When message tailoring backfires: The role of initial attitudes in affect–cognition matching

This research explores when and how tailoring messages to attitudinal bases backfires. Study 1 demonstrated that for attitudes (toward education subsidies) that were based more on beliefs than emotions, recipients whose initial attitudes were incongruent with the message position (i.e., message opponents) showed mismatching effects, such that the affective message was more persuasive than the cognitive message. Study 2 replicated these mismatching effects among message opponents for attitudes (toward a rival university) that were primarily affective. Study 3 controlled for effects of initial attitude certainty and replicated the mismatching effects of Study 2 for affective attitudes toward an increase in tuition. Finally, Study 4 suggested a potential mechanism for mismatching effects, revealing that for attitudes (toward an online course management system) that were based more on beliefs than emotions, message opponents counter‐argued with the cognitive appeal more intensely than the affective appeal. Contrary to the notion in the extant literature that mismatching effects are relatively rare compared with matching effects, the current research suggests that mismatching effects occur for both primarily affective and cognitive attitudes when the recipient is highly opposed to the message position. The present findings also demonstrate the utility of examining attitudinal bases at the object level in the context of message tailoring. Implications for message tailoring and for affective versus cognitive attitudes are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gender Differences in Associations with Deviant Peer Groups: Examining Individual,Interactional, and Compositional Factors

Researchers have long known that boys are more likely to have deviant peers than are girls. Yet, little research has tried to explain why boys and girls differ in their decision to associate with deviant peers. With the salience of deviant peers well established as a robust predictor of delinquency, we address the question, are the predictors of association with deviant peers different for boys and girls? In our examination of family and community processes, individual effects, and peer group composition factors, we find that the predictors of association with deviant peers differ by gender. In addition, our findings suggest gender divergences in the causes of both deviant peer association and deviant peer pressure. We discuss the implications of our research for both theoretical development and appropriate model estimation.     

Mammograms and the management of existential discomfort: Threats associated with the physicality of the body and neuroticism

The current research employs ideas from terror management theory to investigate why mammograms may be psychologically problematic. This perspective suggests that individuals, particularly those high in neuroticism, are threatened by that which reminds them of their physical and mortal nature. In Study 1, a laboratory experiment demonstrated that when concerns about mortality were primed, reminders of one's physical nature (i.e. creatureliness) led women who were high in neuroticism to report reduced willingness to imagine undergoing a mammogram. In Study 2, a field experiment among women receiving a mammogram showed that priming creatureliness increased perceptions of discomfort with the procedure for women high in neuroticism. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

A survey of smoking status and cancer risk perceptions among participants attending a hospital-based head and neck screening program

Abstract

Screening for head and neck cancer is underutilized. Given that lack of knowledge of the risk factors may partially account for screening underutilization. we surveyed subjective risk and knowledge of risk factors for head and neck cancer among 124 individuals who attended a free. hospital-based head and neck cancer screening. Few participants were current smokers. Most attendees perceived their risk as similar to others of their age and sex. Personal health habits comprised almost all of the risk-decreasing factors, yet less than half of the risk-increasing factors. generated. Personal habits were less frequently endorsed than factors such as pollution and heredity. Those who mentioned a risk behavior, or a family cancer history, reported higher subjective risk. Those who mentioned a personal health habit reported lower subjective risk. Results highlight needed efforts to increase screening among high-risk individuals through targeted education messages.     

Morphological study of micropits formed by anodic etching of an Al-Pd-Mn icosahedral quasicrystal

Faceted micropits obtained by electrochemical etching of a single quasicrystal of an Al-Pd-Mn icosahedral phase have been examined by optical and electron microscopy. Anodic etching of the flat surface of a fivefold plane in a solution composed of CH₃OH and HNO₃(3:1 in volume ratio) reveals a variety of icosahedrally faceted micropits which originated from pre-existing microvoids and etch pits of pentagonal pyramid shape due to the other origins, probably structural defects inside the specimen. As the dissolution progresses, the micropits make successive changes in their shapes, ending in pentagonal pyramids before they vanish.     

