Relevance of genotype and its environmental counterpart to the theory,interpretation, and nomenclature of ability measures

While the constructs of aplitude and achievement, which are here defined as genotypic and environmental constructs, are potentially useful in psychological theory and in the development of predictors and weights for predictors, the use of these terms for psychological tests is highly misleading. When used for tests, the terms lead to invalid inferences concerning the constructs and to erroneous predictions of later criteria. All psychological tests measure current performance levels which are phenotypic characteristics. Practically all such tests can be used to estimate both genotypic and environmental constructs with nonzero accuracy. The basic error is to use a term which denotes a genetic or an environmental construct for a phenotypic measure. Implications of this position for inferences concerning group differences in aptitude and for construct validity of tests are briefly discussed.     

从社会智力到情感智力--对社会智力与情感智力理论的探讨

在智力的研究中,社会智力(social intelligence)和情感智力(emotional intelligence)是先后被心理学家提出的概念。本文试图对这两个概念出现及其相关研究进展过程进行回顾、总结和简单的评价,并提出以下一些未来可以进行探讨的问题：(1)就概念而言,社会智力和情感智力相互的关系究竟如何?(2)在智力的这一领域的研究中,概念的内涵究竟大一些好还是小一些好?(3)概念的提出,是重理论严谨性还是重应用性?(4)如何解决好的概念和研究思路与困难的理论构建和实际测量之间的矛盾?     

Construct validity and case validity in assessment

Clinical assessment relies on both construct validity, which focuses on the accuracy of conclusions about a psychological phenomenon drawn from responses to a measure, and case validity, which focuses on the synthesis of the full range of psychological phenomena pertaining to the concern or question at hand. Whereas construct validity is grounded in understanding causal influences of a distinct phenomenon on responses to various measures and life contexts, case validity encompasses the joint influences of multiple phenomena on individuals' responses. Two sets of distinctions essential to understanding psychological phenomena, hence to understanding construct validity, are (a) implicit and explicit versions of personality constructs and (b) ability and personality as versions of constructs measured by performance tests presenting maximal and typical conditions, respectively. Since both implicit and explicit versions of constructs interface with maximal or typical performance conditions, case validity requires systematic inclusion of these distinctions in assessment protocols.     

An empirical investigation into carpooling behaviour for sustainability

Carpooling is a sustainable, economical, and environmental friendly solution that can significantly reduce air pollution and traffic congestion in urban areas. In spite of its numerous benefits, commuters are still skeptic about adopting it as a routine choice for transportation. This study attempts to map commuters’ attitude towards carpooling services. The study has focused on a few motivational constructs that can have an influence on commuters’ behavior. The study has looked at the role of cognitive complexity and empowerment perceptions of commuters to check if these constructs significantly intervene in the behavioral outcomes. The methodology used is a scenario-based 2 × 2 survey design where the sample is an individual who has experience with carpooling. The survey has used two levels (high, low) each of cognitive complexity and psychological empowerment to give rise to four scenarios. The final sample consisted of 400 carpoolers selected from an IT park having more than 5000 employees. MANOVA analysis showed that cognitive complexity and psychological empowerment had significant influence on the motivational constructs used in the study. Value beliefs, safety and platform quality perceptions were found to have a direct impact on attitude formation and intention to engage in carpooling behavior. The findings offer many implications for managers in the sense that that they can focus on creating suitable communication that creates favorable perceptions towards carpooling to bring about better adoption intentions.     

父母心理控制与青少年智能手机成瘾:心理需求网络满足和环境敏感性的作用

本研究探讨了父母心理控制与智能手机成瘾的关系,以湖北省某中学的1320名高中生为被试,采用问卷法考察了心理需求网络满足在父母心理控制和智能手机成瘾关系间的中介效应,以及环境敏感性对这一中介过程的调节效应。结果发现：（1）在控制了手机使用频率后,父母心理控制对智能手机成瘾具有显著正向预测作用;（2）心理需求网络满足在父母心理控制和智能手机成瘾之间起中介作用;（3）中介链条的后半段,即心理需求网络满足和智能手机成瘾的关系受到环境敏感性的调节。具体来说,对于高环境敏感性的人,心理需求网络满足对智能手机成瘾的正向预测作用明显增强。     

The Effects of Threat Sensitivity and Face Giving on Dyadic Psychological Safety and Upward Communication1

The tendency for individuals in organizational hierarchies to fail to communicate negatively valenced information has been well documented, but the psychological mechanisms behind the phenomenon have not. With the increasing emphasis on organizational transparency, the need to understand why organizational participants regularly fail to transfer critical task‐relevant information is pressing. Two measures of how individuals give (face giving) and react to (threat sensitivity) negatively valenced information are developed and are shown to significantly affect upward communication. These effects are mediated by 2 dyadic psychological safety constructs based on Edmondson's (1999) team psychological safety construct. Self psychological safety mediated the effect of supervisor face giving on admission of errors and help seeking, and other psychological safety mediated the effect of supervisor face giving and supervisor threat sensitivity on the likelihood that a subordinate will raise disagreement, give candid feedback, and point out errors to a supervisor.     

