Evidence of Associations Between Lay Conceptions of Well-Being, Conception-Congruent Behavior, and Experienced Well-Being

Individuals’ lay conceptions of well-being have been found to be associated with several indexes of positive psychological functioning, yet little is known about the mechanisms underlying these associations. In two studies, the current research examined whether conception-congruent behavior mediates associations between conceptions of well-being and two indexes of experienced well-being (subjective well-being and meaning in life). Study 1 addressed the above question using a prospective approach, whereby associations between conceptions of well-being, predicted engagement in hedonic and eudaimonic behavior, and predicted well-being were examined. Study 2 more directly addressed the above question using a daily diary approach, whereby conceptions of well-being, actual engagement in hedonic and eudaimonic behavior, and experienced well-being were assessed over a period of 1 week. In both studies, results indicated that associations between eudaimonic conception dimensions and experienced well-being were partially mediated by engagement in eudaimonic behavior. Hedonic conception dimensions were largely unrelated to hedonic behavior and well-being. The current findings thus suggest that eudaimonic behavior is one potential route through which eudaimonic conception dimensions exert their salubrious effects on well-being.     

Driving toward a goal and the goal‐gradient hypothesis: the impact of goal proximity on compliance rate,donation size,and fatigue

Driving toward a goal (DTAG) is a compliance technique derived from observed persuasion practice (e.g., telethons) wherein the persuader utilizes a goal pitch (e.g., “Help us raise $500”) and progress toward a goal (e.g., a tote board) to encourage compliance. It was postulated that DTAG would be more effective than legitimizing a paltry contribution (LPC) at increasing compliance rate, size, and stability. In Study 1, a fundraising field experiment (N = 840 donations) found that LPC garnered significantly more donations and DTAG garnered significantly larger donations. In Study 2, a lab experiment (N = 992 participants) found that LPC garnered more donations at Time 1, DTAG garnered more donations over time (eventually matching LPC), and LPC yielded smaller donations over time.     

Evaluation of a Parent‐Based Intervention for At‐Risk Adolescents

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a parent‐based intervention, the Parent Project, among 84 parents of at‐risk youth. Results indicated improvements in child management, family involvement, parent–child affective quality, substance use rules communication, and parental self‐efficacy at a 10‐week follow‐up.     

Sex Really Does Sell: The Recall of Sexual and Non‐sexual Television Advertisements in Sexual and Non‐sexual Programmes

The present study examined memory for advertisements as a function of both advertisement content and the contextual programme content. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: in one condition, they watched a sexual programme and in the other a non‐sexual programme. Embedded within each programme were the same highly sexual and non‐sexual advertisements that had been matched in pairs for five products. Memory for the advertisements and involvement in the programmes was measured. It was found that on three indices (free recall, brand recognition and prompted recall), memory for the sexual advertisements was superior to that for non‐sexual advertisements. There was no effect of the programme content on advertisement recall and no relationship between programme involvement and advertisement recall. The results are discussed with reference to extant literature on memory for advertisements. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A cross-cultural analysis of achievement and social goals among Chinese and Filipino students

We examined how achievement (mastery and performance) and social goals (affiliation, approval, concern, and status) influenced various learning outcomes in two collectivist cultures. Filipino (n \(\,=\,\) 355) and Hong Kong Chinese (n \(\,=\,\) 697) secondary students answered the relevant questionnaires. Regression analyses using mastery, performance, and social goals as predictors and learning outcomes as criterion variables were done separately for the HK and Filipino samples. Results indicated that the all the social goals were positively associated with adaptive learning. Mastery goal emerged as a positive predictor of deep learning and self-regulation across both contexts. To understand the relative importance of different goals, causal dominance analysis was used. Different types of goals were causally dominant for the HK and Filipino students. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Perseverance as an intellectual virtue

Much recent work in virtue epistemology has focused on the analysis of such intellectual virtues as responsibility, conscientiousness, honesty, courage, open-mindedness, firmness, humility, charity, and wisdom. Absent from the literature is an extended examination of perseverance as an intellectual virtue. The present paper aims to fill this void. In Sect. 1, I clarify the concept of an intellectual virtue, and distinguish intellectual virtues from other personal characters and properties. In Sect. 2, I provide a conceptual analysis of intellectually virtuous perseverance that places perseverance in opposition to its vice-counterparts, intransigence and irresolution. The virtue is a matter of continuing in one’s intellectual activities for an appropriate amount of time, in the pursuit of intellectual goods, despite obstacles to one’s attainment of those goods. In Sect. 3, I explore relations between intellectually virtuous perseverance and other intellectual virtues. I argue that such perseverance is necessary for the possession and exercise of several other intellectual virtues, including courage. These connections highlight the importance of perseverance in a comprehensive account of such virtues.