The personality construct of hardiness, III: Relationships with repression, innovativeness, authoritarianism, and performance

Previous research has established hardiness as a dispositional factor in preserving and enhancing performance and health despite stressful circumstances. The present four studies continue this construct-validational process by (a) introducing a shortened version of the hardiness measure and (b) testing hypotheses concerning the relationship between hardiness and repressive coping, right-wing authoritarianism, innovative behavior, and billable hours (a measure of consulting effectiveness). Results of these studies suggest the adequate reliability and validity of the Personal Views Survey III-R, which is the shortened, 18-item measure of hardiness. Further, results support the hypothesis that the relationship of hardiness is negative with repressive coping and right-wing authoritarianism and positive with innovative behavior and billable hours. Hardiness also appears unrelated to socially desirable responding.     

"Cultural fit": individual and societal discrepancies in values, beliefs, and subjective well-being

The author examined the relationship between cultural values, beliefs, and subjective well-being (SWB) in the context of the "cultural fit" proposition with 3 diverse Chinese samples from Taiwan and Mainland China (N = 581). The author found that beliefs regarding the independent self, the interdependent self, active control, and relationship harmony as forming individual-level culture were consistently related to SWB. Furthermore, the author found that the magnitude of cultural fit was associated with SWB for certain groups of the Chinese people. It is most interesting that the direction of cultural fit regarding independent self was also important for SWB. Specifically, people who endorsed higher independent self but expected lower societal endorsement of such views were better off in SWB than those of the opposite combination.     

中学生好胜心培养的实验研究

以积极的归因训练、表扬与奖励和适当的竞赛等手段对中学生的好胜心进行培养,通过一个学期三个阶段的培养,结果发现,实验班学生的好胜心水平增量显著高于对照班学生,实验班学生的学习成绩增量也显著高于对照班学生,好胜心水平与学习成绩存在着显著的正相关。研究表明,积极的归因训练、表扬与奖励、适当的竞赛是培养中学生好胜心的有效措施。     

Linear instability signals the initiation of motion of a twin plane under load

This letter presents a study of the atomic mechanism of the initiation of motion of a static twin plane under applied mechanical load in a model shape-memory material. By tracking the deformation under load and using linear stability analysis, we find that the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix provide an indicator of the initiation of motion of the twin plane. The initiation of motion is signaled by a linear instability and a drop in the lowest eigenvalue to zero as well as a sharp drop in higher eigenvalues. Additionally, by comparing with direct molecular dynamics, we see that the eigenmode associated with the zero eigenvalue is found to accurately predict the initial mode of motion. We also find that the initial motion occurs through the formation of a stacking fault just ahead of the existing twin plane and the broadening of the stacking fault drives further transformation.     

生物制剂治疗克罗恩病进展

克罗恩病是一种以累及消化道为主的复发性炎性疾病.生物制剂的使用为克罗恩病的治疗提供了新的方向.大量临床研究已证实生物治疗主要是抗TNF α单抗对诱导及维持克罗恩病临床缓解、预防并发症的发生有效.目前临床指南多建议对克罗恩病采取递增方案治疗,对重度患者可及早采取更为有效的包括生物治疗在内的治疗方式,但递减治疗方案在临床中的应用尤其是针对初次诊断者也越来越受到重视.目前早期及长期应用生物治疗的安全性及其是否能改变克罗恩病的自然病程证据尚不充分.应针对患者的不同情况,根据风险/效益研究来确定更合适的治疗方案.     

Dialectical thinking and health behaviors: The effects of theory of planned behavior

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate whether the theory of planned behavior (TPB) mediated the relationship between dialectical thinking and health behaviors. A sample of 285 undergraduates was tested with a dialectical thinking styles scale, health promoting lifestyle profiles, and TPB questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. Results indicated that all the three dimensions of thinking styles (belief in the connection, acceptance of change, and acceptance of contradiction) exerted significant effects on TPB constructs. Specifically, the connection and the change dimensions had positive effects on health behaviors mediated by TPB, whereas the contradiction dimension had a negative effect. Model 2 showed a satisfactory fit, demonstrating the influential pathways between dialectical thinking and health behaviors. Implications in issues of health promotion and future research are discussed.     

