Retracted:It's all in the timing: measuring emotional reactions to stereotype threat before and after taking a test

Stereotype threat is often described as resulting from increased anxiety over confirming a negative stereotype about one's group (Steele, 1997 ). However, variations in the type of emotional reactions targets experience as a function of stereotype threat has never been examined systematically before and after taking a test, thus it is unclear whether targets experience different emotions at different points in the testing session. The present study investigated this issue of emotional specificity. Results demonstrate that targets of a negative stereotype, but not non‐targets, experienced heightened anxiety prior to taking a test under stereotype threat conditions and heightened frustration once the test was concluded. No effects were found in the non‐stereotype threat conditions. These findings, therefore, highlight the specific affective states that targets and non‐targets experience in threat and non‐threat conditions, as well as how these affective states can be assessed using self‐report measures. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Retraction statement: It's all in the timing: Measuring emotional reactions to stereotype threat before and after taking a test

The following article from the European Journal of Social Psychology, “It's all in the timing: Measuring emotional reactions to stereotype threat before and after taking a test” by Marx, D. M., and Stapel, D. A., published online on 18 May 2006 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the first author, the journal Editor in Chief, Tom Postmes, and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed upon following the results of an investigation into the work of Diederik A. Stapel ( https://www.commissielevelt.nl/ ). The Levelt Committee has determined that there were strong indications that this article contained data that were fabricated by Diederik A. Stapel. The first author was unaware of his actions and not in any way involved. REFERENCE Marx, D. M., & Stapel, D. A. (2006). It's all in the timing: Measuring emotional reactions to stereotype threat before and after taking a test. European Journal of Social Psychology, 36(5), 687–698.     

Comparing the Functioning of Youth and Adult Partnerships for Health Promotion

Youth partnerships are a promising but understudied strategy for prevention and health promotion. Specifically, little is known about how the functioning of youth partnerships differs from that of adult partnerships. Accordingly, this study compared the functioning of youth partnerships with that of adult partnerships. Several aspects of partnership functioning, including leadership, task focus, cohesion, participation costs and benefits, and community support, were examined. Standardized partnership functioning surveys were administered to participants in three smoke‐free youth coalitions (n = 44; 45 % female; 43 % non‐Hispanic white; mean age = 13) and in 53 Communities That Care adult coalitions (n = 673; 69 % female; 88 % non‐Hispanic white; mean age = 49). Multilevel regression analyses showed that most aspects of partnership functioning did not differ significantly between youth and adult partnerships. These findings are encouraging given the success of the adult partnerships in reducing community‐level rates of substance use and delinquency. Although youth partnership functioning appears to be strong enough to support effective prevention strategies, youth partnerships faced substantially more participation difficulties than adult partnerships. Strategies that youth partnerships can use to manage these challenges, such as creative scheduling and increasing opportunities for youth to help others directly, are discussed.     

Comparing the apple of my eye: Parental reactions to academic social comparisons of their elementary school-aged children

The current study examines parents’ reactions to making social comparisons of their children on school-related domains. Parents (N = 117; ages 25 to 49; 94% women) of elementary school-age children (ages 5 to 10; 57.3% girls) were recruited online from Facebook parenting groups and several school districts in Atlantic Canada. Participants were randomly assigned to make either an upward, a downward, or a lateral social comparison about their child’s ability in school. Participants reported the time since the event in comparison, their emotional reactions, their evaluations of their child’s ability in the domain, and how important they perceived the domain to be for their child’s future. Domain importance and evaluations of the child’s abilities also were measured prior to making the comparison. Significant differences based on social comparison condition were found for temporal distance, post-comparison domain importance, and post-comparison assessments of the child’s ability in the domain. The effect of social comparison on post-comparison domain importance was not mediated by post-comparison assessments of the child’s ability, suggesting a direct effect of comparisons on perceived domain importance. These findings suggest that the act of social comparison caused parents to reevaluate the importance of the domain of comparison and their child’s abilities in that domain. Implications for parents and educators are discussed.     

