Why mood affects help giving,but not moral courage: Comparing two types of prosocial behaviour

A long tradition in the help giving literature assumes that mood states determine the level of prosocial behaviour shown by individuals. Most research in this area has been conducted in the context of low cost prosocial behaviour, whereas research has been neglected in which participants were confronted with situations involving potential severe and dangerous negative consequences (i.e., high cost situations) with the help‐giver risking his moral integrity and social disapproval (i.e., moral courage). To address this gap in the literature, the present studies investigate differential effects of positive and negative compared with neutral mood states on help giving versus moral courage. Study 1 shows that in situations requiring low cost helping, participants were more likely to help in positive and negative moods than those in a neutral mood, whereas in situations requiring moral courage (high cost), participants were comparably likely to help in each of the three mood conditions. In Study 2, we find that salience of moral norms mediates the interaction between type of prosocial behaviour and mood. Finally, Study 3 investigates whether the apparent discrepancy between help giving and moral courage as established by the differential impact of mood states can be determined still differently. It reveals that justice sensibility, civil disobedience, resistance to group pressure, moral mandates, and anger lead to moral courage, but not to help giving. Differences between these two types of prosocial behaviour are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The relationships between socially prescribed perfectionism,in‐group affect,negative urgency,and disordered eating in women

Socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) is often considered as a key risk factor for disordered eating (DE). However, current conceptualizations of SPP largely assume that this perfectionism pressure is non‐specific (i.e., a global pressure), despite research indicating that for females experiencing DE, female‐dominated groups impose this pressure (as a perceived norm). Furthermore, this relationship may be mediated by a negative reaction to this pressure, in the form of impulsivity (or negative urgency). To date, no research has investigated whether the relationship between SPP and DE is mediated by negative urgency, nor has there been research clarifying how in‐group identification relates to DE, independent of SPP and negative urgency. To address these gaps, we assessed these variables in 147 female dieters (M_age = 25.12 years, SD = 3.08) using a cross‐sectional design. Consistent with our hypotheses, negative urgency fully mediated the link between female‐based SPP and disordered eating, while female‐based in‐group affect (identification) was predictive of disordered eating (although the latter relationship was not sustained in a multiple regression model). These findings suggest that the SPP from other women may relate to DE through increasing negative urgency, and that the link between in‐group (female) affect and DE may be better explained by SPP's link to DE.     

Childhood maltreatment and maltreatment‐specific inferences: A test of Rose and Abramson's (1992) extension of the hopelessness theory

In extending the etiological chain of the hopelessness theory of depression (Abramson, Metalsky, & Alloy, 1989), Rose and Abramson (1992) proposed a developmental model by which childhood maltreatment may contribute to the development of a negative inferential style. Once developed, this negative inferential style leaves the individual vulnerable to developing hopelessness and symptoms of hopelessness depression. In the current cross‐sectional study, reports of childhood emotional, but not physical or sexual, maltreatment were significantly related to undergraduates' inferential styles. In addition, results from path analyses indicated that inferences about specific experiences of childhood emotional maltreatment mediated this relationship. Testing Rose and Abramson's entire model, results from path analyses supported a partial, but not full, mediation model.     

Depressed mood: The role of negative thoughts,self-consciousness,and sex role stereotypes

Research typically finds that depression is twice as common among women as among men. This may relate to differences in socialization that result in different emotions, cognitions, and coping reactions. Sex-role stereotypes, employment and marital status, and differential social pressures may also be significant in making women more vulnerable to the development of depression. Women may have less decision-making power, face more adverse life events, and have limited access to resources, which may lead to feelings of helplessness and low self-esteem. Low self-esteem and negative cognitions about the self in turn may be proximal factors predictive of negative mood. Additionally, women may be more prone to ruminative self-focus rather than active coping, a significant risk factor for depression. This study examined individual predictors of depressed mood for each sex, including coping, self-esteem, negative thoughts, self-consciousness (rumination), as well as social factors such as the endorsement of sex-role stereotypes and decision-making power in the family. Results indicated that social factors were not related to depressed mood in either sex, but were related to coping styles and self-esteem. Depressed mood was associated with individual characteristics, such as avoidant coping styles, social anxiety for women, and ruminative self-focus for men. Regression analysis showed that coping through denial and negative thoughts explained depressed mood, and the latter was particularly true for men. These results point to the significance of examining both individual and social factors when attempting to understand depression in men and women.     

