Low‐price guarantees as advertisement strategy and compensation policy: The more,the better?

Companies sometimes employ a “lowest price or more than the difference back” policy (i.e., a price‐beating guarantee). We investigated whether such a policy is more effective to attract and retain customers than when the exact price difference is promised (i.e., a price‐matching guarantee). The first study revealed that about 60% of the marketers and shop owners in our sample thought that beating price differences is a more effective strategy than matching price differences. However, the four subsequent studies challenged this assumption. Specifically, the advertisement as well as the provision of price‐beating refunds did not have an incremental positive effect on customers' general attitudes in terms of trust, brand perception, loyalty, and shopping intentions beyond the level that was already reached by price‐matching refunds. Moreover, our mediation analyses revealed that the null effect of price‐matching versus price‐beating was mediated by fairness perceptions. From a theoretical perspective, these results are in line with a fairness account, which holds that people do not only evaluate the economic value of an outcome, but also take equality considerations into account. Because price‐beating is literally more expensive than price‐matching, from a practical point of view, companies should be informed that the employment of a price‐beating guarantee is a cost‐ineffective advertisement strategy and compensation policy.     

Persuasion in school-aged children: How does it change if the persuadee is the mother or the peer?

The present study was designed to verify how school-aged children’s persuasive tactics changed if the persuadee was the mother or the peer. One hundred and forty-nine children at two grade levels (4th and 5th) were enrolled in the study. Persuasive strategies were investigated using pictures representing two common situations in which each child had to convince his/her playmate and his/her mother to obtain a toy. As predicted, with mothers children engaged more frequently in strategies aimed at encouraging cognitive reappraisal of the situation and offering guarantees. Conversely, with the peers, children adopted a greater variety of persuasive strategies, engaging in lower-order tactics. Implications and limitations of the study were discussed.     

Individual differences in orthographic priming relate to phonological decoding skill in adults

We examined relationships between individual differences in orthographic priming and a battery of measures assessing orthographic processing ability, reading history, current reading ability, and verbal intelligence in university students. Pronounceable and unpronounceable nonword primes preceded word and nonword targets. Individual differences in nonword reading skill and other measures of reading and spelling ability were associated with the degree of orthographic priming. Individuals with less phonological decoding skill benefited more from anagram primes for word targets preceded by unpronounceable primes and nonword targets preceded by pronounceable primes. Analyses of extreme groups revealed that the group with the lowest phonemic decoding efficiency scores showed a general benefit of orthographic relatedness, while the group with the highest phonemic decoding efficiency scores showed a benefit only under certain conditions. Thus, individuals with worse nonword reading skills may have less precise orthographic representations and therefore benefit more from overlapping coarse-grained orthographic information, regardless of the pronounceability of the prime or the lexical status of the target. These findings demonstrate that university students vary in their orthographic processing skill and the degree to which orthographic information is used during word recognition.     

Are People Mindful in Different Ways? Disentangling the Quantity and Quality of Mindfulness in Latent Profiles and Exploring their Links to Mental Health and Life Effectiveness

We sought to disambiguate the quantitative and qualitative components of mindfulness profiles, examine whether including ‘nonattachment’ as a subcomponent of mindfulness alters the profiles, and evaluate the extent to which the person‐centred approach to understanding mindfulness adds predictive power beyond a more parsimonious variable‐centred approach. Using data from a nationally representative sample of Americans (N = 7884; 52% female; Age: M = 47.9, SD = 16), we utilized bifactor exploratory structural equation modelling and latent profile analysis to separate the level and shape of previously identified profiles of mindfulness (Pearson, Lawless, Brown, & Bravo, 2015 ). Consistent with past research, we identified a judgmentally observing profile and a non‐judgmentally aware group, but inconsistent with past research, we did not find profiles that showed high or low levels on all specific aspects of mindfulness. Adding nonattachment did not alter the shape of the profiles. Profile membership was meaningfully related to demographic variables. In models testing the distinctive predictive utility of the profiles, the judgmentally observing profile, compared to the other profiles, showed the highest levels of mental ill‐health, but also the highest levels of life satisfaction and effectiveness. We discuss the implications of our study for clinical interventions and understanding the varieties of mindfulness. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology     

