Action Research: A Missing Component in the Emergence of Social and Cross‐Cultural Psychology as a Fully Inter‐Connected Global Enterprise

Action research, as envisaged by Lewin, uses research to solve a social problem and provide theoretical knowledge. It involves a cyclical–spiral of planning, action, and evaluation with feedback between parties, taking into account power and value differences and empowering change agents. This has been all but abandoned by social psychologists today. Contemporary ‘participatory’ action research has migrated to fields like education and development and community studies that emphasize a social constructionist epistemology with a qualitative approach of recording bottom‐up processes of social change and community self‐awareness. The globalization of psychology affords new opportunities for a return to more top‐down Lewinian traditions, where academics in the developing world – embedded within a cultural milieu of interconnectedness and relatively exempt from pressures to publish or perish – can work together with academics in wealthy countries to produce a process oriented psychology that is capable of making a difference under conditions of climate change and the end of cheap oil. Asian social psychology, where strongly indigenous psychologies have taken root in growing economies, may take a leading role in this movement.     

On the Relationships between Sum Score Based Estimation and Joint Maximum Likelihood Estimation

This paper analyzes the sum score based (SSB) formulation of the Rasch model, where items and sum scores of persons are considered as factors in a logit model. After reviewing the evolution leading to the equality between their maximum likelihood estimates, the SSB model is then discussed from the point of view of pseudo-likelihood and of misspecified models. This is then employed to provide new insights into the origin of the known inconsistency of the difficulty parameter estimates in the Rasch model. The main results consist of exact relationships between the estimated standard errors for both models; and, for the ability parameters, an upper bound for the estimated standard errors of the Rasch model in terms of those for the SSB model, which are more easily available. The authors acknowledge partial financial support from the FONDECYT Project No. 1060722 from the Chilean Government, and the BIL05/03 grant to P. De Boeck, E. Lesaffre and G. Molenberghs (Flanders) for a collaboration with G. del Pino, E. San Martín, F. Quintana and J. Manzi (Chile).     

Predicting Intention to Save Water: Theory of Planned Behavior,Response Efficacy,Vulnerability, and Perceived Efficiency of Alternative Solutions1

These 2 studies attempted to predict people's intention to save water. Study 1 used a model based on Ajzen's (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB) and other variables: vulnerability, 2 collective efficacy variables, and subjective effectiveness of alternative solutions (SEAS) to ease drought impact. Study 2 tested a model similar to that of Study 1, but with 2 personal efficacy variables added. Respondents in both studies were residents of Taiwan (Ns= 166 and 210). Analysis indicated that the modified models (R²>.32) were better than the TPB model (R²<.19), and SEAS and response efficacy had crucial effects on people's intentions to retrofit. The studies also found some significant but inconsistent effects of income, dwelling, and education.     

Drivers’ attitudes toward imperfect distraction mitigation strategies

Studies were conducted to assess driver acceptance of and trust in distraction mitigation strategies. Previous studies have shown that in-vehicle tasks undermine driver safety, and that there is a need for strategies to reduce the effects of in-vehicle distractions. Trust and acceptance of such strategies strongly influence their effectiveness. Different strategies intended to reduce distraction were categorized in a taxonomy. Focus groups were conducted to help refine this taxonomy and explore driver acceptance issues related to these strategies. A driving simulator experiment was then conducted using two of the strategies: an advising strategy that warns drivers of potential dangers and a locking strategy that prevents the driver from continuing a distracting task. These strategies were presented to 16 middle-aged and 12 older drivers in two modes (auditory, visual) with two levels of adaptation (true, false). Older drivers accepted and trusted the strategies more than middle-aged drivers. Regardless of age, all drivers preferred strategies that provided alerts in a visual mode rather than an auditory mode. When the system falsely adapted to the road situation, trust in the strategies declined. The findings show that display modality has a strong effect on driver acceptance and trust, and that older drivers are more trusting and accepting of distraction mitigation technology even when it operates imperfectly.     

Using Positive Psychological Interventions to Improve Well-Being: Are They Effective Across Cultures,for Clinical and Non-Clinical Samples?

Substantial research has shown that positive psychological interventions (PPIs) have beneficial effects on well-being. This article evaluates whether PPIs would be effective for everyone, across different cultures. It starts by reviewing the effectiveness of PPIs among the general population, as well as their effectiveness in ameliorating depressive symptoms and increasing well-being among clinical samples. Though generally beneficial, PPIs however, may not be equally effective across cultures. We present evidence showing that certain types of PPIs may be less effective for Asians than those from Western cultures. Next, the article examines whether prosocial behavior may be a PPI that is universally beneficial and the possible explanations for its widespread benefits. Finally, we proceed to propose how the current repertoire of PPIs may be expanded to include new types that may be more suited for those in collectivistic cultures. Synthesizing across these areas, this article concludes with suggestions on how PPIs can be adapted for use across cultures, as well as future directions for the field of PPIs.

     

Phenomenology of Early Childhood Onset Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

This paper describes the phenomenological features of early childhood onset obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD; defined as children meeting DSM-IV criteria for OCD with age of onset <8 years). Fifty-eight children (ages 4–8) were included in the sample. OCD and comorbid diagnoses were determined by structured interview, and OCD severity was measured using the Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS). Mean age of OCD onset was almost five, and mean age of presentation was between 6 and 7. Mean symptom severity was in the moderately severe range. Comorbidity and family history of OCD were common. Contamination and aggressive/catastrophic obsessions and washing and checking compulsions were endorsed most frequently. Results indicate that early childhood onset OCD may have a lower boy to girl ratio and lower rates of depressive disorders, but may be similar to later childhood onset OCD in terms of OCD symptom presentation and severity.     

Dispositional Affectivity and Work-Related Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis

This study meta-analytically reviews the influence of individuals' dispositional negative affectivity (NA) and positive affectivity (PA) on a broad range of work-related outcomes grouped into 3 categories: (a) work attitudes; (b) workplace experiences; and (c) work behavior. Across cumulative studies, it was found that NA and PA demonstrated significant effects on most of these outcomes. Moreover, we found some interesting differences in NA's and PA's relationships with work outcomes. Specifically, while NA had more influence on variables pertinent to work stressors (e.g., role problems), PA demonstrated a stronger effect on variables related to positive job and organizational context (e.g., job autonomy, procedural justice). Implications for theory advancement and future research in this area are discussed.     

Factor structure and psychometric features of the Italian version for the EPQ-R

Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire—Revised were investigated in an Italian sample of 553 subjects (328 females and 225 males). The main psychometric features of the questionnaire are similar to those reported for the original English form. Factor analysis, however, showed six (out of 32) items of the P scale, referring chiefly to compliance to formal rules of conduct, to have their highest loadings on the Lie factor. The consistency of this finding with previous results suggests that, in the Italian context, these items tend to be more closely connected with the social conformity aspect of the Lie scale than with the psychopathy facet of Psychoticism and should be excluded from the scoring of the P dimension.