Motivated emotion and the rally around the flag effect: liberals are motivated to feel collective angst (like conservatives) when faced with existential threat

A careful look at societies facing threat reveals a unique phenomenon in which liberals and conservatives react emotionally and attitudinally in a similar manner, rallying around the conservative flag. Previous research suggests that this rally effect is the result of liberals shifting in their attitudes and emotional responses toward the conservative end. Whereas theories of motivated social cognition provide a motivation-based account of cognitive processes (i.e. attitude shift), it remains unclear whether emotional shifts are, in fact, also a motivation-based process. Herein, we propose that under threat, liberals are motivated to feel existential concern about their group’s future vitality (i.e. collective angst) to the same extent as conservatives, because this group-based emotion elicits support for ingroup protective action. Within the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, we tested and found support for this hypothesis both inside (Study 1) and outside (Study 2) the laboratory. We did so using a behavioural index of motivation to experience collective angst. We discuss the implications of our findings for understanding motivated emotion regulation in the context of intergroup threat.     

Human crowding and store messiness: Drivers of retail shopper confusion and behavioral intentions

With today's cut‐throat competition, brick and mortar retailers are engaging in various in‐store elements like ambience, visual design, and social factors to entice consumers. However, these environmental stimuli if not used properly can lead to retail shopper confusion that can negatively influence shopper behavioral intentions. Drawing on the theoretical argument that information overload facilitates retail shopper confusion, two experimental studies are conducted. The findings of both studies suggest a main effect of human crowding and store messiness for each dimension of retail shopper confusion—irritation, inefficiency, and helplessness. Mediating role of retail shopper confusion between human crowding, store messiness, and shopping behavioral intentions is also examined. Interactive impact of human crowding and store messiness suggests store messiness to be more problematic. The moderating role of shopping motivations (task vs. recreational) is also examined that suggests the negative effect of retail shopper confusion for consumers pursuing recreational shopping motivations. These findings across the two studies offer a new perspective that recommend the importance of organized retail store environments. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Modelling elderly patients’ perception of the community pharmacist image when providing professional services*

Professional pharmaceutical services may impact on patient’s health behaviour as well as influence on patients’ perceptions of the pharmacist image. The Health Belief Model predicts health-related behaviours using patients’ beliefs. However, health beliefs (HBs) could transcend beyond predicting health behaviour and may have an impact on the patients’ perceptions of the pharmacist image. This study objective was to develop and test a model that relates patients’ HBs to patient’s perception of the image of the pharmacist, and to assess if the provision of pharmacy services (Intervention group-IG) influences this perception compared to usual care (Control group). A qualitative study was undertaken and a questionnaire was created for the development of the model. The content, dimensions, validity and reliability of the questionnaire were pre-tested qualitatively and in a pilot mail survey. The reliability and validity of the proposed model were tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to explain relationships between dimensions of the final model and to analyse differences between groups. As a result, a final model was developed. CFA concluded that the model was valid and reliable (Goodness of Fit indices: x²(80) = 125.726, p = .001, RMSEA = .04, SRMR = .04, GFI = .997, NFI = .93, CFI = .974). SEM indicated that ‘Perceived benefits’ were significantly associated with ‘Perceived Pharmacist Image’ in the whole sample. Differences were found in the IG with also ‘Self-efficacy’ significantly influencing ‘Perceived pharmacist image’. A model of patients’ HBs related to their image of the pharmacist was developed and tested. When pharmacists deliver professional services, these services modify some patients’ HBs that in turn influence public perception of the pharmacist.     

M. Chirimuuta's Adverbialism about Color

M. Chirimuuta's Outside Color is a rich and lovely book. I enjoyed reading it and benefitted from reflecting on its provocative ideas. I begin by briefly placing the book's principal thesis in its historical context, and I go on to reflect on two objections that might be lodged against this thesis.     