A Cognitive-Behavioral-Based Workshop Intervention for Maladaptive Perfectionism

Maladaptive perfectionism (MP) can have adverse consequences for mental and physical health and can interfere with treatment success for various conditions. Theoretical conceptualizations of MP largely surround overly rigid and self-critical thinking as well as excessively high standards. Treatment for MP thus often focuses on these cognitive aspects and has been successful, albeit lengthy. The present study evaluated a brief cognitive-behavioral workshop for those with high, moderate, and low MP, which was defined as a composite of perfectionism subscales that included concern over mistakes, doubting of actions, parental criticism, parental expectations, and discrepancy. Workshop components focused on psychoeducation about MP, setting high standards, fearing mistakes and doubting oneself, and preventing distress and maintaining gains. Ratings of MP as well as anxiety, depression, and distress were significantly lower from pre-treatment across post-treatment and 3-week and 3-month follow-up assessments for those with high and moderate MP. Participants with low MP showed no significant change over time, as expected. The workshop thus provided a useful, brief, and cost-effective intervention for MP and related distress. Clinical implications are discussed, including routine assessment of MP in clinical practice, intervention for MP early in the clinical process, specific focus on self-criticism and setting high standards, and implementation in university counseling centers. Recommendations for future research are also discussed, including dismantling of workshop components, identifying treatment mechanisms, expanding to clinical populations, evaluating more diverse samples, and understanding the possible preventative aspects of a workshop approach.     

Witnesses stumbling down memory lane: The effects of alcohol intoxication,retention interval,and repeated interviewing

Intoxicated eyewitnesses are often discredited by investigators and in court, but few studies have examined how alcohol affects witnesses’ memory. The primary aim of the present study was to examine how intoxication (alcohol vs. control), retention interval (immediate vs. one week delay), and number of interviews (one vs. two interviews) affect witnesses’ memory. The participants (N?=?99) were randomly assigned to consume either orange juice or alcohol mixed with orange juice, and they all witnessed a filmed mock crime afterwards. The recall took place either (a) immediately and after a one week delay or (b) after a one week delay only. No main effect of alcohol was found on the quantity or quality of the witnesses’ statements. Both intoxicated and sober witnesses recalled more details, and were more accurate, during immediate compared to delayed recall. For witnesses interviewed twice, an average of 30% new details were provided in the second compared to the first interview, and these were highly accurate. In sum, contrary to what one can expect, intoxicated witnesses with a low to moderate blood alcohol concentration (below 0.10%) were reliable witnesses.     

The Gettier Intuition from South America to Asia

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research - This article examines whether people share the Gettier intuition (viz. that someone who has a true justified belief that p may nonetheless fail...     

“Hammered down on every side” versus “just being positive”: A critical discursive approach to health inequality

Socio‐economic and health inequality are strongly linked and are increasingly perpetuated by discourses of individual responsibility. However, little research from a critical discursive perspective has addressed how people affected themselves may account for this relationship. This research examined the ways in which people who are in debt, unemployed, or in insecure, minimum‐wage employment construct health and negotiate identities around it. Data from semistructured interviews with 6 participants were analysed and 3 main interpretative repertoires were identified: a medical repertoire of health as a lack of illness; health as adopting the “right” behaviours and attitudes; and health as being heavily influenced by external factors, such as income and life circumstances. The analysis focuses on how participants managed the tension between these latter 2 repertoires by adopting various subject positions around health: that it is “slipping” away from them; that it requires motivation; and that it is unattainable. Underpinning this is a “common‐sense” idea of health as something that is worked towards through culturally approved actions and attitudes.     

Engaging the Student Voice in Dialogue with Section 50 Inspection Criteria in Church in Wales Primary Schools: A Study in Psychometric Assessment

The inspection criteria for schools with a religious character within the state-maintained system in England and Wales require the sponsoring body to report on aspects of the distinctiveness of the school ethos and on school worship. This article argues that taking into account the student voice in these areas could enhance the inspection process. Findings are reported for a pilot study conducted among 1,899 students between ages 9 and 11 years, attending year-five and -six classes within Church in Wales primary schools. On the basis of this pilot study, six short scales were constructed to assess student attitude toward: school ethos, school experience, school teachers, relationships in school, school environment, and school worship. The data reported satisfactory internal consistency reliability for each of the six scales. The scales are recommended for further application.