Societal and individualistic drivers as predictors of organic purchasing revealed through a portrait value questionnaire (PVQ)‐based inventory

• The Schwartz's Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ) has extensively been used in personal values research. The present survey validates and tests in a value‐based segmentation task a 17‐item PVQ‐based inventory that includes consumer values related to organic food purchasing, using a nationally representative sample of 1043 Greek consumers. The main assumption of the survey is that consumer segments that place more emphasis on specific organic food‐related values would present different magnitude of beliefs and purchasing behaviour towards organic products. Two 2nd‐order value factors (named ‘individualistic’ and ‘societal’, respectively) emerged from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses comprising 14 out of the initial 17 PVQ values. In the next phase of the analysis, hierarchical clustering was implemented based on those factors. Through the clusters emerged, a clear relation between consumers' ‘societal’ (universalism and benevolence) value similarity, higher frequency of organic purchasing and higher likelihood of organic‐related beliefs was clearly identified. This fact supports the applicability of the PVQ typology in predicting consumer behaviour in various product contexts.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Poppers Methodologischer Individualismus und die Sozialwissenschaften

Popper's methodological individualism and the social sciences. Popper's philosophy of social sciences poses a dilemma that arises out of the two theses of methodological individualism and situational logic. In order to find a way out of this dilemma, one must raise the question concerning the epistemological and methodological status of the `laws' of the human sciences. There are indeed `rules' from which human actions depart mostly to a negligible extent, but they remain valid or stay in effect without exception only as far as they are not re-evoked or re-emerge in the consciousness of the agents. The element of truth of methodological individualism lies in the person's capacity to revoke, in principle, the validity of the rules concerning oneself. Situational logic and methodological individualism can thus be reconciled. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Studying, Practicing, and Mastering: A Test of the Model of Goal-Directed Behavior (MGB) in the Software Learning Domain

The present study tested the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB). The model proposes that behavioral intentions to perform instrumental behaviors are primarily motivated by desires to perform the acts. In turn, desires mediate the effects of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, and anticipated emotions on intentions. Construct validity for MGB variables is assessed, and the predictive utility of the MGB is compared with that of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). College students ( N = 102) provided measures for MGB and TPB variables while participating in a training program to use statistical software. We focused on two goal-related instrumental behaviors: studying handbooks and practicing with the package. The results show that the MGB accounts for a greater proportion of variance in intentions and instrumental behaviors than does TPB. Although desires mediate most of the effects of other predictors on intentions to perform the instrumental behaviors, it is proposed that when the behavior is normatively relevant, or when self-efficacy appraisals play a major role, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control may directly affect intentions.     

The five‐factor personality inventory: cross‐cultural generalizability across 13 countries

In the present study, we investigated the structural invariance of the Five‐Factor Personality Inventory (FFPI) across a variety of cultures. Self‐report data sets from ten European and three non‐European countries were available, representing the Germanic (Belgium, England, Germany, the Netherlands, USA), Romance (Italy, Spain), and Slavic branches (Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia) of the Indo‐European languages, as well as the Semito‐Hamitic (Israel) and Altaic (Hungary, Japan) language families. Each data set was subjected to principal component analysis, followed by varimax rotation and orthogonal Procrustes rotation to optimal agreement with (i) the Dutch normative structure and (ii) an American large‐sample structure. Three criteria (scree test, internal consistency reliabilities of the varimax‐rotated components, and parallel analysis) were used to establish the number of factors to be retained for rotation. Clear five‐factor structures were found in all samples except in the smallest one (USA, N = 97). Internal consistency reliabilities of the five components were generally good and high congruence was found between each sample structure and both reference structures. More than 80% of the items were equally stable within each country. Based on the results, an international FFPI reference structure is proposed. This reference structure can facilitate standardized communications about Big Five scores across research programmes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting pleasure at others’ misfortune: Morality trumps sociability and competence in driving deservingness and schadenfreude

Schadenfreude occurs when people feel pleasure at others’ misfortunes. Previous research suggested that individuals feel such a malicious pleasure when the misfortune befalls social targets perceived as highly competent but lacking human warmth. Two experiments explored whether the two components of warmth (i.e., sociability and morality) have distinct roles in driving schadenfreude. Study 1 (N = 128) compared a competent but immoral individual to a competent but unsociable person and found that people felt more schadenfreude when a misfortune befell an individual lacking morality. Study 2 (N = 199) confirmed the primary role of morality in driving schadenfreude by manipulating not only morality and sociability, but also competence. Moreover, both experiments showed that social targets lacking moral qualities elicited higher levels of schadenfreude because their misfortunes were perceived as deserved. Overall, our findings suggest that morality has a primary role over other basic dimensions of person perception (i.e., sociability and competence) in driving schadenfreude.     

