The Influence of Paratext on Narrative Persuasion: Fact,Fiction, or Fake?

The present research examined the role of personality factors and paratextual information about the reliability of a story on its persuasiveness. Study 1 (N = 135) was focused on recipients' explicit expectations about the trustworthiness/usefulness and the immersiveness/entertainment value of stories introduced as nonfiction, fiction, or fake. Study 2 (experimental, N = 186) demonstrated that a story was persuasive in all three paratext conditions (nonfiction, fiction, or fake versus belief‐unrelated control story) and that its influence increased with the recipients' need for affect. Participants' need for cognition increased the difference in persuasiveness of a nonfictional versus a fake story. Additional mediation analyses suggest that fiction is more persuasive than fake because readers of fiction get more deeply transported into the story world.     

An experimental investigation of the misinformation effect in crime-related amnesia claims

Research suggests that both internal (i.e., lying) and external (i.e., misinformation) factors can affect memory for a crime. We aimed to explore the effects of post-event misinformation on crime-related amnesia claims. We showed participants a mock crime and asked them to either simulate amnesia (simulators) or confess to it (confessors). Next, some participants were provided with misinformation. Finally, all participants were requested to genuinely recollect the crime. Overall, simulators reported less correct information than confessors. Moreover, these two groups were equally vulnerable to misinformation. In addition, exploratory analyses on strategies adopted by simulators revealed that those who previously, mostly omitted information while simulating amnesia exhibited the lowest amount of correct details. Simulators who instead used a mixed strategy disclosed more fabricated memory errors. Findings suggest that legal professionals and jurors should take into account that even offenders, irrespective of confessing or simulating memory loss for a crime, can be susceptible to post-event misinformation.     

Memory distrust and acceptance of misinformation

Relying on a community sample (N = 80), the present study examined whether memory distrust is related to an increased tendency to accept misinformation and whether it interacts with passage of time. Participants were shown video footage of an armed robbery. Approximately 30 minutes later, they were asked to describe as accurately as possible what they had seen. Either 1 day or 2 weeks later they were presented with their own statements, to which five misinformation items had been added. The results showed that people suffering from memory distrust accepted more misinformation than those with optimistic beliefs about their memory. In addition, both age and free recall seemed to modulate this relationship. However, memory evaluation did not interact with time interval. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effectiveness of Argumentative Strategies

In this article, I further analyze the notion of the effectiveness of argumentative strategies, introduced in Jovičić, 2001. The most relevant achievements of the theories of reasonable discussion and the theories of persuasion are called to mind with the aim of explaining the mechanism of the argumentative effectiveness. As a result, a procedure for evaluating the effectiveness of argumentative strategies is suggested.     

Changes in Attachment‐Related Behavioural Problems of Internationally Adopted Toddlers in Finland: Results from the FinAdo Study

This study investigated attachment‐related behavioural problems and their change over time among internationally adopted toddlers (N = 171, boys 40%) in Finland. The parents filled in questionnaires posted in 2007 and again in 2009. At the baseline (on average, 1.9 years from adoption), the mean age of the adoptees was 2.8 years. The comparison group (N = 244, boys 46%) was collected through well‐baby clinics. Results from the paired t‐test and mixed models showed that the adoptees' attachment‐related behavioural problems decreased during the 2‐year follow‐up and that they did not manifest more problems than their age‐mates any more 4 years after adoption. The decrease in behavioural problems was associated with the child's female gender, country of origin and adoptive parents' positive experience about adoption. A child's stereotypic or self‐injurious behaviour was not associated with the change in attachment‐related behaviour over time, although both were associated with behavioural problems. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Disentangling the Relationship Between Implicit Aggressiveness and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Role of Job Attitudes

Implicit aggressiveness, measured by the Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression (CRT-A), has been shown to be important for understanding counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). However, it is not clear how employees justify CWBs that stem from their unconscious tendencies. We tested the idea that implicitly aggressive individuals develop negative job attitudes (JAs) to justify their CWBs. In Study 1, 333 employees completed the CRT-A, a battery of JAs, and a CWBs scale. In Study 2, another sample (n = 341) completed the CRT-A and different measures of JAs and CWBs. In both studies, implicit aggressiveness explained JAs and self-reported CWBs. Although the design did not allow establishment of exact causal sequence, both studies were more consistent with the model where CWBs mediated the CRT-A and JA relationship.     

A comparative evaluation of factor- and component-based structural equation modelling approaches under (in)correct construct representations

Structural equation modelling (SEM) has evolved into two domains, factor-based and component-based, dependent on whether constructs are statistically represented as common factors or components. The two SEM domains are conceptually distinct, each assuming their own population models with either of the statistical construct proxies, and statistical SEM approaches should be used for estimating models whose construct representations correspond to what they assume. However, SEM approaches have often been evaluated and compared only under population factor models, providing misleading conclusions about their relative performance. This is partly because population component models and their relationships have not been clearly formulated. Also, it is of fundamental importance to examine how robust SEM approaches can be to potential misrepresentation of constructs because researchers may often lack clear theories to determine whether a factor or component is more representative of a given construct. Addressing these issues, this study begins by clarifying several population component models and their relationships and then provides a comprehensive evaluation of four SEM approaches – the maximum likelihood approach and factor score regression for factor-based SEM as well as generalized structured component analysis (GSCA) and partial least squares path modelling (PLSPM) for component-based SEM – under various experimental conditions. We confirm that the factor-based SEM approaches should be preferred for estimating factor models, whereas the component-based SEM approaches should be chosen for component models. Importantly, the component-based approaches are generally more robust to construct misrepresentation than the factor-based ones. Of the component-based approaches, GSCA should be chosen over PLSPM, regardless of whether or not constructs are misrepresented.