Effect of the SNS-Based Physical Activity-Related Psychological Intervention on Physical Activity and Psychological Constructs among Inactive University Students

Background/ObjectiveThe current study investigated the effects of the physical activity-related psychological intervention via social network service (SNS) on physical activity and psychological constructs in inactive university students.MethodThirty inactive university students participated in the 12-week intervention and received the physical activity-related psychological strategy via SNS. The physical activity levels, stages of physical activity, self-efficacy, pros, and cons were measured at the three time points (baseline, after 6 weeks, and after 12 weeks). Data analyses included frequency analysis, McNemar chi-square (χ²) test, and a repeated measures ANOVA were conducted.ResultsResults indicated that the number of inactive university students gradually decreased across the three different time points, and that a total physical activity of inactive university students significantly increased over the 12-week intervention. In addition, pros and self-efficacy significantly increased but cons gradually decreased over the intervention.ConclusionsThe current study suggests that the SNS-based physical activity-related psychological strategies have positive effects on promoting physical activity and its related psychological constructs for inactive university students.     

Relationships between stigma-identity constructs and psychological health outcomes among adults who stutter

PurposeIn the current study, stuttering was conceptualized as a concealable stigmatized identity (CSI). The purpose of this investigation was to determine if four specific stigma-identity constructs that contribute to variability in psychological distress among people in other CSI groups also contribute among adult who stutter (AWS).Method505 AWS completed an online survey that included measures of four stigma-identity constructs in addition to general demographics and measures of self-rated stuttering severity, distress, and adverse impact of stuttering on quality of life. Hierarchical regression was performed to determine the extent that stigma-identity constructs explained variability in psychological health outcomes among AWS. Self-rated stuttering severity was investigated as a moderator in these relationships.ResultsThe stigma-identity constructs accounted for a significant proportion of the variability in distress (∼25 %) and adverse impact of stuttering on quality of life (∼30 %) among AWS. Further, the constructs of salience, centrality, and concealment were positively predictive of distress and adverse impact of stuttering after controlling for demographics and neuroticism. Compared to the other predictor variables (self-rated stuttering severity, demographic characteristics, neuroticism, and the three other stigma-identity constructs), concealment was the strongest predictor of adverse impact of stuttering on quality of life. Finally, self-rated stuttering severity was a moderating variable.ConclusionsThe results from this study suggest that there are useful applications in conceptualizing stuttering as a type of CSI. Speech-language pathologists should be aware of the relationships that stigma has with psychological health outcomes among AWS and should consider the implications for intervention.     

Issues in Assessing Psychological Characteristics at a Distance: An Introduction to the Symposium

This article provides an overview of the issues, methods, and constructs presented in the papers for the symposium Issues in Assessing Psychological Characteristics at a Distance. These papers share a substantive focus on the psychological characteristics of U.S. presidents and a common commitment to the use of 'at-a-distance' assessment techniques. In this context, at-a distance measures raise several substantive and methodological issues, including the connections between leaders and advisors, the value of public versus private rhetoric, and differences between spontaneous and prepared source material. The authors of the papers use two psychological constructs, the operational code and conceptual complexity, to investigate these issues and to illustrate the utility of at-a-distance methods for assessing psychological characteristics.     

On the nature and direction of relationships between constructs and measures

Theory development typically focuses on relationships among theoretical constructs, placing little emphasis on relationships between constructs and measures. In most cases, constructs are treated as causes of their measures. However, this causal flow is sometimes reversed, such that measures are viewed as causes of constructs. Procedures have been developed to identify and estimate models that specify constructs as causes or effects of measures. However, these procedures provide little guidance for determining a priori whether constructs should be specified as causes or effects of their measures. Moreover, these procedures address few of the possible causal structures by which constructs and measures may be related. This article develops principles for specifying the direction and structure of relationships between constructs and measures. These principles are illustrated using examples from psychological, sociological, and organizational research.     

