A prototype analysis of vengeance

The authors examined the concept of vengeance from a prototype perspective. In 6 studies, the prototype structure of vengeance was mapped. Sixty‐nine features of vengeance were identified (Study 1), and rated on centrality (Study 2). Further studies confirmed the prototype structure. Compared to peripheral features (e.g., religion, shame, and self‐esteem), central features (e.g., humiliation, honor, and power) were more often recalled and recognized in memory tests (Study 3), classified as vengeance more often and faster (Study 4), and rated higher in participants' autobiographical vengeance recalls (Studies 5 and 6). Lay conceptions of vengeance included the view that vengeance is planned, personal, and aggressive, and involves intense feelings of anger, humiliation, envy, and vindictive feelings, as well as negative thoughts.     

Defining greed

Although greed is both hailed as the motor of economic growth and blamed as the cause of economic crises, very little is known about its psychological underpinnings. Five studies explored lay conceptualizations of greed among US and Dutch participants using a prototype analysis. Study 1 identified features related to greed. Study 2 determined the importance of these features; the most important features were classified as central (e.g., self‐interested, never satisfied), whereas less important features were classified as peripheral (e.g., ambition, addiction). Subsequently, we found that, compared to peripheral features, participants recalled central features better (Study 3), faster (Study 4), and these central features were more present in real‐life episodes of greed (Study 5). These findings provide a better understanding of the elements that make up the experience of greed and provide insights into how greed can be manipulated and measured in future research.     

Prototype-based assessment of laypeople's views of love

Empirical work on love has focused mainly on romantic/passionate love. Recent research suggests that other kinds of love, such as friendship love and familial love, may be more salient to laypeople (Fehr & Russell, 1991). One purpose of this research was to offer a more complete picture of how laypeople conceptualize love by exploring a broad range of types of love. The other major purpose was to develop a methodology for studying laypeople's conceptions of different kinds of love. Four studies were conducted. In Study 1, dating couples were presented with prototypes of 15 different types of love. They were asked to rate how similar the conception of love depicted in each prototype was to their own view of love. Study 2 was a replication of Study 1 with subjects who were not dating one another. In Study 3, the validity of the prototype measures was explored by asking subjects to determine the kind of love depicted in each prototype. Study 4 investigated the relation between the prototypes of love and existing love scales and therefore addressed issues of convergent and discriminant validity. These prototype-based measures showed considerable promise as valid, reliable instruments for assessing people's views of love. They revealed that laypeople regard friendship love and familial kinds of love as closest to their own view. Passionate kinds of love (e.g., passionate, infatuation, puppy love) received the lowest ratings. The measures also proved useful in elucidating the relation between laypeople's and experts' conceptions of romantic and passionate love.     

Odyssey's end: lay conceptions of nostalgia reflect its original Homeric meaning

Nostalgia fulfills pivotal functions for individuals, but lacks an empirically derived and comprehensive definition. We examined lay conceptions of nostalgia using a prototype approach. In Study 1, participants generated open-ended features of nostalgia, which were coded into categories. In Study 2, participants rated the centrality of these categories, which were subsequently classified as central (e.g., memories, relationships, happiness) or peripheral (e.g., daydreaming, regret, loneliness). Central (as compared with peripheral) features were more often recalled and falsely recognized (Study 3), were classified more quickly (Study 4), were judged to reflect more nostalgia in a vignette (Study 5), better characterized participants' own nostalgic (vs. ordinary) experiences (Study 6), and prompted higher levels of actual nostalgia and its intrapersonal benefits when used to trigger a personal memory, regardless of age (Study 7). These findings highlight that lay people view nostalgia as a self-relevant and social blended emotional and cognitive state, featuring a mixture of happiness and loss. The findings also aid understanding of nostalgia's functions and identify new methods for future research.     

