Dimensions of Temperament: Affect Intensity and Consumer Lifestyles

This article focuses on the relation between affect intensity and 3 fundamental dimensions of temperament—emotionality, sociability, and sensory arousability. The purpose was to show that individual differences in affect intensity as a dimension of temperament can influence not only advertising responses, but also the lifestyles and preferences of consumers. Study 1 confirmed the emotionality dimension in that high affect intensity individuals responded with significantly stronger levels of emotion when exposed to an affectively charged advertising appeal, but not when exposed to a nonemotional appeal. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrated that the fundamental dimensions of temperament are accompanied by heightened emotional intensity and do predict different preferences for lifestyle activities for high and low affect intensity consumers. A significant Affect Intensity × Gender interaction occurred indicating that both men and women expressed stronger emotions when experiencing activities that were gender‐congruent (e.g., watching sports on TV for men, and smelling perfumes for women). Future research directions are also discussed.     

Who Leaves Suicide Notes? A Six‐Year Population‐Based Study

Popular culture insists on the significance of suicide notes, but research has yielded conflicting results about who leaves notes. Utilizing 6 years of suicides from a comprehensive statewide data surveillance system, differences were examined between cases with suicide notes and those without in terms of demographics, circumstances of the suicide, and precipitating circumstances. Of the 2,936 suicides, 18.25% included a note. Demographics and circumstances did not differ for cases with a note compared to cases with no note. Results have implications for working with people bereaved by suicide in helping understand that the notes are uncommon and not systematic. However, it is also possible that for some individuals, the content of a note is meaningful and can help or hinder their course of bereavement.