Factors influencing adolescents' decisions to engage in risk-taking behavior

Few studies have assessed adolescent risk-taking from a decision-making perspective while also looking at sensation-seeking and locus of control. In this study, 171 older adolescents completed a risk-taking inventory to measure risk involvement. Sensation-seeking and locus of control, as well as perceived benefits and costs, were assessed to determine their effects on risk-taking. Results showed that perceived risks affected risk-taking more significantly than did perceived benefits. Higher sensation-seeking tendencies were affiliated with more risk-taking. Locus of control was not related to risk-taking.     

The social reality of the imaginary audience: a grounded theory approach

Traditional approaches to understanding the imaginary audience are challenged in this study. Three hundred sixty-one British schoolchildren (aged 14 and 15 years) were asked to express their worries and concerns, using grounded theory methodology. Qualitative responses were collated and coded according to emerging categories, with "what other people think" identified as the central concern. In particular, the findings are used to critique Elkind's (1967) theory of adolescent egocentrism. Data presented in this study suggest that adolescents worry about what other people think because there are real personal and social consequences. Such concerns are seen as being based in social reality and are not imaginary as Elkind suggested. In conclusion, new methodologies which place young people at the center of the analysis are advocated.     

Agent-based modeling: a new approach for theory building in social psychology.

Most social and psychological phenomena occur not as the result of isolated decisions by individuals but rather as the result of repeated interactions between multiple individuals over time. Yet the theory-building and modeling techniques most commonly used in social psychology are less than ideal for understanding such dynamic and interactive processes. This article describes an alternative approach to theory building, agent-based modeling (ABM), which involves simulation of large numbers of autonomous agents that interact with each other and with a simulated environment and the observation of emergent patterns from their interactions. The authors believe that the ABM approach is better able than prevailing approaches in the field, variable-based modeling (VBM) techniques such as causal modeling, to capture types of complex, dynamic, interactive processes so important in the social world. The article elaborates several important contrasts between ABM and VBM and offers specific recommendations for learning more and applying the ABM approach.     

Factors in social comparison of performance influencing actual performance

Seven experiments were conducted which measured changes in the subjects' actual performance resulting from manipulated personal and categorical comparison of performance with another subject. In line with Festinger's (1954) theory of social comparison of ability, it was found that subjects who were visually isolated from sources of evaluation (setting 2, experiment 2 and 3) showed relatively low performance after a VI (very inferior) or VS (very superior) outcome and relatively high performance after an EQ (equal) outcome, whereas subjects who were visually exposed to sources of evaluation (setting 1, experiment 1 and 4) showed relatively low performance only after a VS outcome and relatively high performance after both a VI and EQ outcome. When (also in setting 1) the manipulation of outcome was combined with a manipulation of expectation (experiment 5), it was found that an EQ expectation did not alter the original pattern of outcome effects, but that a VI or VS expectation markedly influenced the effect of outcome: A complete confirmation of VI expectation and an almost complete disconfirmation of VS expectation resulted in relatively high performance, whereas all other combinations of VI or VS expectation with a given outcome resulted in relatively low performance. Finally, it was found that changing the manipulation of personal comparison of performance of the previous experiments into a manipulation of categorical comparison of performance of the previous experiments into a manipulation of categorical comparison of performance (experiment 6a and 6b) resulted in a pattern of data wich was about the opposite of the typical previous pattern. In setting 1 (experiment 6a), the subjects' performance was relatively low after being categorized into a VI or EQ category and relatively high after being categorized into a VS category, whereas in setting 2 (experiment 6b) both the VI and VS categorization resulted in the same performance and the EQ categorzation resulted in a slightly lower performance.     

Methodological concerns in moral judgement research: Severity of harm shapes moral decisions

Research on moral judgement traditionally deals with scenarios involving trade-offs between saving lives and causing harm or death. In the field of moral psychology and philosophy, these specific scenarios are regularly used jointly, regardless of the severity of harm. We predicted that the confounding between distinct phrasings involving different degrees of harm will have an impact on the frequency of utilitarian judgements regardless of the mere moral value of the action (as usually investigated in the moral judgement field). In line with this prediction, a first experiment showed that utilitarian responses were less frequent for conflicting moral scenarios that involved death, as compared to scenarios that involved non-lethal harm. A second experiment showed that participants' utilitarian responses decreased as the severity of harm increased. Experimental studies on moral reasoning should take greater care to avoid potential confounds associated with this content factor.     

From intrapsychic to ecological theories in social psychology: Outlines of a functional theory approach

Social psychology is facing a major developmental task, which is not primarily one of achieving larger data samples and stricter significance testing. What is needed, rather, is an improvement in logic of science and powerful theorizing. The starting point of this article is a critical appraisal that the intrapsychic concepts (motives, attitudes, and explicit and implicit goals) that are the major focus of social–psychological theories lack in explanatory power because they are too close to the effects (actions, judgments, and decisions) they are intended to explain. To overcome this apparent weakness (compared with neuroscience or genetics), it is proposed that more powerful theories should relate social cognition and behavior to more distant variables in the environment. A functional analysis reveals that intrapsychic processes are multiply predetermined by extrapsychic, environmental constraints. The theoretical value and fertility of the proposed ecological functionalism are illustrated with reference to three areas of empirical research: sampling approaches to understanding biases in judgment and decision making; strategic influences on priming effects within a functional analysis of adaptive behavior; and the impact of verbal and symbolic communication constraints on the construction of attributions, stereotypes, and culture. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How social and non-social information influence classification decisions: A computational modelling approach

Social information such as observing others can improve performance in decision making. In particular, social information has been shown to be useful when finding the best solution on one’s own is difficult, costly, or dangerous. However, past research suggests that when making decisions people do not always consider other people’s behaviour when it is at odds with their own experiences. Furthermore, the cognitive processes guiding the integration of social information with individual experiences are still under debate. Here, we conducted two experiments to test whether information about other persons’ behaviour influenced people’s decisions in a classification task. Furthermore, we examined how social information is integrated with individual learning experiences by testing different computational models. Our results show that social information had a small but reliable influence on people’s classifications. The best computational model suggests that in categorization people first make up their own mind based on the non-social information, which is then updated by the social information.     

