Poignancy: mixed emotional experience in the face of meaningful endings

The experience of mixed emotions increases with age. Socioemotional selectivity theory suggests that mixed emotions are associated with shifting time horizons. Theoretically, perceived constraints on future time increase appreciation for life, which, in turn, elicits positive emotions such as happiness. Yet, the very same temporal constraints heighten awareness that these positive experiences come to an end, thus yielding mixed emotional states. In 2 studies, the authors examined the link between the awareness of anticipated endings and mixed emotional experience. In Study 1, participants repeatedly imagined being in a meaningful location. Participants in the experimental condition imagined being in the meaningful location for the final time. Only participants who imagined "last times" at meaningful locations experienced more mixed emotions. In Study 2, college seniors reported their emotions on graduation day. Mixed emotions were higher when participants were reminded of the ending that they were experiencing. Findings suggest that poignancy is an emotional experience associated with meaningful endings.     

Accuracy of the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency Measure for Predicting Third Grade Reading Comprehension Outcomes

We evaluated the validity of DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) ORF (Oral Reading Fluency) for predicting performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT-SSS) and Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-10) reading comprehension measures. The usefulness of previously established ORF risk-level cutoffs [Good, R.H., Simmons, D.C., and Kame’enui, E.J. (2001). The importance and decision-making utility of a continuum of fluency-based indicators of foundational reading skills for third-grade high-stakes outcomes. Scientific Studies of Reading, 5, 257–288.] for third grade students were evaluated on calibration (n_S1 = 16,539) and cross-validation (n_S2 = 16,908) samples representative of Florida's Reading First population. The strongest correlations were the third (February/March) administration of ORF with both FCAT-SSS and SAT-10 (r_S = .70–.71), when the three tests were administered concurrently. Recalibrated ORF risk-level cut scores derived from ROC (receiver-operating characteristic) curve analyses produced more accurate identification of true positives than previously established benchmarks. The recalibrated risk-level cut scores predict performance on the FCAT-SSS equally well for students from different socio-economic, language, and race/ethnicity categories.     

Gender Role Ideology as a Moderator of the Relationship between Social Power Tactics and Marital Satisfaction

The study examined whether the Power Interaction Model is applicable for explaining the choice of power tactics in conflict situations among Israeli married couples. In addition, gender role ideology was tested as a moderator of the relationship between power usage and marital satisfaction. Seventy-eight couples reported on self usage and spouse’s usage of power tactic behaviors during conflicts and completed questionnaires assessing marital satisfaction, gender role ideology (traditional, liberal) and demographics. Findings indicated greater agreement within couples for harsh rather than for soft tactic preference. As expected, preference for harsh tactics was associated with lower marital satisfaction yet gender role ideology moderated this association. The role of conflict and power usage in traditional and liberal families was addressed.     

Serial and single-victim rapists: differences in crime-scene violence, interpersonal involvement, and criminal sophistication

Three categories of crime-scene behaviors (violence, interpersonal involvement, and criminal sophistication) among a group of 22 serial and 22 single-victim rapists were studied. Findings indicate that serial rapists were more likely to display a higher level of criminally sophisticated behaviors to avoid detection, whereas single-victim rapists were more likely to behave violently and engage in some form of interpersonal involvement with their victims. Implications of these findings for investigation and for understanding offenders' behavior are discussed.     

Myopic biases in competitions

In three studies using both laboratory and field data, we show that the focal competitor’s strengths and weaknesses feature more prominently in predictions of the outcomes of future competitions than do the strengths and weaknesses of the opponents. People are more confident when their own side is strong, regardless of how strong the competition is. We show that this effect is driven by the fact that people have better information about their own side than the other side, in part because they preferentially seek out information about their own side. Implications for theories of decision making in competitive settings are discussed.     