Changing Relationship Growth Belief: Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Consequences of Compassionate Goals

The belief that difficulties can lead to growth in relationships, or growth belief, has consequences for relationships (e.g., C. R. Knee, 1998 ). But what predicts change in this belief? The current study hypothesized that compassionate goals to support others ( J. Crocker & A. Canevello, 2008 ) predict increased growth belief through increased need satisfaction. In Study 1, 199 college freshmen reported their friendship growth belief and goals. In Study 2, 65 roommate pairs reported their roommate growth belief, goals, and need satisfaction. Across studies, compassionate goals predicted increased growth belief. In Study 2, goals predicted increased perceived mutual need satisfaction, which predicted increased growth belief. Additionally, partners' compassionate goals predicted actors' increased growth belief. Results suggest that growth beliefs are shaped by goals—own and others'.     

A Prototype Matching Approach to Understanding the Role of Applicant Gender and Age in the Evaluation of Job Applicants1

This research uses a prototype matching approach to understand how job applicant evaluations are made and the role that applicant gender and age play in these evaluations. It is hypothesized that raters represent information about jobs and jobholders in person-in-job prototypes. Raters evaluate applicants by matching information about applicants to the person-in-job prototype associated with the job for which the applicant is applying. Person-in-job prototypes are comprised of features that are more (i.e., central) or less (i.e., peripheral) strongly associated with the prototype. Three laboratory studies examined several hypotheses derived from a prototype matching approach. Results indicated that applicants who matched on more central features were evaluated more favorably than applicants who matched on fewer central features of person-in-job prototypes. In addition, applicants who matched on age were evaluated more favorably than applicants who did not match on age when age was a central but not a peripheral feature of a person-in-job prototype. However, applicants who matched on gender were not evaluated differently from applicants who did not match on gender when gender was a central or a peripheral feature of a person-in-job prototype. Finally, there was some evidence that raters used applicant gender in a complex manner when evaluating applicants. Implications for theory and research on bias in selection are discussed.     

Expectation for Mood Enhancement as a Result of Helping: The Effects of Gender and Compassionate Love

Several theoretical perspectives in the social psychology literature on helping suggest that people forecast the benefit that they will receive as a result of helping others, and help only if they determine that it is rewarding to do so. One type of self-benefit that can be received from helping is an enhancement of positive mood. The major hypotheses of the present study were: (1) women, to a greater degree than men, would expect to experience enhanced positive mood as a consequence of both helping and receiving help in a relational context; and (2) those who are high in compassionate love for others would expect to experience enhanced positive mood from giving and receiving help relative to those who are lower on compassionate love. Support was found for both hypotheses. In addition, women were more likely than men to rate certain helping behaviors in a relational context (e.g., providing verbal support) as good examples of “compassionate love acts.” The meaning of the results with respect to altruism and for gender differences in helping behavior is 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.     

Development of a prototype‐based measure of relational boredom

The goal of this research was to create a self‐report measure of relational boredom using a prototype approach. In the first study, 2 samples (participants in dating relationships and in marital relationships) generated features of the concept of relational boredom. In Study 2, these features were rated for prototypicality by 2 samples (dating and married). A Relational Boredom Scale was constructed by selecting those features (items) that were rated as most central to the construct. In Study 3, the reliability and validity of the scale were assessed, again with participants in dating and marital relationships. There was evidence that the Relational Boredom Scale is a psychometrically sound measurement instrument.     

A prototype analysis of forgiveness

Many definitions of forgiveness currently exist in the literature. The current research adds to this discussion by utilizing a prototype approach to examine lay conceptions of forgiveness. A prototype approach involves categorizing objects or events in terms of their similarity to a good example, whereas a classical approach requires that there are essential elements that must be present. In Study 1, participants listed the features of forgiveness. Study 2 obtained centrality ratings for these features. In Studies 3 and 4, central features were found to be more salient in memory than peripheral features. Study 5 showed that feature centrality influenced participants' ratings of victims involved in hypothetical transgressions. Thus, the two criteria for demonstrating prototype structure (that participants find it meaningful to judge features in terms of their centrality and that centrality affects cognition) were met.     

