“No More” leads to “Want More,” but “No Less” leads to “Want Less”: Consumers' counterfactual thinking when faced with quantity restriction discounts

The current research examines the impact of point‐of‐purchase (POP) discounts on consumers' counterfactual thinking (CFT). Study 1 reveals that consumers tend to engage in upward CFT (what might have been better) rather than downward CFT (what might have been worse) in response to POP discounts. Study 2 shows that upward CFT depends on how the discount information is framed. A discount with a lower‐quantity restriction (e.g., “X % off if you buy at least Y items”) leads consumers to counterfactually wish to buy more, but a discount with an upper‐quantity restriction (“X % off – limit Y items per customer”) leads consumers to wish to buy less. Study participants in both conditions report they would buy the same POP‐suggested amount, but for completely opposite reasons. In Study 3, this convergence effect in purchase quantity disappears when the maximum and minimum restrictions are lifted, suggesting that quantity restrictions in POP discounts guide quantity decisions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Role of health locus of control beliefs and expectations of treatment efficacy in adjustment to cancer

We examined the effects of health locus of control beliefs (self-, doctor, and chance control) and expectations of treatment efficacy on short-term psychological adjustment in a sample of newly diagnosed cancer patients. The role of these beliefs and expectations in moderating the relation between (perceived and actual) disease severity and depression was also examined. The data were collected within one week of diagnosis. The relation between perceptions of disease severity and depression was weaker for those who believed that they could personally control their health and for those who held positive expectations about the effects of complying with medical treatment. Similar patterns were found when disease severity was defined in terms of prognosis for survival. Strong negative correlations between self-control/treatment expectations and depression were found for those who perceived that their illness was very severe. The results for chance and doctor control were less consistent. The stability of health control beliefs and treatment expectations over the course of a serious long-term illness is discussed.     

Not Simply “In Their Heads”: Individual Differences Associated With Victimization and Health1

Research has not examined whether victimization predicts health after controlling for personality differences associated with victimization and health. In Study 1, college students (N = 1182) completed surveys assessing victimization, health, and personality. In Study 2, college students (N = 69) participated in a short‐term longitudinal study that examined whether (a) victimization would predict health changes; (b) increases in victimization would lead to increased health problems; and (c) fall health would predict spring victimization when personality was considered. After controlling for individual differences, we found victimization predicted health outcomes (Study 1) and health problems over time (Study 2). These findings suggest the victimization–health link may occur because of physiological changes, rather than personality differences associated with victimization and health.     

Susceptible to Social Influence: Risky “Driving” in Response to Peer Pressure1

In 2 studies, college students were socially influenced to be risky or not in a driving simulation. In both studies, confederate peers posing as passengers used verbal persuasion to affect driving behavior. In Study 1, participants encouraged to drive riskily had more accidents and drove faster than those encouraged to drive slowly or not encouraged at all. In Study 2, participants were influenced normatively or informationally to drive safely or riskily. As in Study 1, influence to drive riskily increased risk taking. Additionally, informational influence to drive safely resulted in the least risk taking. Together, the studies highlight the substantial influence of peers in a risk‐related situation; in real life, peer influence to be risky could contribute to automobile accidents.     

“I Am Sorry to Send You SPAM”

A series of studies investigating cultural differences in apology usage in unsolicited email advertising messages (i.e., SPAM) are reported. Study 1 documented that in comparison to American SPAM, a greater percentage of Korean SPAM included apologies. The next five studies (Ns= 516, 3132, 662, 524, 536) tested various explanations for cross‐cultural differences in uses of, and responses to, apologies. Findings indicated that advertising messages containing apologies were not necessarily more effective than advertising messages without apologies. Koreans, however, considered advertising messages with apologies as more credible and normal and exhibited a greater tendency to model other people's apology use than did Americans. Thus, the frequent presence of apologies in Korean unsolicited email advertising is likely to be based on Koreans' modeling behavior (i.e., a greater tendency to follow social norms).     

