Attitudes toward online shopping: a follow-up study

From 2001 to 2005, students showed an increase in the range of purchases made online, and their attitudes toward online shopping became more positive.     

Web metrics: measuring patterns in online shopping

The Web has become a primary source of product information for online consumers. As such, basic questions regarding how consumers approach the search process need to be understood and measured if marketers and website developers are to identify patterns or trends in consumer information search strategies. To observe and measure changes in consumer search behaviour, it is necessary to establish benchmarks that can, at a later date, be compared with subsequent observation measurements. This study recorded the search activities of 37 subjects as they searched for information regarding the purchase of two products: one where they had expert product knowledge and one where they had novice product knowledge. Significance was found for particular site types used and, more importantly, in patterns of site type usage. The methodology and benchmarks offer researchers a means of tracking changes in consumer search behaviour on the Web. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Sex differences in attribution: A Norwegian study

A quasi-experimental study was conducted to examine the effect of sex on actor and observer attributions of success and failure. It was predicted that, contrary to American results in similar studies, Norwegian males and females would tend to be largely similar in their attribution of success and failure. Only same-sex attributions were explored. Subjects were asked to attribute causality along a set of six standard causal dimensions. The results showed that sex had a relatively minor effect on attributions, compared to the effects of attributor role and task outcome. Only in their attributions of ability did men and women differ to some degree in that women were more likely to use lack of ability as an explanation for own failure. The study concludes that cross-cultural research is needed in order to better assess the normative impact on attribution.     

Sex differences in educational outcomes: A cross-national study

Through their organization and curricula, schools either promote separate roles for males and females or operate to minimize differences. This study describes sex differences in science and reading achievement and attitudes for nationwide samples of 14-year-old children in the United States, Sweden, and England. There are largely the same sex differences in all three countries: Male and female pupils have similar reading skills, while girls have more positive reading habits; males outperform females in science, with the smallest difference observed for biology; males have more positive attitudes toward science, except that females believe science to be at least as important a topic as boys do. There is no noteworthy increase in sex distinctions with one more year of schooling, from grade 8 to grade 9. However, in English coeducational schools, girls show a deceleration in science and vocabulary achievement relative to their male peers. Girls in English one-sex schools exceed their male counterparts in reading and several science subjects. It is hypothesized that the role of successful female teachers and peers, and the absence of social pressure from boys, may facilitate girls' learning in these areas. A study is proposed of specific school practices and the ways in which they determine sex discrepancies.An earlier version of this article was presented to the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April 1976. The author is grateful to Heidi Wolfstetter-Kausch for assistance in researching background material for the article.     

Assessment feedback counselling and individual differences: An exploratory study

The demand for assessment feedback counselling, and individual differences in feedback seeking, were investigated in a group of fifty managers who had been through a psychometric assessment procedure. Results suggest that there is a substantial demand for such feedback counselling and that those who seek it are, in some respects, more intellectually able and more interpersonally positive than those who do not. Some advice is offered on the handling of assessment feedback counselling sessions.     

Alexithymia in schizophrenia: an exploratory study.

This study assessed a relationship between alexithymia and schizophrenia suggested by reports based on small samples of patients. Here, 50 outpatients with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia were compared with 50 pair-matched healthy subjects. Alexithymia was measured by the Polish version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20. The mean total score was significantly higher in the schizophrenia group (M = 52.3, SD = 13.47) than in the healthy controls (M = 45.8, SD = 11.39, p < .02). This replicates earlier findings showing that a group of patients with paranoid schizophrenia have higher scores on alexithymia scales than healthy controls. There seems a need for a comprehensive examination of relations between alexithymia and other concepts denoting pathology of affect in schizophrenia.     

Menstruation and suicide: an exploratory study

Previous research has reported mixed findings on the effect of the menstrual cycle on suicidal behavior. The contribution of menstruation to completed suicide is also controversial, though the studies are very limited and have not been carefully designed. To explore the relationship, 217 autopsies on completed suicides were performed, matched to a control group at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. The results show that 54.46% of people who died by suicide were menstruating (results excluded pregnancies), compared to 6.75% of the control group. Menstruation in those who completed suicide, compared to a control group, appeared to have an association with suicide. More research is warranted.     

Passion and dependency in online shopping activities.

This study examines the influence of harmonious passion (HP) and obsessive passion (OP) to online shopping dependency. The results show that both HP and OP might lead to online shopping dependency and online shoppers with OP are more dependent on online shopping activities. In addition, this study also found out that HP and OP could be denoted as a sequence of different intensities of passion, where HP might be a necessity of OP.     

Sex differences of parental phubbing on online hostility among adolescents: A moderated mediation model

To explore the relationship between parental phubbing (PP) and adolescent online hostility and its' psychological mechanism, 689 Chinese adolescents were recruited to complete a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. We took cyber flaming (CF) as an overall category for hostile online communication to investigate the relationship between PP and CF and the mediating role of perspective-taking (PT) in this relationship and examined whether there is a sex difference in this process. After controlling the average daily online time, the results showed that PP predicted adolescent CF positively. The relationship between PP and CF was partially mediated by PT. The effect of PP on PT was moderated by sex, with the result being significant only for boys. Related findings and future directions were discussed.     

Sex differences in semantic language processing: a functional MRI study

Predictions based on two models of sex differences in cerebral organization of language were compared by examining fMRI patterns of 10 females and 9 males during a semantic processing task. Both groups displayed activation of left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), left superior temporal gyrus (STG), and cingulate. Females, but not males, showed bilateral IFG and STG activation. Further analyses revealed females had less diffuse left activation and greater right posterior temporal and insula region activation than males. Results support both an interhemispheric and an intrahemispheric model of sex differences in language, suggesting that the models may not be mutually exclusive.     

