When emotions of others affect decisions in public good dilemmas: An instrumental view

The present research examines whether the emotional display (i.e. anger vs. guilt) of another group member affects people's decision‐making in a public good dilemma. In two experiments we investigated whether the expressed emotion is particularly informative when communicated by a group member who is highly instrumental in reaching the provision point. A first experiment demonstrated that participants were more likely to exit the group when anger as opposed to guilt was communicated, but especially when the group member displaying the emotion was able to contribute many endowments to the public good. Expected justice (based on past inferences) in the group mediated this effect, suggesting that communicated anger signals more than guilt that the group will not set out to achieve fairness. In agreement with this, a second experiment showed that when it was not possible to exit the group, participants preferred to install a democratic leader more when a wealthy group member communicated anger as opposed to guilt. Additionally, this study provided experimental evidence that a communicated emotion is only used for subsequent decision‐making when more explicit information (i.e. a promise to contribute) is absent. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Development of Delinquency and Perceived Friendship Quality in Adolescent Best Friendship Dyads

The present study examines both the unique and the combined role of best friends' delinquency and perceived friendship quality in the development of adolescent delinquency. Questionnaire data were gathered from 435 Dutch adolescent best friends (mean age at first wave = 12.97) over a period of 5 years with annual assessments. Results showed that mean levels of delinquency and perceived friendship quality increased over time. Adolescent best friends were highly similar in both mean levels and changes in delinquency over time. For boys, similarity in mean level delinquency between best friends was higher than for girls. In addition, only for boys, friends' delinquency is associated with increases in adolescent delinquency over time, and adolescents' delinquency is associated with increases in friends' delinquency over time. No bidirectional longitudinal associations were found between perceived friendship quality and adolescent delinquency. No interaction effects between friendship quality and friends' delinquency on adolescent delinquency were found. Thus, findings were more in support of the differential association theory than of the social control theory.     

The intergenerational transmission of authoritarianism: The mediating role of parental goal promotion

This study examined the intergenerational transmission of adolescent authoritarian submission (Right-Wing Authoritarianism or RWA) and authoritarian dominance (Social Dominance Orientation or SDO). It was hypothesized that the type of goals that parents promote (i.e., conservation versus openness to change and extrinsic versus intrinsic goal promotion) would mediate any direct association between parents’ and adolescents’ authoritarian attitudes. This hypothesis was examined in a sample of middle adolescents and their parents. First, a significant parent–child concordance was found for RWA and SDO. Second, whereas parental RWA predicted parental promotion of conservation goals (rather than openness to change goals) as well as the promotion of extrinsic goals (rather than intrinsic goals), parental SDO predicted parental promotion of extrinsic goals only. Third, process analyses showed that, whereas parental conservation goal promotion mediates the relationship between parent and child RWA, parental extrinsic goal promotion mediates the relationship between parent and child SDO.     

Gender differences in the variability of lower extremity kinematics during treadmill locomotion

The authors examined whether there were gender differences in the variability of basic gait parameters (stride length, stride time) and 3-dimensional (3D) rotations of the hip, knee, and ankle joints during treadmill locomotion of 18 men and 15 women at 4 different gait speeds (walking at 5 km/hr, running at 8, 10, and 12 km/hr). The authors used 2-way analyses of variance to assess the data. No gender differences in the mean values or variability of basic gait parameters were detected. However, the women exhibited lower variability than did the men for 6 individual joint rotations: (a) transverse plane rotations of the ankle joint at 8, 10, and 12 km/hr, (b) transverse plane rotations of the hip and knee joints at 12 km/hr, and (c) sagittal plane rotations of the ankle joint at 12 km/hr. When collapsed across all 3D lower extremity rotations, the data showed that the women had lower variability than did the men at 12 km/hr. Reduced variability may result in more localized mechanical stress on anatomical structures and could therefore be a risk factor for injury in women at high gait speeds. The results also suggested that gender differences in variability may not be consistent across different levels of the motor system.     

On the goal-dependency of unconscious thought

Recent research has shown that unconscious thought can improve the quality of complex decisions [Dijksterhuis, A. (2004). Think different: The merits of unconscious thought in preference development and decision making. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 586–598; Dijksterhuis, A., Bos, M.W., Nordgren, L.F., & van Baaren, R. B. (2006). On Making the Right Choice: The deliberation-without-attention effect. Science, 311(5763), 1005–1007]. In the present research, we investigate whether unconscious thought is goal-dependent. In four experiments participants were given information pertaining to a decision problem or to an impression formation problem. Subsequently, they were either given time to think consciously about the information or they were distracted for some time, during which they could engage in unconscious thought. Of the participants that were distracted, however, some were given the goal to further process the information, whereas others were not given such a goal. Our experiments clearly show that unconscious thought is goal-dependent. Without a goal, people do not engage in unconscious thought.     

From cover to cover? A critique of Wolterstorff's theory of the Bible as divine discourse

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

How many exemplars are used? Explorations with the Rex Leopold I model

The goal of this research is to test the hypothesis that a category is not necessarily represented by all observed exemplars, but by a reduced subset of these exemplars. To test this hypothesis, we made use of a study reported by Nosofsky, Clark, and Shin (1989), and replicated their Experiment 1 in order to gather individual-participant data. Both a full exemplar model and a reduced exemplar model were fit to the data. In general, the fits of the reduced exemplar model were superior to those of the full exemplar model. The results suggest that only a subset of exemplars may be sufficient for category representation.     

How emotion communication guides reciprocity: Establishing cooperation through disappointment and anger

Emotions fulfill many social functions, but data on their essential function of establishing cooperation are lacking. We investigated how communicating anger and disappointment guides reciprocal cooperative behavior. Although anger may force cooperation by announcing retaliation, we predicted that communicating disappointment was less likely to backfire. A laboratory study in which participants played against the reciprocal strategy of tit-for-tat showed that communicated disappointment established more cooperation than did anger. This effect also carried over to future cooperation decisions. Partners communicating disappointment evoked less anger, were evaluated more positively and as forgiving rather than retaliatory. Communication of disappointment thus appears conducive to establishing mutually beneficial relationships.     

Serotonin: Modulator of a drive to withdraw

Serotonin is a fundamental neuromodulator in both vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems, with a suspected role in many human mental disorders. Yet, because of the complexity of serotonergic function, researchers have been unable to agree on a general theory. One function suggested for serotonin systems is the avoidance of threat. We propose and review evidence for an alternative hypothesis, that a phylogenetically primitive of function of serotonin is to oppose the activating neuromodulators (particularly noradrenalin and dopamine). The functional effect of this opposition can be seen as applying a drive to withdraw from dangerous, aversive or high stimulation environments. Proposing that serotonin is involved in a drive to withdraw and seek contentment, instead of a drive to avoid, may be compatible with several lines of evidence on serotonin function and may facilitate a better understanding of serotonergic neuromodulation in human psychopathology.