No aging bias favoring memory for positive material: evidence from a heterogeneity-homogeneity list paradigm using emotionally toned words

Some authors argue for a memory advantage of older adults for positively toned material. To investigate the contribution of selective processing to a positivity effect, the authors investigated young (n = 72, aged 18 to 31) and older (n = 72, aged 64 to 75) adults' memory for emotionally toned words using a multitrial paradigm that compares performance for heterogeneous (mixed valence) and homogeneous (single valence) lists. Regarding the age comparison, there was no evidence for an aging bias favoring positive material. Moreover, older adults' memory was less affected by emotion-based processing prioritization. Although there was no support for age-specific processing biases in memory for emotionally toned words, the findings are consistent with proposals that negative information receives processing priority in some contexts. Possible limits to the generalizability of the present findings (e.g., to nonverbal material) are discussed.     

Selection, optimization, and compensation as strategies of life management: correction to Freund and Baltes (1998)

Because of a scoring error, the data reported in Freund and Baltes (1998) were reanalyzed. Except for finding a lower positive manifold involving the 3 components of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC), the outcome of this reanalysis supports the major findings previously reported: Old and very old participants of the Berlin Aging Study reporting SOC-related behaviors also reported higher levels of well-being and aging well. Corrected versions of Tables 3, 6, and 7 are presented.     

Testing the Structured Free Recall Intervention for Reducing the Impact of Bodyweight-Based Stereotypes on Performance Ratings in Immediate and Delayed Contexts

Purpose

This article investigates the efficacy of the Structured Free Recall Intervention (SFRI; J Bus Psychol 15:229?C246, 2000a; Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 82:237?C267, 2000b ) for reducing the impact of bodyweight-based stereotype endorsement on performance ratings, both immediately and when a time delay occurs between the observation and rating of performance.

Design/Methodology/Approach

512 undergraduates participated in a 2?×?2?×?2 between-subjects factorial experiment. A measure of bodyweight-based stereotype endorsement was pre-screened, and participants were randomly assigned to (a) either a no-delay or two-day time delay condition, (b) view either an average bodyweight or overweight ratee, and (c) undergo the SFRI or not.

Findings

Results suggest that (a) bodyweight-based stereotype endorsement predicts performance ratings for overweight ratees, (b) the SFRI is effective at reducing the impact of such stereotypes on performance ratings when conducted immediately after the observation of performance, and (c) the SFRI maintains this efficacy after a two-day delay between the observation and rating of performance.

Implications

These findings suggest that the best real-world application of the SFRI paradigm may be to situations with minimal delays between the observation and rating of performance, such as selection assessment centers or pre-employment interviews.

Originality/Value

Drawing on theories from the cognitive information processing literature, this paper extends previous research regarding the efficacy of the SFRI by demonstrating that short time delays between performance observation and rating??a common organizational phenomena??have minimal observed effects on the efficacy of the SFRI as a performance rating intervention.     

How Work-Family Research Can Finally Have an Impact in Organizations

Although work-family research has mushroomed over the past several decades, an implementation gap persists in putting work-family research into practice. Because of this, work-family researchers have not made a significant impact in improving the lives of employees relative to the amount of research that has been conducted. The goal of this article is to clarify areas where implementation gaps between work-family research and practice are prevalent, discuss the importance of reducing these gaps, and make the case that both better and different research should be conducted. We recommend several alternative but complementary actions for the work-family researcher: (a) work with organizations to study their policy and practice implementation efforts, (b) focus on the impact of rapid technological advances that are blurring work-family boundaries, (c) conduct research to empower the individual to self-manage the work-family interface, and (d) engage in advocacy and collaborative policy research to change institutional contexts and break down silos. Increased partnerships between industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology practitioners and researchers from many industries and disciplines could break down silos that we see as limiting development of the field.     

Toward a developmental psychology of Sehnsucht (life longings): the optimal (utopian) life

The topic of an optimal or utopian life has received much attention across the humanities and the arts but not in psychology. The German concept of Sehnsucht captures individual and collective thoughts and feelings about one's optimal or utopian life. Sehnsucht (life longings; LLs) is defined as an intense desire for alternative states and realizations of life. Presenting a first effort at capturing this phenomenon, the authors conceptualize LLs as composed of 6 interrelated core characteristics: (a) utopian conceptions of ideal development; (b) sense of incompleteness and imperfection of life; (c) conjoint time focus on the past, present, and future; (d) ambivalent (bittersweet) emotions; (e) reflection and evaluation of one's life; and (f) symbolic richness. Self-report data from 299 adults (19-81 years) support the postulated structure and support predictions regarding the functional role of Sehnsucht. Having LLs was evaluated as providing direction to development and helping to manage life's incompleteness. At the same time, the frequent and intense experience of LLs was associated with lower well-being. When LLs were perceived as controllable, however, this negative association disappeared.     

