Face-ism as a Determinant of Interpersonal Perceptions: The Influence of Context on Facial Prominence Effects

The influence of facial prominence on traitratings made about videotaped men and women described aspursuing either stereotypically masculine or femininecareers was examined. Most participants (N = 168) were White women. Facial prominence failed toinfluence perceptions when gender or occupationstereotypes were strong. However, when those stereotypeswere weaker, facial prominence effects emerged such that individuals were rated as possessing moreof the trait when shown with high facial prominence. Forexample, men were rated higher on evaluative traits whenshown with high, as opposed to low, facial prominence. The results suggest that facialprominence differences observed in the media mayreinforce stereotypes.     

Politics,lack of career progress,and work/home conflict: Stress and strain for working women

This study examines the stress experienced by working women in terms of politics, lack of career progress, and work/home conflicts, the symptoms of distress and satisfaction associated with these stressors, and the organizational resources available for managing these demands. Subjects were 195 female personnel professionals. A different pattern of results emerged for politics and lack of career progress in contrast to work/home conflicts. Specifically, politics and lack of career progress were associated with greater strain symptoms and reduced satisfaction, and organizational resources were associated with lower levels of these stressors. Work/home conflicts were associated with greater strain symptoms, but were unrelated to satisfaction and organizational resources. This suggests that organizations identify the most effective targets of their resources to achieve beneficial results.     

Cross-category revenue spillover in brand extensions: The role of within-category experience

Building on signaling theory, the current research proposes an empirical framework to help firms understand the degree to which cross-category purchases affect the revenue generated for each category and how within-category purchases influence the cross-category spillover effects. The framework is applied to novel individual-level, cross-sectional, and time-series transaction details from a leading lifestyle conglomerate in the Middle East. The empirical results provide strong support for the presence of revenue spillover across multiple categories of brand extensions, with the spillover being more pronounced in categories in which customers have infrequently purchased and thus had less within-category experience. These results add to the ongoing stream of research on brand extensions by offering evidence that both within- and cross-category learning play a significant role in revenue generation from brand extensions for multi-product or service firms.     

Some contributions of a psychological approach to the study of the sacred

ABSTRACT

This paper examines some of the contributions psychology is making to the study of the sacred and its role in human functioning. The focus here is not on the ontological reality of the sacred, but rather perceptions of the sacred. We suggest that psychological theory and research on this topic offers: a clarification of the meaning of the sacred; new knowledge about sanctification – the process through which people come to perceive the sacred in daily life; a response to criticisms about the scientific study of the sacred; a sharper perspective on the meanings of religion and spirituality; a method for measuring sanctification; knowledge about the ways perceptions of the sacred predict important aspects of human behavior, and; an understanding of the sacred as a product of psychological, social, institutional, cultural, and situational forces. We conclude that the sacred represents a vital phenomenon of interest for religious and spiritual study.     

Dual-task interference effects on cross-modal numerical order and sound intensity judgments: the more the louder?

In the current study, cross-task interactions between number order and sound intensity judgments were assessed using a dual-task paradigm. Participants first categorized numerical sequences composed of Arabic digits as either ordered (ascending, descending) or non-ordered. Following each number sequence, participants then had to judge the intensity level of a target sound. Experiment 1 emphasized processing the two tasks independently (serial processing), while Experiments 2 and 3 emphasized processing the two tasks simultaneously (parallel processing). Cross-task interference occurred only when the task required parallel processing and was specific to ascending numerical sequences, which led to a higher proportion of louder sound intensity judgments. In Experiment 4 we examined whether this unidirectional interaction was the result of participants misattributing enhanced processing fluency experienced on ascending sequences as indicating a louder target sound. The unidirectional finding could not be entirely attributed to misattributed processing fluency, and may also be connected to experientially derived conceptual associations between ascending number sequences and greater magnitude, consistent with conceptual mapping theory.     

Auditory statistical learning: predictive frequency information affects the deployment of contextually mediated attentional resources on perceptual tasks

Statistical learning is a general phenomenon in which environmental regularities are implicitly acquired through repeated exposure to those environments. Sometimes, that information can be utilised to affect various aspects of cognitive performance (e.g. reaction time) on tasks that utilise selective attention (e.g. visual search). In the current study, we examined the effect of passively listening to predictive auditory contexts in facilitating attention to a certain frequency or frequency range. In doing so, we found that there is a general tendency for attentional resources to be negatively affected when the context sequences are made novel after context–target associations have been formed (Experiment 1), and when the context no longer reliably cues the previous target (Experiment 2). The experiments are framed to contrast Associative Learning and Memory Hypothesis perspectives.     

Gay,Lesbian, and Queer Theologies: Origins,Contributions, and Challenges

Abstract : Theologians and biblical scholars have been writing about Christianity and homosexuality for over three decades, but lesbian/gay and queer theologies are still unfamiliar. Since questions about lesbian, gay, and queer Christians are confronting many denominations, it is important to study these proposals. This essay argues that lesbian/gay theologies trace their histories to theologies of liberation, while queer theology is indebted to postmodern and queer theories. Recent Christological and anthropological proposals are presented, and the essay concludes by exploring the distinct political implications of these theological proposals.