The association between compassionate goals and relational-interdependent self-construal

Although research has examined the consequences of relational self-construal (RSC), little is known about what psychological factors predict it. Four studies examined the association between compassionate goals and RSC. Study 1 showed that compassionate goals are positively associated with RSC in college students. Study 2 replicated this association among adults in romantic relationships. Studies 3 and 4 showed that compassionate goals predict increased RSC over time in college roommates. Moreover, Studies 2–4 showed that responsiveness to relationship partners statistically mediated the association between compassionate goals and self-construal. These studies suggested that people with compassionate goals have high RSCs and that they also develop higher levels of RSC by being responsive to relationship partners.     

The unanticipated interpersonal and societal consequences of choice: victim blaming and reduced support for the public good

Choice makes North Americans feel more in control, free, and independent, and thus has many positive consequences for individuals' motivation and well-being. We report five studies that uncovered novel consequences of choice for public policy and interpersonal judgments. Studies 1 through 3 found that activating the concept of choice decreases support for policies promoting intergroup equality (e.g., affirmative action) and societal benefits (e.g., reducing environmental pollution), but increases support for policies promoting individual rights (e.g., legalizing drugs). Studies 4 and 5 found that activating the concept of choice increases victim blaming and decreases empathy for disadvantaged people. Study 5 found that choice does not decrease Indians' empathy for disadvantaged individuals, indicating that the social and interpersonal consequences of choice are likely culture-specific. This research suggests that the well-known positive effects of choice for individuals can be accompanied by an array of previously unexamined and potentially negative outcomes for other people and for society.     

The forest and the trees: Examining the association of self-compassion and its positive and negative components with psychological functioning

ABSTRACT

This paper presents two studies focusing on the link between psychological functioning and self-compassion as measured by the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), especially in terms of SCS components that represent increased compassionate and reduced uncompassionate behavior. Study One examined this association in seven domains – psychopathology, positive psychological health, emotional intelligence, self-concept, body image, motivation, and interpersonal functioning – and found that while reduced negative self-responding had a stronger link to negative emotionality and self-evaluation than positive self-responding, they were roughly equivalent predictors in other domains. Study Two examined the association of compassionate and reduced uncompassionate behavior with sympathetic nervous system and inflammatory activity after stress, and found they equally predicted salivary alpha amylase and interleukin-6 levels in individuals after a stressful situation. Overall, results suggest that both compassionate and reduced uncompassionate self-responding are central to self-compassion and that both help to explain its link to healthy psychological functioning.     

Cognitions of relationship quality: A prototype analysis of their structure and consequences

Laypersons’conceptions of a good heterosexual relationship were examined in four studies. In study 1, a total of 120 German college students listed all aspects of a good intimate relationship. The resulting 1,010 items represented 352 distinct features, of which the 64 most frequently mentioned were selected for further analyses. In study 2, a total of 107 German college students rated the degree of centrality of the 64 items and reliably distinguished central from peripheral features. These data are consistent with a prototype analysis of the concept “good relationship.” In study 3, central features were round to be more salient in memory than were peripheral features, and in study 4, central features were associated with shorter response latencies than were peripheral ones. The specific features identified by laypersons as central to a good relationship were compared to those identified by experts, and the similarities and differences between the lay concepts of love and good relationships were also examined.     

Exploring the lay representation of forgiveness: Convergent and discriminant validity

Four studies employing a prototype approach tested the convergent and discriminant validity of a lay forgiveness representation. In Study 1, participants nominated a wide range of forgiveness features. In Study 2, participants rated the centrality of forgiveness features, which created a reliable graded structure from central to peripheral features. Study 3 tested the convergent validity of this lay forgiveness representation while controlling for several confounding variables. In Study 4, the discriminant validity of this lay forgiveness representation was tested through a categorization procedure. The findings replicate and extend prior research on forgiveness (Kearns & Fincham, 2004), and support the psychological reality of a lay forgiveness representation distinct from other victim responses.     

