The functions of internal dialogs and their connection with personality

In previous studies, seven key functions in internal dialogs were identified: Support, Substitution, Exploration, Bond, Self‐improvement, Insight, and Self‐guiding. It was also established that internal dialogs vary in the intensity of these functions. The presented research aimed to test if there are configurations of personality variables that allow us to predict specific patterns of functions performed by internal dialogs. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that the higher the intensity of neuroticism and anxious attachment and the lower the intensity of openness and the tendency to spontaneously adopt the viewpoints of others, the more strongly a person's internal dialogs perform the Substitution function and the weaker the Insight and Support functions are. The reverse configuration of personality characteristics intensifies Insight and Support and minimized Substitution. The results are presented in the context of the status of dialogicality and discussed in the light of other studies on internal dialogs.     

Honesty–Humility and the HEXACO Structure of Religiosity and Well-Being

Past research has shown that general and intrinsic religiosity is related to higher Big Five Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and, to some extent, Extraversion. With the rise of the six-factor HEXACO (Honesty–Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness) model of personality, however, a more differentiated look at religiousness and personality is called for. It has been suggested that religiosity is more associated with Honesty–Humility than with Agreeableness. The new personality factor, Honesty–Humility has also been shown to have null or weak relations with happiness. In 5 studies involving 1375 participants from Iran, Poland, and Malaysia, the relations of Honesty–Humility and other HEXACO dimensions to religious orientation and well-being outcomes were investigated. As expected, Honesty–Humility was one of the strongest personality correlate of religiosity. Higher scores on religiousness were also associated with Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and to some extent, Extraversion showing that the main personality characteristics of religiosity are consistent across religious contexts and personality models. Relations of Honesty–Humility to psychological well-being scales were consistently positive and stronger than its relations to subjective well-being measures, suggesting that Honesty–Humility may not be “bad” for pleasure attainment and pain avoidance, but it is definitely “good” for living a virtuous, fully functioning life.     

The influence of high and low cue–action association on prospective memory performance

Recent discoveries in the field of prospective memory (PM) show higher accuracy for remembering intentions in which prospective cue and action are strongly associated. In two experiments presented in this paper, participants encoded both high and low association cue–action pairs and were later tested on both prospective and retrospective PM components. Results of both studies show higher PM accuracy for the low association pairs, compared to high association ones, but only for the prospective component (across both Experiments) and only when a high association cue was presented first (Experiment 2). This finding was accompanied by longer study times for the low association pairs and study times were functionally related to later performance (across both Experiments). In the retrospective component, higher accuracy was observed for pairs with high level of association (but only in the first Experiment). Data are discussed in the context of metacognitive processes possibly related to the encoding of an intention as well as cue monitoring in case of PM tasks with high memory load and varying task difficulty.     

The effect of imperfect memory recall on risk preferences

People often take on different levels of risk when deciding on future actions compared with when they take actions with immediate consequences. The presently reported research investigated how imperfect recall of previously chosen options influences temporal fluctuations in risk preferences. In two incentivized studies with a waiting time before decision resolution (a 4-week waiting period from an initial decision), we observed that errors in the recall of previous choices played a substantial role in constructing risk preferences for choices that are usually resolved after a delay. More specifically, in a first study, we found that after a waiting period (i.e., after participants waited for their risky choices to be resolved), participants perceived that they took less risk during their initial choices than they actually did. Importantly, when asked about whether they would change their initial choices, participants declared that they would take riskier choices. In a second study, we tested directly whether such a shift in initial choices could also be demonstrated behaviorally. Results revealed that after beliefs about past choices were induced, participants changed their risk preferences in line with the information presented during belief induction.     

Russian Eurasianism – Historiosophy and Ideology

I attempt to answer thequestion about the place of Eurasianism in theRussian intellectual tradition. I reconstructits historiosophical assumptions as well thepolitical ideology following from them. I sharethe opinion of certain historians thatEurasianism is interesting for a variety ofreasons, but I disagree with those who see init nothing more than a synthesis of standardideas often found in the history of Russianthought. Eurasianism's originality includes itsacknowledgment of the positive contribution ofthe Mongols to the history of the Russianstate, the radicalism of its critique of theWest, the innovativeness of its theory ofrevolution, as well as the absence, unusual forRussian thinkers of the period, of aneschatological sensitivity.     

Zero‐sum thinking as mediator of the relationship of national attitudes with (un)willingness to host refugees in own country

This study examines factors related to willingness to host refugees. We examined the role of national attitudes (patriotism, nationalism), out‐group attitudes (classic and modern prejudice), and zero‐sum thinking: Belief in a Zero‐Sum Game and psychological entitlement in attitudes towards hosting refugees. We proposed including zero‐sum thinking as possible mediator between national attitudes and attitudes towards refugees based on assumption that nationalism is a competitive attitude towards out‐groups, while patriotism does not. Structural equation modelling based on a Polish national sample (N = 1092) revealed that patriotism is positively associated with willingness to host refugees, through its negative association with prejudice via decreasing zero‐sum thinking. Nationalism was negatively associated with willingness to host refugees, through prejudice via increasing zero‐sum thinking. Findings are discussed in the context of current refugee policies.     

Returning to the present moment: Thinking about one’s childhood increases focus on the hedonistic present

Children seem to live more in the present moment than adults. But is it possible to make the present time perspective more available among adults? Four experiments demonstrated that activating childhood selves can lead adults to be more embedded in the hedonistic present. Studies 1 and 2 showed that recalling memories from childhood, either in an open-ended or a structured form, increased participants’ focus on the hedonistic present. Study 3 showed that this effect also occurred after an implicit childhood manipulation. Study 4 revealed that taking the perspective of a child significantly increased orientation to the hedonistic present, compared to taking the perspective of an adult. The effects of activation of childhood selves were not mediated by mood, nostalgia, impatience, concentration, difficulty of the task, enjoyment connected with the task, or involvement in the task. Evaluation of one’s childhood and tendency to relive childhood memories did not affect the results.     

Representational unification in cognitive science: Is embodied cognition a unifying perspective?

In this paper, we defend a novel, multidimensional account of representational unification, which we distinguish from integration. The dimensions of unity are simplicity, generality and scope, non-monstrosity, and systematization. In our account, unification is a graded property. The account is used to investigate the issue of how research traditions contribute to representational unification, focusing on embodied cognition in cognitive science. Embodied cognition contributes to unification even if it fails to offer a grand unification of cognitive science. The study of this failure shows that unification, contrary to what defenders of mechanistic explanation claim, is an important mechanistic virtue of research traditions.

     

Temperament and self‐based correlates of cooperative,competitive and individualistic learning preferences

People vary in the extent to which they prefer cooperative, competitive or individualistic achievement tasks. In this research, we conducted two studies designed to investigate correlates and possible roots of these social interdependence orientations, namely approach and avoidance temperament, general self‐efficacy, implicit theories of intelligence, and contingencies of self‐worth based in others' approval, competition and academic competence. The results indicated that approach temperament, general self‐efficacy and incremental theory were positively related, and entity theory was negatively related to cooperative preferences (|r| range from .11 to .41); approach temperament, general self‐efficacy, competition contingencies and academic competence contingencies were positively related to competitive preferences (|r| range from .16 to .46); and avoidance temperament, entity theory, competitive contingencies and academic competence contingencies were positively related, and incremental theory was negatively related to individualistic preferences (|r| range from .09 to .15). The findings are discussed with regard to the meaning of each of the three social interdependence orientations, cultural differences among the observed relations and implications for practitioners.