice in multilevel models. Results showed the relationship between change in exertion and change in feeling state was negative but did not consistently reach significance, and change in feeling state did not consistently predict overall feeling state after practice. However, increase in accomplishment was a significant predictor of overall feeling state after practice, and change in accomplishment was a significant mediator of the relationship between change in exertion and change in feeling state. Increase in exertion can lead to an increase in positive feeling states when trying harder leads to an increase in feelings of accomplishment during practice settings despite a direct effect sometimes showing increase in exertion leads to a decrease in feeling states. These results demonstrate an inconsistent mediator effect and provide insight into how athletes may be able to feel better while working harder, not worse.     

Do Overgeneral Memories Make us feel better? An experimental examination

A critical assumption of the CaR-FA-X model, that overgeneral memory is partly attributable to the “functional avoidance” of specific details about one’s past experiences, has not been experimentally tested. Further, while it is assumed that the reinforcing properties of said avoidance leads to the emergence of an overgeneral recall style over time, this question has not been addressed developmentally. To explore these issues, two studies were conducted. In Study 1, 41 children and adolescents (M_age?=?12 years) were randomly assigned to recall overgeneral or specific negative memories on the Autobiographical Memory Test; participants later listened to their memories and provided pre- and post-tests of their emotional states at four time points: before and after memory generation and before and after memory exposure. In Study 2, 52 college-aged participants (M_age?=?19 years) completed the same protocol. Results indicated that children and adolescents in the overgeneral condition reported higher levels of positive affect relative to those in the specific condition, while recall condition did not impact adults’ emotional states. These findings were not explained by differences in emotion regulation strategies or psychopathological symptoms. Implications for developmental models of autobiographical memory and emotion regulation are discussed.     

Do higher-class individuals feel more entitled? The role of system-justifying belief

ABSTRACT

Sense of entitlement can be defined as a pervasive sense that one deserves more and is entitled to more than others. Two studies examined the relationship between social class and sense of entitlement and how this relationship is moderated by system-justifying belief (SJB) in China. In Study 1, we conducted a survey among adults (N = 669) with results showing that social class was positively correlated with sense of entitlement for those endorsing SJB, but negatively correlated with sense of entitlement for those opposing SJB. In Study 2, we conducted an experiment among undergraduates (N = 128) with both social class and SJB being primed and the results replicated the pattern: the positive effect of primed higher social class on pay entitlement existed only for those primed with high SJB, and was dampened for those primed with low SJB. Therefore, higher-class individuals do not necessarily feel more entitled, and SJB may play an important role in shaping their sense of entitlement.     

Social media and interpersonal relationships: for better or worse?

Social media challenge--or have already redefined--conventional boundaries of public and private, personal and professional, friendship, and social relations generally. Here, I consider how these developments may affect professionalism, the physician-patient relationship, and our cultural experiences in a wholly different and unexpected way.     

The logic of obligation, ‘better’ and ‘worse’

Research for this paper was supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, FT-33794. I am grateful to an anonymous referee of this journal for remarks on an earlier version of this paper.     

Proof of situational sensitivity of mood states and dynamic traits—ergs and sentiments—to disturbing stimuli

A separation of state and trait factors, and an allocation of modulation values to situations, was attempted by giving the Eight State Battery (8SQ) and the Motivation Analysis Test (MAT) to two groups, each under two situations, one aversive. The difference scores between a pre- and postexposure to the mild and the severe aversive situations were significant on all 8SQ factors but mainly on ergs, not sentiments, in the MAT. The state changes, notably on Anxiety, Regression, Depression and Guilt, were greater on the more shocking stimulus, while Fear rose and Narcism fell significantly on the MAT. Changes were greater on unintegrated than integrated motivational components, confirming hypotheses by others.     

Violence and race in professional baseball: Getting better or getting worse?

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between race and violence in the context of professional baseball. Specifically, I used the number of times a batter was hit by a pitch (per plate appearance) as an indicator of being the victim of an indirect violent act. Archival data were gathered from 4,273 players from 1950 to 1997, yielding 27,022 individual records. Even after controlling for player ability and league rules, race was a significant predictor of being hit. Specifically, from 1950 to 1997, the rate at which Blacks were hit was approximately 7.5% greater than the rate for Whites. The rate at which Hispanics were hit was approximately 7.6% greater than the rate for Whites. Testing year as a moderator revealed that the Black‐White difference was much greater in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1970 to 1989, race was not a significant predictor of being hit. Contrary to the hypotheses, from 1990 to 1997, Whites and Hispanics were hit at a significantly higher rate than Blacks (23.0% and 29.0%, respectively). Additional analyses revealed no relationship between pitcher race and batter race in hit‐by‐pitch events from 1997 to 1999. The findings are discussed with respect to group threat theory and the distinction between covert and overt aggression. Aggr. Behav. 28:109–116, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Predicting counterproductive work behavior: Do implicit motives have incremental validity beyond explicit traits?

This study extends research on the link between personality and Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB) by investigating whether the implicit Affiliation, Achievement, and Power motives contribute to the prediction of CWB beyond basic personality traits. Employees high in Affiliation, Achievement, and Power motives may disengage from CWB because it is not rewarding and thwarts goal attainment. In Study 1 (N = 263), we found that Affiliation predicted self-rated CWB beyond traits. In Study 2 (N = 121), we found that Affiliation and Power predicted supervisor-rated CWB. Our findings thus suggest to also consider implicit motives as personality determinants of CWB.     

