Genuine memory bias versus response bias in anxiety

Low and high trait anxiety undergraduates were presented with physical‐threat, ego‐threat, positive, and neutral words. Following an orienting task promoting lexical—but not semantic—processing, unexpected free recall or recognition tests were presented. High anxiety participants showed increased correct recall of both types of threat‐related words, but also increased incorrect recall (intrusions) and incorrect recognition (false alarms) of these words. Furthermore, participants high in anxiety had reduced sensitivity (d′) for ego‐threat words, and reduced cautiousness (β) for physical‐threat words. This tendency to report threat‐related information regardless of prior presentation suggests that there is a response bias rather than a memory bias in anxiety. In addition, this bias is likely to be mediated by depression insofar as physical‐threat information is concerned, although the bias can be attributed to trait anxiety insofar as ego‐threat information is concerned.     

Assessing Private and Public Need for Uniqueness: Validation of French Versions of the Need for Uniqueness (NfU) and Self-Attributed Need for Uniqueness (SANU) Scales

Need for uniqueness represents the need for people to feel different and distinguish themselves from others. Two major scales exist that measure this need: the Need for Uniqueness scale (NfU; Snyder &; Fromkin, 1977 Snyder, C. R., &; Fromkin, H. L. (1977). Abnormality as a positive characteristic: The development and validation of a scale measuring need for uniqueness. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 86, 518–527. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.86.5.518[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and the Self-Attributed Need for Uniqueness scale (SANU; Lynn &; Harris, 1997b Lynn, M., &; Harris, J. (1997b). Individual differences in the pursuit of self-uniqueness through consumption. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 1861–1883. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1997.tb01629.x[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We propose here a French version of both scales. Through a dual approach of exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses, we investigated the scales' structure in student samples from two French-speaking countries (France and Switzerland, N = 1,348) as well as measures of internal and external validity. Both scales presented good psychometric properties in French. Additionally, we investigated differences between the scales, as literature suggests that the NfU relies mostly on public and risky displays of uniqueness, whereas the SANU focuses on private and more socially acceptable means to acquire a feeling of uniqueness. Differences arose in the links with several personality characteristics (emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, sensation seeking, and self-consciousness), suggesting that the NfU corresponds rather to a need to demonstrate uniqueness through public displays and the SANU to a need to feel unique through more private means. We discuss implications for research and provide advice on choosing by the scale most appropriate to the researcher's aims.     

Impact of Culture on Human Resource Management Practices: A 10‐Country Comparison

Le Mode`le de Culture Fit explique la manie`re dont l'environnement socio‐culturel influence la culture interne au travail et les pratiques de la direction des ressources humaines. Ce mode`le a e´te´ teste´ sur 2003 salarie´s d'entreprises prive´es dans 10 pays. Les participants ont rempli un questionnaire de 57 items, destine´ a` mesurer les perceptions de la direction sur 4 dimensions socio‐culturelles, 6 dimensions de culture interne au travail, et les pratiques HRM (Management des Ressources Humaines) dans 3 zones territoiriales. Une analyse ponde´re´e par re´gressions multiples, au niveau individuel, a montre´ que les directeurs qui caracte´risaient leurs environnement socio‐culturel de fac¸on fataliste, supposaient aussi que les employe´s n'e´taient pas malle´ables par nature. Ces directeurs ne pratiquaient pas l'enrichissement des postes et donnaient tout pouvoir au contrôle et a` la re´mune´ration en fonction des performances. Les directeurs qui appre´ciaient une grande loyaute´ des employe´s supposaient qu'ils remplissent entre eux des obligations re´ciproques et s'engagaient dans la voie donnant pouvoir aux pratiques HRM. Les directeurs qui percevaient le paternalisme et une forte distance de l'autorite´ dans leur environnement socio‐culturel, supposaient une re´activite´ des employe´s, et en outre ne pourvoyaient pas a` l'enrichissement des postes et a` la de´le´gation. Des mode`les spe´cifiques a` la culture qui mettent en relation ces 3 groupes de variables ainsi que les applications de ces recherches pour la psychologie industrielles trans‐culturellesont e´te´ de´battus.     

Longitudinal Relationships Between Positive Affect,Loneliness, and Suicide Ideation: Age‐Specific Factors in a General Population

The aims of this study were to analyze whether positive and negative affect, social support, and loneliness are factors longitudinally related to suicide ideation in the general population in different age groups. A total of 2,392 individuals from a nationally representative sample of the Spanish general population were evaluated in 2011–2012 and in 2014–2015. After including relevant control variables in the analyses, lower positive affect was prospectively related to ideation in 18‐ to 59‐year‐old individuals, whereas feelings of loneliness were related to ideation in 60‐year‐and‐older individuals. Social support was not associated with suicide ideation in any age group. These results are in line with the need for age‐tailored suicide prevention programs. The present findings might also suggest that health care professionals should consider feelings of loneliness rather than social support to assess the presence of suicide ideation in older people.     

Collectivisme en Individualisme

Vroeger Hoogleeraar Te MadridNederlandsche vertaling van H. Buys.