Childhood brand nostalgia: A new conceptualization and scale development

This research seeks to expand the current understanding of nostalgia towards childhood as it relates to consumer brand relationships and provide a framework for better understanding the phenomenon as it appears in both academic and real‐world settings. In this paper, the authors use existing literature on nostalgia and consumer interviews to define childhood brand nostalgia as a positively valenced emotional attachment to a brand because of the brand's association with fond memories of the individual's non‐recent lived past. A scale to measure an individual's childhood brand nostalgia is developed and tested to ensure convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. The scale is found to capture individual differences in nostalgic feelings towards a single brand, and individuals are found to have varying levels of nostalgic feelings for multiple brands across multiple product categories. This demonstrates the usefulness of this scale in determining a consumer's nostalgia towards a particular brand from their childhood. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Feasibility of Undertaking Off‐Site Infant Eye‐Tracking Assessments of Neuro‐Cognitive Functioning in Early‐Intervention Centres

Recent work suggests that differences in functional brain development are already identifiable in 6‐ to 9‐month‐old infants from low socio‐economic status (SES) backgrounds. Investigation of early SES‐related differences in neuro‐cognitive functioning requires the recruitment of large and diverse samples of infants, yet it is often difficult to persuade low‐SES parents to come to a university setting. One solution is to recruit infants through early intervention children's centres (CCs). These are often located in areas of high relative deprivation to support young children. Given the increasing portability of eye‐tracking equipment, assessment of large clusters of infants could be undertaken in centres by suitably trained early intervention staff. Here, we report on a study involving 174 infants and their parents, carried out in partnership with CCs, exploring the feasibility of this approach. We report the processes of setting up the project and participant recruitment. We report the diversity of sample obtained on the engagement of CC staff in training and the process of assessment itself. We report the quality of the data obtained, and the levels of engagement of parents and infants. We conclude that this approach has great potential for recruiting large and diverse samples worldwide, provides sufficiently reliable data and is engaging to staff, parents and infants. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tactile order memory: evidence for sequence learning phenomena found with other stimulus types

We examine serial order memory for sequences of tactile stimuli and investigate whether established characteristics of order memory, namely serial position effects, error distributions, and Hebb repetition learning, are observed with tactile memory. Visually obscured participants received six tactile stimulations: one to each of six fingers. At test, participants lifted the six fingers in the order of stimulation. For every third trial participants received the same order of stimulation (i.e. the Hebb sequence). Serial recall accuracy produced the canonical bowed serial position function found for immediate serial recall. In addition, recall for the Hebb sequence improved relative to the filler sequences, providing the first demonstration of the Hebb repetition effect with tactile stimuli. Analysis of errors revealed close similarities to that reported with verbal and visual stimuli. This experiment further generalises established features of order memory to tactile memory, supporting the utilisation of an analogous order memory mechanism across stimuli.     

When lending an ear turns into mistreatment: An episodic examination of leader mistreatment in response to venting at work

Venting—an emotion‐focused form of coping involving the discharge of negative feelings to others—is common in organizational settings. Venting may benefit the self via the release of negative emotion, or by acting as a catalyst for changes to problematic work situations. Nonetheless, venting might have unintended consequences via its influence on those who are the recipients of venting from others. In light of this idea, we provide a theoretical explanation for how leaders in particular are affected by venting receipt at work. Drawing from the transactional model of stress, we theorize that venting tends to be appraised as a threat, which triggers negative emotion that, in turn, potentiates deviant action tendencies (i.e., interpersonal mistreatment). Yet, our theory suggests that not all leaders necessarily experience venting in the same way. Specifically, leaders with higher need for cognition are less influenced by surface‐level cues associated with others’ emotional expressions and find challenging interpersonal situations to be less aversive, thereby attenuating the deleterious effects of receipt of venting. In an experience sampling study of 112 managers across 10 consecutive workdays, we find support for our theoretical model. Altogether, our findings provide insight into the costs incurred when leaders lend an ear to those who vent, which can result in negative downstream consequences.     

The Factors that Motivate Law Enforcement's Use of Force: A Systematic Review

Media attention relevant to law enforcement use of force in the last decade finally alerted the scientific community to the need for more research regarding law enforcement discretion and decision making. The purpose of this study was to synthesize the existing literature to explore the motivating factors for law enforcement use of force. This study will utilize a social–ecological framework to systematically examine factors that impact officer decisions to use force at the individual and community levels. The paper includes recommendations for research and practice through an equity lens that highlights the disparate use of force against men of color in particular. Interventions, trainings, education, and research to stop the promotion of perceived safety over justice will be highlighted.     

Predicting Treatment Outcomes From Internet-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

Internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (ICBT) with therapist support shows promise as a treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Yet, not all patients respond to ICBT. It is therefore important to identify predictors of ICBT outcomes to determine who is likely to benefit. Relative to the large literature on predictors of outcomes for in-person CBT for OCD, very few studies have investigated ICBT predictors. Therefore, we analyzed predictors of outcome in an open trial (n = 30) of ICBT for OCD using the OCD-NET platform, which consists of 10 online modules delivered with therapist support. The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) was administered by independent raters as the primary outcome measure at baseline and posttreatment. In this sample, greater baseline OCD severity and OCD-related avoidance behaviors were associated with higher end-state OCD symptoms (i.e., poorer outcome). Patients with a past history of face-to-face CBT for OCD also had worse outcomes. Although these results require replication, these factors may identify individuals at risk for poor ICBT outcomes.     

Opposing Affective and Cognitive Effects of Prevention Focus on Counterproductive Work Behavior

Purpose

Regulatory focus is a crucial self-regulation variable that influences employee workplace behavior. However, research findings to date have been equivocal with respect to the relation of prevention focus with counterproductive work behavior (CWB). On the one hand, prevention focus sensitizes people to experience high activation negative emotions. Such emotions prompt aggressive behavior, suggesting a positive relation of prevention focus with CWB through this affective route. On the other hand, prevention focus also sensitizes people to fulfill obligations and abide by rules. Such obligations align employee behavior with organizational norms, suggesting a negative relation of prevention focus with CWB through this cognitive route. To better understand the nature of this prevention focus–CWB relationship, we examined these underlying affective and cognitive mechanisms simultaneously in two multi-wave studies.

Methodology and Findings

In study 1, data were collected from 151 full-time employees across two time points, and the results showed that prevention focus was positively related to both deviant behavior and withdrawal. In study 2, data were collected from 199 full-time employees across four time points, and we found that prevention focus has a significant negative indirect effect on withdrawal via felt obligation. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings for the regulatory focus and CWB literatures.

     

Dispositional optimism and luck attributions: Implications for philosophical theories of luck

We conducted two studies to determine whether there is a relationship between dispositional optimism and the attribution of good or bad luck to ambiguous luck scenarios. Study 1 presented five scenarios that contained both a lucky and an unlucky component, thereby making them ambiguous in regard to being an overall case of good or bad luck. Participants rated each scenario in toto on a four-point Likert scale and then completed an optimism questionnaire. The results showed a significant correlation between optimism and assignments of luck: more optimistic people rated the characters in the ambiguous scenarios as more lucky while more pessimistic people rated the same characters in the same scenarios as more unlucky. Study 2 separated the good and bad luck components of the study 1 scenarios and presented the components individually to a new group of participants. Participants rated the luckiness of each component on the same four-point scale and then completed the optimism questionnaire. We found that the luckiness of the bad luck component could be significantly predicted by their level of optimism. We discuss how these findings pose problems for philosophical accounts that treat luck as an objective property.