I Can't Get You Out of My Head: The Influence of Secrecy on Consumers’ Self‐Brand Connections

Although research provides anecdotal evidence of consumers keeping their brand consumption a secret, there is little empirical corroboration to justify its study or illuminate the resulting consequences. The goals of this research are to provide evidence for the prevalence of keeping brand consumption a secret and to understand the resulting cognitive processing and consequences. Specifically, we first explore the occurrence of secrecy in the context of brand consumption, its types, and its motivations, underscoring the need for further investigation. Then, through a series of three subsequent studies, we demonstrate that keeping brand consumption a secret can lead to enhanced self‐brand connections through the underlying processes of thought suppression and thought intrusion. We rule out alternative explanations and enhance generalizability through the examination of passive (e.g., avoiding) versus active (e.g., lying) secrecy and variations in agency (i.e., instructed vs. voluntary secrecy).     

The role of personal and key resources in the family‐to‐work enrichment process

Based on the work‐home resources model, the aim of the present research was to test a process model of family‐to‐work enrichment by examining whether self‐efficacy (i.e., personal resource) mediates the relationship between support from one's family and work engagement. Further, it was assumed that positive affectivity (i.e., key resource) moderates the relation between family support and self‐efficacy. Using an occupationally heterogeneous sample of Slovenian employees (n = 738), we found support for a mediating effect of self‐efficacy as well as for the moderating role of positive affectivity. In general, our results broaden the understanding of work‐family enrichment processes and provide support for the work‐home resources model. In addition, they point to the relevant role of personal and key resources in work‐family interactions.     

The Space–Time Congruency Effect: A Meta‐Analysis

Several reaction time (RT) studies report faster responses when responses to temporal information are arranged in a spatially congruent manner than when this arrangement is incongruent. The resulting space–time congruency effect is commonly attributed to a culturally salient localization of temporal information along a mental timeline (e.g., a mental timeline that runs from left to right). The present study aims to provide a compilation of the published RT studies on this time–space association in order to estimate the size of its effect and the extent of potential publication bias in this field of research. In this meta‐analysis, three types of task are distinguished due to hitherto existing empirical findings. These findings suggest that the extent to which time is made relevant to the experimental task has a systematic impact on whether or not the mental timeline is activated. The results of this meta‐analysis corroborate these considerations: First, experiments that make time a task‐relevant dimension have a mean effect size of d = 0.46. Second, in experiments in which time is task irrelevant, the effect size does not significantly deviate from zero. Third, temporal priming studies have a surprisingly high mean effect size of d = 0.47, which, however, should be adjusted to d = 0.36 due to publication bias.     

Resource loss,resource gain,PTSD, and dissociation among Ethiopian immigrants in Israel

The aim of this study was to examine the loss and gain of resources, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociation among Jewish Ethiopian immigrants in Israel following exposure to stressful events occurring pre‐, peri‐, and post‐migration. Resources are defined as objects (e.g., housing), conditions (e.g., employment), personal (e.g., self‐esteem), or energy (e.g., culture). A random sample (N = 478) of three waves of immigrants participated in the research (N1 = 165; N2 = 169; N3 = 144). The data were collected in 2001. Age, loss and gain of resources, traumatic events peri‐migration, post‐migration difficulties, posttraumatic symptoms, and dissociation were assessed. The relationships between the variables were assessed with multiple hierarchical regressions predicting PTSD and dissociation with gain and loss of resources, over and above age, immigration wave, and trauma. A significant relationship was found between PTSD symptoms and loss of self‐esteem resources (r = 0.17 p < 0.001), while dissociation was positively associated with gain of housing resources (r = 0.20, p < 0.001). Both PTSD and dissociation were predicted by younger age. The findings are discussed in light of the conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1988 ), of resource loss and gain among Ethiopian immigrants.     

