Testing autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation: Asymptotic methods versus resampling techniques

Autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation, which provide a mathematical tool to understand repeating patterns in time series data, are often used to facilitate the identification of model orders of time series models (e.g., moving average and autoregressive models). Asymptotic methods for testing autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation such as the 1/T approximation method and the Bartlett's formula method may fail in finite samples and are vulnerable to non-normality. Resampling techniques such as the moving block bootstrap and the surrogate data method are competitive alternatives. In this study, we use a Monte Carlo simulation study and a real data example to compare asymptotic methods with the aforementioned resampling techniques. For each resampling technique, we consider both the percentile method and the bias-corrected and accelerated method for interval construction. Simulation results show that the surrogate data method with percentile intervals yields better performance than the other methods. An R package pautocorr is used to carry out tests evaluated in this study.     

The effect of cognitive reappraisal on long‐term emotional experience and emotional memory

One's ability to properly regulate emotion is critical to psychological and physical well‐being. Among various strategies to regulate emotion, cognitive reappraisal has been shown to modulate both emotional experience and emotional memory. However, most studies of reappraisal have focused on reappraisal of negative situations, with reappraisal of positive emotion receiving considerably less attention. In addition, the effects of reappraisal on emotional reactions to stimuli are typically only assessed either immediately or after a short delay, and it remains unclear whether reappraisal effects persist over longer time periods. We investigated the effect of cognitive reappraisal on emotional reactions and long‐term episodic memory for positive and negative stimuli. Men and women viewed emotionally negative, positive, and neutral pictures while they were instructed to either increase, decrease, or maintain the initial emotional reactions elicited by the pictures. Subjective ratings of emotional valence and arousal were assessed during the regulation task and again after 1 week. Memory for the pictures was assessed with free recall. Results indicated that pictures accompanied by instructions to increase emotion were better recalled than pictures reappraised to decrease emotion. Modulation of emotional arousal elicited by stimuli persisted over a week, but this effect was observed only for men. These findings suggest that cognitive reappraisal can have long‐lasting effects on emotional reactions to stimuli. However, the sex differences observed for the effects of reappraisal on emotional reactions highlight the importance of considering individual differences in the effects of regulation.     

Specificity Matters: Criterion-Related Validity of Contextualized and Facet Measures of Conscientiousness in Predicting College Student Performance

To enhance the predictive validity of self-report personality measures, 2 distinct ways of increasing specificity of personality measures have been proposed in the literature—contextual specificity (i.e., providing a contextual referent) and content specificity (i.e., focusing on more specific constructs such as the Big Five facets). This study extends this line of research by examining whether there is an optimal way to configure, align, or integrate contextual and content specificity using measures of conscientiousness to predict college student success. A sample of 478 undergraduate students completed 4 measures of conscientiousness that varied in the level of content and contextual specificity. These forms of specificity were crossed to yield 4 distinct measures of conscientiousness. We then evaluated and compared the relative importance and the incremental importance of these different measures in the prediction of academic success. Superior predictive validity was found for both contextualized and facet measures of conscientiousness compared to a measure of global conscientiousness in predicting grade-point average and a broader behavioral criterion of student performance. When contextual and content specificity approaches were compared and combined, we observed the strongest predictive validity when the level of specificity is appropriately matched between predictor and criterion.     

A Cross‐Cultural Exploration of Perceptions of Altruism of Counselors‐in‐Training

This study explored altruistic development as perceived by counselors‐in‐training from diverse cultures. Twenty‐two counselors‐in‐training from 4 countries participated in semistructured interviews about altruism. Using consensual qualitative research methodology, the authors identified 6 domains: biological, cognitive, social learning, religious/spiritual, counseling, and empathy. Findings and implications for counselor education are discussed.     

Two simple approximations to the distributions of quadratic forms

Many test statistics are asymptotically equivalent to quadratic forms of normal variables, which are further equivalent to with z_i being independent and following N(0,1). Two approximations to the distribution of T have been implemented in popular software and are widely used in evaluating various models. It is important to know how accurate these approximations are when compared to each other and to the exact distribution of T. The paper systematically studies the quality of the two approximations and examines the effect of the λ_i and the degrees of freedom d by analysis and Monte Carlo. The results imply that the adjusted distribution for T can be as good as knowing its exact distribution. When the coefficient of variation of the λ_i is small, the rescaled statistic is also adequate for practical model inference. But comparing T_R against will inflate type I errors when substantial differences exist among the λ_i, especially, when d is also large.     

A longitudinal examination of the relationship between teacher burnout and depression

This study investigates the longitudinal relationships between burnout and depression among teachers. Middle and high school teachers participated in a 3‐wave survey. The results of the latent growth modeling analysis revealed that there was a significant relationship between the initial status of burnout and the initial status of depression. Results also indicated a significant relationship between the change rate of burnout and the change rate of depression. Moreover, the autoregressive cross‐lagged modeling revealed a causal relationship such that teacher's burnout leads to subsequent depression symptoms, not vice versa.     

Working with Korean-American Families: Multicultural Hermeneutics in Understanding and Dealing with Marital Domestic Violence

Multicultural hermeneutics is introduced as a method of understanding and dealing with marital domestic violence. The brief review of literature covers four categories of hermeneutic tradition: (1) philosophical hermeneutics, (2) psychological hermeneutics, (3) narrative hermeneutics, and (4) multicultural hermeneutics. This paper proposes that multiple perspectives or an interdisciplinary scheme of hermeneutics help to understand the central issues of marital domestic violence. Korean women are vulnerable to Hwabyung (an anger syndrome), in the patriarchal and oppressive family context. Korean-American families are experiencing a certain degree of acculturation stress in transition as well as intergenerational conflict between first and second generations due to explicit and implicit cultural differences in the United States. One Korean-American family case is presented to show how marital domestic violence can be evaluated and treated better from the perspective of multicultural hermeneutics. A number of recommendations are also suggested to change the social and political context in which marital domestic violence occurs.     

The influence of cognitive and emotional suppression on overgeneral autobiographical memory retrieval

Over-general autobiographical memory (OAM) retrieval is characterized by retrieval of categoric autobiographical memories. According to the CarFAX model, this tendency may result from avoidance which functions to protect the person against recalling details of upsetting memories. This study tested whether avoidance strategies impact on the ability to retrieve specific autobiographical memories. Healthy participants (N = 51) watched a negative video clip and were instructed to either suppress any thought (thought suppression), suppress any feeling (emotional inhibition), or think and feel naturally (controls) in response to the video. Participants then completed the Autobiographical Memory Test. Participants engaging in either thought suppression or emotional inhibition retrieved fewer categoric autobiographical memories than controls. These findings challenge the affect regulation component of the CarFAX model insofar as they suggest that regulatory strategies that aim to reduce awareness of adverse emotional memories do not necessarily lead to increased recall of categoric autobiographical memories.     

Suppressor Effects of Positive and Negative Religious Coping on Academic Burnout Among Korean Middle School Students

Statistical suppressor effects in prediction models can provide evidence of the interdependent relationship of independent variables. In this study, the suppressor effects of positive and negative religious coping on academic burnout were examined using longitudinal data. First, 388 middle school students reported their type of religion and use of positive and negative religious coping strategies. Four months later, they also reported their level of academic burnout. From structural equation modeling, significant suppressor effects were found among religious students. That is, the coefficients became larger when both positive and negative religious coping predicted academic burnout simultaneously, compared to when each religious coping predicted academic burnout alone. However, suppressor effects were not found among non-religious students.