Antecedents and reactions to health-related social control

A model of the antecedents and reactions to health-related social control is proposed. This model suggests health behavior characteristics, including type, frequency, and severity of consequences, are social control antecedents. Social control is then thought to elicit better health behavior and emotions. Attributions to explain social control are proposed to effect emotional reactions and behavior. Undergraduates read hypothetical scenarios to test the proposed model. Study 1 found that health-compromising behaviors and behaviors with more severe consequences elicited more social control. Study 2 found that, compared to negative tactics, positive social control tactics elicited more behavior change, and compared to social/appearance concerns, attributions to health elicited positive emotions. Attributions did not moderate the impact of social control on emotions or behavior.     

“One Nation Under God”: The System‐Justifying Function of Symbolically Aligning God and Government

Do references to God in political discourse increase confidence in the U.S. sociopolitical system? Using a system justification framework (Jost & Banaji, 1994 ), five studies provide evidence that, (1) increasingly governments symbolically associate the nation with God when public confidence in the social system may be threatened and (2) associating the nation with God serves a system‐justifying function by increasing public confidence in the system. In an analysis of U.S. presidential speeches, presidents were more likely to symbolically associate the nation with God during threatening times (Study 1). Among religious individuals, referencing God in political rhetoric increased the perceived trustworthiness of politicians, compared to patriotic secular rhetoric (Study 2) or simply priming the concept of God (Study 3). These effects were also unique to politicians from one's own sociopolitical system (Study 4). Finally, believing God has a plan for the United States attenuates the deleterious effect that perceptions of national decline have on system confidence (Study 5). Implications for the system‐justifying function of religion are discussed.     

“You make me a better/worse person”: A two‐dimensional model of relationship self‐change

For better or worse, relationships have the potential to affect individuals' self‐concepts; however, currently no integrative model exists to explain the variety of these self‐concept changes. We propose that self‐concept changes occur along two independent dimensions: direction (increase vs. decrease in content) and valence (positivity vs. negativity of content). These two dimensions combine to create four processes of relationship‐induced self‐concept change: self‐expansion (increasing positive content), self‐contraction (decreasing positive content), self‐pruning (decreasing negative content), and self‐adulteration (increasing negative content). Using community and university samples, we developed a measure of self‐concept change (Study 1) and examined how the four self‐processes were associated with love (Study 1), relationship quality (Studies 2 and 3), and infidelity (Study 3). The self‐concept improvement processes (i.e., self‐expansion and self‐pruning) were associated with greater love and relationship quality, whereas in Study 3 self‐concept degradation processes (i.e., self‐contraction and self‐adulteration) predicted infidelity.     

When immigrant groups “misbehave”: The influence of perceived deviant behavior on increased threat and discriminatory intentions and the moderating role of right‐wing authoritarianism

In two studies, we tested the relationship between non‐immigrant individuals' perceptions of deviant behavior carried out by Muslims and foreigners and discriminatory intentions towards these outgroups. Based on a longitudinal and a representative cross‐sectional sample, we showed that two different types of perceived deviant behavior (Study 1, Muslims' unwillingness to integrate; and Study 2, foreigners' hostility towards the non‐immigrant majority group) are related to increased intergroup threat, which in turn is related to increased intentions to show passive discrimination (i.e., avoidance) towards these outgroups. In line with theorizing about an increased sensitivity for threat in authoritarian individuals, the relationship between perceptions of deviant behavior and threat was especially strong among high authoritarian individuals. Theoretical and practical implications of our results are discussed.     