Interhemispheric interaction and egocentrism: the role of handedness in social comparative judgement

Previous research has shown that people are egocentrically biased when making judgements that require a self-to-peer comparison - leading to above-/below-average effects and comparative optimism/pessimism. Two experiments examined whether interhemispheric brain connectivity (assessed via strength of handedness) is associated with egocentrism in the comparative judgement process. In Experiment 1, strong handers (SH) and mixed handers (MH) made percentile rank judgements about their abilities in easy and hard domains. In Experiment 2, SH and MH judged their likelihoods of outperforming a co-participant in easy and hard tasks. Both experiments showed that SH were more egocentric than MH and thus showed (a) more above- and below-average effects when estimating their abilities (Experiment 1) and (b) generally larger optimism biases when predicting performances in a competition (Experiment 2). Taken together, these experiments provide evidence that underlying interhemispheric connectivity shapes egocentrism in comparative judgement.     

Factors influencing career maturity in the South African National Defence Force: A diagnostic approach

This study investigated factors influencing the career maturity of young members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). A sample of 310 young SANDF members (females=35%, blacks=90%) completed the following measures: career maturity inventory-revised, the career decision self-efficacy scale, the military hardiness scale, and the seven habits profile. They also completed a biographical information form. Data were analysed using multiple regression to predict career maturity from career decision self-efficacy, self-appraisal, occupational information, goal selection, planning, problem solving, hardiness, control, challenge, commitment, conscientiousness, life balance, pro-active behaviour, life goals, self-management, mutual-benefit thinking, listening, teamwork, continuous improvement and life skills. Findings suggest self-efficacy, occupational information, self-appraisal, commitment, challenge, emotional intelligence and continuous improvement have the strongest influence on career maturity. The results indicated that self-efficacy, life skills and personal drive empower young members to seek employment.     

Context-dependent variation in social stereotyping 3: Extremism as a self-categorical basis for polarized judgement

A large body of research suggests that extremists make more accentuated (‘black and white’) judgements than moderates. This phenomenon has been explained in terms of individual differences associated with extremism or as the product of general processes of social judgement. Self-categorization theory suggests that extremists represent the world in relatively polarized terms only because, and to the extent that, similar others are more similar to them and different others are more different from them than is the case for moderates. This analysis is tested and supported in three experiments (Ns = 61, 101, 69) which (a) manipulate subjects' extremity and reproduce standard accentuation effects, and (b) change the configuration of the comparative features comprising the judgmental context and reverse these effects. These findings are inconsistent with individual difference explanations of accentuation and extend previous social judgemental theorizing. Implications for the conceptualization of extremism are also discussed.     

Cooperation in social dilemmas and allocentrism: a social values approach

Research examining the relationship between the allocentrism–ideocentrism cultural variable and cooperation in social dilemmas is inconsistent. This relationship is considered in the context of social values within the prisoner's dilemma (PDG) in two studies. We hypothesised that allocentrics (relative to ideocentrics) would more likely express the social value of minimising differences rather than maximising joint outcomes. In Study 1 the hypothesis was supported. Study 2, including British and Malaysian respondents, replicated and extended these results to rankings of PDG outcomes. These findings are integrated with previous research, in particular to explain mixed results concerning allocentrism and cooperation. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Time estimation as a function of recall: a test of Ornstein's theory of temporal judgement

The storage size metaphor used by Ornstein to explain subjective estimations of the length of time a task had lasted is contrasted with a recall hypothesis on the basis of the distinction between accessibility and availability. The different hypotheses were tested using a design similar to one which measured recall and recognition of common and uncommon words. Results showed that although an equivalent number of words were still in store for both groups, subjects who had learnt common words showed better recall and judged the learning task to have lasted longer. The results are interpreted as being in favour of the recall hypothesis. A preliminary study showed higher recall and longer time estimations for subjects who had performed a semantic orienting task in a levels-of-processing experiment.     

Crisis decision theory: decisions in the face of negative events

How do people respond to negative life events? Crisis decision theory combines the strengths of coping theories with research on decision making to predict the responses people choose under negative circumstances. The theory integrates literatures on coping, health behavior, and decision making, among others, into 3 stages that describe the process of responding to negative events: (a) assessing the severity of the negative event, (b) determining response options, and (c) evaluating response options. The author reviews and organizes the relevant research on factors that shape information processing at each stage and that ultimately predict decisions in the face of negative events. Finally, the author presents a critique of crisis decision theory and discusses areas for future research.     

The contribution of social rank and attachment theory to depression in a non clinical sample of adolescents

This study explores the relative contribution of the overall quality of attachment to the mother, to the father and to peers (Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment scales), the style of attachment towards peers (Attachment Questionnaire for Children scale), the social rank variables (submissive behavior and social comparison), and sex and age variables in predicting the depression score (Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) on a non-psychiatric sample of 13-18 year old adolescents (n = 225). Results of our integrated model (adjusted R-Square of .50) show that attachment variables (overall quality of attachment to the father and to the mother), social rank variables (social comparison and submissive behavior), age and sex are important in predicting depressive symptoms during adolescence. Moreover, the attachment to peers variables (quality of attachment to peers, secure and ambivalent style of attachment) and sex are mediated by the social rank variables (social comparison and submissive behavior).