A Path to More Enduring Happiness: Take a Detour from Specific Emotional Goals

Although much of consumption behavior is prompted by the pursuit of happiness, enduring happiness remains elusive, since happiness is destined to adaptation. Our research identifies a novel yet simple method of slowing hedonic adaptation from consumption activities: reducing specificity of the happiness goal. We propose that in the realm of happiness, contrary to findings from other domains, having a general (e.g., feeling good) versus a specific (e.g., excitement) emotional goal might hold the key to more enduring happiness. One lab experiment and a longitudinal study demonstrate general (vs. specific) goals expand the breadth of emotions experienced from consumption activities, which in turn impact the top‐of‐mind awareness of the consumption target over time; higher top‐of‐mind awareness of the target allows one to continue to derive happiness from it. Importantly, the happiness advantage of general emotional goals strengthens over time. Given a significant tendency by consumers to pursue specific happiness goals (as three pilot studies reveal), a simple change in the way they formulate their happiness goals could be consequential for consumer wellbeing.     

Couples' narratives of shared‐self,possessions and consumption experiences

How consumers use possessions and consumption to enact their shared‐self has been underexplored in earlier consumer research. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the emergence of couple‐level (or partnered) shared‐self. A narrative research method was used in Hong Kong, which allowed for an inter‐temporal narrative about the informants' important possessions. Our findings revealed key characteristics regarding the way in which informants' interpretations of shared selves developed over time. This included sharing and negotiating resources (e.g., a house or money) with their partners, integrating similar perspectives (e.g., interests and lifestyle) to their partners', and including their partners as part of the self. This study provides the basis for future research to see how these findings hold up at other stages of partnered relationships. This research provides a conceptualization – a temporal model of couples' shared‐self – that could contribute to and enhance the existing literature on the interrelationship between possessions and the extended self. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Influence of Time Estimation and Time‐Saving Preferences on Learning to Make Temporally Dependent Decisions from Experience

In this paper, we merge research related to experiential learning, temporal perception, and the value of time and money by examining decisions where the timing of action (response) determines the outcome received. We predicted that time‐saving preferences and impatience would decrease maximization (i.e., taking action when it returned the largest reward), and that the constraints of temporal perception would compound their effects. Across three studies, participants undershot on average (i.e., responded earlier than the period of time during which a response would return the maximal reward) showed a preference for shorter‐delay options and often did not find the maximal reward. In addition, participants' reliance on temporal perception increased undershooting, increased preferences for shorter‐delay options, and reduced maximization. Nevertheless, participants who found the maximal reward continued to maximize at a high rate rather than opting for shorter delays and smaller rewards. Thus, while most participants appeared to have a preference for saving time, most behaved as reward maximizers rather than temporal discounters. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predictors of Emerging Suicide Death Among Military Personnel on Social Media Networks

Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States and is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. military. Previous research suggests that data obtained from social media networks may provide important clues for identifying at‐risk individuals. To test this possibility, the social media profiles from 315 military personnel who died by suicide (n  = 157) or other causes (n  = 158) were coded for the presence of stressful life situations (i.e., triggers), somatic complaints or health issues (i.e., physical), maladaptive or avoidant coping strategies (i.e., behaviors), negative mood states (i.e., emotion), and/or negative cognitive appraisals (cognition). Content codes were subsequently analyzed using multilevel models from a dynamical systems perspective to identify temporal change processes characteristic of suicide death. Results identified temporal sequences unique to suicide, notably social media posts about triggers followed by more posts about cognitions, posts about cognitions followed by more posts about triggers, and posts about behaviors followed by fewer posts about cognitions. Results suggest that certain sequences in social media content may predict cause of death and provide an estimate of when a social media user is likely to die by suicide.     

Both Earlier Times and the Future Are “Front”: The Distinction Between Time‐ and Ego‐Reference‐Points in Mandarin Speakers’ Temporal Representation

Mandarin speakers, like most other language speakers around the world, use spatial terms to talk about time. However, the direction of their mental temporal representation along the front‐back axis remains controversial because they use the spatial term “front” to refer to both earlier times (e.g., front‐year means “the year before last”) and the future (e.g., front‐road means “prospect”). Although the linguistic distinction between time‐ and ego‐reference‐point spatiotemporal metaphors in Mandarin suggests a promising clarification of the above controversy, there is little empirical evidence verifying this distinction. In this study, Mandarin speakers’ time‐ and ego‐reference‐point temporal representations on three axes (i.e., sagittal, lateral, and vertical) were separately examined through two tasks. In a time‐reference‐point task, Mandarin speakers judged whether the time point of the second picture was earlier or later than the time point of the first picture, while in an ego‐reference‐point task, they judged whether an event or phase had happened in the past or would happen in the future. The results indicate that Mandarin speakers construe an earlier‐times‐in‐front‐of‐later‐times temporal sequence and adopt the front‐to‐the‐future orientation.     

