Commitment to the environment: the role of subjective norms in college and community samples

We tested a model of antecedents and outcomes of commitment to the environment, defined as psychological attachment and long‐term orientation to the natural world, hypothesizing that satisfaction with, investments in, and subjective norms about the environment would predict commitment, which, in turn, would predict willingness to sacrifice for the environment. In two studies, the model was supported in undergraduate and community samples, and for general commitment to the environment as well as commitment to specific proenvironmental behaviors. Individuals who are satisfied with and invested in the natural world, and who believe that those close to them value it as well, are likely to be committed to the environment and be willing to forego selfish interests to behave proenvironmentally.     

Covered in stigma? The impact of differing levels of Islamic head‐covering on explicit and implicit biases toward Muslim women

Given the prominence of Muslim veils—in particular the hijab and full‐face veil—in public discourse concerning the place of Muslims in Western society, we examined their impact on non‐Muslims’ responses at both explicit and implicit levels. Results revealed that responses were more negative toward any veil compared with no veil, and more negative toward the full‐face veil relative to the hijab: for emotions felt toward veiled women (Study 1), for non‐affective attitudinal responses (Study 2), and for implicit negative attitudes revealed through response latency measures (Studies 3a and 3b). Finally, we manipulated the perceived reasons for wearing a veil, finding that exposure to positive reasons for wearing a veil led to better predicted and imagined contact (Study 4). Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

There’s No Need to Rethink Desert: A Reply to Pummer

Pummer (Philosophical Review 123(1): 43–77, 2014) ingeniously wraps together issues from the personal identity literature with issues from the literature on desert. However, I wish to take issue with the main conclusion that he draws, namely, that we need to rethink the following principle: Desert.: When people culpably do very wrong or bad acts, they deserve punishment in the following sense: at least other things being equal they ought to be made worse off, simply in virtue of the fact that they culpably did wrong—even if they have repented, are now virtuous, and punishing them would benefit no one. (Pummer Philosophical Review 123(1):43–77, 2014: 43–44) Pummer offers an argument that is intended to show that this principle, along with widely-held views about personal identity, entails an inconsistent triad of propositions. I agree. But I think Pummer's argument attacks a straw man. I believe that no-one holds Desert, at least as it is stated, and that once the principle is stated correctly it is easy to see that no inconsistent triad follows from it. So, Desert does not need rethinking. It just needs to be stated correctly.     

Simultaneously Observing Concurrently-Available Schedules as a Means to Study the Near Miss Event in Simulated Slot Machine Gambling

Traditionally, near-miss events in games of skill provide feedback to an individual regarding his or her performance. However, in games of chance, like slot machine gambling, the use fails to carry over. A near miss in slot machine gambling may still be endorsed when most of the symbols falling on a payline match, though technically this arrangement provides no real measure of skill or progress. To date, attempts to study the near miss in slot machine gambling have used resistance to extinction and preference assessment preparations, both of which unsuccessfully capture any putative reinforcement properties. The current investigation introduces a new methodology to assess putative conditioned reinforcement properties of stimuli correlated with the near miss in simulated slot machine gambling by incorporating the observing response with concurrently available schedules, termed simultaneous observing. Successful tests of the methodology regarding schedule-correlated stimuli in relation to win rates demonstrate its potential use, and failure to identify a near-miss event as producing reinforcing effects for schedule-correlated stimuli adds credibility to its ability to discriminate between functions.

     

Are Citizens “Receiving the Treatment”? Assessing a Key Link in Contextual Theories of Public Opinion and Political Behavior

The theorization and empirical exploration of contextual effects is a long‐standing feature of public opinion and political behavior research. At present, however, there is little to no evidence that citizens actually perceive the local contextual factors theorized to influence their attitudes and behaviors. In this article, we focus on two of the most prevalent contextual factors appearing in theories—racial/ethnic and economic context—to investigate whether citizens' perceptions of their local ethnic and economic contexts map onto variation in the actual ethnic composition and economic health of these environments. Using national survey data combined with Census data, and focusing on the popular topics of immigration and unemployment, we find that objective measures of the size of the immigrant population and unemployment rate in respondents' county and zip code strongly predict perceived levels of local immigration and assessments of the health of one's local job market. In addition to demonstrating that citizens are “receiving the treatment,” we show that perceptions of one's context overwhelmingly mediate the effect of these objective contextual factors on relevant economic and immigration attitudes. The results from our analyses provide scholars with unprecedented evidence that a key perceptual process presumed in various contextual theories of political attitudes and behavior is, in fact, valid.     

The Mediating Role of Street Code Attitudes on the Self-Control and Crime Relationship

Research has demonstrated strong but independent attention to the role of self-control and street code attitudes in predicting criminal and violent behavior. Yet, there are good theoretical notions to believe that street code attitudes may be a salient mechanism in the self-control–offending relationship. Specifically, the present study investigates: (1) the extent to which self-control predicts adopting street code attitudes and (2) whether street code attitudes mediate the effect of self-control on criminal behavior. Using data collected from a multisite sample of over 900 young adults, we assess this mediation hypothesis for three distinct types of criminal activity: violent, property, and drug use. Our results reveal that individuals with lower self-control are more likely to adopt street code attitudes, that self-control is related to all three forms of offending, and that street code attitudes fully mediate the effect of self-control on violence, partially on property crime, but not in the case of drug use. Findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Inter- and intra-group differences in psychological concerns among international students

With data gathered from 47 university counseling centers in the United States, this study addresses both inter- and intra-group differences in symptomatology at intake among international students. In Study 1, symptomatology among international students was explored in comparison to US ethnic groups. In Study 2, intra-group differences in symptomatology among international students were examined. In Study 1, data consisted of 14,421 international, White American, African American, Asian American, and Latina/Latino American counseling center clients who completed the CCAPS-62 at intake. Partially supporting our hypothesis, results indicate significant findings among international students in the social anxiety and academic distress domains of the CCAPS-62. Contrary to our expectations, Asian American students reported significantly greater concerns across many domains when compared to other groups. In Study 2, international students (n = 607) were further divided into five continents of origin: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe. Results indicate that in multiple domains, international students from Asia and Africa reported significantly greater concerns than those from Europe, North America, or South America. Implications of findings for university counseling centers and universities at large are discussed.     

A self-determination theory approach to problematic drinking and intimate partner violence

Problematic drinking has long been established as an important antecedent to the perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV). As little research has evaluated individual differences beyond anger in this association, this research examines problematic drinking and IPV perpetration through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT), the relational perspective suggesting individuals are motivated to be in their relationship for autonomous (i.e., self-driven) and controlled (i.e., guilt-driven) reasons. We test the hypothesis that problematic drinking is more strongly associated with IPV among those who are controlled in their motivation in four independent samples (N?=?617). College students in relationships completed measures of alcohol consumption, negative alcohol-related consequences, relationship motivation, and IPV perpetration. Results generally suggested that the association between both alcohol consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences and IPV perpetration is only significant among those endorsing greater controlled motivation. This study supports problematic drinking as not being an equal risk factor for all individuals, and suggests that some people may be more vulnerable to problematic drinking resulting in relationship aggression.