Multilevel Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling of Daily Diary Coping Data: Modeling Trait and State Variation

This study used multilevel modeling of daily diary data to model within-person (state) and between-person (trait) components of coping variables. This application included the introduction of multilevel factor analysis (MFA) and a comparison of the predictive ability of these trait/state factors. Daily diary data were collected on a large (n = 366) multiethnic sample over the course of 5 days. Intraclass correlation coefficient for the derived factors suggested approximately equal amounts of variability in coping usage at the state and trait levels. MFAs showed that Problem-Focused Coping and Social Support emerged as stable factors at both the within-person and between-person levels. Other factors (Minimization, Emotional Rumination, Avoidance, Distraction) were specific to the within-person or between-person levels but not both. Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) showed that the prediction of daily positive and negative affect differed as a function of outcome and level of coping factor. The Discussion section focuses primarily on a conceptual and methodological understanding of modeling state and trait coping using daily diary data with MFA and MSEM to examine covariation among coping variables and predicting outcomes of interest.     

Opening the Creative Mind of High Need for Cognitive Closure Individuals through Activation of Uncreative Ideas

Drawing on the integrative system theory of creativity combining the person, process, and press perspectives, this research offers the first evidence of how high-need-for-cognitive-closure (NFC) individuals’ creative mind can be opened up, by making them become more cognizant of uncreative ideas as consensually invalid solutions to creative problems. A validation study was conducted to first establish the utility of a newly developed chocolate design task. In the second study, half of the participants were made aware of conventional chocolate designs by drawing these designs before generating a revolutionized design of chocolate; the other half did not have to draw out the conventional designs first. Results confirmed that, given the opportunity to cognize uncreative solutions, high-NFC participants who had a higher creative ideation potential became the most creative. Their low-NFC counterparts, however, did not seem to benefit from the trigger of uncreative solutions. The implication that holding onto a chronic motive to attain cognitive closure or epistemic certainty is not necessarily detrimental to creative performance was discussed.     

Searching for Happiness: The Importance of Social Capital

After four decades of research, scholars of happiness continue to debate its causes. While it is generally agreed that a combination of internal and external factors play a role, predicting happiness well remains a challenge. Recent research has proposed that social capital may be a vital factor that has been overlooked. This paper attempts to address that omission. According to Coleman’s (1988) seminal work, three dimensions of social capital exist: (1) trust and obligations, (2) information channels, and (3) norms and sanctions. Using bootstrap hierarchical regression on data from the Canadian General Social Survey of Social Engagement Cycle 17 (2003), we identified blocks of social capital variables described by Coleman, as well as an additional factor of belongingness. Even after controlling for major demographic and individual characteristics, the majority of these blocks show significant relationships with happiness. Our findings support social capital as an important piece in predicting happiness.     

Expecting the Worst: Moderating Effects of Social Cynicism on the Relationships Between Relationship Conflict and Negative Affective Reactions

Purpose  

Social cynicism, defined as negative beliefs about people and social institutions, shows negative impact on people’s affective reactions. We extended this line of work by testing the moderating effects of social cynicism on the relationships between relationship conflict and its affective consequences.     

The perception of concurrent sound objects in harmonic complexes impairs gap detection

Since the introduction of the concept of auditory scene analysis, there has been a paucity of work focusing on the theoretical explanation of how attention is allocated within a complex auditory scene. Here we examined signal detection in situations that promote either the fusion of tonal elements into a single sound object or the segregation of a mistuned element (i.e., harmonic) that "popped out" as a separate individuated auditory object and yielded the perception of concurrent sound objects. On each trial, participants indicated whether the incoming complex sound contained a brief gap or not. The gap (i.e., signal) was always inserted in the middle of one of the tonal elements. Our findings were consistent with an object-based account in which perception of two simultaneous auditory objects interfered with signal detection. This effect was observed for a wide range of gap durations and was greater when the mistuned harmonic was perceived as a separate object. These results suggest that attention may be initially shared among concurrent sound objects thereby reducing listeners' ability to process acoustic details belonging to a particular sound object. These findings provide new theoretical insight for our understanding of auditory attention and auditory scene analysis.     