Beyond Dusky and Godinez: competency before and after trial

Scholars have carefully considered all aspects of the incompetency to stand trial process, questions involving incompetency to confess, questions involving incompetency to be executed, and, to a lesser extent, questions related to incompetency to plead guilty or to waive counsel, but little attention has been paid to the relationship between incompetency and the full range of other criminal procedure issues: sentencing, appeals, consent to searches, and others. This article discusses this range of issues, assesses the factors relied upon by courts in deciding these cases and attempts to offer an agenda for future scholarly developments in this area.     

Positive reactions to tobacco predict relapse after cessation

Among chronic smokers, individual differences in subjective reactions to smoking may characterize important facets of nicotine dependence that relate to abstinence-induced craving, withdrawal symptom profiles, and risk for relapse. Although the negative reinforcing properties of smoking have achieved prominent positions in models of relapse (Baker, Brandon, & Chassin, 2004), vulnerability to relapse risk may also arise from seeking positive reinforcement from smoking (Shiffman & Kirchner, 2009). In this study, 183 cessation-motivated smokers provided subjective craving, positive and negative reactions to standardized cigarettes following overnight abstinence. Level of craving, negative mood, and positive mood after overnight abstinence were significantly predictive of withdrawal on quit-day. Increased positive reactions to smoking were uniquely predictive of relapse after quitting (Hazard Ratio = 1.22, p < .001). Individual differences in positive reactions to smoking may be important markers of neurobiological systems that promote dependence and interfere with cessation efforts.     

Cortical movement preparation before and after a conscious decision to move

The idea that our conscious decisions determine our actions has been challenged by a report suggesting that the brain starts to prepare for a movement before the person concerned has consciously decided to move (Libet, Gleason, Wright, & Pearl, 1983). Libet et al. claimed that their results show that our actions are not consciously initiated. The current article describes two experiments in which we attempted to replicate Libet et al.'s comparison of participants' movement-related brain activity with the reported times of their decisions to move and also the reported times of their decisions of which hand to move. We also looked at the distribution of participants' reports over time to evaluate an alternative explanation of Libet et al.'s (1983) results. Although the Readiness Potential was usually present before all of the decisions to move, consistent with the findings of Keller and Heckhausen (1990) and Libet et al. (1983), we found that many reported decision times were before the onset of the Lateralized Readiness Potential, which measures hand-specific movement preparation. The latter finding is consistent with the conclusion that the LRP always started after the conscious decision to move. We conclude that even though activity related to movement anticipation may be present before a conscious decision to move, the cortical preparation necessary for the movement to happen immediately may not start until after the conscious decision to move.     

自然联结的概念、功能与促进

自然联结包含个体对人与自然一体化关系的认同,以及与自然之间的情感联结,反映了人与自然之间关系的质量。它与个体的身心健康、认知功能和环保态度及行为显著相关。根据对已有研究结果的分析,自然联结可能通过认知和情感两条路径形成和发展。未来研究需继续探讨自然联结的内涵和结构,深入研究其形成和发展的心理机制,以及在自然影响人过程中的作用。还可与教育实践相结合,进行系统的干预和追踪研究。此外,建议将这一概念引入心理学其他领域的研究,以获得更多理论与应用价值。     

A note on responses to ethyl alcohol before and after smoking1

Differential sensitivity was measured before and after smoking a cigarette by 10 smokers, using 10 nonsmokers as controls. Stimuli consisted of reagent grade ethanol in eight concentrations ranging from 4% to 12%. No significant differences were observed between smokers and nonsmokers or before vs after smoking, although slightly higher overall correct responses and correspondingly smaller jnds were obtained for the nonsmokers. No practice affects were noted among the control group between the first and second set of samples. The findings confirm previous results which had been recently questioned.     