Early development of visual attention in infants in rural Malawi

Eye tracking research has shown that infants develop a repertoire of attentional capacities during the first year. The majority of studies examining the early development of attention comes from Western, high‐resource countries. We examined visual attention in a heterogeneous sample of infants in rural Malawi (N = 312–376, depending on analysis). Infants were assessed with eye‐tracking‐based tests that targeted visual orienting, anticipatory looking, and attention to faces at 7 and 9 months. Consistent with prior research, infants exhibited active visual search for salient visual targets, anticipatory saccades to predictable events, and a robust attentional bias for happy and fearful faces. Individual variations in these processes had low to moderate odd‐even split‐half and test‐retest reliability. There were no consistent associations between attention measures and gestational age, nutritional status, or characteristics of the rearing environment (i.e., maternal cognition, psychosocial well‐being, socioeconomic status, and care practices). The results replicate infants’ early attentional biases in a large, unique sample, and suggest that some of these biases (e.g., bias for faces) are pronounced in low‐resource settings. The results provided no evidence that the initial manifestation of infants’ attentional capacities is associated with risk factors that are common in low‐resource environments.     

AN EVALUATION OF A PROGRESSIVE HIGH-PROBABILITY INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE COMBINED WITH LOW-PROBABILITY DEMAND FADING IN THE TREATMENT OF FOOD SELECTIVITY

Few studies have examined the effects of the high‐probability instructional sequence in the treatment of food selectivity, and results of these studies have been mixed (e.g., Dawson et al., 2003 ; Patel et al., 2007 ). The present study extended previous research on the high‐probability instructional sequence by combining this procedure with low‐probability demand fading with 2 boys with autism (9 and 10 years old) who had a history of food selectivity and engaged in active food refusal behaviors when presented with novel foods. Response requirements were faded gradually from responses the child would tolerate (e.g., touching the food) to the final requirement of chewing and swallowing the food. The antecedent‐based intervention was implemented in the absence of escape extinction and was effective in increasing food consumption for both participants. Possible mechanisms responsible for the effectiveness of the intervention are discussed along with directions for future research.     

Perceptions of an over-ground induced temporal gait asymmetry by healthy young adults

Nearly 60% of individuals with stroke walk with temporal gait asymmetry (TGA; a phase inequality between the legs during gait). About half of individuals with TGA are unable to correctly identify the presence or direction of their asymmetry. If patients are unable to perceive their gait errors, it will be harder to correct them to improve their gait pattern. Perception of gait pattern error may be affected by the stroke itself; therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine how the gait of neurotypical individuals changes with an induced temporal asymmetry, and how perception of that TGA compares to actual asymmetry both before and after 15-min of exposure to the induced asymmetry. After baseline symmetry (measured as symmetry index (SI)) was assessed with a pressure sensitive mat, participants (n = 29) walked for 15 min over-ground with cuff weights (7.5% of body weight) on their non-dominant leg to induce TGA. Presence, direction, and magnitude of TGA was measured at five time points: 1) baseline, 2) immediately after unilateral loading (early adaptation (EA)), 3) at the end of 15 min of walking (late adaptation (LA)), 4) immediately after load removal (early deadaptation (EDA)), and 5) after the participant indicated that their gait had returned to baseline symmetry (late deadaptation (LDA). Presence, direction, and magnitude of perceived TGA was measured by self-report. Measured and perceived TGA changes over time were assessed with separate one-way repeated measures analyses of variance. Agreement between measured and perceived TGA was assessed. During EA, all participants walked asymmetrically, spending more time on the non-loaded limb compared to baseline (−12.67 [95%CI −14.56, −10.78], p < 0.0001). All but one participant perceived this TGA, however only fifteen (52%) correctly perceived both TGA presence and direction. At LA, the group remained asymmetric (−9.22 [95%CI −11.32, −7.12], p < 0.0001), but only 9 participants (31%) correctly perceived both the presence and direction of their TGA. Visual inspection of the data at each time point revealed most participants perceived TGA magnitude as greater than actual TGA. Overall, we find that TGA can be induced and maintained in neurotypical young adults. Perception of TGA direction is inaccurate and perception of TGA magnitude is grossly overestimated. Perceptions of TGA do not improve after a period of exposure to the new walking pattern. These preliminary findings indicate that accurately perceiving an altered gait pattern is a difficult task even for healthy young adults.     

