Developmental Trajectories of Girls’ and Boys’ Delinquency and Associated Problems

Developmental trajectories in delinquency through adolescence were studied along with family and peer relationship problems. Drawing from eight waves of data over seven years, we conducted trajectory analyses with a sample of 746 students (402 girls; 344 boys). Analyzing girls and boys together, a five-class model emerged: 60% of the adolescents rarely reported delinquency; 27.7% reported low initial levels with moderate levels of delinquency over time; 6% in the late onset group reported initially low and rising levels of delinquency; 5% in the early onset group reported moderate initial levels which increased and then decreased in later adolescence. A small group of only boys (1.3%) labeled chronic reported high initial levels of delinquency that increased over time. Group comparisons revealed problems in internalizing, parent and peer relationship problems. The findings provide direction for early identification and interventions to curtail the development of delinquency.     

The mediating role of relatedness need satisfaction in the relationship between charitable behavior and well‐being: Empirical evidence from China

Based on self‐determination theory, the current research aimed to explore the potential mediating effect of relatedness need satisfaction on the relationship between charitable behavior and well‐being in the Chinese context. Employing a cross‐sectional design, participants reported data on the aforementioned variables in Study 1. The results indicated that relatedness need satisfaction mediated the positive relationship between charitable behavior and hedonic well‐being and that between charitable behavior and eudaimonic well‐being. Subsequently, a field experiment was conducted in Study 2. Participants rated their levels of relatedness need satisfaction and well‐being after charitable donation behaviors were primed. We again observed consistent results. Specifically, charitable behavior was positively associated with both hedonic and eudaimonic well‐being, and these relationships were mediated by relatedness need satisfaction. The above findings help to clarify the association between charitable behavior and people's subjective feelings (i.e., well‐being), and they deepen our understanding of the underlying mechanism from the perspective of psychological needs satisfaction.     

Meaningful Work and Affective Commitment: A Moderated Mediation Model of Positive Work Reflection and Work Centrality

Empirical research on both meaningful work and organizational commitment has been criticized because research in both fields is largely unsystematic. By integrating the cognitive appraisal theory and identity theory into the meaningful work and affective commitment literatures, we examined the mediating role of positive work reflection (study 1 and study 2) and the moderating role of work centrality (study 2) in the relation between meaningful work and affective commitment. We conducted two independent studies with two-wave data to examine our hypotheses through mediation and moderated mediation bootstrapping procedures. Both study 1 and study 2 found that positive work reflection mediated the relationship between meaningful work and affective commitment. In addition, study 2 revealed that the positive relationship between meaningful work and affective commitment was stronger for those who place less importance on work (i.e., low work centrality). The meaningful nature of one’s work may motivate those who view work as peripheral to recall positive moments of their work, which, in turn, impacts their affective commitment to the organization. Thus, in order to increase affective commitment, promoting meaningful work might be particularly important for those with low work centrality. This is one of the first studies to examine positive work reflection as a cognitive pathway linking meaningful work to affective commitment and identify a boundary condition where meaningful work may not be associated with affective commitment for those who are high in work centrality.     

New perspectives on theories linking cognition,emotion, and context: A proposal from the Theory of Analysis of Demand

Both scholars and practitioners acknowledge that the major factors explaining behavior are cognition, emotion, and context. However, existing theories tend to only focus on a combination of two. Furthermore, not all models are rooted in a specific theory of mind. Finally, there is no consistent definition of ‘mind.’ To address these issues, we review the major models explaining behavior. We then describe the Theory of Analysis of Demand (TAD), an interactionist (individual-context) model of functioning of mind that thoroughly addresses the conjoint interplay of cognition, emotion, and context. A key concept of the TAD is emotional symbolization, the process of relating one’s experiences of the external context with an inevitable emotional reaction. By considering an intersection among cognition, emotion, and context, TAD fills the gap in the existing literature and expands our understanding of behavior. Moreover, we describe the TAD intervention methodology, Individual-Setting of intervention-Organization technique, which explores an individual’s demand for intervention and the underlying emotion-, cognition-, and context-related categories (i.e., emotional symbolization) that prompt the request. Last, we discuss the potential benefits and boundary conditions of the TAD to integrate existing approaches.     

Conceiving existence: on Hume’s argument against the distinctness of the idea of existence

There are two questions concerning Hume’s doctrine of existence which have not yet found any persuasive answer: (a) What is his argument in favour of the thesis that there is no distinct idea of existence? (b) What are the semantic and metaphysical consequences of this thesis within his philosophical framework? This paper mainly aims to answer question (a). In order to do that, I will first explain why some reconstructions suggested by interpreters such as Cummins and Bricke are problematic. One of them relies on exegetically dubious presumptions; the other departs too much from Hume’s text. Then, I will offer my own reconstruction that makes maximal use of some principles which are very familiar to Hume’s readers, including the principle stating the similarity between perceptions and their images. After that, I will discuss a potential objection to my reconstruction and make a brief remark on question (b), arguing that, as opposed to numerous interpreters’ concerns, Hume’s thesis that there is no distinct idea of existence does not by itself prevent him from being able to conceive negative existential propositions.     

Attentional bias toward emotional stimuli in accidentally injured Chinese patients with different posttraumatic growth levels

Extensive evidence has been obtained that supports an association between an attentional bias (AB) toward negative stimuli and vulnerability to stress-related psychopathology, little is known regarding the characteristics of individual AB in different posttraumatic growth (PTG) levels. The current study used a modified dot-probe task to investigate if individual differences in AB towards either positive or negative emotional stimuli, are related to self-reported PTG. A sample of 202 patients completed the experiment. Patients with low levels of PTG did not exhibit AB toward negative or positive stimuli, patients with medium levels of PTG had difficulty disengaging attention from negative stimuli, patients with high levels of PTG had difficulty disengaging attention from positive stimuli. And the AB towards positive stimuli was only predictive for PTG. An implication of this finding is that there are different characteristics of implicit cognitive processing in patients with different levels of PTG, suggesting the necessity of psychological intervention on the accidentally injured patients.     

Is Disciplinary Culture a Moderator Between Materialism and Subjective Well-being? A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study

To clarify the influence of disciplinary culture on the materialism–subjective well-being (SWB) relationship, as well as the relationship between changes in materialism and changes in SWB, the current longitudinal study tracked the levels of materialism and SWB among first-year undergraduates for 12 months. A total of 218 participants from a congruent disciplinary culture (i.e., business school) and 210 participants from an incongruent disciplinary culture (i.e., engineering school) provided ratings on the Material Values Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule in three waves. The following results were obtained: (1) the interaction effect of disciplinary culture and time was significant. In Wave 3, the level of materialism in business school was significantly higher than that in engineering school, but this difference was not found in Waves 1 and 2; (2) the negative relationship between materialism and SWB remained stable over time and was not moderated by disciplinary culture. Moreover, disciplinary culture did not moderate the relationship between changes in materialism and changes in SWB. The above findings indicate that disciplinary culture influences the development of materialism but not the materialism–SWB relationship in the long term.