Reactions to Medical Diagnosis: The Role of Illness Stereotypes

Two studies were conducted to explore the role of illness stereotypes in appraisals of health threat. The results of Study 1 indicated that a substantial proportion of questionnaire respondents believed that high blood pressure (BP) is associated with positive personal characteristics (e.g., persistence) whereas a smaller proportion believed that high BP is associated with negative characteristics. In addition, more favorable stereotypes were correlated with lower ratings of the seriousness of high BP. Study 2 examined the effects of experimentally induced illness stereotypes on the health-related judgments of subjects who received false feedback on a test of their BP. The results revealed a significant effect of illness stereotypes on health-threat appraisals of high BP. Subjects who were led to believe that high BP was associated with achievement and competence perceived high BP as a less serious threat to health than did subjects who believed high BP was associated with less desirable traits. In addition, subjects given high BP readings reported fewer symptoms they were told were associated with high BP when the disorder was associated with negative characteristics. The results demonstrate the importance of illness stereotypes in appraisals of health threats, symptom reporting, and reactions to medical diagnosis.     

When the Going Gets Tough: The “Why” of Goal Striving Matters

No prior research has examined how motivation for goal striving influences persistence in the face of increasing goal difficulty. This research examined the role of self‐reported (Study 1) and primed (Study 2) autonomous and controlled motives in predicting objectively assessed persistence during the pursuit of an increasingly difficult goal. In Study 1, 100 British athletes (64 males; M_age = 19.89 years, SD_age = 2.43) pursued a goal of increasing difficulty on a cycle ergometer. In Study 2, 90 British athletes (43 males; M_age = 19.63 years, SD_age = 1.14) engaged in the same task, but their motivation was primed by asking them to observe a video of an actor describing her or his involvement in an unrelated study. In Study 1, self‐reported autonomous goal motives predicted goal persistence via challenge appraisals and task‐based coping. In contrast, controlled goal motives predicted threat appraisals and disengagement coping, which, in turn, was a negative predictor of persistence. In Study 2, primed autonomous (compared to controlled) goal motives predicted greater persistence, positive affect, and future interest for task engagement. The findings underscore the importance of autonomous motivation for behavioral investment in the face of increased goal difficulty.     

On the difficulty of distinguishing “good” and “poor” perceivers: A social relations analysis of empathic accuracy data

Two studies were conducted to explore the reasons why replicable individual‐difference correlates of empathic accuracy have proved so difficult to find. In Study 1, we examined sources of variance in empathic accuracy data using the Social Relations Model (Kenny, 1988, 1994; Kenny & Albright, 1987; Malloy & Kenny, 1986). The results revealed substantial perceiver variance only in the type of research design in which a relatively large set of individual perceivers inferred the thoughts and feelings of the same set of target persons. In Study 2, we found evidence that even in this apparently optimal type of research design, the significant individual‐difference correlates of empathic accuracy were fewer and subject to more unexpected qualifications than the results of Davis and Kraus's (1997) meta‐analysis would suggest. So far, the “best candidate” predictor of empathic accuracy appears to be verbal intelligence, but it remains to be seen whether it and two other recently proposed predictors of interpersonal accuracy will survive the test of replicability.     

Within‐subject analysis of a prevention strategy for problem behavior

Although decades of research on functional analysis methodology have identified common contingencies that maintain problem behavior and effective interventions, relatively little research has been conducted on strategies to prevent the initial development of problem behavior. We conducted a 2‐part case study, the purposes of which were to illustrate the use of sensitivity tests as the bases for intervention (Study 1) and subsequently to assess the efficacy of a prevention strategy using a single‐subject design (Study 2). Results showed that the sensitivity tests identified establishing operations that may set the occasion for the development of problem behavior and that interventions based on differential reinforcement prevented increases in the severity of problem behavior relative to untreated and control baselines. Benefits and limitations to this individualized approach to prevention are discussed.     