The influence of event-time (vs. clock-time) scheduling style on satiation

Consumers often need to schedule different activities. While consumers who adopt a clock-time scheduling style decide when to transition from one activity to the next according to external temporal cues (e.g., clock), those who adopt an event-time scheduling style tend to perform each activity until they feel internally that it is completed. This research showed that consumers' scheduling style (clock-time vs. event-time) could influence their satiation with repeated consumption. Four studies involving actual consumption across various domains (e.g., music, artwork, food) demonstrated that an event-time scheduling style leads to more rapid satiation with repeated consumption than a clock-time scheduling style because event-timers (vs. clock-timers) have higher private self-focus. The results further revealed that the satiation effect of scheduling style is mitigated when consumers are distracted from their private self or informed of additional sensitization cues in the consumption stimuli.     

Romantic Crushes Promote Variety‐Seeking Behavior

Consumers making repeat consumption choices often need to decide whether to stick to their favorite option or to select something different. Understanding the situational factors that influence their willingness to seek more or less variety in consumption is of both theoretical and practical importance. The current research proposes that a salient relationship state—romantic crush—can increase consumers' variety‐seeking tendency in unrelated consumption situations. Building on the compensatory consumption literature, we suggest that the lack of reciprocal response in the romantic crush experience may lower consumers' sense of control in the romantic relationship. Therefore, they are motivated to restore their sense of control by making more varied choices in consumption domains. Five studies provide support for this hypothesis. In line with our control‐restoration account, the effect disappears when consumers' sense of control is boosted via other means. Moreover, the effect is specific to the experience of a romantic crush and cannot be generalized to other types of romantic relationship (e.g., initial stage of love).     

Moving Through Time: The Role of Personality in Three Real‐Life Contexts

In English, two deictic space‐time metaphors are in common usage: the Moving Ego metaphor conceptualizes the ego as moving forward through time and the Moving Time metaphor conceptualizes time as moving forward toward the ego (Clark, 1973). Although earlier research investigating the psychological reality of these metaphors has typically examined spatial influences on temporal reasoning (e.g., Boroditsky & Ramscar, 2002), recent lines of research have extended beyond this, providing initial evidence that personality differences and emotional experiences may also influence how people reason about events in time (Duffy & Feist, 2014; Hauser, Carter, & Meier, 2009; Richmond, Wilson, & Zinken, 2012). In this article, we investigate whether these relationships have force in real life. Building on the effects of individual differences in self‐reported conscientiousness and procrastination found by Duffy and Feist (2014), we examined whether, in addition to self‐reported conscientiousness and procrastination, there is a relationship between conscientious and procrastinating behaviors and temporal perspective. We found that participants who adopted the Moving Time perspective were more likely to exhibit conscientious behaviors, while those who adopted the Moving Ego perspective were more likely to procrastinate, suggesting that the earlier effects reach beyond the laboratory.     

Who's my little monkey? Effects of infant‐directed speech on visual retention in infant rhesus macaques

Both human and nonhuman primate adults use infant‐directed facial and vocal expressions across many contexts when interacting with infants (e.g., feeding, playing). This infant‐oriented style of communication, known as infant‐directed speech (IDS), seems to benefit human infants in numerous ways, including facilitating language acquisition. Given the variety of contexts in which adults use IDS, we hypothesized that IDS supports learning beyond the linguistic domain and that these benefits may extend to nonhuman primates. We exposed 2.5‐month‐old rhesus macaque infants (N = 15) to IDS, adult‐directed speech (ADS), and a non‐social control (CTR) during a video presentation of unrelated stimuli. After a 5‐ or 60‐minute delay, infants were shown the familiar video side‐by‐side with a novel video. Infants exhibited a novelty preference after the 5‐minute delay, but not after the 60‐minute delay, in the ADS and CTR conditions, and a novelty preference in the IDS condition only after the 60‐minute delay. These results are the first to suggest that exposure to IDS affects infants’ long‐term memory, even in non‐linguistic animals.     

