The influence of materialism and ideal body internalization on body‐dissatisfaction and body‐shaping behaviors of young men and women: Support for the Consumer Culture Impact Model

Exposure to media images of the ‘body‐perfect’ ideal has been partly blamed for the pursuit of thinness among women and muscularity among men. Research has largely overlooked the materialistic messages frequently associated with these images. We present findings from two studies with Icelandic students aged 18–21, one focusing on young women (n = 303) and one on young men (n = 226), which test associations of materialistic and body‐perfect ideals with body dissatisfaction and excessive body shaping behaviors. In both studies, the internalization of materialistic values is strongly linked to the internalization of body‐perfect ideals: the thin‐ideal for young women, and the muscular‐ideal for young men. A materialist value orientation also predicted body dissatisfaction in both studies, and was linked to body shaping behaviors, albeit differently for young women and men. Thus, the research identifies materialism as a further correlate of both body dissatisfaction and excessive body‐shaping behaviors. The findings support Dittmar's ( 2008 ) Consumer Culture Impact Model, which proposes that the body‐perfect and ‘material good life’ ideals jointly impact well‐being.     

The role of verbal memory in regressions during reading is modulated by the target word’s recency in memory

During reading, a number of eye movements are made backward, on words that have already been read. Recent evidence suggests that such eye movements, called regressions, are guided by memory. Several studies point to the role of spatial memory, but evidence for the role of verbal memory is more limited. In the present study, we examined the factors that modulate the role of verbal memory in regressions. Participants were required to make regressions on target words located in sentences displayed on one or two lines. Verbal interference was shown to affect regressions, but only when participants executed a regression on a word located in the first part of the sentence, irrespective of the number of lines on which the sentence was displayed. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the effect of verbal interference on words located in the first part of the sentence disappeared when participants initiated the regression from the middle of the sentence. Our results suggest that verbal memory is recruited to guide regressions, but only for words read a longer time ago.     

Moral disengagement moderates the predicted effect of trait self‐control on self‐reported aggression

An increasing number of studies reveal that self‐control is an important preventative factor for aggression. However, the involvement of potential explanatory variables has received less research attention. Drawing upon the feedback‐loop model of self‐control, the current research assumed that the preventing effect of trait self‐control on aggression may be moderated by moral disengagement. Self‐reported measures of trait self‐control, moral disengagement and aggression were administered to 946 Chinese university students. Results show that trait self‐control had a negative effect on physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger and hostility, whereas moral disengagement positively predicted each of these constructs. Of particular importance was a significant interaction between trait self‐control and moral disengagement for verbal aggression and hostility. Specifically, the preventing effect of trait self‐control on these two types of aggression was more pronounced in individuals with low rather than high moral disengagement. In conclusion, low conditional endorsement of transgressive acts and having high trait self‐control are both important individual‐difference variables that explain reduced aggression.     

Real men are made,not born! Incidental exposure to energy drinks may promote men's tolerance of physical pain

The energy drink market has grown exponentially since the debut of Red Bull. Advertising of energy drinks tends to reinforce an emphasis on masculine identification. However, no previous study has addressed the symbolic effect of energy drinks on pain tolerance, that is, a particular masculine characteristic. We conducted a priming‐based experiment to show that energy drink primes elevated men's pain tolerance. Induced conformity to masculinity norms mediated the priming effect of energy drinks on pain tolerance. These findings suggest that mere reminders of masculinity‐related products can lead men to behave accordingly in seemingly irrelevant domains (i.e., pain tolerance). Besides distraction and placebo treatment, the connection between a symbolic masculinity prime and greater tolerance of pain may shed lights on an alternative route for pain control.     

Women's hairstyle and men's behavior: A field experiment

Little research has examined the effect of women's hairstyles on people's behavior. In a field study, male and female passersby, walking alone in the street, were observed while walking behind a female‐confederate who dropped a glove and apparently was unaware of her loss. The confederate had long dark hair arranged in three different hairstyles: one with her hair falling naturally on her shoulders and her back, one with her hair tied in a ponytail, and one with her hair twisted in a bun. Results reported that the hairstyle had no effect on female passersby's helping behavior. However, it was found that the hairstyle influenced male passersby with men helping the confederate more readily when her hair fell naturally on her neck, shoulders and upper back.     

Crystallization acceleration of amorphous Fe40Ni40P14B6 alloy by fluxing technique

The effect of fluxing on the structure and the crystallization of amorphous Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P₁₄B₆ alloy has been studied. Subjected to fluxing, the incubation time upon isothermal crystallization decreases, whereas, the onset crystallization temperature upon non-isothermal crystallization (with constant heating rate) decreases, and crystallization peaks become less sharp. via structural characterization, it is considered that fluxing promotes relaxation of the system; the atomic structure becomes more similar to the corresponding crystallized phase, thus alleviating the transient effect on nucleation and accelerates the crystallization.     

Momentary Return of the Cosmic Unconscious: The Nature of Zen/Chan Enlightenment

Zen/Chan, which used to be a Far Eastern philosophy-cum-religion, has evolved into a global cultural phenomenon. Despite the many views expressed by numerous thinkers in the world, the consensus on Chan and Chan enlightenment remains an agnostic Oriental mysticism. By exploring Chan and enlightenment from a combined perspective of history, philosophy, psychology, religion and linguistics, this article proposes a hitherto unexpressed view. Chan enlightenment is a prenatal physico-psychological existence, which grows out of a fetal subject’s perception of the womb. Although this primordial mode of perception is unconscious, it is cosmic in nature because for the fetal subject the womb is the whole world with which it feels to be at one. This unconscious oneness may be termed the ‘cosmic unconscious’. Once born, no one can return to the prenatal mental state, but through personal cultivation and Chan practice one can experience a fleeting moment of the cosmic unconscious. In the final analysis, the essence of Chan enlightenment is a momentary return of the cosmic unconscious. It is, therefore, not a great wisdom which enables one to have a profound understanding of the self and the world, but a non-wisdom induced by a return to the prenatal primal being of life.     

创造性人格与员工创造力:一个被调节的中介模型研究

本文基于动机行动和成就动机理论,构建一个被调节的中介模型以检验创造性人格对员工创造力产生的作用机理。以251套来自主管-下属配对的问卷数据为样本,实证分析结果表明:创造性人格可预测员工创造力产生,学习目标导向与绩效证明目标导向在两者之间起部分中介作用;内在动机能够强化个体目标导向对创造力的作用,并显著正向调节创造性人格对员工创造力的间接效应。最后,论文讨论了研究发现对员工创造力产生的理论和实践意义。     

儿童状态社会创造性的跨文化研究:基于中美文化的比较

从中国和美国中部地区选取小学儿童236人,采用状态社会创造性开放问卷和教师领导方式结构式问卷考察了儿童状态社会创造性的文化差异及其与教师领导方式的关系。结果表明:(1)总体上,美国儿童在社会性问题解决中表现出较强的流畅性和变通性等创造性思维品质,但中国儿童表现出较强的适当性、有效性和冒险性等社会适应和人格状态;(2)状态社会创造性总体上存在着国别与年级之间的交互作用,美国的四年级儿童状态社会创造性得分显著高于五年级儿童;(3)教师领导方式的各个维度均不存在显著的预测作用。中美儿童的状态社会创造性既有相似之处又有不同之处。