Dietary restraint in college women: Fear of an imperfect fat self is stronger than hope of a perfect thin self

We predicted that the perceived likelihood of acquiring a hoped-for thin self would mediate perfectionistic strivings on dietary restraint, and that the perceived likelihood of acquiring a feared fat self would mediate perfectionistic concerns on dietary restraint. We also predicted that the mediation pathway from perfectionistic concerns to dietary restraint would have a greater impact than that from perfectionistic strivings. Participants were 222 female college students who reported their height and weight and completed measures of perfectionism, the likelihood of acquiring the feared fat and hoped-for thin selves, and dietary restraint. Statistical analyses revealed that the perceived likelihood of acquiring the feared fat self mediated both perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings on dietary restraint, and that the mediating pathway from perfectionistic concerns to dietary restraint was greater than that from perfectionistic strivings. Implications for future research and eating pathology interventions are discussed.     

Color-based motion processing is stronger in infants than in adults

One hallmark of vision in adults is the dichotomy between color and motion processing. Specifically, areas of the brain that encode an object's direction of motion are thought to receive little information about object color. We investigated the development of this dichotomy by conducting psychophysical experiments with human subjects (2-, 3-, and 4-month-olds and adults), using a novel red-green stimulus that isolates color-based input to motion processing. When performance on this red-green motion stimulus was quantified with respect to performance on a luminance (yellow-black) standard, we found stronger color-based motion processing in infants than in adults. These results suggest that color input to motion areas is greater early in life, and that motion areas then specialize to the adultlike state by reweighting or selectively pruning their inputs over the course of development.     

Fear makes you stronger: Responding to feared animal targets in visual search

To investigate whether fear affects the strength with which responses are made, 12 animal-fearful individuals (five snake fearful and seven spider fearful) were instructed to decide as quickly as possible whether an animal target from a deviant category was present in a 3 × 4 item (animal) search array. The animal categories were snakes, spiders, and cats. Response force was measured, in newtons. The results showed that the strength of the response was greater when the feared animal served as the target than when it served as the distractors. This finding was corroborated by evoked heart rate changes to the stimuli. Our findings strengthen the argument that focused attention on a single, feared animal can lead to increases in manual force.     

The circumplex: A slightly stronger than ordinal approach

For some proximity matrices, multidimensional scaling yields a roughly circular configuration of the stimuli. Being not symmetric, a row-conditional matrix is not fit for such an analysis. However, suppose its proximities are all different within rows. Calling {{x,y},{x,z}} a conjoint pair of unordered pairs of stimuli, let {x,y}→{x,z} mean that row x shows a stronger proximity for {x,y} than for {x,z}. We have a cyclic permutation π of the set of stimuli characterize a subset of the conjoint pairs. If the arcs {x,y}→{x,z} between the pairs thus characterized are in a specific sense monotone with π, the matrix determines π uniquely, and is, in that sense, a circumplex with π as underlying cycle. In the strongest of the 3 circumplexes thus obtained, → has circular paths. We give examples of analyses of, in particular, conditional proximities by these concepts, and implications for the analysis of presumably circumplical proximities. Circumplexes whose underlying permutation is multi-cyclic are touched.     

Cell-mediated immune hypersensitivity is stronger in the left side of the body than the right in healthy young subjects.

More frequent appearance of herpes zoster infection on the left side of the body has been noted. In women, breast cancer occurs more frequently on the left side. It has been suggested that the left neocortex is involved in neuroimmunomodulation via the dopaminergic system. In this study, our purpose was to investigate the possible difference in cell-mediated hypersensitivity between right and left body sides using the tuberculin test with 22 male and 36 female healthy high school students. In the present study, the cell-mediated hypersensitivity was higher in the left side of the body than the right. This difference was slightly more apparent in the girls and may be related to brain asymmetry in neuroimmunomodulation.     

Visual similarity is stronger than semantic similarity in guiding visual search for numbers

Using a visual search task, we explored how behavior is influenced by both visual and semantic information. We recorded participants’ eye movements as they searched for a single target number in a search array of single-digit numbers (0–9). We examined the probability of fixating the various distractors as a function of two key dimensions: the visual similarity between the target and each distractor, and the semantic similarity (i.e., the numerical distance) between the target and each distractor. Visual similarity estimates were obtained using multidimensional scaling based on the independent observer similarity ratings. A linear mixed-effects model demonstrated that both visual and semantic similarity influenced the probability that distractors would be fixated. However, the visual similarity effect was substantially larger than the semantic similarity effect. We close by discussing the potential value of using this novel methodological approach and the implications for both simple and complex visual search displays.     

Hostility and facial expression in young men and women: is social regulation more important than negative affect?

