Intelligence,social class of origin,childhood behavior disturbance and education as predictors of status attainment in midlife in men: The Aberdeen Children of the 1950s study

In a birth cohort of 6281 men from Aberdeen, Scotland, social class of origin, childhood intelligence, childhood behavior disturbance and education were examined as predictors of status attainment in midlife (46 to 51 years). Social class of origin, intelligence and behavior disturbance were conceptualized as correlated predictors, whose effects were hypothesized to be partially mediated by educational qualifications. A structural equation model using Full Information Maximum Likelihood estimation confirmed that education had the strongest direct effect on status attainment at midlife. Furthermore, education partially mediated the effects of social class of origin and childhood intelligence, and fully mediated the effects of behavior disturbance on status attainment. Social class of origin, childhood intelligence and behavior disturbance were strongly inter-correlated. After controlling for these associations, educational and social status attainments were influenced to a considerably greater extent by childhood intelligence than by social class of origin.     

Who are the Owners of Firearms Used in Adolescent Suicides?

In this brief report, the source of firearms used in adolescent suicides was examined using data from the National Violent Injury Statistics System, the pilot to the CDC's National Violent Death Reporting System, a uniform reporting system for violent and firearm-related deaths. Data represent the 63 firearm suicides among youth (<18 yrs) that occurred in 2001 or 2002 in one of four states (CT, ME, UT, WI) or two metropolitan counties (San Francisco, CA; Allegheny County, PA). Four-fifths of the suicides took place in the decedents' homes, and--when the firearm owner was known--most of the firearms were owned by parents. Findings replicate results from previous research and highlight the importance of limiting youth access to firearms.     

Impulsive choice and altruistic punishment are correlated and increase in tandem with serotonin depletion

Human cooperation may partly depend on the presence of individuals willing to incur personal costs to punish noncooperators. The psychological factors that motivate such 'altruistic punishment' are not fully understood; some have argued that altruistic punishment is a deliberate act of norm enforcement that requires self-control, while others claim that it is an impulsive act driven primarily by emotion. In the current study, we addressed this question by examining the relationship between impulsive choice and altruistic punishment in the ultimatum game. As the neurotransmitter serotonin has been implicated in both impulsive choice and altruistic punishment, we investigated the effects of manipulating serotonin on both measures. Across individuals, impulsive choice and altruistic punishment were correlated and increased following serotonin depletion. These findings imply that altruistic punishment reflects the absence rather than the presence of self control, and suggest that impulsive choice and altruistic punishment share common neural mechanisms.     

Attitudinal ambivalence and message-based persuasion: motivated processing of proattitudinal information and avoidance of counterattitudinal information

Attitudinal ambivalence has been found to increase processing of attitude-relevant information. In this research, the authors suggest that ambivalence can also create the opposite effect: avoidance of thinking about persuasive messages. If processing is intended to reduce experienced ambivalence, then ambivalent people should increase processing of information perceived as proattitudinal (agreeable) and able to decrease ambivalence. However, ambivalence should also lead people to avoid processing of counterattitudinal (disagreeable) information that threatens to increase ambivalence. Three studies provide evidence consistent with this proposal. When participants were relatively ambivalent, they processed messages to a greater extent when the messages were proattitudinal rather than counterattitudinal. However, when participants were relatively unambivalent, they processed messages more when the messages were counterattitudinal rather than proattitudinal. In addition, ambivalent participants perceived proattitudinal messages as more likely than counterattitudinal messages to reduce ambivalence, and these perceptions accounted for message position effects on amount of processing.     

Communal Responsiveness in Relationships with Female versus Male Family Members

Two studies of college students in the US utilized a new methodological approach in which participants arranged their multiple family members (i.e. parents, siblings, aunts, and uncles) within a series of relationship network grids. These grids measured participants’ own feelings of communal responsiveness toward and perceived feelings of communal responsiveness from each family member relative to one another. The results of Study 1 (N = 86) and Study 2 (N = 111) supported the hypotheses that (1) people perceive more responsiveness from female family members than from male family members and (2) people feel more responsive toward female than toward male family members. Study 2 provided evidence that these associations were mediated by felt and perceived intimacy, dependence, and obligation, but not liking.     

The nature, prevalence and correlates of generativity among men in middle career

Multiple methods were used to explore the character, contexts, and correlates of generativity among 41 men aged 45–55. Generativity in the role of worker was unrelated to generativity in men’s roles as father, citizen and ‘leisurite’. Individuals who were generative in their work reported greater job satisfaction and subjective career success. These associations were stronger for generativity targeting societal well-being and fellow-workers’ growth than for creative/productive generativity. As some theorists have argued, therefore, nurturant forms of generativity may be more adaptive in mid/late career than other varieties, and more indicative of psychosocial maturity. The status of creativity/productivity within the generativity construct seems problematic. Our findings offer qualified support for McAdams and de St Aubin’s (McAdams, D.P., & de St Aubin, E. (1992). A theory of generativity and its assessment through self-report, behavioral acts, and narrative themes in autobiography. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 62 (6), 1003–1015) contention that generativity is expressed differentially in the domains of concern, commitment and action, and that the different relationships of these generativity domains to third variables can be interpreted in meaningful ways.     

Seeing oneself in one’s choices: Construal level and self-pertinence of electoral and consumer decisions

Building on previous research examining the implications for self-regulation and decision making of construing action at varying levels of abstraction, the authors proposed that construing action in terms of its abstract purposes facilitates orienting one’s decisions toward the standards, characteristics, and goals that define one’s desired self-concept. Consistent with this proposal, desiring for oneself a political candidate’s personal qualities predicted evaluating favorably (in Study 1) and voting for (in Study 2) that candidate to a greater extent among participants focused on the distal future (and presumably construing action at a relatively high-level of abstraction) than the proximal future (and presumably construing action at a relatively low-level of abstraction). Moreover, individuals chronically construing action in high-level terms responded more favorably to advertisements appealing to their desired self-concept (in Study 3) than to product quality. These findings’ implications for decision making are discussed.     

How the head liberates the heart: projection of communal responsiveness guides relationship promotion

In 5 studies, the authors tested predictions that (a) people project their own felt communal responsiveness onto partners, perceiving partners to be just as caring and supportive as they are, and (b) projected perceptions guide perceivers' orientation toward further promotion of communal relationships. In Study 1, a manipulation of felt communal responsiveness toward a partner affected perceptions of the partner's responsiveness to the self, which in turn predicted evaluation of the partner. In Study 2, a manipulation of responsiveness toward a new acquaintance biased perceptions of the acquaintance's responsiveness to the self, which in turn predicted attraction and warmth toward the new acquaintance. In Studies 3 and 5, participants' own felt communal responsiveness toward a friend appeared to bias their perceptions of the friend's communal responsiveness, which in turn predicted self-disclosure, evaluation of the friend (Studies 3 and 5), and support provision (Study 5). Initial projected perceptions of a friend's (Study 3) and of a spouse's (Study 4) communal responsiveness also predicted longitudinal changes in perceivers' communal responsiveness. Results suggest that those who care for partners often project that care and that this projection guides their relationship promotion.