Does a structured free recall intervention reduce the effect of stereotypes on performance ratings and by what cognitive mechanism?

The purpose of this article was to extend previous work on the effect of racial biases on performance ratings. The 1st of 2 studies examined whether a structured free recall intervention decreased the influence of negative racial biases on the performance ratings of Black men. Results indicated that without the intervention, raters who endorsed a negative stereotype of Black men as managers evaluated Black men more negatively. However, the structured free recall intervention successfully reduced these effects. The second study examined in more detail the cognitive mechanisms underlying the success of the intervention. Results are consistent with the assumption that the reduction of the influence of racial biases under structured free recall conditions is a consequence of a modified strength threshold for retrieval of behaviors from memory.     

A comparative test of work-family conflict models and critical examination of work-family linkages

This paper is a comprehensive meta-analysis of over 20 years of work-family conflict research. A series of path analyses were conducted to compare and contrast existing work-family conflict models, as well as a new model we developed which integrates and synthesizes current work-family theory and research. This new model accounted for 40% of the variance in job satisfaction, 38% of the variance in family satisfaction, and 35% of the variance in life satisfaction. In a critical examination of work-family linkages, a series of analyses excluding work-family conflict constructs and pathways resulted in a well-fitting and more parsimonious model that still accounted for 39% of the variance in job satisfaction, 37% of the variance in family satisfaction, and 33% of the variance in life satisfaction. Results indicate that direct effects drive work-family conflict models while indirect effects provide little incremental explanation in regards to satisfaction outcomes.     

Regulatory fit as a determinant of sport performance: How to succeed in a soccer penalty-shooting

ObjectivesAccording to regulatory focus theory, goal pursuit can be achieved by either keeping a promotion or a prevention focus [Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52, 1280–1300; Higgins, E. T. (2000). Making a good decision: value from fit. American Psychologist, 55, 1217–1230]. Moreover, it has been assumed that people experience fit when they pursue a goal in a manner that sustains their chronic orientation and that fit has a positive impact on performance. In two studies, we investigated the significance of regulatory focus and fit in the realm of sports performance, such as the success rate in a soccer penalty-shooting task.Methods and ResultsIn a pilot study, we assessed the chronic regulatory orientation of 211 athletes from different sports. Among others, we found more promotion focus with attackers than with defenders. In the main study, we assessed the chronic regulatory orientation of 20 soccer players who took part in a penalty-shooting task. For half of them, the task was described in terms of promotion, for the others in terms of prevention. We found a positive impact of regulatory fit on scoring performance.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate a great potential of regulatory focus theory for the understanding and enhancement of sport performance. The assessment of athletes' chronic regulatory orientation could be of importance for the selection of athletes, the adjustment of tactics and strategies, and coaches' framing of instructions.     

Widowhood and illness: a comparison of social network characteristics in France, Germany, Japan, and the United States.

This study examined social network characteristics of adults aged 70 to 90 years in relation to widowhood and illness in France, Germany, Japan, and the United States. Participants were drawn from representative samples from each of the 4 countries (total N = 1,331). Resource deficit profiles based on whether respondents were widowed, ill, both, or neither were directly related to social network characteristics for German and Japanese adults, were differentially related by gender and age for French adults, and were not related to social networks of Americans. Country, gender, and age differences in total network size, proportion of close network members, and frequency of contact with network members are reported. Similarities and differences found in the associations between normative late-life deficits and social network characteristics in the 4 countries point to the importance of investigating sociocultural factors that mediate the impact of resource loss and afford life quality in very old age.     

Basic forms of cognitive plasticity extended into the oldest-old: retest learning, age, and cognitive functioning

To address the question of whether cognitive plasticity varies by age and level of cognitive functioning in the older population, the authors used a self-guided retest paradigm to assess the basic forms of plasticity of 34 young-olds (M=74.4 years, range=70-79) and 34 oldest-olds (M=84.0 years, range=80-91), with half in each age group screened for high or low (midrange) level of cognitive functioning. As a whole, members of the sample represent about the upper two thirds of their age cohorts. Results show persistent, though age-reduced, learning in all samples and across all tests. However, age is not differentially "kinder" to the more able with respect to the age-graded decline in learning.