Behavioral differences may clarify the link between hostility and health. This study examined facial expression. Seventy-two low- and high-hostile undergraduates underwent the Type A Structured Interview (SI) and a test of social anxiety. Facial behavior was measured with the Facial Action Coding System. Low-hostile participants displayed non-Duchenne smiles more frequently than high-hostile participants during the SI. There were no group differences in the expression of disgust. The results identify differences in the nonverbal behavior of hostile people. Restricted use of non-Duchenne smiles may reflect limited use of appeasement, contributing to uncomfortable interpersonal relations and limited social support. The findings are consistent with a behavioral ecology perspective and suggest that social regulation may be as important as negative affect in determining the consequences of hostility.     

Competing top-down processes in visual selection: evidence that selection by location is stronger than selection by color

The purpose of this study was to examine whether color and position information are functionally equivalent when observers are asked to select simultaneously on both dimensions. Observers were asked to report a letter of a given color from a given region of a briefly flashed letter array, then to report any additional letters they could recall from the stimulus set. Of the additional letters, more location letters were reported than were same-color or neutral letters. The results suggested that position information has priority over color information in top-down-guided visual selection.     

Sugar ingestion and dichotic listening: Increased perceptual capacity is more than motivation

Participants ingested a sugar drink or a sugar-free drink and then engaged in a pair of dichotic listening tasks. Tasks presented category labels then played a series of word pairs, one in the left ear and one in the right. Participants attempted to identify pairs containing a target category member. Target category words were homonyms. For example, arms appeared as a target in the “body parts” category. Nontargets that played along with targets were related to a category-appropriate version of the target (e.g., sleeves), a category-inappropriate version (e.g., weapons), or were unrelated to either version of the target (e.g., plant). Hence, an effect of nontarget type on number of targets missed was evidence that participants processed nontargets for meaning. In the divided attention task, participants monitored both ears. In the focused attention task, participants monitored the left ear. Half the participants in each group had the divided attention task before the focused attention task; the other half had the focused attention task before the divided attention task. We set task lengths to about 12 min so working on the first task would give sufficient time for metabolizing sugar from the drink before the start of the second task. Nontarget word type significantly affected targets missed in both tasks. Drink type affected performance in the divided attention task only after sufficient time for converting sugar into blood glucose. The result supports an energy model for the effect of sugar ingestion on perceptual tasks rather than a motivational model.     

Gender differences in implicit gender self‐categorization lead to stronger gender self‐stereotyping by women than by men

It was hypothesized that, in natural group contexts, low‐status in‐group membership would be highly accessible, whereas membership to high‐status groups would not. Therefore, gender group membership was predicted to be more accessible for women than for men. It was further hypothesized that the high accessibility of gender group membership would lead to stronger self‐stereotyping for women than for men. To measure the accessibility of gender group membership, participants performed a Gender Self‐Categorization Implicit Association Test (Studies 1 and 2), measuring the strength of automatic associations between the self and the gender in‐group. Participants also performed a Self‐Stereotyping Implicit Association Test (Study 2), assessing the strength of automatic associations between the self and the stereotypical traits of the in‐group. As expected, implicit gender self‐categorization and implicit gender self‐stereotyping were stronger for women than for men. Importantly, implicit gender self‐categorization mediated the relation between gender and self‐stereotyping. Therefore, implicit gender self‐categorization was the mechanism underlying stronger implicit self‐stereotyping by women. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A smarter brain is associated with stronger neural interaction in healthy young females: A resting EEG coherence study

General intelligence, the g factor, is a major issue in psychology and neuroscience. However, the neural mechanism of the g factor is still not clear. It is suggested that the g factor should be non-modular (a property across the brain) and show good colinearity with various cognitive tests. This study examines the hypothesis that functional connectivity may be a good candidate for the g factor. We recorded resting state eyes-closed EEG signals in 184 healthy young females. Coherence values of 38 selected channel pairs across delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma frequencies were correlated with six intelligence quotient (IQ) subtests, including symbol search, block design, object assembly, digit span, similarity and arithmetic. A three-stage analytic flow was constructed to delineate common (g factor) and unique neural components of intelligence. It is noticed that the coherence pattern demonstrates good correlation with five of the IQ subtests (except symbol search) and non-modularity in the brain. Our commonality analyses support connectivity strength in the brain as a good indicator of the g factor. For the digit span and arithmetic tests, the uniqueness analyses provide left-lateralized topography relevant to the operation of working memory. Performance on the arithmetic test is further correlated with strengths at left temporo-parietal and bilateral temporal connections. All the significant correlations are positive, indicating that the stronger the connectivity strengths, the higher the intelligence. Our analyses conclude that a smarter brain is associated with stronger interaction in the central nervous system. The implication and why the symbol search does not show parallel results are discussed.     