Mediators of the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and suicidal behavior in borderline personality disorder

A history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) increases the risk of suicidal behavior and the lifetime number of suicide attempts in adults with BPD. Despite a strong association, specific variables mediating the relationship between CSA and adult suicidal behavior in BPD have not been identified. This study examined risk factors for suicidal behavior as potential mediators of the relationship between CSA and suicide attempts in 151 men and women with BPD. Diagnostic, clinical, and psychosocial risk factors, as well as CSA, and suicidal behaviors, were assessed by standardized interviews or self-rated measures. Psychotic and schizotypal symptoms, and poor social adjustment, were associated with both CSA and suicidal behavior, and partially mediated the relationship between CSA and attempter status. Psychotic and schizotypal symptoms in BPD define a vulnerability to cognitive and perceptual distortions under stress. They increase the likelihood of suicidal behavior in BPD, especially in the absence of mitigating social support. A theoretical model for suicidal behavior in BPD is presented which integrates direct, mediated, and moderated pathways between childhood sexual abuse and temperament, adolescent and adult risk factors, and suicidal behavior.     

Collaborative everyday problem solving among same-gender friends in early and later adulthood

To investigate potential age-related differences in performance gains (compensation and optimization) and losses (failure to actualize potential) of collaboration with a familiar partner, the authors compared pairs of older (N = 75; 69% women) and younger (N = 75; 52% women) age-homogeneous same-gender friends who interacted or worked alone to generate strategies for solving interpersonal and instrumental problems. Two indexes of strategy fluency (total and unique number of strategies) and 2 indexes of strategy type (content of strategy repertoires and strategy selected as most effective by older and younger adults) were examined. Strategies generated by interacting pairs were compared with nominal pair scores. Nominal pair scores indexed dyadic potential and were created by pooling the performance of 2 individuals who worked alone. Age differences in strategy fluency and type were largely similar to prior research based on individual problem solvers. Interacting pairs produced fewer strategies than nominal pairs, but there were no differences in strategy type. For interpersonal problems, older adults were relatively more likely to actualize their dyadic potential.     

A randomized motivational enhancement prevention group reduces drinking and alcohol consequences in first-year college women.

Alcohol consumption among college students has become an increasing problem that requires attention from college administrators, staff, and researchers. Despite the physiological differences between men and women, college women are drinking at increasingly risky rates, placing them at increased risk for negative consequences. The current study tested a group motivational enhancement approach to the prevention of heavy drinking among 1st-year college women. Using a randomized design, the authors assigned participants either to a group that received a single-session motivational enhancement intervention to reduce risky drinking that focused partly on women's specific reasons for drinking (n = 126) or to an assessment-only control group (n = 94). Results indicated that, relative to the control group participants, intervention participants drank fewer drinks per week, drank fewer drinks at peak consumption events, and had fewer alcohol-related consequences over a 10-week follow-up. Further, the intervention, which targeted women's reasons for drinking, was more effective in reducing consumption for participants with high social and enhancement motivations for drinking.     

Making message recipients "feel right": how nonverbal cues can increase persuasion

Nonverbal cues are an inherent component of most persuasive appeals. We use regulatory-fit theory as a framework for understanding the effect of nonverbal cues on a message's effectiveness, and as a foundation for developing a new persuasion technique. We propose that when the nonverbal cues of a message source sustain the motivational orientation of the recipient, the recipient experiences regulatory fit and feels right, and that this experience influences the message's effectiveness. Experimental results support these predictions. Participants experiencing regulatory fit (promotion-focus participants viewing messages delivered in an eager nonverbal style, prevention-focus participants viewing messages delivered in a vigilant nonverbal style) had more positive attitudes toward a message's topic and greater intentions to behave in accordance with its recommendation than did participants experiencing nonfit. Feeling right was also greater for participants experiencing fit than for those experiencing nonfit and was associated with greater message effectiveness. Regulatory-fit theory provides a framework for making precise predictions about when and for whom a nonverbal cue will affect persuasion.