Social Comparison and Consumer Behavior: When Feeling Richer or Poorer Than Others Is More Important Than Being So1

The present study investigates how households’ social comparisons of their economic situation affect purchase decisions. In structured telephone interviews, participants (n= 109) answered questions about purchases of durable goods and groceries. In line with the hypothesis, social comparisons had an effect on purchase decisions of durable goods when controlling for actual economic situation. Households that considered themselves to be worse off economically than others reported fewer purchases of durable goods, perceived the impact on their economy of their latest purchase to be greater, and planned purchases more carefully than did households that considered themselves better off economically than others. Also in line with the hypothesis, for purchases of groceries, households’ actual economic situation was more important than social comparisons.     

Enduring Positivity: Children Of Incarcerated Parents Report More Positive Than Negative Emotions When Thinking about Close Others

ABSTRACT

Millions of children in the United States experience parental incarceration, yet it is unclear how this experience might shape social cognition. We asked children of incarcerated parents (N = 24) and children whose parents were not incarcerated (N = 58) to describe their parents. Both groups of children also rated the extent to which they agree that they feel positive and, separately, negative emotions when thinking about their parent and best friend. This approach allowed us to test between two alternative hypotheses. On the one hand, cultural narratives in the United States convey negative messages about incarcerated people, and these messages could prompt children to report negativity when thinking about their incarcerated parents. On the other hand, children’s positivity toward close others is robust. Thus, when thinking about their incarcerated parents, children may report a great deal of positivity. Consistent with the latter possibility, children were more likely to describe their incarcerated parents using positive rather than negative terms. Moreover, children of incarcerated parents were more likely to agree that thinking about close others made them feel positive emotions than they were to agree that thinking about close others made them feel negative emotions. A similar pattern of results emerged among children whose parents were not incarcerated. These findings demonstrate the robustness of children’s positivity and can inform debates regarding contact between incarcerated parents and their children.     

So Close,Yet So Far: Why Solutions to the Closeness Problem for the Doctrine of Double Effect Fall Short

According to the classical Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE), there is a morally significant difference between intending harm and merely foreseeing harm. Versions of DDE have been defended in a variety of creative ways, but there is one difficulty, the so‐called “closeness problem”, that continues to bedevil all of them. The problem is that an agent's intention can always be identified in such a fine‐grained way as to eliminate an intention to harm from almost any situation, including those that have been taken to be paradigmatic instances in which DDE applies to intended harm. In this paper, we consider and reject a number of recent attempts to solve the closeness problem. We argue that the failure of these proposals strongly suggests that the closeness problem is intractable, and that the distinction between intending harm and merely foreseeing harm is not morally significant. Further, we argue that there may be a deeper reason why such attempts must fail: the rationale that makes the best fit with DDE, namely, an imperative not to aim at evil, is itself irredeemably flawed. While we believe that these observations should lead us to abandon further attempts to solve the closeness problem for DDE, we also conclude by showing how a related principle that is supported by a distinct rationale and avoids facing the closeness problem altogether nevertheless shares with DDE its most important features, including an intuitive explanation of a number of cases and a commitment to the relevance of intentions.     

More Than Just IQ: School Achievement Is Predicted by Self-Perceived Abilities—But for Genetic Rather Than Environmental Reasons

ABSTRACT— Evidence suggests that children's self-perceptions of their abilities predict their school achievement even after one accounts for their tested cognitive ability (IQ). However, the roles of nature and nurture in the association between school achievement and self-perceived abilities (SPAs), independent of IQ, is unknown. Here we reveal that there are substantial genetic influences on SPAs and that there is genetic covariance between SPAs and achievement independent of IQ. Although it has been assumed that the origins of SPAs are environmental, this first genetic analysis of SPAs yielded a heritability of 51% in a sample of 3,785 pairs of twins, whereas shared environment accounted for only 2% of the variance in SPAs. Moreover, multivariate genetic analyses indicated that SPAs predict school achievement independently of IQ for genetic rather than environmental reasons. It should therefore be possible to identify "SPA genes" that predict school achievement independently of "IQ genes."     

