On Becoming What We Might Have Been: Counterfactual Thinking and Self-efficacy

Three experiments examined the hypothesis that, in the aftermath of a performance event, upward counterfactuals reinforce feelings of self-efficacy toward similar future events, whereas downward counterfactuals decrease feelings of self-efficacy. Using a scenario methodology, the first two experiments confirmed this hypothesis: upward counterfactual thinking enhanced feelings of self-efficacy relative to downward counterfactual thinking. In a third experiment, conducted in a more real-world context, upward counterfactuals again led to greater feelings of self-efficacy than downward counterfactuals. However, there were important limiting conditions: the effect of counterfactual thinking on self-efficacy was more or less pronounced depending on both situational and dispositional factors. Whereas the pattern of results provided little support for a self-protection explanation for these limiting conditions, the results were consistent with a depth of processing explanation.     

Tone of postcards in increasing survey response rates

This study assessed differences in response rates to a series of three-wave mail surveys when amiable or insistently worded postcards were the third wave of the mailing. Three studies were conducted; one with a sample of 600 health commissioners, one with a sample of 680 vascular nurses, and one with 600 elementary school secretaries. The combined response rates for the first and second wave mailings were 65.8%, 67.6%, and 62.4%, respectively. A total of 308 amiable and 308 insistent postcards were sent randomly to nonrespondents as the third wave mailing. Overall, there were 41 amiable and 52 insistent postcards returned, not significantly different by chi-square test. However, a separate chi-square test for one of the three studies, the nurses' study, did find a significant difference in favor of the insistently worded postcards.     

Firstborn preference and attitudes toward using sex selection technology

The authors investigated sex preferences for firstborn children and (a) pro- technology attitudes and willingness to use sex selection technology (SST) and (b) social conformity. College students (N = 469; 239 women, 230 men) answered demographic questions and questions on technology usage and personal preferences and completed a measure of conformity. Findings revealed a significant overall preference for firstborn males, a specific preference of potential SST users for firstborn sons, and a greater willingness of African American students, compared with White students, to use SST. No correlation was found between conformity and potential SST use. Logistic regression results suggested that protechnology attitudes may be predictive of firstborn preferences. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to gender equality and population sex ratios.     

Remembering the good, forgetting the bad: intentional forgetting of emotional material in depression

The authors examined intentional forgetting of negative material in depression. Participants were instructed to not think about emotional nouns that they had learned to associate with a neutral cue word. The authors provided participants with multiple occasions to suppress the unwanted words. Overall, depressed participants successfully forgot negative words. Moreover, the authors obtained a clear practice effect. However, forgetting came at a cost: Compared with the nondepressed participants and with the depressed participants who were instructed to forget positive words, depressed participants who were instructed to forget negative words showed significantly worse recall of the baseline words. These results indicate that training depressed individuals in intentional forgetting could prove to be an effective strategy to counteract automatic ruminative tendencies and mood-congruent biases.     

Do Promise Keepers Dream of Feminist Sheep?

This article describes a qualitative researchstudy of Promise Keeper fathers. Twenty-two middleclass, primarily White suburban fathers were interviewedin focus groups abouttheir fathering experiences. The grounded theory analysis found that the menwere experiencing gender role strain as they tried toconform to traditional masculine role norms. The PromiseKeeper movement provided them with an ideology and social supportsystem that facilitated theirbecoming more involved fathers, while simultaneouslyreassuring them that they were the leaders of theirfamilies. Using these supports, the men were able to construct a more personally gratifyingfatherhood identity. These results suggest a possibleinterpretation of why the Promise Keeper movement hasappealed to more men than has the pro-feminist men's movement.     

Assessing the Relationship between Three Christian Theologies of Creation and Environmental Concern

This paper reports the development of an instrument to measure three different orientations of a theology of nature. A theoretical model is proposed, and then applied to a sample of churchgoers in the form of a Theology of Nature Scale. The empirical data support the existence of deism, theism and pantheism orientations as proposed by the model. The relationships between these three theological orientations and other measures of religiosity are considered. Finally, the effects of these orientations on levels of environmental concern are assessed.     

Evaluation of eye movement variables of Chinese and American readers

Eye movements were recorded while competent readers of English and Chinese read in their respective languages. There were no important differences in oculometric patterns of fixation pause durations for Chinese and American readers, suggesting that cognitive aspects of reading are more important than perceptual ones in determining eye movement patterns and fixation pauses of competent readers. An analysis of undershoot saccades associated with return of the eyes from the end of one line to the beginning of the next line suggests that these occur more frequently during reading than during the performance of similar eye movements that are more perceptually determined, however, the amount of undershoot does not discriminate between readers of alphabetic and logographic texts.     

Food reinforcement and eating: a multilevel analysis

Eating represents a choice among many alternative behaviors. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of how food reinforcement and behavioral choice theory are related to eating and to show how this theoretical approach may help organize research on eating from molecular genetics through treatment and prevention of obesity. Special emphasis is placed on how food reinforcement and behavioral choice theory are relevant to understanding excess energy intake and obesity and how they provide a framework for examining factors that may influence eating and are outside of those that may regulate energy homeostasis. Methods to measure food reinforcement are reviewed, along with factors that influence the reinforcing value of eating. Contributions of neuroscience and genetics to the study of food reinforcement are illustrated by using the example of dopamine. Implications of food reinforcement for obesity and positive energy balance are explored, with suggestions for novel approaches to obesity treatment based on the synthesis of behavioral and pharmacological approaches to food reinforcement.