Profiling the "pro-environmental individual": a personality perspective

There is considerable scientific interest in the psychological correlates of pro‐environmental behaviors. Much research has focused on demographic and social‐psychological characteristics of individuals who consistently perform such actions. Here, we report the results of 2 studies in which we explored relations between broad personality traits and pro‐environmental actions. Using a wide variety of behavior and personality measures, we consistently found moderate positive relations between Openness to Experience and pro‐environmental activities in both a community sample (Study 1: N = 778) and an undergraduate student sample (Study 2: N = 115). In Study 2, we showed that the effect of Openness on pro‐environmental behaviors was fully mediated by individuals’ environmental attitudes and connection to nature. Our findings suggest that high levels of aesthetic appreciation, creativity, and inquisitiveness, but not personality traits associated with altruism, may have motivated the performance of pro‐environmental actions among our respondents. Implications for intervention development are discussed.     

How to refrain from answering Kripke’s puzzle

In this paper, I investigate the prospects for using the distinction between rejection and denial to resolve Saul Kripke??s puzzle about belief. One puzzle Kripke presents in ??A Puzzle About Belief?? poses what would have seemed a fairly straightforward question about the beliefs of the bilingual Pierre, who is disposed to sincerely and reflectively assent to the French sentence ??Londres est jolie??, but not to the English sentence ??London is pretty??, both of which he understands perfectly well. The question to be answered is whether Pierre believes that London is pretty, and Kripke argues, of each answer, that it is unacceptable. On my proposal, either answer to the question is to be rejected, but neither answer is to be denied, using the resource of partially-defined predicates. After demonstrating how this serves as a solution to the puzzle, I illustrate some philosophical motivations??independent of Kripke??s puzzle??for adopting a view on which belief is a partially defined predicate. I conclude that there are decent prospects for the proposed response to Kripke??s puzzle.     

Psychology of Conversion and Spiritual Transformation

This article provides an overview of the four major psychological approaches used in the study of religious change. A heuristic stage model of conversion consisting of seven stages: context, crisis, quest, encounter, interaction, commitment, and consequences (Rambo 1995) serves as a framework for integrating the research of these four approaches, providing a fuller understanding of the multilayered processes involved in conversion. The authors hope that the phenomenon of spiritual transformation and conversion will continue to draw the attention of psychologists who increasingly appreciate the complexity and dynamism of religious/spiritual transformation. For the psychology of religion in general and the psychology of conversion and spiritual transformation in particular to be viable and valuable, psychologists will need to join with researchers in the human sciences and religious studies to develop methods and theories worthy of this complex subject. Additionally, through collaboration with psychologists in the People’s Republic of China, the authors look forward to exploring together the fascinating and important issues that emerge as we seek to understand the nature of conversion and spiritual transformation in China.     

Not Every Splitting Heyting or Interior Algebra is Finitely Presentable

We give an example of a variety of Heyting algebras and of a splitting algebra in this variety that is not finitely presentable. Moreover, we show that the corresponding splitting pair cannot be defined by any finitely presentable algebra. Also, using the G?del-McKinsey-Tarski translation and the Blok-Esakia theorem, we construct a variety of Grzegorczyk algebras with similar properties.     

Developing a Prevention Synthesis and Translation System to Promote Science‐Based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy,HIV and STI Prevention

The Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) is a multi‐system framework that can guide research‐to‐practice efforts by building and supporting the work of three interacting systems: the Prevention Delivery, Support, and Synthesis and Translation Systems. The Synthesis and Translation system is vital to bridging science and practice, yet how to develop it and train support system partners to use it is under‐researched. This article bridges this gap by offering a case example of the planning, development, and use of a synthesis and translation product called Promoting Science‐based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention using Getting To Outcomes. The case presented documents the process used for developing the synthesis and translation product, reports on efforts to engage the Prevention Support system to use the product, and how we approached building interaction between the Synthesis and Translation System and the Support System partners. Practice‐oriented evaluation data are also presented. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed. Special Issue: Advances in Bridging Research and Practice Using the Interactive System Framework for Dissemination and Implementation; Guest Editors: Abraham Wandersman, Paul Flaspohler, Catherine A. Lesesne, Richard Puddy; Action Editor: Emilie Phillips Smith     

Understanding emotion: lessons from anxiety

We agree that conceptualisation is key in understanding the brain basis of emotion. We argue that by conflating facial emotion recognition with subjective emotion experience, Lindquist et al. understate the importance of biological predisposition in emotion. We use examples from the anxiety disorders to illustrate the distinction between these two phenomena, emphasising the importance of both emotional hardware and contextual learning.     

Development of an Evidence-Based Information Booklet to Support Parents of Children Without a Diagnosis

The aim of this study was to develop an evidence-based psychosocial information booklet for parents of children without a specific diagnosis, many of whom are seen through the genetic clinic. A mixed methods approach was adopted involving four phases. The first two phases involving a systematic review and in-depth interviews are summarised briefly but reported in detail elsewhere. Phase 3 comprised: (1) a grey literature search to identify relevant literature and resources from other patient organizations; (2) drafting the booklet using themes identified through the previous phases; (3) piloting the booklet with eight professional and support group stakeholders and (4) piloting the booklet with 14 parents (from Phase 2) to ensure the information reflected their experiences. In Phase 4, we assessed satisfaction with the booklet through a questionnaire completed by 38 parents. The booklet was well accepted. The importance of providing the booklet at the beginning of the parental ‘journey’ was identified. We have developed an evidence-based information booklet to support parents via a rigorous mixed methods approach. This booklet meets a largely unmet psychosocial need and could be used in practice to support parents of children without a diagnosis.     

Violence in criminal careers: A review of the literature from a developmental life-course perspective

The criminal career paradigm focuses on the prevalence and frequency of crime along with an emphasis on offense specialization, age of onset and desistance, offense seriousness, and career length. Coinciding with the criminal career framework, developmental/life-course criminology offers more complex theoretical explanations for crime which highlight the importance of age-graded developmental risk factors that affect offending over the course of a criminal career. This review provides a systematic examination of the role of violence in criminal career and developmental/life-course research with a specific focus on its prevalence and frequency and its share of the offense repertoire. The results show that the incidence of violence is rare in one's criminal career except for a small group of chronic offenders who are responsible for a majority of the violent offenses. Regarding specialization, evidence suggests that offenders are spectacularly non-specialized and violent offenders can primarily be characterized as frequent offenders who offend more often and thereby have a higher probability of committing a violent offense in their criminal career. Conclusions and directions for future research are discussed.     

Children Apply Principles of Physical Ownership to Ideas

Adults apply ownership not only to objects but also to ideas. But do people come to apply principles of ownership to ideas because of being taught about intellectual property and copyrights? Here, we investigate whether children apply rules from physical property ownership to ideas. Studies 1a and 1b show that children (6–8 years old) determine ownership of both objects and ideas based on who first establishes possession of the object or idea. Study 2 shows that children use another principle of object ownership, control of permission—an ability to restrict others’ access to the entity in question—to determine idea ownership. In Study 3 , we replicate these findings with different idea types. In Study 4 , we determine that children will not apply ownership to every entity, demonstrating that they do not apply ownership to a common word. Taken together, these results suggest that, like adults, children as young as 6 years old apply rules from ownership not only to objects but to ideas as well.