Feeling Good,Being Intentional,and Their Relationship to Two Types of Creativity at Work

In recent years, scholars have empirically demonstrated that creativity can be described as radical or incremental creativity. In efforts to better understand the nomological networks underlying radical and incremental creativity, this study explored the role that positive emotions directly and indirectly plays in predicting each type of creativity. Further, whether the nature of these mediated relationships varied differentially as a function of employees’ tendency to also engage in such purposeful activities as monitoring their creative behaviors and deepening their expertise was also explored. The resultant moderated-mediation model was tested in a field study of 129 professional employees in a large North American consumer products organization. Results indicated that positive emotions influence incremental and radical creativity differentially through fun, and that the degree to which individuals engage in monitoring impacts their levels of creativity. Implications and future directions for research and practitioners are discussed.     

Group Membership,Status, and Social Power Preference1

The power literature supports the notion that power‐base preferences can serve as a means for gaining advantage over others, thereby satisfying the personal self. Here, we inquired whether the use of power bases also serves as a means for gaining in‐group advantage, thereby satisfying the social self. A 2 × 3 × 2 design, including group membership (in‐group/out‐group), influencing agent's status (low, same, high), and gender as independent variables was employed. After reading scenarios describing work‐situation conflicts that differed by the relative status of the influencing agent and group membership of the target person, students and workers completed the Interpersonal Power Inventory for assessing power usage. In general, participants attributed greater use of harsh bases toward the out‐group. Status effects were obtained for in‐group targets and were less clear for out‐group targets. The discussion addresses theoretical implications for both the power interaction model and social identity theory, as well as practical ones for intergroup relations in organizations.     

Can seeking happiness make people unhappy? [corrected] Paradoxical effects of valuing happiness

Happiness is a key ingredient of well-being. It is thus reasonable to expect that valuing happiness will have beneficial outcomes. We argue that this may not always be the case. Instead, valuing happiness could be self-defeating, because the more people value happiness, the more likely they will feel disappointed. This should apply particularly in positive situations, in which people have every reason to be happy. Two studies support this hypothesis. In Study 1, female participants who valued happiness more (vs. less) reported lower happiness when under conditions of low, but not high, life stress. In Study 2, compared to a control group, female participants who were experimentally induced to value happiness reacted less positively to a happy, but not a sad, emotion induction. This effect was mediated by participants' disappointment at their own feelings. Paradoxically, therefore, valuing happiness may lead people to be less happy just when happiness is within reach.     

Rapid communication: Global-local processing affects recognition of distractor emotional faces

Recent studies have shown links between happy faces and global, distributed attention as well as sad faces to local, focused attention. Emotions have been shown to affect global-local processing. Given that studies on emotion-cognition interactions have not explored the effect of perceptual processing at different spatial scales on processing stimuli with emotional content, the present study investigated the link between perceptual focus and emotional processing. The study investigated the effects of global-local processing on the recognition of distractor faces with emotional expressions. Participants performed a digit discrimination task with digits at either the global level or the local level presented against a distractor face (happy or sad) as background. The results showed that global processing associated with broad scope of attention facilitates recognition of happy faces, and local processing associated with narrow scope of attention facilitates recognition of sad faces. The novel results of the study provide conclusive evidence for emotion-cognition interactions by demonstrating the effect of perceptual processing on emotional faces. The results along with earlier complementary results on the effect of emotion on global-local processing support a reciprocal relationship between emotional processing and global-local processing. Distractor processing with emotional information also has implications for theories of selective attention.     

Douglas Campbell's Startling Alternative to Traditional Paradigms of Pauline SoteriologyThe Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul – By Douglas Campbell

This book delivers the most comprehensive attack on the dominant scholarly paradigm of Pauline soteriology, which Campbell calls Justification Theory. He indicts this paradigm as individualistic, contractual, conditional, incoherent, and, put simply, bad theology. He proposes, instead, a rereading of the key passages in Romans 1–4 (especially 1.18–3.20) which supposedly support Justification Theory. His alternative theory is ‘apocalyptic’ insofar as it is ‘unconditional, revelatory, transformational, and liberational’. While many of his critiques of Justification Theory are illuminating and offer hearty food for thought, his alternative does not appear to be grounded enough in a plain reading of the text to offer the most convincing interpretation. Nevertheless, it is an important work that needs to be digested by Pauline interpreters and anyone interested in biblical soteriology.