The effects of learned helplessness on the processing of a persuasive message

The current study examines the effects of exposure to unsolvable problems on the processing of a persuasive message. Participants exposed to either unsolvable failure or no-feedback tasks were presented with one of four versions of an advertisement about a hair shampoo and rated their attitude towards this product. Two aspects of the message were manipulated: the quality of arguments (strong, weak) and the attractiveness of the communicator (attractive, non-attractive). In addition, participants rated their anxiety and the frequency of off-task thoughts during the experiment. Attitude towards the target product of participants in the failure condition was less affected by the argument’s quality and more influenced by communicator attractiveness than the attitude of participants in the no-feedback condition. Participants exposed to failures reported more anxiety and task-related worries than those exposed to no-feedback, and these ratings were found to mediate the effects of failure on the processing of a persuasive message. Results were discussed in terms of Learned Helplessness theories and the Elaboration Likelihood Model.     

The influence of abstract and concrete mindsets on anticipating and guiding others' self-regulatory efforts

To investigate how people anticipate and attempt to shape others' self-regulatory efforts, this work examined the impact of abstract and concrete mindsets on attention to goal-relevant aspects of others' situations. An abstract (relative to a concrete) mindset, by making accessible the cognitive operation of considering activities' purpose (versus process) was predicted to focus attention on how others' self-evaluative situations could impact others' long-term aims of self-knowledge and self-improvement, thus facilitating the anticipation and preference that others pursue accurate, even self-critical, feedback. Participants in an abstract (relative to a concrete) mindset both anticipated (Experiment 1) and suggested (Experiments 2a and b) that others pursue realistic rather than overly positive self-relevant information, with the latter effect apparently explained by the salience of abstract versus concrete goal-relevant features of others' situations (Experiment 2b). Implications for self-regulatory mindsets, as well as for interpersonal relations, are discussed.     

The developmental change in strategies parents employ to settle young children to sleep,and their relationship to infant sleeping problems,as assessed by a new questionnaire: the Parental Interactive Bedtime Behaviour Scale

The development of a new parental self‐report questionnaire, the Parental Interactive Bedtime Behaviour Scale (PIBBS) is described. The PIBBS was designed to capture a wide range of parental behaviours used to settle infants off to sleep. The commonest behaviours employed were giving a feed, talking softly to the child, cuddling in the arms, and stroking. A factor analysis revealed five settling strategies; ‘active physical comforting’ (e.g. cuddling in arms); ‘encouraging infant autonomy’ (e.g. leaving to cry); ‘movement’ (e.g. car rides), ‘passive physical comforting’ (e.g. standing next to the cot without picking the infant up), and ‘social comforting’ (e.g. reading a story). Excessive ‘active physical comforting’ and reduced ‘encourage autonomy’ strategy use was associated with infant sleeping problems. Regarding developmental change in strategy between 1 and 2 years, the later the onset at which ‘encourage autonomy’ became the principal strategy used, the more likely that persistent infant sleeping problems would be present. Factors accounting for the change in strategy use over time were: (i) parental adaptation to infant developmental maturation; (ii) the interaction between maternal cognition and strategy, and, to a lesser extent; (iii) the interaction between infant temperament and parental strategy. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When Intentions Go Public: Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?

ABSTRACT— Based on Lewinian goal theory in general and self-completion theory in particular, four experiments examined the implications of other people taking notice of one's identity-related behavioral intentions (e.g., the intention to read law periodicals regularly to reach the identity goal of becoming a lawyer). Identity-related behavioral intentions that had been noticed by other people were translated into action less intensively than those that had been ignored (Studies 1–3). This effect was evident in the field (persistent striving over 1 week's time; Study 1 ) and in the laboratory (jumping on opportunities to act; Studies 2 and 3), and it held among participants with strong but not weak commitment to the identity goal ( Study 3 ). Study 4 showed, in addition, that when other people take notice of an individual's identity-related behavioral intention, this gives the individual a premature sense of possessing the aspired-to identity.     