Effects of Dohsa‐hou relaxation on body awareness and psychological distress1

Relaxation is one of the most frequently used methods for treating psychological and physical problems. Many relaxation methods are effective treatments for various psychological problems. Body awareness could be an important component of body‐oriented psychological treatment. In this study, a self‐report measure for the assessment of body awareness was developed, and its psychometric characteristics and relationships with other psychological constructs were examined. The effect of Dohsa‐hou relaxation was investigated using the developed Body Awareness Scale (BAS). The results showed that the BAS had good internal consistency and test‐retest reliability, and that it was associated with related psychological constructs. Dohsa‐hou relaxation led to increased body awareness and decreased psychological distress. The BAS can be a useful instrument in the field of body‐oriented psychotherapy research and related treatment methods, and increased body awareness has an important role in Dohsa‐hou relaxation therapy.     

Cultural Psychology: Implications for Basic Psychological Theory

A theoretical argument for the importance of culture in psychological explanation is offered. It is maintained that the view that culture is integral to psychological theory rests on a meaning-based view of culture and on the recognition that culture is necessary in individual psychological development. Research on cognition and on the self is discussed briefly to illustrate ways in which work in cultural psychology is contributing to basic psychological theory. In future research, greater attention needs to be given to developing more sensitive understandings of culture and to incorporating these understandings in the constructs and methods of the discipline. In conclusion, cultural psychology is shown to represent a perspective to bring to bear in all types of psychological inquiry. While building on existing work in the field, cultural psychology offers an alternative vision that underscores respects in which psychological development represents an open, culturally mediated process.     

Signed difference analysis: Theory and application

Psychological constructs can only be measured indirectly in terms overt behavior, often by means of changes in the level of performance on tasks they are presumed to affect. However, the exact relationship between constructs and the tasks they are presumed to affect is usually not known, which often requires non-essential auxiliary assumptions to be added to a psychological model to allow it to contact the data. Signed difference analysis is a method of deriving testable consequences from psychological models under the general assumption that the relationship between task performance and the constructs or combinations of constructs postulated by the model is at least monotonic. The predictions derived using signed difference analysis do not depend upon estimation of either model parameters or explicit functional relationships. In the present paper, the mathematical theory of signed difference analysis is presented and applied to illustrative problems drawn from research in memory, spatial attention, and reading. The relationships between signed difference analysis and related inferential procedures such as conjoint measurement, state-trace analysis, and double dissociation are discussed.     

The Roles of Persistence and Perseveration in Psychopathology

Two constructs were hypothesized to be of importance in psychological disorders: persistence (the ability to keep going to reach a goal, even when the task is difficult or drawn out) and perseveration (the tendency to continue a behavior, even when it ceases to be effective or rewarding). These are contrasted with perfectionism (having high standards for oneself or others). A measure was developed to address these constructs (the Persistence, Perseveration and Perfectionism Questionnaire; PPPQ). The PPPQ was administered to 325 nonclinical participants, alongside a measure of psychological disturbance. Factor analysis resulted in a 22-item version of the measure, consisting of subscales with good psychometric properties corresponding to the 3 theoretical constructs. Persistence was associated with lower levels of psychopathology, whereas perseveration was associated with higher levels of psychopathology. Perfectionism was weakly associated with psychopathology. Further work is needed to develop these constructs with clinical groups, but the findings support the hypothesis that persistence is an adaptive construct whereas perseveration is maladaptive.     

Effects of Psychological Distance and Need for Cognitive Closure on Impression Formation

Based on theoretical and empirical similarities between Construal level theory of psychological distance and the Need for cognitive closure (NFC) theory, it could be hypothesized that psychological distance and NFC represent constructs that overlap to some degree. Since both theories describe judgmental behavior in terms of schematic processing, we hypothesized that primacy effect, a schema-driven phenomenon, is strengthened under the heightened NFC and psychological distance. We tested this hypothesis in an impression formation experiment while manipulating psychological distance and measuring NFC. Low NFC and psychological closeness reflect preference for situationally specific, contextually rich information, and therefore their joint effect resulted in reliance on all available information regardless of their position in a sequence. High NFC and psychological distance produced a preference for clear, schematic, stable knowledge, and therefore weighed first information more, which resulted in the primacy effect.     

