Shades of awe: The role of awe in consumers' pro-environmental behavior

Climate change is a critical issue right now. Despite substantial work in academia examining this issue, more solutions are needed to encourage consumers to engage in more pro-environmental behavior. In the current research, we explore the ability of awe, a unique and powerful self-transcendent emotion, to motivate pro-environmental behavior and green consumption. Using different methods to induce awe and assess the effect of awe on consumers' pro-environmental behavior, we conducted three experimental studies. Across our studies, our results show that when consumers feel awe, they are more likely to engage in pro-environmental behavior and consumption. Further, we distinguish among three kinds of awe (awe of nature, awe of God, and awe from man-made wonders) and show that awe arising from nature and from God increases pro-environmental behavior more than awe from man-made wonders. In addition, a series of mediation analyses show that the effects distinguishing different sources of awe are best accounted for by different mediators rather than one common mediator; specifically these relationships are mediated by consumers' feelings of small self (i.e., diminished self-concept) and their level of spirituality, respectively. Implications for how marketers and practitioners can best utilize the power of awe for encouraging pro-environmental behavior are discussed.     

Reappraising faces: effects on accountability appraisals,self-reported valence,and pupil diameter

Many of our emotions arise in social contexts, as we interact with and learn about others. What is not yet clear, however, is how such emotions unfold when we either react to others or attempt to regulate our emotions. To address this issue, 30 healthy volunteers reacted to or reappraised positive or negative information that was paired with neutral faces. While they were doing this task, we assessed pupillary responses. We also asked participants to provide ratings of accountability and experienced emotion. Findings indicated that appraised accountability increased in response to emotional information, and changes in accountability were associated with commensurate changes in valence reports and increased pupil diameter. During reappraisal, accountability and emotion decreased, but pupil diameter increased. The findings highlight the importance of accountability appraisals during the generation and regulation of emotional reactions to others, while also documenting pupillary increases during emotional reactivity and regulation.     

Awe and meaning: Elucidating complex effects of awe experiences on meaning in life

Research on the experience of awe suggests that awe has positive impacts on outcomes like life satisfaction and belongingness. No published work, however, has reported effects of awe on the experience of meaning in life. We reasoned that awe might have complicated effects on meaning. On the one hand, many awe experiences likely contain a positive flavor that contributes to both awe and general positive affectivity (happiness). Positive affectivity has a robust positive effect on meaning in life, suggesting that positive awe experiences might increase meaning. At the same time, however, awe experiences lead to a diminished self that reflects feelings of smallness and insignificance, which might negatively predict meaning. We thus hypothesized that awe experiences can, in some contexts, produce competing indirect effects on judgments of meaning in life through happiness and small-self feelings. The results of five studies (N = 1,690) supported these predictions.     

The effects of subliminal anger and sadness primes on agency appraisals

Two studies examined whether appraisals can be differentially affected by subliminal anger and sadness primes. Participants from Singapore (Experiment 1) and China (Experiment 2) were exposed to either subliminal angry faces or subliminal sad faces. Supporting appraisal theories of emotions, participants exposed to subliminal angry faces were more likely to appraise negative events as caused by other people and those exposed to subliminal sad faces were more likely to appraise the same events as caused by situational factors. The results provide the first evidence for subliminal emotion-specific cognitive effects. They show that cognitive functions such as appraisals can be affected by subliminal emotional stimuli of the same valence.     

Daily cognitive appraisals, daily affect, and long-term depressive symptoms: the role of self-esteem and self-concept clarity in the stress process

The current study investigated how self-esteem and self-concept clarity are implicated in the stress process both in the short and long term. Initial and 2-year follow-up interviews were completed by 178 participants from stepfamily unions. In twice-daily structured diaries over 7 days, participants reported their main family stressor, cognitive appraisals (perceived stressor threat and stressor controllability), and negative affect. Results of multilevel modeling indicated that high self-esteem ameliorated the effect of daily negative cognitive appraisals on daily negative affect. Self-concept clarity also buffered the effect of low self-self-esteem on depressive symptoms 2 years later. Our findings point to the vulnerability of those having low self-esteem or low self-concept clarity in terms of both short- and long-term adaptation to stress. They indicate the need for the consideration of such individual differences in designing stress management interventions.     

