Examining the narrative roles in suicide notes

The present study examines suicide notes, using a sample of suicide notes from published corpora (N = 50), combined with a sample of recent suicide notes from a suicide website (N = 50). The present study proposes a model of differentiation in completed suicides. The characteristics of the suicide notes were analysed using a content dictionary developed by Giles in 2007, and the data subjected to smallest space analysis. Four themes of suicide completer were discovered: Egoistic Victim, Anomic Hero, Altruistic Professional and Fatalistic Revenger. The implications of these findings and the potential use in therapy work with suicide survivors and those with suicidal ideation are discussed, as well as suggestions for the direction of future research.     

Toward a social psychophysiology of vagally mediated heart rate variability: Concepts and methods in self‐regulation,emotion, and interpersonal processes

Theory and research on self‐regulation, emotional adjustment, and interpersonal processes focus increasingly on parasympathetic functioning, using measures of vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) or respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). This review describes models of vmHRV in these areas, and issues in measurement and analysis. We propose a framework organizing theory and research as examining (a) vmHRV as an individual difference or a situational response, and (b) resting, reactive, or recovery levels. Evidence supports interpretation of individual differences in resting vmHRV as a broad biomarker for adaptive functioning, but its specificity and underlying mechanisms require elaboration. Individual differences in vagal reactivity (i.e., trait‐like differences in vmHRV decreases during challenge or stress) are less commonly studied in adults and results are mixed. Many stressors and challenges evoke temporary decreases in vmHRV, and in some research self‐regulatory effort evokes increases. In a smaller literature, positive interpersonal experiences and some restorative processes increase resting vmHRV, whereas depletion of self‐regulatory capacity through related effort decreases it. Greater attention to conceptual distinctions regarding vmHRV constructs and several methodological issues will strengthen future research. Importantly, researchers should exercise caution in equating vmHRV with specific psychosocial constructs, especially in the absence of converging assessments and precise experimental manipulations.     

A LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION OF INTEREST CONGRUENCE AND GENDER CONCENTRATION AS PREDICTORS OF JOB SATISFACTION

Based on a rationale derived from discrepancy theories of job satisfaction, person-environment congruence was examined for its prediction of job satisfaction among college graduates over a 7-year period. Data were from university records and a survey of 253 graduates who were employed full time. Congruence of the students'college majors and their jobs predicted their subsequent job satisfaction regardless of whether this congruence was a perceptual or a more objective measure, while congruence between the interests the participants expressed on an interest inventory (the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory) during their freshman orientation did not. A three-way interaction of gender, gender concentration of Occupation, and interest congruence predicting job satisfaction was hypothesized. Although a three-way interaction was significant, it was not as predicted. Potential explanations involving the nature of decisions involving college majors and jobs and the stage of career development of participants are discussed.     

Stressed parents: a dyadic perspective on perceived infant temperament

The study employed the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) to test whether one parent's experiences of recent life events as more stressful (the PSS) are associated with the same parent's own (the actor effect) and the other parent's (the partner effect) perceptions of the infant temperament as more negatively and/or less positively tuned (the IBQ; n=584 parents, 292 dyads). The results indicated that the more stress one parent reported the more negatively tuned were the same parent's own, and the other parent's perceptions of the infant. Perceptions of the infant temperament were least positive for members of parent dyads who were more, relative to less, similar in the experienced stress. The associations were independent of the parent gender and the parent‐reported level of trait anxiety. The findings augment prior knowledge on the factors that steer parental perceptions, and suggest that the dyadic perspective may offer valuable insight into the dynamics of interacting within a family consisting of two biological parents and an infant. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How do investors make predictions? Insights from analogical reasoning research

Previous work on investor decision making has focused almost exclusively on information specific to the company being judged. Consequently, every decision is viewed as a novel event, disconnected from the investor's existing knowledge. In this study, the analogical reasoning literature provides the theoretical support for arguing that investors frequently utilize existing knowledge as a basis for generating predictions about a company's future. The specific proposal is that investors transfer their existing knowledge via two different forms of analogical reasoning. The first, relational reasoning, is based primarily on structural correspondence between a novel company and an existing schema. The second, literal similarity reasoning, is based primarily on surface correspondence of a novel company and a previously encountered company. Our theoretical framework is tested in a study in which experienced investors predict the outcome of a novel company's strategy after reading about the experiences of other companies who implemented a similar strategy. The results are consistent with the occurrence of both relational and literal similarity reasoning, with relational reasoning emerging as the dominant approach to generating investors' predictions. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

In the name of democracy: The value of democracy explains leniency towards wrongdoings as a function of group political organization

According to the “democracy‐as‐value” hypothesis, democracy has become an ideological belief system providing social value to democratic individuals, groups and institutions, granting legitimacy to their actions (even if dishonest or violent), and protecting them from consecutive punishments. The present research investigates the extent to which this legitimizing process is based on the individual endorsement of democratic principles. Across four experiments, following the misdeed of a (few) group member(s), respondents who valued democratic group organization and democracy in general expressed more lenient retributive justice judgments towards democratic (as compared with nondemocratic) offender groups. These findings shed light on the ways in which democratic ideology infuses justice judgments. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.