Self-Enhancement and Social Responsibility: On Caring More, but Doing Less, Than Others

Self-enhancement biases have been found in a variety of self-rated skills, traits, and abilities, yet past research has not examined whether people show such biases in ratings of their social concern and activism. In the present paper, we report the results of two surveys on this question. In the first survey, 549 adults rated their level of concern and activism on one of six different issues (e.g., homelessness). The results showed a general pattern of self-enhancement in professed concern but self-deprecation in activism. In the second survey, a random-digit dialing method was used to contact a representative sample of the general public. A total of 817 respondents rated their level of concern and activism on the issues of environmental protection, animal welfare, and world hunger. The second survey also explored two techniques for debiasing self-enhancement in concern: one based on a cognitive consistency model, and one based on the salience of others' actions. Findings from the second survey replicated those of the first, and both debiasing techniques failed to reduce self-ratings of concern. Moreover, a sizable number of respondents said that they would do more if others showed more concern. These results are consistent with a social dilemma in which citizens feel a personal sense of concern, but are reluctant to act until others show greater concern.     

There is Room for Even More Doublethink: The Perilous Status of Psychoanalytic Research

The opposition between psychoanalysis and systematic interdisciplinary research is to be regretted. The target article attempts to bridge the intellectual divide and for this aim as well as the intellectual adroitness shown it is to be celebrated. Much harder to understand is the high level of affect generated by the debate. Accusations of “doublethink” are helpful. The present paper, like the target paper it follows, attempts to develop an understanding of the position of those who are categorically opposed to interdisciplinary systematic research linked to psychoanalysis. Appreciating the perspective of those deeply opposed to such work could help to create a shared agenda from which our troubled discipline could benefit. This is predicated on the possibility of an open collegial dialogue which this journal was founded to create.     

The 1.5 Criterion Model of Creativity: Where Less Is More,More or Less

We argue that the future of creativity research should focus on the dual goals of the development of individuals with great creative genius as well as the enhancement of creative activity in society in general. To achieve these goals, we need basic research that will help us better understand the fundamental nature of creativity. We describe an approach to creativity that emphasizes novelty over utility.     

I am Not a Better Teacher,But Others are Doing Worse: Burnout and Perceptions of Superiority Among Teachers

This study examined differences between teachers high and low in burnout in the perception of being superior to others. Because burnout implies a decline in well-being and because well-being is related to perceived superiority, it was hypothesized that perceived superiority would be reduced among individuals high in burnout. This would be particularly true for superiority with respect to positive behaviors (feeling better than others). As negative behaviors of others are generally highly salient, it was expected that even individuals high in burnout would be able to maintain a sense of negative superiority (feeling less bad than others). One hundred twenty teachers in secondary education were asked to generate information about inferior and superior others. Perceived superiority was assessed by response latencies and the quality of the information generated. As expected, only positive superiority was reduced among teachers high in burnout. Thus, they felt less good, but also less bad than others. Consequences for classroom performance and suggestions for the treatment of burnout are discussed.     

Positive Self-Statements: Power for Some, Peril for Others

ABSTRACT— Positive self-statements are widely believed to boost mood and self-esteem, yet their effectiveness has not been demonstrated. We examined the contrary prediction that positive self-statements can be ineffective or even harmful. A survey study confirmed that people often use positive self-statements and believe them to be effective. Two experiments showed that among participants with low self-esteem, those who repeated a positive self-statement ("I'm a lovable person") or who focused on how that statement was true felt worse than those who did not repeat the statement or who focused on how it was both true and not true. Among participants with high self-esteem, those who repeated the statement or focused on how it was true felt better than those who did not, but to a limited degree. Repeating positive self-statements may benefit certain people, but backfire for the very people who "need" them the most.     