Shock and awe: Distinct effects of taboo words on lexical decision and free recall

Taboo stimuli are highly arousing, but it has been suggested that they also have inherent taboo-specific properties such as tabooness, offensiveness, or shock value. Prior studies have shown that taboo words have slower response times in lexical decision and higher recall probabilities in free recall; however, taboo words often differ from other words on more than just arousal and taboo properties. Here, we replicated both of these findings and conducted detailed item analyses to determine which word properties drive these behavioural effects. We found that lexical-decision performance was best explained by measures of lexical accessibility (e.g., word frequency) and tabooness, rather than arousal, valence, or offensiveness. However, free-recall performance was primarily driven by emotional word properties, and tabooness was the most important emotional word property for model fit. Our results suggest that the processing of taboo words is influenced by distinct sets of factors and by an intrinsic taboo-specific property.     

Cultural inertia: The effects of cultural change on intergroup relations and the self-concept

Throughout the world, immigration and the ensuing political reactions have become dominant social problems in the 21st century. One contributor to these problems includes the continual social change. In the United States, ethnic minority populations are growing while the White majority is becoming proportionally smaller. It is proposed that change, in and of itself, can produce intergroup tension. Here, the concept of cultural inertia is introduced as one contributor to intergroup prejudice. Cultural inertia entails a resistance to change, unless change is already occurring. Change is perceived differently across groups as a function of how well the groups already match the current dominant culture. Cultural inertia causes differential preferences for cultural change as a function of the extent to which people identify with a cultural group, their sense of esteem for a cultural group, and the perception that a culture is (or is not) already changing. Three studies manipulated participants' perception of cultural change and show that cultural change influences inter-group prejudice, group esteem, and engagement with the culture. The implications of cultural inertia for models of intercultural ideologies are discussed.     

Reciprocal effects between academic self-concept, self-esteem, achievement, and attainment over seven adolescent years: unidimensional and multidimensional perspectives of self-concept

In their influential review, Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, and Vohs (2003) concluded that self-esteem--the global component of self-concept--has no effect on subsequent academic performance. In contrast, Marsh and Craven's (2006) review of reciprocal effects models from an explicitly multidimensional perspective demonstrated that academic self-concept and achievement are both a cause and an effect of each other. Ironically, both reviews cited classic Youth in Transition studies in support of their respective claims. In definitive tests of these counter claims, the authors reanalyze these data-including self-esteem (emphasized by Baumeister et al.), academic self-concept (emphasized by Marsh & Craven), and postsecondary educational attainment-using stronger statistical methods based on five waves of data (grade 10 through 5 years after graduation; N=2,213). Integrating apparently discrepant findings under a common theoretical framework based on a multidimensional perspective, academic self-concept had consistent reciprocal effects with both achievement and educational attainment, whereas self-esteem had almost none.     

Music is awesome: Influences of emotion,personality, and preference on experienced awe

Awe is a complex, cognitive–conceptual emotion associated with transcendence and wonder. Music has the power to create this kind of transcendence. Can music evoke awe? Previous research demonstrates that awe is associated with individual differences in personality such as openness. This study examined whether different kinds of music across a wide variety of genres can evoke awe and whether the experience of awe depends on individual differences. The study further investigated the relationship of awe to patterns of emotional responses to different dimensions of musical genre. Study 1 demonstrated that high need for cognition and low cognitive closure predicted awe for reflective and complex music, that felt happiness predicted awe for all kinds of music, and that perceived happiness and sadness predicted awe only for reflective and complex music. Study 2 replicated the finding that perceived sadness can evoke awe in reflective and complex music and further demonstrated that experienced musical awe correlates with individual differences in the tendency to experience awe more generally. These results are of interest to advertisers interested in evoking awe with music and marketers interested in segmenting to target the appropriate populations for this purpose.     

