A new approach to assessing optimism: the development of a german version of the positive and negative expectancies questionnaire (paneq-g)

This study describes the construction and validation of a German version of the Positive and Negative Expectancies Scale, PANEQ-G, which is based on the original English version of the PANEQ. The German version showed the same factor structure as the original, comprising the three subscales of Negative Affectivity/Pessimism, Positive Affectivity/Optimism, and Fighting Spirit. The reliability data for the new scale were acceptable, and the factor structure was confirmed by means of a confirmatory factor analysis in an independent sample. As expected, concurrent validation uncovered substantial correlations of the three established scales. Negative Affectivity/Pessimism was related to Neuroticism and Positive Affectivity/Optimism was related to Extraversion. Fighting Spirit, the third scale, was related to Self-Efficacy and Conscientiousness. The PANEQ-G provides a reliable and valid instrument that can be used in conjunction with the original PANEQ for cross-cultural studies on Optimism and Pessimism. It also offers a new third component, Fighting Spirit, which can enrich research in this area.     

Reflection for learning in doctoral training: writing groups,academic writing proficiency and reflective practice

This literature review highlights the benefits of participating in a doctoral writing group, with specific emphasis on how these learning communities foster reflective practice skills development. In particular, this review proposes that the process of continuous peer feedback and discussion benefits students by helping them verbalise their internal reflective thinking, fostering reflective practice skills development through various authentic learning experiences. Consequently, this review highlights the importance of establishing and supporting doctoral writing groups to further develop doctoral students’ personal epistemology, growth and professional practice.     

On the role of set when reading aloud: A dissociation between prelexical and lexical processing

Two experiments investigated the role that mental set plays in reading aloud using the task choice procedure developed by Besner and Care [Besner, D., & Care, S. (2003). A paradigm for exploring what the mind does while deciding what it should do. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 57, 311–320]. Subjects were presented with a word, and asked to either read it aloud or decide whether it appeared in upper/lower case. Task information, in the form of a brief auditory cue, appeared 750 ms before the word, or at the same time as the word. Experiment 1 yielded evidence consistent with the claim that at least some pre-lexical processing can be carried out in parallel with decoding the task cue (the 0 SOA condition yielded a smaller contrast effect than the long SOA condition). Experiment 2 provided evidence that such processing is restricted to pre-lexical levels (the word frequency effect was equivalent at the 0 SOA and the long SOA). These data suggest that a task set is a necessary preliminary to lexical processing when reading aloud.     

Feeling happy and sad,but only seeing the positive: Poignancy and the positivity effect in attention

Poignancy is a mixed emotional experience that occurs in the face of meaningful endings (Ersner-Hershfield et al. J Pers Soc Psychol 94(1):158–167, 2008). Despite documentation of the phenomenological component of poignancy, no study to date has examined the relationship between such a state and information processing. We therefore examined the link between poignancy and attentional patterns using an eyetracking paradigm. To induce poignancy, experimental condition participants imagined being in a personally chosen meaningful location for a final time; control participants also imagined being in a meaningful location but with no ending. After, both groups were shown emotional images. Experimental condition participants looked more at positive images relative to negative images, whereas participants in the control condition did not display such a preference. Findings suggest that despite being a mixed emotional experience, poignancy may produce a subsequent positivity effect in information processing.     

Conspicuous consumption versus utilitarian ideals: How different levels of power shape consumer behavior

The present work examines how experiencing high versus low power creates qualitatively distinct psychological motives that produce unique consumption patterns. Based on accumulating evidence that states of power increase focus on one’s own internal desires, we propose that high power will lead to a greater preference for products that are viewed as offering utility (e.g., performance, quality) to the individual. In contrast, extending past research showing that powerlessness fosters a compensatory motive to restore power; we demonstrate that the powerless prefer visible or conspicuous consumption that signals status to others. Regardless of whether high and low power were measured, episodically primed, or structurally manipulated, and regardless of how consumption patterns were measured (e.g., purchasing intentions, consumer attitudes, or creation of one’s own advertising slogan), five experiments support a parsimonious model for how different levels of power impact consumer behavior. Given the pervasiveness of everyday fluctuations in power, and the governing role of consumption in everyday life, these findings have potentially broad implications, from tailored advertising to different market segments to understanding the rise in consumer debt.     

Contextual effects on reading aloud: evidence for pathway control

Recent evidence suggests that the processes responsible for generating a phonological code from print are flexible in skilled readers. An important goal, therefore, is to identify the conditions that lead to changes in how a phonological code is computed. Five experiments are reported that examine whether phonological processes change as predicted by the pathway control hypothesis when reading aloud words and nonwords. Changes in reading processes were assessed by measuring the effect of predictable switches between stimulus categories across trials. The results of the present experiments are argued to be consistent with the pathway control hypothesis.     

Exploring the relation of depression and overt behavior with daily diaries

Behavioral models of depression highlight decreased response-contingent positive reinforcement as critical toward conceptualizing depressive affect, decreased reinforcement being caused by changes in the quantitative (i.e., number or intensity) or qualitative (i.e., type or function) aspects of reinforcing events, availability of reinforcement, inadequate instrumental behaviors, and/or an increased frequency of punishment [Lewinsohn, P. M. (1974). A behavioral approach to depression. In R. M. Friedman, & M. M. Katz (Eds.), The psychology of depression: Contemporary theory and research. New York: Wiley]. Building on previous research and addressing methodological limitations, this study utilized a daily diary method and behavioral coding system to directly assess whether qualitative aspects (or types) of human behavior differed as a function of depression level. Relative to non-depressed individuals, mildly depressed participants engaged less frequently in social, physical, and educational behaviors and more frequently in employment-related activities. These data support behavioral models of depression and have clinical relevance as highlighted with reference to behavioral activation interventions for depression.     

What are the odds? How demographic similarity affects the prevalence of perceived employment discrimination

Because research is needed to identify the conditions that facilitate or impede the prevalence of perceived workplace discrimination, the authors examined the effects of demographics and demographic similarity on the prevalence of sex- and race/ethnicity-based perceived workplace discrimination. Results from a national survey of 763 full-time, United States employees show perceived sex-based discrimination at work was more prevalent among female than male employees, and perceived race-based discrimination at work was more prevalent among Black and Hispanic than White employees. Additionally, perceived racial/ethnic discrimination was less prevalent among those with same-race/ethnicity supervisors. The effect of employee-coworker sex similarity on perceived sex discrimination was significant only for women, and the effects of supervisor-subordinate racial similarity on the prevalence of perceived racial discrimination varied between Black and White respondents, depending on employee-residential-community racial similarity.