Nucleation of He bubbles in amorphous FeBSi alloy irradiated with He ions

It is interesting to investigate the formation of He bubbles in amorphous alloys because point defects do not exist in amorphous materials. In the present study, the microstructural evolution of amorphous Fe₇₉B₁₆Si₅ alloy, either irradiated with 5?keV He⁺ ions or implanted with 150?eV He⁺ ions without causing displacement damage, and then annealed at a high temperature, was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Vacancy-type defects were formed in the amorphous alloy after irradiation with 5?keV He⁺ ions, and He bubbles formed during annealing the irradiated samples at high temperature. On the other hand, for samples implanted with 150?eV He⁺ ions, although He atoms are also trapped in the free volume, no He bubbles were observed during annealing the samples even up to 873?K. In conclusion, the formation of He bubbles is related to the formation and migration of vacancy-type defects even in amorphous alloys.     

Crystallization behaviour of Al-based amorphous alloy and nanocomposites by rapid quenching

The microstructure and crystallization behaviour of melt-spun Al₈₈Ni₉Ce₂Fe₁ amorphous alloy and nanophase composites have been studied by means of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning and isothermal calorimetry. The diffraction patterns from Al₈₈Ni₉Ce₂Fe₁ amorphous alloys are diffuse, indicating a basically amorphous structure but contain two rings presumed to be associated with quenched-in nuclei. In the cases of Al₈₈Ni₉Ce₂Fe₁ nanophase composites, nanoscale precipitated particles are homogeneously dispersed in an amorphous matrix, and the crystallite diameter and volume fraction are sensitive to quenching conditions. During thermal crystallization, a two-step phase transformation occurs in the amorphous alloy and nanocomposites, which is characterized by a diffusion-controlled precipitation of nanoscale Al particles and the growth of a Al₃(Ni, Fe) nanophase prior to a Al₁₁Ce₃ nanophase. This study gives insight into structure-control for obtaining nanophases dispersed in an amorphous matrix by rapid quenching.     

A Group of Black South Africans' Experience of Telling their Untold Stories about the Apartheid Era

The aim of this research was to explore a group of black South Africans' experiences of telling their untold stories of survival about the apartheid era. The expectation was that if they did become more aware of these alternative stories, it could have a far-reaching effect on their lives. A qualitative study was conducted with a group of seven black South African survivors of the apartheid era, ranging in age from 42–62 years (males =5, females =2). These participants formed part of an earlier study investigating their perceptions regarding factors that helped them to survive the apartheid era. For the present study, unstructured interviews were conducted focusing on their subjective experiences after the initial study. Analysis of the data yielded seven prevalent themes, namely a positive experience that made a difference, gaining of a positive attitude, not all white people are bad, transgressing the past and moving on, awareness of personal strengths, forgiveness and starting to talk to family and friends. The participants became aware of their untold stories of survival and experienced a positive change within themselves, towards others, the past and the future.     

Development and Initial Validation of a General Psychological Well-being Scale (GPWS) in an African Context

This study aimed to develop and validate the General Psychological Well-being Scale (GPWS) in an African sample, based on the empirical overlap between hedonic and eudaimonic facets of well-being as found in previous research. The quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted in three phases: secondary data analysis (n = 2005), pilot study (n = 296) and main study (n = 459). The pilot and main study included the GPWS as well as other psychological well-being measures for criterion-related validity. The pilot study yielded satisfactory psychometric properties. The main study yielded a high, reliable Cronbach alpha of.89 and evidence of construct validity. The GPWS appears to be a unidimensional scale suitable for research use with Setswana-speaking people.     

Books Received From August 1, 2010 to July 31, 2011

Word learning is a lifelong activity constrained by cognitive biases that people possess at particular points in development. Age of acquisition (AoA) is a psycholinguistic variable that may prove useful toward gauging the relative weighting of different phonological, semantic, and morphological factors at different phases of language acquisition and development. Our aim here was to evaluate AoA as a statistical tool for taking “snapshots” of cognitive development. We examined a large corpus of English nouns (n = 1,381) with AoA as the outcome variable in three separate multivariate regressions, encompassing different age ranges (early–middle–late). Predictors included perceptual (e.g., imagery), phonological (e.g., phonological neighborhood density), and lexical (e.g., word length) factors. Different combinations of predictors accounted for significant proportions of the variance for different AoA ranges (i.e., early–middle–late). For example, imageability and frequency are stronger predictors of early relative to late word learning. These corpus analyses support a hybrid model of word learning in which multiple perceptual and linguistic factors are differentially weighted over time. This statistical approach may provide independent corroboration of and motivation for experimental studies in language learning and cognitive development.