Functional neuroanatomy of gesture–speech integration in children varies with individual differences in gesture processing

Gesture is an integral part of children's communicative repertoire. However, little is known about the neurobiology of speech and gesture integration in the developing brain. We investigated how 8‐ to 10‐year‐old children processed gesture that was essential to understanding a set of narratives. We asked whether the functional neuroanatomy of gesture–speech integration varies as a function of (1) the content of speech, and/or (2) individual differences in how gesture is processed. When gestures provided missing information not present in the speech (i.e., disambiguating gesture; e.g., “pet” + flapping palms = bird), the presence of gesture led to increased activity in inferior frontal gyri, the right middle temporal gyrus, and the left superior temporal gyrus, compared to when gesture provided redundant information (i.e., reinforcing gesture; e.g., “bird” + flapping palms = bird). This pattern of activation was found only in children who were able to successfully integrate gesture and speech behaviorally, as indicated by their performance on post‐test story comprehension questions. Children who did not glean meaning from gesture did not show differential activation across the two conditions. Our results suggest that the brain activation pattern for gesture–speech integration in children overlaps with—but is broader than—the pattern in adults performing the same task. Overall, our results provide a possible neurobiological mechanism that could underlie children's increasing ability to integrate gesture and speech over childhood, and account for individual differences in that integration.     

The influence of temporal and spatial variation on tactile identification of letters

This study was designed to show that variation in stimulation has an influence on tactile perception similar to that in the visual modality. Thirty-two subjects were required to identify Hebrew letters by the tactile sense. Identification time was found to be significantly (p less than .01) shorter when subjects could feel the letters both with temporal variation (i.e., vibrations) and spatial variation (i.e., allowing the subjects to move their fingers over the letters) than when the letters were stable. The longest identification time was found when both temporal and spatial variation were absent. The effects of the two types of tactile variation were found to be compensatory, and a possible explanation for that is offered. Possible implications of these results regarding the use of tactile perception in man-machine systems are discussed.     

The Powerful Other: How Divine Control Shapes the Relationship Between Personal Control and Psychological Distress

In the sociological study of mental health, the sense of personal control represents a core psychological resource, but some studies document a curvilinear association between personal control and depressive symptoms. This body of research is largely secular in orientation, even though research also demonstrates that some individuals believe in an involved and engaged Powerful Other (e.g., God). We evaluate if such beliefs moderate the relationship between personal control and depression. Using data from the 2005 Work, Stress, and Health Study in the United States (N = 1,791), we first demonstrate that the sense of personal control has an overall curvilinear association with depression, in line with previous research. Then, we document that divine control beliefs modify this association such that the curvilinear association is found primarily among individuals with low levels of divine control. By contrast, among those who more strongly endorse divine control, we observe no relationship between personal control and depression. We situate our findings in the differing and complicated perspectives on the implications of religious beliefs for psychological resources and well‐being.     

The flexibility of association between temporal concepts and physical space in the Japanese language

Previous studies have indicated that temporal concepts such as the past and future are associated with horizontal (left–right) space. This association has been interpreted as reflecting left‐to‐right writing systems. The Japanese language, however, is written both horizontally and vertically and, when texts are presented vertically, the sequence of columns runs from right to left. This study examines whether the associations between time and space are changed by the direction of the character strings using a word categorization task. Consistent with previous studies, response times and error rates indicated left‐past and right‐future associations when participants read words presented horizontally. On the other hand, response times indicated the opposite (i.e., left‐future and right‐past associations) when participants read words presented vertically. These results suggest that temporal concepts are not associated with one's body or physical space in an inflexible manner, but rather the associations can flexibly change through experience.