Making plans for healthy diet: The role of motivation and action orientation

The main objective of the present study was to examine the role of motivation and action orientation in forming spontaneous (i.e., without specific instruction or manipulation) implementation intentions for a healthy diet goal. We hypothesized that (1) the adoption of a diet goal would be determined by (either intrinsic or extrinsic) motivation only whereas, (2) forming implementation intentions would be determined by intrinsic motivation and (either low or high) action orientation. These hypotheses were addressed in a sample of 142 normal weight subjects who were concerned about their dietary habits. Primary outcomes were goal intentions and implementation intentions. Our hypothesis regarding the prediction of goal intentions was confirmed whereas results relating to the prediction of implementation intentions demonstrated that intrinsic motivation and low (but not high) action orientation proved significant predictors of intentions to implement a healthy diet goal. These findings suggest that self‐regulatory skills as assessed by the concept of action orientation may relate to short‐term strategies of initiating behavior change only. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fear of a black (and working-class) planet: young women and the racialization of reproductive politics

Racialized and class specific as well as gendered heterosexuality is compulsory for young women. Substantial academic literature addressed the incidence of premarital adolescent heterosexual intercourse paying particular attention to young working-class women and (especially in the US) to young women of color. During the 1980s, journals and academic texts in the US debated the so-called black underclass disregarding the effects of Reaganomics: increasing poverty, homelessness, ill health, and unemployment, which affected young African-American women. From a traditional (hetero)patriarchal standpoint, any teenage pregnancy is a problem. Hence pregnancy avoidance and planned parenthood focus on young working-class women and young women of color presumed to constitute the problem of the (hetero)sexually active teenager. The ideology of fetal rights as used in anti-abortion and pro-life arguments represents the life of a pregnant woman as in direct opposition to that of her fetus. The ideology of adolescence constructs all young people as inherently prone to irresponsibility, especially if they are female, working-class, and black. In the Third World, young women considered as irresponsible mothers more likely face enforced sterilization than access to abortion in the guise of genetic counseling for disabilities or without explicit consent during other gynecological operations. Feminists point out that under current legislation in England and Wales, fetuses defined as seriously handicapped can be aborted up to the moment of birth. The legacy of eugenicist ideas lives on in assumptions about the inherent deficiencies of young working-class women, young women of color, and young women with disabilities as potential mothers. Yet despite the institutional, cultural, and ideological force of appropriate heterosexual and reproductive activity, young women continue to challenge common sense definitions of normality and deviance.     

When the whole is more than the sum of its parts: Group motivation gains in the wild

Whereas negative effects of groups on individual motivation have been reported for many years, recent research has begun to show when and why working in a group can produce motivation gains compared to individual work. So far, this evidence has been limited to laboratory settings and rather simple tasks. Using data from swimming competitions at the 2008 Olympics, evidence is presented that motivation gains in groups also occur in field settings with more complex tasks. Based on an instrumentality × value approach, we expect that late positions in a relay trigger motivation gains in groups due to an increase in perceived indispensability for the group outcome. This idea has been initially tested in a pilot study with competitive swimmers, demonstrating that perceived indispensability for the relay outcome indeed increases with later serial positions in a relay. Moreover, the main study with data from the 2008 Olympics revealed performance times consistent with this pattern of indispensability perceptions: while starting swimmers in the swimming relays performed at similar levels as in their individual competitions, swimmers at the later positions showed higher performance in the relay compared to their individual competition heats.     

When linking is stronger than thinking: Associative transfer of valence disrupts the emergence of cognitive balance after attitude change

The present research investigated the role of cognitive balance vs. associative transfer of valence in attitude change. Participants first formed positive or negative attitudes toward several source individuals. Subsequently, participants were shown source–target pairs along with information about the source–target relationship (‘likes’/‘dislikes’). Afterwards, participants’ attitudes toward the sources were changed by means of information that was opposite to the initially induced attitude. In a control condition, initial source attitudes remained unqualified. Results in the control condition showed that initially formed attitudes and available relationship information produced target evaluations that were consistent with the notion of cognitive balance. However, when attitudes toward the sources changed, target evaluations directly matched attitudes toward individually associated sources, irrespective of the relation between source and target. These results suggest that associative transfer of valence can disrupt the emergence of cognitive balance after attitude change.     

The physiology of women’s power motive: Implicit power motivation is positively associated with estradiol levels in women

This study examined the relationship between implicit power motivation (n Power) and salivary estradiol in women. Forty participants completed the Picture Story Exercise, a measure of n Power, and salivary estradiol levels from two saliva samples were determined with radioimmunoassay. We found that n Power was positively associated with estradiol levels. The positive correlation between n Power and estradiol was stronger in single women and women not taking oral contraceptives than in the overall sample of women. These findings replicate those of Stanton and Schultheiss (2007), giving further credence to the argument that women’s dominance striving is positively associated with their endogenous estradiol levels and that both social and biological factors influence the nature of that association.