Uncertainty and prejudice: The role of religiosity in shaping group attitudes

Past research indicates that being religious is frequently motivated by the need to avoid uncertainty and associated with prejudice against value‐violating groups. The present research clarifies these previous findings and shows for the first time a causal link between a sense of uncertainty and group attitudes through religiosity and the perception of the target group's mindset. Study 1 demonstrates that belief in God is associated with uncertainty avoidance and increases prejudice against value‐violating groups, but simultaneously increases positive attitudes towards value‐consistent groups. Study 2 demonstrates experimentally that a sense of uncertainty shapes intergroup attitudes when the relationship is mediated through the belief in God and the perception that a target group actually violated perceivers' values. The results corroborate and broaden previous findings on religiosity, ambiguity avoidance, and prejudice and, for the first time, show a causal link between a sense of uncertainty and attitudes towards value‐violating and value‐consistent groups.     

Critical Thinking Disposition and Scientific Creativity: The Mediating Role of Creative Self-Efficacy

This study explores the relationship between critical thinking disposition and scientific creativity and examines the hypothesized mediating role played by creative self-concept (trait-like creative self-efficacy). A large sample (N = 1,153) of Chinese high school students filled the Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory and revised trait-like creative self-efficacy scale, and then solved Scientific Creativity Test for Adolescent. Structural equation modeling has demonstrated that students’ critical thinking disposition was positively related to their creative self-concept and scientific creativity, and creative self-concept fully mediated the link between critical thinking disposition and scientific creativity. We discuss these findings in terms of the hypothetical role played by creative self-concept for creative functioning.     

The Rites of Passage Framework as a Matrix of Transgression Processes in the Life Course

This work shows the contribution of concept of rites of passage and theory of liminality to the understanding of transformations in the course of a person’s life. The structural–functional analysis of empirical studies of physical changes, changing roles in society, and key changes in the area of mental and physical health conducted from the perspective of these theories has allowed to identify the three fundamental processes that govern the attainment of transformation and transgression into a new phase of life. The aim of this paper is to set out the processes identified in the course of functional–structural analysis of chosen studies and they comprise: (1) preservation of the sequence of the life course; (2) liminality: deconstruction, integration, and transformation; and (3) performativity. These processes provide a structural framework for understanding life crises, thus facilitating their study as phases of dynamic transformations connected with the successive roles and tasks over the life course.     

Moving attention along the mental number line in preschool age: Study of the operational momentum in 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children's non‐symbolic arithmetic

People tend to underestimate subtraction and overestimate addition outcomes and to associate subtraction with the left side and addition with the right side. These two phenomena are collectively labeled 'operational momentum' (OM) and thought to have their origins in the same mechanism of 'moving attention along the mental number line'. OM in arithmetic has never been tested in children at the preschool age, which is critical for numerical development. In this study, 3–5 years old were tested with non‐symbolic addition and subtraction tasks. Their level of understanding of counting principles (CP) was assessed using the give‐a‐number task. When the second operand's cardinality was 5 or 6 (Experiment 1), the child's reaction time was shorter in addition/subtraction tasks after cuing attention appropriately to the right/left. Adding/subtracting one element (Experiment 2) revealed a more complex developmental pattern. Before acquiring CP, the children showed generalized overestimation bias. Underestimation in addition and overestimation in subtraction emerged only after mastering CP. No clear spatial‐directional OM pattern was found, however, the response time to rightward/leftward cues in addition/subtraction again depended on stage of mastering CP. Although the results support the hypothesis about engagement of spatial attention in early numerical processing, they point to at least partial independence of the spatial‐directional and magnitude OM. This undermines the canonical version of the number line‐based hypothesis. Mapping numerical magnitudes to space may be a complex process that undergoes reorganization during the period of acquisition of symbolic representations of numbers. Some hypotheses concerning the role of spatial‐numerical associations in numerical development are proposed.     

Some Reflections on the Meaning of Dīkṣā in Kerala According to Mātṛsadbhāvatantra

International Journal of Hindu Studies - One of the most important Hindu Tantric rites is known as dīk?ā, an initiation that grants access to mystical knowledge. This initiation...     

How to answer an unanswerable question? Factors affecting correct “don't know” responding in memory tasks

When reporting from memory, people may often be asked unanswerable questions—questions for which the correct answer has never been encoded. These unanswerable questions should be met with an “I don't know” response. Previous research has shown that a manipulation commonly used to enhance memory at retrieval—context reinstatement—reduces appropriate “do not know” responding to unanswerable questions. Here we investigated whether this reduction is due to increased belief that a given question is answerable, or solely to increased confidence in specific responses for questions already believed to be answerable. In two experiments, we show that context reinstatement reduces “do not know” responding even when a “do not remember” option is available to express beliefs that particular questions are answerable. These results indicate that improved access to contextual information at retrieval creates an erroneous belief that unanswerable questions are in fact answerable.     

Parent-identified problem preschoolers: Mother-child interaction during play at intake and 1-year follow-up

Parent-referred 2- and 3-year-olds and controls, participating in a longitudinal study of hyperactivity and related behavior problems, were observed with their mothers during play at an initial assessment and a 1-year follow-up. Mothers of problem children provided more redirection initially and made more negative control statements at follow-up than mothers of controls; problem youngsters tended to play more aggressively. Sex differences were prominent. Mothers of boys, regardless of referral status, were more directive at the initial assessment; their sons were less cooperative and somewhat more aggressive in their play. Maternal involvement in play decreased over time, possibly as a response to developmental changes in children's play. Group by time interactions indicated that mothers of control children provided fewer negative control statements at follow-up relative to mothers of problem children and to their own levels at the first assessment; mothers of problem youngsters redirected their children less than they had initially. Mothers of boys were also less directive at follow-up relative to their initial levels. Situational and developmental factors are discussed briefly.     

Are We All Overconfident in the Long Run? Evidence from One Million Marathon Participants

In this project, we measured overconfidence in a large, heterogeneous sample making familiar, repeated choices in a natural environment that provided direct feedback. Specifically, in study 1, we elicited predictions of own finishing time among participants of the 2012 Warsaw Marathon. The participants' prediction errors were highly correlated with the change in pace over the course of the run: overly optimistic forecasters slowed down more in the second half. In study 2, we consequently took this slowdown as a proxy for overconfidence and used existing field data of one million participants in several large marathons for which split times are available (but own predictions are not). Both studies indicate that men as well as the youngest and oldest participants tend to be more confident. In study 2, we were able to investigate national and cultural dimensions. We found confirmation of previously reported findings of relative overconfidence in Asians. Additionally, we show some largely novel results, in particular that relatively conservative societies tend to be relatively overconfident. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the Pragmatic Approach to Counterpossibles

Philosophia - Nina Emery and Christopher Hill proposed a pragmatic approach toward the debate about counterpossibles—i.e., counterfactuals with impossible antecedents. The core of this...     

Polite Girls and Creative Boys? Students' Gender Moderates Accuracy of Teachers' Ratings of Creativity

The aim of this study was to examine whether, and to what extent, teachers are able to recognize the creativity of their students. The study measured the creative abilities, creative attitude, creative activity, as well as intrinsic motivation, intelligence, and school functioning of 589 Polish high school students, while their teachers (N = 178) rated students' creativity. The structural equation model (SEM) demonstrated that the accuracy of teachers' ratings of students' creativity is generally low—the latent factor of students' creativity reliably, however weakly, predicted teachers' ratings. The accuracy of teachers' ratings was moderated by gender: Only in the case of male students did the latent creativity factor reliably predict teachers' ratings. Students' school functioning emerged as a key factor positively associated with the perception of students as creative.