Miseries Suffered,Unvoiced, Unknown? Communication of Suicidal Intent by Men in “Rural” Queensland,Australia

It has long been argued that suicide prevention efforts in rural locations face not only structural barriers, such as a lack of accessible health care and specialized mental health services, but also a range of cultural barriers. A commonly discussed cultural factor that may contribute to higher rural suicide rates is low levels of help‐seeking behavior, which in turn act as a barrier to accessing and receiving care. However, the assumption that suicide by rural men is more likely to be accompanied by low help‐seeking behavior, relative to urban men, has not been well tested. Using data from the Queensland Suicide Register, this study evaluates one form of help‐seeking behavior—communication of suicidal intent—among men who died by suicide. Contrary to the expectation that suicide in rural areas would be associated with lower levels of help‐seeking behavior than suicide in urban areas, it was found that communication of suicidal intent was broadly comparable across rural and urban settings. The implications for suicide prevention policies and service delivery strategies are discussed.     

“I don't want to be near you,unless…”: The interactive effect of unethical behavior and performance onto relationship conflict and workplace ostracism

Examined through the lens of moral psychology, we investigate when and why employees’ unethical behaviors may be tolerated versus rejected. Specifically, we examine the interactive effect of employees’ unethical behaviors and job performance onto relationship conflict, and whether such conflict eventuates in workplace ostracism. Although employees’ unethical behaviors typically go against moral norms, high job performance may provide a motivated reason to ignore moral violations. In this regard, we predict that job performance will mitigate the relationship between employee unethical behavior and workplace ostracism, as mediated by relationship conflict. Study 1, a multisource field study, tests and provides support for Hypotheses 1 and 2. Study 2, also a multisource field study, provides support for our fully specified model. Study 3, a time‐lagged field study, provides support for our theoretical model while controlling for employees’ negative affectivity and ethical environment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Leniency for out‐group offenders

The present research investigates leniency for out‐group offenders and differentiates it from the black sheep effect. The authors assume that leniency for out‐group offenders can be used by in‐group members to protect their group's image by displaying that they are not prejudiced. Thus, leniency should disappear when in‐group members have otherwise shown that they are not prejudiced (i.e., moral credentials). In two experiments, offenders' group membership and participants' opportunity to establish moral credentials were manipulated. Results showed that out‐group offenders received the lowest punishment severity ratings (Studies 1 and 2). However, this leniency effect vanished when participants had established moral credentials by either endorsing the participation of out‐group members in lobby groups (Study 1) or writing about a positive experience with an out‐group member (Study 2). These findings suggest that lenient punishments for out‐group offenders may sometimes reflect a relatively easy strategy to display the in‐group as being unprejudiced. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Commitment expectations in romantic relationships: Application of a prototype interaction‐pattern model

Three studies were conducted to investigate whether commitment expectations in romantic relationships can be described using a prototype interaction‐pattern model of interpersonal expectations. Participants included male and female students enrolled at a university in the United States. In Study 1, 204 participants listed interaction patterns they believed produce a sense of commitment in romantic relationships. Study 2 (N= 170) tested whether the patterns are organized around prototypes, such that some patterns are more likely to create a sense of commitment than others. In Study 3, 160 participants evaluated the effects of prototypical and nonprototypical pattern violations to verify the prototype structure further. The utility of the prototype interaction‐pattern model for analyzing commitment expectations was supported in all 3 studies.     

“Put Yourself in Their Shoes”: Testing Empathy's Ability to Motivate Cosmopolitan Behavior

Political theorists have long contemplated the concept of cosmopolitanism, yet almost no empirical studies have investigated how individuals can be encouraged to act as ethical cosmopolitans in practice. This article reports the findings of an experiment designed to investigate the effect of empathy on cosmopolitan‐helping behavior. The extent to which empathy may be useful in motivating cosmopolitan behavior has been the subject of substantial debate among political theorists. Empathy was manipulated using a perspective‐taking technique adapted from social psychological research, and the extent to which individuals were willing to engage in cosmopolitan helping was measured. Results showed that perspective taking increased cosmopolitan helping and that empathy mediated that effect. Furthermore, empathy was found to predict cosmopolitan helping even after controlling for several related constructs. Overall, results indicate that increasing empathy by encouraging people to take the perspective of distant individuals is a promising way to foster cosmopolitan helping.