Gender moderates the relation between implicit and explicit self-esteem

Relative to men, women are more strongly socialized to trust their feelings and intuitions. We thus expected that the association between implicit and explicit self-esteem would be stronger for women than for men. That is, if implicit self-esteem contains a large intuitive, experiential or affective component, then people who are in touch with their feelings and intuitions should be more likely to report explicit self-esteem scores that are congruent with their implicit self-esteem scores. Six studies supported this idea by showing that the association between implicit and explicit self-esteem is indeed stronger for women than for men. This finding held in three different cultures and for two different measures of implicit self-esteem. We discuss the implications of this finding for debates regarding the nature and validity of implicit self-esteem.     

Does the Convergent Validity of the PAI Antisocial Features Scale Depend on Offender Response Style?

Researchers have recently questioned the utility of the response style indicators included on many self-report measures of personality and psychopathology. We examined whether the size of convergent validity coefficients for Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Antisocial Features (ANT) scores depends on PAI validity scale scores. Using PAI and Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL–R) scores from 477 offenders evaluated for civil commitment as sexually violent predators, we found that PAI Positive Impression (PIM), Negative Impression (NIM), Malingering Index (MAL), Defensiveness Index (DEF), and Infrequency (INF) scores moderated the association between ANT and PCL–R scores. The association between ANT and PCL–R scores decreased as offenders overstated psychopathology (i.e., higher NIM or MAL scores) or exhibited increasing disengagement (i.e., higher INF scores). However, the association between ANT and PCL–R scores increased as offenders engaged in defensive reporting (i.e., higher PIM or DEF scores). The interaction effects were most common for ANT–E (Egocentricity), and to a lesser extent ANT–A (Antisocial Behaviors). PAI discriminant function validity indexes did not exhibit moderating effects on ANT and PCL–R scores. There was no evidence of validity scale suppression effects. These findings provide support for the potential role of some PAI response style measures for ANT scale interpretation in forensic settings.     

A Validation Study of the Need for Affect Questionnaire–Short Form in Legal Contexts

We evaluated the psychometric properties of scores on the Need for Affect–Short Form (NAQ–S) in 3 samples: undergraduate students (Sample I), jury-eligible community members (Sample II), and forensic clinicians (Sample III). Concerning factor structure, the NAQ–S 2-factor structure displayed good fit to the data in Sample I, with mostly acceptable levels of internal consistency for both approach and avoidance scores. Construct validity patterns were observed such that approach scores were most strongly correlated with female gender and trait agreeableness scores, whereas avoidance scores were most strongly correlated to trait agreeableness scores. Criterion validity associations emerged in that approach scores displayed main effects on mock juror judgments in hate crimes, and forensic clinician judgments of violence risk estimation. Finally, avoidance scores displayed moderating effects on recommended sentencing length by hate crime victim type. Implications are discussed for emotion in legal decision making and future research.     

When Self-Blame Is Rational and Appropriate: The Limited Utility of Socratic Questioning in the Context of Moral Injury: Commentary on Wachen et al. (2016)

In this commentary, we argue that a generally sound therapeutic technique—Socratic questioning—is ill-suited to address a common variant of combat-related emotional and psychological distress. Specifically, moral injury is a term used to describe a syndrome of shame, self-handicapping, anger, and demoralization that occurs when deeply held beliefs and expectations about moral and ethical conduct are transgressed. Importantly, moral injury can and often does result from instances of intentional perpetration. We contend that challenging the accuracy of self-blame in such cases is conceptually problematic and potentially harmful. Such an approach is based on a questionable premise—i.e., that self-blame and resulting guilt are inherently illogical or inaccurate. Though this is often the case, it is not invariably so. We briefly describe an alternate approach—Adaptive Disclosure—that allows for accurate and legitimate self-blame when warranted but also promotes the possibilities of self-forgiveness, compassion, and moral reparation.     

Comparing single‐ and dual‐process models of memory development

This experiment examined single‐process and dual‐process accounts of the development of visual recognition memory. The participants, 6–7‐year‐olds, 9–10‐year‐olds and adults, were presented with a list of pictures which they encoded under shallow or deep conditions. They then made recognition and confidence judgments about a list containing old and new items. We replicated the main trends reported by Ghetti and Angelini ( 2008 ) in that recognition hit rates increased from 6 to 9 years of age, with larger age changes following deep than shallow encoding. Formal versions of the dual‐process high threshold signal detection model and several single‐process models (equal variance signal detection, unequal variance signal detection, mixture signal detection) were fit to the developmental data. The unequal variance and mixture signal detection models gave a better account of the data than either of the other models. A state‐trace analysis found evidence for only one underlying memory process across the age range tested. These results suggest that single‐process memory models based on memory strength are a viable alternative to dual‐process models for explaining memory development.     

Narrative inquiry in sport and exercise psychology: What can it mean,and why might we do it?