Consumer misbehaviour: an exploratory study of shopliftin

Although customer theft is traditionally researched from a criminological or psychological perspective, this paper investigates shoplifting as consumer behaviour, demonstrating that well‐defined models of normal consumer behaviour can be applied to aberrant behaviour such as shop theft. Empirical research is used to show how adults and teenagers form belief systems that amount to rational intentions in the decision to shoplift. The theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) was used as the basis for two self‐report surveys which investigated the interaction between consumers' attitudes and beliefs about shoplifting and their perceptions of retail security. The first survey utilised a sample of shoppers from the South East Midlands; the second a sample of school students from the same area (861 respondents in total, 109 respondents admitting to shoplifting in the previous year). Both studies indicate that the decision to shoplift is influenced by pro‐shoplifting attitudes, social factors, opportunities for shoplifting and perceptions of low risks of apprehension. This implies that the deterrent messages we use must be reassessed. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Dimensions of hypnotic depth: an exploratory study

Hypnotic depth, hypnotic susceptibility, and the relationship between the two were studied in two separate samples. In the first study, 45 aubjects were tested on the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS) and the induction part (i.e. the eye closure item) of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A (SHSS:A). Retrospective depth reports were taken, and hypnotic responsiveness scores on the CIS was assessed. The results demonstrated significantly higher depth scores for the SHSS:A (eye closure) than for the CIS. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between hypnotic susceptibility and depth score on the CIS. In the second study, 19 subjects were again tested on the CIS and the eye closure item of the SHSS:A. As in the first study, spontaneous depth estimates were elicited. In addition, the subjects were required to estimate their experiences retrospectively according to three distinct operationalizations of hypnotic depth, i.e. depth in terms of bodily relaxation, absorption, and dissociation. Analysis of variance revealed a highly significant effect for depth measures, and a significant depth measure by hypnosis method interaction effect. Hypnotic depth defined as bodily relaxation produced the highest score, followed by absorption. The mean scores were lowest for spontaneous depth and dissociation. Again, significant correlations between susceptibility and depth reports were found.     

Hypermasculinity and academic goal-setting: an exploratory study

The relation between gender-role percepts and academic goal-setting was explored. An inventory examining the aspects of masculinity that would facilitate or inhibit academic goal-setting was developed based on a literature review of how masculinity relates to academic behaviors. A diverse sample of students (120 male, 147 female, 14 not indicating sex) was measured on three aspects of sex and academic goal-setting behavior. Factor analysis confirmed the content validity of masculine factors having facilitative (Mastery Competitiveness) and inhibitory (Antisocial Competitiveness) academic properties. Regression analyses indicated that sex-role orientations (Competitiveness and Hypermasculinity) significantly predicted academic goal-setting behaviors (R2 = .136). Finally, men scored higher than women on the subscales measuring Hypermasculinity and Antisocial or Competitiveness, while there were no sex differences on the Mastery Competitiveness subscale. The implications of these findings and suggestions for research are discussed.     

Predictors of spiritual struggles: an exploratory study

The purpose of the current study was to identify factors that predict spiritual struggles. It was hypothesised that factors from religious (e.g., God image, attachment to God, church attitudes, religious history), personal (e.g., neuroticism, pessimism, trait anger), social (e.g., social support, loneliness), and situational (e.g., negative appraisals) domains may predispose people to spiritual struggles during times of distress. Participants (309 undergraduate students) filled out questionnaires measuring relevant constructs and a two-step hierarchical multiple regression equation was generated separately for each of the four domains. Upon identifying significant predictors from each of the four domains, a final hierarchical regression equation revealed that: (1) more negative appraisals of a stressful situation, (2) an insecure ambivalent attachment to God, and (3) neuroticism significantly predicted unique variance in spiritual struggles beyond the effects of relevant religious variables, thus generally supporting the hypothesis that spiritual struggles are complex phenomena that stem from multiple factors.     

An exploratory study of consumer style: country differences and international segments

• An important consideration for marketers is determining the best approach to take when marketing their product or service across national borders. It has become clear that the answer to this is not as simple as complete standardization or adaptation, and the appropriate approach may be contingent on a complex set of variables. One key aspect of the puzzle relates to an understanding of the attitudes and behaviours of consumers. The current study examines consumer style (variables related to the way people engage in their consumption activities) as an important area of consideration related to international marketing efforts. Consumer style was investigated in three European countries and the US, using data from the DDB Brand Capital Study (a multi‐country survey). Although results showed that country differences are evident on consumption style, a cluster analysis suggests that there were four segments of consumers that transcend country boundaries. The findings add to our knowledge about consumers in these countries and the characteristics of the segments with respect to differing styles of consumption.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Schizophrenia and automatic processing: an exploratory study

This study deals with the schizophrenic deficit as one of automatic processing. To test the idea, a special experimental task was designed on which 21 schizophrenics, 21 depressives, and 21 normal subjects had to complete a series of simple geometric figures. When the subjects had thoroughly learned this activity, another information source, a brief story, was introduced, and the subjects had to pay attention to the story while they did the task. Two dependent variables were considered, execution time and performance. There were no differences among the three groups in the first experimental condition; but in the second condition, when the distractor was introduced, schizophrenics needed more time to do the task and their performance was noticeably worse than those of both normals and depressives. This outcome is explained in terms of a failure in the internal mechanisms which regulate the automatic, parallel, and unconscious processing.