The impact of relational demographics on perceived managerial trustworthiness: similarity or norms?

Perceived trustworthiness is a critical antecedent of interpersonal trust, yet researchers have a limited understanding of how such perceptions are generated. The authors used 2 competing perspectives within the relational demography literature--similarity-attraction and relational norms--to empirically examine the effect of demographic differences. Whereas the similarity-attraction account suggests that subordinates will perceive their managers as more trustworthy when managers and staff are similar in demographic attributes, the relational norms account proposes that subordinates will perceive their managers as more trustworthy when their demographic differences follow normative expectations. Data collected from a field study of 178 manager-subordinate dyads in Hong Kong and Macau support the relational norms account in terms of education and organizational rank. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the study.     

Do authorship policies impact students' judgments of perceived wrongdoing?

Although authorship policies exist, researchers understand little about their impact on perceptions of authorship scenarios. Graduate students (N=277) at a large university read 1 of 3 vignettes about a graduate student-faculty collaboration. One half of the surveys included the American Psychological Association's statement on authorship. Participants rated (a) the ethics of the professor as first author and (b) the likelihood of a dissatisfied student reporting the authorship result, as well as the effectiveness and negative consequences of reporting. Work arrangements on the project had a consistent main effect. Also, an authorship policy impacted women's ratings of first authorship when the student contributed the idea for a project. For men, a policy impacted only ratings of the likelihood of reporting when a professor was first author on a student's dissertation. Apart from sex, no other demographic variables on participants were predictive. Discussion focuses on the policy's potential for making only some specific issues salient.     

Do you look to the future or focus on today? The impact of life experience on intertemporal decisions

In this research, we investigate the impact of significant life experiences on intertemporal decisions among young adults. A series of experiments focus specifically on the impact of experiencing the death of a close other by cancer. We show that such an experience, which bears information about time, is associated with making decisions that favor the long-term future over short-term interests (Studies 1 and 2). Underlying this effect appears to be increased salience and concreteness regarding one’s future life course, shifting focus away from the present toward the long run (Studies 3 and 4). Finally, we explore the shift caused by a cancer death of a public figure and examine its stability over time (Study 5). Implications for research on intertemporal decision making and the impact of life events on perceptions and preferences are discussed.     

Do you feel happy when other members look happy? Moderating effect of community-level social capital on interconnection of happiness

One's happiness is expected to be affected by the happiness of surrounding others. This socio-psychological nature of happiness, however, has not been fully examined in the literature of social psychology. The current study examined if this “psychological interconnection of happiness” occurs when (i) individuals have strong personal social capital and/or (ii) individuals belong to a community where other members have strong social capital. We analysed a large social survey dataset sampled from 408 communities in Japan (N = 7295). The psychological interconnection of happiness was measured by calculating the correlation between individual happiness and perceived community happiness. The multilevel analyses revealed that the psychological interconnection of happiness was moderated by community-level social capital above and beyond individual-level social capital, while individual-level social capital did not have a significant moderation effect.     

When are moods most likely to influence consumers' product preferences? The role of mood focus and perceived relevance of moods

This program of research examined the hypothesis that moods are most likely to be used as a source of information in making evaluations and choices when consumers both focus on their moods (i.e., acknowledge and pay attention to their feelings) and perceive that moods are a relevant source of information for forming judgments. Support for this prediction was obtained when the relevance of moods was examined by manipulating relevance instructions, varying advertising cues, and manipulating product type. Further, the boundary conditions under which the combination of mood focus and perceived relevance is most influential on product preferences are identified.     

For better or for worse? a nationwide study of the social psychological effects of gender and ability grouping in mathematics

This exploratory investigation employs the National Education Longitudinal Surveybreak(NELS:88) to examine equity in tracking from a new, less-studied angle, with the view that tracking may not be all good or all bad, but that its effects are variable. The present study considers how these variable effects might, in part, be produced through a mechanism of social comparison conceptualized by Marsh et al. as the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE). It compares similar students, except that some are in schools that use tracking and some are in schools that do not use tracking. Unlike previous studies of between-track effects, it asks whether tracking works uniformly for males and females within the same track placement in a particular subject area. Analyses yielded significant differences in students' attitudes toward mathematics, educational aspirations, self-esteem, locus of control, and engagement in school. These systematic effects suggest the mechanisms of the BFLPE. Despite the reflected glory of being in a high ability track, when males, in contrast to females, are grouped with peers of similar high ability in a subject area that defines their competence, they seem to lose their competitive edge. Low ability males are positively affected through the mechanism of comparing with their peers because the competition to do well is relatively less keen than in high tracks.     

Do personality traits affect responsiveness of juvenile delinquents to treatment?

ObjectiveThe aim of the present study was to examine the moderating role of Big Five personality traits in short and long term effectiveness of MultiSystemic Therapy (MST) for serious and persistent juvenile delinquents.MethodData of a randomized controlled trial (N = 256) were used to examine the research question.ResultsExtraversion, Emotional Stability and Openness did not moderate short term effectiveness of MST, but Conscientiousness and Agreeableness did: MST was most effective for highly conscientious and highly agreeable juvenile delinquents. Personality did not moderate the effectiveness of MST on aggression or the long-term effectiveness of MST.ConclusionThis study shows the importance of personality traits for short-term treatment outcomes, effectiveness of MST differs for high/low Agreeableness and Conscientiousness.