How many migrants are people willing to welcome into their country? The effect of numerical anchoring on migrants’ acceptance

How many migrants are people willing to welcome into their country? Relying on a classical anchoring paradigm, we investigated the effect of numerical anchors reported in communication media echoing political positions regarding how many migrants should be accepted in one country. Four studies (N = 601) tested the effect of a numerical anchor within a politician’s statement on the number of migrants that people think should be accepted in their home country. Across studies, we found a strong anchor effect (average Cohen’s d = 1.40, 95% CI [1.18, 1.63]): participants were willing to accept a higher (vs. lower) number of migrants following a high (vs. low) anchor. Importantly, the effect occurred among both left wing‐ and right wing‐oriented participants, although being slightly smaller among the latter (Study 3). Moreover, it was independent from the political party serving as the source for the anchors as well as participants’ attitude toward these political parties (Study 4). Relevance of the present findings for persuasion and political decision‐making literature is discussed.     

Convergent validity of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2: preliminary findings with a normative sample

We examined the convergent validity of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI; Cheung, Leung, et al., 1996), an indigenously constructed measure, by comparing its patterns of correlations with the MMPI-2 (Butcher et al., 2001). A valid sample of 147 Chinese students took both the CPAI and the MMPI-2. Results provide preliminary support for the convergence between most of the CPAI clinical scales and the relevant MMPI-2 scales. The CPAI personality scales further illustrated the patterns of personality features associated with the MMPI-2 scales in a Chinese cultural context. We discuss discrepancies in the correspondence between a number of CPAI and MMPI-2 clinical scales.     

Levels and Instability of Daily Self-Esteem in Adolescents: Relations to Depressive and Anxious Symptoms

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - The current study examined whether individual differences in depressive and anxious symptoms relate to level of daily self-esteem and instability...     

Is regulatory focus related to minimal and maximal standards? Depends on how you ask!

Regulatory focus theory suggests that hopes and aspirations (promotion focus) function like maximal goals, whereas duties and responsibilities (prevention focus) function like minimal goals. However, past research has not always reliably found such a link between regulatory focus and maximal–minimal goals or standards. In the present research, we hypothesised that this inconsistency can be explained, at least in part, by conceptual differences resulting in the use of different, specific wording. In four studies, we compared wording in terms of the relative magnitude of the goals to wording in terms of their absolute versus gradual perception. Results showed that regulatory focus (manipulated or measured) consistently relates to maximal versus minimal standards framed as goals of different magnitudes, but not to the goals framed according to an absolute–gradual perception. Implication of the results for regulatory focus research is discussed.     

Forensische Psychiatrie zwischen Therapie und Sicherung

The therapeutic tasks of forensic psychiatry range between the field of tension of “improvement” and “security” of entrusted persons. With respect to these aspects a paradoxical position of politics and society can be seen: whereas, regulatory security aspects are emphasized and detention measures are required with respect to the treatment measures according to §63 and §64 of the penal code (StGB) and any relaxation of rules is critically viewed, under pressure from the European jurisprudence preventive detention has been declared as a therapeutic measure. The superordinate priority of these measures is to prevent recidivism. This article firstly summarizes the empirical evidence concerning the efficacy of forensic psychiatric treatment of relevant disorders. From this it becomes obvious that the data are unreliable due to relevant risk aspects; therefore, the comparison of safety and therapeutic interests remains a challenging undertaking. A working approach that can successfully encompass both aspects is long-term case management, which is in a position to do justice to both the inpatient interaction and dynamic aspects of the treatment process beyond detention. Because the effectiveness of aftercare has been confirmed, we propose the implementation of forensic outpatient treatment as an alternative to forensic inpatient treatment.     

Decomposing the construct of ambivalence over emotional expression in a Chinese cultural context

The present study examined the construct of ambivalence over emotional expression proposed by King and Emmons ( 1990 ) in the Chinese context, and identified a factor structure different from those proposed in previous Western studies. The results of this study provided discriminant validity for this newly extracted two-factor structure of ambivalence, viz., Emotional Rumination and Emotional Suppression. Emotional Rumination was significantly predicted by the personality scales of introversion and inferiority, and the belief dimension of fate control, whereas Emotional Suppression was predicted by the personality scales of diversity, face, and harmony, and the belief dimension of social complexity. The different effects of Emotional Rumination and Emotional Suppression in predicting life satisfaction showed that emotional experience has its own specific characteristics in Chinese culture, and that responding to its emic characteristics will yield a more culturally responsive understanding of emotional experience and expression. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Going beyond self-esteem to predict life satisfaction: The Chinese case

The present study examined three fundamental components contributing to life satisfaction among Chinese college students − who you are, how you conceive of yourself, and how you understand the world in which you function. To account for life satisfaction beyond self-esteem, we used two comprehensive measures of personality and social beliefs that have recently established their cross-cultural applicability: the Cross-Cultural Personality Assessment Inventory and the Social Axioms Survey. It was found that the personality variables tapping interpersonal relationship and social axioms tapping perceptions of social contexts were significantly related to life satisfaction over and above its relationship to self-esteem. These and other constructs were discussed as emic and possibly pancultural contributors to subjective well-being.