Restorative effects of awe on negative affect after receiving negative performance feedback

The present study investigated the discrete positive effects of awe on negative job affect (NJA) arising from receiving negative performance feedback from a work supervisor or a co-worker. The participants were 131 business professionals and students at a large university in Kenya (females = 46%; age range 25 to 65 years). They participated in an experiment in which the emotion of awe was manipulated in an imagined situation where the participants received negative performance feedback from either a work supervisor or co-worker. Regression analyses of the data indicated that awe predicted a lower negative affect for negative feedback. Moreover, the indirect effects of the source of feedback on negative affect modulation were more significant for feedback received from co-workers than from supervisors. The positive emotion of awe may help one cope with negative performance feedback in a work setting.     

敬畏生命是智慧的开端

敬畏是对万物尊严的直观,是对超然性的辨识。犹太-基督教认为,智慧由敬畏推动,敬畏是信仰的前提,是信仰的根源。人们应当接受敬畏的指导。丧失敬畏,就会缺少洞察力。科学主义是失去敬畏的结果。学术界最近对科学主义的讨论,说明人文精神开始崛起。科学主义大概是一种国产货。我们今天应当在世界大家庭的语境中说话或言说。敬畏自然与敬畏生命,二者同中有异。但是,我们所说的敬畏自然,一点也不意味着自然主义。我们反对科学技术的僭越。自然主义恰恰忽视不同于单纯物质的生命。国内学者已经普遍注意到人类道德的关怀应当扩大到人类之外的存在上。     

The impostor phenomenon: self-perceptions, reflected appraisals, and interpersonal strategies

Three studies tested theoretical assumptions regarding the impostor phenomenon. In Study 1, participants completed measures of impostorism, rated themselves, and indicated how they thought other people regarded them. Contrary to standard conceptualizations of impostorism, high impostors were characterized by a combination of low self-appraisals and low reflected appraisals. Study 2 was an experiment designed to determine whether the behaviors associated with the impostor phenomenon are interpersonal strategies. Participants were told that they were expected to perform either better or worse than they had previously predicted on an upcoming test, then expressed their reactions anonymously or publicly. High impostors expressed lower performance expectations than low impostors only when their responses were public. When expectations for performance were low, participants high in impostorism responded differently under public than private conditions. Study 3 examined the possibility that high scores on measures of impostorism may reflect two types of impostors--true impostors (who believe that others perceive them too positively) and strategic impostors (who only claim that they are not as good as other people think). The results did not support this distinction; however, evidence for the strategic nature of impostorism was again obtained. Although people may experience true feelings of impostorism, these studies suggest that the characteristics attributed to so-called impostors are partly interpersonal, self-presentational behaviors designed to minimize the implications of poor performance.     

The communication of social stereotypes: the effects of group discussion and information distribution on stereotypic appraisals

Stereotypes are fundamentally social constructs, formulated and modified through discussion and interaction with others. The present studies examined the impact of group discussion on stereotypes. In both studies, groups of participants discussed their impressions about a hypothetical target group after having read behaviors performed by target group members. These behaviors included both stereotypic and counterstereotypic examples, and the distribution of these behaviors varied across discussion group members. In some groups only 1 member knew of the counterstereotypic behaviors; in other groups this information was distributed across all group members. In general, discussion led to a polarization of the target group stereotypes, but this effect was lessened when the counterstereotypic behaviors were concentrated in 1 group member. In this case, these counterstereotypic behaviors were discussed more and retained better.     

The effects of self-esteem and ego threat on interpersonal appraisals of men and women: a naturalistic study

A naturalistic study examined the effects of self-esteem and threats to the self on interpersonal appraisals. Self-esteem scores, ego threat (operationalized as a substantial decrease in self-esteem across an average of 9 months), and their interaction were used to predict likability and personality perceptions of college men and women. The results revealed a curvilinear function explaining likability: Moderate to low self-esteem men and women were higher in likability when threatened, whereas high self-esteem men were seen as less likable when threatened. Personality ratings indicated that high self-esteem men and women who were threatened were rated highest on Antagonism (i.e., fake, arrogant, unfriendly, rude, and uncooperative). Mediational analyses revealed that differences in Antagonism statistically accounted for differences in likability. These patterns are interpreted with respect to gender and time in interpersonal perceptions as well as naturalistic versus laboratory investigations.     

