Sensitivity to social and non‐social threats in temperamentally shy children at‐risk for anxiety

In the current brief report, we examined threat perception in a group of young children who may be at‐risk for anxiety due to extreme temperamental shyness. Results demonstrate specific differences in the processing of social threats: 4‐ to 7‐year‐olds in the high‐shy group demonstrated a greater bias for social threats (angry faces) than did a comparison group of low‐shy children. This pattern did not hold for non‐social threats like snakes: Both groups showed an equal bias for the detection of snakes over frogs. The results suggest that children who are tempermentally shy have a heightened sensitivity to social signs of threat early in development. These findings have implications for understanding mechanisms of early threat sensitivity that may predict later socioemotional maladjustment.     

Teaching moral reasoning through gesture

Stem‐cell research. Euthanasia. Personhood. Marriage equality. School shootings. Gun control. Death penalty. Ethical dilemmas regularly spark fierce debate about the underlying moral fabric of societies. How do we prepare today's children to be fully informed and thoughtful citizens, capable of moral and ethical decisions? Current approaches to moral education are controversial, requiring adults to serve as either direct (‘top‐down’) or indirect (‘bottom‐up’) conduits of information about morality. A common thread weaving throughout these two educational initiatives is the ability to take multiple perspectives – increases in perspective taking ability have been found to precede advances in moral reasoning. We propose gesture as a behavior uniquely situated to augment perspective taking ability. Requiring gesture during spatial tasks has been shown to catalyze the production of more sophisticated problem‐solving strategies, allowing children to profit from instruction. Our data demonstrate that requiring gesture during moral reasoning tasks has similar effects, resulting in increased perspective taking ability subsequent to instruction. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v/gAcRIClU_GY     

Neural correlates of infant accent discrimination: an fNIRS study

The present study investigated the neural correlates of infant discrimination of very similar linguistic varieties (Quebecois and Parisian French) using functional Near InfraRed Spectroscopy. In line with previous behavioral and electrophysiological data, there was no evidence that 3‐month‐olds discriminated the two regional accents, whereas 5‐month‐olds did, with the locus of discrimination in left anterior perisylvian regions. These neuroimaging results suggest that a developing language network relying crucially on left perisylvian cortices sustains infants’ discrimination of similar linguistic varieties within this early period of infancy.     

Aligning inside and outside perspectives of the self: A cross‐cultural difference in self‐perception

Past research shows that European Americans tend to take a first‐person perspective to understand the self and are unlikely to align the inside look with the outside gaze, whereas Asians tend to take a third‐person perspective and are likely to shift their inside look in the direction of the outsize gaze. In three experiments, we compared Asians and European Americans' self‐perceptions when the presence of their parents in the background of self‐perception was primed or otherwise. Without the priming, both European Americans and Asians viewed themselves more positively from their own perspective than from their parents' perspective. With the priming, only Asians lowered the positivity of their self‐perceptions to match the perceived positivity of the self in the parents' perspective. These results suggest that Asians do not have a static, passive tendency to assimilate their self‐views into the perceived external assessments of the self. Rather, their self‐views are fluid and flexible.     

Convergence and divergence of individual‐level values: A study of Malaysian managers

Malaysia is a multi‐ethnic country with Malay, Chinese and Indian being the dominant ethnic groups. This paper investigates the three ethnic cultures in Malaysia by examining the individual‐level values of managers and professionals. Based on 528 responses to a Schwartz Value Survey (SVS) questionnaire, the paper identifies partial convergence of the value systems of Malay, Chinese and Indian people. It was found that the three ethnic groups do not differ significantly in the individualistic value dimensions of Self‐enhancement and Openness‐to‐change. However, Malays are found to be more conservative and less self‐transcendent than Chinese or Indians, while Chinese and Indians attribute the same importance to these two sets of values.     

Neural correlates of sensory‐enabling presentation: An fMRI study of image zooming and rotation video effects on online apparel shopping

For experience products, such as apparel, sensory‐enabling presentations that provide a sense of tactile experience have been suggested as an effective strategy to reduce perceived risk and increase the likelihood of a pleasurable shopping experience. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), we investigated whether sensory‐enabling presentations, specifically, image zooming and rotation videos, would evoke different cognitive and affective brain functions during product evaluation and purchase decision processes. The results suggested that whereas image zooming may evoke more visual perception in the product evaluation process, the rotation view evokes more mental imagery, pleasure, and reward anticipation during the purchase decision process. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The contribution of self-compassion in the relationship between social support and posttraumatic growth

IntroductionDespite well-established evidence on the relationship between social support and posttraumatic growth (PTG), there remains a paucity of evidence regarding the mechanism that underlie this relationship.ObjectiveThis study examined the relationship between social support and PTG, while exploring self-compassion as an intermediatory factor in this association.MethodA cross-sectional study with 447 college students was conducted in Trabzon, Turkey. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).ResultsResults indicated that perceived social support and self-compassion were associated with PTG. Furthermore, a significant indirect effect between social support and PTG via self-compassion emerged.ConclusionBased on the study findings, tailored intervention programs targeting self-compassion and perceived social support in trauma-exposed young adults may be useful for promoting posttraumatic growth.     

Toward Relationship‐Directed Parenting: An Example of North American Born Second‐Generation Korean‐American Mothers and their Partners

Historically, parenting has been constructed hierarchically; however, contemporary parenting models frequently emphasize parenting as relationship (Siegel & Hartzell [2004] Parenting from the inside out: How a deeper self‐understanding can help you raise children who thrive; Tuttle, Knudson‐Martin, & Kim [2012] Family Process, 51, 73–89). Drawing on interviews with 20 North American born second‐generation Korean–American mothers and their partners, and sensitized by TP‐CRO, a social constructionist framework for conceptualizing parent–child relational orientations, this grounded theory analysis identified three main processes that facilitate relational connection as a parenting orientation rather than the rule‐directed approach historically associated with first‐generation immigrant Asian families. These include: (a) emphasizing dominant culture values; (b) inviting open communication; and (c) promoting mutuality. Results also show how parents integrate collectivist cultural values of their first generation immigrant parents' traditional culture into North American parenting ideals with which they primarily identify. The study demonstrates the usefulness of the TP‐CRO for understanding parent–child relationships within multicultural parenting contexts and offers suggestions for working with second‐generation Korean families.     

Categorisation salience and ingroup bias: The buffering role of a multicultural ideology

The current work sought to test the moderating role of a multicultural ideology on the relationship between categorisation salience and ingroup bias. Accordingly, in one experimental study, we manipulated categorisation salience and the accessibility of a multicultural ideology, and measured intergroup attitudes. Results show that categorisation salience only leads to ingroup bias when a multiculturalism (MC) ideology is not made salient. Thus, MC ideology attenuates the negative effects of categorisation salience on ingroup bias. These results pertain to social psychology in general showing that the cognitive processes should be construed within the framework of ideological contexts.