Differences Between Minority,Majority, and Unanimous Group Members in the Communication of Information

This article integrates research on minority influence and information sampling in groups. The traditional information‐sampling paradigm implies that the discussion bias for common over unique information affects all types of groups universally. We proposed an alternative in which information sampling depends on the composition of opinions. We proposed that groups with a minority opinion may focus more on unique information and that a minority opinion may lead majority members to consider more preference‐inconsistent information. In a study that tested how minority, majority, and unanimous group members differ in their discussion of information, results lent no support for the alternative conception of information sampling. However, when the minority prevailed, minority members repeated significantly more common information than when the majority prevailed.     

Cultural influences on children's understanding of the human body and the concept of life

This study aimed to identify the age by which children begin to demonstrate a biological understanding of the human body and the idea that the purpose of body functioning is to maintain life. The study also explored the influence of education, culturally specific experiences and religion on knowledge acquisition in this domain. Children aged between 4 and 7 years from three different cultural backgrounds (White British, British Muslim, and Pakistani Muslim) were interviewed about the human body and its functioning. At least half of the 4‐ to 5‐year‐olds in each cultural group, and almost all 6‐ to 7‐year‐olds, referred to the maintenance of life when explaining organs' functions and so were classified as ‘life theorizers’. Pakistani Muslim children gave fewer biological responses to questions about organs' functions and the purpose of eating and breathing, but referred to life more than their British counterparts. Irrespective of cultural group, older children understood organ location and function better than younger children. These findings support Jaakkola and Slaughter's (2002, Br. J. Dev. Psychol., 20, 325) view that children's understanding of the body as a ‘life machine’ emerges around the ages of 4–5 years. They also suggest that, despite many similarities in children's ideas cross‐culturally, different educational input and culturally specific experiences influence aspects of their biological understanding.     

When more is not merrier: shared stressful experiences amplify

ABSTRACT

Sharing experiences with others, even without communication, can amplify those experiences. We investigated whether shared stressful experiences amplify. Participants completed the Cold Pressor Task at the same time as a confederate, or while the confederate completed another task. Importantly, participants in the shared (vs. unshared) condition experienced more sensory pain characteristics and reported more stress over time in relation to the task. Importantly, they reported thinking more about the confederate’s thoughts and feelings. This mentalizing sometimes mediated effects, suggesting the task amplified when participants constructed mental representations of others’ CPT experience (e.g. that it hurts) and incorporated it into their own responses.     

British and Pakistani children's understanding of death: Cultural and developmental influences

This study explored British and Pakistani 4‐ to 7‐year‐olds’ (N = 188) understanding of death. The aim was to examine possible influences on the acquisition of the subcomponents of the death concept by investigating how they are understood by children of different ages and cultural and religious backgrounds. Three groups of children were compared: White British and British Muslim living in London, and Pakistani Muslim living in rural Pakistan. In line with previous research (Slaughter, 2005, Aust. Psychol., 40(3), 179), irreversibility of death was one of the first subcomponents to be acquired, while causality was the last. The two groups of British children shared many similarities in their understanding of inevitability, applicability, irreversibility, and cessation. Pakistani Muslim children understood irreversibility earlier than did children in both British groups. In all three cultural groups, children's responses demonstrated very limited understanding of causality. Our findings support the view that aspects of a mature understanding of death develop between the ages of 4 and 7 years and that the process of understanding death as a biological event is, to a great extent, universal. They also suggest that aspects of children's reasoning are influenced by culturally specific experiences, particularly those arising from living in rural versus urban settings.     

International Employment Discrimination and Implicit Social Cognition: New Directions for Theory and Research

This article contends that a complete understanding of employment discrimination should consider conscious and unconscious sources of bias. Research on implicit social cognition has described how prejudice and stereotypes operate at an unconscious level. These processes are believed to be fundamental properties of human cognition and universal across cultures; although specific targets of discrimination may vary by culture. Within an employment framework, implicit social cognitions can be measured to determine the extent to which unconscious prejudices influence organisational behavior. Human resource practices designed to minimise unfair employment discrimination may require interventions that operate at conscious and unconscious levels.
Cet article soutient que la compréhension complète de la discrimination à l'embauche devrait prendre en compte les sources conscientes et inconscientes de ce phénomène. La recherche sur la cognition sociale implicite a décrit comment les préjugés et les stéréotype opèrent à un niveau inconscient. Ces processus sont pensés comme étant des propriétés fondamentales de la cognition humaine et universels du point de vue des cultures; bien que les cibles spécifiques de la discrimination puissent varier selon ces dernières. Dans le cadre d'une embauche, les cognitions sociales implicites peuvent être mesurées pour déterminer l'importance avec laquelle les préjugés inconscients influencent le comportement organisationnel. En matière de ressources humaines, les pratiques prévues pour réduire au minimum l'injuste discrimination à l'embauche peuvent exiger des interventions agissant aux niveaux conscient et inconscient.