The effects of culture and friendship on rewarding honesty and punishing deception

The present research explores whether the type of relationship one holds with deceptive or honest actors influences cross-cultural differences in reward and punishment. Research suggests that Americans reward honest actors more than they punish deceptive perpetrators, whereas East Asians reward and punish equally (Wang & Leung, 2010). Our research suggests that the type of relationship with the actor matters for East Asians, but not for Americans. East Asians exhibit favoritism toward their friends by rewarding more than punishing them, but reward and punish equally when the actors are strangers (Experiment 1 and 2); Americans reward more than they punish regardless of the type of relationship (Experiment 2). Furthermore, the findings were replicated when the proposed mechanism – social mobility – was manipulated within the same culture (Experiment 3). We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding how friends versus strangers are rewarded and punished in an increasingly relationally complex world.     

Characteristics and Predictors of Romantic Relationships in Late Adolescence and Young Adulthood in Hong Kong and Australia

The aim of this study was to examine occurrence of romantic relationships and relationship break‐ups among young adults in Hong Kong and Australia and to explore associations between relationship style, identity status, negative affect, cultural group, and relationship experiences. Data were collected from Chinese tertiary students in Hong Kong (n = 279) and Anglo‐Australian tertiary students in Melbourne, Australia (n = 204). Participants completed a questionnaire including demographics, romantic relationship items, the Love Schemas Scale measuring romantic relationship style, the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. Secure relationship style and more mature identity statuses were associated with having had a romantic relationship. Among those young people with romantic relationship experience, break‐ups were less common for those with a foreclosed identity status, skittish (avoidant) relationship style, and Hong Kong Chinese background. Negative mood was higher among those for whom a break‐up had been recent. Hurt experienced following a break‐up was greater when the break‐up was partner initiated and among those with less secure relationship styles and identity statuses. Overall, individual factors were stronger predictors of relationship status than cultural factors.     

The meaning of work among Chinese university students: findings from prototype research methodology

This study examined Chinese university students' conceptualization of the meaning of work. One hundred and ninety students (93 male, 97 female) from Beijing, China, participated in the study. Prototype research methodology (J. Li, 2001) was used to explore the meaning of work and the associations among the identified meanings. Cluster analysis was used to organize the identified meanings into a structure consisting of lateral and hierarchical levels. The themes that emerged fell into 2 large categories named "ideal" and "reality." A series of superordinate-level and basic-level prototypes were found under each of these 2 categories. These prototypes reflected influences from both Chinese traditional and Western value orientations, as well as perceptions that are to be understood in the contemporary social and economic contexts of China. Implications for career development theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

A Chinese Adaptation of the Distress Tolerance Scale among Adolescents: Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties

This study examined the psychometric properties of a Chinese adaptation of the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS; Simons & Gaher. Motivation and Emotion, 29, 83–102, 2005) among 5,423 (2,857 boys) Chinese adolescents. Results of the confirmatory factor analyses supported a hierarchical model encompassing four first-order factors: Tolerance, Absorption, Appraisal and Regulation, and one second-order factor, General Distress Intolerance, which was comprised of the first three first-order factors. Acceptable levels of internal consistency and 6-month test-retest reliability were demonstrated in the second-order and all first-order factors. The Chinese DTS also displayed good convergent and discriminant validity with negative emotion, emotion reactivity and maladaptive impulsive coping behaviors. Chinese adolescent girls possessed lower distress tolerance ability than their boy counterparts. Additionally, the strength of associations between distress tolerance and negative affectivity was larger in girls than in boys. This study suggests that the Chinese DTS appears to be a psychometrically sound measure of distress (in)tolerance among adolescents.