Indicators of Affect Dynamics: Structure,Reliability, and Personality Correlates

Researchers are increasingly interested in the affect dynamics of individuals for describing and explaining personality and psychopathology. Recently, the incremental validity of more complex indicators of affect dynamics (IADs; e.g. autoregression) has been called into question (Dejonckheere et al., 2019), with evidence accumulating that these might convey little unique information beyond mean level and general variability of emotions. Our study extends the evidence for the construct validity of IADs by investigating their redundancy and uniqueness, split-half reliability based on indices from odd-numbered and even-numbered days, and association with big five personality traits. We used three diverse samples that assessed daily and momentary emotions, including community participants, individuals with personality pathology, and their significant others (total N = 1192, total number of occasions = 51 278). Mean and variability of affects had high reliability and distinct nomological patterns to big five personality traits. In contrast, more complex IADs exhibited substantial redundancies with mean level and general variability of emotions. When partialing out these redundancies by using residual variables, some of the more complex IADs had acceptable reliability, but only a few of these showed incremental associations with big five personality traits, indicating that IADs have limited validity using the current assessment practices. © 2020 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology     

Imagined contact and mental illness stigma in an Asian context: Bolstering the effect and examining the impact of factual information

Imagined contact can be effective at reducing social stigma. However, the effect may depend on the strength of the stigma held. We tested the robustness of imagined contact in an Asian setting where stigmatization of mental illness is stronger than in Western countries. In Experiment 1 (n = 167) with five conditions, only an enhanced version of positive imagined contact was able to decrease stigma towards people with schizophrenia through decreasing intergroup anxiety. Given the potential discrepancy between imaginations and reality about experiences with stigmatized groups, in Experiment 2 (n = 121), we tested the hypothesis that after presenting participants with factual information about a mental illness group, imagined contact might backfire, resulting in more negative perceptions. However, enhanced imagined contact alongside factual message about schizophrenia did not increase stigma. The backfiring hypothesis was therefore not supported. Nevertheless, providing realistic information did negate the positive effects of enhanced imagined contact on stigma reduction. In both experiments, we also showed that intergroup anxiety mediated the effect of enhanced imagined contact on various measures of stigma.     

Enumeration in time is irresistibly event-based

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - One of the most fundamental questions that can be asked about any process concerns the underlying units over which it operates. And this is true not just for...     

Practicing Engineering Ethics in Global Context: A Comparative Study of Expert and Novice Approaches to Cross-Cultural Ethical Situations

Science and Engineering Ethics - Engineers and other technical professionals are increasingly challenged by the impacts of globalization. Further, engineering educators, technical managers, and...     

Neighborhood Stress and Life Satisfaction: Is there a Relationship for African American Adolescents?

Applied Research in Quality of Life - This study identified associations between perceived neighborhood stress and adolescents’ perceptions of life satisfaction. African American adolescents...     

Intersexual aggression and male sexual activity in captive rhesus macaques

Rape has been posited to be an outgrowth of male reproductive strategies. Forced copulations may have evolved as a consequence of the low parental investment made by males in producing and raising offspring. We designed a laboratory experiment which paired rhesus macaque males with females in order to assess the influence of intersexual aggression on male sexual activity. Younger and older adult males had comparable levels of sexual behavior, but younger males were more aggressive towards females than were older males. In addition, females threatened younger males more than older males. Male attacks on females did not result in sexual intercourse. On the contrary, a negative correlation existed between male aggression towards females and male success at achieving intromissions. Female aggression towards males appeared to be an effective tactic which reduced the chances of sexual intercourse. We conclude that intersexual aggression acts either as a mechanism of dominance assertion or as a means to increase spatial distance between individuals. These data do not support the idea that rape in humans has an evolutionary foundation derived from male reproductive strategies.     

Induced delivery of anencephalic fetuses: a response to James L. Walsh and Moira M. McQueen

James Walsh and Moira McQueen accurately conclude that the early delivery of anencephalic fetuses is morally acceptable, but the reasoning they use to reach that conclusion is flawed. First, the principle of double effect does not require a weighing of good and evil, but rather seeks a sufficient reason for tolerating the physical evil indirectly intended. Second, the principle of double effect requires a clear distinction between physical and moral causality. Third, the Catholic moral tradition will not admit direct and intended killing of the innocent. Rather, early delivery of anencephalic fetuses is permissible because of the pathology associated with delivery of anencephalic fetuses at full term. Thus, the early delivery of an anencephalic infant is acceptable if the purpose of the moral act is avoiding a pathological condition on the part of the mother.     

Interpretations,Evaluations, and Consequences of Interpersonal Touch

Key elements of an expectancy violations (EV) framework are forwarded as a possible organizing framework for understanding how touch functions in interpersonal communication. Central to applying an EV framework to touch is assessing the expectedness, interpretations, and evaluations of touch and its influence on such communication outcomes as evaluations of communicator attractiveness and credibility. To address these considerations, an experiment required participants to engage in dyadic problem-solving discussions during which they were touched or not touched by high-valence (attractive, high status, expert) or low-valence (unattractive, low status, inexpert) confederates. Brief touches by high-valence communicators were less expected than from low-valence communicators but positively evaluated from both. Touch also carried many favorable relational message interpretations, and the combination of touch and high communicator valence generally produced the highest credibility and attraction ratings. Some gender effects emerged, which appeared to moderate touch effects. Results suggest that brief touches among strangers may have positive consequences, especially when initiated by high-valence communicators, for whom they may qualify as positive violations.