The stages-of-change approach for prosocial behavior: Message tailoring to encourage blood donation

This research applied the Trans-Theoretical Model and the Construal Level Theory to framing messages for blood donation. People can be at different degrees of readiness for blood donation and are, therefore, dispersed into discrete stages of change. These stages of change correspond to varying psychological distances that define the extent to which a person's thinking on the suggested behavior is abstract (high construal level) or concrete (low construal level). Differences in psychological distance thus affect whether individuals focus on how easy it is to donate blood (feasibility) or on why it is important to donate blood (desirability) in the ad message. This research conducted two studies using a 2 (types of message: feasibility vs. desirability—manipulated) × 3 (stages of change: pre-contemplation vs. contemplation/preparation vs. action/maintenance—measured) between-subject, randomly assigned factorial design experiment. The results of both studies showed that for individuals in the pre-contemplation stage, desirability, rather than feasibility, messages were more likely to produce favorable attitudes toward the ad, its sponsoring organization, and blood donation behavior itself, whereas the opposite was true for those in the action/maintenance stage. Those differences were weakened or not observed for those in the contemplation/preparation stage. These patterns of interaction were not replicated for behavioral intention. Collectively, these findings suggest that tailoring a message according to the intended audience's stage of change should promote positive attitudes for blood donation. Meanwhile, future research is needed to bridge the attitude-behavior gap when it comes to blood donation.     

Materialism and the Bright and Dark Sides of the Financial Dream in Spain: The Positive Role of Money Attitudes—The Matthew Effect

Research suggests that materialism leads to the dark side of the financial dream. In this study, we treat love of money as a mediator and test a theoretical model's direct path (Materialism to Financial Satisfaction) and indirect path (Materialism to Love of Money to Financial Satisfaction) simultaneously using the whole sample and across several demographic variables based on 1,011 citizens in Spain. Results for the whole sample showed that the positive indirect effect suppressed the negative direct effect creating an overall small positive effect. Furthermore, we found a significant negative direct path for rural dwellers, the 30–44‐year‐old age group, and married people, but a positive indirect path for rural residents, the 45–59‐year‐old age group, married, males, and urban dwellers. Overall, those in the 30–44 age group, rural residents, and married people experienced the dark side of the financial dream, whereas old (over‐60 age group), unmarried, urban, and young people (18–29 age group) enjoyed the bright side of their financial optimism. People's money attitudes and demographic variables play a positive role in our understanding of materialism and financial satisfaction, i.e. the Matthew Effect. Our novel, counterintuitive, and original theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions foster theory development and testing and improved practice.     

试论临淄齐瓦当的装饰艺术

瓦当是我国古代建筑的重要组成部分。临淄齐国故城出土的瓦当不仅数量可观，而且风格鲜明、极其特色，是研究古代瓦当不可多得的艺术珍品。本文主要从艺术角度对齐瓦当装饰艺术进行分析探讨。     

The fitting resolution of anger

Philosophical Studies - How can we explain the rational diminution of backward-looking emotions (e.g., grief, regret, and anger) without resorting to pragmatic or wrong kind of reason explanations?...     

Blue Monday Is Real for Suicide: A Case–Control Study of 188,601 Suicides

Many studies have reported that suicides tend to occur on Mondays. However, owing to a lack of controls, conclusive findings on the potential effects of a day of the week on suicides have been lacking. We analyzed public data for causes of death from 1997 to 2015 in the Republic of Korea. Accidental death was used as a control group. The probability of suicide on each day of the week according to age group was calculated. A total of 377,204 deaths (188,601 suicides and 188,603 accidental deaths) were used. The frequency of suicide was highest on Monday and decreased throughout the week until Saturday. Accidental death was highest on Saturday and showed no variations according to weekday. For people in their teens and 20s, the probabilities of suicide on Monday were 9% and 10% higher, respectively, than those on Sunday. As age increased, the differences in suicide probability according to the day of the week were attenuated. The so‐called Blue Monday effect is real, particularly for people in their teens and 20s. Suicide prevention strategies that aim to attenuate the burden and stress of Mondays should be planned.