Patterns of continuity: a dynamic model for conceptualizing the stability of individual differences in psychological constructs across the life course

In contemporary psychology there is debate over whether individual differences in psychological constructs are stable over extended periods of time. The authors argue that it is impossible to resolve such debates unless researchers focus on patterns of stability and the developmental mechanisms that may give rise to them. To facilitate this shift in emphasis, they describe a formal model that integrates 3 developmental processes: stochastic-contextual processes, person-environment transactions, and developmental constancies. The theoretical and mathematical analyses indicate that this model makes novel predictions about the way in which test-retest correlations are structured across a wide range of ages and test-retest intervals. The authors illustrate the utility of the model by comparing its predictions against meta-analytic data on Neuroticism. The discussion emphasizes the value of focusing on patterns of continuity, not only as phenomena to be explained but as data capable of clarifying the developmental processes underlying stability and change for a variety of psychological constructs.     

Consistent constructs in individuals’ risk taking in decisions from experience

The current research evaluates the consistency of different constructs affecting risk taking in individuals’ experiential decisions across different levels of risk. Specifically, we contrast three major views concerning the psychological constructs that underlie risk taking behavior. The first is the classical economic approach which views risk as the sensitivity to differences in variance. The second is the latent-components approach suggesting the importance of sensitivity to losses and diminishing sensitivity to marginal increases in payoffs. The third approach, risk acceptance, relates to the willingness to accept probable outcomes over certainty. The results of three studies indicate that (1) Individuals do not exhibit consistency in their sensitivity to variance. (2) Consistent diminishing sensitivity is found within the gain and loss domains, but across these domains individuals seem to be consistent only when deciding between constant versus probable outcomes, suggesting that they reliably differ in their risk acceptance. (3) Risk acceptance appears to entail different psychological constructs when the decision problem involves co-occurring gains and losses.     

Toward an action-theoretical model of personality

An action-theoretical model of personality is presented, in which missing links between action-theory and personality constructs are established. Background is the facts, (a) that current psychological theories of action are limited to situation- and action-specific person variables, and (b) that in personality theory systematic relations between such variables and personality constructs are missing. The action-theoretical model of personality is based on a differentiated expectancy-value theory, whose situation-specific constructs (various aspects of valences and expectancies) are logically connected with personality constructs of generalized self-referential cognitions. The following action-theoretical personality variables are proposed to be central for the study of person-situation interactions: (a) self-concept of own competence, (b) control orientations, (c) trust, (d) conceptualization level, and (e) value orientations. The model implies rules for the operationalization of its constructs and for prediction of behaviour. The structure of the action-theoretical personality variables and their relations to other theories of personality are described.     

Testing the degree of cross-sectional and longitudinal dependence between two discrete dynamic processes

Developmental research often involves studying change across 2 or more processes or constructs simultaneously. A natural question in this work is whether change in these 2 processes is related or independent. Associative latent transition analysis (ALTA) was designed to test hypotheses about the degree to which change in 2 discrete latent variables is related. The ALTA model is a type of latent class model, which is a categorical latent variable model based on categorical indicators. In the ALTA approach, level and change on 1 variable is predicted by level and change in another. Two types of hypotheses are discussed: (a) broad hypotheses of dependence between the 2 discrete latent variables and (b) targeted hypotheses comparing specific patterns of change between levels of the discrete variables. Both types of hypotheses are tested via nested model comparisons. Analyses of relations between psychological state and substance use illustrate the model. Recent psychological state and recent substance use were found to be associated cross-sectionally and longitudinally, implying that change in recent substance use was related to change in recent psychological state.     

Evidence for the specificity of control motivations in worldview defense: Distinguishing compensatory control from uncertainty management and terror management processes

Research inspired by the compensatory control model (CCM) shows that people compensate for personal control threats by bolstering aspects of the cultural worldview that afford external control. According to the CCM these effects stem from the motivation to maintain perceived order, but it is alternatively possible that they represent indirect efforts to bolster distally related psychological structures described by uncertainty management theory (self-relevant certainty) and terror management theory (death-transcendence). To assess whether compensatory control processes play a unique role in worldview defense, we hypothesized that personal control threats would increase affirmation of cultural constructs that specifically bolster order more so than constructs that bolster distally related structures. The results of 5 studies provide converging support for this hypothesis in the context of attitudes toward diverse cultural constructs (Study 1: national culture; Studies 2 and 3: consumer products;  and : political candidates). Also supporting hypotheses, uncertainty salience and mortality salience elicited greater affirmation of identity- and immortality-conferring targets, respectively, compared to order-conferring constructs. Discussion focuses on the value of different perspectives on existential motivation for predicting specific forms of worldview defense.