Cultural influences on terror management: Independent and interdependent self-esteem as anxiety buffers

Terror management theory (TMT) proposes that self-esteem serves as a defense against the fear of death. Previous research has suggested that independent self-esteem is more salient in individualist cultures, whereas interdependent self-esteem is more salient in collectivist cultures. Thus, we hypothesized that in collectivist cultures, independent self-esteem would play a lesser role and interdependent self-esteem a greater role in terror management, compared to individualist cultures. The results support this prediction. In Study 1, personal self-esteem was negatively associated with death anxiety in samples from a Western (Austria) and Eastern (China) culture. However, both self-liking and self-competence were negatively associated with death anxiety among Austrian participants, but only self-liking (and not self-competence) was so among Chinese participants. Surprisingly, collective self-esteem was not significantly correlated with death anxiety. Yet, Study 2 showed that among Chinese participants, relational self-esteem was negatively associated with death anxiety. Study 3 examined the roles of relational versus personal self-esteem in moderating the effects of mortality salience on worldview defense. Among Chinese participants, relational rather than personal self-esteem increased the defense of worldviews centered on collectivist-Chinese values following mortality salience (Study 3a). In contrast, among Austrian participants, personal rather than relational self-esteem attenuated the effect of mortality salience on the defense of individualist-Austrian worldviews (Study 3b). Self-esteem serves a terror management function in both collectivist and individualist cultures; however, the differences between cultural worldviews determine the type of self-esteem that is more relevant to terror management processes.     

Butch–femme identity and empathizing–systemizing cognitive traits in Chinese lesbians and bisexual women

Previous studies documented that butches showed a masculine profile and femmes showed a feminine profile in gender roles. This study examines the association between butch or femme lesbian identity and empathizing–systemizing (E–S) cognitive styles among 588 lesbian and bisexual women from multiple cities in China. Empathizing and systemizing were assessed using two different abbreviated 8-item scales drawn from longer original scales. There were significant differences in systemizing among butch–femme identity, with butches scoring higher than femmes, but no significant differences in empathizing. The discrepancy in empathizing–systemizing scores reflects individual differences in dispositional cognitive style. A higher proportion of femmes exhibited an E > S cognitive profile, while a higher proportion of butches exhibited an S > E cognitive profile. Sexual stereotyping based on masculinity/femininity, or biology, may be related to butch–femme difference in cognitive style. In studies on sexual orientation, researchers should pay more attention to butch–femme subgroup differences among lesbians.     

How benefits of expressive writing vary as a function of writing instructions,ethnicity and ambivalence over emotional expression

Written emotional disclosure has been reported to confer a variety of benefits on physical and psychological well-being. However, variable findings suggest that outcomes may vary systematically as a function of specific parameters of the experimental design. This study aims to investigate the unique and combined effects of disclosure instructions focusing on emotional expression and instructions facilitating cognitive reappraisal and to examine how ambivalence over emotional expression and ethnicity moderate the effects of these writing instructions. Seventy-one Asian and 59 Caucasian undergraduates (N = 130) with at least minimal physical or depressive symptoms were randomly assigned to one of the four writing conditions: emotional disclosure (ED), cognitive reappraisal (COG), the combination of ED and COG, or a control condition. Self-reported physical symptoms, positive affect (PA) and negative affect were assessed at baseline and three follow-ups spanning 4 months. Mixed linear models revealed that COG writing reduced physical symptoms, ED buffered a decrease in PA over time, and the combination of ED and COG (i.e. self-regulation; SR) was most effective. Asians and highly ambivalent participants benefited most from expressive writing. Findings contribute to the development of a SR moderator model and carry implications for designing expressive disclosure studies, particularly for ethnic minorities.