Controlling death by defending ingroups — Mediational insights into terror management and control restoration

A large body of evidence supports the key tenet of terror management theory (TMT) that people manage death anxiety by defending cultural ingroups. However, surprisingly little is known about the motivational processes driving this effect. Given that mortality salience (MS) as well as control deprivation instigate ingroup defense, it is possible that MS effects on ingroup defense are fueled by the motivation to restore control that has been shattered by the inevitability of death. Study 1 revealed that control motivation – operationalized as illusory pattern perception – mediates MS and control deprivation effects on ingroup defense. Study 2 showed that thoughts about lacking control mediate MS and control deprivation effects on perceptions of randomness. Study 3 compared control motivation – operationalized as state need for structure – and death-thought accessibility (i.e., the main mediator candidate in TMT) in terms of mediation of MS and control deprivation effects on ingroup defense. Replicating the results of Study 1, control motivation mediated both MS and control deprivation effects, whereas death-thought accessibility failed to mediate any effects. Using different operationalizations of control motivation, these studies provide broad mediational evidence for the notion that MS-induced ingroup defense serves the function of compensating for the loss of control that is inherent in the inescapability of death.     

Reduced positive future-thinking in depression: Cognitive and affective factors

A pessimistic view of the future is an important feature of depressive thinking, and appears to be influenced at least as strongly by reduced positive expectancies as it is by increased negative expectancies. The present study examined whether reduced positive future-thinking in depression could be accounted for by a reduced capacity to anticipate experiencing pleasure. Depressed and nondepressed participants were asked to generate positive future expectancies using a future-thinking task, and their capacity to anticipate experiencing pleasure in such events was also assessed. Depressed participants provided fewer anticipated positive experiences, a finding which was not accountable for by their reduced pleasure ratings. This reduced positive anticipation was related to levels of depression but not to levels of anxiety. The results are consistent with the view that the lack of anticipated positive experiences in depression arises from a difficulty in accessing mental representations of such experiences.     

Conflict in psychoanalysis and in life

Abstract

Unconscious conflicts are at the center of Freudian psychoanalytic inquiry, in the psychoanalytic situation as well as in the theory of personality and pathogenesis. The core dynamic formulation, intrapsychic conflict resulting in new psychic formation, is addressed in the paper in the following steps.

First, the development of the concept of conflict throughout the history of Freudian psychoanalysis is reviewed. Next, the analytic and synthetic aspects of conflict theory are explored and the role of conflict in the development of personality organization and pathogenesis is clarified. Then, the contemporary extensions and elaborations of structural theory are presented.

To illustrate analysis focused on conflict, clinical material covering the phases of psychoanalytic process is highlighted. From the beginning stage of analyzing the patient's initial diffuse state of indifference and “weirdness”, analysis proceeds to address primary and secondary symptoms of impotence and exhibitionism and underlying passive-phallic personality organization with conflict around aggression. This leads to the patient's sense of mastery over previously enslaving and “immobilizing” internal turmoil.     

Development of Cognitive Skills in Children with Motor Coordination Impairments at 12-Month Follow-up

The current study presents a 1-year follow-up investigation of the development of executive functions (i.e., inhibition, updating, and shifting) in children with motor coordination impairments. Cognitive and motor coordination skills of children (N = 94) aged between 5 and 7 years with and without motor coordination impairments were compared. A second focus of the study was on pre-academic skills. The results indicate marked stability of motor coordination impairments and persistent executive functioning deficits in motor-impaired children. Inhibition and shifting performance was consistently lower, compared to the children without motor coordination impairments. Moreover, children with motor coordination impairments showed lower pre-academic skills, facing a substantial disadvantage at the beginning of formal schooling. The combined cognitive and motor problems may be the result of an underlying inhibition deficit or a general automation deficit. Implications for intervention are discussed.     

Visuospatial Short-Term Memory Explains Deficits in Tower Task Planning in High-Functioning Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Previous findings on planning abilities in individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFA) are inconsistent. Exploring possible reasons for these mixed findings, the current study investigated the involvement of memory in planning performance in 15 children with HFA and 17 typically developing controls. In addition to planning abilities (measured with the Tower of London), short-term memory and delayed recall for verbal as well as visuospatial material were assessed. Findings suggest that particularly reduced efficiency in visuospatial short-term memory is associated with Tower task planning deficits in children with HFA.     

The Factor Structure of the Figural Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking: A Meta-Confirmatory Factor Analysis

To investigate the factor structure of the Figural Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Figural TTCT), a meta-confirmatory factor analysis was performed. A sample of 33 correlation matrices from 26 studies (N_individuals = 6,982) was included in the meta-analysis. Four different factor models previously presented in the literature were tested to determine which model fits the data best. The results supported a 2-factor structure model in which fluency and originality subscales loaded on the innovative factor; elaboration, abstractness of titles, and resistance to premature closure subscales loaded on the adaptive factor. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Motivation as Mediator Between National Identity and Intention to Volunteer

Although there is a large volume of research on the relationship between social identity and volunteerism, little attention was given to national identity in volunteerism research. This study examined the role of national identity in motivating people to volunteer in the Chinese culture and its role in differentiating those who showed no interest in voluntary work (i.e. non‐volunteers) from those who wanted to volunteer but did not (i.e. potential volunteers). Two hundred ninety‐nine participants (age, M = 34.14 years) filled out a questionnaire on their demographics, experience of volunteering, intention to volunteer, volunteer motivations, and national identity. Results showed that a stronger national identity was associated with greater volunteer motivations. Mediation analyses further supported the positive indirect effect of national identity on intention to volunteer through strengthening volunteer motivations. Marital status was the only significant factor that differentiated current volunteers from potential volunteers. We concluded that citizens’ volunteer motivation increases with national identity, yet concrete measures to bring potential volunteers to actual volunteering need to be further explored. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reliability and validity of japanese children's trait and state worry and emotionality scales

There is a belief in both Japan and the U.S. that high levels of test anxiety interfere with performance. However, there are no measures of anxiety (i.e., worry or emotionality) for Japanese children. In this study, since the consequences of testing are even more salient in Japan than the U.S., it was expected that levels of anxiety, both trait and state, would be higher in Japan than the U.S. Further, we expected that the two-factor structure (worry and emotionality) of both trait and state anxiety scales would be verified and that females would exhibit more anxiety than males. In general, the results for the state worry and emotionality scale were consistent with expectations. On the trait scales, anxiety was less than the United States version. Further, there was not a two-factor structure. There was no effect of sex on any of the anxiety measures.