Sex differences in how erotic and painful stimuli impair inhibitory control

Witnessing emotional events such as arousal or pain may impair ongoing cognitive processes such as inhibitory control. We found that this may be true only half of the time. Erotic images and painful video clips were shown to men and women shortly before a stop signal task, which measures cognitive inhibitory control. These stimuli impaired inhibitory control only in men and not in women, suggesting that emotional stimuli may be processed with different weights depending on gender.     

Close, and a cigar!--Why size perception relates to performance

In baseball batting, golf putting, and dart throwing, successful players estimate the size of the target object to be bigger than their less successful counterparts. While more and more empirical evidence is accumulated supporting the existence of this intriguing phenomenon, an explanation of the processes underpinning this effect remains to be provided. Here, we re-analysed data from a dart throwing experiment to examine the proposal--recently put forward by Proffitt and Linkenauger (in press)--that the variability in target-related performance may serve as a scaling metric for perceived target size which may explain why actors who perform consistently close to the target perceive the target to be bigger. Our results confirm that less variability in target-related performance in darts relates to perceiving the target as being bigger, thereby providing initial support for Proffitt and Linkenauger's proposal.     

Work-family and family-work conflict: does intrinsic-extrinsic satisfaction mediate the prediction of general job satisfaction?

The objective of this study is to analyze the mediating role of intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction in the relationship between the 2 dimensions of work-family conflict-family interfering with work (FIW) and work interfering with family (WIF)-and general job satisfaction. Step-by-step hierarchical regression analyses were carried out on a sample of 151 men and women from a Spanish public organization. The results confirmed the mediating role of intrinsic job satisfaction in the case of FIW. This highlights the importance of taking into account the level of satisfaction with the intrinsic facets of one's job as a measure for understanding why FIW has a negative impact on general job satisfaction.     

Are cross-cultural comparisons of personality profiles meaningful? Differential item and facet functioning in the Revised NEO Personality Inventory

Measurement invariance is a prerequisite for confident cross-cultural comparisons of personality profiles. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was used to detect differential item functioning (DIF) in factor loadings and intercepts for the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (P. T. Costa, Jr., & R. R. McCrae, 1992) in comparisons of college students in the United States (N = 261), Philippines (N = 268), and Mexico (N = 775). About 40%-50% of the items exhibited some form of DIF and item-level noninvariance often carried forward to the facet level at which scores are compared. After excluding DIF items, some facet scales were too short or unreliable for cross-cultural comparisons, and for some other facets, cultural mean differences were reduced or eliminated. The results indicate that considerable caution is warranted in cross-cultural comparisons of personality profiles.     

Attachment and the management of empathic accuracy in relationship-threatening situations

The current studies tested how attachment orientations are related to empathic accuracy (i.e., the accuracy with which one infers a partner's private thoughts and feelings) during attachment-relevant discussions. In Study 1, married couples were videotaped discussing a severe or a less severe relationship issue that involved intimacy or jealousy. In Study 2, dating couples were videotaped trying to resolve a relationship conflict. Consistent with the revised empathic accuracy model, highly avoidant individuals were less empathically accurate in both studies. Relative to less anxious persons, highly anxious individuals were more empathically accurate when discussing intimacy issues that posed a potential threat to their relationship (in Study 1) and when they were rated as more distressed when discussing a relationship conflict (in Study 2). The findings are discussed in terms of how highly anxious and highly avoidant people differentially manage empathic accuracy to regulate negative affect and facilitate their interpersonal goals.     

The effect of local kinematic changes on anticipation judgments

Skilled tennis players rely on a more global than local perceptual strategy when anticipating an opponent’s shot direction in tennis (Williams, Huys, Cañal-Bruland, & Hagemann, 2009). Global perceptual strategy refers to the pick-up of dynamic information across different body areas rather than from a single source such as the arm or racket. We extend previous work by examining the spatiotemporal characteristics of visual information pick-up when anticipating shot direction in tennis. We perturbed information from various body locations by interchanging the dynamics of selected areas with those from strokes played to the opposite side of the court. In addition, we presented each manipulation under four different temporal occlusion conditions (from 240 ms prior to racket-ball contact) to examine the time course of information extraction. Skilled tennis players outperformed less skilled counterparts in predicting shot direction, even at early phases of the opponent’s motion. Moreover, skilled players showed significant decrements in performance when the arms and racket were perturbed, highlighting the relevance of distal information when anticipating opponents’ intentions.     

Influence of clinical status in the relationship between alexithymia and emotional recognition: a dimensional study

The results of this study are part of an investigation to determine whether the cognitive-emotional process of emotional recognition is deficient as a function of the clinical condition and alexithymia in subjects with somatization. This investigation applied the self-assessment of emotion and used a procedure that minimizes the use of verbal skills and verbal comprehension. The specific goal of this study was to verify whether there were differences in the covariation between alexithymia and self-evaluation of the emotional reaction in clinical and nonclinical subjects. The results of this study highlight the significant differences between clinical and control subjects. There were inverse significant correlations with the affective valence in clinical subjects, whereas in the ratings of the TAS-20 in control subjects, there were direct correlations with activation. In the conclusions, we discuss whether the variability of the results of previous research of the relationship between alexithymia and emotional recognition is a characteristic feature of this relationship or an effect of the different sampling and procedures utilized.     

Dispositional optimism, pessimism and realism in technological potential entrepreneurs

Optimism has been classically considered a key trait in entrepreneurs' personality but it has been studied from a psychological point of view only in recent years. The main aim of this research is to study the relationship between dispositional optimism, pessimism and realism as a function of the tendency to create technology-based businesses. A sample of undergraduate students (n= 205) filled in an electronic questionnaire containing the Life Orientation Test-Revised after they were classified as potential technological entrepreneurs, potential general entrepreneurs and non-potential entrepreneurs. Our results show that technology-based entrepreneurs are more optimistic than non-potential entrepreneurs, whereas there were no statistical differences in pessimism and realism. The results are interpreted theoretically to define the potential entrepreneur and, from an applied perspective, to design training programmes to support future technological entrepreneurs.     

Diagnostic value of the Dominic Interactive Assessment with children exposed to intimate partner violence

This article reports on the diagnostic validity of the Dominic Interactive Assessment (DIA) in a sample of Spanish children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV). The study participants included 55 children aged between 6 and 11 years whose mothers visited an IPV counselling centre. Psychopathology and functional impairment were used as the main criteria for assessing predictive and discriminative accuracy, as well as incremental validity, of DIA. The results indicate that DIA permits obtaining useful information from children. This information improves the prediction and validity of the process of clinical assessment of children exposed to IPV. Children's self-reports could prove effective in identifying cases in this high-risk population when developmentally adequate instruments and functional criteria are used.     

Development and validation of a Spanish version of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory, ACSI-28

This study involved the translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI-28) for a Spanish-speaking sport environment. The sample was made up of 1,253 Spanish athletes, 967 males and 286 females. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that the 7-factor structure found in the English version was replicated in the Spanish translation in both males and females. Likewise, the reliability coefficients were similar to those of the English version, with values exceeding .80 for the total score. Several of the subscales correlated positively with sports experience and performance level. The Spanish version of the ACSI-28 thus maintains the factor structure of the original and exhibits similar psychometric properties. Consequently, it can reliably be applied to Spanish-speaking athletes for research and evaluation purposes.