The role of social axioms in predicting life satisfaction: a longitudinal study in Hong Kong

Data from a 1-year, longitudinal study were utilized to explore the role of five pan-cultural beliefs about the world (social axioms) in predicting life satisfaction. It was hypothesized that higher levels of social cynicism would predict lower satisfaction with life because cynical persons set in motion a self-fulfilling prophecy of unrewarding social outcomes. The negative social feedback thus engendered results in lower levels of self-esteem, which mediates the effect of socially cynical beliefs on life satisfaction. These findings were confirmed in a longitudinal study of Chinese undergraduates in Hong Kong. Their implications were explored by considering the role of beliefs about␣the world upon additional mediators of life satisfaction in different cultural settings and for engaging in therapeutic interventions with distressed clients.     

Comparing the self-concepts of Hong Kong Chinese adults with visible and not visible physical disability

In the present study, the authors evaluated the self-concept levels of Hong Kong Chinese adults with visible and not visible physical disabilities. Fifty-five Hong Kong Chinese (22 men and 33 women) aged 18 to 55 (M = 39.50, SD = 10.21) participated-20 without physical disabilities (control group), 20 with visible physical disabilities, and 15 with physical disabilities that were not visible. All the participants responded to the Self-Concept Questionnaire for Hong Kong Chinese With Physical Disabilities (SCQPD; S. F. Tam & D. Watkins, 1997). The group with visible disabilities scored significantly lower in self-concept than did the control group and the group with disabilities that were not visible. There were also significant differences between specific facets of self-concept for people with visible and not visible disabilities. It was interesting to find that there was no significant difference in self-concept levels between the not visible group and the control group. The implications for rehabilitation and social services for these various groups are discussed.     

Social incentives for gender differences in the propensity to initiate negotiations: Sometimes it does hurt to ask

Four experiments show that gender differences in the propensity to initiate negotiations may be explained by differential treatment of men and women when they attempt to negotiate. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants evaluated written accounts of candidates who did or did not initiate negotiations for higher compensation. Evaluators penalized female candidates more than male candidates for initiating negotiations. In Experiment 3, participants evaluated videotapes of candidates who accepted compensation offers or initiated negotiations. Male evaluators penalized female candidates more than male candidates for initiating negotiations; female evaluators penalized all candidates for initiating negotiations. Perceptions of niceness and demandingness explained resistance to female negotiators. In Experiment 4, participants adopted the candidate’s perspective and assessed whether to initiate negotiations in same scenario used in Experiment 3. With male evaluators, women were less inclined than men to negotiate, and nervousness explained this effect. There was no gender difference when evaluator was female.     

Through with the looking glass: escape responses to implicit mirror exposure

Based on the assumption that confrontation with one's physical reflection can be aversive, we explored the appeal of possible "escape routes" when incidentally exposed to one's mirror image. Compared to their no-exposure peers, individuals who felt less chronically "trapped" in their bodies showed increased interest in flow experiences and decreased interest in experiences involving low-level thinking or a subjective sense of meaning when exposed to their reflection. Mirror exposure also increased overall interest in "pure consciousness events," wherein the transcendence of space and time figures centrally. The aversive effects of even implicit confrontation with one's reflection therefore seem more diverse than anticipated based on existing frameworks such as Objective Self-Awareness theory, so additional theoretical development seems warranted.     

Visual–auditory interactions on explicit and implicit information processing

Cognitive Processing - Interactions among sensory information are important for generating a coherent percept of the external world. Facilitation and inhibition effects in cross-modal perception...     

Domain-Specific Growth Mindsets and Dimensions of Psychological Well-Being Among Adolescents in Hong Kong

With a view initiated by the positive psychology movement that research emphases should be directed to examining human positives and well-being rather than psychopathology and dysfunctioning, this study explored the growth mindset as a character strength affecting the well-being of adolescents. Specifically, this study investigated the domain-specificity of growth mindsets, with a focus on exploring the beneficial effects of different growth mindsets on adolescents’ positive psychological well-being, taking into consideration gender and age group differences. A sample of Hong Kong adolescents (N = 856) completed the Growth Mindset Rating Form that assesses respondents’ growth mindsets in the domains of intelligence, ability, personality and relationship, and the Chinese version of Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale. Results from model-comparison using Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated that a four-factor model provided the best fit to the mindset data, supporting the domain-specificity of growth mindsets. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses results suggested that the four growth mindsets had differentiated effects on six dimensions of psychological well-being over and above the effects of gender and age group. Such domain-specific effects of growth mindsets on psychological well-being dimensions could be interpreted as largely applicable to boys and girls, and to younger and older age groups, based on regressions conducted with separate groups. These separate group analyses also identified some notable group differences for growth mindsets of ability and relationships. Implications for promoting the cultivation of different growth mindsets as character strengths for adolescent positive functioning are discussed.

     

Near‐ and Far‐Transfer Effects of Working Memory Updating Training in Elderly Adults

Age‐related declines in working memory, especially with regard to updating ability, affect many high‐level aspects of cognition in elderly adults. Recent studies have demonstrated that training might improve working memory. We investigated the effects of 20 days of adaptive training of working memory updating in healthy elderly adults. Comparing the performance on cognitive function tests before and after training in a trained group and a non‐trained group, significant positive training effects were observed in a numerical updating task and a digit‐span test, but not in a non‐verbal reasoning test. The results suggest beneficial effects of working memory updating training to working memory tasks that use different content material and task formats than those used during training. However, confirming the results of previous studies, transfer effects to other higher order cognitive processes seem to be absent in elderly adults. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Life outcomes influenced by war-related experiences during the Gulf crisis

This study examined the life outcomes of children exposed to the Gulf crisis in 1990–1991. We expected war-trauma exposure and psychological distress symptoms to predict poorer educational and occupational outcomes. Participants were 151 Kuwaiti citizens who were assessed during childhood (in 1993; M age = 10.6 years), and who were reassessed 10 years later in young adulthood (in 2003; M age = 21.2 years). Participants completed measures of intelligence, war-trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, intervening life events, and life outcomes. Results indicated that war-trauma exposure negatively impacted children's educational and occupational outcomes as young adults. Boys with higher levels of war-trauma exposure were less likely to attend University. Posttraumatic stress and anxiety symptoms also predicted poorer educational and occupational outcomes. However, this relationship was not significant when we accounted for children's intelligence. Depressive symptoms were not predictive of children's educational or occupational outcomes. Results suggest that war-trauma exposure may have life-altering effects on children. Tailored, early interventions are needed for children exposed to war traumas.     

Virtue Ethics and Confucian Ethics

This essay focuses on the unity of several virtues in pre-Qin Confucians. Confucius maintains the proper application and coherence of such virtues as benevolence, wisdom, trustworthiness, straightforwardness, courage, and firmness. Further, Confucius takes benevolence and nobility as characteristic of human being. Particular attention is paid to the distinction and relationship between virtuous characters and virtuous actions.