Who Reaps the Benefits of Social Change? Exploration and Its Socioecological Boundaries

We investigated the interplay between the personality trait exploration and objective socioecological conditions in shaping individual differences in the experience of two individual‐level benefits of current social change: new lifestyle options, which arise from the societal trend toward individualization, and new learning opportunities, which accrue from the societal trend toward lifelong learning. We hypothesized that people with higher trait exploration experience a greater increase in lifestyle options and learning opportunities––but more so in social ecologies in which individualization and lifelong learning are stronger, thus offering greater latitude for exploring the benefits of these trends. We employed structural equation modeling in two parallel adult samples from Germany (N = 2,448) and Poland (N = 2,571), using regional divorce rates as a proxy for individualization and Internet domain registration rates as a proxy for lifelong learning. Higher exploration was related to a greater perceived increase in lifestyle options and in learning opportunities over the past 5 years. These associations were stronger in regions in which the trends toward individualization and lifelong learning, respectively, were more prominent. Individuals higher in exploration are better equipped to reap the benefits of current social change––but the effects of exploration are bounded by the conditions in the social ecology.     

Die posthume Begutachtung der Testierfähigkeit

Based upon German law and jurisdiction, forensic-psychiatric literature as well as the author’s experiences, essential criteria for the assessment of testamentary capacity are presented, peculiarities of the posthumous assessment of psychopathology are explained, and common sources of error are discussed.     

Comparative judgments with missing information: a regression and process tracing analysis

We had participants decide which one of two applicants was better qualified for a scholarship. They also judged the difference between them (comparative judgment). The applicants were described by features (grades) in different subjects (dimensions). The grades on some dimensions were missing (unique dimensions) for an alternative while all the grades were available on other dimensions (common dimensions). In a conventional regression analysis, we found that decision makers gave more weight to dimensions when they were common than when they were unique. However, this commensurability effect was limited to medium important dimensions and did not apply to dimensions of high or low importance. We also observed how participants retrieved information for the choice alternatives and analysed how importance and commensurability are reflected in the processing prior to the decision. Features on more important or common dimensions were inspected earlier than features on less important or unique dimensions. Participants preferred dimensional transitions and inspected features on unique dimensions longer than their common counterparts. This finding suggested that participants used inferences when features were missing. We propose an outline of a decision heuristic to describe decision making with missing information.     

Stress on the dance floor: the cortisol stress response to social-evaluative threat in competitive ballroom dancers

The social self-preservation theory states that humans have a fundamental motivation to preserve the social self and that threats to the social self perturb biological markers such as cortisol. Five studies were designed to examine the cortisol response to competitive ballroom dancing as a paradigm for real-life social-evaluative threat. Competitive dancing produced substantial increases in cortisol compared to a control day. These increases were not due to the physical strain of dancing and were greater than those found during social-evaluative laboratory stressors. Responses did not habituate across competitions and were mostly elevated under highly focused conditions of threat (couple vs. group competition). These findings support the notion of a social self-preservation system that is physiologically responsive to threats to the social self.     

Personality Research and Assessment in the Era of Machine Learning

The increasing availability of high-dimensional, fine-grained data about human behaviour, gathered from mobile sensing studies and in the form of digital footprints, is poised to drastically alter the way personality psychologists perform research and undertake personality assessment. These new kinds and quantities of data raise important questions about how to analyse the data and interpret the results appropriately. Machine learning models are well suited to these kinds of data, allowing researchers to model highly complex relationships and to evaluate the generalizability and robustness of their results using resampling methods. The correct usage of machine learning models requires specialized methodological training that considers issues specific to this type of modelling. Here, we first provide a brief overview of past studies using machine learning in personality psychology. Second, we illustrate the main challenges that researchers face when building, interpreting, and validating machine learning models. Third, we discuss the evaluation of personality scales, derived using machine learning methods. Fourth, we highlight some key issues that arise from the use of latent variables in the modelling process. We conclude with an outlook on the future role of machine learning models in personality research and assessment.     

Economic Predictors of Differences in Interview Faking Between Countries: Economic Inequality Matters,Not the State of Economy

Many companies recruit employees from different parts of the globe, and faking behavior by potential employees is a ubiquitous phenomenon. It seems that applicants from some countries are more prone to faking compared to others, but the reasons for these differences are largely unexplored. This study relates country-level economic variables to faking behavior in hiring processes. In a cross-national study across 20 countries, participants (N = 3,839) reported their faking behavior in their last job interview. This study used the random response technique (RRT) to ensure participants’ anonymity and to foster honest answers regarding faking behavior. Results indicate that general economic indicators (gross domestic product per capita [GDP] and unemployment rate) show negligible correlations with faking across the countries, whereas economic inequality is positively related to the extent of applicant faking to a substantial extent. These findings imply that people are sensitive to inequality within countries and that inequality relates to faking, because inequality might actuate other psychological processes (e.g., envy) which in turn increase the probability for unethical behavior in many forms.     

Visuospatial Short-Term Memory Explains Deficits in Tower Task Planning in High-Functioning Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Previous findings on planning abilities in individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFA) are inconsistent. Exploring possible reasons for these mixed findings, the current study investigated the involvement of memory in planning performance in 15 children with HFA and 17 typically developing controls. In addition to planning abilities (measured with the Tower of London), short-term memory and delayed recall for verbal as well as visuospatial material were assessed. Findings suggest that particularly reduced efficiency in visuospatial short-term memory is associated with Tower task planning deficits in children with HFA.     

Measuring consciousness in dreams: The lucidity and consciousness in dreams scale

In this article, we present results from an interdisciplinary research project aimed at assessing consciousness in dreams. For this purpose, we compared lucid dreams with normal non-lucid dreams from REM sleep. Both lucid and non-lucid dreams are an important contrast condition for theories of waking consciousness, giving valuable insights into the structure of conscious experience and its neural correlates during sleep. However, the precise differences between lucid and non-lucid dreams remain poorly understood. The construction of the Lucidity and Consciousness in Dreams scale (LuCiD) was based on theoretical considerations and empirical observations. Exploratory factor analysis of the data from the first survey identified eight factors that were validated in a second survey using confirmatory factor analysis: INSIGHT, CONTROL, THOUGHT, REALISM, MEMORY, DISSOCIATION, NEGATIVE EMOTION, and POSITIVE EMOTION. While all factors are involved in dream consciousness, realism and negative emotion do not differentiate between lucid and non-lucid dreams, suggesting that lucid insight is separable from both bizarreness in dreams and a change in the subjectively experienced realism of the dream.     

A model‐based intervention for depressed mothers and their infants

Many studies have reported on the adverse effects of maternal depression on offspring. Infants of depressed mothers are found to be more likely at risk to develop mental and socioemotional problems. In this study, an early intervention program is presented that aims to improve the interaction between depressed mothers and their infants to prevent developmental problems in the children. The program has recently been introduced in the Dutch Community Mental Health Centers as part of a national multicomponent program to reduce the risk of psychiatric and social problems in the offspring of parents with a mental disorder. The intervention for depressed mothers with babies is based on a transactional model in which the mother–child interaction plays a key role in explaining the development of socioemotional problems in the children. The model as discussed in the first part of this article addresses a range of evidenced‐based parental, child, and contextual risk factors that effect the quality of the interactions between depressed mothers and their infants and that contribute to both vulnerability and resilience of the children during later childhood and adolescence. ©2005 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.