A Grounded Approach to the Study of Complex Systems

The complex and dynamic nature of systems pose a particular challenge to researchers and require the use of a research methodology designed to deal with such systems. The properties of fit, relevance, understandability, generality, control, workability, generalizability, and modifiability make Glaserian grounded theory and grounded action particularly well suited for studying systems. These methods are innovative, systemic, and sophisticated enough to reveal the underlying complexities of systems and plan actions that address their complex, dynamic nature while remaining grounded in what is occurring within the systems as they change over time.     

When envy leads to schadenfreude

Previous research has yielded inconsistent findings concerning the relationship between envy and schadenfreude. Three studies examined whether the distinction between benign and malicious envy can resolve this inconsistency. We found that malicious envy is related to schadenfreude, while benign envy is not. This result held both in the Netherlands where benign and malicious envy are indicated by separate words (Study 1: Sample A, N = 139; Sample B, N = 150), and in the USA where a single word is used to denote both types (Study 2, N = 180; Study 3, N = 349). Moreover, the effect of malicious envy on schadenfreude was independent of other antecedents of schadenfreude (such as feelings of inferiority, disliking the target person, anger, and perceived deservedness). These findings improve our understanding of the antecedents of schadenfreude and help reconcile seemingly contradictory findings on the relationship between envy and schadenfreude.     

Strength-is-Weakness: The (ir)relevant relation between resources and payoffs in coalition formation

A key observation in coalition formation is that bargainers who control many resources are often excluded from coalitions by bargainers who control few resources, the Strength-is-Weakness effect. We argue that this effect is contingent on whether resources provide a legitimate claim to be included in a coalition. Across three incentivized coalition experiments (n = 2745; 915 triads), three participants (player A had four resources, player B had three resources, player C had two resources) negotiated about a payoff of 90 monetary units. Depending on condition, these resources were obtained randomly, earned, or earned and proportionally linked to the payoff. Results showed player As were less included when resources were obtained randomly and more often included in coalitions when resources were earned and/or proportionally linked to the payoff. This provides evidence that the Strength-is-Weakness is contingent on the legitimacy of the resources.     

Maintaining High Subject Retention in Follow-Up Studies of Children with Mental Illness

Measuring a program's success in enabling a child to improve functioning at home, school, and the community requires careful tracking of children's progress during the intervention and after it is completed. Attrition is often a major problem in carrying out longitudinal research. I present a number of strategies for maintaining high rates of response in follow-up studies, including how to choose a study design that enhances participation, how to locate study participants, how to engage study participants, and how to select and train high quality interviewers. The strategies presented have been used with success by a children's mental health agency and may be helpful to other researchers as they evaluate programs, measure outcomes, and study the life course of children with mental illness.     

Beware the eyes behind the mask: The capture and hold of selective attention by backward masked fearful eyes

Fearful facial expressions are important social indicators of environmental threat. Among the various features of a fearful face, the eyes appear to be particularly important for recognizing and responding to these social cues. One way in which fearful faces facilitate observers’ behavior is by automatically capturing attention. This is true for both consciously and nonconsciously processed fearful faces. Recent research suggests that consciously processed fearful eyes alone are sufficient to capture observers’ attention. However, it is unknown as to whether or not nonconsciously processed, backward masked, fearful eyes are sufficient to facilitate spatial attention. To test this possibility, two dot-probe experiments with masked fearful eye stimuli were performed. In Experiment 1, we found that, relative to scrambled eyes, masked fearful eyes facilitate attentional orienting and delay attentional disengagement. In Experiment 2, we replicated this effect when comparing backward masked fearful to neutral eyes. Thus, the data suggest that nonconscious fearful eyes facilitate spatial attention through facilitated orienting and delayed disengagement.     

The social impact of emotional tears

The question what specific functions the production of emotional tears fulfills has received only limited attention of behavioral scientists. We report the results of two studies on the social impact of emotional tears. In Study 1 (96 Dutch females), perceived helplessness and felt connectedness predicted the willingness to help a person depicted as crying tearfully, while perceived friendliness did not. In Study 2 (US sample, 128 males, 68 females) all three of these variables mediated the effect the display of tears had on the willingness to help. Our results replicate and extend previous work and add to current knowledge by showing that tearful crying facilitates helping behavior and by identifying reasons why people are more willing to help criers. These findings help to put forth novel predictions on the impact of tearful crying on others.     

The Male Body Attitudes Scale: A confirmatory factor analysis with a sample of gay men

The Male Body Attitudes Scale (MBAS; Tylka, Bergeron, & Schwartz, 2005) is a recently created instrument which assesses males’ attitudes regarding their muscularity, body fat, and height. Although the MBAS was created via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, its factor structure has yet to be replicated with more diverse samples. The aim of the current study was to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis of the MBAS with a sample of gay men. Results from an online sample of 207 self-identified gay men revealed that the original three-factor structure of the MBAS, as well as a two-factor structure, consisting of muscularity and body fat, displayed strong factorial validity. These findings suggest that either a two- or three-factor structure may be used when assessing body image concerns in gay men.     

A Negative Mood Induction Procedure with Efficacy Across Repeated Administrations in Women

Although several experimental techniques are effective in inducing negative mood, none has established efficacy over repeated testing. The lack of mood induction tools validated across repeated administrations impedes study of emotional changes in the same individual over time. A brief, sad mood induction combining music and an autobiographical memory was administered to 17 women on 6 occasions (two 3-day sets over a 2-week period of time). Mood was measured before and after the induction procedure. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed that the induction produced a large increase in POMS depression (d = 1.48) that recurred consistently across all testing days. A brief negative mood induction combining music and autobiographical memory appears suitable for use in studies that involve repeated administrations.