Affective reactions to facial identity in a prosopagnosic patient

This study probes whether a prosopagnosic patient can make accurate explicit affective judgements towards faces. Patient MJH was shown photographs of faces of well-liked family members and public figures rated as “evil” by opinion polls. MJH was asked to rate each face on two 7-point scales (Likeability and Pleasantness). Since he is unable to explicitly recognise faces, his ratings were based on his evaluative reaction to the faces presented. In a second phase of the experiment, MJH was told the name of the faces previously presented and asked to rate them using the same scales. MJH's Likeability ratings during the picture-viewing phase of the experiment and the explicit phase were highly correlated. Based on these findings, we propose that thought consists of an explicit declarative and an implicit emotional aspect, which may become dissociated in prosopagnosia.     

A socioemotional intervention in a Latin American orphanage

A pilot intervention that emphasized training and technical assistance to promote warm, sensitive, and responsive one‐on‐one caregiver–child interactions primarily during feeding and bathing/changing was implemented using regular staff in a depressed orphanage for children birth to approximately 8 years of age in Latin America. Despite a variety of unanticipated irregularities in the implementation of the intervention, many beyond the researchers' control, ward environments improved; caregivers displayed more warm, sensitive, and responsive interactions with children; and children improved an average of 13.5 developmental quotient (DQ) points after 4+ months' exposure to the completed intervention. Furthermore, 82% of the children had DQs greater than 70 before the intervention, but only 27.8% did so afterward. Although the training for all caregivers was aimed at children birth to 3 years, the number of different caregivers was reduced, and technical assistance was provided only to caregivers serving children less than 3 years, younger and older children (3–8 years) improved approximately the same amount. However, children who were transitioned from a younger to an older ward during the intervention improved less than did children who remained in either a younger or an older ward, the first evidence suggesting that the common orphanage practice of periodically graduating children from one homogeneous age group to another may impede their development. The study is consistent with others that have shown that orphanages can be changed, and increases primarily in warm, sensitive, responsive caregiver–child interactions can produce improvements in children's development.     

Predictors of friend approval for romantic relationships

Three studies (1 correlational and 2 experiments) applied the investment model to explain social network approval for others' romantic relationships. Study 1 supported the prediction that friends' perceived satisfaction and perceived alternatives were predictive of their approval for target relationships, while perceived investments was not a significant predictor. Studies 2 and 3 employed experimental manipulations of perceived satisfaction to test its causal impact on relationship approval, and in these studies, perceived satisfaction was a significant predictor of relationship approval. Taken as a whole, these findings supported the prediction that perceived relationship satisfaction is a causal factor influencing friends' approval of target romantic relationships.     

The joys of genuine giving: Approach and avoidance sacrifice motivation and authenticity

Why do sacrifices undertaken in pursuit of approach and avoidance goals differentially influence well‐being and relationship quality? A cross‐sectional study (Study 1), an experiment (Study 2), and a 2‐week daily experience study (Study 3) demonstrate that the personal and interpersonal outcomes of approach and avoidance sacrifice goals in dating and married relationships are mediated by felt authenticity. When people sacrificed for approach goals such as to make their partner happy, they felt more authentic, in turn contributing to greater personal and relationship well‐being. However, when they sacrificed for avoidance goals such as to avoid conflict, they felt less authentic, in turn detracting from personal and relationship well‐being. Implications for research and theory on motivational processes in close relationships are discussed.     

The culture‐negotiation link.

Scholars have only recently begun to assess the strength with which culture affects negotiator communication, as compared with contextual or structural features of business negotiations. Although prior studies reveal important cross‐cultural differences in national negotiating style, they may not help us understand intercultural (mixed‐culture) settings. The crucial question is how heavily are international negotiators influenced by their own cultural values? When negotiating with a culturally disparate partner, what are the separate and cumulative effects of culture and contextual variables on negotiator communication? To answer these questions, the effect of culture (here, individualism‐collectivism) on integrative (information exchange) and distributive (fixed‐sum errors) negotiating is assessed in 32 intercultural dyads. In addition, the contextual effects of role (buyer vs. seller), preconceptions about negotiating (anticipated competition), and mutual adaptation (interdependence in information exchange) are examined. Preliminary results suggest that role requirements influence negotiators more heavily than culture. Supplemental analyses point to some potentially interesting buyer‐seller differences and suggest that information exchange is more a function of reciprocity than of cultural values.     

Missing a romantic partner: A prototype analysis

In this study, a prototype analysis of romantic missing was conducted. College‐age participants in the United States generated features of missing a partner (Study 1) and rated their centrality (Study 2). In a reaction time task, participants made category judgments for central features more quickly than for noncentral features (Study 3). In recognition and recall tasks, central features were more salient in participants’ memory, and participants evaluated individuals experiencing central features in vignettes as missing their partners more (Study 4). A prototype‐based measure of missing administered to individuals in long‐distance relationships (Study 5) correlated with commitment and attachment dimensions but only weakly with loneliness. Finally, level of missing differed based on whether individuals were in a geographically distant (vs. proximal) relationships (Study 6).