Confirmation in Couples' Communication About Weight Management: An Analysis of How Both Partners Contribute to Individuals' Health Behaviors and Conversational Outcomes

Using confirmation theory, this study investigated how romantic couples' (N = 100) accepting and challenging communication was associated with several weight management (WM) outcomes (i.e., partners' general effectiveness in motivating each other to enact healthy behaviors, productivity of WM conversations, and diet and exercise behaviors). Actor–partner interdependence model analyses showed that acceptance and challenge from partners simultaneously predicted how effective partners were in motivating healthy behaviors, but these components of confirmation predicted the other outcomes in different ways. Analyses across the outcomes also revealed that similar partner communication styles predicted general effectiveness, more productive WM conversations, and healthier eating habits. The findings of this study highlight the importance of assessing the interdependence of partners' WM efforts.     

Self‐Disclosure and the Liking of Participants in Reality TV

Reality TV shows are characterized by the very intimate self‐disclosure of their participants early on in the shows. In everyday interactions, however, such intimate self‐disclosure is welcomed only when it evolves gradually. This discrepancy between reality shows and real life apparently contradicts previous research documenting the similarity between real relationships and relationships with media characters. The current research explores this apparent contradiction by examining whether the relationship between self‐disclosure and liking and the rules about the timing of self‐disclosure that apply in everyday interactions apply in reality TV. Study 1 shows that viewers prefer characters who make early intimate disclosures, and Study 2 shows that they prefer this disclosure to evolve gradually and become more intimate, as in real relationships.     

The impact of novel labels on visual processing during infancy

The impact of novel labels on visual processing was investigated across two experiments with infants aged between 9 and 21 months. Infants viewed pairs of images across a series of preferential looking trials. On each trial, one image was novel, and the other image had previously been viewed by the infant. Some infants viewed images in silence; other infants viewed images accompanied by novel labels. The pattern of fixations both across and within trials revealed that infants in the labelling condition took longer to develop a novelty preference than infants in the silent condition. Our findings contrast with prior research by Robinson and Sloutsky (e.g., Robinson & Sloutsky, 2007a ; Sloutsky & Robinson, 2008 ) who found that novel labels did not disrupt visual processing for infants aged over a year. Provided that overall task demands are sufficiently high, it appears that labels can disrupt visual processing for infants during the developmental period of establishing a lexicon. The results suggest that when infants are processing labels and objects, attentional resources are shared across modalities.     

Are Dishonest Extraverts More Harmful than Dishonest Introverts? The Interaction Effects of Honesty‐Humility and Extraversion in Predicting Workplace Deviance

Honesty‐Humility, one of the six major personality dimensions included in the HEXACO model of personality structure, has previously been found to show negative correlations with workplace deviance. In this study, we hypothesised that Extraversion would moderate the relationship between Honesty‐Humility and workplace deviance. In particular, we posited that the relation between Honesty‐Humility and workplace deviance would be stronger among employees who are high on Extraversion than among those low on Extraversion. The hypothesis was tested using three different samples across Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands. It was found in two of the three samples that high levels of Extraversion did indeed amplify the relationship between (low) Honesty‐Humility and workplace deviance. Results suggest a potentially important role for multiplicative effects of personality variables on workplace criteria.     

Improvements to Suicide Prevention Training for Prison Staff in England and Wales

Suicide prevention training for the prison service in England and Wales has been criticized. STORM is a package emphasizing the practice and review of interactions with suicidal persons and was evaluated in a pilot study for use in prisons. Trainees completed questionnaires immediately before and after training and at 6 to 8 months follow‐up. Training significantly improved attitudes, knowledge, and confidence, and improvements were maintained at follow‐up. Satisfaction with training was very high. STORM was successfully adapted for prison settings, and showed good effects among staff trained. It should be provided to the wider prison estate, with regular refresher training.     

Self‐Esteem and Suicide Ideation in Psychiatric Outpatients

Depression, hopelessness, and low self‐esteem are implicated as vulnerability factors for suicide ideation. The association of self‐esteem with suicide ideation after controlling for depressed mood and hopelessness was examined. Adult psychiatric outpatients (N = 338) completed measures of self‐esteem, suicide ideation, hopelessness, and depression. Self‐esteem was operationalized as beliefs about oneself (self‐based self‐esteem) and beliefs about how other people regard oneself (other‐based self‐esteem). Each dimension of self‐esteem was negatively associated with suicide ideation after controlling for depression and hopelessness. Of the two dimensions of self‐esteem, other‐based self‐esteem was the more robust predictor of suicide ideation. These findings suggest that even in the context of depression and hopelessness, low self‐esteem may add to the risk for suicide ideation.