Embodied Cognition and Humor: The Impact of Weight Sensations on Humor Experience and the Moderating Role of Gender

Research in the field of embodied cognition has shown that incidental weight sensations influence people’s evaluation of different issues. The present study expands the scope of weight-related embodiment research and investigates whether experienced funniness of cartoons is affected by haptic sensorimotor experiences. We found an interaction between gender and weight sensations (light versus heavy clipboard) on the experienced funniness of nonsense cartoons. The experienced funniness in male recipients was enhanced by heaviness, but this effect was reversed in the group of females. The effect was also present when inferring the funniness experience of other recipients. Moreover, the participants’ general mood was worsened by heaviness. Weight did not affect the extent to which serious social issues are considered with humor, but men showed a stronger tendency to do so. Overall, the results expand the current scope in embodiment research, highlight the necessity to consider inter-individual differences in this field and introduce new aspects to humor research.     

Aggressive? from Time to Time… Uncovering the Complex Associations between Time Perspectives and Aggression

The aim of this study was to empirically verify a series of hypotheses on the role of time perspective (TP) in predicting aggression, formulated on the basis of TP Theory and models of aggression. Three hundred participants completed the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) and the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ). Analysis revealed numerous significant relationships between TP dimensions and aggression. In particular, individuals scoring high on Past Negative, Present Fatalistic, and Present Hedonistic were more prone to aggressive feelings, and, in consequence, aggressive behavior. These relationships were, however, strongly attenuated in individuals with high levels of two remaining TPs – Past Positive and Future. The results provide evidence that the temporal perspective people use to structure their experience into time horizons may play a significant role in the intensity and dynamics of aggression. We discuss our results from the perspectives of psychological theories of aggression and TP.     

Associations between job burnout and self-efficacy: a meta-analysis

Background and Objectives: This study aimed at systematically reviewing and meta-analyzing the strength of associations between self-efficacy and job burnout (the global index and its components). We investigated whether these associations would be moderated by: (a) the type of measurement of burnout and self-efficacy, (b) the type of occupation, (c) the number of years of work experience and age, and (d) culture. Design and Methods: We systematically reviewed and analyzed 57 original studies (N?=?22,773) conducted among teachers (k?=?29), health-care providers (k?=?17), and other professionals (k?=?11). Results: The average effect size estimate for the association between self-efficacy and burnout was of medium size (?.33). Regarding the three burnout components, the largest estimate of the average effect (?.49) was found for the lack of accomplishment. The estimates of the average effect were similar, regardless of the type of measures of burnout and self-efficacy measurement (general vs. context-specific). Significantly larger estimates of the average effects were found among teachers (compared to health-care providers), older workers, and those with longer work experience. Conclusions: Significant self-efficacy–burnout relationships were observed across countries, although the strength of associations varied across burnout components, participants' profession, and their age.     

Bimodal emotion congruency is critical to preverbal infants’ abstract rule learning

Extracting general rules from specific examples is important, as we must face the same challenge displayed in various formats. Previous studies have found that bimodal presentation of grammar‐like rules (e.g. ABA) enhanced 5‐month‐olds’ capacity to acquire a rule that infants failed to learn when the rule was presented with visual presentation of the shapes alone (circle‐triangle‐circle) or auditory presentation of the syllables (la‐ba‐la) alone. However, the mechanisms and constraints for this bimodal learning facilitation are still unknown. In this study, we used audio‐visual relation congruency between bimodal stimulation to disentangle possible facilitation sources. We exposed 8‐ to 10‐month‐old infants to an AAB sequence consisting of visual faces with affective expressions and/or auditory voices conveying emotions. Our results showed that infants were able to distinguish the learned AAB rule from other novel rules under bimodal stimulation when the affects in audio and visual stimuli were congruently paired (Experiments 1A and 2A). Infants failed to acquire the same rule when audio‐visual stimuli were incongruently matched (Experiment 2B) and when only the visual (Experiment 1B) or the audio (Experiment 1C) stimuli were presented. Our results highlight that bimodal facilitation in infant rule learning is not only dependent on better statistical probability and redundant sensory information, but also the relational congruency of audio‐visual information. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KYTyjH1k9RQ     

Lay Understanding of Happiness and the Experience of Well-Being: Are Some Conceptions of Happiness More Beneficial than Others?

The aim of the study was to understand aspects of life that men and women associate with happiness and to explore the connections between these associations and well-being (measured as positive affect, negative affect and life satisfaction) in different periods of life. Participants were 785 people who were asked to list associations that came to mind on hearing the word ‘happiness’. The moderating roles of gender and period of life (adolescence/adulthood, transition/no transition) were analysed. Participants associated happiness mostly with health and relationships. Other categories included knowledge, work, material goods and freedom. Those who associated happiness with work had higher levels of positive affect. Associating happiness with relationships predicted greater life satisfaction, whereas associating it with material goods predicted lower satisfaction. Gender moderated the relationship between associations and positive affect: associating happiness with material goods decreased positive affect among men but no such effect was observed among women; associating happiness with relationships was beneficial for women but unbeneficial for men. Additionally, associations with material goods predicted lower positive affect, especially in times of transition. Associating happiness with knowledge decreased positive affect in adolescents and increased it in adults. Some ways of understanding happiness improved life satisfaction but none were related to negative affect. The relationship between concepts of happiness and positive affect is complex; some concepts are unbeneficial only for some people and during certain periods of life.