From workplace attachment to commuter satisfaction before and after a workplace relocation

While attention has been paid to travel satisfaction studies during the last decade, less research has investigated the relationship between the influence of a sense of place – and more particularly the psycho-environmental concepts of workplace attachment and workplace satisfaction – and commuting satisfaction. Using a retrospective survey, this paper focuses on the relocation of a workplace within the city of Montréal (Canada); the McGill University Healthcare Centre. It examines the motivations and barriers involved in the evolution of commuting characteristics, using the theoretical framework of mobility biographies. The empirical analysis includes a large dataset of independent variables, applying a multinomial logistic model in order to explain the transition of the employees’ commuting satisfaction. With regard to the measurement of change in commuting satisfaction, the findings confirm the role of attitudes, while taking into account the contextual differences before and after relocation. The change in travel time is found to be an important factor in the evolution of commuter satisfaction, whereby reduced commuting time improves satisfaction, as expected. In addition, the more an employee is attached to the new workplace, the more the commuting satisfaction will increase. The results provide further evidence that the meaning of the workplace goes beyond a location or a space, and opens up new avenues for research in travel behavior.     

Life before and after quitting smoking: an electronic diary study

This article describes a multidimensional, multivariate, and multilevel approach to the assessment of nicotine withdrawal. In this prospective study, 70 adult smokers assigned to an active or placebo nicotine patch condition completed multiple daily assessments using an electronic diary. Average and individual growth curves were estimated for affective and nonaffective withdrawal symptoms. All symptoms but hunger increased significantly on the quit day and remained elevated for three weeks. Variability in symptom experiences across individuals increased from pre- to post-quit. Relations between symptom reports (e.g., negative affect or craving) and episodic events (e.g., stressful events or seeing someone smoke) changed from pre-quit to post-quit. Pre-quit increases in negative affect and quit-day increases in craving were inversely related to abstinence three months after the quit day, suggesting that anticipatory and immediate reactions to quitting influence success.     

Sequential adjustments before and after partial errors

In choice reaction time tasks, subjects speed up before making an error, but slow down afterward to prevent the occurrence of a new error. In some trials, the correct response is preceded by an incorrect electromyographic (EMG) activation too small to reach the response threshold. In this article, we show that these incorrect EMG activations give rise to the same sequential effects as overt errors: Before a trial containing an incorrect EMG activation, subjects speed up, whereas after that trial, they slow down. These activations reflect errors that have been detected, inhibited, and corrected in time. As such, they index the involvement of online executive control.     

Character strengths before and after September 11

Did Americans change following the September 11 terrorist attacks? We provide a tentative answer with respect to the positive traits included in the Values in Action Classification of Strengths and measured with a self-report questionnaire available on-line and completed by 4,817 respondents. When scores for individuals completing the survey in the 2 months immediately after September 11 were compared with scores for those individuals who completed the survey before September 11, seven character strengths showed increases: gratitude, hope, kindness, leadership, love, spirituality, and teamwork. Ten months after September 11, these character strengths were still elevated, although to a somewhat lesser degree than immediately following the attacks.     

Burglary Expertise: Comparing Burglars to Other Offenders

Researchers have studied offense-specific expertise among burglars with a variety of methods, including by comparing their simulated target choices to those of students, residents, and police officers. However, prior work has almost never compared the choices of burglars and non-burglar offenders, and so it is unclear whether burglars’ expertise exceeds that possessed by others with similar backgrounds and lifestyles. The present study adds to this literature by using a series of home photographs to compare the choices of burglars and non-burglar offenders. In the analysis, although similar factors influenced the choices of both groups, hints of expertise did emerge.     

Personality and anxiety variation before and after menstruation

Thirty women subjects were studied on E, N, P, L, state anxiety, and trait anxiety, in order to investigate personality variation during the premenstrual and postmentrual stages. Atypically, the t-ratio of correlated means revealed significant decreases in E and L at the postmenstrual stage, and the more commonly reported shifts in neuroticism, anxiety, and sometimes psychoticism were not evident.