Missing a romantic partner: A prototype analysis

In this study, a prototype analysis of romantic missing was conducted. College‐age participants in the United States generated features of missing a partner (Study 1) and rated their centrality (Study 2). In a reaction time task, participants made category judgments for central features more quickly than for noncentral features (Study 3). In recognition and recall tasks, central features were more salient in participants’ memory, and participants evaluated individuals experiencing central features in vignettes as missing their partners more (Study 4). A prototype‐based measure of missing administered to individuals in long‐distance relationships (Study 5) correlated with commitment and attachment dimensions but only weakly with loneliness. Finally, level of missing differed based on whether individuals were in a geographically distant (vs. proximal) relationships (Study 6).     

LinkedIn as a new selection method: Psychometric properties and assessment approach

Various surveys suggest LinkedIn is used as a screening and selection tool by many hiring managers. Despite this widespread use, fairly little is known about whether LinkedIn meets established selection criteria, such as reliability, validity, and legality (i.e., no adverse impact). We examine the properties of LinkedIn-based assessments in two studies. Study 1 shows that raters reach acceptable levels of consistency in their assessments of applicant skills, personality, and cognitive ability. Initial ratings also correlate with subsequent ratings done 1-year later (i.e., demonstrating temporal stability), with slightly higher correlations when profile updates are taken into account. Initial LinkedIn-based ratings correlate with self-reports for more visible skills (leadership, communication, and planning) and personality traits (Extraversion), and for cognitive ability. LinkedIn-based hiring recommendations are positively associated with indicators of career success. Potential adverse impact is also limited. Profiles that are longer, include a picture, and have more connections are rated more positively. Some of those features are valid cues to applicants’ characteristics (e.g., applicants high on Conscientiousness have longer profiles). In Study 2, we show that an itemized LinkedIn assessment is more effective than a global assessment. Implications of these findings for selection and future research are discussed.     

Fighting ageism through nostalgia

Two experiments tested whether nostalgia is a resource for fighting ageism. In Experiment 1, younger adults who recalled a nostalgic (vs. ordinary) encounter with an older adult showed a more positive attitude towards older adults, mediated by greater inclusion of older adults in the self (IOGS). In Experiment 2, these findings were replicated and extended with a subtle nostalgia manipulation. Younger adults identified an older, familiar adult, before writing about an encounter with this person that was characterized by either central (e.g., keepsakes and childhood) or peripheral (e.g., wishing and daydreaming) features of the construct of nostalgia (i.e., prototype). Participants who recalled a central (vs. peripheral) nostalgic encounter reported greater social connectedness, which predicted increased IOGS. In turn, increased IOGS was associated with a lower desire to avoid older adults. Several alternative explanations for the intergroup benefits of nostalgia were ruled out. The research established that nostalgia qualifies as a resource for combatting ageism.     

"Not just right experiences": perfectionism,obsessive-compulsive features and general psychopathology

Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) frequently report uncomfortable sensations of things not being just right ("not just right experiences"; NJREs) and a need to ritualize until they quiet these sensations. However, very little work has been conducted to empirically examine the nature and characteristics of this phenomenon. In this paper, we present two studies that systematically examine NJREs in large undergraduate samples. In Study 1, NJREs were shown to be related to both OCD features and maladaptive domains of perfectionism. In Study 2, NJREs were again significantly related to OCD features. Further, NJREs were shown to have particularly strong relationships with specific OCD symptom clusters (e.g., checking, ordering). Finally, NJREs were significantly more strongly correlated with features of OCD than symptoms from other domains of psychopathology (e.g., social anxiety, trait anxiety, worry, depression). General conclusions are drawn, and future directions are discussed.