Irrational and Metacognitive Beliefs Mediate the Relationship Between Content Beliefs and GAD Symptoms: A Study on a Normal Population

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) models show both similarities and differences in conceptualizing anxiety. This work assumes that REBT’s irrational and MCT’s metacognitive beliefs play a mediation role while CBT’s disorder specific content beliefs act as triggers. This hypothesis is tested using a regression model in which metacognitive and irrational beliefs play a mediation role while content disorder beliefs are independent variables. This paper applied this model to generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a psychiatric diagnosis in which anxiety is the major feature. In GAD, the specific content beliefs are negative problem orientation and intolerance of uncertainty. Therefore, 149 non clinical subjects completed 4 self-report questionnaires: the Negative Orientation to the Problems Questionnaire and the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale as measures for content cognitive beliefs, the Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for irrational beliefs, and the Metacognitive Questionnaire 30 Items Version for metacognitive beliefs. The generalized anxiety disorder questionnaire was chosen in order to measure anxiety as dependent variable. Regression analyses confirmed that irrational and metacognitive beliefs mediate the relation between cognitive content beliefs and GAD. We clinically interpret mediation as a second level regulation.     

Parents’ Positive Interpersonal Coping After a Child’s Death

Despite the challenging context of grieving for the death of a child, evidence shows that it is possible for parents to manage and preserve their relationship. The aim of this study was to examine parents’ perceptions of positive interpersonal coping processes that helped their relationship after the death of their child. Individual semi-structured interviews with 17 bereaved maritally committed parents were conducted. The interview guide included questions covering themes such as parents’ coping together, relationship strengths and mutual support. Data were analyzed through constructivist grounded theory methods. Three main themes were identified: search for meaning (reframing of partners’ different coping processes and the changes/difficulties in the relationship, and development of shared beliefs); communication with the partner (direct and indirect feedback, and mutual learning); and care-in-relation (caring for the partner and the relationship). Dyad-level interventions should aim at promoting mutual empathy, development of shared appraisals, and the identification and consideration of each other’s boundaries.     

Psychometric Properties of an Italian Version of the Differentiation of Self Inventory-Revised (It-DSI-R)

The Differentiation of Self (DoS) is a key concept of Bowen’s theory, indicating a process that begins in early infancy and progresses throughout childhood and adolescence, to reach a basic level in early adulthood. This study examined the psychometric properties of an Italian version of the Differentiation of Self Inventory-Revised (DSI-R) Skowron, Schmitt, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 29:209–222, 2003), a multidimensional measure assessing DoS as conceptualized by Bowen. The sample comprised 671 subjects (age 19–69 year). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that the Italian DSI-R possesses good psychometric properties. Internal consistencies were adequate. Correlations with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, and the trait form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were consistent with the theoretical relations among the constructs. The findings confirm the use of DSI-R as a psychometrically sound measure of the differentiation of self in the Italian context. Implications for future research and clinical practice are addressed.     

Visual cues of motion that trigger animacy perception at birth: the case of self‐propulsion

Self‐propelled motion is a powerful cue that conveys information that an object is animate. In this case, animate refers to an entity's capacity to initiate motion without an applied external force. Sensitivity to this motion cue is present in infants that are a few months old, but whether this sensitivity is experience‐dependent or is already present at birth is unknown. Here, we tested newborns to examine whether predispositions to process self‐produced motion cues underlying animacy perception were present soon after birth. We systematically manipulated the onset of motion by self‐propulsion (Experiment 1) and the change in trajectory direction in the presence or absence of direct contact with an external object (Experiments 2 and 3) to investigate how these motion cues determine preference in newborns. Overall, data demonstrated that, at least at birth, the self‐propelled onset of motion is a crucial visual cue that allowed newborns to differentiate between self‐ and non‐self‐propelled objects (Experiment 1) because when this cue was removed, newborns did not manifest any visual preference (Experiment 2), even if they were able to discriminate between the stimuli (Experiment 3). To our knowledge, this is the first study aimed at identifying sensitivity in human newborns to the most basic and rudimentary motion cues that reliably trigger perceptions of animacy in adults. Our findings are compatible with the hypothesis of the existence of inborn predispositions to visual cues of motion that trigger animacy perception in adults.     

Development and testing of a rapid method for measuring shoal size discrimination

The shoal-choice test is a popular method to investigate quantity discrimination in social fish based on their spontaneous preference for the larger of two shoals. The shoal-choice test usually requires a long observation time (20–30 min), mainly because fish switch between the two shoals with low frequency, thus reducing the possibilities of comparison. This duration limits the use of the shoal-choice test for large-scale screenings. Here, we developed a new version of the shoal-choice test in which the subject was confined in a large transparent cylinder in the middle of the tank throughout the experiment to bound the minimum distance from the stimulus shoals and favour switching. We tested the new method by observing guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in a 4 versus 6 fish discrimination (experiment 1). The new method allowed for a faster assessment of the preference for the larger shoal (<5 min), resulting in potential application for large population screenings. Guppies switched five times more frequently between the two shoals and remained close to the first chosen shoal ten times less compared to experiments with the old method. In experiment 2, we found that with the new method guppies were able to discriminate up to 5 versus 6 fish, a discrimination that was not achieved with the classical method. This last result indicates that minor methodological modifications can lead to very different findings in the same species and suggests that caution should be exercised when interpreting inter-specific differences in quantitative abilities.