ObjectivesNarrative inquiry is one form of qualitative research that is burgeoning within the human sciences. However, in sport and exercise psychology little attention has been given to this approach. In this article, we seek to rectify this situation by offering an understanding of what narrative inquiry can be.ResultsIn order to begin to better understand what narrative inquiry as a methodology can be, and gain some theoretical purchase on a difficult field without aiming for a final answer, we first define narrative. Next, a distillation of guiding assumptions and characteristics are offered. Finally, some reasons as to why narratives may be of benefit for the field of sport and exercise psychology are highlighted.ConclusionNarrative inquiry is a useful and important way of theorising and doing research in the domain of sport and exercise psychology. It should not, however, be taken up or practised simply because it is new or fashionable. Informed, principled, and responsible choices must be made by researchers and applied professionals about why and when they might engage with narrative inquiry should they wish to do so.     

Brooding and reflective rumination among suicide attempters: Cognitive vulnerability to suicidal ideation

Previous research suggests that the brooding subtype of rumination is associated with increased suicidal ideation, but findings are inconsistent with respect to reflection, considered to be the more adaptive form of rumination. This study investigated the circumstances under which reflective rumination might be associated with increased suicidal ideation by examining whether a suicide attempt history moderated the relationship between the ruminative subtypes and current suicidal ideation. Thirty-seven young adults who reported a past suicide attempt and fifty-nine young adults without a suicide attempt history completed measures of rumination and depression symptoms in an initial study session. They then completed a measure of suicidal ideation and hopelessness during a second study session. Overall, brooding was associated with higher self-reported suicidal ideation, whereas reflection was not significantly associated with ideation. However, reflection - but not brooding - interacted with suicide attempt history to statistically predict suicidal ideation, even after adjusting for symptoms of depression and hopelessness, whereas brooding no longer predicted ideation after adjusting for these symptoms. These findings qualify earlier suggestions that reflection is a more adaptive form of rumination by indicating that among vulnerable individuals - in particular those with a history of a suicide attempt - a higher degree of reflective rumination is associated with increased suicidal ideation.     

Induction with uncertain categories: When do people consider the category alternatives?

These three experiments examined how people make property inferences about exemplars whose category membership is uncertain. Participants were shown two categories and a novel exemplar with a feature that indicated that the exemplar was more likely to belong to one category (target) than to the other (nontarget). Participants then made categorization decisions and property inferences about the novel exemplar. In some conditions, property inferences could be made only by considering both target and nontarget categories. In other conditions, predictions could be based on both categories or on the target category alone. Consistent with previous studies (e.g., Murphy & Ross, 1994, 2005), we found that many people made predictions based only on consideration of the target category. However, the prevalence of such single-category reasoning was greatly reduced by highlighting the costs of neglecting nontarget alternatives and by asking for inferences before categorization decisions. The results suggest that previous work may have exaggerated the prevalence of single-category reasoning and that people may be more flexible in their use of multiple categories in property inference than has been previously recognized.     

Automatic and intentional processes in children's recognition memory: the reversed misinformation effect

This study investigated the contribution of automatic and intentional memory processes to 5‐ and 6‐year‐old children's suggestible responses in a reversed misinformation paradigm. The temporal order of the conventional eyewitness paradigm was altered such that children were initially presented with a pre‐event narrative containing misinformation that was either read to them or was self‐generated in response to semantic and linguistic cues, and the following day were presented with a witnessed event in the form of a picture story. Children then completed a standard forced‐choice recognition memory test under two instruction conditions. In the inclusion condition children were reminded about the presentations of the pre‐event narrative and the original story and asked to chose the witnessed event item. In the exclusion condition children were instructed to exclude pre‐event suggestions. Suggestibility effects were found with the magnitude of such effects differentially affected by the encoding of misleading suggestions and test instructions. In the exclusion condition, children were more likely to correctly reject suggestions that were ‘self‐generated’. Both automaticity and intentional recollection contributed to children's suggestible responding. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perceptual learning and the visual control of braking

Performance on a visually guided action may improve with practice because observers become perceptually attuned to more reliable optical information. Fajen and Devaney (2006) investigated perceptual attunement, using an emergency braking task in which subjects waited until the last possible moment before slamming on the brakes. The subjects in that study learned to use more reliable optical variables with practice, allowing them to perform the task more successfully across changes in the size of the approached object and the speed of approach. In Experiment 1 of the present study, subjects completed blocks of normal, regulated braking before and after practice on emergency braking. Size and speed effects that were present at early stages diminished or were eliminated after practice, suggesting that perceptual attunement resulting from practice on emergency braking transfers to normal, regulated braking. In Experiment 2, practice on regulated braking alone also resulted in perceptual attunement. The findings suggest that braking is not always guided on the basis of an optical invariant and that perceptual attunement plays an important role in learning to perform a visually guided action.