Self-determination and motivation for bariatric surgery: a qualitative study

This study examined how obese individuals acquire their motivation to undergo weight loss surgery and characterized the motivations within the framework of the self-determination theory (SDT). Participants expecting to have bariatric surgery were recruited and participated in semi-structured interviews. Interview accounts characterized different types of motivation for individuals seeking surgical weight loss treatments on the SDT continuum of relative autonomy. This study demonstrated that the more one’s motivation was internally regulated, related to one’s personal life and supported for competency, the more personal and hopeful were the anecdotes participants mentioned in accounts, thus the more positive the surgical outcomes were anticipated. Study limitations and future research were discussed as was the need for a systematic scheme to categorize types of motivation within the SDT, a longitudinal approach to measure actual weight loss outcomes based on the patient’s pre-surgical motivation, and a further investigation with a larger sample size and balanced gender ratio. Practical implications of the study findings were also discussed as a novel strategy to internalize bariatric patients’ motivation, further helping to improve their long-term quality of life post-surgery.     

Family Therapy for an Adult Child Experiencing Bullying and Game Addiction: An Application of Bowenian and MRI Theories

Bowenian theory and MRI family therapy model were chosen to treat a Korean male adult client whose symptomatic problems were bullying and game addiction. To test its validity of therapeutic effectiveness, the following case analysis methods were used: narrative analysis of interview contents, categorization of the nine sessions of verbatim, videotaping, and notes according to classified concepts (i.e., triangulation), and explanation using matrix and network. Results showed that low level of differentiation, patterns of emotional cutoff, and dynamics of triangulation were clearly present in this client. After MRI family therapy, changes were evident in perceptive references, communication patterns, stress-coping mechanism, symptomatic behaviors, and intra-family relationships.     

Social Contagion in Competitors Versus Cooperators

The current study examined social contagion—or the spreading of memories from individual to individual—in two different social contexts: Competition and Cooperation. Participants were provided with words (Experiments 1A and 1B) or scenes (Experiment 2) to study. After study, participants were randomly divided: Half were given a competitive context, and the other half, a cooperative context. Then, in the paired recall phase, each participant took turns with a confederate partner in recalling the previously studied items. On a subsequent test, participants had to report the items that were recalled on the pair recall phase, in addition to who had recalled that item. The results showed that competitors, as compared with cooperators, were more likely to focus on other people's memories, and surprisingly, the same difference obtained for false memories. Essentially, people who are primed with a competitive context were more easily ‘infected’ by memories, true or false. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effect of Multiple Roles of South Korean Married Women Professors: Role Changes and the Factors Which Influence Potential Role Gratification and Strain

In this paper, we examine role gratification and role strain of married middle-class South Korean women by comparing a sample of women professors and a sample of housewives whose husbands are professors and researchers. The results show that the married women professors, compared with the housewives, experienced both greater gratification and greater strain. The findings also show that sociodemographic factors are not strongly related to role gratification and strain. It was found that married women professors have more nontraditional gender-role attitudes as compared with housewives. In addition, the research indicates that transnational resocialization from overseas experiences in a Western society has positive effects on role gratification among the married women professors.     

Social demand characteristics in children's and adults' eyewitness memory and suggestibility: the effect of different interviewers on free recall and recognition

Shortly after viewing a video of a theft, 5‐ and 7‐year‐old children and adults were interviewed with free recall and either misleading or unbiased‐leading questions. After a 2‐day delay, participants were interviewed with free recall and recognition questions administered by either the same or a different interviewer. Results from day 1 replicate previous findings with levels of recall and resistance to suggestibility increasing with age. Counter to predictions, correct recognition performance on day 2 was greater for some participants interviewed by the same as opposed to a different interviewer, and incorrect recognition was greater for all groups of participants for those interviewed by a different as opposed to the same interviewer. Results are discussed in terms of the role of context dependence on memory performance. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of number line estimation precision and numeracy on risky financial decision making