Electronic performance appraisals: The effects of e-mail communication on peer ratings in actual and simulated environments

Across three empirical studies, this paper explores the effect of using e-mail as a communication medium (versus pen-and-paper) when conducting performance appraisals of peers. The notion put forth by Media Richness Theory that paper-form and e-mail media should be considered identical for conveying this information was theoretically challenged and differences were empirically supported. Using two different settings, results demonstrate that evaluators offered more negative appraisals of their peers when using e-mail than when using traditional paper-form methods. Reduced feelings of social obligation in the e-mail condition were found to mediate this relationship, indicating that social psychological processes can influence the effects of different media on peer ratings.     

The effects of preoperative preparation on postoperative outcomes: the moderating role of control appraisals.

OBJECTIVE: To test the proposal that external health locus of control and self-efficacy would moderate the effects of a psychological preparation for surgery on outcomes for surgical heart patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Psychological distress, pain, serum cortisol, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. DESIGN: A total of 80 coronary artery bypass graft patients were given standard care plus a psychological preparation or standard care alone using a single-blind methodology with random assignment. Data on psychological and biological functioning were collected at admission (baseline) and discharge. RESULTS: As predicted, external health locus of control and self-efficacy moderated the effect of the preparation on all outcomes. Results indicated that for high external health locus of control, the preparation was related to lower distress for people with high self-efficacy compared with those with low self-efficacy. When external health locus of control was low, the preparation was related to lower distress for those with lower self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: These findings caution against the use of preparations and education for surgical patients without accounting for control appraisals.     

The effects of dance team participation on female adolescent physical fitness and self-concept

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent female physical fitness and self-concept are affected by dance team participation in high school. Eight dancers were tested once prior to and once four months after dance team participation. Eight participants from physical education classes, matched for age, weight, height, grade, and race, were tested once at the same time as the second dance team test. Physiological tests were maximum oxygen uptake, sit-and-reach, one-repetition maximum bench press, skinfolds, and hydrostatic weighing. The self-concept tests were Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and Body Cathexis Scale. Dependent one-tailed t tests were run to determine differences between dance team pre- and posttests and control and dance team posttests. Dance subjects increased maximum oxygen uptake and one-repetition maximum bench press in addition to improving their body composition as evidenced by a significant decrease in total skinfolds and a near significant decrease in percent body fat. The dance team had a significantly higher maximum oxygen uptake than did controls. No other significant differences were seen between groups. Dance team participants significantly improved physical self and social self on the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. No other significant differences were seen. A factor that may have affected the self-concept results in this study was low dance team status, due to a combination of unsuccessful previous dance teams and a losing football season. Within the limitations of this study, these results indicate that physical fitness is improved as a result of dance team participation; however, self-concept seems to be affected only minimally, if at all, as compared with participation in physical education classes.     

敬畏的心理模型及其认知神经机制

敬畏是由神秘、浩大且超出当前认知图式事物引发的复杂情绪体验, 具有自我超越性。敬畏的心理学研究近期受到极大的关注, 但敬畏的本质或心理机制是什么等问题还不清楚。针对“敬畏的心理过程是什么”这一科学问题, 我们通过文献综述, 在厘清敬畏的概念演变、相关理论发展和实证研究基础上拟提出敬畏的心理模型, 尝试阐述敬畏的心理过程及其认知神经机制。我们认为敬畏心理涉及预期评估、结果评价和自我超越等认知过程, 并且包含浩大感、顺应需求两大核心特征, 以及内部与外部、积极与消极两大主要维度。未来亟需在敬畏测量工具的研发、敬畏相关理论的验证及不同文化群体间敬畏行为的比较分析等方面进行多学科的基础和应用研究。