Decision-Making About Inherited Cancer Risk: Exploring Dimensions of Genetic Responsibility

Since genetic information has implications for family members, some choices about genetic risk may be influenced by perceptions of responsibility to relatives. Drawing upon 25 semi-structured interviews with test recipients in Canada, this study explored decisions about inherited breast-ovarian and colon cancer. Qualitative data analysis revealed the pervasive significance of genetic responsibility in test decisions. We highlight three dimensions of genetic responsibility: 1) to know about the self for self; 2) to know about the self for others; 3) to know about the self to oblige others to know. It is argued that these dimensions of genetic responsibility have implications for test decisions, family relationships and other family members’ desire to know (or not know) and to act (or not act) with respect to their own genetic risk. In particular, genetic responsibility may play out as a framing of a relative’s moral obligation to know their risk that could obviate any interest they might have in not knowing. We conclude that perceptions of responsibility to—and of−other family members be thoroughly explored in genetic counseling sessions.     

What makes revenge sweet: Seeing the offender suffer or delivering a message?

The present article investigates the conditions under which vengeful episodes are satisfactory for the victim/avenger. Two hypotheses are tested simultaneously: (1) victims are satisfied if they see the offender suffer, even if this suffering was imposed by fate (“comparative suffering” hypothesis) and (2) victims are satisfied if the offender signals that he understands why revenge was imposed upon him (“understanding” hypothesis). A laboratory experiment is described in which the source of the offender’s suffering (revenge vs. fate) and the offender’s understanding for the cause of his suffering were varied. As an implicit measure of goal fulfillment, participants completed a lexical decision task that measured the relative accessibility of aggression-related words (compared to non-aggressive words). The results corroborate the understanding hypothesis: Participants showed higher levels of implicit goal fulfillment if they decided to take revenge and if the offender signaled understanding for the vengeful response. The findings are discussed with regard to the question what people hope to achieve when they take revenge.     

The global non-entropic arrow of time: from global geometrical asymmetry to local energy flow

Since the nineteenth century, the problem of the arrow of time has been traditionally analyzed in terms of entropy by relating the direction past-to-future to the gradient of the entropy function of the universe. In this paper, we reject this traditional perspective and argue for a global and non-entropic approach to the problem, according to which the arrow of time can be defined in terms of the geometrical properties of spacetime. In particular, we show how the global non-entropic arrow can be transferred to the local level, where it takes the form of a non-spacelike local energy flow that provides the criterion for breaking the symmetry resulting from time-reversal invariant local laws.     

Attachment anxiety,intra‐group (dis)respect,actual efforts,and group donation

The current study examines attachment‐style differences in responses to inductions of group respect and disrespect. Participants completed a scale assessing attachment anxiety and avoidance, performed group tasks, and received high, average, or low respect feedback from group members. Then we assessed commitment to this group, actual effort expenditure on behalf of the group, and money donation to the group. For participants scoring relatively high on attachment anxiety, high group respect heightened group commitment and effort expenditure on behalf of the group, whereas group disrespect led to lower group commitment but to more money donation to the group and higher effort expenditure. Participants who scored relatively low on attachment anxiety were not significantly affected by group respect or disrespect. The implications of attachment theory for group dynamics were discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Karen Horney's biocultural dialectic

The function of these [neurotic] trends can be better understood if we take a look at their genesis. They develop early in life through the combined effect of given temperamental and environmental influences. Whether a child becomes submissive or rebellious under the pressure of parental coercion depends not only on the nature of the coercion but also on given qualities, such as the degree of his vitality, the relative softness or hardness of his nature.Since we we know less of the constitutional factors than of the environmental ones, and since the latter are the only ones susceptible of change, I shall comment only on these. (Karen Horney,Self-Analysis. New York: Norton, 1942. Emphasis added)