Free Associations as a Measure of Stable Implicit Attitudes

Two studies explored the psychometric properties of free association methods for the assessment of attitudes. Even though the stability of the actual associations was rather low, psychometric properties of the valence estimates of the free associations were highly satisfactory. Valence estimates of associations were provided by independent judges who rated the valence of the associations that were generated by participants. Valence estimates of the associations showed satisfactory internal consistencies and retest reliabilities over three weeks. Additionally, valence estimates of the associations were significantly and independently related to both explicit self‐reported attitudes and implicit attitudes that were assessed with an Ossi–Wessi Implicit Association Test. Free association methods represent a useful complement to the family of implicit measures and are especially suitable for the assessment of non‐relative attitudes towards single attitude objects. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

No pain,no change: Reductions in prior negative affect following physical pain

In general, organisms are motivated to avoid stimuli that induce pain. However, some individuals intentionally inflict pain on themselves (e.g., nonsuicidal self-injury) and report doing so for the perceived emotional benefits following the experience of pain. Two controlled laboratory studies sought to expand upon the relatively limited literature on the effects of pain on emotion. In Study 1, participants provided momentary affect ratings immediately before and after experiencing physical pain. Results demonstrated that both positive affect and negative affect (NA) decreased following the experience of pain. In the Study 2, we examined the effect that individual differences in emotional reactivity had on affective reactions to pain. Individuals high in emotional reactivity experienced larger decreases in NA following the experience of pain than individuals who were low in emotional reactivity. Our findings may potentially explain why some individuals intentionally seek out the experience of pain.     

Individual differences in ERPs during mental rotation of characters: Lateralization,and performance level

The cognitive process of imaging an object turning around is called mental rotation. Many studies have been put forward analyzing mental rotation by means of event-related potentials (ERPs). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured during mental rotation of characters in a sample (N = 82) with a sufficient size to obtain even small effects. A bilateral ERP amplitude modulation as a function of angular displacement was observed at parietal leads without any lateralization. Sex had no effect on mental rotation of characters, neither with respect to performance nor with respect to brain potentials. When the sample was split into groups of high- and low-performers, however, the results indicated (a) in line with the idea of neural efficiency substantially larger amplitudes for low-performers; (b) that the smaller amplitudes of the high-performers involved larger parietal networks; and (c) a left-parietal disengagement of neural activity for high-performers but a right-parietal disengagement for low-performers. The latter finding became evident through an analysis of internal consistencies of ERP amplitudes across conditions and performance levels, showing that internal consistencies were reduced at all three leads in the high-performance group for the biggest rotation angle, relative the other conditions and the low-performing group.     

Personality and individual differences in responses to aggression triggering events among prisoners and non-prisoners

This paper examines the relationships between individual differences in situational triggers of aggressive behaviors (STAR) and the FFM personality traits. The investigation, conducted among Polish male and female offenders and students, revealed different relationships across samples. Among students, higher sensitivity to frustration and provocation was related to higher Neuroticism and lower Agreeableness and sensitivity to provoking situations to lower Openness to Experience. Among prisoners, however, lower Agreeableness was negatively linked to being more sensitive to provocation. Furthermore, the study found sex differences in STAR scales in the student sample but not the prisoners’ sample.     

The Many Faces of Psychoontology

Psychoontology is a philosophical theory of the cognizing subject and various related matters. In this article. I present two approaches to the discipline—the first proposed by Jerzy Perzanowski, the second by Jesse Prinz and Yoram Hazony. I then undertake to bring these into unity using certain ideas from Husserl and Frege. Applying the functor qua, psychoontology can be described as a discipline concerned with: (a) the cognizing subject qua being—this leads to the question: what kind of being is the subject (is it an object?, simple or complex?, a process?) and what makes him/her/it possible; (b) being qua cognized, this leads to the question: under what conditions can we access the world? Since the notion of being qua cognized might seem peculiar, I present its context and discuss it in detail in the last section.     

Working memory and fluid intelligence as predictors of work engagement—Testing preliminary models

This study aimed to investigate the relationships between working memory capacity, fluid intelligence (Gf), and work engagement within the framework of the job demands–resources theory. Multioccupational employees (N = 175 in Study 1 and N = 383 in Study 2) completed sets of Gf, complex span, and n‐back tests, along with job resources and work engagement surveys. Structural equation modeling with latent variables and bootstrapping procedures revealed that complex span was indirectly positively related to work engagement via job resources, and n‐back was indirectly positively related to work engagement via job complexity. Moreover, the one common factor g composed of Gf, n‐back, and complex span was positively indirectly related to work engagement via job resources and job complexity. These results highlight that the cognitive capacities of employees should be given greater consideration as cognitive personal resources in models aimed at accounting for employee work engagement.     

From personality disorders to the fact-value distinction

Louis Charland’s claim that DSM Cluster B personality disorders are moral rather than clinical kinds has recently triggered a lively debate. In order to deliver a reliable report of the latter, both (1) Charland’s arguments concerning the impossibility of identifying and treating personality disorders without applying a morally laden conceptual framework and (2) some critical responses they provoked are discussed. Then, in turn, the conceptual history of the notion of personality disorder is traced, including not only well-recognized contributions from (3) medical psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and DSM nosology, but also (4) an important, but often neglected, tradition of virtue and moral character. Finally, (5) the idea of a normatively neutral concept of personality disorder is scrutinized in the context of its logical dependence on the fact-value distinction. The latter dichotomy’s recent criticism, in particular, is employed to support Charland’s argument and to suggest that the normative character of personality disorders may go much deeper than this or that DSM formulation.