When message tailoring backfires: The role of initial attitudes in affect–cognition matching

This research explores when and how tailoring messages to attitudinal bases backfires. Study 1 demonstrated that for attitudes (toward education subsidies) that were based more on beliefs than emotions, recipients whose initial attitudes were incongruent with the message position (i.e., message opponents) showed mismatching effects, such that the affective message was more persuasive than the cognitive message. Study 2 replicated these mismatching effects among message opponents for attitudes (toward a rival university) that were primarily affective. Study 3 controlled for effects of initial attitude certainty and replicated the mismatching effects of Study 2 for affective attitudes toward an increase in tuition. Finally, Study 4 suggested a potential mechanism for mismatching effects, revealing that for attitudes (toward an online course management system) that were based more on beliefs than emotions, message opponents counter‐argued with the cognitive appeal more intensely than the affective appeal. Contrary to the notion in the extant literature that mismatching effects are relatively rare compared with matching effects, the current research suggests that mismatching effects occur for both primarily affective and cognitive attitudes when the recipient is highly opposed to the message position. The present findings also demonstrate the utility of examining attitudinal bases at the object level in the context of message tailoring. Implications for message tailoring and for affective versus cognitive attitudes are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exaggerated grain growth and improved properties of Y1 Ba2 Cu3 O7-x by Pt addition

Abstract

Superconducting and mechanical properties of Y₁ Ba₂Cu₃ O₇ can be improved by the use of sintering aids. 0·2 wt% of finely divided laser-ablated platinum powder has been mixed with the parent material and produced a dense product with exaggerated grain growth and improved critical current density and Vickers hardness. At higher concentrations of platinum, while the mechanical properties are further improved, the increased density appeared to inhibit access of oxygen for the tetragonal to orthorhombic phase transition and the current density was reduced.     

Religiosity in Christian Educational Leadership

This study investigated the primary leadership orientations of Christian school leaders and their association with religiosity. To this end, this study adopted two lines of thought and research; the religiosity theory proposed by Batson, Schoenrade, and Ventis (1993) and the leadership theory proposed by Bolman and Deal (1997). Participants of this study were 206 K-12 school leaders affiliated with a Protestant church in the United States. According to the analysis, the human resource frame was the primary leadership frame of the school leaders, and the structural frame was a close second. Quest religiosity was inversely related to the four frames of structural, human resource, political, and symbolic leadership, whereas intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientations were positively related to the frames. Despite this pattern of relationship, in general, the analysis found little statistically meaningful relationship between religiosity and leadership, and this fact engenders an important question whether or not religion has any impact on Christian education, leadership, and behavior.     

政府信用与政府自觉

政府信用是社会信用的基础和源头,政府信用是社会信用体系建设的关键,因此,政府信用的提高对于提升个人信用和企业信用具有十分重要的意义。政府信用失范是政府信用缺失、信用贫困、信用滥用、信用危机的统称,政府信用失范将会造成政府失效乃至政府失败。在目前政府主导形态下,政府信用的提高和信用危机的克服主要依赖于政府的行为自主性——政府自觉。     

Cognitive Offloading: Structuring the Environment to Improve Children's Working Memory Task Performance

Research has shown that adults can engage in cognitive offloading, whereby internal processes are offloaded onto the environment to help task performance. Here, we investigate an application of this approach with children, in particular children with poor working memory. Participants were required to remember and recall sequences of colors by placing colored blocks in the correct serial order. In one condition the blocks were arranged to facilitate cognitive offloading (i.e., grouped by color), whereas in the other condition they were arranged randomly. Across two experiments (total N = 166) the ordered condition improved task performance for children with low working memory ability. In addition, participants in Experiment 2 rated the difficulty of the two arrangements and performed a further condition in which they were given an opportunity to freely arrange the blocks before completing the task. Despite performing better in the ordered condition, children with low working memory ability did not rate the ordered arrangement as easier, nor did they choose an ordered arrangement when given the opportunity to do so. This research shows that cognitive offloading can also be a useful process in populations other than typical adults, and the implications of this work for supporting children with poor working memory are discussed.