This study examined whether different aspects of mathematical proficiency influence one's ability to make adaptive financial decisions. “Numeracy” refers to the ability to process numerical and probabilistic information and is commonly reported as an important factor which contributes to financial decision‐making ability. The precision of mental number representation (MNR), measured with the number line estimation (NLE) task has been reported to be another critical factor. This study aimed to examine the contribution of these mathematical proficiencies while controlling for the influence of fluid intelligence, math anxiety and personality factors. In our decision‐making task, participants chose between two options offering probabilistic monetary gain or loss. Sensitivity to expected value was measured as an index for the ability to discriminate between optimal versus suboptimal options. Partial correlation and hierarchical regression analyses revealed that NLE precision better explained EV sensitivity compared to numeracy, after controlling for all covariates. These results suggest that individuals with more precise MNR are capable of making more rational financial decisions. We also propose that the measurement of “numeracy,” which is commonly used interchangeably with general mathematical proficiency, should include more diverse aspects of mathematical cognition including basic understanding of number magnitude.     

Burnout and Turnover Intentions Among Junior Counseling Faculty: Moderating Role of Mentoring

This study examined the correlation between burnout, mentoring, and turnover intentions among 106 full‐time junior counseling faculty members at U.S. universities. Using the job demands–resources model, the authors aimed to provide a better understanding of the risk and protective environmental factors (i.e., burnout and mentoring) that affect turnover intentions among junior counseling faculty. Burnout was found to be predictive of high turnover intentions. Findings also supported the moderating role of faculty mentoring in the association between burnout and turnover intentions. Implications for counseling programs and institutions are addressed.     

Does shared group identification lead to group creativity? Group regulatory focus as a moderator

Regarding the effect of identification on creativity in groups, two theoretical views compete. One view emphasizing group‐welfare motives underlying identification proposes a positive identification–creativity relationship in groups because members sharing high group identification are motivated to engage in behaviors that they believe are optimal for their group, including those that depart from the group's status quo, thus resulting in enhanced group creativity. The other view highlighting affiliative motives underlying identification, in contrast, posits a negative identification–creativity relationship in groups because highly identified members are motivated to engage in behaviors that certify their belongingness in the group, that is, behaviors that conform to the existing group norms and status quo, which constrains the group's potential for creativity. This study aims to reconcile these competing perspectives by invoking regulatory focus theory. Drawing on the notion that group identification effects rely on the content of group identity that the identification is based on, the authors suggest that group regulatory focus, as a critical group identity content, moderates the identification–creativity relationship in groups; the relationship is positive when the group's regulatory focus is highly promotion‐oriented, whereas it is negative when the group's regulatory focus is highly prevention‐oriented. Analyzing data from 65 workgroups in a cosmetics company in Korea, the authors show evidence that the identification–creativity relationship is positive in groups with a high promotion focus. The prediction regarding the prevention–focus moderation effect is not supported. The implications of the findings for both theory and practice are discussed.     

Rater Model Using Signal Detection Theory for Latent Differential Rater Functioning

Differential rater functioning (DRF) occurs when raters show evidence of exercising differential severity or leniency when scoring examinees within different subgroups. Previous studies of DRF have examined rater bias using manifest variables (e.g., use of covariates) to determine the subgroups. These manifest variables include gender and the ethnicity of the examinee. For example, a rater may score males more severely. Ideally, each rater’s severity should be invariant across subgroups. This study examines DRF in the context of latent subgroups that classify possible sources of DRF based on raters’ scoring behavior rather than manifest factors. An extension of the latent class signal detection theory (LC-SDT) model for identifying DRF is proposed and examined using real-world data and simulations. Results from real-world data show that the signal detection approach leads to an effective method to identify latent DRF. Simulations with varying sample sizes and conditions of rater precision were shown to recover parameters at an adequate level, supporting its use to identify latent DRF in large-scale data. These findings suggest that the DRF extension of the LC-SDT can be a useful model to examine characteristics of raters and add information that can aid rater training.