Mom, Let Me Play More Computer Games: They Improve My Mental Rotation Skills

This study investigated how 3-D and 2-D computer game practice and delivery as well as individual differences affect performance on two tests of mental rotation (Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test and Card Rotation Test). Sixty-one US undergraduates from the Midwest completed 4 h of either massed or distributed practice. While computer game practice improved mental rotation scores in general, women’s gains were significantly greater than men’s, and the most significant gains were accomplished when practice was massed. High mathematical ability, gender, and type of practice significantly predicted improvement scores. The findings suggest that even very minimal computer game practice may improve performance on mental rotation tasks.     

Empathy,Awareness of Others,and Action: How Feeling Empathy for One-Among-Others Motivates Helping the Others

Feeling empathy for a member of the group may result in either favoring this individual at the expense of the group or helping the entire group. We explain these intriguing findings by proposing that the combined influence of feeling empathy for one individual and awareness of others enhances willingness to help both the individual and the others (taken as individuals). The results of three experiments showed that inducing empathy for one individual promotes favoring him or her at the expense of the group, whereas inducing empathy for one-among-others leads to helping these others individually, instead of as a group. Furthermore, the awareness of others mediated the proposed one-among-others effect.     

Counteracting Media's Thin-Body Ideal for Adolescent Girls: Informing Is More Effective Than Warning

The present study investigated whether information or warnings about depictions of the thin-body ideal in mass media are effective in counteracting media-induced negative body perceptions of adolescent girls. Based on counter-advertising and reactance theories, our hypotheses were tested in a 3 (weight labels: information vs. warning vs. no label) × 2 (media models' body shape: thin vs. normal weight) × 2 (self-esteem: lower vs. higher) design (N = 178). Body dissatisfaction, objectified body consciousness, and body comparison with media models served as dependent variables. Pretested media models were systematically combined with various textual weight labels and presented on the front page of a magazine targeted toward girls. The results indicated that a simple information label that provided the weight status of thin media models induced less negative body perceptions in adolescent girls when compared with the use of warning labels or images only. Especially, girls with lower self-esteem then exhibited lower levels of body dissatisfaction and objectified body consciousness. When compared with exposure to images only, the warning labels had little effect on body perceptions by adolescent girls. Thus, informing is more effective than warning in counteracting the undesired effects of the thin-body ideal promoted by the media.     

So You,My Children,Can Have a Better Life: A Cambodian American Perspective on the Phenomenology of Intergenerational Communication about Trauma

We address this question: How do Cambodian American young adults come to know about their family’s experiences of trauma? Using a social constructivist critical ideological approach, we developed a phenomenological model describing intergenerational communication about trauma (IGCT) in Cambodian American families. We found IGCT to be an interactional process in which younger and older generations each played a role. IGCT was influenced by the availability of multiple sources of information and opportunities for learning, interpersonal connectedness between the generations, emotional distress tolerance, and having motivation to empathically learn and share. When these factors were abundant, direct interactive IGCT was more likely. When wanting, the IGCT was more disrupted and incoherent, filled with emotionally charged silence and lead to negative attributions. IGCT was a dynamic process that could change over time to accommodate developmental change. Limitations of the findings, clinical implications, and future directions are discussed.     

All Life Is a Circle: Poetry and the Search for My Native American Roots

In this personal essay, which includes five poems, the author uses poetry as a vehicle to recover, connect with, and explore her Native American ancestry. Her mother, who was one-quarter Wampanoag, was raised from age seven by a couple who taught her that Native American ancestry was something to hide. The poems are interwoven with the account of the author's struggle to retrieve a family story that has been intentionally suppressed. In the first poem, the author's connection to her Native American roots is reflected purely through her interest in and reverence for the earth and its creatures, but throughout the article, the connection becomes a progressively more specific bond with a particular ancestor and his tribe. As the author draws closer to identifying her Wampanoag great-grandfather through genealogical research and reaching out to Wampanoag tribes in Massachusetts, she also draws closer to his spirit, and she writes the final poem, “Wampanoag Clambake,” in his voice.