Validation of the Preschool Anxiety Scale-Traditional Chinese (PAS-TC) in Hong Kong

Anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychiatric conditions in children. Early identification and intervention during preschool years is critical for minimizing their detrimental long-term effects. The Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS) is a developmentally-sensitive and symptom-specific instrument that has been commonly used and widely validated in the west. The current study tested the psychometric properties of its Traditional Chinese version (PAS-TC) in Hong Kong. The study sample consisted of a total of 1317 Hong Kong parents, recruited from 12 local preschools, with preschool children aged from three to six years old. Results showed that a correlated five-factor model demonstrated a good fit for the data. PAS-TC also demonstrated acceptable reliability and satisfactory validity. Furthermore, gender but not age effects were found in Hong Kong. Additionally, similar to previous studies, items from physical injury fears were the most reported in the top-ten frequently endorsed items. Finally, the anxiety level of our Hong Kong sample was found to be between the Mainland China and western countries. Clinical implications of the above findings concerning PAS-TC are discussed.

     

Exploring the linkages between formal ownership and psychological ownership for the organization: The mediating role of organizational justice

Extending previous research on formal ownership and psychological ownership in organizations, this study simultaneously examines the relationships between employee participation in three formal ownership programmes (i.e. profit sharing, participation in decision making, access to business information) and psychological ownership for the organization, while also exploring the mediating roles of distributive and procedural justice. Data were collected from 387 R&D engineers based at 20 high‐technology firms in Taiwan. A structural equation modelling analysis was conducted to test our hypotheses, and the results show that employee participation in profit sharing, decision making, and access to business information were all positively related to psychological ownership. Moreover, distributive justice fully mediated the relationship between participation in profit sharing and psychological ownership, while procedural justice mediated the relationship between participation in decision making, access to business information, and psychological ownership.     

社会生活共同体建构的德性之维

社会生活共同体所指涉的是人们自由、平等、和睦、友爱的和谐生活的样态.德国社会学家滕尼斯划分了共同体与社会这两个概念并以其指涉人们的两种生活样态的对立.共同体生活是自然而然的,社会是人工制品.对现代社会人为共同体是否可能的争论也因此而展开.站在历史唯物主义的地平线,以社会建设的视角分析人为共同体的可能路径就成为当代的问题域.     

道德判断的社会直觉模型述评

传统的理性主义模型认为,道德判断是一系列理性推理的结果;而当前的社会直觉模型认为,道德判断包括直觉系统和推理系统两种加工,很多时候人们的道德判断更多的是一种直觉和情感的结果。近期神经心理学研究的一些成果证实了社会直觉模型的理念。     

认知压力与建构主义数学教学的关系

与通常在消极意义上使用的“精神压力”概念不同,“认知压力”是学习环境促使学习者进行不同类型认知活动的积极力量。根据这种环境导致学习者使用一级还是二级程序性知识达成目标,可将认知压力分成一级认知压力和二级认知压力。本研究以325名小学高年级和初中一二年级学生为被试,采用问卷法考察了数学课堂上认知压力的现状及其与建构主义教学的关系。结果表明：（1）对于数学课堂而言,被试报告的一级和二级认知压力处于中等偏上水平,而且二级认知压力显著高于一级认知压力;（2）建构主义数学教学有助于产生认知压力,特别是二级认知压力;（3）修订后的认知压力问卷有良好的信度和效度。     

Show me The Money! do Financial Rewards for Performance Enhance or Undermine The Satisfaction from Emotional Labor?

Does satisfaction from performing emotional labor (EL)—maintaining positive emotions with customers as part of the job—depend on the financial rewards available for good service? According to a “controlling perspective” of rewards, satisfaction from performing EL may be undermined by financial incentives, but based on a “valuing perspective” of rewards, the relationship should be enhanced. We contribute to the literatures on EL and performance‐contingent rewards with a “full‐cycle” inquiry of this question conducted with (a) a field survey of diverse occupations in the United States, (b) an experimental call center simulation with U.S. college students, and (c) a multilevel study of Taiwanese sales firms. Overall, financial rewards for service performance enhanced, rather than undermined, satisfaction from EL requirements and effort (i.e., surface acting) with customers. Performing EL by modifying feelings (i.e., deep acting) was positively related to job satisfaction regardless of rewards, beyond personality traits. Results have implications for reward structures and enhancing job satisfaction with this increasingly common form of labor.     

Hesitation in communication: Does minority status delay responses?

Past studies indicated that people in a minority (vs. majority) position are slower to express their public/political opinion, and the larger the difference between the size of the two positions, the slower the response. Bassili termed this the minority‐slowness effect (MSE). In the current study, two experiments were conducted to demonstrate that MSE extends to people's understanding of utterances and explored the cognitive basis for this. Participants were asked to judge if an utterance is a ‘direct’ or an ‘indirect’ expression. The results show that participants in the minority (vs. majority) took longer to respond, and the larger the difference between the size of majority and minority, the longer the response latency (Study 1a). Furthermore, participants were aware of their own minority position (Study 1b). In Study 2, when participants were deprived of cognitive resources, MSE disappeared, presumably because participants lack the cognitive resources required to conform to utterance interpretation as favoured by the majority.     

Counterfactual and Factual Reflection: The Influence of Past Misdeeds on Future Immoral Behavior

Though the decision to behave immorally is situated within the context of prior immoral behavior, research has provided contradictory insights into this process. In a series of experiments, we demonstrate that the effects of prior immoral behavior depend on how individuals think about, or reflect on, their immoral behavior. In Experiment 1, participants who reflected counterfactually on their prior moral lapses morally disengaged (i.e., rationalized) less than participants who reflected factually. In Experiment 2, participants who reflected counterfactually on their prior moral lapses experienced more guilt than those who reflected factually. Finally, in Experiments 3 and 4, participants who reflected counterfactually lied less on unrelated tasks with real monetary stakes than those who reflected factually. Our studies provide important insights into moral rationalization and moral compensation processes and demonstrate the profound influence of reflection in everyday moral life.     

Differential Effects of Personality Traits and Environmental Predictors on Reproductive and Creative Imagination

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to analyze the effects of both personality and environmental variables on the imagination of video/film major university students; and (2) to test the mediator effect resulting from the variable of social climate. The results of this study supported both indicators of imaginative capabilities and environmental influences. The hypothesis of the study—that the variable of social climate mediates the effects of personality/environmental predictors and both types of imagination—was partially supported. The structural model also showed that most personality traits have direct effects on imagination, whereas most environmental predictors have indirect effects. Practical applications of this study were suggested, future inquiries were discussed, and limitations were acknowledged.