The Effects of Elevated Arousal and Mood on Maximal Strength Performance in Athletes

Optimal arousal models contend that high arousal contributes to inhibited athletic performance, whereas there is reversal theory research which indicates that high positive arousal may enhance performance. To test these claims, 22 male and 6 female elite athletes were induced into high arousal telic (goal-directed) and high arousal paratelic (non goal-directed, process focussed) motivational states and tested on a standard hand strength task. Personalized guided imagery techniques and paced breathing were used to change psychological and physiological arousal. Significant increases in strength performance occurred when arousal was high and experienced as pleasant excitement in the paratelic condition (i.e., high positive arousal). Heart rate and other indicators of parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system activity were not found to mediate between psychological arousal and performance. Where athletic performance requires maximal motor strength over a short period, performance benefits of high arousal may be maximized by restructuring motivational state.     

Fertility and intergroup bias in racial and minimal-group contexts: evidence for shared architecture

Recent research has shown that White women's bias against Black men increases with elevated fertility across the menstrual cycle. We demonstrate that the association between fertility and intergroup bias is not limited to groups defined by race, but extends to group categories that are minimally defined, and may depend on the extent to which women associate out-group men with physical formidability. In Study 1, Black and White women with strong associations between the racial out-group and physical formidability displayed greater bias against out-group men as conception risk increased. Study 2 replicated these results in a minimal-group paradigm. These findings are consistent with the notion that women may be endowed with a psychological system that generates intergroup bias via mechanisms that rely on categorization heuristics and perceptions of the physical formidability of out-group men, particularly when the costs of sexual coercion are high.     

Cognitive factors and willingness to participate in an HIV vaccine trial among HIV-positive injection drug users

There are gaps in our knowledge of the role cognitive factors play in determining people's willingness to participate (WTP) in therapeutic HIV vaccine trials. Using a cross-sectional study of HIV-positive injection drug users (IDU), we determined the role of three cognitive factors: HIV treatment optimism, self-efficacy beliefs, and knowledge of vaccine trial concepts in relation to WTP in a hypothetical phase 3 therapeutic HIV vaccine trial. WTP was 54%. Participants tended to be low in HIV treatment optimism (mean?=?3.9/10), high in self-efficacy (mean?=?79.8/100), and low in knowledge (mean?=?4.1/10). Items pertaining to HIV treatment optimism and knowledge of HIV vaccine trial concepts were generally unrelated to WTP. An increase in self-efficacy had a statistically significant positive association with WTP (OR?=?1.61, 95% CI?=?1.04-2.46, p?相似文献   

Protean and boundaryless careers as metaphors

The terms “protean career” and “boundaryless career” are metaphors. This paper outlines the nature of metaphor and its use in contemporary social science, particularly in the study of careers. It identifies five characteristics of metaphors, which serve as a guide to analyzing and evaluating them. These are (1) literal and figurative meaning; (2) elaboration in theory; (3) external understanding; (4) relationship to other metaphors; and (5) accuracy and constructiveness. The protean and boundaryless career metaphors are examined in relation to each characteristic. Both concepts have developed in understanding outside their literal and figurative meaning. Both however appear functional in the current shifting careers environment. Suggestions are made for the further development of the concepts.     

Cognition and mood in relation to the performance of squash tasks

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the role of cognition and mood in the performance of squash tasks, with particular reference to attention and self-reported arousal and stress. Volunteer male subjects (n = 40), divided into three ability groups, 'skilled', 'average' and 'novice', were required to perform two squash tasks with different degrees of difficulty. Order of presentation of the tasks was controlled. Results indicated that subjects completing the easier squash task first performed better on the subsequent difficult task than those subjects who completed the more difficult task first. No differences in scores across tasks were found for subjects completing the tasks in reverse order. Performance was related to level of skill. Furthermore, significant differences in attentional style were revealed when average subjects were compared with skilled and novice players. Skilled players were also found to exhibit significantly different personality characteristics from novice players. Specifically, skilled players exhibited higher levels of extraversion and appeared less neurotic. For the average and novice groups, reports of high levels of stress accompanied those of high levels of arousal and these remained constant throughout the experiment. By contrast, for the skilled group low levels of stress accompanied high levels of arousal. The results are discussed in terms of the effects of these cognitive and mood factors on performance and a suggested direction for future research is offered.     

Effect of subgroup ratio on stereotyping

Male and female subjects observed a discussion by a group with one of three sex ratios (9M-IF, SM-SF, 1M-9F) and in which the male contributions were expressed in a more or less stereotype consistent manner. The results indicated that male speakers were stereotyped less than females and that male compared with female speakers were stereotyped increasingly less as the number of like speakers in the group increased.